Ch.182Mom, I Love You (5)

The image reflected in Hamin’s eyes was different from the usual Doyoung.

Of course, that didn’t mean it was a bad kind of different.

It was literally just different from usual, not that it was wrong.

Although he couldn’t judge accurately since his eyes weren’t in the best condition,

from what he could make out of the blurry silhouette, she seemed to be sitting more demurely and quietly than usual.

It was like a trained kendo practitioner kneeling with hands neatly folded, in a meditative pose to clear the mind.

Putting it nicely, the usual Doyoung gave off a free-spirited impression,

but less charitably, she had a somewhat casual demeanor. This posture was clearly different.

Since she was in the presence of Hami, who could be considered her boyfriend’s mother,

she might be paying more attention to her behavior and showing more respect,

but Doyoung and Hami were already acquainted.

Moreover, considering that they had grown close rapidly from their first meeting with Doyoung using the term “mom,” it seemed a bit strange to be showing such formality now.

Perhaps it was the intimidating aura of those neatly composed gestures and dignity.

The silhouette of Doyoung reflected in Hamin’s eyes appeared larger than usual.

“By the way, students these days are so diligent. As far as I know, Doyoung said she wasn’t attending supplementary classes. Yet she still wears her uniform when going out?”

“Oh, is Doyoung wearing her uniform right now?”

“My goodness, you can’t even tell what your own girlfriend is wearing when she’s right next to you?”

Hamin tilted his head and stared at Doyoung beside him once more.

At first, he thought it was just his blurry vision making her white shirt and black shorts look like a uniform.

Doyoung was someone who had been happy about not having to wear the same uniform every day during vacation.

So it seemed strange that she would be wearing her uniform in the middle of the day during vacation.

“Did you have something to do at school?”

“Ah, no. It’s just… laundry! I did all my laundry at once, and the only clean clothes I had left were my uniform…”

“Oh… I see.”

Doyoung spoke as if desperately trying to justify why she had to wear her uniform.

Perhaps because his eyes were blurry, his ears also seemed to hear a voice different from Doyoung’s usual one.

“Um, Hamin-kun… I mean, Hamin. You’ve been too close since earlier…”

“Son, I know you love your girlfriend, but come on, your mom is right here. Are you going to keep staring at Doyoung like that?”

“Oh, w-was I looking that closely?”

Hamin turned to his mother with a flustered expression.

Despite their faces being close enough for their breaths to touch each other’s skin,

he seemed completely unaware that he had been staring at Doyoung’s face from such a close distance.

“Yes, you were. You’ve been staring at Doyoung with such an intense frown that she doesn’t know where to look.”

“Hmm…”

“S-sorry. My eyes aren’t working well right now.”

“I-it’s okay. These things happen.”

Hamin apologized with a bow of his head in the wrong direction, unable to make eye contact with Doyoung.

Seeing Hamin like this, Doyoung—or rather, Junseok, who had no choice but to act as Doyoung—comforted him with a demure smile.

‘Phew… that was close. I guess Hamin forgot to wear his glasses today.’

She felt deeply relieved.

She had nearly been caught pretending to be her daughter in Doyoung’s uniform,

but thanks to Hamin not wearing his glasses, she had managed to avoid detection.

“Sigh, Hamin, did you lose your contact lenses again?”

“Y-yeah. I lost them while washing my face at school.”

“Good grief. Without your eyes, you lose your sense of distance too. If we’d gone over just one more speed bump, you might have ended up kissing Doyoung. Hehe.”

“M-mom… what are you saying!”

“Y-yes… that’s going too far!”

“…Huh?”

Suddenly, a sense of dissonance crept up Hamin’s spine.

When others teased or made fun of him and he got upset…

In moments like this, he didn’t think he had ever seen Doyoung join in and agree with him.

“I understand, that desire to see your loved one’s face more clearly.”

“M-mom. This is just because my vision is a bit blurry…”

“Here, your glasses.”

“…Huh? How did you get those?”

“Since I wasn’t going to work today, I was vacuuming and found them on your desk.”

“…Eek!”

As Hami, sitting in the driver’s seat, handed the glasses case to her son Hamin,

Junseok’s expression froze.

What was inside that glasses case wasn’t Hamin’s broken old pair that he had mistakenly brought,

but the new glasses that Doyoung had bought for him.

“These are the precious glasses Doyoung bought you. How could you mix them up? I brought them just in case, and it looks like I was right to do so.”

“…Mom.”

“With these on, you’ll be able to see Doyoung’s face clearly without having to get close enough to kiss her, right?”

“I-I told you, that’s a misunderstanding.”

As Hamin blushed and reached for the glasses his mother handed him,

Junseok’s arm instinctively rose toward Hami’s hand holding the case.

‘No, it’s too dangerous for Hamin to regain his sight right now!’

While Hamin without glasses might not notice,

to Hamin with his normal vision, her disguise would be nothing more than a flimsy illusion easily exposed.

