episode_0083

After arriving home, I suggested to Cheol-su to come in for a moment to say hello and then leave.

“Hey, you’ve been out all night illegally, and if I go into your house like this, in my pajamas, how will your parents see me?”

Well, he’s always been a troublemaker when it comes to girls since our school days. Our mom even asks, “Oh, that troublemaker? When are you getting married?” whenever Cheol-su is mentioned.

Even Soo-yeon remembers him as the “brother with his brain in his lower body,” so his concerns are definitely valid.

“Okay, then. Are you going up right away?”

Upon hearing that, he sighed deeply.

“I want to, but I still need to say hello before leaving.”

“Ugh, how long are you going to act like a teenager? Just adapt and live your life.”

“Isn’t that adaptation called marriage…? Well, if you’re not going to marry me, then stop nagging, okay?”

I bit my tongue at his words.

“Heh, anyway. Let’s go up later. Go up safely.”

“Okay, I’ll visit your place soon.”

With that, I waved goodbye until his car disappeared and then turned back to enter the house.

In the living room, I saw my family gathered for lunch.

“You, you! If you can’t come in, at least let us know! Do you know how many family members were worried because of you?”

My father’s shouting burst out as soon as he saw me.

“I’m sorry, Dad.”

“You’re not a 20-year-old kid, what are you doing coming home after staying out all night illegally?!”

“Well, I… I was just happy to see my friends after a long time.”

As I scratched my head and spoke, my father sighed deeply and waved his hand.

“Alright, it’s fine. As long as you’re safe.”

Watching this, my mother struggled to hold back her laughter, covering her mouth and stifling her breath. It was quite unusual to see her getting so worked up, as she used to never worry when I was younger.

“Oh, come on, brother. Is it that hard to make a phone call?”

“Sorry, I got carried away with drinking for once.”

My words shocked Sang-gi.

“W-what? You got drunk, brother?! How much did you drink?!”

Similarly, Soo-yeon couldn’t hide her surprise.

“Well, I didn’t drink that much, but I’m a bit weak with wine.”

Just to give you an idea of our family’s drinking habits, my father is a heavy drinker like me, my mother gets drunk after three shots of soju, Soo-yeon has an average tolerance of a bottle, and Sang-gi, despite being a decent drinker, never goes over three bottles of soju.

So, for me, who is particularly strong with alcohol, to get so drunk that I couldn’t even greet properly, it must have seemed like I had emptied a whole barrel by myself, hence their surprise.

“Anyway, as long as you’re home safely, that’s all that matters. Come and eat quickly.”

My mother suddenly got up and brought a bowl to the table.

And then I realized that I hadn’t eaten anything since the ice cream I had in the early morning. Seeing the food on the table, I realized how hungry I was.

As I sat down at the table to eat, Dayoung, who was sitting next to me, asked casually, “Who did you drink with yesterday?”

“Oh, um? Ah, that’s right. Mom’s close friends. Mr. Samsu.”

“Ah, Mr. Hyun-soo, Mr. Kang-soo, and Mr. Cheol-soo?”

“Yeah, I drank with them.”

In reality, I had only drunk with Cheol-su, but I avoided mentioning that to prevent my mom, Soo-yeon, and Dayoung from getting suspicious.

And quietly having a meal, Dabin spoke to me in a low voice.

“Oh, Mom. I’ll be leaving soon after lunch.”

“Oh? So soon?”

“Yes, my uncle said he has urgent work to attend to.”

“I see.”

It seemed that sudden events often occurred related to the cases and lawsuits he handled as a lawyer. I wondered if this was another extension of such an event.

“That’s a shame. It seems like we only came down for the alumni meeting.”

Of course, there wasn’t much to do at home anyway.

“Well, I just had a few drinks and came back yesterday.”

“Anyway, we’ll come down again for the holidays, so it’s fine.”

After finishing the meal, the clock showed 1 p.m.

“Ah, that was a good meal.”

It seemed that the feeling of being full, as it would have been when I was a man, was quite different now. I was just satisfied with the meal. It was definitely helpful to have made this change in my diet.

“Do you want more to eat?”

“No, Father. I have to watch my diet, and now that my stomach has shrunk, I can’t eat as much.”

“Tsk tsk, you’re already so thin and you’re dieting.”

“Honey, I told you yesterday. I’m working out to become a model.”

“Ah, goodness. Health is more important, what’s the point of that!”

And so my father and mother began to argue.

