“Okay.”
“…Huh? Really?”
“Wait.”
I thought he would think about it a little, but Hyeol ran straight to Kkotsu’s room without any hesitation.
Phew… Hyeol needs to do as well as Jeonghan and leave a good impression on Kkotsu… I was worried about my child’s future in many ways.
That’s when it happened.
Baek Woojin and Eunseong-ssi, who had been holding their breath so quietly I forgot they were there, were staring at me intently. When our eyes met, both of them simultaneously tried to move toward Kkotsu’s room.
No way, these people…
“No, fathers, I only do it for Hyeol…!”
When I shouted, both of them flinched and stopped dead in their tracks.
As I thought…
But their faces were full of disappointed expressions.
Geez… I couldn’t help but sigh.
“It’s limited to children only, so adults please return to your places.”
“…”
“…”
When I spoke in a scolding voice, the two men returned to their places without erasing their somewhat disappointed expressions.
Good grief… What on earth are they thinking…?
Just as I was clicking my tongue inwardly.
Ding dong.
The doorbell rang. When I checked the intercom, the young master was standing on the screen with a bright smile.
Gasp…
Even during our phone call, I thought maybe… I didn’t think the young master would really come. I should have told him firmly not to come instead of just hanging up… I regretted it.
“It’s okay.”
“Ah…”
As I stood with a troubled expression looking at the young master on the screen, Baek Woojin approached at some point and spoke in a gentle voice.
“I fully understand Chae Seungyeon-ssi’s position, so let’s slowly cut ties with the Gwak family people.”
And he murmured quietly while wrapping his hand around my shoulder.
“Seungyeon hyung!”
As soon as I opened the door, the young master appeared with a fresh smile. He, who had a face exactly like Hyeol’s, was holding a large fruit basket in his hands.
“Ah, it’s really been a long time, Baek Woojin-ssi.”
Thud.
The young master handed the fruit basket to Baek Woojin and greeted him warmly.
“I heard your son is very sick? I came to visit the patient and also see Seungyeon hyung…”
“Hey! Gwak Jin!”
“…Eunseong sunbae?”
Eunseong-ssi jumped up from the sofa and acknowledged the young master. Seeing that they knew each other’s names and used the title “sunbae,” it seemed the two already knew each other.
“No, why is sunbae here…?”
The young master looked back and forth between Eunseong-ssi and me as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Wow, I’m seeing Gwak Jin here of all places? Jeonghan goes to the same kindergarten as the kids here. I came to visit the sick… But how do you two know each other?”
Eunseong-ssi approached with a pleased expression and asked me and the young master. Then the young master made an expression as if he understood what was going on and introduced us to each other.
“Seungyeon hyung, I told you before, right? That’s the lawyer sunbae.”
“Ah…”
I recalled the lawyer’s business card the young master had given me when we talked about family register matters related to my in-laws last time. He said he knew a sunbae well in that field… it was Eunseong-ssi.
“Ahh…! Then Jin, the brother-in-law you mentioned is…!”
Eunseong-ssi looked at me with wide eyes and clapped his hands.
“Ha, this is really… It seems Seungyeon-ssi and I were destined to meet from the beginning!”
Eunseong-ssi shouted loudly with flushed cheeks.
“Haha… Is that so…?”
I gave an awkward smile and glanced at Baek Woojin. His face holding the fruit basket was so calm I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
“Dad!”
That’s when it happened. Hyeol came running out of Kkotsu’s room in a hurry. The young master tried to greet Hyeol, but Hyeol cleanly ignored him and pulled on my arm.
“Here.”
“Hm?”
Hyeol showed me his left cheek.
“I did everything dad told me to do, taking care of Kkotsu like Jeonghan did.”
“Oh? Really…?”
“Yes, I gave him water, listened to his weird stories, and wiped his sweat too.”
I wondered if he did it too formally… I couldn’t be sure since I wasn’t watching, but I was so proud that he followed my words.
“Good job.”
“Hurry.”
“Mmm…”
At the child’s urging to quickly give him the promised kiss on the cheek, I glanced around slightly.
“…”
Somehow, all these large, dark-complexioned men were staring at me intently. Their gazes were too burdensome, but at Hyeol’s whining, I quickly gave his soft cheek a peck.
“Thank you, Hyeol.”
As I patted the head of Hyeol who smiled brightly after receiving his kiss, the young master who had been watching quietly suddenly rolled up his sleeves and tried to head toward Kkotsu’s room, which I caught.
“No, I told you I don’t do it for adults…!”
*
The day was already starting to get dark. Kkotsu ate the porridge and medicine that Baek Woojin made and fell asleep again, and Baek Woojin and the uninvited guests were now finally sitting quietly drinking tea.
“Let’s feed the kids dinner now.”
“Ah, that’s right. It’s already time…”
Baek Woojin seemed to be thinking of feeding not only Hyeol but also Jeonghan dinner before sending them back. He appeared to be a really blunt man on the outside, but I could feel that he loved children more than anyone.
“I am getting hungry. With so many people, let’s order delivery? I know the good restaurants in this neighborhood well.”
Eunseong-ssi said while rubbing his belly as if he were a gentle bear. Was it just my imagination, or did he seem only interested in his own meal and not care about Jeonghan at all?
“Let’s do that, first let’s prepare something separate for the kids to eat…”
“Why bother? We can just order for the kids too. Jeonghan! What do you want to eat? Pork cutlet?”
Eunseong-ssi, who cut off Baek Woojin’s words, suddenly asked Jeonghan. Jeonghan glanced at me for a moment, then answered briefly, “Yes.” Somehow it seemed like he didn’t really like pork cutlet.
“Ah… Then, shall we choose what the kids want to eat? Hyeol? Is pork cutlet okay? Or is there something else you want to eat?”
When I asked Hyeol, who had been clinging to my leg like a cicada, he looked at me with an indifferent face.
“Will dad make pork cutlet for me?”
“Huh? No, delivery…”
“Pork cutlet can be delivered too?”
Ah… Is that it?
Since Hyeol had been raised in a chaebol family, I thought he had probably only eaten pork cutlet that a chef personally fried, not delivery food.
Come to think of it, I realized that even while freeloading at Baek Woojin’s house, I had never eaten delivery food once. Either the hired ajumma came to the house and made food by hand, or we only ate takeout food that Baek Woojin bought. Even then, the children’s food was always homemade.
“It’s okay, the ajumma prepared the kids’ meals separately.”
Then Baek Woojin said there was separate food for the kids and went into the kitchen. I also thought homemade food would be much better than making the hungry children wait.
“Eunseong-ssi, I think we just need to order food for us. Hyeol, shall we eat now then? Jeonghan, let’s go together.”
I quickly took Hyeol and Jeonghan and headed to the kitchen.
What Baek Woojin took out of the freezer was packaged shrimp fried rice. It wasn’t a retort product but something the ajumma had made into fried rice and put in an airtight container. Baek Woojin was skillfully stir-frying the fried rice in a frying pan with oil.
“Oh? It’s shrimp fried rice.”
Then Jeonghan’s eyes sparkled as he spoke and quickly sat down on a dining chair. He must have been hungry after all.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
