By some means or another, another few days had passed.
Once I lazily let out a yawn during a class in which we were boringly reviewing materials that I already knew, our homeroom teacher, who was teaching the class, sent me a glance. Whatever. It seems our homeroom teacher was just going to leave it at that since he went back to teaching.
While resting my chin on my hand, I looked out the window and towards the outside world that was filled with spring air.
For starters, although it seems my warning must have worked since the kid had stopped coming to school, that fact was actually more terrifying. I had to constantly be wary of the possibility that she’d invade again.
Misfortune has always been something that arrives without forewarning. While also aiming for these sorts of quiet moments.
If she obediently stayed in the corner of the house, then there’s nothing more that I could hope for. No, that’s not right. If she went back to the future, then there’s nothing more that I could hope for.
Now that I think about it, this girl was like that as well.
I turned my head slightly and gazed at Saeyeon.
“······.”
I knew it. There’s no way she’d be listening to the class. It was an obvious fact, but all I could do was let out a sigh.
Although Saeyeon was lacking in the head department and didn’t study, she was a model student who would never sleep during class, but instead, she would do her best at doing other things that were unrelated to the class. From what I could tell, she was currently engrossed in doodling in her textbook as she had her tongue sticking out and on the tip of her lips.
Ah, our eyes met. When I kept looking at her without being able to turn my head away, Saeyeon looked back at me and grinned. Don’t wave your hand. You’ll get caught by the teacher. Once I told her to stop by doing a hand gesture, she went back to focusing on her doodle.
“······hm.”
No, well. It didn’t matter to me what she did since it was unrelated to me, but for now, supervising Saeyeon was my job. Although I don’t plan to tell her to focus on the class of this educational institution the purpose of which was to re-educate the untaught masses, for now, I should at least see what she’s drawing······.
Once I leaned my head forward a bit and looked at Saeyeon’s textbook······.
“······.”
She was drawing a pair of boy and girl aliens whose eyes were occupying half of their faces.
Furthermore, their eyes were sparkling. That’s horrifying. What is that? Are they shooting brainwashing beams out of their eyes? Also, why are both of their eyes visible when they’re facing each other? Are you Picasso? Is this Cubism?
Why are the mouths on the aliens’ faces both in the shape of a ‘3’? They look cute because of that. Her artistic style is scary.
More than that.
“······.”
Why is it so obviously your and my face?
Starting from their hairstyles, even though she had drawn a pair of boy and girl aliens, she had strangely done a good job at grasping our characteristics. Though the names written right next to our faces were the deciding factor. Why did you even write that?
Ah, our eyes met again. Once I gave her a look that contained several different meanings, Saeyeon smiled timidly as if she had been waiting for this. She looked more delighted than she did embarrassed.
‘How is it? I drew well, right?’
I frowned at Saeyeon who was mouthing her words.
‘······Ehehe’
Ehehe, my ass. If you keep that up, then······.
“Saeyeon, what are you doing not listening to······.”
“T-Teacher?!”
······I knew this would happen.
“So, what happened after that?”
“It’s obvious. She got caught by our homeroom teacher and was scolded.”
Although it’s vague whether that was actually a scolding or not.
“Okay, so how did your first kiss taste like? Was it lemon-flavored like I had expected?”
“······Are you going to keep acting like that even though you already know what happened?”
I glared at Nanda but he simply laughed.
Although it seems our homeroom teacher, who had seen Saeyeon’s textbook, was struck by the alien’s brainwashing beam just as I had expected, he ended it by just saying, ‘I know that life as newlyweds must be exciting, but pay attention in class.’.
Furthermore, due to those words, once break time had arrived, the untaught masses gathered around Saeyeon and started applauding after they saw her textbook, so that became a problem. How much do you guys like applauding? Why do you guys care whether I pressed my lips against Saeyeon’s or not?
“Still, I was relieved when I realized that Jjaro wasn’t entirely uninterested in Saeyeon. Moreover, I didn’t think that you would actually ‘chu!’ her. As I thought, you can’t completely read what’s going through a person’s head.”
“Will you not shut up?”
“I’m right, aren’t I? Furthermore, that little lady should also be feeling a bit more relieved thanks to this. Ah, did you give her my autograph properly? I put more care into it since it was for my No. 1 Fan.”
“Who cares, you lolicon. Do you like the kid that much?”
“Don’t say something that’ll cause misunderstandings. If there’s someone who likes me, then isn’t that obviously something I should be happy about? Especially if it’s for an adorable little lady who claims to be my No. 1 Fan even though I haven’t debuted yet.”
Nanda was speaking with serious eyes.
“Moreover, if my eye for beauty is correct, then that little lady will definitely grow up to become a beautiful woman. Since her mom is like that, she’ll definitely maintain her cute side while her body grows glamorously······.”
“That’s bullshit like Newton making apple jam.”
“Really! No, I’m not saying your name, Jjaro. Also, what’s so bad about being nice to a cute kid? If anything, I don’t understand you, Jjaro. You have such an adorable daughter and such a pretty wife.”
“Adorable daughter and pretty wife, my ass. This is on the level of playing house anyway.”
It is actually just playing house, too. In response to my grumbling, Nanda grinned and spoke teasingly.
“So that kiss was just a joke, huh? Then, next time, will you unite with Saeyeon just like your daughter wants?”
“I’m already tired of making rebuttals.”
I could only sigh. While I was letting out a big sigh, I heard a loud sound coming from behind me.
“Jjaro!”
“Hm? What is it?”
Speak of the devil. Saeyeon’s voice and quick footsteps. Did something urgent happen? While I was thinking that, the instant I turned my head,
“Guah!”
“Oh, nice tackle.”
Saeyeon’s shoulder attack had collided into my solar plexus perfectly.
How should I describe this? Should I say that it felt as if I were hit by a car? Wasn’t there a wrestling move like this? Well, that sort of feeling. After being sent flying and falling to the floor, Saeyeon’s smiling face appeared above mine.
“J-Ja Saeyeon······. Y-You······. What, are you doing······?”
“How was that, Jjaro? Did your heart pound a bit?”
“······Wha, what······?”
Towards me who sounded as if he were breathing his last breath, Saeyeon smiled brightly and spoke.
“Jaim told me yesterday. She told me that love starts from coincidentally colliding against one another! That’s why I tried it out······. How was it?”
Love didn’t start from that, it ended. It was probably tragic.
People started to gather around the scene of the traffic accident, which was committed because someone misunderstood the place and method. Among the crowd, someone walked forward.
“That’s not right, Underclassman Ja Saeyeon.”
Upperclassman Nabom let out a small sigh.
