Ch.187Mom, I Love You (10)

“Was all that blood just a nosebleed? I thought it was either a spilled bottle of ketchup or a murder scene. I figured our thief sister Doyoung had finally gotten herself into trouble.”

“What kind of person do you think Ban Doyoung is in your head that words like ‘finally’ or ‘at last’ come up when faced with a murder scene?”

“Put your hand on your heart and think about it.”

“Something Scarlet doesn’t have?”

“Grr…”

“Haha, you’ve still got a long way to go before you can keep up with me in a war of words, baby.”

“I was wondering… why your mother suddenly used that martial arts technique. It’s not something one uses lightly.”

“It was all for family harmony. Please understand, Doyoung’s dad.”

Our family had become a family of four, excluding Solyoung.

Gathered around the table for dinner, we talked about the day’s events.

Or more precisely, about what happened while Siyoung was out

and Dad was passed out at the dojo.

“Even though my heart still flutters and my face gets hot thinking about it… it was a good meeting. I suppose I got to understand how Hamin grew up to be such a bright and upright child despite his less than affluent circumstances.”

Was she not embarrassed about today’s commotion, at least in front of her family?

Or did she feel that there was more to gain by talking about meeting Do Hamin than by keeping quiet about it?

Or perhaps, as Hamin said, in the world of “Half of Half-Do,” it’s so common for grown adults to put on their old school uniforms for fun that it’s considered perfectly normal.

Mom was talking about today’s events more comfortably than I expected.

There was no need for me to keep it a secret all by myself.

“Mom was unlucky. Of all family members, the first to discover her identity had to be thief sister Doyoung. If it had been me or Dad, we would have pulled Mom out of there immediately without any role-switching pranks, preventing the whole situation from escalating.”

“Well, who else but me could switch roles with Mom? Physically, I’m the only one who could.”

“Sigh… At least it all worked out well. Even with our daughter playing pranks, Hamin covered for her so well that Hamin’s mother never found out the truth.”

“…”

“Well, even though our daughter’s prank was a bit mischievous today, doesn’t it prove that Mom’s visuals can compete with actual high school girls since Hamin’s mother didn’t discover her identity? Even at the market we first visited, everyone thought Mom was a high school student. Ohoho.”

“Yeah, let’s all go with that for now. That seems better.”

Of course, this conversation was only possible because Mom didn’t know that Hamin had recognized her identity long ago.

Had she known that, we probably wouldn’t be sitting here as a foursome,

treating today’s events as an amusing happening to be discussed over dinner.

“When I arrived, Hamin’s family had already gone home, so was sister Doyoung the only one who saw Mom in the school uniform and figured it out?”

“No, technically your father was the first to notice. Unlike Doyoung, he couldn’t read the situation, so I had him take a little nap in the office.”

Mom picked up a piece of oyster pancake she had prepared for dinner and placed it on Dad’s rice bowl.

“How very admirable of you, hehe.”

“Th-thank you, Doyoung’s mom.”

Dad was momentarily confused by Mom’s unexpected kindness, but since he didn’t dislike oyster pancakes, he placed the one Mom gave him on his large spoonful of rice and put it all in his mouth.

As he chewed the oyster pancake, any doubts or questions in his mind seemed to fade away, replaced by a happy smile that seemed to say, “Hehe, Mom’s oyster pancakes are delicious.”

“Here, have a drink with your meal.”

“Sh-should I? I can’t refuse when Doyoung’s mom offers.”

Dad, now grinning broadly, carefully held out his glass and drank the beer Mom poured for him.

Dad must be the type to react quickly to alcohol, as his face turned strawberry red after just one sip.

“Ahh! Maybe it’s because I’m eating it with the oyster pancakes you made, but it tastes even better!”

“Hehe, there are plenty of oyster pancakes, so help yourself.”

“…Gulp.”

I wasn’t much of a drinker in my original world either.

Even when I could be completely lazy with no work the next day, what accompanied my chicken was Zero Lime, not beer.

So after being possessed in the body of the underage Ban Doyoung from the adult Ban Doyoung,

I hadn’t once felt a longing for alcohol.

But watching Dad gulping down beer with a hearty, exuberant expression that would put any advertisement to shame, I unconsciously swallowed with a gulp.

