episode_0112

“Today… you know?”

“Yeah, of course.”

It was the fourth Christmas for the author.

“Let’s do well this time too.”

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to your performance.”

Wearing a Santa costume, my brother neatly attached a white beard.

Good looks can’t be hidden.

“Ho! Ho! Ho!”

“That’s strange. Don’t do that.”

“…I thought you meant what Jieun said.”

With laughter that didn’t seem at all the same, I left the room first.

I had come secretly after putting Jieun to sleep first, but still, I thought there could be unexpected variables.

“What are you doing, Mom?”

“Huh? What?”

The variable hit the mark.

She hadn’t fallen asleep.

Bright eyes were fixed on me.

Mom’s instincts were telling me these weren’t sleepy eyes.

“Oh… I just made a quick call to Santa. Since it’s almost Christmas, Jieun should receive gifts, right?”

“Santa Claus…?”

“Yes! Santa Claus is coming soon, right? Should we go into the room and hide for a bit?”

“Wow!!”

Shushing, I sent Jieun back to the room.

“Hush!”

Jieun followed me, caught up in the joy of Santa’s arrival, discarding her suspicious gaze from earlier.

Time was saved.

Now, all my brother had to do was make a good entrance.

“We’ve prepared a Christmas tree to welcome Santa Claus, Jieun. We also made lights together, remember?”

“Yeah!”

“You worked so hard that… uh… Santa Claus will give you many gifts.”

Not noticing my slip of the tongue, Jieun cheered quietly.

“Mm… It’s almost time for Santa to arrive.”

Pretending to check the time, I texted my brother.

“Wow… Santa…”

Footsteps could be heard outside the closet.

Unable to contain herself upon hearing the rustling of gift bags, Jieun tugged at my sleeve urgently.

“Mom, quickly…!”

“Shall we go now?”

We stepped out of the closet and immediately opened the door.

“Ho! Ho! Ho! Is our little one Jieun?”

“Yes!”

That weird laughter, despite being told not to do it.

But Jieun seemed delighted, seeing even that as part of Santa, more excited than before with extra beard and covered hat, making him unrecognizable except for his voice.

“You’ve made such a beautiful tree! I feel like I should give more presents because Jieun is so pretty~?”

“Wow~!!!”

Jieun jumped around, expressing her joy with all her might.

Brother’s white teeth peeked through the beard.

“Here, Jieun, your present!”

Knowing what Jieun liked, I had put the right gift inside. She usually tells me what she wants, and if it’s reasonable, I end up buying it. Even though she agrees when I say no, she tries to persuade me later by explaining the good points, so I end up buying most things. She’s still young and not throwing tantrums, but trying to convince me, which makes her so cute that I sometimes buy things for her.

“Wow… this is what I wanted!”

“Ho! Ho! Ho!”

Still strange.

But if Jieun likes it, that’s all that matters.

“Santa Claus!”

“Hmm? Do you have something you want to ask me?”

“I… I want to see Rudolph!”

“Huh.”

My brother was taken aback.

I was quite flustered too.

What should I do?

“Oh~ about that~? Right now, Rudolph is on the rooftop here~ so…”

“Oh….”

Jieun’s face froze suddenly.

“Then, let me make a call. Just a moment~?”

My brother was sending me a pleading look.

The solution now rested with me.

“…I’ll lend you my phone.”

I dialed the number and handed the phone to my brother.

I’m sorry, but I don’t have a solution either.

There are just people sensitive to this kind of thing.

If that person catches on…

“Hehe. Hello~?”

Covering the sound coming out faintly from the speaker with his hand, the brother’s plan began.

“Oh Rudolph? There’s a little girl named Ji-eun here. She wants to talk to you.”

Glancing at Ji-eun, he stammered out his words, feeling a headache coming on.

“Here… Take it?”

“Rudolph!”

Ji-eun called out for Rudolph with a bright voice.

[Mmm~!!]

“Oh…?”

“Ahh….”

A strange sound came from the phone.

How could Rudolph make such a sound?

“Rudolph…?”

Ji-eun was also puzzled.

“It’s Rudolph!”

Oh. No, it’s not.

Rather, it feels good to hear Rudolph’s voice.

“Yes!”

Taking advantage of Ji-eun talking to Rudolph, she straightened out her brother’s disheveled attire.

She still didn’t know about the reindeer’s crying.

Not knowing was a relief in itself.

