episode_0172
by fnovelpiaIn response to his father’s question, Dabin tilted his head and asked.
“Huh? Why about Taehyun hyung?”
“What? Taehyun? Dabin, do you even know who this Kim Taehyun is?”
“Yes. He’s Mom’s subordinate, a really nice guy.”
“Haha… oh my. Has he ever been to our house?”
“Yes! Not too long ago, Mom brought him home when she got really drunk at a company dinner.”
“What, what?! Hey, you, getting drunk with a guy and all that!”
“Oh, come on, Dad. Why are you suddenly like this? Besides turning into a woman, it was just a company dinner, nothing out of the ordinary, but now…”
“No, that’s not it! Just tell me what happened. How did you end up drinking with a guy and getting drunk? You’re not the type to drink much!”
His father asked in a flustered manner, and I quickly jumped in to explain.
“No, Dad. Listen to me. He wasn’t there at that moment. It was just a gathering with his superiors and colleagues to celebrate my promotion, and we were just trying to finish quickly and go home, so I drank a bit more than I could handle. But now that I’ve transformed like this, I overlooked the fact that my tolerance has decreased. Yes.”
“Oh, has your tolerance decreased a lot?”
“Yes, not the same as before. They say blood volume is important for tolerance, and I’ve obviously lost a lot of weight.”
“Hmm, I see.”
“Anyway, that’s why I ended up calling a designated driver. A colleague who was off duty. Anyway, he came and helped me get home safely. Yes.”
After I finished my story, my father fell into deep thought for a moment.
“Hmm… but are you close with that guy?”
“Taehyun hyung? Um… I often talk about movies with him because we both enjoy watching them. Since Mom gives him a ride to and from work, I see him quite often.”
“I see. But what do you mean by going to his house? Are you getting close enough to sleep over at each other’s houses? An adult staying alone with a woman?”
“Oh, no, it was just once. On the day Mom mentioned earlier, while Mom was giving him a piggyback ride to the house, he… threw up. On his back.”
“Oh, I see.”
After that, my father sighed as if he could predict the rest without looking.
“You should cut back on drinking. It seems like you might get into trouble if you keep this up.”
“I already drink moderately. Nowadays.”
“I was trying not to nag you too much, but it seems like you’ve changed a bit.”
“I’m trying to change, but there are still some areas where I lack that awareness. I’ll try harder.”
At my response, Dabin opened his mouth in surprise and said, “What… do you mean? Wow.”
“Wow, what now?”
“Oh, nothing… really.”
“Anyway, be careful out there. Got it?”
“Okay, okay. Don’t nag me like Mom. Just being alone with Dayoung already gives me a headache.”
“Fine, fine. Are you feeling sleepy because of the injection or something?”
“Just rest. I’ll wake you up when we arrive.”
After that, my father just left a request and fell asleep right away.
“Ugh, I don’t understand why your grandfather is acting like he’s got a chip on his shoulder these days.”
I was used to being treated as his son, so the way my father was treating me these days felt like wearing uncomfortable clothes.
“Did he treat Aunt Imo the same way?”
“With Suyeon? Well… she’s my much younger sister, so I may have treated her a bit differently, but Suyeon was always full of aegyo and played the role of the youngest in the family, so Dad always treated her with affection. Even in college, I used to nag her a lot because we lived in the same neighborhood.”
After getting married not too long ago, Sooyeon also had to go to college, so it couldn’t be helped.
Because of that, I used to be quite scared of her, but recently, seeing her hanging out with Dayoung and treating me like a younger sibling, I couldn’t help but feel the need to assert my authority as the older sibling.
“What does Mom think of Dayoung noona?”
“Dayoung? Honestly, do you think your relationship with Dayoung is similar to the one between Dad and me?”
“Well… I don’t think so, right? But there must have been a stance you had during the time you lived as a father.”
Of course, my attitude or stance changed a lot before and after the divorce. Before, I just worked hard to support my family financially, but now, even if I have to give up on that aspect a bit, I try to put effort into improving the relationships within the family.
Thanks to having time to organize my thoughts and go through trial and error during my company’s paid leave, it seems like our family’s relationship has improved a bit smoothly.
