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[1화] A long, long time ago.

“SAMCHUUN!!! SAAAMCHUUUN!!!”

“Ugh…”

“Stop sleeping and wake up, Samchun.”

“Ugh…. ugh…”

“Sam! Ddut! Il! Eo! Na!”

So noisy.

This little brat who pesters me from a peaceful weekend morning is my older sister’s daughter.

Her name is Hyunkyung.

Just hearing her name makes her sound like some martial arts master.

Once she asked my sister how it would be if the second child was named Hwakyung, and ended up fainting after receiving a slap reminiscent of our mom….

“Oh, Hyunkyung, Uncle is sleepy. Let me sleep a bit more. I worked late into the night yesterday.”

“Mom said Uncle is unemployed and has no work, right?”

???

Is this pure evil that I’ve only heard about in stories?

“…No, Mom told you wrong. Uncle was writing late into the night yesterday.”

“No! Mom knows everything! She always says if you stay home all day and sleep during the day, you’re unemployed.”

“……”

She’s so stubborn, just like someone else.

Well, even if I write a hundred things, if I don’t make money, I’m practically unemployed….

It’s been almost a year since I started living at my sister’s place.

Who goes to their sister’s house as a grown man?

Right now, anyone who shamelessly clings onto my sister’s house is considered trash!

I was confidently living off my mom!

Originally, I was diligently typing away on my keyboard, planning to become a web novel writer after finishing military service, but my sister and her husband, who both work, returned and forcibly kidnapped me, saying I should stay home and take care of the kid….

I really didn’t agree to this….

Anyway, if you’re just holding onto a computer, people think you’re doing nothing.

Actually, I don’t have any complaints about living at my sister’s house for now.

I get pocket money and it’s not like I’m not getting paid.

Even though my sister and her husband work, they were always worried about Hyunkyung, but with me around, they can relax, right?

The problem is, it might be uncomfortable for my brother-in-law to live with his brother-in-law….

“You can stay here as long as you want! Don’t worry! Don’t be sensitive! Stay here for a long time! …Please!”

……

Maybe I shouldn’t leave after all?

Well, these days, my sister seems more relaxed, she nags less, sometimes she plays games with me, sometimes we drink together, isn’t it too bad?

Sigh… poor brother-in-law.

I still can’t forget the sight of him crying while eating the meal I prepared after work.

He decided to marry my sister after tasting the lunchbox she lovingly made during their dating days, thinking it was his girlfriend’s cooking, only to realize later that it was actually his brother-in-law’s cooking….

That day, he tightly held two crumpled 50,000 won bills hidden in the shoe rack in my hands….

“Samchun! Now that you’re awake, read these to me quickly.”

Oh… I’m so sleepy, Hyunkyung….

Glancing at the clock, it’s around 10 o’clock.

“Ugh… Nuna had plans today…. Where did Dad go on a weekend?”

“Dad suddenly got work! He wants to play with you, Samchun! He told me to give this to you.”

Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I read the note Hyunkyung gave me.

– Sorry, brother-in-law. Something came up, so I have to go out for a bit. I’ll be back around dinner time. There’s 50,000 won on the table, so buy something delicious with Hyunkyung^^.

…… This, this is tyranny!! I oppose helicopter parenting!! Why can’t I be happy! Dobby needs freedom!

“Hehe, Samchun, you’re awake now, right? You’ll read books with Hyunkyung~.”

As I lay bundled up in the blanket, the daughter of the house urges me to wake up and work like a slave.

Cutely shaking my body and pleading, Hyunkyung, next to me, had a stack of picture books piled up like a tower of Babel.

Looking at the mountain of picture books, Dobby realized.

This could be a big problem if taken the wrong way….

Even if it’s just to guard against oversleeping on weekends!!!

I must be careful somehow…!!!

“Oh… Ah, right! Should Uncle put on YouTube for you?”

“Shoot! I’ve seen all of that!”

“But Uncle hasn’t even said if he will put it on yet….”

Creak! The ultimate YouTube move didn’t work.

These days, kids are going crazy over YouTube, but that was all a lie.

“Read me a fairy tale! Hyun-kyung wants to read a fairy tale with Sami. Give us a fairy tale!”

“Hyun-kyung reading alone…?”

“Shoot! Sami reading is better. Give us a fairy tale!”

Politely, they plead, even bringing their hands together.

But sister, you said you would teach Hyun-kyung honorifics, right? Is this correct? Just saying ‘please’ makes everything an honorific…?

…I can’t help it.

Is it time for the glorious feats and subtraction skills of a former corporal in the Republic of Korea Army, along with boasting and bluster! Is it time to bring out the persuasive skills…?

“Um.. Once upon a time, Cinderella lived, right?

She lost her parents and lived happily ever after with the prince! There!”

First, I throw a light jab.

“…???”

With my attack, Hyun-kyung puffs up her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

“That’s not how you do it! Do it properly!”

Haha.

I expected Uncle to anticipate this level of rebellion.

“Oh, that’s right. You know Cinderella is Uncle’s close friend, right? She contacted me saying she’s living happily with the prince.”

So, what do you think, Hyun-kyung! What will you do with Cinderella, my friend! What about Cinderella!

