“Aigo….”
Kim Ye-rim.
She, known as Mrs. Kim Ye-rim or Mom to Da-eun, dramatically clutched her waist.
“Am I getting old…?”
In her early twenties.
You could say she’s young considering she met someone she loved, got married, and had a child, putting her among the younger parents.
But relative to other parents of children about the same age, being young still doesn’t mean her age was insignificant.
“My daughter hasn’t even shown her face. Sigh, when you get old, you just have to die.”
Ye-rim, with a face that looked much younger than her age, muttered those words while busily moving along.
Since her only daughter didn’t show her face, she thought she might as well go visit her.
It had been quite some time since she last saw Da-eun, so the side dishes she had prepared for her must all be gone by now.
Clunk!
The side dish containers clashed noisily inside the shopping bag draped over her shoulder.
“She’s probably just too lazy to eat properly. What’s she going to do with her bad health…”
Though the illness that had tormented Da-eun was long gone, Ye-rim still saw her daughter as a helpless, fragile child.
She carried a bunch of things and headed to her daughter’s house.
“Hmm?”
Surely it was a mess again.
Thinking that, Ye-rim opened the door and was taken aback.
The room wasn’t perfectly tidy, but it was surprisingly organized.
There were more items than the last time Ye-rim visited, but the room was actually in better shape than before.
“Did I tell her I was coming?”
It wasn’t a sudden decision to visit, so that thought puzzled her.
After a brief moment of consideration, Ye-rim shrugged.
It wasn’t like it looked like a pigsty, so what did it matter?
She thought that her daughter must have finally matured and put the side dishes she brought into the refrigerator.
“Oh, why are there so many snacks? Eating this stuff isn’t good for you, you know.”
Frowning in disapproval, she continued tidying up.
“By the way, where did she go again?”
After the side dish containers were all put away in the fridge and the shopping bag was empty, another question crept into Ye-rim’s mind.
If she didn’t care for her daughter, she wouldn’t have come all the way over to drop off side dishes, so she was definitely interested.
She simply knew that Da-eun enjoyed wandering around a lot, so she just let it be.
“I hope she’s thinking about getting married….”
As she secretly wished her daughter would start building a nest soon.
But knowing that there were more things her daughter couldn’t do than could, she couldn’t bring herself to stop her from doing what she wanted.
So today, Ye-rim swallowed her frustration.
Thinking if Da-eun would return with a refined groom from her travels.
“Phew… I’m back!”
Speak of the devil, the front door opened and the very person Ye-rim had just been thinking about walked in.
“Hey, so you’re back?”
With a pout of disappointment, Ye-rim’s voice was brightened further by her daughter’s cheerful tone, and she beamed a smile.
As she rushed to the entrance to meet her daughter, a familiar face caught her eye.
“…Oh my?”
Along with that, a little pink girl was staring up at her with wary eyes while clutching a load of stuff tightly.
*
“I’m not sure if it’s okay since I made it after a long time. How is it, does it suit your taste? It’s not too hard, is it?”
“Uh… yes….”
“Fufu… Your speech is strange! You didn’t say ‘goo goo ga ga,’ did you?”
…Like I’d ever say that.
I shot a glare at Da-eun, who was spouting nonsense.
Even the first time I met Edel, I had blurted out familiar words without hesitation, but doing so in front of the woman… well, Da-eun’s mom—wasn’t so easy.
What can I say… she had an aura that was hard to read.
Chewing on a cookie and watching the surroundings, she said with a warm smile.
“If it feels unfamiliar, it’s okay to be casual with me.”
“Uh, um….”
“How about calling me… hmm… Auntie?”
“Wait a minute!”
The giggling Da-eun interrupted.
“Not Auntie! What about this? Kana is my little sister, so you call her Mom. Want to try? Mo… Mom!”
Smack!
“Mom? What are you on about! Stop messing around and behave!”
“Ugh, can’t take a joke….”
Da-eun groaned while clutching her face that had just been smacked.
What a delightful sight, made me feel all warm inside just looking at it.
However, even with Mama’s spicy hand, Da-eun couldn’t be knocked down.
Before long, recovering from her injury, Da-eun shot back up, protesting.
“Mom, wouldn’t it be nice if you had a cute daughter like Kana too! You should be thankful to Mrs. Kim Ye-rim!”
“Wow.”
Is this what they call a brat that’s too virtuous on the internet?
My admiration for her bold statement was cut short when Auntie nodded in agreement.
“Well, that’s not wrong.”
“…?”
…Aren’t you supposed to disagree?
For a moment, my thoughts went blank at the unexpected response.
“Oh, right.”
I had forgotten that the person in front of me was Da-eun’s mom due to her warm smile.
So, I understood.
Thinking that way, the confusion I had felt moments ago melted away like snow.
“But what about this girl… was it Kana?”
“Yeah.”
“Kana must have parents too. If she’s so cute, her parents must treasure her, so if she calls me Mom, that would hurt her real parents’ feelings; as a parent, I can’t let that happen.”
“…Huh?”
“…”
Da-eun swallowed hard.
I was completely fine, but her gaze towards me turned pitiful for some reason.
