Chapter 131
“How many employees work here in total?”
“Including the head butler and myself, there are six of us. Now with Ian, that makes seven. Don’t worry, we won’t be short-handed. This mansion has been abandoned for a long time. There’s no owner visiting, nor any guests, so there’s no need to receive or serve anyone. Ian just needs to focus on maintaining the mansion.”
The manager’s eyes looked somewhat lonely as she said this.
“So there’s no one else in the mansion besides us?”
“…Well, something like that.”
The manager trailed off, giving an ambiguous answer. This seemed to be the reason why Hyeon-woo had felt an eerie atmosphere throughout the tour of the mansion.
Everything was well-maintained, but Hyeon-woo sensed an infinitely desolate and empty smell in the air enveloping the mansion’s interior. It didn’t feel like a space where people lived at all, completely devoid of warmth. It seemed this was because the mansion had long been neglected, abandoned by its owner.
He recalled a conversation between workers doing sorting work together on the conveyor belt:
‘It seems to really exist somewhere on Neungra Mountain.’
‘So where exactly is it? It exists but no one knows where? That’s obviously made up.’
‘That’s why it’s called the ghost mansion! It definitely exists, but no one knows where or how it exists, as if bewitched by ghosts!’
Ghost mansion. This was clearly about this old mansion. While it was certainly a labyrinthine place difficult to pinpoint its location, Hyeon-woo deeply empathized with the description of this place as a ghost mansion in a different sense. It really did feel like a haunted castle, desolate and eerie.
Nevertheless, sadness prevailed over fear. In the loneliness enveloping the mansion’s interior, Hyeon-woo felt a strange nostalgia that stirred memories of his childhood.
After finishing dinner with the other employees, Hyeon-woo returned to his room and made a phone call.
“Daddy!”
Jerome’s voice came through after just a couple of rings. Hyeon-woo could clearly picture Jerome pacing near the living room cabinet where the phone was all day.
“Jerome, did you eat dinner?”
“Yes, Yejo ajumma made me shrimp fried rice that I like! What about you, Daddy?”
“Shrimp fried rice? That must have been delicious. Daddy ate a tasty dinner here too.”
“Daddy, it’s four nights today. One night, two nights, three nights, four nights! It’s been four nights!”
“Yes, Daddy will come home tomorrow. Shall we sleep together after a long time?”
“Yes!”
“I’ll read you lots of storybooks too. See you tomorrow, Jerome. Sleep well, my puppy. Mwah.”
“Okay. Good night, Daddy. Mwah.”
Even after exchanging good night greetings, neither hung up for a while, leaving an empty call connected. Hyeon-woo reluctantly pressed the end call button first.
Four days had already passed here. He could go home tomorrow. Two sweet days of holiday with Jerome were waiting.
Hyeon-woo went to bed early. He needed to conserve energy to spend all day with Jerome.
*
After finishing his final tasks, Hyeon-woo got into Driver Yoon’s waiting car. They drove out of the maze-like forest and arrived in front of Kyung-ae ajumma’s house. As soon as he rang the doorbell-
“Daddy!!”
Jerome’s voice shouting from inside carried out.
“Jerome, be careful, slow down!”
Kyung-ae ajumma’s kind voice trying to restrain Jerome was getting closer.
“Daddy!!”
When the door opened, Jerome sprang out like a spring and tightly hugged Hyeon-woo’s legs.
“Jerome, were you good?”
“Yes.”
“Did you listen well to ajumma and go to daycare properly?”
“Yes!”
“Since Jerome kept his promise well, now it’s Daddy’s turn to keep his promise, right?”
“Yes!!”
Jerome answered with his most energetic voice yet.
“Now let’s go to our home.”
“Yes! Our home! Let’s go to our home!”
Jerome took vigorous steps, shouting along with Hyeon-woo’s words.
It was their first return to their nest in a week. Although it felt wasteful to have secured a place only to leave it empty on weekdays, just having a home to return to gave Hyeon-woo a great sense of stability.
After thoroughly cleaning the dusty house, Hyeon-woo lay in bed with Jerome and read storybooks.
Seeing Jerome fall asleep quickly, it seemed he had stayed up the night before in anticipation. After slipping his arm out from under Jerome’s head, now in deep sleep, Hyeon-woo replaced it with a soft pillow. He put away the storybook, turned off the bedside lamp, and soon drifted off to sleep himself.
*
The blazing sun was too hot, so after quickly looking around the outdoor exhibition, they moved inside. Holding hands tightly to avoid losing each other in the bustling crowd, they viewed the displayed dinosaur fossils.
“Daddy! This is a Stegosaurus!”
At Jerome’s exclamation, Hyeon-woo shifted his gaze to the panel to confirm the dinosaur’s name, and it was indeed a Stegosaurus. He was amazed at how Jerome could immediately identify which dinosaur it was just from the assembled bone structure.
“That’s right. Stegosaurus. How did you know? You’re so amazing, Jerome!”
“It has squares on its back like a train going choo-choo~ Then it’s a Stegosaurus.”
Hyeon-woo lifted Jerome so he could view the 6-meter dinosaur model more comfortably. As he read the dinosaur’s characteristics written on the panel, Jerome listened attentively with sparkling eyes, looking so cute that Hyeon-woo kissed his chubby cheeks several times.
“Daddy, Triceratops!”
This situation repeated with every dinosaur they encountered, with Jerome correctly naming them all, but they were all herbivorous dinosaurs.
“Do you like herbivorous dinosaurs, Jerome?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you like herbivorous dinosaurs?”
“They’re big and cool. And they’re nice because they don’t eat other animals.”
“Then what about Tyrannosaurus?”
“Bad! Tyrannosaurus was bad. It would eat Daddy too.”
Jerome furrowed his brow, raised his fingernails in a threatening pose, and roared “Rawr!” He seemed to be imitating a Tyrannosaurus.
“Scary, right? But don’t worry, Daddy. Jerome is friends with Triceratops, so we’ll protect everyone. I’ll protect Daddy, Yejo hyung, Yejo ajumma, and Jangmi ajumma!”
Someday when Jerome grows up a bit more and understands the laws of nature, he’ll realize it’s not right to categorize carnivorous and herbivorous dinosaurs as good and evil. But seeing Jerome talk about protecting his loved ones against what he considered evil by his own standards, Hyeon-woo suddenly thought of Jamie.
He vividly remembered Jamie saying she hoped Jerome would grow up brave and strong like Jerry, who doesn’t give in to mean Tom. Hyeon-woo felt a lump in his throat, thinking Jerome seemed to be growing up strong and upright as Jamie had wished.
Jamie, am I doing well?
Hyeon-woo, who had been constantly whipping himself wondering if he was being a good parent, felt some relief from the pressure that had been constricting him in this moment.
“…Daddy? Daddy!”
Noticing Hyeon-woo’s reddened eyes, Jerome wrapped his arms around Hyeon-woo’s neck.
“Daddy, why are you crying?”
“No, I’m not crying.”
“You’re not crying?”
Jerome let go of Hyeon-woo and met his eyes again. Hyeon-woo smiled brightly and said:
“No, I’m not crying. Daddy’s hungry now, what about you?”
“Were you crying because you’re hungry?”
“No, I told you Daddy wasn’t crying. Look.”
As Hyeon-woo showed a big smile, curling up the corners of his mouth, Jerome’s face, which had been pouting with a sad expression, finally brightened.
“Shall we quickly see that dinosaur over there and then go eat pizza?”
“Yes!”
After making sure to see every single dinosaur and finishing dinner, the two returned home late at night.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
