Episode 51. Constant Dating (4)
As Kang Dae-oh began climbing the mountain with his wife, a sudden thought came to him.
‘Come to think of it, I’ve never been to the mountains with my wife.’
To begin with, there weren’t many young women who had hiking as a hobby.
Min Seung-yeon didn’t particularly like hiking back then either.
And neither did Kang Dae-oh.
Since their tastes were like this, hiking was always one of the items excluded from their date courses.
However, as both of them aged, their tastes were gradually changing accordingly.
Furthermore, since one of the main products of the apparel company Min Seung-yeon runs is sportswear, it was natural for her to develop an interest in hiking clothes.
Of course, the outfit she was wearing now was far from hiking attire.
Nevertheless, there was a reason why Min Seung-yeon specifically wore leggings for her bottoms.
“These days, young women often come hiking in outfits like this, take 인증 (proof/verification) photos, and upload them on social media. I’ve been seeing that a lot.”
“Really? I didn’t know.”
The only young women Kang Dae-oh knew on social media were his daughters.
Perhaps because they inherited their mom and dad’s genes directly, his daughters didn’t really like hiking.
However, recently, as Kang Yeyoung started taking up camping as a new hobby, winds of change were slowly blowing.
Kang Dae-oh took out his smartphone and asked Min Seung-yeon.
“Should I take a picture of you?”
“Yes, that’d be great.”
Min Seung-yeon leaned against the railing and posed.
Her appearance, making a V-sign with her left hand and smiling brightly, was truly like a photoshoot.
After all, she was still working as an active model.
For Min Seung-yeon, nothing was easier than posing in front of a camera.
“Should I take a picture of you too?”
“Me too?”
“Yeah. I’d feel bad if only I took pictures.”
“I’m fine, though.”
“Oh, come on. Don’t be like that.”
Unable to resist Min Seung-yeon’s enthusiastic encouragement, Kang Dae-oh eventually moved to the photo zone where she had taken solo pictures.
Click!
In the photo, Kang Dae-oh’s appearance, unlike Min Seung-yeon’s, was full of awkwardness.
As soon as she checked the result, Min Seung-yeon chuckled.
“Aren’t you terrible at taking pictures?”
“I know. If I’d known this, I should’ve learned from you whenever I had the chance.”
“What is there to learn? Just think about taking it naturally. If you’re too conscious of the camera, your expression and gaze will all become stiff.”
Kang Dae-oh swallowed his admiration inwardly as he watched his wife elaborately explain the mindset for camera photography.
Even shortly after giving birth to their children, Min Seung-yeon was very unconfident about standing in front of a camera.
It felt like it was just yesterday.
The current Min Seung-yeon was showing a more confident and bold appearance than anyone else.
In fact, most of the hikers passing by would glance at Min Seung-yeon at least once.
It was thanks to her vibrancy and beautiful looks.
Thinking that he had such a beautiful wife, Kang Dae-oh felt his shoulders inexplicably straighten with pride.
“We’ve rested enough. Shall we try hard to reach the summit again?”
“Already?”
“If you’re tired, should I carry you on my back? Here.”
Kang Dae-oh knelt on one knee, turning his back to Min Seung-yeon.
At her husband’s aggressive advance, Min Seung-yeon desperately refused, telling him not to talk nonsense.
“No. Don’t even say things like that, I’m heavy.”
“Nonsense. To me, you’re lighter than anyone.”
“Why are you like this today, really.”
With Kang Dae-oh’s non-stop outpouring of affection, Min Seung-yeon, saying people were watching, moved towards the stairs leading to the summit first.
His blushing wife’s appearance still looked cute in Kang Dae-oh’s eyes, both then and now.
Since the altitude itself wasn’t very high, it didn’t take as long as expected to reach the summit.
Avoiding the hikers gathered closely at the top, Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon moved towards a spot that was some distance away.
Even if Min Seung-yeon wasn’t recognized, people now recognized Kang Dae-oh too much.
If he were to head to a crowded place, requests for autographs and photos would surely pour in.
They had come all the way here today to spend intimate time alone with Min Seung-yeon.
But if this time were to be wasted due to other people, it would be too much of a pity from Kang Dae-oh’s perspective.
After all, he had even learned camping for today.
Having made thorough preparations, Kang Dae-oh decided to unleash everything he had prepared without regret, even for Min Seung-yeon’s sake.
In the end, only photos remained.
Even at the summit, Kang Dae-oh diligently took pictures with his wife.
After that, they immediately moved to the campsite.
“They say you can cook at this campsite.”
“Really? That’s interesting.”
Instead, they had to bring their own food.
As soon as Kang Dae-oh arrived at the campsite, he began to unpack his heavy backpack, one item at a time.
Inside, there was a tent that allowed two people to stay for about a day, including food.
“Just wait a moment.”
Kang Dae-oh began to quickly set up the tent by himself.
Min Seung-yeon tried to help her husband, but Kang Dae-oh repeatedly said it was okay and told her to sit nearby and rest.
The tent was completely set up in less than 15 minutes.
“Ta-da! How is it?”
“It’s better than I expected? I thought it would be very flimsy since it was a temporary tent.”
