episode_0193

What is family?

Do you often eat together?

If such a thing was family, the fellow Club Musae classmate who had lunch with me every day would have been my family.

So, do you live in the same house?

If you call something like that a family, then that cheap roommate who shared a room with me during the gifted education center would become my family. Is that possible?

Under such conditions, exceptions popped up one by one, so people usually defined those who were related by blood as family.

And it wasn’t much different just because it was me.

So…it was like that until I was young.

It was after my parents passed away that I realized that not everyone who is related by blood is family.

Although it was more than 10 years ago, I remember that day clearly.

It rained that day.

It was drizzling rain.

Is that why it was like that?

The shoulders of everyone who looked from the corner of the funeral home were all wet.

On that day, when the damp and incense smells were vaguely keeping their distance, there were no other people than three types of people inside the funeral home.

Those who pity me.

Those who consider me a burden.

and me.

In some ways, it’s a common story.

Isn’t the scene where relatives feel like a burden for a child left alone after losing their parents, so they postpone and postpone responsibility to each other, and eventually choose the option of ‘nursery school’, a scene that has become a ‘cliche’ to the extent that it often appears in dramas and novels?

That common thing happened to me too.

So, I entered the orphanage holding the hand of an elderly welfare worker, and it was there that we met.

A real family, not a fake one, bound by a superficial relationship called blood ties that had no meaning in an important situation.

So, to me, family was the people at the orphanage.

Maybe that part had an influence.

Even though a considerable amount of time had passed, it was as if time had stopped here and there, as soon as the familiar scenes were thrust into my field of vision, my shoulders began to feel strong.

“Why? Are you nervous?”

“I’m nervous…it’s because I’m tired. Because I’m tired.”

“Really? Hmm… By the way, there’s something special about the building.”

“It’s bound to be unique.”

The orphanage where I grew up was a renovated building that was once a branch of a famous university located on the outskirts of Sejong City.

It is quite common for a school building that has been closed down for one reason or another to be awarded a bid, renovated, and then used as a nursery, but I know that our nursery is the only one in the country where a university building is remodeled and used as a nursery.

Is that why?

The orphanage building that finally appeared before my eyes was unique from the start.

Looking at the exterior, it looks like a medieval castle.

Isn’t that why the roof is so sharp?

And when the small residents of the castle saw me and Rahee, their eyes widened and they all ran into the building as if they had made a prior arrangement.

A movement that is extremely chaotic.

In the meantime, I felt satisfied as I watched them neatly take away the soccer ball that had all its leather on it that they had been playing with.

I don’t know who the king of high school this time is, but I wanted to give the kids under me a good education.

“Shouldn’t you… follow along?”

“No, you don’t need to do that. Because it will come out again soon.”

Sure enough, as soon as those words were uttered, the children disappeared, screaming ‘Kiyooot!’ and brought the adult out of the building.

Surprisingly, it was someone I knew.

He said the day he was going was market day, but he happened to be working on the weekend today.

“Hey, guys~ Wait a minute~”

You’re still not good at dealing with kids.

He was among the children who surrounded him tightly, like guards guarding a noble lady, and was smiling happily at the person in trouble. For a moment, he raised one hand and shouted.

“Teacher! Teacher Yumi!”

Did he react to the voice that rang out like that?

The gaze that I never thought would leave the children for a moment finally turned towards me.

But then his eyes widened, as if he had realized something.

“···Suhyeon? Is it really Suhyun?”

“It’s been a while. Teacher.”

*****

The last time I visited the orphanage, the teacher was away due to personal reasons.

So, it had been several years since we sat face to face like this.

“If you were going to come visit, why didn’t you at least contact me in advance, then everyone would have welcomed you.”

“Ah, that wouldn’t be fun.”

“Cha-am… You still like pranks, right?”

Teacher Yumi smiled for a moment as if she couldn’t stop her, but her gaze naturally turned towards Rahee, who was sitting next to me.

“By the way, who is next to you…?”

Then, in an instant, his expression brightened.

“Ah, that… I am…”

“I’m your girlfriend.”

“···!”

Was he taken aback by my sudden words?

Rahee’s mouth, which was about to say something, was closed like a clamshell, as if it had never happened before.

At the same time, red water spread across my face.

