“Yes, you absolutely must do that…!”
When I shouted while emphasizing ‘absolutely,’ Baek Woojin looked at me and smiled softly.
“Then I’ll go to the hospital for a bit and come back. I’d like to stay by his side, but… I have some important matters to handle.”
“Don’t worry and go, I’m here, aren’t I?”
Thump, when I hit Baek Woojin’s forearm with my fist as if telling him to trust only me, Baek Woojin’s smile deepened.
“Then… I’ll ask you to take care of things.”
Even as Baek Woojin said that, he couldn’t easily step away from in front of Kkotsu’s room before leaving the house.
I finished the brief send-off and after changing clothes, I quietly entered Kkotsu’s room.
“Kkotsu… are you sleeping…?”
Kkotsu was lying on the bed sleeping. Unlike usual, I could hear wheezing sounds, and I could clearly feel that he was really sick. I quietly watched over Kkotsu and since he seemed to be sweating a little, I wiped his face with a warm wet towel.
“Mmm…”
The child groaned and opened his mouth.
“D-daddy…”
At the sound of him looking for Baek Woojin, I stroked Kkotsu’s head and whispered in his ear that daddy had gone to work.
“J-Jeong… hana…”
Then this time he looked for Jeonghan.
“Kkotsu, Jeonghan probably went to kindergarten…”
“Huu… Jeong… Jeonghan… I w-want to see hiiiim…”
“……”
“Jeong… Jeonghan…”
My heart ached as Kkotsu kept groaning and looking for Jeonghan. I couldn’t readily tell him to come over because I was worried about the cold spreading, so I was troubled.
Feeling sorry for him, I thought about it quite a bit and then sent a text to Eunseong-ssi.
[Eunseong-ssi, Kkotsu is sick right now… would it be okay if Jeonghan could call later after kindergarten ends?]
Bzzzzt.
As soon as I sent the text, my phone rang immediately. I was startled and came out of Kkotsu’s room to answer the phone.
“Hello?”
-I can talk now, Seungyeon-ssi.
“What…?”
-I’m working, but I can talk now. You said you’re sick, Seungyeon-ssi? What happened? Are you at the hospital now? Can I come right away?
What is he talking about? It’s not me who’s sick, it’s Kkotsu, and I only asked about the possibility of talking with Jeonghan…
I sighed seeing Eunseong-ssi who didn’t even read my text properly.
“Um, Eunseong-ssi… It’s not me, Kkotsu caught a cold today. I was wondering if he could talk with Jeonghan later… since the kids don’t have phones…”
-That’s possible! I’ll come visit him!
“What? No, wait. Eunseong-ssi, visiting is a bit… Jeonghan might catch the cold…”
-Don’t worry, our Da family is completely strong!
No, whose son was it that suffered from just a head cold for almost a week…?
-Anyway, I’m coming to visit right away! When does that kid Jeonghan finish kindergarten? I’ll rush over as soon as he’s done! Seungyeon-ssi!
“No, I said it’s not okay…!”
-Oh?! That customer… Seungyeon-ssi! I’ll contact you again later!
“I said it’s not okay… Hey!”
Click.
When I shouted loudly, Eunseong-ssi had already said what he wanted to say and hung up.
“Sigh, just saying what he wants and what’s this… Did I contact him for nothing…?”
I went back into Kkotsu’s room with regret. In the meantime, perhaps he had tossed and turned, as I could see Kkotsu’s chubby hand sticking out from under the blanket. When I tried to put that hand back under the blanket, Kkotsu mumbled in a very faint voice.
“M-mommy…”
“……”
At the child’s voice looking for someone who was no longer in this world, I held back the tears that were about to spill.
*
How much time had passed? Only after changing the wet towel on Kkotsu’s forehead several times did the groaning sounds quiet down. Kkotsu, who had fallen into a deep sleep, had a more comfortable expression than before. At this rate, his fever would probably go down soon.
Bzzzzt.
It was when I came out of Kkotsu’s room to wet my throat for a moment. My phone vibrated. Wondering if Eunseong-ssi had changed his mind, I answered the phone without even checking who it was out of expectation.
“Right? It would be too much after all…”
-Huh? Seungyeon hyung? You answered quickly?
“Uh…?”
At the voice of someone I hadn’t expected, I quickly took the phone away from my ear. On the screen was someone else’s name, not Da Eunseong.
[Young master]
-I heard you’re sick?
“How did you…”
At the unexpected question, I rolled my eyes for a moment.
It’s Kkotsu who’s sick… No, more than that, when did I ever give the young master that kind of impression…?
I briefly recalled the phone conversation I had with the young master a week ago. It was just a casual exchange of greetings, nothing memorable enough to stick in my mind.
-Ah, hyung. Don’t be too surprised. I heard from Hyeol. He said Baek Woojin-ssi’s son caught a cold… What? Wait. Why? Ah… I got it. I’m asking right now.
“…?”
The young master stopped talking mid-sentence and had a conversation with someone.
-No, it’s not that Hyeol is sick…? Ah, why do you keep asking… What? What? Ah, then why don’t mom talk directly.
“Um… Young master?”
-Ah, I’m sorry. Hyung… that is, ah! I got it, I got it. Why are you hitting me, mom! What’s wrong with the way I address him, you’re nitpicking just like Hyeol! Ow! That hurts…!
“……”
Thump! Thump!
Then for a while, shouting continued along with dull sounds of hitting something, then it became quiet at some point.
-Hah… My back is really going to be on fire… Ah, I’m sorry, brother-in-law. Anyway, I’m worried about Baek Woojin, no, I’m worried about Hyeol because of that person’s son, so I was thinking of visiting your house to check… would that be okay?
“What?”
I felt rejection as soon as I heard it.
“Um… as you well know, young master, I’m not in a position to just invite people over…”
No, why does he want to visit like this?
‘…I’m worried that the Gwak family people might have installed something strange…’
I suddenly remembered what Baek Woojin had said. Actually, I felt that this kind of sudden visit was no different from surveillance rather than them installing something.
“Young master.”
He seemed decent for someone from the Gwak family, so I tried to think well of him every time… but I think I need to be clear this time.
“As Hyeol said, Kkotsu did catch a cold… but it’s not severe. And I’ll also be careful not to let the kids catch the cold… It won’t be as big a concern as you think, young master.”
When I spoke firmly, the young master didn’t say anything. If he had nothing more to say, I was about to end the call.
“Then…”
-Hyung, no… brother-in-law, are you angry…?
“……”
-Actually, our mom… Ah! Why? What? You want me to switch? No, mom… wait…!
That’s when it happened. I could hear bickering sounds from the other end of the call. Even though I couldn’t see, it seemed like mother-in-law wanted to talk with me. I was startled and shouted.
“Ah, anyway, don’t come! I’m hanging up…!”
Click.
I quickly took the phone away from my ear and pressed the end call button, and fortunately the phone didn’t ring again.
“Phew…”
Only then did I let out a sigh of relief.
I don’t know what the Gwak family people are scheming. What does mother-in-law want to do by suddenly talking with me? Does she find it so unreliable that I’m raising Hyeol alone…
‘Do you, you think… you can… raise the ch-child… prop-properly…?’
I recalled the image of mother-in-law I saw in front of the farm and shook my head.
Even if others said it a hundred times, I was confident I could raise him well.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