Even now, she occasionally caught Hamin’s gaze, subtly sensing something off about her.

‘What should I do? Should I pretend to slip and knock the case down?’

If she concentrated force on the edge of her hand, she could break the case along with the glasses inside.

As long as Hamin didn’t regain his sight, at least she wouldn’t be exposed as an impostor in this situation.

Fortunately, Doyoung had already broken a pair of glasses before.

Weren’t these glasses in Hamin’s hand the new ones he got because of that incident?

Breaking something once is hard, but doing it twice isn’t difficult.

Like before, she could just pay for new glasses.

‘My daughter’s… first gift for the boy she likes….’

But just as she was about to focus strength into her hand after steadying her breath,

the face of her daughter, Doyoung, flashed before Junseok’s eyes.

‘I’m a failure as a mother. How could I think of destroying something with my child’s memories just to save myself…’

Junseok shook her head, clutching it in her hands.

Rather than Hamin’s glasses, she wanted to split her own head in two for having such thoughts, even momentarily.

Of course, she couldn’t show such a grotesque scene to the mother and son, so she restrained herself.

‘I have to accept this. I brought it on myself. This is punishment for a pudgy middle-aged woman who’ll be a grandmother next year trying to look younger.’

Junseok lowered her head dejectedly and watched as Hamin put on the glasses he received from his mother.

‘I’m sorry, my daughter. Because of your mother’s foolishness, Hamin’s affection for you is going to decrease…’

While Junseok was berating herself,

Hamin quietly put on his glasses and looked at Junseok beside him.

“…”

“…”

A moment of silence flowed between them.

Junseok had a downcast expression, unable to raise her head as if she had given up on everything.

“So, son. How does it feel to see your beloved girlfriend with proper eyes again?”

“…It’s the same. Doyoung is Doyoung. With or without glasses.”

“…Eh?”

Surprised by a reaction different from what she expected, Junseok raised her head.

Then, Hamin whispered to Junseok in a voice too quiet for his mother to hear.

“…You’re her mother, aren’t you?”

“Eep! Hamin… d-did you figure it out right away?”

“Even with poor eyesight, there were several strange circumstances. You’re taller than Doyoung, your behavior and voice are more proper than hers… and you weren’t wearing the bracelet she always wears. And above all.”

Hamin subtly pointed to the strawberry candy bag in Junseok’s hand.

“I didn’t think Doyoung would eat any flavor of candy other than lime.”

“D-did you start suspecting me from the moment I ate strawberry candy?”

Junseok was speechless, seeing that Hamin had noticed even more discrepancies than she had thought.

“It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone.”

“R-really?”

“There’s no benefit in telling anyone. Think about it. If this gets to Doyoung’s ears, imagine how much she’ll tease you.”

“…Ah.”

Junseok was again speechless, seeing that Hamin had even anticipated the outcome she hadn’t considered.

Doyoung would definitely do something like that, and more.

“Doyoung has a part-time job at the wedding shop today, right?”

“Yes, she left earlier without even cleaning her room.”

“Then I’ll suggest to my mom that we go to your house. There, you can change back into your clothes and return to your original appearance, and we’ll say Doyoung left for her part-time job. That way, we can get through this without my mom finding out.”

“H-Hamin… Thank you! Really!”

Junseok was amazed by Hamin’s remarkable ability to handle the situation.

She wanted to kiss him on the cheek right then and there.

But if she did it, it would be NTR, so she decided to ask Doyoung later to ‘give Hamin lots of kisses.’

“What are you two whispering about? Some love request? Let mom in on it too?”

“Ah, Doyoung was asking if mom would like to stop by her house for a cup of tea.”

“Oh my, would that be okay? Wouldn’t it be rude to her parents?”

“Not at all! Please come! Her parents would love it!”

They really would.

“Hohoho… If you insist, I’ll gladly accept!”

And so the three of them, including Junseok, returned home in Hami’s car.

“Now, the first floor is the dojo, and our home is from the second floor up. If you follow the stairs—”

“Ban Doyoung!”

“Yukiyak…!”

Junseok, who was about to lead Hamin and his mother up the stairs, was startled by a familiar voice calling from the first floor and turned her head.

“D-Doyoung’s dad…”

“Doyoung, have you seen your mother anywhere? I thought she’d be home, but I can’t find her.”

“W-well…”

“Stay calm. The master also thinks you’re Doyoung. If you act like her, there probably won’t be any problem.”

“O-okay, Hamin. Like Doyoung, like Doyoung…”

Junseok calmly went down the stairs and stood in front of her husband, Bandoche.

“W-well, where could she be…? I haven’t heard anything specific, y-yes…”

“…”

“…”

.

.

.

“Doyoung’s mom, why are you wearing Doyoung’s uniform—”

*Swoosh*

“Guhk-!”

Junseok’s hand chop struck Doche’s neck in one swift motion.