My Dream is to Get My Own House

There was a strange atmosphere surrounding the first couple.

“Nice to meet you.”

First, the man.

He had a stunningly beautiful appearance that overwhelmed the audience, but his body was bloated.

“Oh, that person must be Dylan,” Emmanuel observed Dylan with narrowed eyes.

In his eyes, Dylan was a rather dangerous man.

His outward appearance seemed cold, and his inner thoughts appeared equally ominous.

“It’s not easy for the first season, not easy at all,” Emmanuel thought to himself.

Emmanuel glanced at Ishael, Dylan’s wife, who was maintaining social distancing by his side.

“Hello, honored administrative officials.”

“That’s right. Yes, yes. I am Emmanuel, the director of the Housing Management Bureau.”

“I’m Ishael. I’m also an administrative official!”

“Oh, I see.”

Immanuel swept his gaze up and down Ishael.

He was someone who judges others based solely on their appearance.

There was no particular reason; it was just the most convenient way for him.

Within his sharp vision, he noticed Ishael’s well-combed messy hair and large round glasses.

“Oh, my goodness. There’s a bureaucrat perfectly suited for the job.”

Anyone could tell at a glance that she was a bureaucrat. What a face!

Moreover, she was wearing a neat checkered shirt and straight pants!

It was an outfit that could score two hundred out of a hundred.

Unbeknownst to himself, Emmanuel found himself mentally giving Ishael extra points and was taken aback.

“Let’s calm down. They say there’s something called physiognomy… But someone who looks as scary as that would never marry them, right?”

Furthermore, the two of them were not even holding hands.

They were completely different from the stereotypical image of a newlywed couple.

Emmanuel’s suspicion was further heightened at that moment.

Ishael shrugged her shoulders and asked, “Are we the first couple? By the way, what’s with that placard over there?”

“Placard?”

“It boldly says, ‘Let’s go on a picnic.’ The slogan is so cool. I want to use it later.”

Her compliment struck deep into Emmanuel’s heart.

“Oh.”

Emmanuel had never received praise, at least not from a marketing perspective.

He had never achieved any significant results.

People who had never received praise instinctively knew.

Whether that person was genuinely praising them or fake praising them.

“You truly have a discerning eye.”

Would someone marry a person who exudes such a terrifying aura?

Enough was enough.

“It’s a good sense, isn’t it? Doesn’t everyone like such slogans?”

Unbelievable.

Accepted.

“Oh, wait. Let’s calm down!”

It was the moment of fruition for the project.

In an attempt to calm himself, Emmanuel quickly clenched his teeth. 

“Yes, I see.”

However, his lips had already loosened.

Emmanuel firmly sealed his hesitant mouth.

From a distance, three other couples who had received townhouses were approaching, apart from Dylan and Ishael.

* * *

The heart of the administrative official Ishael raced.

“How did I come up with such a great comment? It’s really impressive!”

… That’s what she thought.

But soon, the voices of the gathered newlywed couples sighing echoed in her ears.

“What on earth is that slogan? ‘Boldly go on a picnic’?”

“That’s strange.”

“Hey, honey, don’t look at that kind of thing. Just look at me. Um, this way.”

I squinted my eyes and looked towards the newlywed couples.

Even coming here, my lips were already puffed up from engaging in excessive affectionate behavior.

I tightly closed my eyes and looked at Dylan standing next to me.

“Dylan.”

“Yes, Ishael.”

It felt awkward without using ‘Sir’ (Honorific suffix for a person’s name), but I gathered my resolve, recalling the resolution we made last night.

“Sir Dylan, Mrs. Ishael. It feels a bit strange to address each other like this.”

“…Yes, then.”

“How about calling each other by name?”

“Okay, I’m fine with that.”

“We should at least be prepared to hold hands.”

“…”

“Even if you don’t like it, we have to do it. Come on, let’s join hands! You have to be strong, Sir Dylan!”

I practiced hard last night, but the reality was different.

Amidst the lovey-dovey couples, I felt like a speck of cosmic dust.

“We’re like a separate branch that has blossomed in between them.”

In the midst of the newlywed couples, who were blooming with happy laughter like cherry blossoms on a spring day, Sir Dylan and I stood out with an alien atmosphere.

Moreover, there were constantly strange people catching our attention at the corner of our eyes.

“Sweetheart.”

“Darling, give me a kiss quickly.”

“You’re such a hopeless case, honey!”

A woman with a flushed face full of embarrassment punched a man.

Thump!

The man, who had a body as weak as a small fish, staggered and fell forward.

“Ouch!”

Wow, she’s strong.

Dylan next to me muttered coldly with a firm expression.

“Are all newlywed couples…like that?”

