Studying, exercising, and practicing piano like a squirrel on a wheel went on, and before I knew it, winter had passed, and spring had arrived.
Every day of practice paid off, and my piano skills improved so much that I finished the Bayer method in just four months, while others took a year.
Seeing me play the piano every day, my mother finally sold the electric piano and got me a wooden one.
“Do-hee, you’re getting really good now!”
The time spent playing the piano against the teacher’s chest is an incredible healing for me, bringing joy to my boring daily life.
I pretended to answer, turning my face and burying it into her chest.
“It’s because you taught me so well, teacher.”
“Oh my, how can you say such lovely things? I want to kidnap you and raise you as my daughter!”
“Sure!”
“Waaah, new mommy, give me food!”
“Haha, our Do-hee will soon advance to Czerny, huh?”
“Hehe.”
After our warm piano lesson ended, mom and the teacher had a small tea party.
“So, I think Do-hee can start learning Czerny from next week.”
“Oh my, already?”
“Yes, with her talent and dedication, she’s picking it up quickly.”
“Well, our daughter practiced every single day from the first day. I didn’t think she’d be learning Czerny in just four months; she really worked hard!”
I felt proud of my consistent practice over the four months.
“Yeah, she might even go to a competition.”
“Really, at this rate, I think she might win in half a year.”
Mom looked at me with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“Our Do-hee is so wonderful that I think I need to give her a reward. Come here, my princess.”
Mom scooped me up while I was calmly munching on snacks and showered me with kisses.
“Stop it! You’ll leave lipstick marks!”
Mom’s kisses are better than Dad’s, but those lipstick marks are just everywhere.
After the torture disguised as compliments ended, Mom and the teacher continued their simple conversation.
Once the tea party was over, Mom and I saw the teacher off and came back inside.
“Daughter~”
Mom looked at me again with that mischievous gleam.
Feeling like something was off, I scurried under the bed.
Right now, my small body makes it the best escape route from Mom and Dad’s touches, hiding under the sofa or bed.
“My princess, why are you hiding in there? It’s dusty; come out quickly~”
“The look in your eyes is dustier!”
“Mom’s not going to kiss you this time for real~ Please come out~”
“Come out, please~”
“I don’t believe you!!”
“This time I really mean it, I promise, okay~”
“Is that a promise?”
“Then~ come out quickly~”
Believing Mom’s words, I crawled out from under the bed.
The moment I came out, Mom scooped me up like a little kitten.
“I got you! I can’t resist giving my daughter kisses. Mwah mwah mwah mwah!”
“Blehhhhh!”
After enduring Mom’s torture for a while, I headed to the living room, turned on YouTube, and lay on the sofa.
“Is our princess pouting~?”
“…”
Mom tried to call me, but I ignored her, glued to YouTube.
“Oh dear, Mommy was wrong~ I just wanted to kiss you because you’re so pretty and amazing.”
“…”
“Instead, I found something that our princess might like. Do you want to hear about it?”
“…”
“Are you not going to listen?”
“…What is it?”
“Shall our daughter shoot an ad?”
“After not talking about it for a while, you’re bringing it up now?”
“This is the first time I’ve heard of a proposal, but this time it’s from a famous large company.”
“Really? Then let’s do it. What kind of ad?”
“Well, I don’t really know yet, but should we meet them first?”
“Okay.”
Seeing that I seemed to be in a better mood, Mom lay down next to me on the sofa and hugged me.
“Daughter, will you be angry if I kiss you?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh come on, let’s kiss~”
“I said no.”
“Fine, whatever. Mwah mwah mwah.”
“Blehhhh!”
A few days later, Mom and I went to a café near our house to meet the advertising company representative.
As soon as we arrived at the café, an uncle sitting down recognized me and approached to chat.
“Oh, you’ve arrived. So you’re Do-hee, nice to meet you. You look even more like a doll in person than in the pictures~”
“Hello.”
“And this is your mother, right?”
“Oh yes, I’m Do-hee’s mom. Nice to meet you.”
“Shall we order something to drink first? I’ll take care of it, what would you like?”
“Ah, thank you, I’d like a hot Americano, please.”
“And Do-hee?”
“A hot chocolate.”
As I mentioned hot chocolate, Mom looked at me and smiled with an ‘adorable’ expression.
“Haha, our Do-hee always acts like an adult but has a child’s taste, huh?”
I glared at Mom and said, “Well, I’m a kid, so of course I have a kid’s taste. Scientifically, children are designed to love sugar.”
“Hehe, our little one~ Come here, Mommy will hug you.”
I don’t particularly love sweet things.
But then again, a kid can’t exactly be sipping coffee or tea either.
“Do-hee, Uncle is going to buy you a cake, do you want to eat it?”
“Yeah, strawberry cake please.”
– Puhuhup
Mom covered her mouth and laughed.
Ah.
When the order came out, we started talking about the advertisement while sipping our drinks.
“First, I want to know what kind of advertisement it is.”
