“Ah, thank you for your concern. I’ll work hard.”
Shin Saebyeok had a gentle personality, but that didn’t mean he had a weak mentality.
He was confident he wouldn’t be affected even if Team Manager Dok shouted abuse right to his face.
If Gong Pyeonghwa were to say something harsh to his face, he might be so shocked he’d fall ill, but that was only because it was Gong Pyeonghwa.
As for other people, honestly, he didn’t care what they did.
“I’m back.”
Saebyeok greeted his mother-in-law and quickly washed his hands.
“Iseul, Daddy’s home.”
“Daaa-mama. Dada. Samgyetang.”
“Samgyetang.”
Saebyeok corrected her pronunciation while gently tapping Iseul’s soft nose.
Her laughter bubbled up like a soap bubble popping.
“You’re happy Daddy’s home, aren’t you?”
“Change your clothes quickly and let’s have dinner. We slaughtered a native chicken.”
Saebyeok kept bowing repeatedly, not knowing how to react. Chairman Gong, who had already changed into comfortable home wear, stood with his hands behind his back, tapping his foot with disapproval.
“Tsk, what’s so special about him that you’d make baeksuk?”
“That’s right. Mother-in-law, what’s so special about me? I’d be grateful even if you just gave me plain rice. Even if you kicked me out right now, I…”
“I-I didn’t say that much!”
My father-in-law is cute.
He had wanted to match the family atmosphere with some wit, but his naturally serious and measured way of speaking made it sound sincere, which was the problem.
Flustered, his father-in-law and mother-in-law each tore a leg from their own chicken and placed it in Saebyeok’s bowl.
“Wow. It’s a hydra chicken.”
Looking at the baeksuk with four legs, Shin Saebyeok broke into a sweat, feeling the pressure of having to eat it all.
I can do it. I can do it.
Can I do it? Maybe because it was a native chicken, its size was extraordinary.
With slight exaggeration, it didn’t seem much different from a turkey. Could he really manage this?
“I’ll eat well.”
It felt like the food wouldn’t diminish no matter how much he ate. The Gong family slaughtered the native chicken as if it were their sworn enemy.
The chicken’s only crime was being born, yet it was ruthlessly butchered by the Gong family, not even leaving bones to pick.
Saebyeok kept chewing, and chewing, and chewing. Through it all, the meat quality was exceptional.
The taste was good, but the quantity was so overwhelming it was painful. Just as he was thinking he’d rather be assigned work, his dutiful daughter Iseul declared a black rose.
“Samgyetang! Give! Give!”
Saebyeok deboned the meat to feed Iseul, and despite having eaten five meals today excluding snacks, she ate the meat eagerly as if she hadn’t had dinner.
But no matter how hard the two of them tried, it was impossible to finish one plump native chicken plus two extra legs.
Sweet Iseul, displeased with something, grabbed the tablecloth and suddenly burst into loud tears.
Iseul rarely cried so intensely. Surprised, Saebyeok immediately stood up and rocked her, which finally stopped her tears.
But the moment he sat back at the table, she wailed as if the sky had fallen.
After several repetitions, Saebyeok gave up on his meal, and the Gong family gave up too.
“The child suddenly seems shy around strangers.”
They had wanted to comfort Iseul so Saebyeok could finish his meal, but Iseul suddenly became shy and threw a tantrum.
“It can’t be helped.”
While saying it couldn’t be helped, Saebyeok couldn’t express how relieved he felt inside.
‘My daughter is truly filial.’
He couldn’t think of anything else.
***
Gong Pyeonghwa had an incredibly delicious cold noodle meal with his mother-in-law, eating until they were almost uncomfortably full, and then went shopping to help with digestion.
He swiped his father-in-law’s card all day long without giving it a moment’s rest.
Though awkward and hesitant at first, his mother-in-law seemed to enjoy the carefree outing. By evening, she was excitedly asking Gong Pyeonghwa if he wanted to buy this or that.
Only when the sun had completely set and the moon had begun to rise did they finally return to Seoul.
“That was so fun. Right, Mother-in-law? Can we have dumplings tomorrow? Dumplings. Dumplings. Dumplings. Dumplings.”
Disappointed by a restaurant that closed early due to running out of ingredients, Gong Pyeonghwa pestered his mother-in-law for dumplings.
Since her husband also liked dumplings, his mother-in-law nodded willingly.
“Hooray. Then I’ll escort you home safely.”
Like a best driver, Gong Pyeonghwa drove smoothly while carefully observing his surroundings.
Driving cautiously as if he were carrying the president instead of his mother-in-law, something caught Gong Pyeonghwa’s eye.
‘Huh? What? What’s that?’
His mother-in-law, wondering what had happened when the usually talkative Gong Pyeonghwa suddenly went quiet, followed his gaze.
“…Is that right! Mother-in-law?”
“Uh, um, yes?”
“That, what is it? That, what is that? That.”
What is what? His mother-in-law tried to guess.
“Dumplings?”
“No, not that.”
“Stir-fried dried squid? Waffles? Socks? Saebyeok’s school uniform?”
“No, not those… Wait, what did you just say? Saebyeok’s school uniform?”
It was just something she’d thrown out randomly to avoid the awkward situation, but it happened to be Shin Saebyeok’s school uniform.