“They say camping gear is really well-made these days.”
He quoted exactly what CEO Oh Yong-jin had told Kang Dae-oh and Kang Yeyoung on their first day of lessons.
Not only the tent but also folding chairs and various cooking utensils were taken out.
Min Seung-yeon was shocked once again by the fact that all of these things fit into one backpack.
“With just this, we could really travel anywhere.”
At first, when she heard her husband had developed an interest in camping, she thought it was random.
But seeing him quickly handle all the camping preparations by himself like this, Min Seung-yeon felt a sense of reliability from her husband after a long time.
“Seeing this reminds me of when you taught me how to drive.”
“Ah… that time?”
Kang Dae-oh’s memory of when Min Seung-yeon first got her driver’s license wasn’t entirely pleasant.
Not only his wife’s life-threatening driving, but also…
What bothered him most was that he felt he had nagged his wife too much back then.
“Back then… I’m really sorry. You were trying your best in your own way, but I was too blunt.”
“No, it’s okay. Rather, thanks to you only picking out the key points, I was comfortable and liked it. And you hardly ever got really angry, did you? I heard from other people that they fought a lot with their husbands when learning to drive.”
Kang Dae-oh had heard that story many times and knew it well.
From the perspective of someone who drives a lot, looking at a beginner like Min Seung-yeon, there were more than a few frustrating things.
If a dangerous situation where an accident almost happened occasionally occurred…
That day was almost certainly a marital fight.
Nevertheless, Kang Dae-oh hadn’t even shown the common anger.
“Even if I were to suddenly get angry, your driving skills wouldn’t improve overnight. And I also knew well that you disliked it when I showed such an attitude.”
It was a kind of consideration for his wife.
Hearing those words, a deep smile settled on Min Seung-yeon’s lips.
She recalled after a long time.
“That was one of the reasons I fell for you.”
“Re…ally?”
“Yeah.”
This time, an awkward reaction came from Kang Dae-oh.
Was it because they were in the mountains?
“The sun is setting quickly. Just wait a bit. I’ll cook for you.”
“What are we going to do after eating?”
“Hmm?”
He hadn’t thought that far.
Since they had already reached the mountain summit, he had deliberately not thought about it, assuming they would both be tired after eating and fall asleep early.
Unexpectedly, reaching the summit wasn’t that tiring.
Perhaps because of that, he didn’t feel particularly tired.
“If I’d known this, I should’ve thought of some entertainment beforehand.”
He even brought up the alternative of watching a movie together using a smartphone.
However, no matter how large smartphones are these days, it seemed very difficult to keep staring at one for nearly two hours.
Their posture would be uncomfortable too.
And when two people, not just one, are looking at the same screen, many restrictions arise in various ways.
Since he was a beginner camper, even though he tried his best to pack everything, insufficient elements were bound to appear.
Kang Dae-oh’s habit of always forgetting at least one thing whenever he traveled was revealed even on this camping trip.
However, Min Seung-yeon wasn’t as worried as Kang Dae-oh about what to do tonight.
This was because an idea of what to do had popped into her head.
“We’re the only ones at the campsite, right?”
At Min Seung-yeon’s question as she looked around, Kang Dae-oh slowly nodded.
“Yeah. I saw when I went to get water earlier, there were no other teams besides us.”
As CEO Oh Yong-jin had said, hardly anyone had come to the campsite.
Just Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon, the two of them.
“If we turn off the lights inside the tent, nothing inside will be visible, right?”
“Yeah. It even has a blackout function, so even if you turn on the light, it doesn’t look super bright.”
“So that’s how it is…”
Min Seung-yeon’s eyes narrowed.
They looked like the eyes of a hawk eyeing its prey.
She bit her lower lip slightly and sent a captivating gaze towards her husband.
As soon as Kang Dae-oh saw his wife’s expression change to one full of allure, he instantly realized what she wanted. What she was hoping for by asking those questions just now.
Kang Dae-oh gave a wry smile and pointed to the food.
“Shall we do it after we eat?”
Isn’t there a saying, “Even Geumgangsan is best after a meal”?
Min Seung-yeon also nodded vigorously, saying that would be good.
Looking at the fully prepared meal, Kang Dae-oh thought to himself.
He should eat a lot, even for the ‘great deed’ they were about to perform tonight.
Not long after returning from spending a night at the mountain campsite, Kang Dae-oh encountered Kang Yeyoung, who was preparing to go shoot video content about surviving alone on a deserted island.
“Appa! Did you have a good trip?”
“…Yeah.”
“…?”
At her appa’s answer, which was full of fatigue, Kang Yeyoung tilted her head.
It was a bit of a stretch to think it was because he had just come back from the mountains.
This was because Min Seung-yeon’s face, contrary to Kang Dae-oh’s, was very bright.
She even looked full of vitality.
Kang Yeyoung looked back and forth between Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon, beginning to ponder why the two of them had returned looking so different.
Not long after.
Kang Yeyoung gave a meaningful smile.
“You said you were going camping. It seems you had another purpose.”
At Kang Yeyoung’s straightforward remark, the two of them cleared their throats and, blushing, looked in different directions.
When their daughter is so quick-witted, it’s truly awkward.
