episode_0099

There were many difficult times. Everything was new to me and I never thought I would experience something like that, so there were times when it was even harder.

Well, I thought I would go through a lot of hardships with my uncle, but who would have thought I would have a child? If I could go back to that moment, I don’t think I could have even dreamed of something like this.

“Eww!!”

“Dohwa, why are you crying? Don’t cry. Mom is here.”

I was just holding the children in my arms and lamenting my fate for a very short time, but Dohwa burst into tears. It was as if she was scolding me for not even having the luxury of being a mother.

All I could do was to comfort Dohwa so that her crying wouldn’t spread to Dan-i, who was blinking her round eyes and looking sullen.

“Dohwa, stop! Dan-i, stay quiet. Dohwa, if you cry like this, mommy will have a hard time, and when the monsters hear you crying, they will come to get you!”

Dan-i and Do-hwa were only babies, less than a year old, so there was no way they would understand what I was saying.

I don’t know how to raise my children, so I just try to comfort and coax them into doing their best.

“Mr. Lee… Where did this guy Kwon Do-hoon go? He gave birth, so his share is over? ”

It was just a rant. It’s not like the old man is really a loser or has any serious personality problems, so there’s no way he would leave his young wife and children to go out and play as he pleases.

If he was that kind of person, I wouldn’t have even thought about living with him in the first place, and I wouldn’t have even had a child with him.

‘The kids’ food is ready.’

‘Already? Okay, I’ll go to the dam and get it right away. Watch the kids!’

‘I’ll take care of it. Don’t go to strange places and just come back quickly after finishing your business.’

“I should have just made it myself instead of sending it. Dohwa said that this is what happens when you don’t have a dad.”

“Ewww!!!”

After hearing what I said, Dan-i suddenly started crying. I thought, What is this? Are they listening to me?

“No, no. Mom was just joking. Stop crying and stop! Daddy will bring you some delicious Momma soon!”

Even for an old man, going back and forth to the dam to get baby food was not an easy task, so I learned how to make baby food.

The problem is that it failed. Strangely, it tasted okay to me, but when I fed it to the kids, they didn’t react well.

They say that children follow their mother’s taste, but it seems that this is just a guess.

“Sister, what are you doing like an idiot? You should try to appease the kids by giving them snacks. Even if you just say it, will the kids understand anything?”

The door swung open and Lina appeared. No matter how much soundproofing was done, it was difficult to expect perfect soundproofing even inside a shelter.

“You understand? The kids are so smart like me, but what would you, Lina, know?”

“I think I know a little better than my sister. Judging from the way you scared the kids a few months ago by making baby food, I can tell you that you don’t know what your kids like.”

“Be noisy.”

The vertical relationship that had developed between Lina and me changed into a horizontal relationship while I was a pregnant mother.

There was no particular reason, it was just that I remembered the way he took care of me both materially and emotionally from the time my morning sickness started.

I heard from the people at the dam that if morning sickness is severe, it can be very difficult, but thanks to Lina, except for a brief crisis, I was able to get through it smoothly.

“Okay, I made it with the things the kids like, so you feed it to them.”

I was curious to see what he was holding in his hand, and it turned out to be a sour-smelling fruit yogurt.

The kids seemed to have noticed the snacks before I did, as they had stopped crying and were now looking at the snacks in Lina’s hand.

I felt like my pride and self-esteem as a mother were being diminished. What is this, do the kids like what Lina did for them more than what I did for them as their mother?

Even Dan-i, who rarely cries and is always cheerful, burst into tears as if in response to what I said earlier, which caused a chain reaction and made it even more painful.

“Yeah…”

There isn’t a huge difference between what he made and what I made. Sometimes what I made tastes better…

With that thought in mind, I put the snacks Lina had given me into the children’s mouths.

“Wow!”

“…”

The child who had cried and said that he would leave home was Dohwa, who showed off her chubby cheeks and ate the yogurt, then exclaimed in admiration.

And Dan-i was busy eating diligently wherever the spoon went without any reaction.

“Look, the kids aren’t crying and they’re eating well. Sister, you only do what you’re good at. How long has it been since I was in charge of the shelter’s meals?”

“No, but I’m the mother. I should be able to feed the kids…”

The expressions on the children’s faces as they munched on the yogurt became serious, so I quickly shut my mouth and gave them another bite of the snack.

