episode_0049

The guild rushed in before lunchtime ended. Mirae, who had left Na-rin and Seo-hu at the academy and came to meet her mother, stopped in front of the table where the two women were sitting.

“Eeee… It melts in my mouth…! Mirae, do you want to try it too?”

“No…I’m done.”

The sight of her mother happily eating hamburger steak gave Mirae a serious headache.

“Isn’t this working time?”

“It’s okay now.”

Hanna Yeon, dressed in black chef’s uniform, sitting across from her mother. Looking at her expressionless face, I vividly recalled what had happened that morning.

“It’s okay, everyone else is working right now!”

Mirae, who was momentarily overcome with anger, pointed towards the kitchen with her finger.

“No one does it. Cooking starts after the order comes in.”

But Hanna Yeon did not waver.

“Iharu, is it delicious?”

“Yeah, honestly, I think it tastes better than before.”

Even the mother whispers to Hanna Yeon and laughs heartily.

“Hoo… .”

Mirae sighed and closed her eyes tightly.

Don’t get excited. Don’t repeat the same mistake as in the morning. If you lose control completely and Mom gets hurt…

When I imagined my mother frozen by her abilities, my boiling anger naturally subsided.

Anyway, to her mother, Hanna Yeon is nothing more or less than a friend. When you think about it calmly, it means that Hanna Yeon hasn’t even taken a single step from the starting line.

Of course, there are some things that cannot be taken into account, such as having received a kiss from your mother, or sneaking in during the night and falling asleep while being held by your mother, but considering your mother’s personality, I don’t think it’s at a point where you need to worry yet.

“Why did you follow me?”

Besides, the person who needed to be controlled right now wasn’t Hanna Yeon.

“You didn’t follow me?”

Tachibana enters the family restaurant, grumbling. The reason he came here was obvious. He must be to meet his mother.

I have already established a relationship with her as my daughter, and no matter how much I struggle, I cannot break away from being her friend. However, Tachibana is different.

To his mother, Tachibana is a complete stranger.

What is an other person? Isn’t it a state without any relationship, like a blank sheet of paper?

Depending on what Tachibana draws on it, their relationship can change in any way.

“One day, Unnie… How can you be so cute even when you eat? Should I feed you some?”

Tachibana passed by the future and sat down next to Hannayeon.

“Who… .”

Mom, who was eating the hamburger steak so hard that her cheeks were swollen, slowly raised her head.

“Hey!”

“That’s right. It’s me. It’s Serika, Haru’s older sister.”

Mom’s eyes widened. On the contrary, Tachibana’s eyes curved gently, forming a sly smile.

‘That foxy… .’

Mirae absentmindedly glared at Tachibana while thinking that.

She has pure white, flowing hair, ominously red eyes, and acts charmingly, as if she’s trying to charm people.

It felt like I was looking at a pure white nine-tailed fox. If my mother had been a man, she would have fallen for it without even realizing it.

But such worries were completely unnecessary. Not only was Mom not a man, but she was also the most uncomfortable around people like Tachibana.

To put it simply, Tachibana is not my mother’s type.

He was the epitome of a person whose personality was dark, overbearing, and difficult to keep in touch with. He was the epitome of the type of person a mother would find uncomfortable to deal with.

“Uh… So… Long time no see? Uh… Um… How were the results of the evaluation? Oh, uh… Since we’re future friends, can I talk to you comfortably…?”

As if to prove her point, Mom started poking at the hamburger steak with her fork and wringing out her voice.

It’s not easy to exchange a word with someone you’ve just met, and not only did you bite the back of her neck when you first met her, but you suddenly called her “sister”.

Now, if he crossed the line just a little bit here, it was clear that Tachibana would self-destruct.

“I decided not to be obsessed with the evaluation results. This time, it was my mistake, so it is natural that the score is low. Thanks to that, I was able to get through it safely. I apologize for the late thank you.”

However, the person who had been pushing and demanding that she give him her mother had disappeared somewhere, and only the polite young lady remained, leading the conversation in a calm tone.

The future realized that the prediction was wrong. Tachibana was a more cautious person than expected.

“Mom, is your throat okay?”