-Tok tok

Suddenly, after finishing the meal, Sooyeon came and sat next to me, whispering in my ear.

“Isn’t Dad’s behavior refreshing? He didn’t treat me like that. There’s no other dad who’s such a doting father.”

Sooyeon also seemed to find that behavior unfamiliar, chuckling softly and mocking.

I suppose the reason my father was so protective was out of compassion. After all, he had already gone through a divorce due to infidelity by his wife and then had to deal with his son becoming a woman.

I imagine that I am probably not the most painful thorn in my father’s side right now.

“So are you jealous?”

“Haha, no. I’m just envious.”

“Well, it’s not a bad feeling to be worried about.”

I hadn’t experienced a situation where I had to worry about my father’s concerns, being a student myself, but I couldn’t help but feel more concerned about Dayoung than Dabin, who was a boy and had already married and started working. So maybe I understand my father’s feelings more?

“Well, shall we start getting ready to go?”

Sooyeon got up and took the children to her room to pack their things. Just as my mother had finished clearing away the lunch, my father took the table and said.

“Oh, leave your healthy husband alone and why are you carrying the heavy stuff?”

“Hey, you should help out like this more often. You can’t do whatever you want just because you have kids.”

“Oh, usually you eat at the table upstairs.”

In the end, they seemed to enjoy bickering, and somehow that sight made me laugh.

Anyway, I also took Dayoung and Dabin to my room to pack their things.

“Oh, right. You guys, pack your things. Mom forgot something.”

Leaving the children, I went out of the room and headed to the master bedroom.

Mom was doing the dishes in the kitchen, and Dad was alone in the master bedroom watching TV.

“Oh, Dohyun… no, Doyeon. Oh, this name just doesn’t stick. They’re so similar.”

“Haha, take it easy, Father.”

“Right, what’s up? Shouldn’t you be packing?”

“Oh, the kids can handle it themselves. Oh, and this.”

I quickly took out a white envelope from my pocket and handed it to my father.

“Here’s some pocket money. Why don’t you treat yourself and your mom to something nice later?”

“Oh, goodness, Mom! That’s enough. What am I going to do with leftover money? You should use it to buy something delicious for yourself. No, I mean, I should give each of the kids some pocket money.”

As I tried to stop my father from getting up from his seat, it was clear that he was weaker now than when he was younger, and I couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat.

“Father, please!”

“Hey! Have you been exercising lately? You seem to have a bit more strength.”

Despite my successful efforts to stop my father, I handed him the envelope again.

“Just take it. I’m going back to work tomorrow anyway, and during my break, I’ll be working on projects and receiving bonuses. Plus, I received some government subsidies recently, so I’m doing well. I just want to show some filial piety to my children, so please accept it.”

After saying all that, my father finally took the envelope cautiously after looking back and forth between me and the envelope.

“Well, then. Thank you, I’ll make good use of it.”

“Haha, Father. Should I give you a shoulder massage for old times’ sake?”

“Oh, that sounds nice. Go ahead and give me a good massage.”

My father was sitting on the edge of the bed, so I climbed onto the bed and faced his back. Slowly, I started massaging his shoulders.

“Oh, that feels good. Your strength is just right. Ah.”

As I continued to massage my father’s shoulders slowly, my mother entered the room, having finished washing the dishes.

“Oh my, look at that expression. You’ve completely become a doting father. Well done.”

I didn’t see it, but according to my mother’s testimony, he blushed quite a bit.

“Did you pack your things? I just saw Su-yeon finishing getting ready to go out.”

“Our kids are taking care of it. Haha.”

“Is that so? Then, instead of just your father, why don’t you give me a shoulder massage too?”

After finally fulfilling my filial duties, I also gave my mother a separate envelope of pocket money.

“You gave me money through my account not too long ago. Why do you have leftover money now?”

“I received a lot of government subsidies this time, so I used that to go on a trip with the kids. So just take it easy and accept it.”

On average, those with TS syndrome often have difficulty returning to normal life immediately after falling ill, so government subsidies are set relatively high. However, with my extended leave and continued work on new products during my break, as well as the successful outcome of my recent project, I was in a fairly comfortable financial position.

“Then, why not save it? Don’t spend it unnecessarily… Anyway, use it well since it’s a gift.”

Having achieved my goal, I returned to my room, where the kids had finished packing and were even wearing their coats, ready to go out.

-Knock, knock!

“Oppa, it looks like we’re all ready to go out. Shall we leave?”

Following Su-yeon, I picked up our luggage and left the house.