episode_0023

– Hey, did you get home safely?

It was a day like any other, coming back from the academy and parting ways with Park Si-hyun. Normally, we wouldn’t talk much on the phone once we each got home, but that day it was Park Si-hyun who called.

“Oh, I got home fine. But why?”

– Why? I just called… Have you eaten?

We parted a little early that day. We can’t always hang out for long. But why is she asking about my meal? There’s no reason for her to worry about my food.

“I haven’t eaten yet.”

– Why not?

“I’ve been studying. It’s too bothersome to cook, and I don’t have anything ready to eat.”

– Hey, are you trying to starve yourself?

“I’ll just grab something quick at the convenience store later.”

– You might end up hurting yourself.

“Why are you worrying about my body?”

– Hmph, even if I worry, you won’t listen.

Despite her grumbling, Park Si-hyun soon sent me a photo. In it, she was sticking out her tongue and making a V-sign with her fingers. It was a clear provocation, but what was important was the background in the photo.

– I’m at the mart right now shopping with my mom.

“You haven’t had dinner yet either.”

– We usually have dinner a bit late. You haven’t eaten yet, though.

“Hmph, so you’re trying to make me feel guilty? Are you lacking in ways to piss me off?”

– How crude… Hey, but if you plan to have a light dinner, what about tomorrow morning?

I’ll skip breakfast or have something simple. There’s no one here to cook for me. My father doesn’t come home, and my mother has left the house. It’s been like this since high school.

– Hmm, really? Do you have anything you want to eat?

“Why are you asking that?”

– I’m going to visit your place tomorrow anyway. Might as well prepare breakfast while I’m there…

“Why all of a sudden?”

– Just because! No reason. It’s a bit pitiful to see you starving. You never really bother with breakfast. You might faint like a fool.

“Why would skipping breakfast make someone faint?”

– You waste a lot of energy on useless things… I don’t know. Fool. I’m hanging up.

Park Si-hyun abruptly hung up the phone. Soon after, she sent various pictures of ingredients via text, asking what I wanted to eat. I mentioned some things I’d like to eat.

After a while, the texts stopped. I lay on the bed lost in thought. Park Si-hyun cooking breakfast for me… The image that naturally came to mind was Park Si-hyun wearing an apron, naked underneath, cooking in the kitchen. Of course, the source of the naked apron fantasy was the manga, anime, and games I enjoyed.

Naked aprons are absurd when it comes to cooking. Oil could splatter on the skin, and hair could get into the food. If Gordon Ramsay saw it, he would definitely lose his temper like he did in Hell’s Kitchen. Maybe I could use a duster to get rid of your pubic and vaginal hair. Is this enough?

Still, I kind of want to see someone in a naked apron. Would she do it if I asked?

*Rumble*

“I’m hungry…”

In the end, it was appetite rather than lust that surged within me. Perhaps due to the photos of ingredients Park Si-hyun sent, or perhaps because I was more excited about what I would eat the next day than seeing Park Si-hyun in a provocative naked apron. That made me even hungrier.

So, I ended up going to the convenience store. I would have bought some things for breakfast the next morning, but remembering Park Si-hyun’s offer to cook breakfast, I only bought something simple for dinner.

After studying late into the night, I fell asleep. Consequently, I overslept the next morning.

“Hey, wake up.”

“Mmm…”

Someone woke me up from my oversleep. There shouldn’t be anyone else at home besides me. Still half-asleep, I thought I was still dreaming. It was like dreaming of the past.

“Mom?”

So I mistook the blurry woman for my mother. When I was very young, before my mother went back to her hometown, she used to wake me up every morning. She even prepared breakfast. I liked that kind of mother.

But it seems like my mother didn’t like me.

“Oh, it’s Mom. What nonsense.”

“…It’s you?”

The misconception didn’t last long. Soon, as my vision cleared, I could see that the person I mistook for my mother was Park Sihyun. I yawned and got up.

“Why are you here so early?”

“I told you yesterday. I’ll make breakfast… And you overslept, right? It’s almost 10 o’clock.”

I did oversleep… Exam prep doesn’t have a fixed schedule.

“First, wash your face. I’ll be making breakfast. Do you have an apron?”

“…I’m naked under the apron.”

“What?”

“It’s nothing.”

After seeing Park Sihyun, who looked like she had just had sex, walking around in the morning, I felt uncomfortable, but I didn’t think about doing anything now. How should I put it… Am I not good at reading the atmosphere right now? I held back because I thought Park Sihyun would really dislike it. Even if it wasn’t necessary, asking for an apron while being naked has hygiene issues.

So I mumbled some words and headed to the bathroom. I quickly washed my face and dried my hair. In the meantime, there was a busy and pleasant smell coming from the kitchen.

“Oh, it smells delicious. Did you cook this well?”

“Hmph, my mom taught me a bit yesterday.”

“You learned briefly yesterday, and it turned out like this?”

Park Sihyun prepared a convincing breakfast with ingredients that seemed freshly bought. There was hearty egg garnish in the soybean paste stew with tofu and green chili, kimchi that seemed homemade, and pork belly, which I liked. There were also many side dishes.

“I didn’t make everything now… I brought something I made with my mom yesterday.”

“Hmm.”

“Why are you staring at my hand?”

