episode_0032

[Hello? Are you okay Haruya? I called because you haven’t been coming out for a while…]

“I, uh… I’m in the future… .”

[Huh? Why did you receive the future? One day?]

“Uhhh… So… Mom passed out… .”

[fainting?!]

Stop─.

“Ugh… .”

Mirae, who happened to receive her mother’s call, dropped her phone far away at the sudden loud voice.

And when he groaned with a frown on his face, Lee Ha-neul tilted his head and asked.

“Are you someone you know?”

“Acquaintance… ?”

Mirae rolled her eyes and thought deeply. What was the acquaintance…? It took her quite a while to remember the word since it was not a word that was commonly used among Mirae’s peers.

“Yes, my friend… She’s the lady next door.”

I figured it out somehow. It definitely meant someone I knew.

“I see… .”

An awkward silence falls again. The two stare blankly at Iharu, praying that she will wake up soon.

~♬ ~♪

At that moment, soft classical music flowed from the intercom. Usually, the call comes only when there is a visitor, but not many people are brave enough to visit the chairman’s house in the middle of the night.

Lee Ha-neul frowned and went out to the living room.

“What’s going on?”

[Oh yes, that’s… There are three visitors. Are they the ones you contacted separately?]

The employee’s voice sounded puzzled over the intercom.

“No, there isn’t. Are you mistaken?”

[Future! Auntie! Is there a future? Are you okay?]

[Okay, wait a minute. You can’t do that! Please wait!]

Suddenly, the intercom became noisy. A woman continued to call Mirae. Mirae’s face brightened as she came out of curiosity.

“It’s a lady! Why is a lady here…?”

Mirae’s head tilted. Mirae was on good terms with Seo-hu’s mother. It wasn’t because she breastfed her when she was a baby, but simply because the mother was married.

Every auntie has an uncle. Each person can only marry one person. So, an auntie can never marry her mother. No matter how good their relationship is, they absolutely can’t.

“Ma’am! I’m here!”

[Haa… Thank goodness. The lady will be there soon!]

As Mirae waved her hand happily, Lee Ha-neul put aside his reluctance and spoke quietly to his staff.

“Please let me in. I know you.”

[Oh, yes… I understand.]

The staff also looked a bit reluctant. However, since the resident had given permission, there was nothing the staff could do. Soon, a message appeared on the intercom saying that a visitor’s pass had been issued.

Thump thump thump!

While Lee Ha-neul was thinking about what kind of tea to serve to his guest, someone knocked loudly on the door.

It seems like he is not a guest worthy of welcome.

“I, I’ll open it… .”

Mirae, who had returned to her room, was startled by the sound of the door breaking and came out. Was the lady angry? As she approached the door, she suddenly felt nervous.

Crunch.

“Hello… … .”

“The future!”

As soon as the door opened, a woman rushed in and hugged Mirae. And Mirae’s face slowly began to harden.

It was the fault of the people looking over the lady’s shoulder.

Yeah, it’s fine until Minseo-hoo. But why is there a scary-looking woman here? A sinister look appeared in Mirae’s eyes.

That woman is dangerous. If you ask me specifically what is dangerous, I can’t give a clear answer, but the alarm bell in Mirae’s mind was ringing loudly. In fact, the alarm bell in Mirae’s mind was ringing whenever her mother even glanced at another woman, so it wasn’t very credible.

“Haa… First, come inside… .”

“Oh, you! What did you do to Haru! Why did Haru faint… .”

As Lee Ha-neul came out sighing at the noisy atmosphere, the woman held out the wiper she had taken from the car.

Even Minseohu brought her father’s soccer shoes from the trunk, and he understood the situation before the woman and neatly organized the soccer shoes.

“Where are you today?”

“I left it lying down in the room.”

And Hanna Yeon went inside, pressing the trembling arm of the middle-aged woman. Since Mirae was safe, Lee Haru would be fine too. Even though she thought so in her head, Hanna Yeon’s steps gradually became faster.

“Huh, huh?”

As even Hanna Yeon, who seemed more anxious than anyone else, regained her composure, the woman who had been threatening them with the wiper looked at Mirae and Lee Ha Neul with a bewildered expression.

Also, Lee Ha-neul, who met the woman, could naturally understand.

