Shi-hyun, feeling bad for not buying Jae-won a toy, started rummaging through the storage room. Toys that Saet-byeol and Shi-u had played with and lost interest in, ending up in the storage room.
He was trying to find something among them that Jae-won would enjoy playing with.
,What's all the commotion from morning?"
The kids were still asleep, and he was making a fuss all by himself. He definitely didn't buy a toy for only Jae-won yesterday. Is it bothering him that much?
,What does Jae-won like these days?"
,He likes cars or dinosaurs, things like that."
Especially cars. The toy he bought with his allowance this time was also a car.
,A car, huh...."
Shi-hyun rummaged through the storage room again. What's he expecting to find? Actually, there were a lot of things in the storage room. Things I couldn't bear to throw away and just piled up... Shi-hyun searched there for quite a while.
Before I knew it, the kids woke up and were clamoring for breakfast.
,Shi-hyun-ah, eat breakfast before you do that."
,Okay."
Looking into the storage room, I saw that some things had been taken out. Are those the things Shi-hyun found? Shi-hyun immediately went to the bathroom to wash off the dust.
After a slightly late breakfast, the kids started playing on their own. Shi-u with his new game console, Saet-byeol with clay making, and Jae-won playing with his car toy next to me.
,Jae-won-ah, how about this?"
Shi-hyun brought a toy out of the storage room. It was a toy about the same size as Jae-won. Did we have something like that? It was in a box, so I had no idea what kind of toy it was.
,Ta-da."
Shi-hyun took the toy out of the box. What came out was a large building? Something similar, and something like a road.
Jae-won showed a little interest when he saw it.
,Now, if we combine the tracks like this...."
Shi-hyun started taking out the parts from the box and combining them.
,Ooh, what's this?"
Jae-won pressed a button on the central building. Then, the car on the track started moving. The car moved at a moderate speed along the track, and when it reached the unfinished track, it escaped outside.
,Ah!"
Jae-won made a sound of regret and went to catch the escaped car.
,Isn't it amazing?"
Shi-hyun diligently assembled the track, and when it was completed, he handed the toy to Jae-won.
,Here, let's put the car on here."
,Okay!"
Jae-won, who had become interested, put the car he was holding back on the track.
,Now, you press this button here."
When I pressed the button that Jae-won had pressed earlier, the car started and began to run along the track.
,Ooh!"
Jae-won was watching it, amazed. The car that went along the track went around once and arrived back at the central building. Then, the elevator automatically operated and stood at the starting line.
,Oh! It arrived!"
,Isn't it amazing?"
,Yeah!"
Jae-won was excited and pressed the button again. Shi-hyun smiled, as if he had finally done it. And he brought another toy. This time, the box was also large.
,What is it this time?"
What kind of toy is it? This time, it was also a car. A large car that the kids could ride in.
,Ah!"
I remembered! Was it six or seven years ago? It was something Dad bought for Shi-u. They called it a children's electric car? It was a car that the child could drive themselves. It was something that could only be used in a large park, but Shi-u didn't like it very much, so it ended up in the storage room.
,A car!"
,It's something Jae-won can drive himself."
,Drive?"
,Do you want to go outside and try it?"
,Um... no!"
Shi-hyun looked shocked.
,Why?"
,I don't want to ride it."
I think Shi-u was like that too; he doesn't seem interested in riding it himself. Shi-hyun, shocked, became stubborn and cleared it away, bringing another toy. They were all things that Shi-u or Saet-byeol had received.
Shi-hyun brought out as many as six toys, but Jae-won only showed interest for a moment.
,Why...."
Shi-hyun was being pathetic in the middle of the living room, and Jae-won was playing with his own toy.
,Bung-bung."
Seeing Jae-won rolling his car on the sofa and Shi-hyun being pathetic at the same time made me laugh.
,Alright, alright, clean up the living room quickly."
Shi-hyun didn't answer. He's probably dead.
I left the pathetic Shi-hyun and put the toys back in the boxes to tidy up.
,Why...."
,Tsk tsk."
After putting all the toys in the boxes, I tried to get Shi-hyun to come to his senses.
,Stop being pathetic and clean up quickly; the living room is dirty."
Dust had fallen from the boxes, and the air was stuffy, so I wanted to clean up quickly.
,Okay."
Shi-hyun started cleaning up slowly with a gloomy face. While Shi-hyun was cleaning up, I vacuumed and ventilated the room.
In the end, Shi-hyun, who failed to win Jae-won's heart, was pathetic all day long.
*
As time passed and summer arrived, we got busier. This time, Shi-u was going to the national competition, and we had to follow along to support him.
Shi-u said he could go alone, but how could we send our child alone? The problem was the ambiguous timing.
It was summer, but it was early July, and elementary schools hadn't even started their vacation yet. I was wondering why he was participating in a competition on such an ambiguous date, but it turns out there's another competition in October after this one.
It was a choice to participate in two competitions, and Shi-u understood and wanted it himself.
,You just stay home and take care of the kids."
,What?"
I flared up at Shi-hyun's words.
,What about Saet-byeol and Jae-won? Are you going to take them? Saet-byeol is also an elementary school student."
Ugh... It wouldn't have been a problem to miss a few days of kindergarten, but not elementary school. In Shi-u's case, it's for participating in the competition, so discretion is applied, but not for Saet-byeol.
,Okay...."
In the end, I raised the white flag first, and Shi-hyun decided to take on the support for Shi-u. The only thing I'm worried about is that Saet-byeol has to go to school alone while Shi-u is away.
,Saet-byeol-ah, you can go to school alone, right?"
,Yeah, don't worry."
Well, she comes back home by herself just fine, so she can go to school too. She's already been going to school for over three months.
,Yeah, Mom believes in Saet-byeol."