“Well, usually when you stare like that, it means your hand is hurt. You hurt your hand practicing cooking to give it to me! Oh my, you hurt your hand because of me. Oh no, what do we do! Like this.”

“Anyway, you annoying brat… Just eat your food.”

With an expression of disgust, Park Sihyun sat at the opposite dining table. There was food for her too. Did she intentionally not eat and come over? To eat together? It seemed like that.

But she didn’t start eating right away; she was waiting for me to start eating. Did she want me to taste it? Sensing that atmosphere, I scooped up some soybean paste stew and tasted it.

“Is it good?”

“…It’s good.”

“Thank goodness. I wasn’t confident because I just made it.”

“It’s really good. Seems like you have talent for cooking.”

“Hmph, well, that’s natural.”

“Yeah yeah, you should be good at household chores. Otherwise, who will clean up after you?”

“…You’re not a fool. Who’s going to clean up after you.”

Park Sihyun, who ate while grumbling, had a look of annoyance. But then she glanced at me and said,

“…Why did you call me Mom?”

“Huh?”

“You just called me Mom without thinking.”

“Oh, I just didn’t fully wake up, that’s all.”

“Just like that, really?”

“Yeah.”

What I said earlier was indeed just a mistaken thought due to not being fully awake. Of course, if asked why I had such a misconception, I wouldn’t have an answer.

But instead of asking that, Park Sihyun said in a different way,

“Come to think of it, I’ve never seen your mom.”

“You know that your mom and dad don’t stay at our house.”

“Yeah. But I don’t really know why.”

As much as Park Sihyun has been hanging around my house for a long time, she knows that my parents are hardly ever at our house. Even though my father sometimes comes in, my mother has been gone for a long time.

“My dad cheated before, right?”

“Yeah. He cheated with the housekeeper. That’s why there are a lot of sexy clothes at home.”

“Right. Mom left because of that jerk. But actually, even before that, she used to leave home often.”

“…Why?”

Park Si-hyun asked cautiously, but I stated the fact with dead eyes that it seemed like a good thing now.

“Mom didn’t want to marry Dad in the first place.”

“Why?”

“Well, our dad is damn ugly. There’s also a 10-year age gap.”

Just the age difference alone was enough to draw whispers of being a thief, let alone being ugly. In contrast, our mother was very beautiful. When she was young, she must have made many men cry.

So why did she marry Dad? Honestly, it’s a somewhat obvious story.

“Dad’s family had a lot of money. Actually, Mom’s family wasn’t poor either, but there was some influence at play.”

It seems to be related to something that happened 20 years ago with the IMF, but I don’t know the details. Anyway, my well-bred mother had to enter into a strategic marriage with my not-so-attractive father even though she was already in her thirties at the time. It was because he was the youngest son of a conglomerate chairman.

Honestly, considering just the conditions, it wasn’t a bad marriage. Even without the influence at play, they could have been connected. Being the youngest son, the inheritance wasn’t that much, and at best, he might become a subsidiary company’s CEO or president, but how significant is that?

It was certainly not a bad marriage. But it wasn’t a marriage filled with love either.

“Mom probably disliked Dad. And she probably disliked me, his son, too.”

When I was young, I obeyed and liked my mother. But I still remember. The strange distance my mother kept from me. The cold gaze. The hidden disgust behind her smiling face.

I may not resemble my father much, but perhaps my mother saw glimpses of him in me. No, even if I didn’t resemble him at all, I might have been resented. My mere existence was evidence of what my mother had lost.

Even though my mother may have disliked me, I yearned for her affection. So I tried to do well. I tried to seek praise.

“But I failed. I wasn’t a source of pride or excellence.”

My efforts were mediocre and clumsy. Even though I devoted myself to studying, I remained average. My grades might have been decent, but they fell short of being called genius…

I didn’t have a particularly charming personality, nor was I exceptionally good-looking. I wasn’t good at sports, nor was I sociable. Especially the latter was quite the opposite. If you look at how I spent my three years in high school, you’ll understand.

My mother was disappointed in me. That’s why she left.

“Geonwoo… Are you okay?”

The atmosphere grew heavy. Park Si-hyun looked at me with great concern. I smiled awkwardly and replied.

“I’m fine. Well, it’s an old story. I’m an adult now, so I’m not going to dwell on the past.”

“Are you really okay?”

“I am.”

“…”

I told Park Si-hyun that I was okay. Honestly, at this point, I’m not sure if I really am okay or not. But one thing is for sure, things are better than before. Now, I’m fine with whatever my mother or father were.

“Hey.”

“Why?”

However, as if determined, Park Si-hyun spoke up. What followed was a rather surprising statement.

“If you’re okay, can I call you Mom?”

“What?”

“…I’ll be your mom for a day if you’re okay with it.”

Park Si-hyun said shyly. Why say such a creative thing if you’re going to be shy about it?

But I couldn’t take my eyes off Park Si-hyun’s chest.

“Can I really act however I want as your mom?”

“Yes.”

“Then… Show me the apron, Mom.”

Park Si-hyun’s expression immediately soured, but soon, due to the apron she was wearing, it automatically became a makeshift front apron.

“Is this okay?”

“Mom!”

“Eek! You fool! Finish your food first!”

Today, I met a very embarrassing mom.