I’ve never observed newlywed couples up close before, but…

“No, it seems a bit excessive…”

We had a disgusted expression.

On the other hand, all the newlywed couples were wearing happy expressions.

They kissed but couldn’t let go of each other’s hands.

“Wait, is it okay to kiss  in public like that? Isn’t that an indecent act?”

I’m going crazy, absolutely crazy.

I felt a sense of crisis that I might be mistaken for a fake couple.

But just as our faces turned pale, Emmanuel sternly cleared his throat.

“The administrative officials have laid out mats under the nettle tree. Please sit down and enjoy the flower viewing. Let’s begin!”

Wait, why would they say “Let’s begin” while doing flower viewing?

“Hehe, the flower viewing is starting!”

“Come sit here quickly, darling!”

…It seemed like that was the atmosphere in this neighborhood.

“If we’re going to get criticized, we should. They even gave us such a nice house in the capital during these times.”

I thought as I watched the fluttering flower petals in the air.

Ah, the view is truly beautiful.

* * *

The administrative officials who planned the picnic program all seemed to be exhausted office workers.

“If they told us to play some dirty Pepero game, I would’ve just run away.”

It was ordinary.

Three administrative officials and four newlywed couples sat around the picnic mat under the tree.

They ate snacks.

That’s it.

I looked around.

Already, there were newlywed couples feeding each other lunch boxes that caught my eye.

I glanced at Dylan.

He had a calm demeanor as if he possessed some kind of secret weapon.

But I was different.

“Now that we’re entering the real deal, I simply can’t handle it, it’s too cringeworthy!”

Pedro and I had been dating for a long time, but Pedro was a playboy.

“He never even held hands with me.”

Maybe that’s why I didn’t have immunity to this kind of relationship…

“Sweetheart, aah!”

“Aah!”

“What will you do if I eat your finger, honey?”

My stomach churned.

But Emmanuel seemed to have a strong stomach.

He looked at me with a pleased expression.

“Is it okay like this?”

Both Dylan and I were incredibly stiff.

Our rigid appearance stimulated the already sensitive administrative officials who had come to filter out fake couples on a golden weekend tainted by the dirty reality.

“The two of you have an unusually low level of affectionate behavior.”

Next to Director Emmanuel, who introduced himself as Emmanuel.

An unknown man in his thirties laughed insidiously like a snake.

“And you don’t even take out your lunch boxes.”

The reason we didn’t take out the lunch boxes was simple.

I thought I should feed Dylan…

Damn it.

What the hell is this bizarre situation?

I just wanted to buy a house and live independently, but now I have to show affectionate behavior that I don’t even have!

I looked at the flower petals floating in the air.

“This is like climbing one mountain after another.”

But to be honest.

Even in my own opinion, our relationship seemed so superficial.

“It’s strange.”

Through the administrative official’s words, it felt like a partial death sentence was handed down.

Everything went dark before my eyes.

I wanted to buy a house, so I even had a contract marriage.

If we don’t show affectionate behavior like this, the house will fly away, the world will fly away…!

This is going to be difficult!

Desperately, I recalled the behavior of the newlywed couples I saw earlier.

“Well, what’s strange?”

I shifted my hips to the side.

Inhaling deeply…

I stood close to Dylan and crossed my arms.

Since we’ve come this far…

“I’ll show you some affectionate behavior from now on.”

It was when I crossed my arms forcefully.

Dylan’s body stiffened like a Lego.

“What, what’s wrong? I have to cooperate with Dylan, don’t I?”

If his body stiffened like a plaster mold, it would be a problem.

Our lack of physical intimacy is noticeable!

Feeling anxious, I lightly poked his side with my elbow.

“Right, sweetheart?”

At that moment, Dylan looked down at me.

But he didn’t say anything.

As the silence continued, the administrative official tilted his head in confusion.

“Seems like it isn’t you doing this, right?”

I threw a desperate gaze at Dylan through my glasses.

And slowly…

His gaze transformed, as if to say that I am adorable.

If I didn’t know it was acting, I would have thought he liked me. It was a natural and warm change in his gaze.

“Yes, sweetheart.”

…What did I just hear?

I doubted my ears because it seemed like a mistake.

“Yes? What is it?”

Deception? Death? Cutting? Stabbing?

“Surely, it’s not ‘baby,’ right?”

Receiving my trembling gaze, Dylan closed his eyes and then…

As if he had been endlessly repeating the word ‘baby’ since before the founding of the empire, he shouted it with force.

“Baby, let’s go.”

I looked at Dylan with a trembling gaze.

It was a very proud expression, as if fulfilling a long-cherished wish.

What on earth is this awkward nickname?

And where are we even going?