“That’s not it! I know about living happily… but… it feels kind of… short…”

Sigh… It’s not easy after all… But a master always prepares for the next move!

Confuse them with difficult words!

“Right? Hyun-kyung also knows about living happily, right? So Uncle is right? Maybe it feels a bit short… That… Yes! Life is short and art is long~ That’s why fairy tales might feel short~ There!”

“……”

“Now, Uncle will sleep a little longer?

Haha… Have I won? Uncle has no words? Can I just go to sleep now?

“No no!! Samchun always says weird things! That’s not what I meant! I want to go to a party with pretty Cinderella because the fairy godmother~”

Ah. Saying “have I won” wasn’t a good idea…

“Yeah~ A party. Uncle went out last weekend, right? He danced at the club with Cinderella all night.

Cinderella is sleeping deeply now. Uncle also played and is sleepy like Cinderella? So Uncle is going to sleep too~”

“………….”

???

This time, the silence seems prolonged?

Is this how easily they give up? … Why do I feel anxious…? Is this some kind of spider sense or something?

Uncle can sleep again, right? Right?

“……Hik.”

!!!!???

“……Hik!”

……

Oh my goodness.

“Aaaah!! Mommy!!!

Waaah Samdungi!! Hik! Cinderella went to the club with me and danced all night!

Cinderella said hik! that it’s art because it’s long!! Hik! Cinderella and… waaah… we’re going to sleep together like that!!

Huuuuh I won’t read a single fairy tale!!! Hik! Samchun is bad! Waaah I’ll tell mom everything!! Mommy!! Waaah”

!!!?!?!?

Oh no! When did Uncle say that!!??? This is a disaster! People will misunderstand!

If Sister hears this, Uncle will be in big trouble! Korosareru!

“…….”

He ended up poking the hornet’s nest by trying to sleep a little longer!

In an instant, I became the ultimate trash who ntr’d Cinderella from the prince….

If I can’t fix this, it’s a matter of life and death with my sister.

First, I knelt down and raised my hands.

“Hyun-kyung~ Oh, no, what have I done to tell Mom~ Uncle was wrong, I’m sorry? Uncle is kneeling and raising his hands like this~ So, now! If you keep crying, Santa Claus won’t give you gifts~ Kindergarten friends will make fun of you for crying~”

“Hu…hik! I’m not cr… hik….”

“Right? Hyunkyung didn’t cry, did she? I’ll read a fairy tale to her now. Are you sorry for making her cry? Will Hyunkyung accept your apology?”

“Sob! Yes! Sob! I’ll give you the sea! Sob!”

Oh my… Indeed, our niece’s heart is like an angel.

Although Hyunkyung couldn’t stop crying, she accepted my apology when I offered to read her a fairy tale.

Sigh… Yes, I was wrong, I was wrong… I made her cry just because I wanted to sleep in a bit longer…

I hug Hyunkyung to calm her down and pat her back gently.

“Come on, let’s calm down, pat pat~.”

After patting her for a while, she finally calms down.

It feels like catching a butterfly in a fleeting moment.

Hyunkyung’s face, messed up with tears and snot during that short moment. When children are sad, they cry with all their might.

I take her to the bathroom, wash her face gently, pat it dry, and then apply lotion.

In a way, Hyunkyung’s obsession with fairy tales is my fault.

When I first visited my sister’s house after being discharged from the military, Hyunkyung seemed unfamiliar with me and clung to my sister.

Out of curiosity, she peeked out cutely, and since my brother-in-law and sister came home late, I quickly became friends with her by reading her fairy tales.

I wonder if it was my talent or if Hyunkyung just particularly liked fairy tales. She claps her hands, opens her eyes wide, and laughs joyfully while listening to them…

Suddenly, without realizing it, did my hidden interest go crazy?

Because of that, I passionately acted as if possessed…

Since that day, our picky niece has become someone who cannot be satisfied without performances filled with sincerity and passion,

Turning into a sad story where she embodies a villain character, demanding a performance full of passion, shouting ‘Again~ Again!’ if the acting falls even slightly short….

If I had known that this would torment me until today…!

How passionately did I read to you in the past!

Sigh! I truly resent that you!

“Sam! Chun! You’re having strange thoughts again! Stop that and focus on this.”

Oh my! Even your tiny voice is loud. How did you notice that I was having foolish thoughts?

Her slightly squinting eyes remind me of the times when my sister and I used to scold each other in our childhood.

“Oh dear! Okay okay, I’ll read now. So don’t get mad, wipe your tears, Hyunkyung.”

Hehe. Whenever I see glimpses of my sister in this little one, it’s both amusing and endearing.

Back then, my sister was so intimidating, but this little one is unbelievably cute and funny.

Is it because she’s my first niece?

Even though my sister told me not to spoil her too much, how can I resist?

Since my sister and her husband both work, I always end up giving in to her clinginess out of pity.

“What should I read? This one? Alice in Wonderland? Or Jack and the Beanstalk?”

There are so many. When did I read all of these to you?

“Uhh…. This one! Read this one first! Please!”

“The Fairy and the Woodcutter?”

“Yes! This one.”

“Alright! Come here. Sit on uncle’s lap. Let’s read together.”

“Yes!”

Long ago…

Long ago…

In a very distant past…