“A coincidental collision, which has been used a countless number of times throughout history, is indeed a good method to capture the heart of a man. However, that isn’t how you do the collision part. For starters, you have to be holding a piece of bread in your mouth.”
“I-Is that so?”
“Yes. It’s a type of promise. Ah, you shouldn’t knock Underclassman Jin Jaro down like you did just now with that splendid spear move, but instead, the girl should be the one to fall down in order to display their weak side. And then, if you furtively cover your skirt and say ‘······Did you see it?’ at the end, then it’d be more perfect.”
“Why are you teaching her that as if it were common sense······?”
Beside the point, why does she always appear like this abruptly?
Saeyeon tilted her head in response to Upperclassman Nabom’s words.
“Mm······. Jjaro, ‘······Did you see it?'”
“Your practical ability is impressive. It felt like you were reading your lines straight off of some cards, though, so that part was a bit unfortunate.”
“Quit it with that cool-headed judgment. Why are you here?”
Once I asked her that after I was barely able to regain the strength in my body, Upperclassman Nabom smiled.
“My ghost whispered to me that if I came here right this instant, then I’d be able to see something interesting. So I came here and, as expected of my sixth sense, I was indeed able to see something interesting.”
What’s that supposed to mean? Before I could even say anything back, without hiding her expression that clearly showed that she was enjoying this situation, Upperclassman Nabom continued.
“In any case, how did it feel? Did your heart pound?”
It’s pounding so much that my heart might stop if I’m collided into for the second time.
“U-Uhm! Big Sis Nabom!”
Because of the sudden shout from Saeyeon in that instant, Upperclassman Nabom tilted her head.
“What is it, Underclassman Ja Saeyeon?”
While her eyes twinkled brightly, Saeyeon brought her hands together in front of her chest.
“Big Sis Nabom is friendly with Jjaro, right? You’re also popular, right? You’re mature as well, right?”
“······Uh, mm, I guess.”
It was my first time seeing Upperclassman Nabom become this flustered. Well, it’s a given when someone says those things to you while in the presence of others. After hearing Upperclassman Nabom respond and nod her head, Saeyeon continued.
“What do I have to do in order to have a ‘physical relationship’ with Jjaro?”
I spat out.
“Uwah, Jjaro. What are you doing? That’s dirty.”
“Cough, cough······. Saeyeon, you, what did you say just······.”
I ignored Nanda who was wiping my spit off of his face.
Upperclassman Nabom blinked her eyes at Saeyeon’s words.
“······Mm, Underclassman Ja Saeyeon. Why are you asking me this question?”
“That’s······. Big Sis Nabom is mature and you said that you had a ‘physical relationship’ with Jjaro, so it felt like you two have been getting along well lately because of that. You’re also frequently playing together······.”
While hesitantly sending me glances, Saeyeon asked.
“But Big Sis Nabom, what does a ‘physical relationship’ mean?”
“In simple terms, a ‘physical relationship’ means a partner to play with. Whether we play ‘games’ together or not, our relationship is one where we enjoy playing ‘physical’ amusements together. It isn’t something weird at all.”
After saying all that, Upperclassman Nabom glanced at me with eyes that appeared as if they were expecting something. I won’t make a rebuttal. I won’t.
“As I thought, do you need to have large breasts in order to have a ‘physical relationship’?”
“What’s with all these weird questions?!”
Despite my rebuttal, Saeyeon’s eyes continued to sparkle.
“Our classmates told me. That, as expected of boys, they always like it when they’re big. Isn’t that why Jjaro is being friendly with Big Sis Nabom?”
Stop looking at me with those shining and beady eyes.
“Uhm, Underclassman Ja Saeyeon? What gave you that idea?”
“Since Jjaro and I have a daughter now, since Jjaro and I are husband and wife now, I thought that Jjaro would treat me even better, but he hasn’t been playing with me lately······.”
Saeyeon glanced at me nervously and continued.
“That’s why I thought that if Jjaro and I were to also have a ‘physical relationship’, then Jjaro would play with me······.”
“······.”
The gazes that were coming from the people around me hurt. Especially you, Nanda. Why are you guys so interested in other people’s personal matters? Between the crowd that was looking at me as if I were a food waste disposal container with its lid open, Upperclassman Nabom spoke in a considerate voice.
“Underclassman Ja Saeyeon, don’t worry.”
Saeyeon turned her head towards Upperclassman Nabom.
“Although I may play with Underclassman Jin Jaro all the time, regardless of whether we may have a ‘physical relationship’ that’s capable of enjoying ‘physical’ amusements together without any reservations whatsoever, Underclassman Jin Jaro’s wife will always be Underclassman Ja Saeyeon, right?”
Saeyeon inadvertently leaned closer to Upperclassman Nabom as if she were being pulled in due to Upperclassman Nabom’s words, which were said with a thoughtful tone and with a tender expression on Upperclassman Nabom’s face. No, wait. As Saeyeon’s guardian, I feel like I should make a rebuttal about those words.
“The thing which Underclassman Ja Saeyeon should be concerned about isn’t something trivial like an obstacle or the matter of size. Your fight is of quantity.”
“Quantity······? What’s that?”
As if she had no idea what that meant, Saeyeon asked back while blinking her eyes. Upperclassman Nabom smiled at that question.
“It means that if Underclassman Ja Saeyeon shows how much you like Underclassman Jin Jaro through your actions, then Underclassman Jin Jaro will also end up acknowledging Underclassman Ja Saeyeon’s feelings.”
In response to Upperclassman Nabom’s words, Saeyeon nodded with a determined expression on her face, making it clear that she understood what was said this time.
Nanda tapped my shoulder and chuckled.
“It seems like it won’t end as a joke this time, Jjaro.”
······He’s right, I have a feeling that something terrible was going to happen.
[Nothing much happened between you and Saeyeon, right?]
“······Yeah. Nothing happened.”
After just barely being able to swallow down my desire to cry out for help, I was able to respond. Why is it that this person always goes straight for the point? Even though she’s Saeyeon’s mom.
[······Is that so? ······Haah.]
Additionally, why does she always sound disappointed like this? Before the conversation could go somewhere more dangerous, I changed the topic.
“How’s Europe?”
[Oh, yeah! We love it! We’re currently in the city of youth and romance, babam, we’re in Paris!]
“······You’re an old lady now, please don’t attach stars to the end of your sentences.”
[What do you mean by old lady?! My heart is that of a blooming young girl Isn’t that right, dear?]
I couldn’t even let out a sigh. ‘Huhuhu’. In order to cut off the lovey-dovey talk that was happening between Saeyeon’s mom and dad on the other side of the phone, which was so sweet that it annoyed even me, I spoke up. Jeez, it’s always like this with these two.