The fact that she was the one who raised Iharu and Mirae. Of course, Iharu, who raised Mirae, was still a child. This was especially true from the time Mirae had her accident.

“Come in. I won’t treat you much, but… I’ll at least offer you some tea.”

* * *

It’s an unfamiliar ceiling.

No, it doesn’t seem that unfamiliar? Anyway, it doesn’t seem like my house… .

“Eek… !”

I blinked blankly, then jumped up and felt around. My arms were moving just fine. I didn’t feel any pain, and I didn’t feel any signs of a hole.

“I got shot but I’m fine.”

At that moment, a familiar voice was heard from the side.

“That’s right! I was definitely shot… .”

“All I did was make noise.”

Who gives such an indifferent response when someone gets shot?

As I turned my head with a frown, a person who shouldn’t be there greeted me with a faint smile.

“Are you okay?”

“Ha, Hanna Yeon… Why are you… . Am I really dead… ?”

“Yeah, he’s dead.”

Hanna Yeon’s expression didn’t change at all.

“I see… I’m dead… .”

“Yeah. That’s too bad.”

But Hanna Yeon… You tease me until the end without changing your expression at all?

“Who died? Seriously, what happened?”

I looked down at my hands and screamed. I was definitely shot. I lost consciousness with excruciating pain from the shot.

Wasn’t it? Wasn’t it terrible pain?

My memory is vague. I was so shocked at the time that I didn’t even realize it.

“Bread!”

I pinched my arm and drank the water next to me, realizing that I wasn’t dead, when Seo-hu came in, making a gun shape with his hand.

“Minseohoo, don’t be noisy, Mom’s awake!!”

Then Mirae followed in with her fist raised. Mirae glared at Seo-hu while making a hissing sound. Then, Dodo found me sitting on the bed and ran over to me.

“Mom… !”

Mirae jumped into bed and fell on my thighs.

“Are you okay, Mom? Are you not in pain anymore?”

“It doesn’t hurt… .”

As I stroke the hair of the future, my mind becomes calm.

“Can’t you just leave me alone for a moment… .”

And now that I’m starting to understand the situation little by little, I feel belatedly ashamed.

Fortunately, no one laughed in front of me and made fun of me. Thanks to that, I ended up feeling embarrassed all by myself. Wouldn’t it be less embarrassing if they laughed and made fun of me?

“You woke up today. Are you feeling better?”

“Oh, yes… . Thank you… .”

Finally, the lady and the chairman came in. They were both wearing aprons and oven mitts, and when I checked Seo-hu and Mirae’s mouths, I saw cookie crumbs all over them.

I stopped wiping the crumbs away and asked in a pretended serious voice.

“Future, did you like the cookies?”

“Ku, Cookie? No? Mirae was right next to Mom?”

Mirae opened her eyes wide like a rabbit and shook her head. It seemed like she wanted to appeal to me that she had been taking good care of me… But since she had already come in from outside when I woke up, it was an appeal that was very late at the latest.

“Really? Huh… The future was next to Mom?”

“Ugh, uh… .”

As I stared blankly and muttered, Mirae lowered her head and answered in a crawling voice.

“Sa, actually… I ate one… .”

Then, perhaps pricked by his conscience, he confesses shortly afterwards.

“Oh, no… I ate five… I’m sorry I lied… .”

The future was so cute that it nuzzled its face against my chest.

This is what happens whenever things get worse.

“Why did our future lie?”

I wasn’t particularly angry, but I asked a question that might have seemed a bit mean. I wanted to show that you don’t have to lie to be liked.

“That, that’s it… .”

“I forced them to eat it. This cookie was my own creation.”

While Mirae was poking her lips and mumbling, the chairman suddenly interrupted and answered on her behalf.

It’s not like he really tied up the future and fed it to me… Anyone can see that it was a phrase he said to cover up the future.

If you do this, you will develop bad habits in the future, so it won’t work.

“Then is your aunt a bad person?”

But I smiled and brushed the crumbs away from the corners of my future lips.

Even though I apologized right away, it was a bit too much to discipline him in front of others. Besides, I felt wronged because I felt like I was the only one who was being treated badly.

“No, the future was bad… I wanted to stay next to mom… The cookies smelled too good… .”

The future said so and glanced up at me.

