Ch.52Chapter 52. Excuses

“Let’s hear your excuse, you pervert.”

“Pervert…?”

“What would you call someone trying to peep at someone else’s daughter bathing if not a pervert?”

“It’s okay because I’m her mother!”

“You mean fake mother.”

“Huuung…”

Juliane knelt down with a tearful expression.

Judging by her reaction, she apparently hadn’t seen Subject 001’s tentacles by a hair’s breadth.

My quick reflexes had saved the day.

Though I couldn’t save my phone screen.

“What are you going to do about this? Are you going to compensate me?”

“You’re the one who threw it, Jinsoo! Why are you worried about your phone instead of my forehead?!”

“Shouldn’t I be concerned about whoever’s more injured? Your forehead looks perfectly fine.”

“Well, that’s just because I have a thick skull…”

What is this woman saying?

Why is she suddenly making self-deprecating jokes?

“Are you going to pay for it? Huh?”

“Fine! I’ll pay for it! I’ll buy you the latest model!”

“I don’t know how to use those fancy things.”

“I’ll teach you how to use it!”

Perfect.

I got her commitment.

Now I can become the owner of a hologram phone too.

Bob won’t be able to call me an old fogey anymore.

“Let’s consider the broken phone settled.”

“It’s not broken, you threw it…”

“You admit you were trying to peep at my daughter bathing, right?”

“I wasn’t trying to peep! I was going to watch openly and proudly!”

“…”

She’s really shameless.

I was speechless with astonishment for a moment.

“Why did you do it? Let’s hear your excuse.”

“An excuse…! I have one!”

“Oh. What is it?”

Juliane looked at me with a grave expression.

She claimed there was a special reason why she had to peek at Subject 001’s naked body…

I decided to hear her out.

“It was when I went to pick up Subject 001 from school at dismissal time. That’s when…”

*

“Yaaawn…”

In the Saint Catalina School parking lot.

Juliane let out a long yawn as she pulled out a charging cable and pressed it into her wrist.

Soon, with a connection sound, her battery began charging.

“If only charging could eliminate fatigue too…”

Just as she was about to doze off, Juliane looked out the window and hastily unplugged the cable.

She spotted Subject 001 in the distance.

A strange child who looked like a vampire straight out of a fairy tale, wearing an army-green backpack.

“Subject 001! Over here!”

She waved her hand at Subject 001, who was looking around.

Subject 001 then ran over like a puppy finding its owner and opened the passenger door.

“Ahhh! So refreshing!”

“Is it hot outside?”

“I was about to roast!”

“Hehe.”

Subject 001 put her face close to the air conditioner vent and enjoyed the breeze.

Juliane gulped as she watched sweat dripping down Subject 001’s neck and her fluttering clothes billowing in the wind.

If she dressed like this at school, there would be no shortage of boys eyeing her.

Juliane seriously considered whether she should dress Subject 001 in less revealing clothes.

She had even contemplated making her wear a hijab.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

At Subject 001’s innocent smile, Juliane snapped back to reality and started the car.

But shortly after leaving the parking lot, she had to slow down.

People were gathered near the school gate.

One of them, who appeared to be someone’s mother, waved at them.

“What’s going on?”

“Are you… Subject 001’s mother? Oh, excuse me. Are you Subject 001’s mother?”

“Mother! Yes, mother! Yes! What’s happening?”

Juliane’s expression brightened dramatically.

“Actually, we mothers are getting together for tea and chat. Would you like to join us?”

“Ah, I need to look after Subject 001…”

“The kids can play at the playground next to the café.”

“Really? Great! I’ll come!”

Juliane answered at lightning speed as soon as her concern was addressed.

After answering, she thought carefully and decided that improving relationships with other parents would benefit Subject 001 as well.

It definitely wasn’t because she was so happy to be treated as Subject 001’s mother that she agreed without thinking.

“I don’t want to. I want to go home.”

“…”

Subject 001 pouted and pressed her body against the seat back.

Juliane was at a loss for words.

“Hahaha… We’ll be at the café across the street, so feel free to join us when you’ve worked things out with Subject 001.”

“Yes. Thank you~”

After rolling up the window, Juliane’s expression turned serious.

She seemed filled with a sense of mission to persuade Subject 001 somehow.

“Subject 001. Let’s make a deal.”

“What is it?”

“If you come with me… I’ll grill you all the meat you want!”

“Are you trying to torture me?!”

“Noooo…”

Subject 001 shook her head with a pale face.

She was recalling the taste of spaghetti Juliane had made for her once.

Juliane nearly burst into tears at that horrified reaction.

Surely grilling meat was just a matter of cooking it through…

Of course, she had the same mindset when making spaghetti, which had turned out disastrously.

“Alright. Then I’ll buy you all the Big M you want!”

“McD…!”

“How about it?”

“Deal. Just for today, I’ll acknowledge Juliane as my mother.”

“Kyahaang!”

As they clasped hands, Juliane shuddered with joy.

*

“Wait a minute. So you peeked because you were her mother for a day? You’re saying it’s okay to see your daughter naked even if it’s just temporary motherhood? You dragged out this whole story just to make that kind of absurd excuse?”

“Ah, no?”

Juliane rolled her eyes, avoiding my gaze.

It seems I was right.

She was probably planning to use this as an excuse if I showed signs of letting her off the hook.

“You must have a real excuse, right?”

“O-Of course!”

“It must be something really grand, judging by this long build-up.”

“Y-Yes! Don’t be surprised! I’ll give you a reason so convincing you won’t be able to say anything!”

“…”

I folded my arms again and decided to listen to whatever nonsense she was about to spout.

*

The door jingled as two women entered.