Mirae, whose heart was in a hurry, put her hand on her mother’s neck and asked.

He was the one who bit the back of my neck without asking permission. This was to remind me of that fact.

“Huh, huh? Oh, it’s okay! Mirae, there are guests here, so don’t be so mean… .”

Mom turned to the side in confusion.

Toouk.

A pure white hand falling weakly.

Mirae, who was rejected by her mother, looked at her hands with empty eyes.

Black-faced, overly pushy, and difficult to control distance.

What he had just done was the epitome of the kind of person his mother dislikes.

“Oh my, are there any scars left? I’m sorry, what should I do… It was such an urgent situation… .”

“Oh, no. When I looked in the mirror, it was almost completely healed. It was my fault for interfering during the examination… .”

The sound of two people talking echoes in Future’s ears.

“Why did you leave it?”

“I’m full… . You gave me two in the first place. Is this okay? Aren’t you going to get in trouble?”

“I didn’t give it to you because I wanted to.”

Mom completely regained her composure.

“Then? It’s not like I gave it to you because I had some left over.”

“The deputy chief told me to give you two. Secretly.”

“Oh, that’s the guy with the bushy beard, right? I’ve seen him a few times on my way home from work.”

Let Hanna Yeon join the conversation naturally.

“Yeah. Bearded man.”

“Then I feel bad about leaving it behind… I ate it cleanly, Hannayeon, do you want some?”

“I can eat it, but… I don’t have a fork.”

“No, can’t you get a fork from the kitchen? And you have chopsticks in your hand too.”

“Me! I’ll eat it! Sister, aaang… .”

The future was left to sit there blankly, floating in the sky.

How did it come to this?

Until recently, I was living a peaceful life with just my mom. But I decided to take it slow and take it one step at a time.

“What is Aang? I’ll eat it.”

Mirae snatched the fork from her mother’s hand and began to eat up the remaining pieces of meat on the plate in one gulp.

I didn’t even care about the sauce on my lips, and I didn’t have time to savor the great taste of the signature dish.

He crushed the meat with his teeth, filled with resentment.

“Miraeya, eat slowly. Are you that hungry? Should I order another one?”

A mother who is busy taking care of her daughter and worrying about her hunger, whether she knows her daughter’s feelings or not.

Mom is no different than usual. She is just like the mom I love.

But somehow, today was the day when I felt like I hated that kind of mother.

* * *

“Mom, why do you keep wearing that?”

“Huh? It’s still a little cold… and this is the most comfortable.”

A sweet rest after a bath. To maximize the effect of that rest, I chose to wear Chuchu pajamas today as well.

“You’re just wearing it because it’s comfortable, right?”

“Then is there another reason…?”

Mirae, who was absorbed in her homework, started asking strange questions.

“That… haa… . It’s nothing.”

Mirae shook her head and picked up her pen again.

What was the point of this conversation? I couldn’t figure out the intent of the question.

The reason I wear Chuchu pajamas is because they are warm and comfortable. It always has been that way, and it always will be that way.

“Work hard on your homework. Oh, should I bring you some fruit?”

“No, it’ll be over soon.”

I left my unsolved doubts behind and quietly went out so as not to disturb Mirae.

“Hanna Yeon. Should I give you some fruit?”

“Later.”

Hanna Yeon was sitting on the living room sofa. She originally said she would stay at the hotel starting today, but I kept nagging her so she stayed at home.

What does it mean to have good friends? There’s no need to go to an expensive lodging facility when you can stay at your own home.

“What are you working so hard for?”

“Game.”

“What game is it?”

“Defense game.”

So what kind of defense game is this?

In the midst of the suffocating banquet of short answers, I couldn’t stand it anymore and approached Hanna Yeon.

“Chu-chu-ne? This is cute.”

What Hanna Yeon was doing was a game where she had to place cute Chuchus on the field to block the evil spirits.

Hanna Yeon, who is serious about playing the game so that the Chuchus don’t die, and the Chuchus who are dying en masse due to the player’s placement mistakes. The gap between them is no joke.

“Hey, you can’t leave that there. Shield Chuchu, isn’t he a tank? Shouldn’t you put it in front of Wizard Chuchu to block it?”