Was it none other than reacting to Rahee’s appearance like that?

Teacher Yumi’s eyes widened slightly, and then a playful smile appeared on her face.

“Oh my.”

“Originally, I was going to come alone, but he said he really wanted to go there too, so I brought him with me.”

“Soo-hyeon~ When you grow up, you will marry teacher, so whenever you ask me to wait until you grow up~”

“No, that’s…”

This is a story from when?

My face grew slightly hot as memories of the past suddenly surfaced.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I regret what happened back then.

To me, that is also a precious memory, and to begin with, the age difference between me and the teacher was only about 12 years.

In a difficult situation both physically and mentally, my pretty and gentle-looking adult sister takes good care of me?

Aren’t these the perfect conditions for first love to begin?

So, among the boys at the orphanage at that time, Teacher Yumi was a celebrity and an idol.

Because of this, a strange war of nerves broke out among the kids over the teacher’s favor.

And it didn’t seem to be much different now.

‘but···.’

Because you are really pretty.

Should I say that this is the style of a strong female lead who often appears in dramas where the male protagonist is a second or third generation chaebol?

Also, because I was young, there were many people who misunderstood me as a student when I went out.

That aspect is still the same, to the point where it feels like he’s our age rather than someone in his early 30s.

Anyway, maybe he wanted to relieve the tension of Rahee, who had been strangely stiff from earlier.

Through the teacher’s words, my dark history was exposed one by one.

Since ancient times, there is no story more interesting than someone else’s dark history.

Thanks to this, Rahee’s face softened as if it had never been stiff… In an instant, girls’ talk began to bloom.

“Did you say Rahee? Have you ever visited our orphanage before?”

“Yes?”

“For some reason, the face looks a bit familiar.”

“Ah, that, that…”

“Now, let’s stop talking about that. Isn’t it before lunch yet?”

Actually, that was it.

The thing that sneakily came between the two.

That’s because if I left it alone, all of my dark history would be revealed here today.

“Hmm? lunch? That’s right, but…”

“What about the kids?”

“You know Suhyun. Eating lunch a little late on weekends.”

“Ah, that’s right. It was like that.”

“Why~? Soohyun, are you planning on eating lunch?”

“Yes.”

“Uh, huh?”

A feeling of embarrassment appeared on the teacher’s face.

Of course it has to be that way.

The teacher was one of the few people in the orphanage who knew about my situation.

Therefore, he also knew that my wallet was not very tight.

“That shouldn’t be the case…”

“Teacher.”

“Uh, huh?”

“You don’t have to worry too much.”

What would be better?

After looking around and thinking for a while, I picked up a ballpoint pen that caught my eye.

And then I put my energy into it–

“I was awakened.”

He smiled brightly.

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To be honest, I didn’t expect it.

I don’t think my teacher would cry so hard after hearing the news of my awakening.

I thought he would smile and say that everything went well… but thanks to this, lunch time was delayed for nearly 20 minutes while we had to calm the teacher down.

“But why is it Jjajangmyeon and Jjambbong?”

“Huh?”

“No, I thought that if I was going to feed the kids, chicken or pizza would be better.”

“Ah… Well, I tend to eat chicken or pizza quite often.”

When it comes to food donations, it’s always chicken or pizza.

In comparison, it was not common to eat Chinese dishes such as Jjajangmyeon or Jjamppong.

So, what I envied the most at that time was the sight of my friends holding their parents’ hands and going into a Chinese restaurant.

“And more than anything… this is a delicious restaurant.”

Should I say that it is a popular restaurant that only the locals know about?

“Really?”

“Uh, it’s still relatively quiet because it’s the weekend. If it were a weekday, there would have been a line there with people coming for lunch, right?”

In particular, in the case of sweet and sour pork, only a certain amount is sold per day, so if you are unlucky, there are many cases where you end up eating only Jjamppong and Jjajangmyeon even after waiting for nearly two hours.

Of course, those two were delicious enough that everyone would be disappointed, but I didn’t see a single person who expressed dissatisfaction.

It must have been just as I was about to open the door, which looked the same as the last time I visited, and enter the restaurant of my memories.

The sound of someone running hurriedly entered my ears, and then someone grabbed my wrist.

“···Soo, Suhyun oppa? Are you really my brother?”