Chương 3: Her stomach is louder than her mouth

"Feather man?" Man 'A' curves his brows and lets out a raucous laugh. "Hey Yeon-Sik, don't tell me that you are into middle schoolers now?"

"Don't joke around." Feather man kicks his leg. "She's a student at D University."

"She's a university student?" Irritating Man scans the girl in front of them. "Are you one of those geniuses who graduate high school at the age of ten?"

Why is it always like this? Chang Seol sighs heavily and takes out her ID from her wallet. She shows it to the giant man who is already getting on her nerves.

"What's this?" The giant grabs her ID card and mumbles, "You are nineteen-year-old?"

While he's checking her ID, she studies him -- a long face with a thick beard, dishevelled dark hair, narrow light brown eyes, and a straight nose. The man must be over 180 cm tall.

He's a human Yeti.

She glances down. Tall men also add to her insecurities. She's wearing a baggy shirt and tight jeans. Her height is around 155 cm. Chang Seol frowns. Did he have to react like this just because she's short?

"Jeong-Hyuk, you shouldn't bully her." Feather man glares at Yeti before he turns his face toward her and smiles, "Mr Park told me about you. My name is not feather man. It's Namgung Yeon-Sik."

"Chang Seol," She croaks. Why did she call him feather man? She shouldn't have called him that. Curling her toes, she says, "Mr Park told me that I can talk to you if I have any problems."

"Can you hear her?" The Yeti whispers to Namgung Yeon-Sik. "She's mumbling to herself."

Yeon-Sik walks to her and leans closer until his face is only inches away from her. He turns his head to the right, putting his ear closer to her lips. "I couldn't hear you earlier. Can you say that again?"

Too close! She steps back abruptly. Her stomach growls again. Her cheeks flush red. She touches her belly. Should she flee out of this house or dig a hole and bury herself?

"Her stomach is louder than her mouth." Yeti laughs. "Little Girl, right? Why don't you speak loud enough for us to hear?"

Her lips tremble. This is so embarrassing. She shouldn't have come down. It is better to sleep on the floor than face this embarrassment.

"Sin Jeong-Hyuk!" Yeon-Sik glowers at him. "Keep your mouth shut."

"Alright." Jeong-Hyuk picks up the plate of spicy rice cakes. "We should feed her first. Then, we will ask questions. Little girl, you must tell us everything about yourself. We can't let a stranger stay at our sweet home."

Why her? Mum Soyoon is also here. Chang Seol is stuck. She looks up at the first floor. Is Mun Soyoon going to come down? She doesn't want to be alone with two adults. Still, she follows the two men to the living room and takes a seat opposite them.

Sin Jeong-Hyuk places the plate in front of her. "Little Girl, eat."

She doesn't want to eat food made by a stranger. Why does he keep calling her 'little girl'? She's an adult, alright!

"Are you going to eat or not?" Sin Jeong-Hyuk raises his voice, eyeing her darkly.

"Take it easy, Jeong-Hyuk," Yeon-Sik tells him as picks up the ID and gives it back to her. "Your name is Chang Seol?"

She nods and puts the ID back in her pocket. It's suffocating. Everything feels like a bad decision now. But this is her choice. If talking to a stranger is this difficult, marrying one would have been hell.

"Did you make it to the registration room in time?" Yeon-Sik smiles at her.

She nods again.

"Are you mute?" Jeong-Hyuk taps the table impatiently. "If you can talk, then talk. You are being disrespectful to us."

Chang Seol purses her lips. It's not that she doesn't want to speak. But both of them are scary to her.

"The rice cakes are getting cold." Jeong-Hyuk cocks his head. "If you don't eat, your stomach will howl again."

She shouldn't have come here at all. Chang Seol glances at the weird rice cakes. She picks up a rice cake and eats it slowly. The taste isn't bad.

The two men watch the little girl eat the second cake with a satisfied look in their eyes.

Chang Seol licks her fingers. She wants to eat more, but she's not shameless enough to eat all of it. She bows politely to Yeon-Sik. "Thank you, professor."

"Seol Ah, eat more if you are hungry, " Yeon-Sik tells her with a coaxing voice, seemingly forgetting the fact that she's not an elementary student.

Why is he talking to her like this? Even her parents don't talk to her like this. Anyway, she eats another cake. Yeon-Sik smiles happily while Jeong-Hyuk watches her like a hawk.

"Little girl, tell me where are you from." Jeong-Hyuk grins at her. "What are you studying at university?"

"U City," Chang Seol answers him, not meeting his eyes. "Student, architecture department, D University."

"Architecture?" Sin Jeong-Hyuk frowns at her. "Are you sure that you can become an architect?"

"Jeong-Hyuk, don't scare her," Yeon-Sik warns Jeong-Hyuk. He turns his head toward Chang Seol. "Seol Ah, you have a roommate, right? Did she have dinner?"

"I don't know, Mister." Chang Seol peers at him. She wonders why she wants to stare at him. She looks down again. "Mr Park told me that I could talk to you if I have problems."

"Yes, you can come to me anytime." Yeon-Sik smiles.

"I need extra bedding." She brushes the strand of her hair behind her ear. Sin Jeong-Hyuk's penetrating gaze is pushing her on the edge. What did she do to this man?

Namgung Yeon-Sik gets up from the chair. "I will take the bedding to your room."

"You don't have to... I will carry it to my room. " She stands up abruptly.

"It's too heavy for you." Namgung Yeon-Sik can't resist patting her fluffy head. "Since we are living together, we should rely on each other."

She shrinks her neck and tenses her shoulders. His hand is large. Her cheeks are getting warm and stomach is acting funny. She dares to look up at him and sees him smiling warmly at her. Again, she feels like the world is growing silent around her. Her heartbeats are loud and clear to her. She could feel her heart ramming against her chest.

What is this? Does she have flu?