episode_0042

Today is Sunday.

Since it’s vacation, there’s no difference between weekdays and weekends, but if there’s one thing that’s different, it’s my dad’s presence.

I opened my eyes, got up, and went into the living room. As expected, I saw my dad lying comfortably on the sofa watching TV alone, and my mom and Ye-eun sitting on the floor watching TV.

Now, since it’s a scene I see every week, I don’t really have the motivation to say anything, so I just sat on the floor and watched TV.

“Jaehoon, are you going to have lunch with Saeah’s mom later?”

“Huh? Suddenly?”

“No. It was decided a few days ago, but we’re talking about it now.”

“Mom and me?”

“No. The whole family.”

“Why?”

“Should I show my face before going out to play?”

“Okay.”

I think my mom has already been bitten.

I knew we would naturally talk on the phone after meeting, but eating out as a family?

If we meet, won’t we already feel like childhood friends?

Well, honestly, my mom doesn’t have any friends in the neighborhood, so it would be nice to have a close friend so she wouldn’t be bored.

While I was watching TV, as lunch time approached, my mom got up and started getting ready, followed by my dad.

After Ye-eun and I washed up and got ready to go out, the whole family left the house together.

I came out of my house ten minutes early, but my sister Sa-ah was already waiting for me.

“Jaehoon, is your mom here?’

“Sae-ah, Mom. It’s been a while.”

“Haha. Jaehoon’s dad is Seo Taesan.”

“This is Sae-ah’s father, Han Seong-jin. Haha.”

“Sister~!”

“Hello. Ye-eun.”

Everyone naturally paired up and greeted each other warmly, and I stood alone like a scarecrow before we started moving toward the restaurant.

When Sae-ah’s older sister was dragged up the mountain last time because she had a potbelly, I thought she was fat, but Sae-ah’s father was more handsome than I thought.

I don’t know why I don’t have a younger sibling, but he looks handsome and normal, so what?

I was walking around lost in thought when I arrived at a Korean restaurant.

This is the place I came to last time. The set menu for lunch is good.

“You’re Jaehoon. I’ve heard a lot about you from Saeah.”

“Haha. Yes, hello.”

As I sat down in the restaurant, Sae-ah’s father spoke to me.

He was a person who was similar to my father, but had a different vibe.

I see that everyone except me is smiling and talking comfortably without any awkwardness.

I really think I have the outgoing personality that doesn’t suit me.

This is all because I didn’t have any in my previous life and just lived and studied.

“It’s a pension run by my relatives, so I made a reservation in advance.”

“Oh really? I was worried about where to go, but it turned out well.”

“I think it would be a good idea to prepare the necessary items by contacting Jaehoon’s mom and me.”

“There was nothing to do at home. It would be nice to have fun.”

The mothers were having a friendly conversation, as if the location had already been decided. It seemed like they would start talking soon.

“Haha. My son is so unkempt.”

“I heard from Sae-ah and Sae-ah’s mom. She’s really well-mannered. I’m jealous because we don’t have a son.”

My dad was dissing me here too, and the conversation was going on with Sa-ah’s father, who was really jealous of his son, perhaps because he was a little lonely with only girls at home.

Sae-ah seemed busy playing with Ye-eun, while I sat quietly and listened to the conversation around me.

“My son is very harsh to me, unlike how he is to his mom. It’s like teasing me.”

“Really? We get along so well with just Sae-ah and her mom, so I don’t really have anyone to hang out with. I’m jealous of that too.”

As I quietly sat there, unable to argue with my father in front of other adults, the food began to be served.

“”I’ll eat well.””

The adults started eating and the children followed suit.

“Dad woke up Jaehoon because he was bothering him while he was sleeping, and Jaehoon bought a gun to get revenge, right? It’s the same for dad and kid.”

“Really? Jaehoon is so mature, but I guess it was too much for him to buy a gun? ”

As I nodded to Sae-ah’s mother’s words that she knew me, Sae-ah’s father heard me say this.

“How did you bully him that Jaehoon shot him?”

“Ahem, this is just something Jaehoon would sing whenever he slept.”

“Why is your father saving face?”

“Ahem Jaehoon. Dad also has to save face when he goes out.”

Dad, who is reluctant to speak, is embarrassed by the lie that he woke him up every night for several days and told him to eat.

I couldn’t miss this opportunity.

“When my dad came home from work and I was sleeping, he would wake me up every night, and when I didn’t wake up, he would shake me, and when I didn’t answer, he would even lie and say that my mom told me to come out to eat.”

“Haha Jaehoon, that’s a secret outside”

It can’t be my imagination that the way adults look at my dad has changed a little.

My father realized that his image was in danger and stopped dissing me and started eating quietly.

Mom started talking about the traps I set at home, and each of us started telling funny stories, and the conversation continued.

After the meal was over, the adults moved to another place, as if they wanted to talk more.

“Jaehoon. Let’s go play at Jaehoon’s place.”

“Huh? My house?”

“Yeah. I have to go anyway if I want to bring Ye-eun too.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

I arrived home with a heavy heart, watching Ye-eun walk while holding the hand of her older sister, not mine.

“What did your mother say earlier?”

“It shoots automatically when you open the door?”

