Before I knew it, the sun had set and it was dark outside. Winter is definitely winter.
I was waiting for Saet-byeol and Kim Seo-bang, who said they'd be back before dinner, but Shi-hyun seemed to be getting frustrated.
"Is it hard to wait?"
"It's not that, they should be on time. It's because they're not coming that I'm like this."
"It's rush hour."
If I defended Saet-byeol and Kim Seo-bang, Shi-hyun's mood would get even worse.
"Should we eat first then?"
"No."
He's getting older and just more grumpy, isn't he?
I sat next to Shi-hyun to appease him.
"The kids might be late because they were playing."
Shi-hyun was silent.
"Yeah, it's not like it's their fault."
While I was trying to cheer up Shi-hyun, I heard the front door open.
"Looks like they're here."
When I tried to go greet the kids, Shi-hyun hugged me tightly and wouldn't let go.
He really is like a child...?
"We're home!"
Seo-hui ran in with a very happy expression.
"Did you have fun?"
"Yeah!"
Seo-a was sleeping in Kim Seo-bang's arms.
"Looks like you really had fun."
"Yeah!"
I asked Seo-hui how fun it was, and Seo-hui told me in detail how they played.
"We rode the sled! It's fun when you go swoosh down!"
Was it that fun? She was so excited.
"Mommy went swoosh with me, and my little sister went swoosh with Daddy!"
"Really?"
"Yeah!"
"Saet-byeol-a, you should bathe the kids first."
"Ah, Yeon-u will do it."
Looking at what Kim Seo-bang was doing, he was waking up Seo-a.
"Then at least change their clothes."
"Okay, Seo-hui-ya, let's change clothes."
"Yeah!"
Kim Seo-bang took Seo-a and Seo-hui into the bathroom, and Saet-byeol also changed her clothes and came out.
"Why did you make Kim Seo-bang do it when you could do it?"
"He needs to do it too."
I was dumbfounded by Saet-byeol's words.
"Sigh, do whatever you want."
"Mom! You know what I saw at the sledding hill?"
"How would I know that?"
Looking at Saet-byeol, who seemed to know something that only she knew, made me annoyed.
"Mom doesn't know either?"
Saet-byeol's tone made me frown involuntarily.
"How would Mom know if you say it like that?"
"Hmph...."
Why is she in such a good mood? It's really annoying.
"Sung Saet-byeol, stop teasing Mom."
Shi-hyun, who was listening next to me, seemed to be annoyed too.
"I happened to see Jae-won at the sledding hill?"
Saw Jae-won?!
What kind of coincidence is that...?
"Jae-won?!"
"Yeah! Guess what, Jae-won!"
Saet-byeol was trying to make us anxious again by pausing.
"He must have been meeting a girl."
"Did he meet a girl?"
Saet-byeol covered her mouth and was surprised at what Shi-hyun and I said.
"Ah, did you know?"
I looked at Saet-byeol with squinting eyes.
"Well, I just had a feeling something like that might happen."
"Do you want to tease your younger brother that much?"
Shi-hyun didn't like Saet-byeol's behavior and immediately started nagging.
"Th, that's...."
"Your brother is twenty-two this year, he can date at that age. Why are you trying to tease him with that?"
Shi-hyun relentlessly cornered Saet-byeol.
"I know you two don't get along, but do you have to do that in front of Mom and Dad? What do you think of Mom and Dad that you're so rude?"
I watched Shi-hyun without stopping him.
To be honest, Saet-byeol had been acting cocky a lot. No matter how much she's my daughter, there was a limit to how much I could let it slide. Plus, Jae-won is also my son, so I couldn't just take Saet-byeol's side.
"Yeah, Dad is right, shouldn't you be nice to your younger brother?"
When I joined Shi-hyun, Saet-byeol seemed to realize the situation and lowered her head, showing a posture of repentance.
"Sung Saet-byeol, aren't you going to answer?"
"I, I'm sorry...."
"This is why we need to make her independent quickly, right?"
"Shi-hyun-a?"
"If the kids don't see each other, they won't fight, tsk tsk."
Shi-hyun clicked his tongue, shook his head, went into the master bedroom, and slammed the door shut.
He must really hate seeing Saet-byeol.
I sighed and looked at Saet-byeol.
"You should have stopped at some point."
"Wuu, what should I do?"
"Be careful today and stop fighting with your brother, how long are you going to act childish when you're older?"
"Mom...."
"You're twenty-five... you're three years older than your brother, you should understand and comfort your brother, how can you make him suffer more?"
To be honest, I had a lot to say too.
Looking at the pattern of Jae-won and Saet-byeol fighting, most of the time Saet-byeol starts the fight first and Jae-won gets angry and retaliates.
In a way, it was my fault. It was clear that this was happening because I didn't scold Saet-byeol whenever she acted cocky and just watched.
"You're always the one who starts the fight. Do you hate your brother that much? Do you wish Jae-won wasn't home?"
Saet-byeol kept her mouth shut.
"Mom's heart hurts.... I can't believe you can't be close as siblings and you hate your brother so much."
"I, I'll be careful."
Instead of saying she wouldn't do it again, she said she would be careful....
Is it the answer to make Saet-byeol independent like Shi-hyun said...? Or should I get Jae-won a studio apartment?
Hoo..., I should ask Jae-won about that problem when he comes.
"So, did you see what the girl looked like?"
"N, not really...."
She didn't even see the girl's face and she was thinking of teasing him? I came to understand Shi-hyun's feelings very well.
"Don't tease Jae-won when he comes tonight."