“Hmm?”
“That’s right. I think I was about to talk about Saebyeok’s school uniform. Wow. As expected, Mother-in-law, even when I speak nonsense, you understand me perfectly. Phew.”
Gong Pyeonghwa was genuinely delighted.
Today had been so fulfilling. Not only had he enjoyed driving with his mother-in-law, but he’d also managed to inflict a minuscule 0.0001 nanogram financial damage to the Shin family treasury by recklessly swiping his father-in-law’s credit card, and now he might even get Shin Saebyeok’s school uniform. That alone would be rewarding enough, but he might even gain an accomplice.
“Then I’ll speed up a little while still obeying all traffic regulations.”
Gong Pyeonghwa stepped on the accelerator with a bright smile.
***
Chairman Shin entered the empty house and just fiddled with his phone.
The house, where his wife was always present no matter when he came home, felt empty today.
And he could trace his wife’s activities through the text messages on his phone.
[XX Cold Noodles – 98,000 won]
How on earth did two people manage to spend that much on cold noodles?
Then there was the amount spent sweeping through the luxury department, which was fine. What worried him was what came next.
[Waffle XX – 15,800 won]
[X Walnut Pastries – 22,000 won]
[XX Convenience Store – 4,400 won]
[Food Truck – 17,000 won]
[YY Convenience Store – 6,700 won]
[CC Convenience Store – 10,000 won]
[J Bakery – 38,800 won]
[Z Bread – 57,600 won]
[G Delicious Bread – 65,520 won]
What is this guy feeding someone else’s wife?
His wife wasn’t good at refusing others, so she might be forcing herself to eat all this food.
Does this guy only eat? Well, he didn’t seem like the type to lack sensitivity, so he probably didn’t force her to eat. Then did he eat all that by himself? I thought he was human, but is he a pig? And why aren’t they back yet? Could they have had an accident?
Chairman Shin paced around anxiously. Just as he was about to call his wife, unable to stand it anymore, the pig—no, the shameless guy who had impregnated his son—appeared wearing ridiculous sunglasses, with both hands full of bags.
“Oh, Father-in-law! You got off work earlier than I expected! Have you eaten? I bought bread, would you like some?”
“…”
Offering bread bought with my money as if doing me a favor? Chairman Shin found everything about this guy annoying.
Just as he was about to pick a fight and scold him, Mrs. Lee embarrassedly brushed her hair back and smiled awkwardly.
“You’re back early. I thought you’d be late since you said you were going to have dinner.”
“Father-in-law, Father-in-law. Shouldn’t Mother-in-law be a model even now? I mean, clothes look better on her than on a mannequin. This is just a huge loss for the modeling industry, isn’t it?”
His wife’s face, flushed with whatever pleased her, was truly beautiful. Chairman Shin, who had been about to nitpick and pressure Gong Pyeonghwa, could only say she was pretty and closed his mouth.
“…Where’s Noeul?”
“She said she’s having dinner with a friend and will come back later.”
“Do you know what time it is?”
To Chairman Shin, who was visibly displeased, Gong Pyeonghwa kept joking around.
“At that age, friends are everything.”
But that’s probably not it, right? That friend is probably not just a friend, right? Gong Pyeonghwa smirked inwardly while saying something he didn’t mean.
“Even in my case, after class ended, I’d always play soccer and basketball with the guys, eat, and that would be the end of the day.”
Gong Pyeonghwa, who had abandoned friends asking him to play soccer in favor of secretly holding hands and kissing with Saebyeok in the library, told this lie without even wetting his lips.
“It’s just that winter days are short. It’s just past 8 o’clock now, she’ll be back soon… Ah, perfect timing, here she is.”
“I’m home…?”
Shin Noeul froze while taking off her shoes, surprised to see not one but two people wearing ridiculous sunglasses, one of whom was her mother.
“Sister-in-law? Young lady? Welcome home? Did you enjoy dinner with your friend?”
Gong Pyeonghwa smiled slyly as he took off his sunglasses. But that smile wasn’t his usual meaningless smile but a meaningful one, which sent a chill down Shin Noeul’s spine.
“Father, tomorrow we’re having dumplings. Dumplings. Dumplings. Dumplings.”
“That’s a lot of work.”
Gong Pyeonghwa wondered if he was being serious. None of the food that appeared on this family’s table required little effort.
“But you like them, don’t you?”
Unable to say anything more, Chairman Shin just cleared his throat unnecessarily.
Gong Pyeonghwa, tired of watching Chairman Shin and Mrs. Lee who were like the personification of sloths, went to the kitchen alone.
Shin Noeul also bowed slightly and went up to her room.
Arranging the bread and selecting some for immediate consumption as dessert, Gong Pyeonghwa was inwardly annoyed at his father-in-law and mother-in-law, who were still in the same position.
‘It’s fortunate that Saebyeok didn’t inherit that trait.’
Saebyeok wasn’t particularly generous with compliments either, but he wasn’t like that.
Gong Pyeonghwa took the bread and went up to Shin Noeul’s room.
Knock knock, the door opened promptly to his honest knock, and the shy Shin Noeul showed an awkward face.
“Eat this while you study so your blood sugar doesn’t drop.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
