Two days later, I went to my parents' house again on the weekend. Shi-hyun and Shi-u were coming up after finishing their competition, so I went early in the morning and planned to return before it got too late. It just so happened that my older brother and Ye-rin were also there, making it noisy and bustling. Saet-byeol seemed happy to see her cousin after a long time, and Jae-won had good social skills, so he quickly became friends with Ye-rin.
,"Have you been doing well?"
Each of our work and families were important, so even though we lived next door, we didn't see each other often.
,"So, you're finally taking care of Mom and Dad now?"
It was true, so I couldn't respond to that.
,"Make time at least once a month."
,"Yeah, Oppa should have told me too."
,"Mom stopped me, so I couldn't."
,"Mom did?"
,"Yeah, she said it would be hard for you to take care of everything with three kids."
,"Still, you should have."
My older brother ruffled my hair roughly. Does he still think I'm a kid?
,"Stop it."
While the children diverted our parents' attention, my older brother took me behind the house.
,"It's been a while since I've been here too...."
I used to train hard here when I was a Hunter.
,"I'm telling you because you asked me to."
,"Huh, huh?"
My older brother was creating a heavy atmosphere as if he was about to bring up something serious.
,"Dad's health isn't very good."
,"Huh, huh?"
I was so taken aback by the sudden news that I was confused and it took me a long time to process it.
,"Dad is?"
,"Yeah, he's been going to the hospital too."
Suddenly, the world seemed to turn dark. It was such shocking news.
,"Why, why?"
,"Why what, he's just getting old. Dad's already over seventy."
Come to think of it, is that so? As I started to calm down little by little, my mind began to clear.
,"Is it just old age?"
,"I guess so."
Ah, I see... I felt like crying because I was sad, but I held it in.
,"Well, he's going to the hospital and taking medicine, but take good care of him."
My older brother's words sounded like he was telling me not to regret it.
,"Yeah...."
When I returned to the house, Dad was slumped on the sofa.
,"Isn't it hard with three kids?"
,"Hehe, it's just great."
Even if Saet-byeol and Ye-rin were fine, dealing with Jae-won wouldn't have been easy. He had so much energy that it was sometimes hard for me too. All kids are like that at that age, but Jae-won was even more so.
,"You guys, don't make Grandpa too tired, be moderate."
,"Don't do that."
,"Yes."
Ye-rin listened really well. Is it because she's the oldest of the kids? Compared to her, our Jae-won didn't listen at all and kept asking to play.
,"You rascal!"
I reached out and grabbed the back of Jae-won's neck to stop him.
,"Mom?"
,"Do you want to go play somewhere else?"
,"Somewhere else?"
,"Yeah, a place where Jae-won can play comfortably."
I headed towards the training ground where I had been earlier.
,"Oh, what's this place?"
,"It's big, right?"
There was a lot of dust because I hadn't been able to clean it.
,"There's too much dust."
,"Does Grandpa's house have things like this too?"
,"Yeah, is it amazing?"
,"Yeah!"
,"But we have to clean it if we want to play."
,"Let's clean it!"
Jae-won seemed to like this place.
,"You'll help, right?"
,"Yeah!"
,"Are you going to play there?"
,"Uh, yeah."
,"Then we need to get cleaning supplies."
My older brother quietly went into the house and brought cleaning supplies. We dusted, swept, and wiped, spending almost an hour cleaning up the training ground.
,"Does it look decent?"
,"Well, it looks like it's good enough for the kids to play in."
As we were proudly looking at the training ground we had cleaned, Mom approached from behind.
,"You guys worked hard. I didn't have the energy to clean it, so I was just leaving it...."
,"I didn't clean it perfectly."
,"Mom, I want to play here!"
,"Okay."
Jae-won ran around excitedly.
,"Ye-rin and Saet-byeol probably won't come here, right?"
,"Probably not."
When I left Jae-won and went back to the house, Dad was struggling to take something out.
,"What are you doing when your back isn't good?"
My older brother was horrified and went to take the box out instead.
,"Hehe, you need something like this to play in a big place."
What Dad took out was a children's electric car. Why is this in the house?
,"I was originally going to give it as a gift, but I couldn't. Take it with you this time."
,"There's no place to ride it even if I take it home."
There was already a similar item in the warehouse, and the kids didn't really like it. But I couldn't do anything about Dad's stubbornness, so I had to take it out for now.
,"Let's go, I need to let Jae-won ride it."
,"Father!"
,"I said let's go?"
My older brother sighed deeply and carried the luggage instead.
,"Ye-rin and Saet-byeol, are you going to stay here?"
,"Yes, I want to stay here with Grandma."
,"I'm going to go."
,"Okay."
Ye-rin said she would stay, and Saet-byeol said she would come along.
,"Here, hold Grandpa's hand."
,"Okay."
When Saet-byeol held Dad's hand, he smiled contentedly. He seemed to be in a good mood. Looking closely at Dad's gait, he definitely seemed weak.
When we arrived at the training ground together, Jae-won was running around the wide space.
,"Grandpa?"
,"Jae-won, there's a good toy here."
,"Toy?"
Jae-won quickly approached at the sound of a toy.
,"Uncle?"
,"Here it is."
My older brother took out what was in the box. It was an electric car that wasn't even dusty.