“Since I’m taking good care of Saeyeon, you don’t have to worry.”
[I’m not worried about that. If it’s your job, then you always do it thoroughly, Jaro.]
Because of her answer that genuinely sounded as if she really wasn’t worried, I inadvertently stopped talking.
[That’s why, Jaro, think of it as work and pay special attention to her, okay? Don’t do it with just strength and fervor. Since women are sensitive to the mood, it’d be a good idea if you paid attention to things like that. There are scented candles and a good atmospheric CD in Saeyeon’s room, and if you look in Saeyeon’s father and my room, then······.]
“I don’t need it! Moreover, that atmosphere thing, were you the one who taught Saeyeon that?!”
[Hm? Jaro, you sound like you know about it. Don’t tell me······!]
“Nothing happened!”
Seriously, this is Saeyeon’s parent for you. Once I shouted that out while gnashing my teeth, I could hear the sound of laughter coming from the other side of the receiver.
[Ahaha, okay okay, I’ll stop teasing you. We’re almost done with half of our schedule here, so we’ll return around the beginning of next month, just as we had planned. In any case, can you pass the phone to Saeyeon? I want to hear our daughter’s voice since it’s been a while.]
“······Uh, S-Saeyeon can’t answer the phone at the moment. Please leave a message after the beep.”
[Jaro······. That isn’t even remotely similar, you know?]
Please don’t sharply annotate my joke.
[Well, all right then. I’ll call again later on.]
Despite that, since she was the mom who had raised Saeyeon like this, she was generous when it came to things like this. How am I going to avoid this next time? While I was trying to think of a plan, Saeyeon’s mom spoke.
[Ah, Jaro. Now that I think about it, I have something to tell you.]
“What is it?”
[I met your mother.]
······.
······.
[It seems she’s doing well. Though she must still be busy with her work since I couldn’t see her for long.]
“······Yeah. Must be good, since she’s busy.”
Why is this person sharp when it comes to weird things, but blunt when it comes to things like this? I then heard Saeyeon’s dad say something in the background and Saeyeon’s mom spoke right after.
[Ah, sorry! I’ll have to hang up now. I’ll call again later!]
An annoying ‘doodoodoo—‘ sound started to come from the receiver. Once I put the phone down, Saeyeon tilted her head and asked me a question.
“Jjaro, was that mom?”
“Yeah. It seems your parents are doing well. They must be busy since your mom hung up abruptly.”
“Really? I wanted to talk to my mom, though. You should have handed me the phone.”
“She said she’s going to call again later so you can talk to her then.”
Of course, I absolutely won’t let you pick up the phone.
What should I do next time? ······I don’t think I’ll be able to keep hiding Jaim from them.
While I was contemplating that and letting out a sigh, I noticed that Saeyeon was still looking at me while tilting her head.
“What? It’s fine. Your mom said she’ll call again later, so you don’t have to worry. Your dad is with her as well, isn’t he?”
“No, it’s not that······.”
Just in case she was feeling anxious, I smiled as I said that to her, but Saeyeon continued to look straight at me with her large circular eyes before asking me another question.
“Jjaro, why is your expression so dark?”
I was at a loss for words for a moment due to the head-tilting Saeyeon’s words.
I’m pretty sure I was making the same expression as usual.
I’m certain I was showing the same forced smile which I would always show.
The smile which I would make when causing a disturbance like an idiot in order to make people not be concerned about me.
Because of Saeyeon’s words, even Jaim, who was reading manga on the sofa, ended up turning to look at me. A stillness fell upon us as they waited for my answer.
However.
“No, it’s because I was jealous of their trip to Europe.”
This girl wouldn’t understand even if I told her.
Explaining something to a person who wouldn’t understand no matter how hard one tries was a waste.
“In any case, let’s eat. It’s almost time anyway.”
“Ah, wait, Jjaro!”
Saeyeon then grabbed onto the edge of my clothes when I was about to brush my way past her.
“What is it now?”
Once I turned my head, Saeyeon spoke with eyes that were filled with determination.
“I-I’ll cook today!”
······.
“You will?”
“Ah, what’s with that answer?! Even I know how to at least cook!”
“No, well that may be the case, but why······.”
Why does Saeyeon, who has never held a kitchen knife before, want to cook all of a sudden? Don’t tell me? Does she still have a grudge against me because of what happened earlier today······?
“Like Big Sis Nabom and Jaim had told me, I’m going to show off how much I love Jjaro! With my cooking of love!”
“That’s it, Mom!”
I ignored the little kid who had popped up behind me all of a sudden with a smile on her face and admiration in her eyes.
For some reason, while looking at me, who was only flapping my lips since I actually had a lot of things I wanted to say about this but didn’t know what to say first, with a satisfied look on her face, Saeyeon laughed.
“Are you looking forward to it? Since I’ll make Jjaro······ drunk? Is that right, Jaim? I’ll make you love drunk!”
30 minutes later.
“······.”
“Okay, it’s all done, Jjaro, Jaim! Enjoy!”
“······.”
I turned my head away from Saeyeon, who was beaming radiantly, and looked at Jaim. Jaim’s eyes were now filled with darkness even though they were filled to the brim with hope and expectation just a second ago. That’s a relief. This girl at least had a conscience.
I returned my gaze back to the table.
Oh, Lord. For a scientist like myself to look for God.
“······Saeyeon, what is this exactly?”
“Hm?”
Saeyeon looked as if she had no idea what I was talking about.
“What do you mean? It’s potato rice and sweet potato rice!”
“······.”
No, I was asking her why she added chips in the rice.
“Mom would always say that it’s not good to eat just white rice, so she would add other ingredients! I tried copying her. How is it? I was thinking about whether I should make potato rice or sweet potato rice earlier, but I ended up making them both.”
Yeah. There were definitely chips that came from bags with ‘potato’ and ‘sweet potato’ in their product names that were poking their heads out from between the grains of rice, flaunting their existence. The fact that they were placed here and there inside this pile of steam was really······.
“······And, what’s this?”
“It’s spicy seafood stew. How do you not know that, Jjaro?”
Those things that were floating around in the thin broth, I’m pretty certain that that’s the seafood-shaped chips that people ate for fun.
“How about this?”
“Shrimp fried rice.”
Why did you fry the snacks that people say even crows like?
“A-And this?”
“Soy sauce braised potatoes.”
Are potato chips truly potatoes? This is on the level of a philosophical thesis.
“Ah, do you perhaps prefer Saddo Bap over just rice, Jjaro?
“······.”
