Gong Pyeonghwa asked while driving. Please, tonight let there be meat. Meat. Meat. MEAT.
“Can we have spicy stir-fried dried squid and beef seaweed soup for dinner? Or maybe braised beef or spicy pork and squid…”
“Should we?”
Gong Pyeonghwa really liked his mother-in-law. She had willingly prepared seasoned spring greens for him, and now she was offering to make spicy stir-fried dried squid. She would even make braised beef and spicy pork and squid!
“Mother-in-law, you’re truly the best. My forehead wrinkles every time I eat because it’s so delicious.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“No, I’m not exaggerating, it’s really delicious. I feel both guilt and joy at the same time with every meal.”
She understood the joy part, but why guilt? Before Mrs. Lee could ask, Gong Pyeonghwa pathetically pinched his brow with his thumb and index finger and said:
“Ah. I feel touched by Saebyeok’s deep love for eating what I cook despite having enjoyed such delicious food his entire life… but then I think, I fed him such things… How torturous it must have been… I feel sorry for Saebyeok who sacrificed his taste buds for love.”
His natural shamelessness was amusing, but the son-in-law’s words were also reassuring as they dripped with affection for her son.
“Did you always prepare meals by yourself?”
“Usually we cook together, but when Saebyeok is in heat cycle or when he was pregnant, of course I did everything. His body was already struggling, plus with dissertations and projects, he was overwhelmed—how could I expect him to handle housework too?”
Surely Gong Pyeonghwa also had dissertations and projects to work on since they were in the same program…
When Mrs. Lee asked, Gong Pyeonghwa answered nonchalantly:
“As for hiring help… as you know, Saebyeok is, um, quite shy, right? Hehe. Besides, I’m an alpha. I can go without sleep for about four days and be perfectly fine. It does get a bit difficult if it goes beyond a week.”
“But it must have been equally hard for you.”
She worried that her son might have been a burden. Not being able to hire help was probably because of Saebyeok… Mrs. Lee felt heavy-hearted.
“I don’t have any adverse reactions, so I just need to take suppressants before my rut, but Saebyeok has drug resistance issues, right? Rather than medicating him, it’s better if I stabilize him with my pheromones while taking care of household chores. When there’s sexual frustration, physical activity is definitely…”
Moving around cleaning or doing laundry was better than enduring by pinching his thigh.
Gong Pyeonghwa spoke casually since this was all familiar to him, but Mrs. Lee couldn’t take it so lightly.
“What do you mean by drug resistance?”
This was the first time she had heard about this.
“Huh…? You didn’t know? Ah, well, it’s nothing serious—just that when he takes medication, he gets drowsy and his work efficiency drops—something like that.”
The perceptive Gong Pyeonghwa downplayed it. There was no point in telling the whole truth when it would only make her worry and blame herself.
“…I didn’t know. My child never told me…”
She still seems pretty shocked. Gong Pyeonghwa continued naturally:
“Ah, well, he couldn’t really tell you. Since high school, he stopped taking medication and instead used my, ahem. Ahem. Pheromones. Ahem. Anyway. Ahem. He had to pretend to take medication to hide our relationship. It’s normal that you wouldn’t know.”
Mrs. Lee understood Gong Pyeonghwa’s explanation, but was shocked again.
“Since high school?”
“Th-that was really platonic. Really. We did k-kiss a bit, but I swear we never had any physical relationship… Not until we were adults… in America… truly…”
Of course, there were times when they almost crossed the line, when they wanted to cross it! But they couldn’t bring themselves to do it.
“How did you two end up dating?”
Gong Pyeonghwa recited the love story between himself and Shin Saebyeok until they arrived at the department store.
He talked about their first impression as children, the slight inferiority complex he felt being in the same school district, how Saebyeok approached him first in high school, how they cleared up misunderstandings and began to develop feelings for each other, and finally how they started dating.
“Surprisingly wholesome, isn’t it?”
“…”
Mrs. Lee silently cleared her throat. She checked her phone out of embarrassment, but her expression quickly changed from embarrassment to gloom.
Gong Pyeonghwa, who was parking the car, immediately noticed the change.
“Is something wrong? Did something happen to our Saebyeok? Or is it Iseul? Is Iseul refusing to eat because her dad isn’t there?”
Surprisingly, Iseul was eating better than usual.
“Mmm, no, it’s not that… Noeul and her husband are going to have dinner out and then come home tonight.”
Though her husband tried his best to have meals at home, there were times when unavoidable overtime work came up for a CEO.
Her daughter Noeul had also been eating out with friends more frequently lately, so Mrs. Lee often had to eat alone.
Whenever she ate alone in that spacious house, she felt empty and lonely.
Today seemed like it would be another one of those days.
“What! WHAT! This is perfect! Then let’s eat out. Let’s eat out! Let’s eat out! Mother-in-law, what do you like? Is there anything you can’t eat? Let’s have something delicious, something delicious! Let’s eat food prepared by others! Oh! What’s good around here? Is there anything you’d like to eat, Mother-in-law?”
He’s so frantic!
“Mother-in-law. Mother-in-law. Mother-in-law. What would you like to eat? What’s delicious around here? Should we stop someone on the street and ask? Ah, I don’t have a phone so I can’t search. You know I’m not asking to borrow your phone, right? You know I’m not trying to gain sympathy because I don’t even have a phone and can’t contact Saebyeok, right?”
Maybe he should just stop talking…
“Mother-in-law, what would you like to eat? Is there anything you’d like?”
