“I was all dressed up and ready to go, yet here I am.”
Nonchalantly, I brought the kimchi container filled with leftovers and put it in the fridge.
But leaving it in there felt a bit unsatisfying, so I took it back out.
I placed a small pan on the induction cooker and turned up the heat, then put on a pair of vinyl gloves before grabbing a handful of the kimchi mix and gently placing it in the pan.
Once the white steam began to rise, I aimlessly shuffled through the small pan, lightly frying just a bit until it was properly cooked, then popped it into my mouth.
Tender and chewy duck skin and meat.
“Delicious.”
The unique sweet moisture oozing from the chives mixed in my mouth, creating a flavor that made me want to savor it.
I planned to just have a taste, but the urge to pull out some white rice from the fridge and heat it in the microwave was overwhelming.
It was quite a tease, but I decided to save the meal for when Siyeon joined me later and started cleaning the house, which I had been neglecting for the past few days.
I lightly attached an electrostatic cleaning cloth to the mop and swept the floor once, then tossed the blackened cloth into the trash bin.
Next, I attached a wet mop cloth and gave the floor a vigorous wipe.
Just like before, I took off the now-black cleaning cloth and tossed it into the trash.
These days, I find it annoying to pull out the vacuum; this quick method works just fine.
Plus, I didn’t even have to empty the dustbin… so convenient.
With the cleaning done and not too much laundry piled up, I flopped onto the sofa and felt the muggy warmth enveloping me.
“It’s getting hot already.”
Early June, and I could still hold out with the sound of cicadas absent and just enough wind from the fan.
The problem was the summer vacation, which half exists to escape the heat, but the real sweltering heat hit right after the break ends.
Starting in early July, it’d be scorching hot, yet I still had to go back to school then.
I get it in my head that there’s no changing the school schedule, but my body was already screaming in anticipation of the sweat that would come.
“I really, really hate this….”
The gentle warmth of the sofa’s soft fabric felt more like annoyance at this time.
Finally, I got off the sofa and lay down on the relatively cool floor, embracing the breeze from the fan.
Lying on my stomach felt uncomfortable, so I refrained from it.
Comparing myself to my past life or childhood, I felt pent up due to various physical traits.
That time, which Siyeon and I were bound to face eventually.
Having personally experienced what was only spoken about, I couldn’t shake off the subtle discomfort.
It was a moment where I truly felt, “I really have become a woman…”
In the end, it’s this aching body in its pre-transformed state that suffers; transformation didn’t help at all.
“If only the transformation period wasn’t painful.”
I tried transforming at home to see if I could withstand it, but the pain returned right after I shifted back.
I was convinced that the only things I could cheat with transformation were cigarettes or alcohol.
It’s not so much to forget the pain but rather to willingly trash my body in exchange for pleasure, choosing the transformed body as a stand-in.
By the way, does the body I transform into get affected too?
Can I really push it so hard? Does nicotine and alcohol also fall under recovery?
As I pondered this, Gomteng flew around the room, scanning the house before reaching the drying rack and commenting.
“Mary, haven’t you picked up the laundry?”
“Just do it for me. I’m too lazy.”
Due to the rain that poured out of boredom, the drying rack sat forlornly in the living room.
The clothes that had been slightly damp just a few hours ago were now completely dry.
Thinking I was done, a sudden wave of annoyance hit me at the remaining house chores, and I ordered him to gather the laundry.
He hesitated for a moment, then subtly turned his head this way and opened his mouth, wanting something.
“So, can I have sweet and sour pork tomorrow?”
“You clever little rascal, fine.”
“Nice!”
Gomteng asked for sweet and sour pork in exchange for doing my chores.
In all honesty, asking for sweet and sour pork wasn’t a small price, but for his size, gathering the laundry was entirely reasonable…
‘Looks like he’s really gotten the hang of housework.’
And he was surprisingly skilled, folding pants and shirts neatly with his little body, twisting and turning, without getting creases.
I wondered if he had been practicing on his own; every time he wanted food, he looked for opportunities to help around the house.
Sure, it took longer than if a person did it, but if you thought of it as an automatic hunting system, the speed was justifiable.
And somehow, he knew how to differentiate between my clothes and Siyeon’s.
As I watched him fold the laundry, I noticed time slip away.
With the last laundry item stacked neatly, Gomteng proudly exclaimed.
“It’s all done!”
“That’s worth the sweet and sour pork.”
I gave Gomteng the best compliment I could muster before getting up.
I moved to put the laundry away in each of our rooms.