“Then how about Indian Bap?”
That’s right. Indian Bap is good. I want to hit your back. (TL note: ‘Bap’ is ‘Rice’ in Korean. ‘Saddo Bap’ is basically the name of a brand that sells chips. ‘Indian Bap’ is a type of punishment game that’s played by kids in Korea. If you lose, then you have to bend your back as if you’re bowing and the other kids will gather around you and hit your back a bunch with the palm of their hands)
Saeyeon grinned and turned towards Jaim.
“Jaim, do you also want a different type of rice?”
“N-No······ i-it’s okay, Mom······.”
Oi, kid, the luster in your eyes is gone.
“Okay, Jjaro! Let’s hurry up and eat! The dad normally eats first!”
“······.”
All right, there might still be some hope. Who knows if it’s tasty or not? Additionally, this is a meal that was made by Saeyeon for the first time. Saeyeon is also over there taking glimpses at me with those sparkling eyes of hers like that. I took in a deep breath and scooped up a spoonful before putting it into my mouth.
I chewed.
Cruunch, crunch, ggrgruuunch.
“······O-Oooooooh!”
This taste······! This savory flavor emanating from the crispy and well-cooked chips! This highlight that further added to the tasty flavor by preventing the fragrance from escaping! Yes, there’s no mistake!
“So, is it good?”
Towards Saeyeon who asked that question while smiling, I smiled back at her.
“⎯⎯⎯How could you call something like this cooking?!”
I’ll flip this table over!
Cooking isn’t particularly my hobby, but the experience I had piled up while living by myself for about 10 years now was trembling with rage! Cooking, cooking isn’t like this!
“Kid, help me out he······huh?”
Where’d she go now? Did she run away? Did she go to the bathroom?
“I’m right here.”
While I was looking around for her, I heard Jaim’s answer come from the kitchen. I could also hear something boiling.
“What are you doing over there?”
“Hm? I’m cooking.”
You are? You, the girl who claims to be Saeyeon’s daughter?
“Don’t worry and wait a bit. It’ll be over soon.”
What’s going to be over? My life?
Without being able to stop her, Jaim started placing her cooking onto the table one plate at a time. For now, they looked okay. After taking off the apron that was so big for her that it was dragging on the floor, Jaim spoke.
“Although it’s not proper manners to do this even though Mom had already made us a meal······.”
Jaim licked her lips.
“But still······. Uhm······.”
Yeah. It’s fine to say just that much. I disregarded Saeyeon, who appeared to be sulking with a pout on her face, and picked up my spoon for now.
“······So?”
I made the nervously asking Jaim sit back down with a hand gesture and turned to talk to Saeyeon.
“Saeyeon.”
“······What?”
“This is what cooking is!”
Excellent, it’s excellent, kid. It’s 美味(Exquisite taste). Regardless, Saeyeon continued to pout and turned her head away before mumbling.
“It’s not that different, though······ it’s even the same menu.”
“Saeyeon, did your eyes go bad?! Should we go get you glasses?!”
“Mom told me, mon. She said that cooking is when you mix something tasty with another thing that’s tasty in order to get something tastier.”
I’m telling you this now, but that cooking theory is wrong.
“Really, I don’t think I can do that even if I wanted to on purpose.”
“B-But······.”
“That’s enough. Let’s just eat.”
I could only sigh.
Am I really going to end up marrying this girl and having a kid? Even if we really did, how would our dining table end up? And our children’s children, and······. Ah, the future of humanity is dark!
“It’s okay, Mom. I’ll teach you how to cook next time!”
“······All right. Thank you, Jaim. But······.”
Saeyeon opened her mouth and hesitantly spoke in a weak voice.
“Uhm, Jjaro······.”
“What?”
Once I looked at her blankly with a spoon held in my hand, Saeyeon asked me a question while tears were starting to fill her eyes.
“If bad food is made, the food will be tossed aside, right? You’re going to toss it aside and scold me like that, right? Are you······ going to toss it?”
Toss? The meal?
Once I followed Jaim’s gaze which had been taking glances at me, I could see the drama that was being aired on the TV we had turned on in order to watch while eating.
Today as well, it was that drama, where the food was tossed aside and physical affection was being shared.
“······.”
I licked my lips due to the awkwardness and turned my head away.
Saeyeon was tearfully looking at me as if she were afraid of being scolded.
And Jaim was looking at me with interest as she grinned.
“······Uh, I mean······.”
Today’s lesson: Let’s not watch TV while eating.
“How······could this have······.”
The moment I entered my room, I felt as if I were going to break down into tears because of the huge sense of despair that had hit me.
“How······ how could, something like this······.”
This is a nightmare. It has to be a nightmare. It can’t not be a nightmare.
I couldn’t form words properly. My steps were faltering and my hands were convulsing involuntarily. My vision kept flickering. Though there was also the fact that the tears in my eyes were making my vision blurry, because of the large shock, I felt as if I also had vertigo.
“How could someone······ while wearing human skin······.”
While feeling as if Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, Fate, were being played in the background, I lifted up the catastrophe that had occurred in my room.
An opened box. Crafted and remaining fragments.
And besides that, a neatly assembled······.
“KID, COME HERE RIGHT THIS INSTAAAAAAAAAAAANT!”
“Hm? What’s wrong, Dad?”
I shouted at the kid who had cracked open the door and was poking her head in.
“What do you mean ‘what’s wrong’?! What color is your blood?!”
“It’s red?”
“That’s not what I’m asking! How dare you act so innocently!”
“I answered because you asked······.”
“Why are you making that annoyed face?! What is this?!”
Jaim, who was tilting her head as if she had no idea what I was talking about, soon figured out what I was referring to and nodded her head.
“Yeah! I assembled it. Isn’t it cool?”
It seems she must have been proud of the item that was placed on top of the desk as Jaim smiled brightly and lifted it up.
The time was the year of 1942. During this time when the 2nd World War was still in full swing, a tank that would leave a mark in Germany’s weapons history was born.
With a main gun that was capable of destroying any other tanks that were on the battlefield at the time, it had heavy armor that couldn’t be breached even after being hit by a countless number of grenades. The armed vehicle achieved an unbelievable number of distinguished military services, and all of the war heroes who had left their names behind in history had utilized those tanks as their favorite armed vehicle. The sight of that tank trampling over the enemy tanks portrayed its name perfectly. This beautiful name that was described as being so perfect that it would be difficult to name it in any other way that would fit the performance of the tank itself.
Tiger I. The Tiger of the Battlefield.
⎯⎯⎯’s 1/35 scale plastic model.
“Why?! For what cause?! I was going to assemble it, you know?!”