“I don’t have anything particular in mind… What about you, Seobangie?”
“Ohh… The term ‘Seobangie,’ isn’t the sound and rhythm absolutely perfect?”
What is he talking about… Mrs. Lee listened to Gong Pyeonghwa’s endless nonsense with a slightly tired expression.
“It’s like a bridge connecting you and me—when you call me Seobangie, I finally become a flower.”
The emotional Gong Pyeonghwa was moved by his own words and was deeply immersed in the lingering feeling.
“I-I see…”
Is this what her son likes about him? Or does he even like these aspects of him?
At least he was reliable in the sense that he never left a person feeling lonely.
“Mother-in-law, so what should we eat? Let’s have something that would be troublesome to make at home. How about fried food or raw fish or something like that?”
“That doesn’t sound very healthy…”
“But Korean food is… I can’t go back now.”
What can’t you go back from? Mrs. Lee thought there must be some issue with Korean food judging by Gong Pyeonghwa’s serious face.
“Mother-in-law, after tasting your rice, regular Korean food doesn’t taste the same anymore. It’s just like what you’d eat in Koreatown. It gives me that feeling of ‘this isn’t the taste I’m looking for!’ It’s a serious problem.”
This was truly ridiculous.
But she didn’t dislike it. She felt reassured that, if nothing else, he seemed capable of making her son live happily with a smile.
“I’m genuinely curious, does your family never eat fast food or instant food?”
Gong Pyeonghwa, who had rarely lived without artificial flavorings, found the diet made solely with natural seasonings unfamiliar.
He had thought Saebyeok hadn’t been able to try all sorts of foods since high school, but now it seemed like a family tradition.
“It’s not quite like that, but Saebyeok had such severe allergies that we became conscious about food, and that’s how it ended up.”
Only now realizing that the entire family ate low-sodium, natural foods solely because of Shin Saebyeok, Gong Pyeonghwa decided to reflect.
‘Our Byeokie grew up completely loved. And I went and got him pregnant. I’ve completely corrupted a model student who maintained a strict diet.’
Designating today as a day of atonement and reflection, Gong Pyeonghwa decided to respect his mother-in-law who gave birth to Saebyeok, at least for today.
“Aha. So eating out is okay, right? Can you eat spicy food too? Like stir-fried spicy octopus?”
“Of course, I eat that.”
“What about chicken feet?”
“…”
She’s never tried chicken feet before.
“Hmm, what should we eat? Mother-in-law, is there really nothing you’d like to eat? It’s not every day that this happens! There must be something you’ve wanted to eat when you’re alone! Nothing?”
Mrs. Lee couldn’t give a clear answer, either because her tastes had changed with age or because she just lacked enthusiasm—her preferences seemed to have disappeared.
“Ask your father-in-law.”
“Huh?”
“No, Saebyeok does the same thing. He knows that I like to put ice cream on top of French fries and even knows what size chicken I prefer when eating fried chicken, but he doesn’t know what he himself likes.”
Contrary to what one might expect, Saebyeok didn’t like healthy food. Between sandwiches and hamburgers, he preferred hamburgers, and he also liked fried food.
“You might not know, but your father-in-law might. Want to bet? I bet your father-in-law knows…”
All he had to bet was the father-in-law card and the underwear he was wearing.
“I’ll bet the father-in-law card.”
“…”
Why my husband’s card?
“Mother-in-law… how about one contact opportunity?”
“Contact opportunity?”
“Well, even if I can’t communicate directly with Saebyeok, shouldn’t I at least know what he ate today and if Iseul is doing well? So one contact opportunity! Not a call opportunity, a contact opportunity. Isn’t this reasonable? Hm? Hm? Hm? Super-mom-in-law…”
Honestly, Mrs. Lee found Gong Pyeonghwa quite offensive. When she learned that he had not only seduced her innocent son but also made him go through pregnancy and childbirth, she was so offended she wanted to take a switch to him.
“Aw, Mother-in-law. Hm? Hm? Hm? Hmm?”
But as she continued to observe him, he wasn’t crossing any lines with his jokes, and he seemed to have a good heart… Honestly, he was likable.
And it seemed too harsh to prevent a father from contacting his child. The child was at her most adorable age, growing noticeably every day—it seemed too cruel to not even let him see her face.
“Alright, calm down…”
“Yay! That’s as good as me winning. Hurry and contact him.”
Gong Pyeonghwa had nothing to lose. Even if he returned the father-in-law card, he planned to see Saebyeok and Iseul as early as today, or tomorrow at the latest!
He would show that while a man might be weak, a husband is strong, and a father is strong!
“Contacting him during what’s probably a meeting time seems a bit…”
“Just sending one text message should be fine, right?”
In truth, Mrs. Lee had never contacted her husband without a reason. She felt that meaningless contact might be ignored, and if ignored, she would be hurt.
“Argh! Give it to me. Let me try sending something.”
When Gong Pyeonghwa politely extended both hands, Mrs. Lee handed over her phone after some hesitation.
Pretending to send a message, Gong Pyeonghwa scrolled down.
Among the few chat rooms, one with a distinctive number caught his eye.
[Group: 6 members]
Oh-ho. So they have a group chat? Six people, let’s see…
Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, Dad, Mom, Gong Jeong, Gong Sarang. Exactly six! Are Gong Jeong and Gong Sarang included? Gong Pyeonghwa raised the corner of his mouth crookedly.
Instead of peeking at the group chat, he sent a mischievous message to his father-in-law.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