“…What’s wrong?”
Judging by what I had seen so far, Auntie’s perceptiveness seemed to be on the sharp side.
And just as I suspected, noticing the atmosphere, she carefully asked.
“Um… that’s, I mean….”
“Parents… are gone.”
I had said to be casual, but still felt a bit awkward.
Fumbling over my words possibly led Da-eun to misinterpret my discomfort, her expression tinted with pity.
I truly didn’t mind.
While it was true that I didn’t have pleasant memories of the parents who gave birth to me, they had faded a lot over time.
With thoughts of father… Garid still lingering in a corner of my heart, I had resolved myself not to be stuck in the past.
“…Huh?”
“My parents died a long time ago, and my father passed away a few years back.”
“…Parents? Father?”
Auntie’s eyes spun, unable to keep up with all the information that came pouring out.
“…Mom. Wait, come here for a second.”
Seeing this unfold, Da-eun pulled her mom away into the room.
I could have listened in, but I didn’t feel like putting in the effort, so I waited.
Not long after, the previously shut door creaked open, and Auntie returned to sit in front of me, her eyes tinted a slightly reddish hue.
“Is there anything you want to eat?”
“?”
“Or is Da-eun bothering you? If she does, let me know right away. I’ll give her a good talking to.”
“Ah, Mom!”
The once gentle atmosphere now became even warmer.
Listening to that sweet voice felt like I was melting, and I tugged on Da-eun’s clothes.
Then, lowering my voice just enough for Da-eun to hear, I asked.
“…What did you say?”
“I just told her a bit about Kana’s past. I couldn’t say it as is, so I changed it a bit… Oh, wait! I just realized I shared Kana’s story without asking her permission. Sorry….”
“No, that’s fine. If Da-eun hadn’t said anything, I would have. So that part doesn’t matter…”
“Our mom tends to be quite sensitive.”
“Seems like it.”
Whisper, whisper.
I received the inside scoop on what went down with Da-eun.
Even I felt my past wasn’t the best one.
However, I thought about how I should react to it, and perhaps it was a bit overblown from their perspective.
A bad past doesn’t necessarily mean an unusual one.
In Silia, many people had stories similar to mine, and many had even worse pasts than I did.
A long time ago, the street gang I was part of was a prime example of that.
“Well, that’s just in Silia. If something like that happened in Korea, it would be a massive uproar.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
That does make sense.
Given that the worlds are different, what one feels must differ too.
“You’re getting help instead of helping this child; what are you thinking? Ugh…!”
“I had my reasons!”
“Reasons? What kind of reasons! What does a child think they can do, asking for help like that, and acting all high and mighty?!”
“Ouch, ouch!”
“…I’m not a child!”
I really wasn’t sure how I explained it, but watching Da-eun earnestly taking those hits made me think it was for the best.
As long as the result is good, that’s all that matters.
“…That’s not good at all!”
I swear I heard Da-eun shout that, but I thought it might be my imagination.
*
Did my past make that deep an impression?
“You’re planning to live with Kana from now on?”
“Yeah. I do have relatives, but they say they’re too busy to care for her properly. So I decided I’d look after her.”
“Really? Well done!”
Even though she heard a stranger would be living with her daughter, she accepted it cheerfully.
There was an awkward explanation for when Adele became my relative, but I managed to hold that back for clarity’s sake.
“Well then, you’ll need more side dishes! Living together means you’ll need more money. How about I give you some pocket money since it’s been a while?”
“No, I’m good. You know I earn well, right?”
Not only that but she even offered to help out.
Even with Da-eun suggesting they could manage with what they had, my mom still went grocery shopping and prepared a feast.
“Seeing you eat well is a nice sight. Here, want to try this too?”
“….”
“Mom, Kana doesn’t eat vegetables.”
“Oh, picky eating isn’t good…”
Throughout the meal, Auntie’s eyes were glued to me, illuminating even the dining table.
It would be a lie to say it wasn’t a bit burdensome…
But still, it wasn’t that bad.
“Auntie is leaving now, so if Da-eun bothers you, do tell me. Did you save my number?”
“Yeah.”
“If someone bothers you…?”
“Yeah, yeah. If anything happens, call me. I’ll come by again soon.”
“Not happening! Don’t come!”
Ignoring Da-eun’s protests, Auntie stepped into the elevator.
Watching the door close and the elevator descend, Da-eun grumbled.
“Geez, I can’t tell who my real daughter is. If she’s going to act like that, why did she scold me?”
“Da-eun.”
“Yeah?”
“How old do you think I am?”
She was looking at me like I was some kind of child.
Did she embellish that too?
When I asked with that meaning, Da-eun shook her head.
“I wasn’t lying about that! Regardless, it’s true that Kana isn’t an adult. Mom thought she needed to look after you because of that.”
“Yeah… got it.”
“Besides, Kana’s pretty short too.”
“Drop dead.”
Thwack!
“Ow!”
Why did I even bother adding one more comment and getting hit?
Like Auntie did earlier, I too ignored Da-eun, clutching my side as I went back inside the house.
“…”
It might just be my imagination, but the house felt warmer today than usual.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
Terimakasih