Ch.196Wherever You Are (9)

“Yawn. Good morning, son. I see you’re up early as always.”

“Ah, Mom. Did you sleep well? Here’s your morning toast and orange juice.”

“Ohoho. Breakfast ready as soon as I wake up. Thank you, son. Nothing wakes you up in the morning quite like orange juice.”

It was September 6th, Doyoung’s birthday.

That morning, Hamin, who had promised to have dinner with Doyoung,

chose to have breakfast with his mother, Hami, instead of visiting Doyoung’s house.

Since his commute took two hours, Hamin had to leave home much earlier than his mother. After entering high school, he often ate breakfast alone on weekdays or skipped it entirely.

Having failed to get into Seongcheon, his first-choice high school, and enrolled in Bulsa High as a form of self-reflection,

Hamin had asked his mother not to prepare breakfast for him.

Of course, Hami had insisted that a mother should be able to make breakfast for her son, promising to wake up at dawn to eat together.

Unfortunately, though not as bad as Doyoung, Hami was quite the heavy sleeper, so she rarely managed to see off her son who left at the crack of dawn every day.

As Hamin’s school days started earlier and ended later,

the mother and son living under the same roof somehow reached a point where they couldn’t properly share even one meal a day.

Perhaps that’s why Hami had strongly insisted on having breakfast with her son on Doyoung’s birthday.

After today, even more than before,

perhaps even after they were free from the confines of company and school,

the time they could sit down for meals together might continue to decrease.

“Hmm, it’s been so long since I’ve had breakfast with my son. This toast is delicious. The juice too.”

“I’m sorry. I made you wake up when you still have plenty of time before work. You could have slept longer.”

“This is the only way I can see my son’s face a little longer, since he’s always rushing off to his lover. I should have seen more of you when you were just my boyfriend. Hehe.”

“N-next time on your birthday, I promised that Doyoung and I would celebrate together, and Doyoung really wants to do that too.”

“Really? Then maybe later we can all go to a flower exhibition? I heard the hydrangeas there are blooming beautifully. I’m really into hydrangeas these days.”

“Yeah, that sounds nice. But by your birthday, the hydrangeas will have already withered…”

“Oh right… that’s true.”

“T-then we don’t have to wait for your birthday! Let’s go in September when the hydrangeas are still barely blooming! As soon as possible!”

“Really? Won’t it interfere with your studies?”

“I can study twice as hard later, so it’s fine.”

A pleased smile spread across Hami’s face at her son’s determination.

“So even if today your attention is mostly on Doyoung…”

“Hehe, Mom’s okay with it.”

Seeing her son making a deep commitment to her,

Hami happily pulled out two wet wipes and wiped the toast crumbs from Hamin’s mouth.

“Mom…?”

“I’m happy. There are more people looking after my son now besides me. But in exchange, I’ll have you all to myself this morning. Even though there are more people taking care of you now, I only have you to take care of me.”

“I-I’ll do whatever you want, not just this morning, so don’t worry too much. And next time, Doyoung will be here too!”

“Hmm… I wonder. Later on, I think my son’s attention might not reach all the way to his mother.”

“W-why? Today is Doyoung’s birthday so I’m paying extra attention to her, but on other days I can certainly…”

“Hehe, maybe by then, our son will have many more people to care for? So many that he won’t have eyes for his mother. Especially people about this size…?”

As Hami gestured to indicate someone small enough to sit on her knee, Hamin’s face turned red.

“H-how far into the future are you thinking?!”

“Puhihi, look at that blush! My son has been secretly expecting such a future too! It might be tough to cook large meals for Doyoung for every meal, though?”

“I-it wasn’t like that…!”

“So, have you already decided on baby names? Don’t tell me you’re naming the baby Lime because Doyoung likes Zero Lime? Kukukuk…!”

“H-how did you! No, I didn’t decide that, it’s just something Doyoung sometimes says to tease me…!”

“Oh my! That’s not even a birth name, how could you name a baby like that! By that logic, your name wouldn’t be Do-Hamin but Do-range! Puhihi!”

“M-mom, you’re starting to resemble Doyoung…!”

Apart from her gratitude to Doyoung for saving her son when he was physically and mentally exhausted from failure unrelated to his abilities, Hami decided to enjoy this morning with her son as much as possible.