I used to love games. Regardless of the genre, I was above average at any game I played, and my ability to quickly grasp the essence of games played a big part in that.

Maybe it was because of that. I felt frustrated with Hanna Yeon’s play, which ignores the set roles and freely assigns characters. Since it’s a casual game that you can enjoy alone, it would have been okay to let her do whatever she wants.

“… … .”

Hanna Yeon must have had the same thoughts as me, because she glanced at me from the corner of her eye and set up her shield Chuchu in front of the magician Chuchu.

And I was so scared by Hanna Yeon’s gaze that I completely cowered. For a moment, I thought she was going to hit me because I was training her…

Well, there’s no way Hanna Yeon would hit someone.

“Hanna Yeon, when will it end?”

“Not finished.”

“What are you talking about? Are you going to do that for the rest of your life?”

“Yeah.”

Why is he acting so childishly?

It looks like he’s upset because I gave him some training. Narin went in to wash up, and I’m just watching the game, so it’s boring.

Isn’t it too much to abandon your friends and get lost in games?

“Hanna Yeon, Hanna Yeon.”

“Busy.”

“Hanna Yeon, Hanna Yeon, Hanna Yeon.”

“Broken… .”

“Hannayeon, Hannayeon, Hannayeon, Hannayeon.”

Since Hanna Yeon kept acting childish, I also started to seriously bully her in a childish way.

He continued to cause interference that would have resulted in a not guilty verdict even if he had grabbed the busy arm and waved it back and forth, covered the cell phone with his palm, and threw it out the window.

But Hanna Yeon ignored me until the end.

Yes, this was an outright ignorance. A complete outright ignorance. They were blatantly avoiding me.

There was something like this when I was in high school. But the atmosphere was completely different then. In any case, I wasn’t treating him coldly.

So… is it simply that the game is better than mine?

I can’t accept it. No matter how much I like Chuchu, shouldn’t I cherish my living, moving friend more?

Besides, come to think of it, I’m also related to Chuchu.

I was so out of it yesterday because of phone calls from the chairman and branch manager that I didn’t even notice, but Chuchu pajamas are something that would make Hannah Yeon go crazy.

Okay, a good idea occurred to me.

There is one perfect strategy to get Hannah Yeon’s attention.

“Hanna Yeon.”

I slowly got off the sofa and knelt down next to Hannah Yeon.

Although it is shameful, it is inevitable to stop Hanna Yeon’s gaming addiction.

As a friend, I have to make this level of sacrifice.

“Me, look at me for a second.”

Even though he was looking up from under his phone, Hanna Yeon gritted her teeth and ignored him.

He even brought the screen of his cell phone right in front of his eyes, covering my face, which was near his knees.

That’s how it comes out… .

“nya, meow… .”

He hugged Hanna Yeon’s calf with one arm.

Then, he put his other hand inside his sleeve and tapped Hanna Yeon’s phone screen with the loose hem of his sleeve.

“Nayeonnyang, don’t ignore me… Ugh… Meow… .”

Suddenly, I felt a sense of guilt. While I was bullying Hanna Yeon, I was also bullying myself.

So this is what Donggwi Eojin meant.

But since we’ve already started, shouldn’t we keep going until we win or lose?

I made a fuss by hitting and rubbing the LCD screen of Hanna Yeon’s phone with the hem of my sleeve.

“Magical cat Chuchu! Chuchu is Nayeon’s favorite! I’m Chuchu too, why are you ignoring me!”

I had forgotten because I hadn’t seen it for a while. Chuchu doesn’t use the ‘meow’ ending.

So I shouted, imitating Chuchu’s speech that was vaguely remembered, and as expected, the verification was the problem, and this time I got a response right away.

“That, that’s right! Chuchu-ragu! Don’t get too caught up in the game! It’s more fun to play with me!”

Brown eyes staring at me intently. Thinking this was my chance, I wiggled my butt and looked up at Hanna Yeon.

“Ugh, put the phone down now… Ugh… ? Aaaah… ! Surrender, surrender!!”

◦Don’t do %◦.”

But what came to me was not warm concern, but a tingling pain in my temples.

The technical term for it is Iron Claw.

It was the moment when I truly realized the horror of game addiction.