“Yeah. I want to see that.”

“But if you do that, it’ll be hard to clean up?”

“I’ll clean it up. Show me.”

Without having to go through the trouble of cleaning it up, I just put ten bullets in the gun and explained the trap principle to Sae-ah Nuna.

“When the scroll is pushed, the eraser falls out and the rubber band pulls the trigger and shoots. Easy, right?”

“Wow. Does this hurt if I get it right?”

“It’s fully automatic, so it’s not that painful, just a little warm?”

“Please lend me one.”

“Huh? This? Why?”

“My dad asked me to borrow it earlier because he was curious.”

“You’re not trying to shoot Dad, are you?”

“Yeah. My dad actually asked me to borrow it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

That day, when Sae-ah left our house, she took a gun and a can of bullets with her and headed home.

***

Weekdays were peaceful days where I just worked out and stayed home without doing anything special.

The day before going on a trip with Sae-ah’s sister.

“Are you here? What is this?”

As I was watching TV in the living room, I heard my mom talking and when I looked into the front door, I saw my dad coming into the house carrying a huge box.

“Huh? It’s nothing.”

“What is it?”

Mom starts asking questions one by one, sensing something suspicious.

“No. Is that just a toy?”

“Why don’t you speak quickly?”

“No. Sae-ah and Dad decided to go to the valley and play with this this time.”

“Sae-ah, with your dad? What is this?”

“Total.”

“What kind of gun is that?”

“BB gun.”

“…..”

“No. Sae-ah and Dad exchanged numbers this time.”

“But?”

“But Sae-ah borrowed a gun and shot it and it was fun.”

“So?”

“So, when I went out to play this time, he said let’s do a survival game in the valley.”

“Sae-ah, daddy first?”

“Yeah. If you do it wearing only panties, it’ll really feel like you’ve been shot, and it’ll be fun because it’ll sting.”

“…..”

“This gun and safety glasses were bought by Sae-ah’s father, but Sae-ah’s mother told her that if she got caught, she would get in trouble, so she gave them to her in front of her.”

“…..”

My mother, who was speechless because she couldn’t even curse at someone else’s father, looked at my father for a moment, sighed, and went into her room.

“Dad.”

“Huh?

“Is it true that it wasn’t your father who did it first, but your new father-in-law?”

“Are you sure?”

“…..”

Is it just me who is weird? It’s comforting to know that it’s not just my dad who is weird.

“But why is the box so big?

“No. I’m sure Jaehoon bought it according to the number of people because he thought he would want to do it if he saw his mom and Saeah’s mom do it.”

“…..”

I too had no choice but to give up on any further conversation and go into my room.

***

A house full of Busan vibes from the morning.

Mom checking to make sure she has packed everything from clothes and shoes to tubes and food.

Dad is holding the box containing the guns, including mine, because guns are so precious to him, while Ye-eun is sitting on the sofa dozing off.

“Jaehoon, I’ll bring them down one by one, so Jaehoon, can you hold the luggage downstairs?”

“Okay. Give me one. I’ll take it with me on the way down.”

After carrying my luggage downstairs and placing it on the floor, I sat down and saw that my sister Sae-ah’s house was ready and my father came driving.

“Hello.”

“Yeah, hello Jaehoon, good morning~”

Sae-ah’s father drives a Starex and gets out of the car.

Sure, he seemed handsome when I first saw him, but after getting to know him better, he started to look no different from my dad.

“Is there still a lot of luggage up there?”

“Your father will now come down one by one.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to load them all up once they come down.”

“Yes, that sounds good.”

Suddenly, Sae-ah’s father came closer and spoke quietly.

“Jaehoon, did you see the gun?”

“I saw the box, but I didn’t see a gun inside.”

“Jaehoon will do it too?”

“I’ll go and think about it.”

“Haha. Okay.”

The family all came down to say hello, loaded their luggage into the trunk, and started getting into the car.

Sae-ah’s father sat in the driver’s seat, her father sat in the passenger seat, the two mothers sat in the back, and the children sat behind them.

After confirming that everyone was seated, Sae-ah’s father started the engine and began to drive off.

A few minutes after the car started moving, my dad started asking strange questions again.

“Sae-ah. Sae-ah, what do you like about Jae-hoon?”‘

“He’s handsome, kind, and has a certain feel to him.”

“Feeling? What feeling?”

“Does it feel different from other kids?”

“Isn’t that just because Jaehoon is old?”

“But your face still supports it.”

“Oh my, our new baby knows how to see faces?”

It was the moment when Saea became our Saea to Mom.

Dad was speechless and just started looking forward, and then Mom started asking questions.

“My son may be handsome, but his personality is not the type to be given to someone else, right?”

“That’s why I’m trying.”

“Oh really? What effort?”

“It’s a secret.”

“Jaehoon’s mom is so embarrassing, why are you asking such a thing~”

“The first thing our Jaehoon brought home was a bird.”

“Oh really?”

“That’s right. You’ve never brought anyone home before?”

“I guess Jaehoon likes Saea too~”

I didn’t bring you here, you came in of your own accord, but I just chose to remain silent.

When I look at it, it feels like my mom is being treated like a new mother.

It was the beginning of a peaceful journey.