# Chapter 58
Despite saying that, upon arriving home, Haegang took out alcohol. The man who looked like he would drink wine or vodka mixed soju and beer with practiced movements.
Since it was the first time they sat at the table together for something other than a meal, Dohyun didn’t know where to begin. Haegang said they couldn’t just drink alcohol and prepared various side dishes, and although Dohyun felt burdened by the snacks filling the table, he quickly emptied his glass.
As expected, he didn’t get drunk easily. He could feel the bitter scent of alcohol warming his body as it went down his throat, but perhaps because his metabolism was fast, his body didn’t easily invite intoxication.
As soon as Dohyun put down his empty glass, it was filled again with soju and beer, and he asked:
“I heard drinking like this makes you get drunk really well.”
“Usually, you learn to drink first from an adult. But Baek Dohyun-ssi only has friends. Since I’m the closest adult living nearby, I have no choice but to teach you.”
“Is that why it’s soju and beer…?”
“If you were an ordinary person, I would have just given you beer.”
Listening to Haegang, Dohyun realized a faint laugh had escaped his lips. Only then did he feel that his face wasn’t moving as he intended. He only then noticed that the corner of his mouth was slightly raised.
“It certainly takes a long time for you to get drunk.”
“How much have I had?”
“You’ve emptied 7 bottles of soju alone. About twice as much beer.”
He should be feeling tipsy by now. A few days ago, he’d seen his friends chattering in the group chat that drinking three bottles was considered a lot. He couldn’t understand why people drank this bitter stuff.
“What time is it now?”
“Two o’clock.”
It was exactly this time. When the boy who became Baek Dohyun came to cherish only a clock stopped at 3:10.
❖ ❖ ❖
Dohyun. No, Seonwoo, turned his guardian into a “former” guardian in the year he became a second-grade elementary student. While staying at a facility run by the Association, he saw children being adopted and new children coming in. Some children had hope that their parents would come back for them, and others prayed earnestly for new parents. But Seonwoo didn’t need a guardian.
The adults at the orphanage, who were his guardians before adoption, had no interest in Seonwoo, and the adult who had been interested in Seonwoo eventually disappeared far away due to the schemes of that “room.” Since even the guardian he acquired after adoption wasn’t a proper guardian, Seonwoo couldn’t trust large people.
During elementary school, Seonwoo always stayed quiet. Children who approached him saying “let’s play together” didn’t even register in his eyes. Suspicion. Though he was a young child, Seonwoo always harbored suspicion in his heart.
“He’s weird.”
“He doesn’t answer when we talk to him.”
“It makes me uncomfortable.”
He liked secluded places. It didn’t matter if the children in his class thought he was strange. Because his mind was filled with the thought that staying quiet was best, he didn’t bother to show himself even after going to a new facility.
The year he became a fifth-grade elementary student, he met a couple. Many children in the facility where Seonwoo was had lost their parents. Seonwoo had no memory of his parents to begin with. Moreover, he only remembered handing over to the police, with the Association’s help, the person who had claimed to be his adoptive father, so he couldn’t forcibly hold any good memories about guardians. This couple who approached such a Seonwoo gave him an overcoat as a gift.
“…Why are you giving this to me?”
“Because you look like our daughter.”
They were strange adults. Seonwoo had never been spoken to with formal language by adults. Even when entering a store to buy something, adults would naturally say “Welcome” once and then naturally speak informally. Didn’t even the teachers who first came to the orphanage speak formally at the first greeting and then naturally switch to informal speech?
But this couple laughed, saying they weren’t at the stage to speak informally yet. They never spoke informally even to other children at the facility. A teacher at the facility discreetly tipped off Seonwoo.
“Seonwoo. You might be adopted by them.”
It didn’t feel real. Seonwoo was rather suspicious. What about him made them decide to adopt him? They were a couple who anyone could tell were socially successful. Their gently curving eyes or their tone that seemed like they would never get angry anywhere confirmed this. The car they drove was pitch-black, and the clothes they wore looked so soft that it seemed a shame for even a speck of dust to settle on them.
The people Seonwoo had seen so far had all been off in some way. The hands of the seemingly kind older brothers and sisters at the orphanage were harsh, and the legs of the man who seemed reliable when taking him out of the orphanage hurt terribly when touched. Seonwoo could never relax, fearing they might be off in some way too. Unless they weren’t off…
“We would like Seonwoo to become our son.”
Despite the presence of children of the same age, same gender, and with better social skills, it seemed impossible that they would say such things to him. Seonwoo was rather afraid of this couple reaching out to him.