“Hm? Because there was a plastic model there?”
“Don’t make up weird excuses! Have you lived your life never being taught that you shouldn’t place your hands on other people’s stuff? Did you receive your domestic education from fantasy stuff?!”
“I received it from you, Dad.”
“It was me?!”
“Also, you weren’t going to assemble it anyway, right?”
“I bought it beforehand so I could assemble it when I had time later on!”
“Even though you have so many······. Are you that upset that your daughter assembled a single one?”
“Do you know how much that one costs, kid?! My energizer for life that I was barely able to buy after splitting up my living expenses and research expenses······!”
Moreover, for it to be my······ my Tiger-chan! This brat!
“But I was bored.”
It seems she was unaware of my boiling anger as Jaim carefully placed the model back on top of the desk and spoke.
“You told me not to come to school anymore, so there’s nothing to do by myself at home······. You said so as well, didn’t you, Dad? To find something to play with on my own. That’s why I assembled this since I finally had something to do.”
“I was referring to games, I didn’t mean that you should do as you please and assemble something that’s mine! Play with that game console or whatever that you brought with you!”
In response to my shout, the kid’s face became sullen.
“It ran out of battery······. I forgot, the charger······.”
“······Oh, well, I see.”
That’s terrible. If your battery runs out when you’re in the middle of a boss fight, that’s just really······.
“······No no, that isn’t related to me! Then why did you do something like this? Going on the computer would have been better!”
“There are way too many weird things on the computer, so I didn’t want to touch it. Why are you watching things like that when you already have Mom?”
“Till the very end, this kid!”
Should I just hit her? Jaim opened her eyes wide and spoke.
“Are you going to hit your daughter? You’ll hit your daughter, Dad? Hit your daughter?” (TL note: ‘Hit your daughter’ can also be read as the shortened version of the Korean slang term ‘masturbate’. The slang isn’t related to one’s actual daughter whatsoever, it’s just a coincidence that they use the same letters)
“Don’t say weird things! You have to be taught a lesson if you touch someone else’s stuff without permission! That’s the same as being a thief!”
“For you to want to hit your daughter just because she touched your toy······. If you have the time to get this upset, then you should just unite with Mom. It’s already been several days since I got here, but you’re still like this.”
Jaim spoke confidently while boldly sticking out her chest. This won’t do. I have to do something and teach this kid about the laws of society.
“Kid. When you did things like this, what did your father do?”
“What do you expect······. He didn’t do anything.”
So that’s why she’s like this. In that case, I have to do something. While watching me raise my body up with a determined look on my face, Jaim gazed at me with sparkling eyes and asked a question.
“Oh, Dad. Are you finally going to take action now?”
“That’s right. I’ve come to an understanding because of your words. As I thought, the future can only be changed through one’s efforts. I can’t be content with this reality.”
“That’s the spirit, Dad! Just let your instincts lead you and get it done! I’ll wait here patiently! Dad, good luck!”
It seems Jaim must have been truly happy since even tears were forming at the corner of her eyes.
“Dad is finally listening to me······. I’m, happy!”
“It’s a bit too soon for you to be happy. The time of enjoyment will begin from this point forth after all.”
A feeling of perplexity spread across Jaim’s face once my shadow loomed over her.
“······Wait a moment, Dad? Why are you approaching me while making that sort of face?”
“It’s because I’m feeling ecstatic since I’m finally going to be able to relieve all of the stress which had piled up because I had to constantly see my daughter. It’s okay. Although it’ll hurt a little, it’ll be over soon.”
“B-Be over soon······? Dad, don’t tell me······?!”
“Currently you and I are the only ones here. In other words, there is no one here to help you.”
“K-Kyaah! P-Pervert, you’re a pervert, Dad! What are you trying to do to your daughter?!”
I leaned in and whispered into Jaim’s ears as she continued to panic.
“I’m going to hit my daughter.”
“······What?”
I lifted Jaim up, placed her on my lap, and lowered her pants. Don’t think of something weird, I only lowered it to below her bottom. A taut and smooth posterior came into my line of sight. I see that her skin is good. I folded up my sleeves.
“W-Wait! What are you going to do, Dad?!”
“Although there are many people who say that punishment is a bad thing. I also agree with them since I’ve gotten in trouble with my teachers often. Nevertheless, as I expected, you have to be scolded if you do something wrong, and stealing other people’s stuff is a bad thing.”
“D-Don’t tell me!”
“And then that actually occurred.”
Jaim, who had been opening her eyes widely, quickly shut them tightly.
“⎯⎯⎯Ow!”
Smack, smack.
Although I may have been filled with rage, I wasn’t that cruel. I didn’t hit her hard or painfully. I only hit her rear just enough that it’d leave a hand mark. Beside the point, her rear really is firm.
“H-How could you hit your daughter when she’s this adorable, ow!”
“From this point forth, you are not my daughter!”
“Hi-hiiik?!”
“Be quiet! Do you think there’s a child who was able to grow up properly without being hit?! Should you mess with another person’s stuff without their permission or should you not?!”
“Ow ow! B-But, aung! This is too much, auh! Hua!”
“Don’t make weird sounds! Are you sorry or are you not sorry?!”
“J-Just because I played with that a bit, aauung! I-I’m sorry!”
“Are you going to do it again or are you not going to do it again?!”
“I won’t! I won’t do it again!”
“Hm, good.”
I hit her one last time before pulling her pants back up and lowering her down from my lap.
“Uu······. Uu, uuhuk, uuu······. My butt, hurts······.”
“That’s the point.”
“······Huk, uu, uuwaaa······. Mommy······.”
Jaim, whose butt must have still been aching since she was rubbing it, was unable to hold back any longer and started to cry. What a kid. While tears dripped down her face, Jaim glared at me.
“I-It’s unfair······! Even my dad has never hit me before······!”
If she’s going to be like this, then I can only give her one answer.
“I am your father.”
“······.”
The next day. Since the weekend had arrived, I was going to take care of the backed up laundry, but I had no other choice but to stand there blankly while holding up the laundry basket.
“······What are you doing there?”
“······.”
Jaim didn’t listen to me and, while hugging her knees, turned her head away.
Inside the washing machine.
“······.”
Because it was a worn-out, conventional washing machine, her head was slightly sticking out from the top. Once I stared at her wordlessly, I could hear mumbling from inside of the washing machine.
“It’s unfair. Even though I was told to stay home by myself, Dad hit my butt just because I made that. Even though he never cared about what I did until now. What has Dad ever done for me?”
Mumble mumble. She was mumbling to herself in a way that was clearly meant for me to hear.
