episode_0113

Early morning.

Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep-

Shin Yu-jeong woke up to the sound of the alarm before the sun had even risen.

After washing her face to wash away any residual sleep residue, she left the house.

“Whoa… , Phew… !”

I run forward, passing all the people who start their morning with a light jog.

This was her new exercise routine that was added a few days ago.

There is only one reason I started jogging.

‘I can’t lose to Elena!’

This is because I was inspired by Elena, a fellow teammate and in the same position.

Shin Yu-jeong has never once thought that her physical strength is weak.

However, this time, for the first time, I felt inadequate as I saw her moving around with a tower shield that was heavier than her own equipment, but never getting tired before she did.

She didn’t want to lose even a single thing.

Especially for the same position.

So I decided to increase my exercise amount.

I thought about increasing my morning or afternoon physical training time, but I quickly gave up.

‘I can’t have less time with Dojin.’

Cutting down on the time you spend with him when it’s not enough to spend more time with him than you are now is something that shouldn’t happen.

However, my pride did not allow me to lose like this.

After much thought, she made her choice.

‘Let’s reduce sleeping time!’

Her average sleep time is about six hours.

I decided to sacrifice one more hour.

“Whoa… !”

Her entire body was drenched in sweat after running for an entire hour while maintaining a speed several times that of others.

30 minutes to go, 30 minutes to come.

She ran for a full hour and headed straight home.

I opened the door as usual and went in, but something was strange.

“… … ?”

Normally, when you open the door, you would hear the sound of rice being cooked in the kitchen and the mouth-watering smell of food coming out, but that wasn’t the case at all today.

She tilted her head and headed toward the kitchen.

Instead of my mother telling me to hurry up and wash up, I was greeted by a kitchen with the lights off.

Soon she decided not to think too much about it.

“… “It looks like you overslept.”

Although nothing like that has happened so far, aren’t mothers human too?

If you’re tired or not feeling well, you can at least sleep in.

“Because I’m old, well… .”

It’s a bit of a sad story, but her mother isn’t that young anymore.

My face is still young, so I still don’t look my age, but I guess you can’t fake that.

‘Sometimes I should prepare it for you… ? Dojin seemed to like it too.’

Although it was a deeply filial thought, she opened the refrigerator door, thinking that Kim Do-jin would be so shocked that he would fall asleep if he heard it.

As I poured a cup full of cool water and turned around, I felt a presence behind me.

“I’m sorry, daughter… . Mom must have overslept for the first time in a long time. Why didn’t I hear the alarm… ?”

Shin Yu-jeong turns back, gulping down water to quench her burning thirst.

“Oops!”

And as soon as I turned around, all the water I had in my mouth poured out of my mouth.

Rumbling

Streams of water flowing helplessly and falling down the chin.

she asked with an ecstatic expression.

“… who are you?”

I definitely heard my mom’s voice and turned around.

The person I met was clearly my mother… , it wasn’t my mom.

* * *

“Aaaah!”

Before the alarm could even go off, another sound came in and woke me up.

I think I knew what was going on as soon as I heard it.

It looks like our Jeonghee woke up in the morning and looked in the mirror.

If so, the movements behind it are also obvious.

Cancankang!

“Dojin! If you wake up, please open the door… “No, even if you’re not awake, can you please get up and open it?!”

An urgent voice comes through the door.

And then another voice loudly struck my ears.

“hey! “What on earth did you feed my mother, you crazy bastard!”

ah.

This is unexpected.

Come to think of it, I’m not the only one who sees her face in the morning, right?

“I’m going to stir-fry them again.”

Thinking about being scolded by this guy makes me smile bitterly.

Putting that aside for now, let’s take a look at the now completely changed face of our Jeonghee.

I walk leisurely to the front door and unlock the lock.

Then the door opened immediately.

Her face, with the bright sunlight on her back like a halo, comes into view.

“Do, Dojin. When the lady woke up, she saw this… .”

“Uh, um.”

They say that when a person is so shocked, they don’t know what to do and can’t even react.

I experienced that feeling for the first time in my life.

really… , I’m speechless.

I just don’t know.

How should I react, what should I say first?

It feels like all rational sense to judge everything has been paralyzed.

It’s not like his face just changed or anything.

They say that a hundred-year evening primrose is a beautiful flower, but the ultimate plastic surgery, such as making an ugly face handsome, is impossible.

The atmosphere didn’t change much either.

Elegant, dignified, gentle… , but at the same time, it is infinitely bewitching.

The big change in her face was none other than the traces of time.

No matter how young she was, her skin showed traces of time that she had not overcome.

Things you may not know from afar, but only become apparent when you look up close.

Those things disappeared completely, and their place was replaced by vitality and elasticity.

Porcelain skin that is firm and moist, with barely visible pores even when you look closely.

I already imagined it last night while drinking tea.

I wondered what her face would look like when she was younger than she is now.

… Vague imaginations tend to lose some of their power when they become reality, but this time, it’s the exact opposite.

