“I taught you, hurry up.”
Um… excuse me, in-law…? Your tone when talking to the child seems quite cold…
It was a moment that made the perfect 100 out of 100 score meaningless.
Still, I decided to be a little more patient. I learned at school that a third party shouldn’t easily judge or intervene in the relationship between parent and child after seeing only fragmentary aspects. You have to observe like an observer for a while to see what background they have, what environment they’re in, and what kind of story they have.
“On the bl-blanket… I d-did…”
“What did you do on the blanket?”
Even though it was obvious what he did, Baek Woojin asked again as if telling him to say it precisely.
“P-pee… sir…”
Kkotsu, who stammered his words, soon looked at me and made a tearful expression. It must be because he was caught in an embarrassing situation in front of a stranger. My nose immediately stung. I conveyed my apology to mean that I fully understood Kkotsu.
“It’s okay, teacher also peed on the blanket when I was nine years old.”
“R-really…?”
“Yes, of course. Ah! Or is Kkotsu ten years old?”
At my question, Kkotsu shook his head. Then he glanced at Baek Woojin and gave me a verbal “no” answer.
“Huk, then eleven years old?”
“N-no, sir…!”
When I asked back in surprise, Kkotsu suddenly raised his voice loudly. Then he spread six fingers in front of my eyes.
“S-six… y-years old, sir…”
“Six years old? Wow! That’s three years younger than when teacher peed?”
“……”
“Then it’s okay to pee at that age, right?”
The child, whose eyes that seemed about to cry had somehow become bright, nodded his head up and down.
“…It seems the child needs to be washed.”
“Ah, that’s right.”
Then Baek Woojin spoke to me and completely opened the half-open door. Naturally, Kkotsu’s pajama pants were all wet. The blanket beyond was also soaked like a world map.
“Um… if it’s okay, may I wash him?”
I looked back and forth between the bed and Kkotsu and asked carefully.
“But…”
“I owe you a debt and all… In-law, no, Woojin-ssi, please change the sheets quickly. You’ll ruin the mattress.”
Actually, I said that because I didn’t think I’d feel comfortable leaving Baek Woojin to wash the child. No matter how much he’s Kkotsu’s father, I thought the child might really cry if it’s the hands of such a blunt man.
“Kkotsu, is it okay if teacher washes you?”
Still, I asked for Kkotsu’s opinion. Fortunately, the child seemed to have lowered his guard against me, slowly came to me, and grabbed my collar with his small fern-like hands.
“…Let’s do that.”
Baek Woojin looked at both of us, thought for a moment, then went into the child’s room.
“Does Kkotsu like baths?”
“Yes…”
“Wow, really? Amazing. Then shall we hurry and go take a bath?”
I took the nodding Kkotsu and headed to the bathroom. While filling the bathtub with warm water, I took off the child’s completely wet pajamas. When the water was filled to some degree, I had him soak up to his shoulders in the water, then lathered soap on my hands and carefully washed various parts of his body.
While washing his body, Kkotsu stared at me with his round eyes and sometimes raised his hands to splash in the water. Among the children I’d seen, he was the most well-behaved child in the world, so it was easy to bathe him, but I also felt sorry for him.
“…You’re all wet.”
“Ah, that’s right.”
When I finished washing Kkotsu and came out, my white shirt was completely soaked. It seemed to be because the shirt was too loose for my body. Why did Chae Seungyeon wear clothes that didn’t even fit? Since I couldn’t ask him, there was no way to know.
Baek Woojin, who stared intently at my disheveled appearance, pointed somewhere with his hand.
“There are many clothes in that small room over there, you can choose one that fits your size and wear it.”
“Thank you.”
I used the large towel Baek Woojin handed me to dry the wet areas and headed to a small room. It wasn’t exactly like a dressing room, but there were really many clothes in the built-in closet. I picked out the most ordinary white t-shirt and jeans from among them, changed into them, and came out.
In the meantime, Baek Woojin was in the child’s room, putting clothes on Kkotsu and drying his hair with a hairdryer. As the large hands caressed the small head, the child seemed sleepy and his eyes were drooping.
Still, it was fortunate that Baek Woojin looked affectionate while taking care of the child.
“Chae Seungyeon-ssi.”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry, but… I think I need to put the child to sleep.”
“Ah, of course…”
It was still early for the child to wake up, so it was better to let him sleep a little more when there was time.
“…Ah…!”
At that moment, Kkotsu suddenly opened his eyes wide and tugged at his father’s sleeve. He seemed to have something to say, but his slightly swollen lips just mumbled as if it was hard to speak.
In times like this, rather than waiting for the child to speak, it’s also good to just treat him lightly. As if he could say it anytime, not necessarily right now.
“Kkotsu, the teacher will be outside here, so sleep with daddy.”
It was when I was about to close the door with a bright smile. Suddenly Kkotsu shook his head and shouted loudly.
“S-s-sleep… together!”
Following that, Kkotsu banged on the vanity table with his hand. I was startled and looked at Baek Woojin. He also had a surprised expression.
“S-sleep… to-together… please.”
Perhaps becoming anxious seeing the two frozen people, Kkotsu said it once more. Only then did I open the door again and step into the room.
“Sh-should we…?”
When I glanced at Baek Woojin wondering if it was okay to sleep together, he silently put the hairdryer he was holding back in its place and pulled back the freshly made blanket. Kkotsu quickly ran to the bed and slipped right into the blanket.
When I also went to lie down next to Kkotsu, Baek Woojin turned off the light. As he was about to go outside like that, Kkotsu called him in a faint voice.
“D-daddy… too… s-sleep together…”
Then Baek Woojin approached as if he had been waiting and lay down next to Kkotsu.
“Good night, Kkotsu and… Woojin-ssi.”
When I whispered, Baek Woojin stared at me intently. That gaze was somehow burdensome, so I closed my eyes.
“…Good night.”
Then I heard Baek Woojin whisper softly like me. I felt a smile bloom on my lips as I laid my body comfortably on the bed. On one hand, the picture of lying with an in-law with a child in the middle was strange, but I brushed off such trivial thoughts at the child’s soft hand holding my finger.
In the sleep that began to pour down, if I were still Chae Seungyeon when I woke up again… I resolved that for this pretty child’s sake, I would definitely raise Chae Seungyeon’s son to be a sweet top, not an obsessive maniac.
Ah, but first I need to change his name.
*
“Mmm…”
I slowly lifted my heavy eyelids and woke from deep sleep.
“Are you awake?”
At that moment, I heard a deep bass voice in my ear. When I properly opened my eyes, Baek Woojin was leaning against the doorframe, watching me quietly.
“Ah…”
I stared at him blankly with a slightly troubled mind.
I had hoped… but even after sleeping and waking up, I was still Chae Seungyeon from the novel.
Should I just accept it now? I had hoped that the vague traffic accident and the incident on the bridge were just dreams…
“Are you alright?”
Perhaps worried about me not coming to my senses, Baek Woojin asked.
“Yes… I’m fine.”
Well, there’s nothing I can do about it now. Chae Seungyeon was originally a life meant to die anyway, but it’s like he came back to life thanks to me. If that’s the case, then I’ll have to live borrowing this body for now.
I made such a solemn resolution alone, but actually I had no particular plan. At best, I was fortunate to have met someone who would become my future in-law, if you could call it fortunate?
“Um… are you going to work?”
I asked Baek Woojin while still rubbing my stiff eyes with my hands. He was dressed sharply in a suit, having apparently gotten up and prepared for work at some point.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