“Eat is precious, so why waste ingredients while practicing cooking? I’ll do it for you. Just eat it like you always have.”

“Ouch!”

The two children shouted in unison as if responding to Lina’s words. I ended up thinking that it seemed like they were the ones who understood what people were saying.

*

“No, you have kids, right? They seem to hate it when I say I cook.”

“Huh? They’re still babies, how can that be?”

I continued to complain to the man who had returned from the dam. It was my own way of trying to heal the pain I had inflicted on Lina and the children.

It was also something that the children could do while they were fast asleep after enjoying their snacks.

“The kids are smart because they resemble me. I guess they understand.”

Even though I spoke with confidence, the old man responded indifferently to my words.

“Hey, it’s just a coincidence and you just feel that way. And even so, rather than saying I resemble you, I’m still… Kkaaaak!”

“What? That comment? Did it sound like you were saying I was stupid?”

I pinched the old man’s ear and asked him what he meant by his words. Given the circumstances, it seemed like what I had heard was correct, but it was also an action to give the old man a chance to live.

“No, no! That’s not it!”

“No?”

I waited for the old man’s excuse with a faint smile.

‘Thud, thud’. It seemed as if the old man’s brain was working hard in his head. He must be thinking of an escape route and how he can survive.

“If not that, then what?”

“You seem a bit odd because you resemble me! As you know, I used to be a bit odd. I think the kids react that way because they resemble me in some way. Hmm, hmm. Well, well. ”

“Yeah…?”

He lengthened his words. It was a tacit permission to speak more. The old man must have noticed this, as his face lit up and he opened his mouth as if possessed.

“Besides, it’s not like you’re bad at cooking. It’s just that kids’ tastes are a bit different from mine. My mother said I was a really picky eater when I was little.”

“Well, yeah. I guess so?”

“Then.”

I guess it was just a way to survive, but it was nice to hear. And it wasn’t completely insincere.

“I’ll let that slide.”

“Hoo…”

The old man let out a sigh of relief. It seemed like he was thinking of being teased like a rat by me. That’s what I thought. I wondered if the old man thought his situation was miserable.

“How are you these days?”

“Well, Chunbong Grandpa’s house is also quiet. It feels okay from the dam and apartment area.”

“Not like that. Living with me. Well, there are other family members in the shelter besides me. But just for the relationship between the two of us?”

The old man’s reaction was completely different from the previous questioning. He seemed to have no hesitation. A natural expression of satisfaction appeared on his face. I smiled without realizing it.

“Good. I never imagined I would live like this. It’s just so good. Thank you.”

“What are you thankful for?”

I just said those words without realizing it because of what the old man said. To be honest, my relationship with the old man was not one where one of us was at a disadvantage, but one where we both liked each other.

I felt a little uncomfortable because it seemed like the words I always said, as if I was trying to be colorful, were conveyed a little differently to the old man.

“I’m just saying thank you for living with a guy like me.”

“Well, who would want to live with someone like you and have a child with you?”

Contrary to what he said, the old man was not the type of person to be described as ‘a guy like me’.

A person who is dedicated and cool in everything. He was a person who deserved to be loved, even though he had a foolish side that deducted a lot of points from the points he earned.

“That’s why I’m thankful. If it weren’t for you, I probably would’ve… Ugh, I don’t even want to think about it.”

“It was a joke… You’re not really thinking like that, are you? Don’t you know that, sir? I, sir, really love that guy named Kwon Do-hoon.”

I just said it casually. That’s the kind of relationship my uncle and I had. A relationship where I could say I really loved someone as if it were nothing.

Loving each other was such a natural thing that we no longer needed to attach any special meaning to it.

“How could you not know? If you weren’t crazy about me, why would you live with me?”

“Uh… I was a bit unlucky just now, you know?”

The mood was a little broken. The old man also laughed bitterly.

However, it was at a level that was bearable enough. That was the kind of person the old man was. So I naturally pulled the old man to the bed.

The atmosphere had become like this, and the old man was not unaware of it. The clothes that had been covering the old man’s body until just now had disappeared, revealing his muscular body.

When I thought about hugging him, my body started to heat up without me knowing. When I thought about why I was doing this, I remembered that I hadn’t had sex with the old man recently.

“The kids are sleeping. You shouldn’t be rough with them? If the kids wake up, you’ll die, really.”

“The order is a bit difficult. If you make that face and say that, aren’t you telling me to just die?”

“Then just die…! ♥”