Rather, I realized that my imagination was poor, to the point where I felt deplorable.

I was conscious of Shin Yu-jeong’s gaze next to me and I barely suppressed the desire to hug her right away.

“No matter how much you think about it, the only reason it’s like this is because of the tea you gave me last night… , is that right?”

“uh… “Yes, that’s true.”

The whole truth cannot be revealed right away.

One-hundred-year evening primrose is expensive, but it is an extremely rare material that is not even on sale.

If you ask me where I got it, I’ll be at a loss for words, so I need to gloss over it with something appropriate.

“This is a bit surprising to me too.”

“I’m surprised… ?”

“Well, I got it while running through a dungeon a while ago. It turns out that the flower is good for skin care, so I thought it would be nice to give it to a lady, so I just boiled it. I didn’t know it would be this effective… .”

I know, it’s a poor lie.

But what can I do? I said I was like that.

The more flimsy the lie, the more shameless and resolute it needs to be.

At that time, Shin Yu-jeong, who was standing behind me, asked me a sharp question.

“Dungeon? What dungeon? You always went with us. But there wasn’t a single flower in the dungeon we spent?”

It’s quite sharp, but it’s not even close to this level.

“… I went there briefly on the weekend. “With someone other than you.”

“Who else?”

There is only one person around me who can give some reality to this lie.

“With Yoon Ji-an.”

When a familiar name appears, Shin Yu-jeong’s face becomes grim.

“two people?”

“No, there are four people, including Mr. Jian and two other association employees.”

“Hmm… .”

I can see the anger subsiding further.

I turned my head towards Jeonghee, who was still fidgeting, and said.

“I thought it was just an evening primrose… “I guess it wasn’t just a simple evening primrose.”

“Well, I guess so.”

She was still stroking her face with her hands as if she couldn’t believe it.

Even when you touch it, it feels different.

Now it has become embarrassing to call me ‘Ajumma’ in front of others.

In the past, if she played really well, she could aim for someone in her early to mid-30s, but now it’s almost believable that she’s in her late 20s.

If you go somewhere and call yourself ‘Ajumma’, you might be scolded by your young wife asking what kind of mean language you are talking about.

“So, there are no more flowers?”

Shin Yu-jeong asked me, aiming for a piece of cake.

The kid is very greedy.

What kind of movie would a young and plump girl enjoy by eating more of that?

“Unfortunately, I wrote it all down yesterday.”

“ah… .”

Shin Yu-jeong sighs and glares cutely with a resentful gaze.

I’ll pretend like it’s not there and then sneakily give you one later.

“Anyway, ma’am.”

“Yes.”

He spoke in a serious voice to the woman who was still showing a confused expression.

“congratulations.”

Her expression brightens little by little at my words.

It seems like he sensed something from what I just said.

That becoming younger was not an unintentional coincidence.

Well, it doesn’t matter if you notice that much.

“… Yes, thanks to our Dojin, the lady got a great gift.”

“Hey, you bastard. I won’t give it to my mom… .”

Jeong-hee shouted energetically, hitting Shin Yu-jeong on the back, who was grumbling loudly next to her.

“Why are you trying to share what Dojin gave you for thinking of your mother? “You’re still young.”

“Oh, I don’t know!”

As if trying to show off that he was upset, he stomped his feet and hurried downstairs.

It was a situation where only the two of us were left.

I was about to stretch out my arms to hug her for a moment, but she made an unexpected move.

As soon as Shin Yu-jeong was out of sight, she rushed into my arms first.

“Hehe… “You really kept your promise.”

The promise she spoke of was when she said she would let me live as a witch.

I said, hugging her tighter.

“We have to protect it. “Anyway, it’s a promise to someone.”

I asked her who was in my arms with a smiling face.

“Now, if you really go out, will you look at me as a young lady? “Men will be asking for your phone number.”

“Hoho, are you worried?”

“no.”

The time for such worries is already past.

She looked up at me and said.

“Honestly, I feel better now. Other people’s perspectives and how others see me. just… , Do-jin says you are ajumma… , How I see myself is the most important.”

She stares at me with even more coy eyes.

“So tell me. Who I am now… , what it looks like in your eyes.”

You can attach as much as you want.

If you have time to think, whether it’s dozens or hundreds of words, you can use all kinds of rhetoric.

However, the answer he gave was extremely plain and therefore honest.

“you are pretty.”

As if nothing more was needed, he spoke firmly and clearly.

My attitude was met with a clear reward.

“Are you free in the evening?”

“… “Even if we don’t have it, we have to make it.”

“Then make it.”

She fell out of my arms and continued talking, pointing to herself.

“If this is enough… “Wouldn’t it be okay if we went on a date outside?”

“… surely.”

There was nothing I could do other than answer with a mesmerized expression and shake my head at the indescribable charm and atmosphere created by the combination of ripeness accumulated over the years of living and vibrant vitality.

Suddenly a thought occurred to me.

… I had a dizzying thought that perhaps I had created an unbelievable monster into the world with my own hands.