,"Father, is this charged?"
,"Of course!"
Could it be that he keeps it charged so the kids can ride it whenever they come? I could see my older brother hesitating, wanting to nag.
,"Car?"
,"Do you want to ride it?"
Jae-won started to think hard. He didn't really like it even when we went to the toy store, and he didn't ride similar things at home. There was no way he would suddenly like it now.
,"I, I want to ride it."
Jae-won must have sensed something because he didn't say he didn't want to. Dad smiled brightly when his grandson said he would ride it. He must be proud since he bought it for the kids to ride.
Dad explained each detail to Jae-won meticulously, as if he had memorized the manual.
,"I can't say anything since he likes it."
My older brother sighed as he watched Dad.
,"What can we do?"
How can I say anything when he's so happy? Especially since I don't usually do anything filial, I had nothing to say even if I had ten mouths.
Jae-won drove the electric car safely. The problem was that he didn't seem very happy, as if it wasn't fun.
,"He looks bored."
,"Saet-byeol, shh."
Jae-won quickly got tired of it and came over to us.
,"Nuna, you do it."
,"Why are you passing it on to me?"
,"Saet-byeol, try riding it once."
Dad approached slowly and didn't seem to have heard what we were saying.
,"Saet-byeol, do you want to try riding it this time?"
,"Y-yes...."
Dad was excited and explained how to drive to Saet-byeol as well. Saet-byeol drove more roughly than Jae-won.
,"Hehehe, the older sister is indeed the older sister."
Saet-byeol drove that small car diligently. Unlike Jae-won, Saet-byeol was smiling, as if she was having fun.
,"Nuna is amazing!"
Jae-won seemed amazed by his older sister driving so fast.
,"She's good at it."
,"Jae-won, do you want to try riding like that next time?"
,"No."
,"Why?"
,"I don't know, I like bicycles more."
It seemed like Jae-won was scared of things like that. Dad was following Saet-byeol leisurely, but he looked unsteady.
,"He looks tired."
,"Yeah, should we stop him?"
My older brother and I approached and stopped Dad before he collapsed. Dad was disappointed, but he listened to us and sat down to rest comfortably.
Jae-won played with or threw the fake weapons that were in the training ground.
Time passed quickly as we watched the children playing happily.
When it was time to go back, my parents looked at us with regretful eyes.
,"Can't you stay a little longer?"
,"Well, Shi-u and Shi-hyun are coming back today, so...."
,"Is that so... I understand."
,"I'll come again next time."
My older brother and Ye-rin stayed a little longer, and only we returned home first.
,"Kids, did you have fun today?"
,"Yeah, that car was more fun than I thought."
Saet-byeol seemed to like it more than I thought.
,"Yeah, today was good too."
Jae-won was smiling brightly, so it must not have been a lie.
,"Okay, let's go again next time."
,"Yeah!"
When we arrived home, Shi-u and Shi-hyun were already there.
,"Where did you go?"
Shi-hyun's reaction was a bit prickly. It seemed like it was because I didn't tell him where I was going.
,"We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house!"
Jae-won stepped up before I could open my mouth.
,"I played with Grandpa there!"
Shi-hyun's expression returned as if he was appeased by Jae-won's charming behavior.
,"Is that so? You should have told me."
,"Where would I go?"
Shi-u said he took first place as expected. He said he even did an interview like last time, but I didn't check.
,"But what made you go to your in-laws' house?"
,"I just thought of them...."
I told him that Dad's health wasn't good.
,"You were worried?"
,"You should treat your in-laws well too."
Shi-hyun frowned slightly.
,"Okay...."
,"Okay, should we go to your parents' house next week?"
,"Suddenly?"
Shi-hyun seemed annoyed. He really doesn't have a good relationship with his parents.... It seemed like Shi-hyun was still holding onto what happened when he was young.
,"Your parents probably want to see their grandchildren too."
,"Okay."
We don't go often even during holidays, so we should go when we have time. It just so happened that elementary school would be on vacation next week, so it seemed like we could go and stay for a few days.
Just as I was about to relax since the schedule was set, Shi-hyun made it obvious that he was in a bad mood.
,"Shi-hyun?"
,"What."
Is he sulking because I'm not paying attention to him?
,"You worked hard."
I hugged Shi-hyun tightly. My chest was strongly pressed as a result.
,"Ahem, it must have been hard taking care of the kids?"
,"Mom and Dad worked hard."
They liked it, but it must have been hard too. Shi-hyun stroked my hair.
Come to think of it, it was the first time in days that I felt Shi-hyun's warmth.
,"Hyung, what are Mom and Dad doing?"
,"Shh, Jae-won, let's go to the room with Hyung."
,"Mom and Dad are too close."
Guys, I can hear everything even if you say it quietly? Suddenly, my face felt like it was heating up. Shi-hyun didn't seem to care and didn't seem to want to let me go. Being an Awakener was so uncomfortable at times like this.
I glanced over and saw that all the children had gone to Shi-u's room. After confirming that the children had entered the room, I gently poked Shi-hyun's side.
,"Are you going to do this when the kids are here?"
,"What about it? They even gave us privacy."
,"That's the problem!"
Still, I couldn't get angry when I saw Shi-hyun smiling. He should be a little more embarrassed!