Regardless, it’s been a long time since something like this had happened. Going inside the washing machine. When Saeyeon got upset in the past she would also go inside of the washing machine and behave like this.
“Hey, stop it and come out. I have to do the laundry.”
“Hmph, mon. I’m not here, mon.”
“I can clearly see you in there, you know? Are you an ostrich?”
They say that ostriches believe things aren’t there if they shove their head in the dirt.
“Mom and Dad are mean. I was able to travel back in time from the future, and yet I keep being told to just stay at home. Mom and Dad don’t even help me with my ‘Happy Family Planning’.”
“If you’re doing this because you’re bored, then go ask Saeyeon to play with you. Get out of there. I have to do the laundry.”
“Mom is too childish! ······I didn’t imagine that Mom would be like this.”
This comment was a bit amusing. For an elementary schooler to call a high schooler ‘childish’. Well, Saeyeon is a child though. Jaim seemed to have snapped after hearing me laugh as she quickly turned her head towards me.
“Mom completely treats me like a little kid! When I ask her to play with me, it’s either playing house or playing hide and seek······.”
“Well, playing with an elementary schooler would normally mean that kind of pastime.”
“I’m not an elementary schooler!”
“Don’t make me laugh. If it’s your current height, then I’d even believe that you’re a pre-schooler.”
Jaim must have gotten really upset by my words as she cried out.
“I-I’m going to grow taller soon! I’m entering middle school soon as well!”
“······.”
A middle schooler who goes inside of a washing machine, is it?
“Say something that makes sense. Rather, doesn’t that mean you really are an elementary schooler?”
“I’m small because I resemble Mom!”
Now that she mentions it, it was like that in the past as well. Even Saeyeon, who currently boasts the height and body of a model, was a short kid until middle school. If I think about it, it was around that time that Saeyeon still went inside of the washing machine······.
Even while I was reminiscing the good old past, Jaim’s complaints continued.
“But Mom completely treats me like a child······. No, it feels like Mom is the child.”
Jaim turned her head again and muttered while staring at the inner-wall of the washing machine.
“The moment I met her for the first time, she believed that a child was born after sleeping while holding hands, she doesn’t know what uniting means, and I became more doubtful when I heard her say those things while we were watching that drama. Seriously······. I knew that Dad was this sort of person, but I didn’t know Mom was like this······.”
“That’s why I told you before, didn’t I? I told you that Saeyeon was a kid. The thing you were thinking about didn’t happen.”
“But still······. I was looking forward to seeing what sort of person Mom was······.”
Because of Jaim’s grumbling comment, a sudden thought came to me.
“Wait. Didn’t you say that Saeyeon and I were getting along well before she left after a fight? And yet you didn’t know Saeyeon was like this?”
“······I didn’t.”
Jaim lowered her head completely before continuing. I really couldn’t see her now.
“······Mom left while I was still young······.”
“······When you were young?”
“I was really young so I don’t remember that well.”
Only a sullen voice was coming out from inside of the washing machine.
······This girl.
“So why exactly did you think that it was my fault that Saeyeon left?”
“Because I remember the day when Mom left. I woke up in the middle of the night because I heard fighting downstairs. I left my room to check it out and saw Mom and Dad arguing. I don’t remember why you were fighting, but at that time, Dad, you said this to Mom, ‘Since the very beginning, I’ve never seen you as a woman.’. After that, Mom disappeared.”
“······.”
“That’s why I thought that it was all Dad’s fault.”
Jaim only stuck out her glaring eyes from the washing machine before continuing.
“I was made fun of a lot when I was a kid for not having a mom. Each time that happened, I would go crying to Dad but he didn’t care. ‘What’s so bad about saying the truth about not having a mother when you really don’t?’. That’s why I thought that Mom got sick of Dad who was like this and left.”
However, Jaim’s voice died down little by little.
“But······ I understand a little now. About why Dad said something like that.”
Jaim muttered while making a weird smile.
“But still, if I came back to the past, to a time when Mom was still around and we were living happily together, then I thought that I could make everything better if I could just make Dad see Mom as a woman. But Mom is childish, Dad keeps meeting up with that weird girl, and he’s even cooperating with her to get me to leave or whatever······.”
Hmph, she lowered her head once more and the washing machine spoke.
“As I thought, maybe I came here for nothing······.”
“Yeah. So hurry up and go back to the future.”
I felt like I heard something snap. Well, what does she want?
“In the first place, families aren’t like how you think they are. Something like a family is unnecessary.”
“No, it isn’t! Families are something precious! You only have a single family!”
“Heh, how foolish. That’s all an illusion made by the media.”
I can’t stay still after hearing something like that. Even if it’s for the future of all of humanity, I have to teach her the truth.
“Listen carefully, kid. Families aren’t like that.”
People often say that your family must be cherished.
Existences that can never be severed from you because you are bound by blood. Existences that help each other if something difficult happens and share their happiness, work, and exhaustion with each other. Existences that everyone obviously has and would make one feel grief if they didn’t.
There is a countless number of moving tales that inform people of the importance and the preciousness of families. A child who donates their organ for their parent, parents who devote their entire lives in order to nurse their daughter, someone who travels a thousand miles in order to find their mother, well, tales like these.
These were all lies.
Lies that were passed down for generations in order to preserve society.
Parents who pass on all of their debt to their family and disappear, children who don’t care about how their parents live, whether they starve to death or not, and play around, divorce, abandoned children, love and war, and things like that.
If you look around for them, then you’ll discover that the world is brimming with these dirty and messy stories.
Families are precious? They’re existences that can never be separated from you?
Why do you think family courts exist?
I don’t believe in words like that.
Something like a family is unnecessary.
You’ll be lonely if you live by yourself? Humans aren’t that weak. No human who’s incapable of living by themselves exists in this world. As long as they’re confident enough, they can overcome it at all times. If they can’t, then that just means that person is weak, and humanity needs to overcome that weakness.
As humanity has continued to develop, you can tell this fact is true by just looking at how the division of family has lessened.
That’s right, something like family is an antiquated system that was only needed to fight against the beasts in Africa. In order for humanity to develop further, they have to endeavor in order to become the sole perfect existence.
In response to my sincere speech, Jaim, as if she had come to a realization, smiled brightly and spoke.
“Dad, are you an idiot?”
“Idiot, how could you call me an idiot?! I even explained it to you in simple terms!”
“······I knew it, Dad is the bigger problem than Mom.”
Jaim let out a deep sigh and placed her hand against her forehead. That action really upset me. That’s why you should be upset too.
“Rather than that, you normally run around all energetically, but since you’re inside that washing machine, you’ve finally become a bit docile.”