“Hello! I’m Juliane, Subject 001’s mother!”

“Ah, hello! I’m Subject 001, daughter of Subject 001’s mother, Juliane!”

There was a moment of silence as all eyes turned to them, but then:

“Welcome, Subject 001’s mother.”

“Did you say your name was Juliane?”

“Subject 001, why don’t you go play with the other kids over there?”

Soon the mothers welcomed the two with smiles.

The so-called playground had no sign of Tom or Alice.

It would obviously be boring, but Subject 001 decided to endure for the greater good and trudged toward the playground.

“Hoho. We have these gatherings occasionally, but this is your first time, right Juliane?”

“Yes, it’s my first time. Thank you for inviting me.”

Juliane sat at the round table and smiled shyly.

It was a fairly large round table where all fifteen or so people could face each other.

“We’ve been really curious about you, Juliane.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. How and where did you meet Subject 001’s father?”

“…”

Juliane’s face stiffened slightly as she finally realized the nature of the attention she was receiving.

This wasn’t just a gathering.

It was an interrogation.

Juliane, who had been completely carefree until now, adjusted her mindset.

If she didn’t keep her wits about her, she might end up causing trouble for Subject 001 and Jinsoo.

“I first met Jinsoo at a pub…”

That’s right.

She was here to prove that Subject 001 had an excellent mother.

Remembering her purpose, Juliane began calmly answering their questions.

Some questions were quite direct and aggressive.

“You met at a pub? So it started as a casual relationship? Were you partners?”

“Well, maybe. But what’s certain is that I loved him from the beginning, even knowing about Subject 001’s existence.”

“Hmm. I see. Then whose idea was it to send Subject 001 to first grade? Yours or her father’s?”

“It was a decision we made together after discussing it and asking for Subject 001’s opinion.”

Juliane maintained her smile while looking at one particular person.

The woman who had been asking sensitive questions from the start.

She had introduced herself as Sarah earlier.

Alice’s mother.

Juliane couldn’t understand why this woman seemed so desperate to catch her out.

“You work at the Ministry of Justice?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“How long have you been there?”

“Less than a year. I’m still quite young.”

“I see…”

Sarah’s smiling face twisted slightly.

That was a hit.

“Ministry of Justice… Hmm, well. I understand.”

“…?”

Juliane had expected her to dig deeper.

But surprisingly, Sarah backed off easily.

With her husband being a district prosecutor, she likely knew about Jinsoo’s criminal record.

She could have exposed his rape and murder conviction right here and cornered Juliane…

‘That’s strange. This is different from what Jinsoo described.’

He had said she was hostile and rude from the first meeting.

But to Juliane, Sarah seemed to be restraining herself.

Of course, this was just a suspicion.

Nothing certain.

“Ha, haha… Shall we talk about our homeroom teacher now?”

“Yes, yes! He really seems like a nice person with a good impression.”

“That’s right.”

After the topic shifted, Sarah didn’t say anything more.

Thanks to that, the gathering continued in a friendly atmosphere.

The sun had set considerably by then.

As Kim Jinsoo’s quitting time approached, Juliane stood up first to take Subject 001 home.

“Subject 001. Let’s go now.”

“Are we going home?”

“Yes, that’s right. But where are the other kids…?”

Juliane tilted her head as she greeted Subject 001, who came running excitedly.

Not only was the previously noisy playground quiet, but there was no sign of the other children.

“We were playing… hide and seek.”

“Hmm. And who was ‘it’?”

“I was.”

“…?”

Wait, then the kids would still be hiding, not knowing that “it” had disappeared…

Juliane shuddered at Subject 001’s wickedness.

“Ahhhh. So refreshing…”

“You shouldn’t get too much air conditioning. You’ll catch a cold.”

“It’s fine. I’m tough.”

As soon as they got in the car, Subject 001 stuck her face right up against the air conditioner vent again.

Despite her confident claim that she was fine…

“Ugggh… My head feels like it’s going to explode, Juliane…”

By the time they arrived, Subject 001 was like a walking corpse.

Staggering into the house, Subject 001 complained about the sticky sweat and went straight to the bathroom.

Juliane immediately followed her…

*

“Hey, you. So where’s the excuse?”

“Huh?”

Juliane looked up at me with a stupid expression.

The story had somehow reached the point where I entered the house.

It seemed she was trying to buy time with this pointless story while thinking of an excuse…

But apparently, she had failed.

“S-So, after talking with the parents today, I thought I should take a bath with Subject 001 to increase our intimacy…”

“You’re aware that you’re making excuses, right?”

“Yes… I’m sorry.”

Having run out of options, Juliane lowered her tail and apologized.

I might be lenient about things like bugs, but I couldn’t let slide anything that might expose Subject 001’s tentacles.

That could destroy our entire household.

“This won’t do. You need punishment.”

“What? Do I have to be punished at my age?”

“Didn’t you say you’d do anything?”

“T-That! That was just…!”

“Too late to back out now.”

“Huh? Huaaah!”

Juliane stepped backward and tripped over the bed, falling flat on her back.

“Eek!”

As I climbed onto the bed and crawled toward her, Juliane backed away until her head hit the wall.

Now she had nowhere to run.

I’ll tie her up and tickle her feet mercilessly.

No, maybe I should give her a neck stretching and show her the sights of Seoul first.

I was thinking such thoughts when:

“Phew! So refreshing!”

With the sound of the door banging open, Subject 001’s voice came from behind.

The towels are stored in the cabinet in front of the bathroom door.

Which means Subject 001 is naked right now.

My brain worked quickly and issued an immediate command.

“Hueh? Jinsoo! At least not where Subject 001 can see…!”

I pounced on Juliane.