#mindlesshappy

ii. "Are you sure he's starting up a new restaurant? He hasn't texted me back in almost a week." Gi-Tae frowned at his phone while Jang-Mi flipped kimchi pancakes with the ease. She didn't immediately answer him because she had three more of these to make. She needed a more reliable chef. The one Yeo-Reum trained just wasn't cutting it.

"We have his guitar. He's just busy. Setting up a new restaurant isn't easy."

Gi-Tae narrowed his eyes and she ignored the flash of jealousy because it was frankly adorable. "Has he texted you this week?"

Jang-Mi flipped the pancake, wiped her hands, pulled out her phone, and made a call. It went to voicemail. "Your boyfriend thinks you're avoiding him. My feet hurt all the time and I'm understaffed. Maybe answer your phone."

Gi-Tae ducked his head and looked appropriately embarrassed. He grinned like an idiot when Yeo-Reum texted him. Jang-Mi rolled her eyes and put out an advertisement for a new chef.

iii. "I have to go to a conference in LA."

Jang-Mi pretended the idea of being alone in their home didn't bother her. She looked at her japchae for a few seconds and then smiled at her husband. "I'll stay with Hyeon-Hee."

"You could stay with my mother." Even Gi-Tae didn't believe his suggestion was a good one but he also didn't suggest she stay with her own mother. Her parents were fighting again. She knew he didn't want her under the same roof as Dong-Hoon. Really, Hyeon-Hee could've done much better.

"Maybe. Your family home is just out of the way. I'm barely getting enough sleep as it is." She ate a few more bites while he watched her and tossed back some soju. This time her smile was entirely false. "I'll be fine by myself. It'll be good to have some silence from the restaurant."

Gi-Tae let her lie. Or at least, she thought he did. That first night he was gone she closed up a little early so she could catch the bus and found Yeo-Reum waiting for her. He leaned against the door with his hands in his pockets and that easy smile.

"Twice in two weeks," he said, "my boyfriend and girlfriend have called to yell at me for slacking on my responsibilities."

iv. Yeo-Reum tried to sleep on the couch whenever he came home from one of his projects. Usually Gi-Tae pushed him into their bedroom. Jang-Mi liked to have him between them. She liked to cuddle up against his back.

She didn't let him sleep on the couch just because Gi-Tae was out of town. She made him play his guitar for her until she relaxed from her long day. She still didn't have a chef she liked. Yeo-Reum started to protest the sleeping arrangements until she put her hands on her hips.

"Either you're our boyfriend or you're not." She tilted her head and wondered a bit at what was taking him so long to commit to more than friendship. "Gi-Tae already told me about that night the two of you made love."

Yeo-Reum didn't blush but he did smile bashfully. He scratched the back of his head. "Jang-Mi..."

"I told him about us, both times. We can either joke about it or make it real. It's already real for me. I know it's real for him. We're just waiting for you."

Protesting really wasn't his style and she knew it. He wrapped his arms around her, lifted her up, and took her to bed. Jang-Mi supposed cuddling his front was just as nice. Three nights later, when Gi-Tae returned, she found herself squished in the middle of two men.

"We need a bigger bed."

v. Jang-Mi continues to add pictures to her mantel. Sometimes all three of them were in the pictures. Mostly there were just a pair of them because someone had to take the picture. All that matter to her was the day they reorganized the apartment to accommodate the three of them.

If her mother-in-law noticed the proud presence of Yeo-Reum in this space, she never mentioned it. Jang-Mi finally found a chef she could live with and her feet stopped aching. Their lives had a routine and it was easy to follow.

Well, that was until they hit a bit of a speed bump. It was close to Gi-Tae and Jang-Mi's first anniversary. She came home to find Gi-Tae reading up on 3D printers while Yeo-Reum quietly hummed a new melody with his guitar.

They both stopped as she walked into the living room and their smiles faded when they saw her face. Gi-Tae spoke first. "Is everything alright?"

"Just a little plot twist." Frowns weren't meant for Yeo-Reum's face. He set aside his guitar and came over to her. Gi-Tae stayed by the couch and by the widening of his eyes as she touched her stomach she knew he'd figured it out.

"You're pregnant."