episode_0006

Author Lee Young-woo tilted his head with a smile, seeming to ponder the meaning of Dayoung’s words. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand what Mr. Konguk meant. I don’t know either.

But clearly, scolding a stranger like that was a result of my lack of education.

“Jeong Dayoung! Aren’t you going to apologize quickly?! Pointing your finger at an adult like that! Where did you learn such impudence!”

For the first time since divorcing his ex-wife, he raised his voice at his daughter. It was always the daughter’s role to raise her voice, but he couldn’t tolerate this. Not for me, but for my daughter, Dayoung.

I could take the blame instead. But I can’t allow my daughter to be cursed outside. That’s a parent’s heart.

“Ms. Doyeon, I’m fine…”

“No. I’m sorry. It’s because I didn’t educate my child properly.”

I bowed my head to author Lee Young-woo. He was flustered and tried to stop me, but my decision was firm, so he eventually accepted the apology.

“Geez! Why are you only making me look bad! I don’t know, ugh, I hate Mom!”

Saying that, Dayoung ran off in the direction of the house.

In the midst of it all, she swallowed the word “Dad” and corrected it to “Mom.”

“I’m sorry. I think I should go first.”

“Yes, please comfort her. I’m really fine, so if Mr. wants to apologize, please make sure to convey it.”

He had no moral responsibility, but there was a sense of guilt that contributed to Dayoung getting upset and running away.

“Understood. I will contact you later.”

“Yes. Please come in.”

And so, being careful not to trip again, I arrived home as quickly as possible.

“Heh, heh.”

After my body changed, I never expected to feel so exhausted just from running.

I hastily entered the password and went inside, only to find the lights off.

“What, what is it?”

Did Dayoung not come home? She definitely ran towards the house, right?

I quickly took out my phone and tried calling Dayoung.

-Drrrrrr… The call cannot be connected and has been forwarded to voicemail.

She didn’t answer. Seems like she’s really upset.

Puzzled, I paced back and forth in the living room before calling Davin.

-Drrrr, click.

“Hello?”

“Oh, Davin. It’s Dad.”

“Yes, Dad. What’s wrong? I’m on my way home now.”

“Could you try calling your sister? We had a little argument outside, and she ran towards home. But she’s not here, and I can’t reach her.”

Upon hearing this, Davin sounded surprised.

“Why did you fight?”

“Well… anyway, something happened. Please call your sister and then call me back.”

“Okay, got it.”

After ending the call, I sat on the couch anxiously, waiting for Davin to call back.

-Ddrrrrrriiing, ddrrrrrriiing.

As soon as the phone in my hand rang, I pressed the answer button.

“Hello, Davin? What did Nuna say?”

“…It’s me.”

It was Dayoung’s voice. Instantly, all tension dissipated, and I felt weak all over. And that tension turned into anger without my realizing, and I ended up raising my voice.

“Where on earth have you gone without a word?! I was worried!”

“…I’m going to Eunbi’s house for dinner tonight. Don’t wait for me, eat with Davin.”

Eunbi was Dayoung’s closest friend. They lived in the same apartment complex.

“Hey, Jeong Dayoung! Why are you…!”

Perhaps it was a moment of relief, tears welled up, and my voice choked.

“Why are you doing this too… sob.”

“Oh, Dad?”

“Oh, I was worried about you… sob. So… I’m relieved. Sniff.”

“I’m sorry. I just…”

“No. Just be safe. Sniffle. Dad is sorry too. I guess I got a bit emotional because I relaxed. Anyway, are Eunbi’s parents okay?”

“Yeah… They told me to eat before leaving.”

“Okay, tell them Dad is thankful. Eat well and have fun.”

“Yeah….”

“Alright.”

About to hang up the phone.

“Oh, Dad!”

Dayoung urgently calling me.

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry. I thought something bad was happening to you with that person…”

Dayoung’s voice choked up, but somehow, tears stopped at those words and a smile crossed my mind.

“Haha, no. No matter how my body is, I’m still a man. How could it be like that? She’s just a friend I happened to meet while working at the cafe today. Yeah. Earlier, she was about to stumble, so I helped her.”

“Oh…! I see….”

“Anyway, should I apologize when I meet that man later?”

“Yes….”

Ending the call like that. In the meantime, there was a missed call from Davin. I called back and told Dayoung that Davin was looking for her.

“Phew, thank goodness. I’m in front of the house now, Dad.”

Then the sound of the front door opening. I hung up and went out to greet her.

“Welcome. Davin. Did you have a hard time?”

“No, not really. You had a harder time, Dad. By the way, what happened?”

