episode_0007

More than a year has passed since Ye-eun was born.

I am five years old. Ye-eun was born in November, the same month as me, and turned three after 14 months.

Of course, in Korean age, he is 1 year old.

Ye-eun’s first birthday party wasn’t much different from mine.

As Ye-eun picked up the pencil from the stone, she approached cautiously, wondering if she had created a grudge in her past life by getting stabbed by a pencil, but seeing that no one had been stabbed, she thought that she was definitely an ordinary younger sibling.

Now that my body has grown to its full potential, I can run without any problems, my pronunciation is perfect, and I can show off my fluent vocabulary, but I’m still acting like an ordinary child.

There’s something my mom says sometimes.

Jaehoon wants to grow up healthy, crying, laughing, and playing like a normal child.

It may seem like a difficult request, but I’m trying my best to accommodate it.

When I see a mother who is always bragging about how smart and pretty her son is, I feel like she doesn’t have to be ordinary, but she is trying her best.

The economy is gradually recovering thanks to the IMF’s gold collection campaign and the change of government.

Both KOSPI and KOSDAQ will continue to rise for a year, but it’s a shame that there’s nothing we can do about it.

Still, it warms my heart to see my grandfather and father’s company established within the top 5 in the financial world.

And a few days ago, the people next door moved in.

Usually in novels, a pretty girl of the same age moves in, so I guess novels are just novels.

We are the same age but of the same sex.

The older sister, who is two years older than the 5-year-old boy and 7-year-old girl, also moved in, but one thing is certain: the 7-year-old sister is far from a pretty girl.

My childhood friend gave up a long time ago.

-Ding dong

“Jaehoon. The aunt next door and Minjun came to visit. You should say hello.”

I was lying down to take a nap after lunch, but I got up despite my annoyance and went out of the room, where Minjun was standing there, holding a shopping bag as big as his body and the lady next door.

“Hello. Hello.”

”Hi Jaehoon. Are you bored? I came to play with Jaehoon.”

”Minjun is throwing a tantrum because he wants to go outside and play, and it’s cold outside and I think Jaehoon might be bored, so I came. Is that okay?”

“Of course. It’s okay. I was worried because Jaehoon didn’t have any friends, so this is a relief.”

A mother who turns her son into a friendless outcast in an instant. Of course, that’s not wrong.

“Mom, where is Ye-eun?”

“Ye-eun is eating and sleeping. When she wakes up, mom will take care of her, so don’t worry and go play. Hehe.”

A mother looks excited at the thought of seeing her son play with friends his own age for the first time.

My mom and the lady next door were sitting on the sofa, and Minjun came to me holding a shopping bag.

“Jaehoon. What toys do you have?”

“I’m not interested in toys.”

“Huh? Your parents won’t buy it for you? Should I show you mine?”

Minjun, who wanted to show off his toys, overturned the shopping bag he was holding in the middle of the living room without even listening to what I said.

Everything from paper stickers to tops, yo-yos, marbles, and rubber balls poured out of the shopping bag, turning the living room into a mess in an instant.

Looking back, Ye-eun is still young, and her mother, who values cleanliness, must not have expected this, as she looks at the messy living room and her pupils shake.

The lady next door also seemed to notice this and was keeping an eye on things.

This is not it. If you play with the child and have fun, a picture of a day coming up is drawn. It’s just me and mom suffering for nothing.

Is there no other way? Should I just play boringly?

Ah..! An idea came to mind.

“How is it? Is it a lot? Do you want to tag me?”

“No. There’s something more fun than this. Should I tell you?”

“Huh? What is it? Tell me!”

“Once I put everything I took out in there, I’ll let you know.”

“Can’t you just tell me?”

“If it stays like this, it won’t work. Put it away quickly and I’ll tell you something more fun. Let’s do it together.”

“Okay!!”

By the time Minjun’s overturned toys were all put into the shopping bag, I went into my room and came out with a notebook and pencil.

“Okay, take it.”

“What the heck! We have a lot of these at home too.“

”Do you know the dictation game?“

”That’s not playing, that’s studying!”

“What? Minjun doesn’t know Korean?”

“No. I know Korean too?”

“If you win the dictation game, I’ll grant you a wish.”

“Really?“

”Yeah. If I win, I’ll give you anything.“

”Okay. Give me a problem first!”

When I turned around at the sound of “Mom!” coming from behind, Minjun’s mom was surprised at how his studying had suddenly changed, and my mom was so happy to see Minjun’s mom that her shoulders seemed to be going up into the air.

“Um… I’ll start with the easy ones. Mom, write them down.”

Minjun, who had the confidence to ask questions first, lost it and began to write after thinking for a while.

“Okay! Right?”

-Oh my god

“What? What can I do if even my mom doesn’t know? Apologize to your mom!”

