I was worried that if I stayed in the sales booth any longer, my mother-in-law would give me various criticisms, so I quickly tried to find the book I had taken out earlier and pay for it.
“Um… You know that this product is currently on sale, and discounts are only available for couples preparing for marriage, newlyweds, or mother-son-in-law relationships, right?”
Right, that’s why I had deliberately pretended to be a fake newlywed couple with Baek Woojin…
What should I do…
“Don’t you have it?”
When I remained silent, the staff member asked with a puzzled expression. I hesitated for a moment, then while my mother-in-law was looking at other books, I secretly showed the staff member my hand with the red sticker and whispered quietly.
“This should work, right? The newlywed discount.”
“Ah… But where is your husband? We need to confirm that there are two of you.”
“……”
This was troublesome. Baek Woojin still hadn’t come, and my mother-in-law was watching me from this very place.
“Aren’t you going to buy it?”
“……”
Even if Baek Woojin were here right now, it would be a problem, and if I didn’t buy the book now, my mother-in-law would think it was strange. Eventually, I had no choice but to decide to buy the book at full price without a discount.
“Um, then, I’ll pay without the discount…”
“Wait.”
That’s when it happened. My mother-in-law suddenly said that to me, then approached Yoon Mina, who was looking at a fist-sized hand mirror at the entrance of the sales booth.
“Mina, are you buying books?”
“Oh my, mother-in-law. Our Doraion can’t read books yet.”
When Yoon Mina spoke in a tone that wasn’t quite aegyo, mother-in-law suddenly held out her hand.
“Give me your hand.”
“My hand?”
“Yes, your hand.”
When mother-in-law repeatedly demanded she hold out her hand, a flustered Yoon Mina glanced at me before extending her hand.
“There….”
And mother-in-law, who had removed something from the back of Yoon Mina’s hand, immediately approached me.
“Here, put this on. This way you’ll get a discount.”
“Oh, that’s….”
Before I could say anything, mother-in-law stuck a sticker on the back of my hand and approached the staff.
“Mother-son-in-law relationship discount.”
“Huh?”
“Is there a problem?”
“Ah… oh, no…. Well, of course, we should do that….”
The staff member who checked the yellow stickers on mother-in-law’s and my hands was sweating profusely as they calculated the book at the discounted price.
“See you again.”
And as soon as mother-in-law finished paying for the book, she said just that one line and quickly left the sales booth.
“Mina, let’s go.”
“Yes, mother-in-law! Mina is coming…!”
Then, as if completely losing interest in me, she leisurely walked toward the building exit with Yoon Mina and the men in suits and disappeared.
“…….”
What was that…. I had no idea why mother-in-law suddenly acted that way. Of course, I bought the book at a discounted price so there was no loss….
I stood there blankly looking at the yellow sticker mother-in-law had put on the back of my hand until Baek Woojin came.
*
“So that’s why I felt like mother-in-law had changed compared to when I saw her before….”
While leaving the children’s exhibition and riding in the car back home, I told Baek Woojin about what had happened earlier. Actually, I wasn’t going to tell him, but when he saw the yellow sticker on the back of my hand and asked about it, I had no choice but to tell him.
I told him my thoughts about mother-in-law’s attitude along with Yoon Mina’s ridiculous commotion. Then Baek Woojin had a serious expression throughout my story and spoke as if sighing.
“So Chae Seungyeon-ssi is also curious about that person’s intentions for acting that way.”
Is it because he’s a professional? Baek Woojin immediately understood what I was thinking.
“Yes… actually, that’s right…. I don’t know if it’s just me feeling this way, but… what was strangest about mother-in-law was that for the first time, she didn’t ask me a single thing about Hyeol’s well-being. Of course, since the young master came to the house last time, she probably already heard the related stories….”
“Are you concerned?”
“Huh? Concerned?”
I was startled by Baek Woojin’s question and looked at him. Baek Woojin, who had been driving silently, glanced at me briefly before continuing.
“It’s not particularly strange.”
“…Is that so?”
When Baek Woojin said that, I felt a little relieved. I thought maybe I was being overly sensitive about something trivial.
Looking back, I really have no shame. After being kidnapped, threatened, and even subjected to violence by mother-in-law. And I knew well enough from Chae Seungyeon’s diary how difficult life with the in-laws at the Gwak family had been….
Now, even if mother-in-law’s attitude changed, I could have just ignored her like strangers. But I don’t know why it bothers me so much.
Is it because the owner of this body is Chae Seungyeon after all?
“However….”
That’s when it happened. Baek Woojin, who had been driving silently, spoke while turning the steering wheel. Raindrops were falling little by little outside the car window.
“I can fully understand why her attitude toward Chae Seungyeon-ssi has changed.”
“Really? Then was there some kind of trigger?”
Was there something I had missed after all?
“Rather, it would be stranger if someone didn’t recognize your charm.”
“……?”
What? Did I just mishear that…?
When I looked at him with a completely confused face, Baek Woojin calmly explained.
“Of course, what you need to be careful about here is not expressing those qualities to that person as much as possible. But I know it’s impossible for Chae Seungyeon-ssi.”
“Huh? That’s….”
Now that I looked, Baek Woojin seemed to be making some kind of definition for himself rather than giving me advice.
“And most importantly….”
The moment Baek Woojin opened his mouth again, the car stopped. The signal had changed, so the car was temporarily stopped. During that time, the thickening raindrops pounded the car window hard. Baek Woojin’s serious gaze, with the rain-sparkling window behind him, was directed at me. Perhaps because of the rainwater, the eyes I met were wavering.
“I’d like you to keep a certain distance from others except me.”
“…….”
“It’s not just Hyeol who wants to call you every hour to hear your voice.”
Right after saying that, the car started moving again.
Heat rose to my face belatedly. I thought Baek Woojin really had a talent for saying embarrassing things as if it were nothing.
*
Click.
“You’re, you’re back…!”
“Kkotsu, how have you….”
Patter patter…!
“……?”
As soon as we opened the front door and entered, Kkotsu, who had been greeting us happily, stamped his feet as if something was urgent and went back into the room. Since this had never happened before, Baek Woojin and I took off our shoes with puzzled looks.
“You two came back early? I prepared dinner in advance. You just need to boil the clam soup right away, and you can just take the side dishes out of the refrigerator.”
The ajumma who had been taking care of the children since morning quickly put on her outer clothes and prepared to leave as soon as we arrived.
“Thank you so much today. Did the kids behave well without causing trouble?”
“Of course. Oh, Hyeol is sleeping in his room right now. I think he’s been sleeping for about an hour, but since he slept well, it should be fine to wake him up.”
“Yes, I’ll do that. You really worked hard today, thank you.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
After Baek Woojin and I saw the ajumma off, I immediately headed to the guest room where Hyeol was sleeping. Perhaps because it was raining and getting dark, even with just a thin curtain on the window, the room was quite dim.
“Mm… Papa…?”
“Oh, Hyeol woke up…?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