“Oh right, to put it simply, it’s an aloe drink advertisement.”
“Oh, an aloe drink ad?”
“Yes, aloe has such a healthy and fresh image, so it’s good to have a cute kid as the model.”
“I bet there were a lot of moms wanting their kids to do it.”
“That’s right. Usually, we hold auditions, but after I accidentally saw Do-hee’s picture, I thought she’s a perfect fit for the ad, no need for auditions at all.”
To me, what the advertisement is doesn’t matter.
“Mom, let me hear your ear.”
“Huh? Do you have something to say?”
When mom leaned in, I whispered.
– How much are they paying? That’s the most important thing, ask that first.
“Ugh, our little princess shouldn’t care about money so soon. Will you get scolded?”
What’s this? Mom talks about scolding today.
I should ask.
“Uncle, so how much do you pay for the advertisement?”
“Hey, Do-hee!”
“Hahaha, you were curious about that? How much do you want?”
“I’ve checked everything too. First, Jessie.”
“Kekeke, well, the advertising fee is set at 2.5 million won for 6 months since it’s a big corporation.”
“Come on, if it’s a big corporation, they should pay a bit more! 2.5 million? Just pay a little more, I’ll act fabulously.”
“Do-hee, stop it already! Adults are talking here, who’s being rude? I’m sorry, my kid grew up only being pampered.”
“No, she’s just cute. Haha.”
“That’s right, if you’re cute, you get forgiven.”
“I guess I have to scold you when we get home, Do-hee.”
“It’s because you keep teasing me, it’s not my fault.”
The meeting went on in such a good atmosphere, and the advertising fee was settled at the initially set price.
If I’d charmed them a bit more, I might have gotten more, but thanks to mom, I couldn’t. Ugh.
“Then I’ll let you know the location by text before the shooting day, so see you at the shooting site in two weeks. Do-hee, take care~”
“Yes, goodbye Uncle.”
“Great job today. See you next time.”
On the way home in mom’s car, her gaze felt ominous in a different way.
This time, she must be really planning to scold me.
Well, I was a bit rude this time.
I wasn’t gentlemanly.
I asked mom with clueless eyes like a baby.
“Mom, what’s for dinner tonight?”
“I don’t know, eat what’s there.”
“Is Mom upset?”
“No, she’s not upset; she’s angry. Get ready to be scolded when we get home.”
“Come on, with such a pretty daughter, how can you scold me?”
Mom’s lips twitch.
“Huh?”
Even though I was an adult man, I’d quickly adapted to being a 5-year-old princess, no, a 5-year-old girl, so I had no shame.
No shame.
Really, no shame.
No shame at all.
“Ugh?”
“Hmph, being cute won’t get you off the hook.”
Looks like she’s really ready to scold me.
I decided to pretend to be cowed until we got home.
As soon as I entered the house, I dashed to my room and crawled under the bed.
“Do-hee!!!”
Oh, did you think I would just sit there and take it? You’re mistaken.
“Are you not coming out?”
No matter how much Mom reaches out, I’m too deep under the bed for her hand to reach me.
“If it’s just you doing this, when will you come out?”
“I’ll come out if you promise not to scold me.”
“Just come out and let’s get this over with. You have to study and play the piano, don’t you?”
“I’ve done enough of that, so I don’t have to do it today.”
“But you have to eat, right?”
“I don’t know; I’ll just starve.”
Mom keeps trying to persuade me, but it’s no use.
When persuasion doesn’t work, Mom starts threatening.
“If you keep this up, I’ll take all the advertising money Do-hee gets!”
“I’m going!!! Is that even a thing to say!”
“What kind of attitude is that? Hurry up and come out; I won’t scold you much.”
“Really? You won’t scold me much?”
“Yeah, really. Just come out.”
“You lied during the day, so if you do that again, our trust will go down. Be careful!”
This time, Mom’s eyes waver.
I knew it.
“See? It’s a lie. If you keep this up, will your daughter trust you?”
“Sigh, fine. This time I’ll let it go, but next time you have to be polite, okay?”
“Okay, thanks!”
After a dramatic compromise with Mom, I became a free person and could stick to my routine until dinner.
That evening at dinner,
Mom tells Dad about what happened during the day.
“So, I couldn’t even scold her. Sigh.”
“Haha, guess it’s my turn to scold her!”
“Huh???”
Dad stands up.
“Don’t!”
“Don’t do it!”
Ignoring my words, Dad picks me up while I’m quietly eating.
Smooch.
“Okay, that’s enough.”
Smooch, smooch.
“Get going!!! You rascal, now you can’t stop!”
Smooch, smooch, smooch, smooch.
“Stop it!”
Smooch, smooch, smooch, smooch, smooch.
“Mom, help me! I’m sorry!!!! Aaaah!”
After enduring this torturous ordeal, I trudged to my room and collapsed on my bed.
‘Guess I shouldn’t mess around anymore…’
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