Twitch, Jaim reacted. She reacted by glaring right at me.
“Although it’s a good thing for a child to be energetic, if a small thing like you keeps running around, then you’ll stay underdeveloped forever, you know?”
Twitch, twitch. If you keep that up then your vein will burst.
“That’s why you should just obediently stay at home and make plastic models.”
“······What?”
In response to my final words, Jaim, who had been gnashing her teeth, opened her eyes widely.
“You said that you were bored, didn’t you? It seems you also like making plastic models, so if you’re that bored, then play with them moderately. I would have liked it if you just played games, but those will probably be boring for you since they’re ancient by your standards.”
Being alone is a boring thing. That’s an issue different from loneliness.
An empty space in time where you’re just waiting for someone. I’m completely familiar with the weariness that one feels while you’re meaninglessly waiting for time to go by.
Well, furthermore, if I don’t do this, then there’s a chance that this kid will go crazy because of the stress and come to school again.
It’s best to get rid of the source of anything nerve-wracking beforehand.
Instead, I decided to put my foot down on a single thing.
“If you make something that costs more than 30,000 won, then I’ll end you.” (TL note: 30,000 won = Approximately $30)
“······Okay!”
Don’t smile, I’ll get attached. In any case, even though this kid doesn’t even do anything······. My Tiger-chan too······.
But, well······. Nevermind.
I shook my head and got rid of my pointless thoughts.
Emotions like that will call upon the same incident that happened on that day.
“Ah, I found you, Jaim!”
In that instant, I heard a voice coming from behind me, so I turned around.
“Huh? You’re here as well, Jjaro? I was playing hide and seek with Jaim. Do you want to join us, Jjaro?”
“······.”
The moment I sent Jaim a glance, Jaim seemed to have understood what my gaze meant as she then shouted.
“I-I’m doing this because Mom said she wanted to!”
“Did you not want to play hide and seek with your mom, Jaim?”
“N-No, I didn’t mean it like that······.”
Although Jaim quickly answered Saeyeon’s question, which was asked with wide eyes, it seems those words must have still concerned Saeyeon.
“Ah, then do you want to play something else?”
······What did I expect? It was Saeyeon. She’s naive.
It seems Saeyeon thought that the issue was what they were playing, so she clapped her hands as if she had a good idea.
“Right! Since Jjaro is here, let’s play something else, okay? It’s been a really long time since we played together, so I want to play house with Jjaro! It’s boring when only me and Jaim are playing. Okay?”
“······.”
Once I turned my head slightly, I could see Jaim sending me a pleading gaze. Yeah, playing house with just the two of them, that’d probably put a strain on her. I let out a sigh and answered.
“Fine. Let’s play after I put the laundry in the washing machine.”
“Really? Did something happen, Jjaro? You would always say no.”
“Well, it seems the kid is also bored. I’ll play with you two for a bit.”
“Wow! It’s been so long since I’ve played house with Jjaro!”
Don’t sincerely become delighted. Sheesh, what am I going to do with you?
Yeah, Upperclassman Nabom said it before. Think of it as playing house. Of course, I despise the idea of something like a family, but if it’s just pretending, then I can at least do this much.
“That’s why, Saeyeon, hurry up and bring out your laundry as well. I’ll put yours in together with mine.”
“Okay! I’ll bring them right now!”
She must really want to play house since Saeyeon quickly shouted that out before promptly leaving. Really, she’s only fast in times like this. It wasn’t long before Saeyeon came out of her room with a large bundle of laundry held in her arms.
“······You need to bring these out regularly. You aren’t the one who does the laundry anyway.”
“Ehehe······. They ended up piling up because I kept lending my clothes to Jaim.”
The moment I tried to receive the laundry from the smiling Saeyeon, Saeyeon instead took the laundry basket from me.
“I’ll help, Jjaro! I just have to put these in the washing machine, right?”
“What do you mean help? Just wait obediently. Don’t ruin it like you did your cooking.”
Saeyeon became upset by my comment and pouted.
“I can at least do this much! I can help as well, mon!”
Confidence was overflowing from her sulking and pouting face.
“Mom said that all you have to do is put the laundry in the washing machine, pour some detergent in, and press the button! I’ve seen it done a lot!”
“······.”
She doesn’t sound believable at all······. Rather, you shouldn’t look down on laundry.
But, it can’t be helped. It’ll be troublesome if she starts sulking.
“Fine. Then give it a shot.”
“All right! Leave it to me!”
Saeyeon beamed brightly once she heard my answer. I stepped to the side and Saeyeon inched forward while holding onto all of the laundry. Jaim watched her with interest. However, as if she were afraid of something, Saeyeon stood in front of the washing machine with shaking arms. It seems Jaim, who had been watching Saeyeon while only sticking her head out, had finally come to her senses.
“Ah, sorry Mom! I’ll get out right now!”
Jaim placed both of her hands down on the washing machine, and ‘hut’, she put strength into her arms and jumped up. Only her upper body came out. Jaim seemed to contemplate for a bit before wiggling as she tried to take out her leg first. It was too narrow so she couldn’t.
“······Dad, help me.”
In the end, while looking at me with teary eyes, she raised both of her arms.
“······Seriously. Don’t go in there next time. It’s bothersome.”
If she didn’t know how to come out, then why did she even go in there in the first place?
“······On a side note, Saeyeon, what are you doing?”
“Sniff, sniff······. It smells like Jjaro······.”
“······Don’t smell the laundry.”
My dress shirt only smells of sweat, you know?
Once we appropriately set the washing machine and sat down in the living room, Saeyeon spoke with sparkling eyes.
“Since it wouldn’t be any different if Jjaro is the dad and I’m the mom, let’s switch it around! This time Jaim will be the mom and I’ll be the daughter!”
······I knew that Saeyeon was like this, but she really is abrupt.
“Then let’s~ begin! Dad, welcome home!”
After clapping once, Saeyeon mimicked the short-tongue speaking habit of a little kid. I sighed and spoke. Yeah, I did say that I would play with her.
“······Yeah, I’m home.”
It seems the setting was that I had just come back home from work, so Jaim promptly stood up and pretended to take off my coat.
“What would you like to do first? Take a bath? Have dinner? Or maybe······.”
While grinning slyly, Jaim glanced towards Saeyeon and spoke.
“Unite with your daughter?”
“······Okay. That’s a wrap! That’s the end of playing house!”
“If it’s playing house, then is today’s concept supposed to be one where you call the daughter your wife and unite?”
“It’s not! Rather, what’s with that concept?!”
This kid was aiming for this! She was acting when she said that she was bored earlier!
