episode_0025

“Damn, we’re screwed.”

“Why?”

Jiwon began to tilt his head and ask why.

It was truly irritating for him to tilt his head and question why after creating this mess, but I held back and explained the situation.

“Our mom is coming over tomorrow.”

“This is bad, isn’t it?”

Jiwon could just send me out.

If there was one major issue, it was the dirty house we hadn’t been able to clean due to school and assignments.

“Should we start by cleaning the house?”

When I suggested cleaning the house, Jiwon suddenly said he had an urgent matter to attend to outside.

“It’s late evening now. Where on earth do you plan to go?”

Scratching his head at my words, Jiwon replied, “An internet cafe?”

“Is going to an internet cafe really that urgent?”

After a sigh, Jiwon eventually agreed to clean the house.

Fine. It wouldn’t be too hard, even if we hadn’t cleaned for a few days.

Thinking so, I grabbed some garbage bags and started putting everything from small trash to large items inside.

I thought we would finish quickly.

Strangely, even after cleaning, the house didn’t feel any cleaner.

The spaciousness I initially felt when entering the house seemed to have vanished.

It wasn’t because Jiwon came in and made me feel rich.

“Damn, why is there so much trash coming out of the house!”

The clutter made the space feel cramped.

“Why do we have to meet your mother at home? Can’t we meet her outside?”

Jiwon exploded while cleaning the house.

“I’m exhausted. Even though we’re cleaning, it doesn’t feel like it’s getting any cleaner.”

Jiwon was working hard too.

I’m so tired…

After nearly two hours of cleaning, the house finally began to look clean.

“If I’m cleaning the house so diligently and you say it’s still dirty, can I scold your mother?! Is that okay?”

“Is it?”

“Well, isn’t it right? How can a mere human call a place where animals live dirty! It’s the same thing.”

It seemed like Jiwon had lost his mind while cleaning.

I looked at him as if he were pathetic.

Feeling exhausted myself, I wondered what would happen if I lost focus now.

I gave him a pep talk and told him to focus on cleaning.

After cleaning for a while, it started to look somewhat presentable.

The rest involved organizing Jiwon’s underwear in his room.

We decided to put them in the washing machine and have them ready by the time Mom returned.

That should be enough.

**

The next day, the day Mom was supposed to come, we decided to wait for her at Dongdaegu Station.

She said she would arrive around 10 a.m. after taking a 6 a.m. train.

As we waited for about 30 minutes at the station, a familiar voice reached us.

Mom’s figure appeared.

She elegantly walked towards us wearing a white fur coat.

“Um… Mom, what are you doing dressed like this?”

I’m used to her just wearing a vest, so I don’t know when she bought this outfit.

After staring at Mom for a while, I asked, “What’s up? Did you win the lottery or something?”

“Just kidding. This is from a drama.”

“If this guy doesn’t suit our son, I’ll pour this water on him.”

This mom… telling me to stop watching dramas.

Instead, it’s better to focus more on watching dramas, and this kind of situation happens.

Still, the fact that Jiwon is behaving well enough to ask for water from his mom…

His actions…

Why am I feeling so uneasy?

Should I text Jiwon right now to go outside?

While contemplating that, his mom was already hailing a taxi.

She instructed me to tell the taxi driver our home address.

Will it really be safe?

With such anxiety, I got into the taxi and started heading home.

**

Upon arriving home, Mom began inspecting the house.

As she scrutinized the house, she had one thing to say to me.

“Hey! Clean up the house and live properly! Why is it so dirty!”

For a moment, the word “Damn!” that Jiwon said almost burst out from deep within my throat, but I managed to hold back and not say it.

Then, the door to the adjacent room creaked open, and Jiwon started coming out.

“Damn!!!!”

This crazy guy really started shouting “Damn.”

“Mom! If a refined human like you enters where animals live, of course it will be dirty!!”

And Jiwon began yelling at Mom.

Damn it. I should have just told him to shut up.

I don’t know why I kept this guy here.

Thinking like that while looking at Mom.

“The kid sure has a lot of energy. Come in.”

Perhaps Mom forgave him, as she told Jiwon and me to come into the bedroom.

Is everything really okay like this?

Sitting in the room, Mom started looking at Jiwon.

“So, what’s the relationship between you and our son?”

“We are dating.”

At that moment, even Jiwon spoke seriously.

Knowing how important this moment was, he must have spoken seriously.

But seeing him shout “Damn!” makes me wonder if he really knows what’s going on, despite knowing how crucial this is.

I don’t know. For now, I just let it pass.

Mom looked at Jiwon and handed him a white envelope.

“I’ll give you this if you break up with our son.”

“No, Mom.”

What? Break up?

I didn’t expect her to say that.

Jiwon seemed taken aback too as he took the envelope and started checking its contents.

I didn’t expect her to ask us to break up. What on earth is Mom thinking?

I wanted to say it’s not happening, but before I could…

“Mom… Break up… One… Two… Three… Four… Squid… Six…”

“Mom! Can we break up now?”

“How much was in there anyway?”

Jiwon positively responded with a brighter expression than ever.

“There’s even an option to slap Sir and break up like in dramas!”

“That sounds good.”

Wait.. Am I the only one lost in this conversation?

I don’t know what to say in this situation.

Then Jiwon approached me, confidently saying,

“Let’s break up… acting!”

“What?”

Looking at Jiwon, I asked what he meant. He started showing me the contents of the envelope.

Inside was a note saying ‘Act.’

I realized this was all an act.

“I checked how much money was inside, and since there’s a note saying ‘Act,’ the attire and situation were too dramatic. So, I caught on.”

Saying that, I looked at Mom and Jiwon, also bewildered.

“Where did you learn acting? You’re pretty good at it.”

“But I preferred acting like ‘Mom, we can’t break up.’”

“I’ll try that next time.”

I’m at a loss for words, unsure of what to say in this situation.

My only thought is…

“What the hell?”

**

“Just sleep at our place.”

Mom said she had booked a hotel and asked for a taxi to be called.

Just sleeping over wouldn’t be a problem.

But she said Jiwon and I might feel uncomfortable.

So, we hailed a taxi and headed to the hotel.

Since tomorrow is when we part ways, I suggested meeting at the station tomorrow.

If it’s just for one day, I don’t understand why I came here in the first place.

“Hey, we’ve got some money.”

Jiwon said we had money, holding the envelope his mom usually gives him.

“Why do you have that?”

“My mom told me to take our allowance.”

Even though Mom said we didn’t need it for real.

I didn’t know how much was inside, but I took the envelope to check the amount.

Inside were about 20 bills of 50,000 won each.

20 bills make 1 million won…

“Geez…”

Let’s be honest.

Even I would probably suggest breaking up.

I’d seriously contemplate it too.

Jiwon then suggested using this to eat something delicious and said it with a smile.

He grabbed the envelope and proposed going out to eat.

Well… if it’s eating out, it wouldn’t be bad, I thought as I prepared to go out.

“Do you have any menu in mind?”

In response, Jiwon said he wanted to eat meat.

“How can you eat meat every day?”

“Meat is justice; it’s the hero.”

I don’t know what nonsense that is.

Since there’s hardly anyone who dislikes meat and alcohol in this world.

Thinking it wouldn’t be bad, I decided to head towards a nearby unlimited galbi restaurant.