Entering the living room, Davin asked about the situation.

“Oh, that… ”

After roughly summarizing the situation, Davin sighed deeply and shook her head.

“Ah, my sister… Anyway, I’m glad everything turned out okay.”

Then she went into her room, changed out of her school uniform, and came out.

“Dad, can we eat out tonight?”

“Suddenly? Eating out? Why?”

With a mischievous smile, Davin said, “No, you’ve been through a lot, so let’s eat something delicious outside and then have fun later.”

Quite a childish idea, but somehow it appealed to me.

“Haha, shall we? Well, is there something you want to eat?”

Davin answered as if she had been waiting, “I want to eat dakgalbi, dakgalbi. There’s a new place that opened in front of our house.”

Oh, this mischievous girl. Dakgalbi was one of Dayoung’s favorite dining-out menus. It had to be that place. I had confidently told the author Lee Young-woo, “Our kids get along well.” But maybe they weren’t getting along well?

“Is that so? Haha….”

In the end, we decided on dakgalbi as the menu and before leaving the house, I hesitated for a moment.

I had sweated quite a bit running home, feeling a bit uncomfortable going out like this, but if I washed up, I would sweat again when I went out. After some thought, I just decided to spray on some cologne and go out.

There was a vanity table in the bedroom that my ex-wife used. I was going to throw it away, but I kept it as it was when I became a woman. Anyways, her cosmetics were still displayed on the vanity, and I had never used makeup. Among the unused cosmetics, the only thing I could use was the perfume. Of course, there was a perfume I used when I was a man, but it had a strong menthol scent, not suitable for me now.

I tried it once and got an earful from Dayoung.

So I lightly sprayed my ex-wife’s perfume and came out of the bedroom with Davin.

-Sniff, sniff.

In the elevator, Davin seemed to be sniffing.

“Oh, Mom’s scent….”

They say scents stimulate emotions. It seems like the scent of the perfume my mom used touched a point in Davin’s emotions.

“I was sweating a bit, so I just sprayed some perfume I found… Is it weird?”

Davin quickly shook her head.

“Oh, no. I thought it smelled a bit like Mom’s, but it seems different.”

Well, they say that perfume smells different on different people. It won’t be exactly the same.

“Oh, right. People must think we’re mother and son when we’re outside, right?”

How funny would it be for others to see a woman with such a feminine appearance being called ‘Dad’? Although there have been cases of TS syndrome patients in Korea, they are still very rare, numbering just over 20. It’s still a very unfamiliar condition.

“Yes, I know. I feel like I can concentrate a bit more today.”

Dabin thinks she can focus more because of the scent of her mother.

“Hmm, should I just call you ‘Mom’ even at home?”

I suddenly had that dilemma.

As the saying goes, what is learned in the cradle lasts till the tomb. Even though I always call myself Dad at home, wouldn’t I make a mistake outside?

In that case, wouldn’t it be better to just let the kids call me Mom?

“Ah, but that’s not it.”

“Isn’t it?”

I nodded in agreement with Dabin’s denial.

The elevator arrived on the first floor, and we quickly left the apartment complex and headed to the Dakgalbi restaurant.

The newly built clean exterior looked impressive. The sign design seemed familiar, and it turned out to be a branch of the popular Dakgalbi restaurant in the next neighborhood.

“Welcome.”

A young man who appeared to be a waiter rushed out to greet us.

“How many in your party?”

He asked as I held up two fingers.

“Two.”

The waiter then led us to our table.

“What would you like to order?”

The menu was simple, offering Dakgalbi, Makguksu, and a few side dishes.

“We’ll have the Dakgalbi for two, one Udon side… Oh, would you like a cola?”

I asked Dabin, and she nodded.

“One cola, please.”

After placing our order, I noticed that Dabin’s expression seemed a bit awkward.

“Why, what’s wrong? Why the strange look on your face?”

Dabin then looked somewhere behind me and said, “That waiter earlier. He kept glancing at Mom’s chest. Shouldn’t we file a complaint or something?”

It seemed that innocent child was upset because the staff’s attitude was quite uncomfortable.

“Well, that could happen. I’ve been there too.”

If Dayoung were here, I wouldn’t be able to say such things, but being a son and considering the previous incident, I felt a bit more comfortable discussing this topic.

“Still, Mom should be careful. Unconscious actions by Mom might come across as something else to others.”

Why are kids so mature these days? ‘Come across’—is that an expression used by an eighth grader? I thought it sounded odd at first, but upon reflection, it didn’t seem entirely incorrect, so I quietly nodded my head.