The adoption process didn’t happen immediately. It seemed like before, they just told him to go, and he went… But this time was different. They said preparation time was needed.
Wearing clothes provided by the facility, when Seonwoo went to the parking lot, the couple greeted him with bright smiles. Afraid that his dirty shoes might touch the clean black car all over, Seonwoo barely placed just the tips of his feet. Although Seonwoo didn’t open his heart easily, the couple showed constant smiles.
“It will probably be awkward for Seonwoo to call us Dad and Mom right away.”
After autumn passed, the couple who put the overcoat on Seonwoo smiled and spoke kindly. The concept of a family fence was still unclear, but around the time Seonwoo realized that these people meant no harm to him, the couple carefully started speaking informally to him. Seonwoo, too, thinking that perhaps he could rely on these people just a little, gradually narrowed the distance.
“Until then, you can call us Uncle and Aunt like you did at the facility before, or you can call us Mister and Missus.”
“I thought it was too early for me to become a Mister.”
“If you have a child, it’s right to be called Mister and Missus, honey. When we go out, you’ll be called Mister, right~?”
The couple’s laughter as they spoke jokingly sounded joyful. Seonwoo always found it amazing how the mister holding his right hand and the missus holding his left hand looked down at him so preciously. Why did they want to become his family when there was nothing he could offer them?
“I am thankful for another happy day that has passed for us. Seonwoo is spending a day at our home this weekend too. I wish that this weekend will also be happy and healthy.”
The couple, holding the hands of Seonwoo who didn’t believe in God, clasped their hands knowing that Seonwoo’s eyes were open but pretending not to know. They wished for Seonwoo’s day to be peaceful through a prayer that included his name.
The people Seonwoo knew all prayed for themselves. They prayed for today’s meal to be delicious, they prayed to earn money as soon as possible to escape the facility, they prayed to become rich and live lavishly. But the couple prayed for Seonwoo. They prayed for their days together to be brilliant.
Seonwoo, who had thought his future was painted black, closed his eyes in prayer for the first time. The couple smiled, seeing Seonwoo with his eyes closed.
“I also wish that our beloved Seonwoo’s dream world tonight will be filled with happiness and peace.”
All Seonwoo did for those who prayed for him was to add a few more words.
“I hope you, Mister and Missus… have good dreams…”
I hope so.
His temperature rose. He hadn’t known adding words would be this difficult. Seonwoo couldn’t complete his sentence due to embarrassment and shyness. After tightly closing his eyes and opening them with difficulty, Seonwoo saw both tears and beaming smiles on the couple’s faces.
That winter, on the day the first snow fell, Seonwoo became the couple’s real son.
It wasn’t easy. They took time to get close, and though they thought they had prepared well to be together as a family, there were many clashes. Their ways of life were too different. Seonwoo often forced himself to eat meat that he hadn’t often eaten before and suffered quite a bit. Used to enduring, he didn’t mention when he was in pain and ended up collapsing, having to see his adoptive parents’ upset expressions.
“Seonwoo is good at math, isn’t he?”
Happy with the passing compliment from his adoptive parents, he bought and solved a middle school math workbook, but after seeing the rain of problems, he just hid it under his bed.
“We’re sorry for pressuring you, our son.”
The path to becoming a family was a bit difficult. But he thought if they walked step by step very carefully, they could live on the same path. Seonwoo, who had gained adoptive parents in a life without guardians, nurtured warmth in his heart for the first time. Although that warmth felt more precarious than a candle flame, his adoptive parents were willingly blocking the wind.
“Shall we decide on a name?”
“A name?”
“Yes. Do you have a name you want? Chinese characters are fine too.”
On the day the legal adoption process was completed, Seonwoo began to seriously consider. Since Seonwoo had always been Seonwoo, it felt strange that his name could change.
“You’ll become a middle school student next year.”
“Then I’ll also…”
“You’ll become a Baek like Dad.”
“It would be fine to become a Na like Mom too~.”
Seonwoo told his adoptive parents, who were speaking playfully, that he would still become a Baek. There was no need to worry about which side, as they were bound as a family either way. Seonwoo still couldn’t call his adoptive parents Mom and Dad. But his adoptive parents told Seonwoo, who was opening his heart very slowly, that he didn’t need to rush.
“I…”
“Yes, son.”
“Could you decide together for me?”
“The name? Any name Seonwoo wants is fine. You can just keep it as Baek Seonwoo.”
“I want to change it.”
I wish you both would decide for me. When Seonwoo answered in a very small voice, his adoptive parents smiled brightly. He thought it would be nice to have a name given by parents. He wanted to have evidence of family, not the name he had been called at the facility.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