She decided to savor the taste of a single piece of toast and a glass of juice shared with her son, engraving every word of their conversation into her memory.

Before this table shared with her son becomes more crowded than today.

Before this table where only the two of them sat becomes filled with new faces.

“Kukuk, ah, that was a good laugh. So, are you well prepared?”

“I… I think so. Getting advice from someone else was quite helpful in many ways.”

“Advice? Who gave you advice? Was it Doyoung’s married older brother?”

“N-no… It’s someone you don’t know well… Anyway, there is such a person.”

“Hmph, that’s disappointing.”

Hamin hid the existence of the Chairman who had advised him in preparing for today’s date with Doyoung.

There was no particular reason to hide it, but he didn’t have the courage to tell his mother about how he had sought dating advice from the Seongcheon High School Chairman who had come to offer him additional admission, as looking back now, it seemed like such an embarrassing thing to have done.

“By the way, my son is really amazing. Even when I was in school, and even now that I’m working, mornings are so difficult for me. But my son always wakes up bright and early despite attending school, taking kendo lessons at Doyoung’s dojo, and even staying for night self-study. Oh, and we can’t forget the romance business, right?”

“Um, Mom…”

“Hoho, I’m saying this because I really think it’s amazing. Especially since I could never wake up so precisely… I wonder who you take after.”

“Ehehe… But falling asleep the moment I let my guard down and close my eyes is just like you, Mom.”

“Hoho, that’s true. You’re exactly like me in that way. Why did you have to inherit even that? It would have been better if you’d only inherited the good things, like your mother’s cute and pretty face.”

“Mom, you’re almost in your late thirties, so calling yourself cute is a bit…”

“Tsk. You shouldn’t talk about a woman’s age.”

“S-sorry.”

Even the gentlest mother had her limits.

“Ah, the train leaves in 15 minutes. I’ll head to school now.”

“Alright, have a good day. Have a good time. But try to restrain yourself from having too good a time.”

“I-I know.”

Hamin put on a determined face as he went to the entrance and put on his shoes.

It had been a while since he had said “I’m off to school” while his mother was awake from her morning sleep.

-Ding

Just then, a notification sound came from Hamin’s phone.

It was a message from someone.

“W-who could it be? This early in the morning.”

“What is it? Did Doyoung send you a message?”

“No… Even Doyoung wouldn’t be awake at this hour.”

Hamin opened his phone to check who had sent him the message.

[Chairman Cheon Sangmin]

[Good morning, student Hamin.]

“C-Chairman…? How did he get my number?”

“Who is it?”

“Ah, nothing. It just seems like… a wrong message.”

The sender was none other than Chairman Cheon Sangmin, who had offered him a transfer to Seongcheon High.

But having not mentioned anything about the Chairman to his mother, Hamin couldn’t bring himself to tell her about the message.

“Could it be that he wants to have another meeting with my parents about the rejection from last time…”

As he was feeling a moment of anxiety about the Chairman’s message,

-Ding

Another message followed.

It was from the Chairman again.

“Huh, a hydrangea photo…?”

The Chairman’s message contained what appeared to be a photo of hydrangeas blooming along a road, along with a lengthy explanation seemingly intended to clarify the context.

“It’s pretty, but why would he send this…”

[I apologize for suddenly sending this photo and long text.]

[While out for my morning exercise, I came across these beautifully blooming hydrangeas along the walking path and impulsively took a photo to send to you.]

[By September, hydrangeas would be at their end and unable to display such beautiful forms, but perhaps I was momentarily enchanted by their appearance that seems to defy the flow of time and show a capricious nature, which led me to send this photo and explanation to student Hamin so early in the morning.]

[Considering that the flower language of hydrangeas is capriciousness, perhaps this too was inevitable…

.

.

.

“Pfft.”

The seemingly tense and stiff explanatory text that seemed unlike something the Chairman would send.

As Hamin scrolled through the long text, he suddenly burst into laughter without realizing it.

“Hmm? Son, what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing. Just saw something funny. The train’s coming. I’ll be going now.”

“Alright, don’t come home too late. Love you, son!”

“M-me too!”

Hamin bowed his head to his mother and left through the front door with a lingering smile on his face.

His mother, Hami, watched her son’s face and chuckled along as she sent him off.

“At least he only inherited the good traits from that person.”

With a lingering smile on her face, Hami stretched out and began preparing for work.