episode_0003

same evening.

So, on the day when I was 6 years old and asked my mom, ‘Mom, why do you make strange noises every night?’

After eating, I sat on the living room sofa and faced my mom.

“Hey, it’s space.”

“Yes, Mom.”

“You, such a strange… . No, where on earth did you hear that? Aren’t you just following what adults say on YouTube?”

Mom looked down at me, fanning her bright red face as if the heat hadn’t gone away yet.

“No, that’s not where I saw it.”

“Well, then? Woo-woo, are you really saying you heard your mother being in pain?

“Yes, that’s right.”

“… … Huh?”

My mother’s expression stiffened at my innocent and immediate answer.

Even though I said all kinds of nonsense, my mother, who always responded kindly with a benevolent smile and patted my head, also pursed her lips as if she was very nervous this time.

“ is strange. That can’t be possible? I made sure everything was soundproofed well. It can’t be, it can’t be… … .”

“Mom.”

“Uh, huh? Why, my son?”

“So why does mom make noises of pain every night? Does it hurt somewhere?”

“… … I’ll tell you that when my son gets a little older.”

“How big should it be?”

“Umm, about 10 years… ?”

“Huh? It won’t take 10 years, Mom. Can’t it be faster?”

“Why? Is there any reason why I need to listen to it quickly?”

“Well, my friend’s mom also makes noises in pain every night. I said my mom does that every night too. Then my friend asked me if moms are usually very sick, so I decided to ask my mom and answer!”

“… … .”

My mother closed her mouth with the expression of a freedom fighter who had almost lost her country.

Then he closed his eyes tightly, then opened them and gently touched my head as if nothing had happened.

“Your parents must be having a hard time… … .”

“Yes? What do you say, Mom?”

“Ugh, it’s nothing. But Woowoo, what is the name of that friend? Is this a friend you met at an English kindergarten?”

Although I lacked the ability to discern between reasons and reasons, my young mind, which had a bit of insight, began to spin quickly.

The identity of the friend my mother asked about was Aki Fujiwara.

But Aki was a friend I met at the Japanese Embassy in Korea, not at an English kindergarten, and if I told her that, I felt like they would even find out that I snuck outside to play.

Actually, it didn’t matter to my mom if she found out.

At the time, I was young, so I had this ridiculous thought: ‘All the adults know each other. So if my mom finds out, the story will be passed on and Aki will get scolded by his grandfather!’

“Just a friend I met near my house. I don’t know the name.”

In the end, I told a blatant lie in front of my mom.

“… … My son.”

However, how could it be possible that a 6-year-old’s lies could not be seen in the eyes of an adult mother who had experienced all the hardships before birth?

“Mom said you can lie or you can’t?”

My mother must have seen right through my clumsy lie, so she stopped stroking my head and scolded me in a harsher voice than usual.

“Isn’t that a lie? I really don’t know much… .”

“Major Universe.”

My mom usually doesn’t get angry, but when I lie or do something bad, she calls me by my full name, including my last name.

Even though I was still young, I knew very well that the moment my mother’s name came out of her mouth, she was about to get angry.

“Sorry, sorry. Actually, I know… … .”

I quickly apologized before my mom got really angry.

Because the scariest thing is when a person who is not angry before gets angry.

“My son, what kind of child did your mom say that lies?”

“He said he was a bad child… .”

“But, what did they say about bad children?”

“They said they wouldn’t let me go outside and play… … .”

“My son is a bad child. Are you a good child?”

“Cha, good child!”

“Good children don’t lie, so can my son stop lying from now on?”

“Yes, I won’t… !”

“That’s right, good job. Now, can you explain to mom what kind of friend that friend is? Everything from what your name is, where you met, and how you ended up saying that. Got it?”

“Yes, yes. That’s-.”

Like this, I explained the whole story after receiving early character education from my mother since I was young.

‘I met a girl with pink hair at the Japanese Embassy in Korea with my parents. Her name was Aki. We became friends, played house, kissed, and promised to play together in Japan later. After that, we discovered that each other’s mothers had something in common that they made strange noises every night, so we decided to ask our mothers why… … .’, everything.

“So, that’s how it happened.”

