episode_0024

“Future, no matter what, this seems like too much… .”

A shopping cart full of pudding. There must have been at least ten plastic cases.

“Mom, you can eat it all! Eat a lot and get healthy quickly!”

“Mom can’t eat this much… .”

“Then… Will the future eat a little?”

The future sneaked up on me and added another pudding. The previously full display case was now left with only five puddings.

It’s an obvious trick. It’s a shallow trick to worry about me while also taking care of my own pudding.

But Mirae didn’t have such feelings. Mirae wouldn’t show any discontent even if I ate all the pudding.

“Then let’s buy everything. Let’s eat it together with Mirae and Mom!”

I swept away the rest of the puddings and emptied the shelves.

The shelf life of pudding is about a week. Fifteen puddings a week. Well, I guess I can eat one every day as an after-dinner dessert.

As I was thinking about that, I remembered that I hadn’t even eaten breakfast yet. I could just eat the porridge that my mother made, but I wanted to make sure that Mirae had a hearty breakfast.

“What should I eat for breakfast this morning?”

“Omelet rice!”

Mirae replied immediately. But why omelet rice? Mirae doesn’t really like that kind of food. She saw it on the internet and tried to make it, but the egg broke, so she changed to fried rice with egg, and she hasn’t made it for me since then…

“Do you want to eat omelet rice?”

“Yeah, Chuchu ate it yesterday… .”

Mirae hesitated, biting her lips. Perhaps it was because she was reminded of yesterday. It might have been Mirae’s own consideration. Of course, Mirae would, and I also don’t really want to remember the memory.

But I don’t intend to forget it. This time, it was clearly my mistake. I must not forget it, if only to avoid making the same mistake again.

“Because Chuchu ate it yesterday?”

When I ask, his head, which had been bowed, slowly rises. His eyes, filled with worry, turn to me.

“What kind of omelet rice was that? Mom will make it just like you!”

As he spoke in an overly excited voice and smiled brightly, Mirae’s sad face began to brighten up.

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“Then there should be a mountain of fried rice, right? There should be a hundred eggs! There was even a flag on top. I couldn’t eat all of Chuchu, so I magically got rid of it… .”

Why did you eat so much? And you even threw the food away with magic because you couldn’t eat it without a conscience.

“I couldn’t even eat all of Chuchu, but can I eat all of Mirae?”

“Hmm… If mom helps… .”

“I don’t think I can be a mom either. Then I guess I’ll have to throw away what’s left? What a waste.”

But thanks to that, I survived. If Chuchu had eaten it all, I would have had no excuses.

“Actually, you don’t have to eat the fried rice that Chuchu ate.”

As I was thinking of additional excuses in case Mirae were to use the time, Mirae shook her head and held onto the hem of my clothes.

“The future is all good if it’s what mom made for me!”

Mirae smiled bashfully as she said that. I had a hard time suppressing my desire to kiss her. Even though my physical condition had improved a lot, I couldn’t rule out the possibility of her getting infected.

Instead, he crouched down in front of Mirae and nuzzled her white cheek.

“Mom, I also really like the future…!”

Her cheeks, as elastic and soft as rice cakes, still had the scent of a baby.

* * *

“The future is heavy, so Mom will carry it!”

“No way! Even the future can do this!”

Mirae walked ahead, carrying a bag containing only pudding. The weight wasn’t a problem, but it looked difficult to keep her arms high so that the bag wouldn’t touch the floor.

“The future is bright. He can even help Mom with her luggage.”

“I’ll listen to you a lot in the future too!”

Mirae leaned back and lifted the envelope. I followed after Mirae and burst out laughing.

“Then should I ask you to do the cleaning, laundry, and sometimes even the cooking?”

“All of them?”

“I mean, let’s do it together, Mom and I.”

This incident made me realize that I don’t have to embrace everything.

Isn’t there a future next to me? My only family, my lovely daughter, Mirae.

Mirae has grown up and is now old enough to help with housework. So rather than suffering alone and getting hurt, it is better to ask for help before the inflammation becomes worse.

“Mirae-ya, will you still give the luggage to Mom? Mom said it because she wanted to hold hands with Mirae.”

“Hand?! Want to hold my hand!”

I turned back with my eyes wide open at the words, “The future is in your hand.” At the same time, my gaze stopped over the future’s shoulder.

A pitch-black limousine that looks completely out of place in a residential area.

The E-3 area is not a very well-off area. You can only see such luxurious limousines near E-1, which is close to Central City… .

“Come to work in the future… . The rich people parked their cars like that… .”

The limousine was stopped in the middle of an alley. Fortunately, it wasn’t an alley with a lot of traffic, but I was getting dizzy thinking that I might accidentally scratch it while passing by.

I put my arm around Future’s shoulder and walked as far away from the limousine as possible.

Suddenly.