“Chee. I won’t play with you!!”

“I don’t play with kids that neither I nor my mom knows.”

Minjun glares at me with tears in his eyes.

“I won’t play with you! I want to go home!”

The extermination was successful.

As I looked at the mothers carrying the shopping bags I had brought back and heading to their mothers, I saw mothers with bewildered expressions on their faces at the current situation that had occurred only a few minutes later.

So after Minjun and his mother left, I, who had succeeded in getting rid of Minjun, nagged at my friend for a long time, telling her not to say things like that, until Ye-eun woke up.

***

Today, too, Mom, Ye-eun, and I are having lunch and stimulating our growth plates to grow quickly and become taller before taking a nap.

-Ding dong

“Jaehoon. Your neighbor’s aunt is here. You should say hello.”

I thought I had succeeded in exterminating them… but today, I went out again despite the inconvenience and saw the next door neighbor, Minjun, and Minjun’s older sister standing there.

It was obvious to anyone that this was a rematch, as she was carrying a notebook and pencil instead of a large shopping bag, unlike last time.

Is the problem that the opponent has changed?

“Hello. I’m Minjun’s older sister, Kim Minji.”

“Yeah. Hi. It’s Seo Jae Hoon.”

“Minjun asked me to get revenge for losing the dictation test, so I came.”

“My sister is better than you!!”

Well… Minjun is a confident guy who was entrusted with the task of proxy revenge.

I thought it would be weird if a 7 year old lost to a 5 year old, but I wasn’t a normal kid so I wasn’t confident. I just wasn’t confident that I could lose.

The two mothers are sitting on the sofa, looking at their children with interested eyes, and Minji approaches me as if she has no need to waste time.

“Since I’m your older sister, you should ask the question first.“

”Okay. Um… Mom, write it down.“

Minji, who wrote it down right away and handed me a notebook, whether she had heard it from Minjun or already knew it.

“Okay!”

-mom

“Minji, you don’t have to apologize to mom, right? Did Minjun apologize to mom?”

“Phew.”

When I turned around at the sound of laughter, the culprit was my mother, who was trying hard to hold back her laughter.

Ignoring Minjun, who was glaring at me while grumbling, I exchanged dictation with Minji several times.

As expected, 7-year-olds are different, as he seems to have studied Korean quite hard.

I was wondering what difficult words there might be.

“Write down the pencil sharpener.”

Minji starts writing without hesitation as if it is easy.

“Okay!”

-Pencil case

“Wrong. Sharpen your pencil and study more.”

“Is this right? Mom!!”

Minji, who couldn’t admit defeat, went to her mother behind her and asked again.

Minji took on another challenge, leaving behind the mothers whose eyes grew slightly wide in surprise at the 5-year-old beating the 7-year-old.

“Do you know how to add and subtract?“

“Yeah, I learned it from my mom.”

“Do that! I made a mistake in dictation!”

“Okay. Then, you ask the question first.”

“How many can you do?”

I can’t tell if you’re talking about units of numbers or counts.

“I don’t know. Should I just give it to you?”

“Chi. I’ll give it to you easily for now!”

“Yeah.”

“Okay!”

6 + 4 =

At that moment, I saw the problem that Minji had written and it made me feel dizzy.

I graduated from a Korean university in my past life, so what am I doing with a 7-year-old child? I guess it would be right to give in.

When I was about to give in, I saw Jaehoon sitting next to me, and he looked so smug that it seemed like his older sister had won. So I quickly wrote down my answer and wrote down the question in a similar vein, giving the highest number.

8 + 9 =

“Okay! Let’s solve this and see if it’s mine.”

Minji, who confirmed that the answer I wrote was correct, is folding her fingers one by one to solve my problem.

I looked closely to see him lowering his head and counting his toes, and saw that he had given up on solving the problem and was shedding tears silently.

“Sister, don’t you know this?”

“…..”

“Don’t cry, go home, sharpen your pencil, and study math hard.”

“Phew.”

My housewife must have figured out the mood, but she’s holding back laughter. Sometimes, even my mom can be so immature.

As Min-ji burst into tears, Min-jun, who was next to her, also burst into tears, and it looked like the tears would turn into a sea.

Minjun’s mother, who had a surprised look on her face, perhaps not knowing that her daughter would lose to a two-year-old boy, began to calm the siblings down.

Eventually, the siblings stopped crying and left the house, holding their mother’s hand with slumped shoulders.

I smiled proudly at my successful extermination today and looked at my mom. I had a feeling she was going to nag me again today, so I took the initiative.

“What if Mom laughs there?”

“Huh? Mom didn’t laugh?”

“I heard the whole slurping sound? I see you’re holding back laughter?”

“Oh.. Really? Haha. Did you hear that?”

Today was a perfect day without any nagging.

I guess I should take a nap now.