“Excuse me, Mother. If you could bestow upon your daughter just one glass of the blessed clean lager…”

“No, alcohol is for after you become an adult. That’s our promise, right?”

Tsk, the protection of the all-ages rating strikes again.

No choice then. I’ll have to pair my oyster pancake with Zero Lime.

“That’s right, Doyoung. Listen to Junsu- *hic*. I mean, listen to your mom.”

“What’s this, Dad? You’re getting drunk too quickly.”

Just two glasses of beer.

With those two glasses, Dad’s once-proper posture had collapsed, and his speech was slurring.

I could see why Mom rarely offered Dad alcohol unless it was for a truly special occasion.

“*Hic* Sister Junsu… Ah, no. Your mom became an adult before Dad, but she said she wanted to drink with Dad, so she waited until Dad became an adult too. She wanted to have her first drink with adult Dad.”

“Oh, that’s the first time I’ve heard that story. So Mom had her first drink after Dad became an adult too?”

“That’s right. I wanted to experience all my firsts with your father. So I waited patiently by his side until Dad became an adult. For alcohol, and for other things too. Hehe.”

When Mom mentioned “other things,”

the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

She really did wait until he became an adult to experience many firsts with Dad.

“If it’s such a devoted 35-year pure love story, I guess you would recognize Mom immediately, even if she was wearing my uniform.”

“Hmm…? No, Dad didn’t recognize her at first either. When I saw her from behind in the school uniform, I thought it was you, Doyoung, and called out your name to Mom.”

“Ah, what? So you didn’t recognize her right away?”

“How could I? Who would think that a woman in her late forties, not just a middle-aged woman but almost a grandmother, would be walking around in a school uniform? Of course I thought it was you, Doyoung, ahahaha!”

“D-Dad…?”

“…”

Mom’s hand, which had been pouring beer, stopped with a slight tremor.

Dad, either unaware or unconcerned about Mom’s reaction, looked at his beer glass that was barely a quarter full without any sense of discomfort, and gulped down the remaining beer.

“Ahh! Even with just a quarter left, it’s delicious!”

“S-so if you didn’t think at all that Mom would be wearing a school uniform, how did you recognize her when you saw her face?”

“Huh? Why are you asking that?”

Because you might die.

Not me, but you, Dad.

This is no time to be savoring beer and exclaiming over it.

“Hurry up and tell us, how did you know it was Mom?”

“Ah, how annoying…”

Either unaware or unconcerned about my worry,

Dad put down his empty glass on the table and said:

“Obviously because your mom is the prettiest. What other reason would there be?”

“…”

“…”

“…”

-Scrape!

After Dad’s answer and a moment of silence,

Mom suddenly stood up, dragging her chair legs across the floor.

“D-Doyoung’s mom…? Why so sudden?”

“Doyoung, Siyoung. Please take care of the dishes and clean up after dinner.”

“Huh? Ah… it’s not difficult, but why so suddenly?”

“Mom needs to take a shower urgently.”

After changing clothes with me,

Mom let down her neatly tied-up hair with fierce intensity.

“I’ll be waiting in the bedroom.”

Mom tapped the tip of Dad’s chin with her long, slender finger and left the table first.

“…Oh no.”

Dad’s face, which had been strawberry red, suddenly turned pale blue.

He seemed to have finally realized what he had said in his alcohol-impaired judgment.

“So Dad is the type who makes protagonist moves when he drinks. I should test this on Hamin later.”

“D-Doyoung, Siyoung! Can’t Dad do the dishes? Or at least let me help clear the table!”

“Dad has other things to wash.”

“D-Doyoung! Siyoung…!”

We brushed off Dad’s hands and cleared away the empty plates.

It’s unfortunate, but if you initiate the temptation, you must take responsibility.

“What’s going on with Dad and Mom?”

“They’re going to eat oysters.”

“We just had oyster pancakes.”

“These are from a different origin.”

“Ugh. What? Are they eating the good stuff just between themselves after giving us imported oyster pancakes? That’s so unfair.”

“We were all once oysters.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Just bring the rest of the oyster pancake plates over here.”

After Dad went into the room with a tearful face,

Siyoung and I cleared the dinner table.

“…Always the same.”

As I wiped the table with wet wipes, I also gave the old family photos on the table an extra wipe.