But when it comes to Dayoung and my relationship…
Since nothing came to mind, I kept silent, and Davin gave me an analogy.
“One day, your sister brings a boyfriend home that Mom doesn’t like. How would you feel?”
“Well… I would observe for now. Is he really her boyfriend?”
“What if it’s a situation where you can only receive information through your sister?”
“Well… I would be cautious, right? It’s kind of unsettling. You never know what might happen.”
“Does Grandpa feel the same way?”
After hearing Davin’s words, I understood.
“Oh, is that so? I see. Hmm. But Mom and Taehyun don’t have that kind of relationship. In the first place, I don’t feel that kind of romantic attraction towards men… No. What am I saying. To a young child.”
“Hehe, what’s wrong with that?”
“Anyway, it’s not that kind of relationship, and it shouldn’t be or become one.”
“Really? Well, anyway. Grandpa probably sees it that way.”
“Geez, Grandpa is something. Useless worries. Well, parental worries are not something that can be avoided.”
-Chuckle!
Suddenly, I burst into laughter.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Well, it’s just funny. Mom got married really early, didn’t she?”
At 23. She got married at a time when she didn’t know anything and lived really hard.
“That’s right. Yes.”
“Maybe that’s why Grandpa has almost never nagged Mom until now.”
The life of working hard to support the family after marriage. He always comforted me, who lived like that, and never really nagged me.
Now, at the age of 40, he nags me. Isn’t that ironic? So, I laughed because it was funny.
When I told Davin about it, he seemed to empathize with my thoughts and burst into laughter.
“Well, they say appearance is important.”
As I am now, I am just a delicate woman (of course, with a strong physique from exercise, but I look gentle) on the outside, so it could be that.
“Well… I used to nag Sooyeon like this all the time. This is how it feels.”
I was grateful for it, but it was also annoying. I know they care about me, but I just wish they would leave me alone.
“It’s a complicated feeling.”
-Drool drool
Before I knew it, my father, who started snoring deeply, made me forget about the complex and subtle feelings, and I just chuckled.
“Oh, since your grandfather isn’t feeling well, I’ll have to ask my big uncle to take care of the ancestral rites tomorrow.”
Originally, my eldest father used to handle everything on his own every year, but looking at his current condition, it seems like he’ll have to stay in bed all day tomorrow too.
“Well, I guess so. Should I call Grandpa in advance?”
“Yeah, once we get home.”
Soon enough, we arrived home, and without waking up my sleeping father, I carried him to his room. Sitting across from my mom at the table, I explained the progress at the hospital.
“Well, thank goodness. It’s not a complete back injury.”
“Yeah. They said it should get better with about 2 weeks to a month of rest. Oh, the way to go back and forth to the hospital… Mom, you know how to drive, right?”
“Of course! It’s just that I don’t do it often, but I’ll do fine. Remember? Back when you were in 5th grade or something, you kept throwing a fit about wanting to go to the amusement park, so I drove for 2 hours to take you and little Sooyeon, who was 3 years old, to the amusement park.”
Ah, the embarrassing past. Of course, it’s understandable for an elementary school student to act like that, but looking back now, I feel so immature.
“Oh, really? Mom had those times too? I always thought Dad was strict and serious, even when I was born and cried ‘Waaah.’ But when you were like that…”
As Dayoung exaggerated with strange baby crying sounds, Mom burst out laughing.
“Hahaha! What’s that! Even if your dad… um… well, once you grow up, the overly cute taste is gone.”
“Oh, Grandma, do you know about that? Mom had her period a while ago, and the day before, she drank too much, so she was really mentally unstable? So when I scolded her in the morning, she really cried ‘Waaah!’ and it was so… really… is there anything cuter in the world than that?”
“Really?”
Mom asked Daehyun, looking back at him, wondering if Dayoung was exaggerating.
“Uh… haha. Well, it was a bit much back then. I still feel sorry when I think about it now.”
“Hahaha! Oh, what a shame. I wish our eldest daughter would show some aegyo too, how nice would that be.”
“Don’t even dream about it!”
Anyway, if you let your guard down even a little, everyone will take advantage of you.
I’m almost 40 now. What? Me, cute? No way.
Hmph. Psh.
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