,Tch, you asked because you didn't believe me."
Ugh, Saet-byeol's sharp words hurt my heart.
,Sorry...."
Shi-u and Shi-hyun were busy discussing what to do, and Jae-won was dozing off.
It wasn't bedtime yet, but it seemed like he had been playing hard outside in the morning. He's been hooked on riding his bike these days, so he plays for over three hours once he goes out.
,Mom...."
,Yes, why are you calling, my son?"
,Sleepy...."
,Okay."
I picked up Jae-won and took him to the room. How cute is it that he's still acting like this at his age!?
I laid him on the bed and patted his stomach gently, and when I tried to leave the room, Jae-won grabbed me.
,Sleep together."
,Sleep together?"
,Yeah...."
I had no choice but to lie down gently next to Jae-won.
,Okay, Mom's lying down."
Jae-won snuggled even closer into my arms. Why is he doing this? It was cute, but I was flustered. Jae-won fell asleep quickly. When I tried to slip away after letting him sleep for a while, he was holding onto my clothes tightly, so I couldn't.
,What can I do?"
I guess I'll just have to go to bed early. Jae-won wouldn't let go, so I had no choice but to keep lying down, and my eyelids slowly closed.
I fell asleep early and woke up earlier than usual, but the bed was a mess.
Shi-hyun was barely hanging on to the edge of the bed, and Saet-byeol was taking up space with her arms and legs spread wide.
Carefully, I got up, moved Saet-byeol a little more to the center to make space, and pushed Shi-hyun inside.
,Should I start giving Saet-byeol her own room soon...."
There were rooms in the house. If not, I could clean up the remaining space in Shi-u's room and make a place for Saet-byeol. Either way, it seemed like the time was coming for Saet-byeol to start sleeping separately.
After gently stroking Saet-byeol, I went out to the living room. I tidied up the living room and prepared breakfast, and that's where I found some strange things.
,Chicken box?"
I had tidied up and thrown it away, but I saw a chicken box. It seems they ordered it while Jae-won and I were asleep. If they were going to eat something like this, they could have just ordered it quickly and eaten it together; how stingy of them to eat it among themselves!
,Well, that kind of thing might have a different taste."
Hiding and eating secretly! It's definitely different when you eat like that.
When I looked in the refrigerator, there was leftover chicken.
,Shall I cook this for breakfast?"
The leftovers were fried and soy sauce boneless, so it was good to make into a side dish again. Should I make chicken mayo? I cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and lightly stir-fried it in a pan. I finely chopped onions and cabbage and stir-fried them with deli sauce. The last step was to make scrambled eggs, and then the preparation was complete!
After finishing the preparations, the kids started waking up one by one.
,Smells delicious...."
That's what they said as soon as they came out.
,You guys secretly ordered chicken yesterday, didn't you?"
,Ah, that...."
Shi-u started to read my expression at my words.
,I'm not scolding you; Dad told you to eat it anyway, right?"
If it wasn't Shi-hyun, it was Saet-byeol who was the culprit.
,Ahahaha...."
Shi-u laughed awkwardly. Anyway, he ate it, so he's an accomplice, I guess.
,Go wash up."
,Yes."
While Shi-u was washing up, Saet-byeol and Jae-won came out.
,Mom...."
Jae-won clung to my leg as soon as he woke up.
,Jae-won-ah, let's get ready to eat."
,Okay."
When I handed him the tableware, Jae-won immediately started setting the table. He's so used to it now that he does it so well.
,What's for breakfast?"
Saet-byeol seems curious about what's for breakfast today.
,The chicken we ate yesterday."
,Ah!"
Saet-byeol was flustered when she heard my words.
,It's okay."
,Hehe."
It was hard to say anything when I saw Saet-byeol smiling.
,Next time, let's eat when everyone's here."
,Yes."
Shi-hyun hadn't woken up yet, but I took care of the kids' meals first. I put rice in a large bowl, topped it with scrambled eggs and chicken, and then topped it with onions and cabbage stir-fried with deli sauce. I added mayonnaise and deli sauce, and finished it off with a light sprinkle of seaweed flakes.
,Here, it's chicken mayo."
,Ah! This is delicious!"
Saet-byeol was looking forward to it, remembering when she had eaten chicken mayo.
,Eat quickly and get ready for school."
How late did that Shi-hyun sleep yesterday that he can't wake up? Sigh, did he say he was taking a day off today? While the kids were eating, I cautiously brought up the room story.
,Saet-byeol-ah, do you want to use your own room now too?"
,Suddenly?"
,It looked uncomfortable for you to sleep today."
Saet-byeol stopped eating and pondered.
,I'm just telling you in advance so you can think about it slowly."
,Um, I don't know yet."
,Okay, think about it slowly."
Shi-hyun woke up only after the kids had finished eating and gone to school.
,Bye...."
,What do you mean, bye!"
I kicked Shi-hyun's butt.
,How can you be so mean and eat chicken without me!?"
,Sorry, sorry."
,If you're sorry, go out and buy something delicious."
Shi-hyun smiled and ate breakfast, then went out to take care of some business. He said he was going to manage the building, but it seemed like he would be back soon.
Shi-hyun came home around 4 o'clock with his hands full of groceries.
,What did you buy?"
,Side dishes?"
I took the bags and checked, and there was meat here and meat there; there was an overwhelming amount of meat.
,If you're going to buy something, buy some vegetables too."
,Meat is good, right?"
,Meat!?"
Saet-byeol, who was playing in the living room, reacted to the sound of meat.
,Saet-byeol-ah! Tonight is a meat party!"
,Yay!"
Saet-byeol grabbed Shi-hyun's hand and was happy. Seriously, why is Shi-hyun becoming more like a child as the days go by?
Like father, like daughter; they're so alike.