My mother’s reaction, who was just listening to my explanation, was strange.

In the part about meeting a girl with pink hair, ‘It was a girl? He mumbled, ‘Isn’t it a boy?’ and then tilted his head, and at the part where he kissed, he said, ‘What, our universe kissed a girl other than my mom…’ ‘?!’ he said in surprise.

“… … .”

Lastly, they were thinking hard about something when they discovered that each other’s mothers had something in common that they made strange noises every night and decided to ask them why.

“That girl’s name is Aki? Were you a foreigner?”

“Yes, I said I was half-Japanese. My mother is French and my father is Japanese.”

“I see. Aki, what’s your last name?”

“Uh, what was it? Huh, what was it… .”

“After? … … Isn’t it Fujiwara?”

Dalkak-.

“Eunhye, I finished washing the dishes.”

“Ah, it just turned out well. Baby, come here.”

“Why? What do you have to say?”

“Honey, do you remember taking Woo Joo to the Japanese Embassy this morning?”

“Of course I remember. Because I drove there myself. But why is that?”

“Woojoo met a girl at the Japanese embassy, and I guess he kissed her… !”

“Huh? really? Hey, my son has good skills too. Maybe it’s because he’s handsome like his dad, but he’s very popular with girls.”

“What do you say? It looks more like me. … … No, but this is not important. The girl who came to kiss Woojoo was a foreigner whose last name started with . Is she by any chance Kenichiro Fujiwara’s daughter? He, the Japanese ambassador to Korea?”

“Fujiwara Kenichiro? That person is in his 60s. If the girl was Woojoo’s age, she would have been five or six years old at most. Isn’t she already past the age when she will have a late baby?”

“Oh, is that so? Then isn’t it?”

“Probably not. Wasn’t it just a person with a similar last name? Or maybe it was a completely different person and the universe misheard. Because he’s a kid, he might not know.”

“Hmm, after hearing that, I guess that could be the case… … .”

At a glance, my mother trails off and looks down at me.

My father, who was sitting across from my mother, side by side with me between him, looked at me with a proud look on his face and gently smoothed my hair.

“It’s the universe. There’s a girl named Akira. Was it pretty?”

“Yes, it was very pretty. I want to play with you again!”

“Really? You’re not doing that because you want to kiss him again, are you?”

“Oh, no! Po, I don’t like kisses… .”

“… … .”

My son, you are completely captivated by that beautiful girl.

Although she didn’t say anything, my mother quietly looked down at me with an expression that seemed to be thinking about it.

“Son, should Dad contact the girl’s parents instead? My son said he misses me so much, let’s play together.”

“Oh, no! That’s okay. I have Aki’s phone number.”

“… … what? They even exchanged numbers in one day? Is this the progress of children these days?”

Mom said, ‘Ugh, that’s okay. Please… .’ He muttered, and my father had a really surprised look on his face, and then quickly took my cell phone from the table next to the sofa.

“Woojoo, then should I contact that girl now?”

“Ji, now? To Aki… ?”

“Yeah, Woo Joo wants to play with Aki? Then we should pick a date to hang out together, right?”

“Bill, well, still… .”

“Why are you embarrassed to contact me first?”

“It’s not a shameful thing… … .”

“… … Wow, so cute.”

As I twisted my body around, my mom just laughed.

He was smiling very happily, with an expression that said, ‘He may be more mature than other kids his age, but a 6-year-old is still a 6-year-old.’

“Now, Dad will decide the comment. Woowoo, try typing according to what your dad says. ‘Aki, hello. ‘Have you had dinner?’”

“Well, I’m contacting you to ask you to hang out together, but why are you asking about dinner…? ?”

“Uh-huh, son. When talking to a woman, you shouldn’t get straight to the point. First, small talk, and then the main topic. First of all, it is important to create a light atmosphere. Got it?”

“Ugh, I understand. … … uh? The reply came right away.”

“Where and what did you come from?”

“I’m not sure because it’s written in Japanese!”

“Really? Wait, my dad knows Japanese, so I’ll read it for you. see… . Ah, [Yes, yes. I ate delicious food with my dad. The universe~what is it?] It’s like this. Oh, but how did he know Korean and send a reply? Woojoo, did you ever talk to him in Korean?”