"Okay......."
"Mom will prepare dinner, so take care of the kids when they come out of the shower, and you take a shower too."
"Okay...."
Saet-byeol was subdued, probably because she was scolded a lot. But she was scolded for doing something wrong, so I didn't comfort her separately.
I kept worrying about Saet-byeol while preparing dinner.
Saet-byeol quietly took care of the kids, and when Kim Seo-bang came out of the shower, she went to take a shower herself.
"Th, Mother-in-law, Saet-byeol...."
He's good at reading the room, Kim Seo-bang must have noticed that Saet-byeol's condition had become strange.
"She was scolded for trying to tease her brother."
"Ah......, is that so?"
"Grandma, what's for dinner?"
I was about to have a serious conversation with Kim Seo-bang, but Seo-hui stopped me.
"Egg rolls that Seo-hui likes."
"I wuv eggs!"
"Me too wuv!"
Seo-a, who had woken up after taking a shower, stood next to her sister and said.
"Okay, I'll make a lot of eggs for my granddaughters."
Kim Seo-bang smiled awkwardly and took the kids out of the kitchen.
A strange atmosphere flowed over the dinner table, and no one opened their mouths and just ate.
The good thing was that Seo-hui and Seo-a were so focused on eating that they didn't know what was going on.
It's not that kids can't feel this kind of atmosphere. In fact, they often feel it more sensitively.
"I'll do the dishes."
Saet-byeol said after eating first.
"It's okay...."
"No, let me do it."
She must be trying to be careful after being scolded earlier.
I finished eating and took the dishes and plates to the sink, and Saet-byeol looked at me with pitiful eyes.
"Okay."
I put the dishes down in the sink and came out.
She must want to score points with Shi-hyun by doing something like this.
Kim Seo-bang glanced at me and Saet-byeol, then took care of the children instead.
Shi-hyun, who had a leisurely dinner, took the dishes to the sink at the end and gave them to Saet-byeol, who was doing the dishes.
Shi-hyun looked at Saet-byeol without saying a word, then almost clicked his tongue, but quietly left it and came out.
Of course, he still didn't like Saet-byeol, so he didn't stay in the living room and went into his room.
If Shi-hyun went into the room leaving me behind, he must be very angry.
I just felt sorry for Kim Seo-bang, who was taking care of the kids and reading the room.
Saet-byeol, who had finished doing the dishes, came to my side with a pitiful expression.
"Wh, where's Dad?"
"I don't think it'll work today."
Even I couldn't easily appease Shi-hyun when he was that angry.
"He'll be better tomorrow."
"Okay...."
Saet-byeol quietly played with the kids, and I waited for Jae-won to come home in the living room.
Jae-won came home close to 10 o'clock.
"Jae-won, you're here?"
"Huh? Yeah."
"Did you have fun with your friend?"
"Well, yeah."
Jae-won didn't look me in the eye and kept looking in the direction where Saet-byeol was.
"Th, Mom?"
"What's wrong?"
I was just pretending not to know.
It wasn't really to tease him, but I didn't want Jae-won and Saet-byeol to fight.
"D, didn't my sister say anything?"
He's asking me directly..., how do I answer.......
If I told the truth, Jae-won would criticize Saet-byeol, and if I hid the truth and got caught later, it would cause a troublesome situation.
I sighed and spoke honestly.
"Saet-byeol said you were hanging out with a girl."
Jae-won's eyes shone fiercely, and he immediately tried to glare at Saet-byeol.
"Jae-won-a, don't do that, your sister was scolded by Dad."
"Th, Mom?"
"It's okay, you can have a girlfriend too."
Jae-won's expression showed various changes. He looked embarrassed, and he was also annoyed. He looked stunned, and he seemed shocked. And then he looked disappointed.
I patted Jae-won's shoulder without saying anything.
Jae-won then slapped his cheeks with both hands. He slapped so hard that the sound echoed loudly.
"Okay, okay."
Jae-won looked at Saet-byeol with a contemptuous expression and went into his room. Saet-byeol saw that and tried to react angrily, but she looked at me and sat still.
"Would your brother be like that if you didn't tease him?"
"Ah! I know I did wrong!"
Saet-byeol couldn't get angry at Jae-won, so she got angry at me.
That's why she gets scolded by Shi-hyun... If Shi-hyun saw this, he would have been furious.
"Mom can understand your feelings and put up with it, but if Dad saw it, you would have been scolded."
Saet-byeol was startled at the word Dad and looked around.
"Mom will pretend I didn't see what happened just now, so be careful."
"Okay...."
Now that Jae-won had seen it, I left Saet-byeol and went into the room. Shi-hyun was lying on the bed in the master bedroom, staring blankly.
"Are you sleeping?"
"No...."
I lay down quietly next to Shi-hyun.
"I'm sorry."
"What do you have to be sorry for?"
Shi-hyun hugged me tightly.
"Let's make her independent quickly so you don't have to suffer."
"We decided to wait until she graduates from law school."
"That's right...."
Does he hate seeing the kids fight that much...? But I also didn't want to see them fight.
"I should ask Jae-won if he's thinking of living alone."
"Jae-won?"
"Yeah, if he's really dating a girl, he won't want to be conscious of us."
"Living alone isn't easy...."
When I started living with Shi-hyun, it was hard for me to have to do everything myself.
"I'm just going to ask him what he thinks."
"Okay...."
Shi-hyun buried his face in my chest as if he wasn't interested.
I should ask him tomorrow when Saet-byeol isn't here.