Since the most annoying part was taken care of, I felt motivated when it came to just putting things away.
Entering Siyeon’s room, I opened the drawer of the wardrobe to put things back.
On the bed, I noticed a school bag tossed carelessly and some plastic trash on the desk.
I could say, “Clean it up,” but at this point, it all looked the same.
This wouldn’t get sorted just by talking, so it had to wait until it became inconvenient for her to live with.
‘Huh?’
Then I suddenly caught sight of a large sketchbook.
Sitting all alone on the center of the desk, I opened it to see what was inside, out of curiosity.
What I found was Siyeon’s hand-drawn art that she had been so shy about sharing.
Not having any knowledge of art, I thought it was fascinating to see something that wasn’t simply a character copied from somewhere but actually resembled human figures.
With each page turned, the themes of the drawings shifted drastically; there were even “perfect” 3D drawings of spheres and cubes.
For someone like me, who couldn’t even draw square houses with triangular roofs, everything just looked impressive.
They all seemed well-drawn, but was there something wrong with my eyes?
Or was Siyeon’s benchmark for “showable drawings” set rather high?
Honestly, I didn’t know, but this was the artwork she was so embarrassed about.
I closed the sketchbook as if to indicate I hadn’t seen it and set it back in the center of the desk just as it was.
‘Should I finish my vacation homework?’
After putting the clothes into their respective closets, I headed toward my room with the thought of getting my vacation homework done.
The vacation time had shrunk considerably compared to before, yet homework still managed to accompany it.
What’s with cramming so much into just three weeks?
Reaching out toward the school bag that had been neglected, I wanted to take advantage of what remained of my vacation and rest at home.
Before I tackled the cumbersome academic tasks, I was presented with various assignments like science experiments and reading reports for impressive books, each subject demanding something different.
Though I complained about the hassle, upon reviewing, most of the tasks were easily found online.
Perhaps because of that, in this era of smartphones, I could wrap them up in just a few hours if I invested some time.
Of course, subjects like English, which made everything hand-written, offered no such leniency.
Writing down English words by hand? That’s insane.
Given they wouldn’t even do it themselves if it were up to them.
[Write your reflections after learning about zero waste.]
‘Hmm, reflections?’
My final vacation homework, science.
As I nearly finished it, I stumbled upon the question regarding zero waste, which involved thinking about the environment—a kind of initiative aimed at 100% recycling.
From what I gathered, this included activities like replacing plastic straws with paper ones and other such efforts.
They shout “eco-friendly,” “eco-friendly,” but ultimately arrive at one conclusion.
Scratch, scratch, the lead danced across the paper, writing something akin to a maxim.
“If China doesn’t disappear from the earth, it’s all in vain.”
Time and again, there’s this exhausting mantra about the environment.
Just for me, “I shouldn’t do anything.”
However, having encountered many truths and statistics on the internet, I couldn’t help but think.
What’s the point of me recycling a few grams when a continent dumps thousands of tons into the sea? I might as well be throwing my own trash away for a lifetime.
In the end, environmental issues won’t change unless major powers do.
No matter how many warnings experts give every summer, what does it matter when those who need to change turn a deaf ear?
‘What are they talking about?’
Having wrapped up all my homework, I was bored and decided to check my smartphone by pressing a button.
Entering the messenger app, I saw a group chat featuring “300+” messages.
It was, of course, the group chat of my classmates.
Only 34 new messages compared to the teacher’s group chat, which was a stark difference.
[Did anyone finish their vacation homework?]
[Looking for Sunhyuk to go to the PC cafe]
[Can’t make it, sorry]
[Anyone up for Maolre?]
[Me]
[What did you use?]
A typical middle school group chat where each person shared whatever they wanted, and those who clicked found common ground and talked among themselves.
As usual, it was a loose vibe where they called out to each other with no strict order.
Occasionally, I saw Siyeon chatting with her friends, but it would often dwindle after a few exchanges.
There didn’t seem to be particularly valuable discussions, so I pressed the back button and left, heading to start a private chat with Siyeon.
A simple request for her to leave a message when she got the chance before things wrapped up.
However, that message’s “1” wasn’t going away until Siyeon returned from her academy.
As I waited by the entrance, I heard the door open and went to check, barefoot.
“Did you not see the message?”
“Well…”
After waiting and waiting without any sign of her returning, I asked if she hadn’t seen the message, my anxiety pouring out with each question…
Siyeon, cautious, held out her phone, now showing a screen with more white than black, thanks to a cracked display.
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