Even adults have a hard time admitting their own mistakes, but in the blink of an eye, the future seems to have grown again. If I take my eyes off it for even a moment, I might not be able to keep up with the future.

Is this the feeling of a parent sending their child away?

“But let’s not do that again. Okay? I’m happier if you tell me honestly.”

“Yeah, I absolutely won’t. Well honestly… the cookies were totally delicious! It’s a weird taste, but it’s delicious?”

I see. The cookies you ate while leaving your fallen mother were absolutely delicious.

“Hoohoohoo… .”

“Oh, Mom…?”

I found myself letting out a dark laugh without realizing it.

This won’t do. My daughter enjoyed the cookies, so I should be happy for her. While trying to suppress my smile so as not to look like a mean person, a question suddenly occurred to me.

The chairman was proud of it, saying it was his own work. And if it tastes strange, it must be the chairman’s work. But it’s delicious?

I put the future aside and got out of bed.

“Excuse me… Do you have any cookies left?”

“Of course. Don’t worry, I left it for you.”

The chairman’s shoulders rose as if they were about to touch the ceiling. How confident must he be that he left them alone?

“… Did the lady help you?”

“Excuse me. I made it myself.”

I snuck up to the lady and whispered to her, and the chairman must have heard me because he replied right away.

“Try it first. I heard your aunt is good at it?”

The lady also approved of the chairman’s work. He seems to be quite skilled. Perhaps because he works in the cultural and artistic industry, the food he saw at first glance looked excellent.

“Hmm… .”

When I went out to the living room, there were cookies that looked like they had just come out of the oven. They were actually pretty, round cookies that looked delicious, but having experienced the chairman’s cooking once, I couldn’t help but have my doubts.

“Eat it, it’s okay.”

“What the?!”

As I continued to ponder in front of the cookie for a moment, Hanna Yeon came over to me and stuffed the cookie into my mouth.

“Ah, huh? What, what are you doing!”

Mirae, who saw that sight, ran towards him and bit her lips while looking up at Hanna Yeon’s face, which was much taller than her.

“Mom, spit it out, Jijiya! Thud, thud! Eat what the future gave you!”

Mirae stepped up onto the chair and shoved a cookie in front of my mouth. But there was already a cookie in my mouth, and I was amazed at the unexpectedly wonderful taste.

The crispy texture of freshly baked cookies was beyond words. It would be rude to compare them to store-bought cookies.

Also, the taste of the cookie itself was ordinary, perhaps because the lady was helping me, but the refreshing something chewed in between made it special.

“Mom, hurry!”

Because of the future that stabbed the ball with the cookie, I roughly chewed what was in my mouth and swallowed it down my throat. Then, I immediately received the cookie from the future and devoted myself to discovering the identity of its special taste.

It feels like a soft jelly… but somehow it feels familiar… It’s refreshing and sweet… .

“Pineapple!”

“Eww, it’s dirty!”

I was so surprised that I didn’t even realize that there was food in my mouth and I screamed. As a result, the small piece of cookie I was chewing flew out, and Seo-hu, who saw this, stepped back in shock.

“What’s dirty! Minseohu, you spilled it too! And what Mom spilled was clean?”

“No… Dirty is dirty… .”

Mirae’s nerves, which had been fighting with Hanna Yeon, turned to Seo-hoo. And Seo-hoo grumbled with a look of injustice on his face.

“Kids, don’t fight… Seo-hoo, let’s apologize to Haru too. No matter how dirty it is, you can’t do it in front of her.”

The woman in the middle of the conflict smiled awkwardly and tried to mediate the children.

“No, no. No need to apologize. I didn’t ask, did I?”

I picked up the debris that had fallen on the floor and threw it into the sink.

Then I turned around and the chairman blocked me, with a confident smile on his face.

“So what do you think? Did it pay off for the omelet rice?”

“I’m upset, but… I have to admit it. Who would have thought pineapple would go well with cookies… .”

The taste was undeniable, as even a picky eater could eat five of them.

But there was something different. Aside from the taste that stimulated my sense of taste, something else remained on the tip of my tongue. It was a taste I had never felt before in the first time I ate the chairman’s cooking.

“Chairman, shall we continue what we were talking about earlier?”

That’s why I thought now was my chance.

Somehow, I felt like I could have a good conversation with the chairman now.