At that moment, the driver’s door opened and a man in a black suit got out. He was a man with thin-framed square glasses that suited him well. The man headed straight to the back seat and carefully opened the door.

“Nice to meet you.”

Soon, a young woman in a neat suit appeared. Her neat black hair swayed around her shoulders. Her dark blue eyes calmly stared into the future.

I could tell instinctively that this person was somehow connected to the future.

Could she really be the future biological mother? Then what should the future do? More importantly, if she really is the biological mother, why did she show up now?

“I will skip the introduction. It doesn’t seem like it will make a difference even if you know it.”

The woman who was looking at the bag full of pudding had a sneer on her lips. I don’t know what it actually was, but to me it definitely looked like a sneer.

Not only did he make the child hold the bag, but inside it was a 1,200 won instant pudding.

It wasn’t a very nice sight for other adults.

“Then I will take my niece. Future Yang, this way.”

Nephew. This woman called the future her nephew. Well, she looked too young to be her biological mother. She looked to be in her mid-twenties at most. She seemed to be her biological mother’s younger sister, or aunt.

“Mom… .”

Mirae ignored the woman’s outstretched hand and hid behind my back. It was natural to be scared and absurd. Even if they were relatives, they would feel like complete strangers to Mirae.

“Excuse me… First, please explain the situation… .”

“Does this require explanation?”

It was a look of genuine ignorance. In addition, the woman was as impressionistic as Hanna Yeon, but unlike others who had a cute side, her eyes were so cold that it felt like all of my blood would freeze when I met them.

“No, but… Do you know how old Mirae is now? Before that, how am I supposed to trust you?”

But I was able to muster up my courage because I had a future ahead of me. I stubbornly said what I needed to say.

“I can prove it as much as you want. If you need it, please contact me.”

The woman approached me and handed me her business card.

Lee Ha-neul, Chairman of the Lee Seol Group.

I don’t know exactly what company it is, but I remember seeing it on the news a few times. If it’s on the news, it must be a large company… I have even more doubts because I don’t think they’ve found a future in a place like that.

“The rest is not something outsiders should worry about. I don’t want to use harsh means, so please step aside now.”

As soon as she received the business card, the woman’s gaze turned to Mirae.

“Outsiders… .”

Now you are calling me an outsider… .

I held Future’s hand and stepped aside slightly, because I wanted to be out of reach of the woman’s hand.

“That outsider has been raising the future up until now. I don’t know where or what he did, but I raised him while you were wandering around throwing the future away. And the outsider? Do you even know what you’re talking about?”

Are you in your right mind? I am the one who took in and raised the baby who was abandoned in front of the devil.

From the time when Mirae was old enough to breastfeed until she was old enough to help her mother properly, I was the one who had been with her through all those times.

“Of course I am grateful. But I would be embarrassed in front of my sister if I left my nephew in the care of someone else.”

A black van stopped silently behind them.

Knock knock─ The door opened and men in black suits came out from inside and grabbed my arms behind my back.

“Mom, Mom! Guys, let go of Mom!! Mom!!”

She was so easily overpowered by the unexpected display of force and had her future taken away. The woman stopped Mirai by grabbing her struggling wrist, but she didn’t seem to have any intention of being rough with her.

But just because the future had stopped, it didn’t mean I could reach it.

“This is kidnapping! Without even asking what my future opinion is! It’s kidnapping, it’s kidnapping! Help me!!”

The subdued arm wouldn’t budge. It felt like my arm had disappeared, let alone moved. All I could do was scream ferociously.

“If you really think this is a kidnapping, please report it. I don’t know who you think the kidnapper is. I hope you’re a wise person.”

A cold gaze devoid of any emotion was turned towards me.

I couldn’t refute even a single word of that dry voice that conveyed neither sympathy nor pity.

“It’s horrible to think that my nephew was raised by someone who doesn’t even know how to tell right from wrong.”

And then I completely broke down at the soft muttering that followed.

“Mom, Mom!! Let go of Mom! Don’t hurt Mom!! Please let go… !”

“If the future sheep follows me quietly, I will let her go. I promise on my name.”

The woman whispered into Mirae’s ear. At the same time, Mirae, who had been struggling, stopped moving.

“Because I… didn’t follow along quietly… .”

Mirae, who had been staring at me blankly, bowed her head and turned around to walk away.

“Auntie, let Mom go. I don’t want Mom to get sick… She probably hasn’t gotten over her cold yet… .”

“Yes, she won’t be hurt at all. Mirae Yang is a good girl.”

The future is smart. Not only did she realize from our conversation earlier that she was my aunt, but she also figured out exactly what she needed to do to free me.

But that cleverness made me sicker.

“Mom… .”

While you were making such a sad expression, you were looking back at me and worrying about me until the very end.

“Hello… … .”

The future told me the end and got into the limousine.

“We will separately prepare the child support you have paid so far. Please contact us.”

Soon the woman followed Mirae into the limousine, and the limousine slid away down the alley.