“Hey! Hey! Now Grandpa has to go give presents to other kids quickly, right?”

“You should say hi to Grandpa~”

“Thank you!!”

After finishing the call, before receiving suspicious glances, the brother quickly put the gift bag on his back and went outside.

“Let’s meet again next Christmas!”

As the door closed with a thud, a sigh of relief mixed with a yawn.

Time had passed quickly, long past bedtime.

“Let’s play with the gifts from Santa tomorrow. Okay?”

“Yeah!”

They returned to the bedroom together.

“But… Where did Dad go?”

“Oh… Dad said he has something to do. He’ll be back soon.”

“I hope he comes back quickly.”

The author, who was excited to tell her brother that she met Santa, tossed and turned in bed but eventually succumbed to sleep as time passed.

“Jieun~”

“I’m sleeping. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Hmm… You were quick-witted. I also brought greetings.”

Her brother wiped his forehead with his sleeve and handed back the phone.

“Let’s do well next year too.”

“Yes. Let’s deceive even better next year.”

She held her brother’s hand between them.

“Good night.”

“Yes. Good night.”

I hope Jieun can keep this innocence even when she becomes an elementary school student.

It’s every mom and dad’s earnest wish.

There will be parents who fail to deceive and good children who pretend not to know.

I am Jieun’s mother. I hope she moves towards the light.

*

“Unnie…”

“Yes… Did I make a mistake yesterday?”

The person she called yesterday was Suah unnie.

Suah unnie probably understands this innocence now that she has a child.

And they decided to help each other.

So Suah unnie sometimes comes to our house.

With a baby resembling Suah unnie.

“It was risky, but still… Did you like it? What did she say?”

“She said you should listen to your mom~ And also… what was it again! Right. She said if you want to become pretty like your mom, you must listen well.”

Thinking she did something praiseworthy, Unnie bursts into a proud laughter.

“Hehe. That’s right. Thank you. Next time, I’ll help. Will Sujin speak well by next Christmas?”

“Yes. I’ll look forward to that.”

After the call, she covers Jieun with a blanket as she peacefully naps.

Lunchtime was approaching, so she started preparing lunch immediately.

Oppa liked tonkatsu, so Jieun also wanted to eat tonkatsu.

Since she was still young, she didn’t feed her too much and made it in small portions like side dishes.

“Hoho.”

She made an effort to make the tonkatsu healthier. She conducted a lot of research to maintain its crispy texture, which is unmatched by any other fried food, while keeping it as healthy as possible by minimizing the use of oil.

Frying vegetables also enhances the flavor. Initially, Oppa seemed to find it odd that there were vegetables inside the tonkatsu, but after eating two tonkatsus at once, he grew to like it even more.

As she was getting older, she could only eat one now.

“Ton… katsu?”

“Hmm? Are you up?”

“Tonkatsu!”

Indeed, she took after Oppa.

“Just wait a bit and sit down~”

“Okay!”

Jieun was holding her phone, watching something popular among kids these days. Although it didn’t seem beneficial for Jieun, she couldn’t ignore it, so she carefully selected and showed her.

There are all kinds of profanity on sites that can be viewed by children and adults…

She’s always worried because it doesn’t seem emotionally beneficial for Jieun.

“Mmm… Mmm!!”

“It’s that delicious, huh.”

“Mmm!”

Seeing him enjoy a mouthful of tonkatsu made her feel good too.

“Mmm… It’s delicious.”

The crispiness of the fried coating combined with the crunch of the vegetables is excellent.

It seems true that fried food tastes good even if it’s just fried bread crumbs.

“I want to cook too!”

“Mmm… Isn’t it too early?”

When Jieun turns about 7 years old, she can start with a very small knife, right?

In fact, I’ve been cooking for quite some time.

Since elementary school, when I accidentally burned a no-oil fried egg and tried to learn properly.

Growing up, I cooked for Dad and Ji Hyuk oppa, met Oppa this way.

Seems like I’ve learned to cook well.

I must teach my son how to cook when he’s born.

“When Jieun gets a little bigger, Mom will teach you. Okay?”

“Okay!”

“Aww~ Our Jieun listens so well~!”

I started cooking because there was no one to cook for me, so I did it myself.

And I got a slight burn.

But Jieun has me.

So, even if I cook as a hobby, until Jieun becomes an adult and lives on her own, I’ll prepare meals no matter what happens.

Because that’s what a mom does.