“No, I used the translator my mom gave me to communicate. I said something and he said something.”

“Oh, really? My son, did you use your brain? They say the universe is smart because it looks like me.”

With my dad next to me, who was gently stroking my head as if it was great, I tapped my cell phone and sent a message. The content is [Yes, I also ate delicious food with my mom.]

“Dad, I got a reply!”

“Ugh, let’s see. What did you say-.”

“Wait a minute! Wait, I want to watch it too. where… . Ah, [Woojoo~I’m jealous of you, I want to eat with mom too!] So, Woojoo.”

Aki may have said this because he missed his mother in Tokyo, but I was young at the time and didn’t even think about such things.

So, after thinking, ‘Aki wants to eat with his mom -> there is his mom next to me -> then wouldn’t it be okay to eat with my mom and Aki?’, I came to a strange conclusion, and I texted it again. I sent it.

OK.

“Mom, what did Aki say?”

“[Yes, yes, I want to eat with Uju~san’s mom! But Uju~san, my dad also wants to eat together. Is that okay?] … … Universe, what on earth did you send?”

“Aki said he wanted to eat with mom. I asked what it would be like to eat together with my mom!”

“… … Huh?”

Tirring, tiriling-!

“Huh? I got a call from Aki! Papago, how do I turn on Papago?”

“Woojoo, calm down and answer the phone first. If you play it on speaker phone, mom will translate it.”

“Ah, yes! Hello, Aki?”

──もしもし. (hello.)

I took a deep breath and answered the phone, and at that moment I heard a loud voice.

When I heard the husky voice of an adult man instead of Aki’s jade-like voice that I heard during the day, I instinctively flinched and glanced at my mother.

“Uh, Mom… ?”

“Give it to me. … … (Hello, I changed my phone number. Excuse me, but who are you?)

──Let’s go away. Let’s do it privately… (Excuse me. I am Aki’s father….)

I couldn’t understand the conversation because it was in Japanese, not Korean, but I could tell that my mother’s face when she answered the phone was quite serious. I stayed close to my mom and waited for the phone call to end.

And then, about 3 minutes passed.

Mom hung up and handed the phone back to me.

“Mom, who is the person who just called? Isn’t it Aki?”

“Yes, it wasn’t Aki, it was Akin’s dad.”

“Aki’s dad? What did you say?”

“You didn’t say anything, but you asked if you could meet me this weekend? So I decided to do it.”

“Oh, really? So, can I and Aki hang out this weekend?”

“Ugh, right?”

“Gasp! Mom, thank you… !”

At the age of six, I was held in my mother’s arms.

Mom gently stroked my head.

“Eun-hye, are you going alone with Woo-joo? Are you okay?”

“No, what do you mean? Of course, you should go too.”

“Huh? Me too?”

“Yes, I have to go and see his face in person just because I’m curious as to how he educated the child to ask such a manly question. So please drive for me.”

“I was just going to rest at home this weekend… ?”

“Then let’s go alone, just the two of us? You know I’m a novice driver. What if an accident occurs while taking Wooju with him? Can you live alone without me and the universe?”

“Ah, okay. I’ll go with you, why are you so angry… .”

Although he was determined in his own way, I was just happy to be able to meet and play with Aki again.

“Wow, I can play with Aki again… !”

I was held in my mother’s arms and promised the next three days would come soon.

* * *

And, three days later, we arrived at the agreed upon location.

“Ah, the universe. hi… … !”

“Hello! Aki, how are you?”

“Yes, I am doing well. Uju~Sang was doing well too… ?”

Aki and I met in the playroom, leaving our respective parents behind, and greeted each other warmly.

“Started.藤原澄元です。(Hello, this is Fujiwara Sumimoto.)”

“Ah, hello. I am a space mom. This is my dad. … … Oh, but maybe. If you don’t mind me asking, what is your relationship with Kenichiro Fujiwara? ?”

“あきにとってはおじいさん、わたしにとってはおうさんになります。(He is a grandfather to Aki and a father to me.)◦# ◦

“… … .”

“… … .”

And my mom and dad were shocked by this completely unexpected encounter.