Different to me who had stood up and shouted, Saeyeon was contorting her face while poking her head as if she didn’t understand.
“W-Wait, uuu······. T-Then, since we’re playing house, does Jaim return to being the daughter and I become the wife again?”
“That’s right, Mom! You got it! That’s why you have to unite with Dad!”
“Stop it with that uniting thing!”
“But Dad, didn’t you become interested?”
“I didn’t! More than that, uniting with your daughter? What’s with that crazy family?!”
“It felt like you were in your lassitude period, so I thought I should add in a new type of stimulus.”
“I don’t need that kind of new stimulus!”
“Even though you told me, ‘From this point forth, you are not my daughter’ yesterday.”
“Jjaro, did you say something like that to Jaim again?”
In response to Jaim’s comment, Saeyeon sent me a sharp glare. I didn’t mean it like that. Before I was able to muster up an answer, Jaim spoke up first.
“Mom, it means that Dad doesn’t see me as his daughter but as a woman······.”
“Will you stop teaching her weird things?!”
“······Our classmates told me before, but, Jjaro, do you actually like little kids?”
“I don’t! Also, who’s the bastard who said that!”
Saeyeon stuck out her lips.
“Everyone said so. They said that the reason why Jjaro isn’t becoming interested in me is probably because he might like little kids. ······But what is ‘becoming interested in’ supposed to mean? Is it fun?”
“Yup, Mom. Someone even said that it’s like a game.”
“This kid is trying to give out distorted information!”
As if I had said something favorable for her, Jaim turned to look at me and spoke.
“It isn’t distorted information! Dad looks at Mom as if she’s a child too much. Even though Mom is also at an age where she should know everything.”
No. Regardless of that, referring to that as a game is distorted information, isn’t it? Jaim looked at Saeyeon this time and continued.
“Mom, you shouldn’t listen to what only Dad says so much. Climbing up the stairs of adulthood has to be done with your own strength!”
As if she had said something inspirational, Jaim proudly stuck out her chest. Saeyeon, who had been tilting her head at my conversation with Jaim until now, seemed to have at least understood that and smiled.
“But everything Jjaro says is right, you know? Like the thing about pressing lips together, Jjaro doesn’t lie.”
“······.”
Jaim stared blankly at Saeyeon as if she had forgotten about what she was going to say. Saeyeon stroked Jaim’s hair.
“Also, Jjaro said to me before that since he’s saying all that for my sake, I should just follow him obediently.”
“······Even though you heard what that weird girl said last time.”
“T-That’s······. Big Sis Nabom is an adult and has a physical relationship with Jjaro, so······.”
In response to Jaim’s blunt and somewhat unsatisfied comment, Saeyeon answered in a flustered manner. More than anything else, how does this kid know about that? Was it Nanda?
“In any case, Jjaro. If it’s a game, then isn’t it something fun? Do you want to ‘become interested in’ one another together?”
“No! I won’t! Also get off of me!”
Once I pushed away Saeyeon who had latched onto my arm during a moment of my carelessness, Saeyeon let out an unsatisfied grumble.
“Hmph. If you don’t want to, then it’s fine, mon. Instead, we’ll keep playing house. I won’t yield this. I’ll be the wife this time!
“······Go ahead.”
I let out a sigh from the deepest part of my lungs and nodded my head. Yeah, let’s endure. I’ll be patient. People say that everything starts from patience.
Saeyeon beamed happily at my nod and spoke.
“Then I’ll try that out as well.”
“That?”
“Mm······. Welcome back, dear. You’re tired, right? What would you like to do first? Take a bath? Have dinner? Or me?”
So it was that? She’s really influenced by everything she hears.
“······But Jjaro, what is this supposed to mean?”
Look. Just as I had expected, she doesn’t know. While looking at the head tilting Saeyeon, I let out another sigh.
“Saeyeon, it means that······.”
Grumble.
“······.”
While gazing at me with glimmering eyes, Saeyeon asked once more.
“Take a bath? Have dinner? Or me?”
Saeyeon, who was modestly sitting up straight on her knees, swallowed down her drool. A grumbling noise came from her stomach once more.
Her large, hope-filled pupils sparkled as if they were shooting brainwashing beams out of them. Saeyeon asked once more with shining eyes.
“Have dinner? Have dinner? Or have dinner?”
“······L-Let’s eat.”
“Okay!”
Saeyeon smiled radiantly at my brainwashed answer.
TL note: I should probably clarify a small thing. The ‘mon’ that Saeyeon says at times is basically something that’s said when upset or when one feels like they’re beating treated like a child. She isn’t Jamacian or anything. It’s just something kids do. In any case, we’re passed the halfway point of the volume. I wonder if I can finish this volume before the end of the month. Let’s see how it goes.
By some means or another, another few days had passed.
Once I lazily let out a yawn during a class in which we were boringly reviewing materials that I already knew, our homeroom teacher, who was teaching the class, sent me a glance. Whatever. It seems our homeroom teacher was just going to leave it at that since he went back to teaching.
While resting my chin on my hand, I looked out the window and towards the outside world that was filled with spring air.
For starters, although it seems my warning must have worked since the kid had stopped coming to school, that fact was actually more terrifying. I had to constantly be wary of the possibility that she’d invade again.
Misfortune has always been something that arrives without forewarning. While also aiming for these sorts of quiet moments.
If she obediently stayed in the corner of the house, then there’s nothing more that I could hope for. No, that’s not right. If she went back to the future, then there’s nothing more that I could hope for.
Now that I think about it, this girl was like that as well.
I turned my head slightly and gazed at Saeyeon.
“······.”
I knew it. There’s no way she’d be listening to the class. It was an obvious fact, but all I could do was let out a sigh.
Although Saeyeon was lacking in the head department and didn’t study, she was a model student who would never sleep during class, but instead, she would do her best at doing other things that were unrelated to the class. From what I could tell, she was currently engrossed in doodling in her textbook as she had her tongue sticking out and on the tip of her lips.
Ah, our eyes met. When I kept looking at her without being able to turn my head away, Saeyeon looked back at me and grinned. Don’t wave your hand. You’ll get caught by the teacher. Once I told her to stop by doing a hand gesture, she went back to focusing on her doodle.
“······hm.”
No, well. It didn’t matter to me what she did since it was unrelated to me, but for now, supervising Saeyeon was my job. Although I don’t plan to tell her to focus on the class of this educational institution the purpose of which was to re-educate the untaught masses, for now, I should at least see what she’s drawing······.
Once I leaned my head forward a bit and looked at Saeyeon’s textbook······.
“······.”
She was drawing a pair of boy and girl aliens whose eyes were occupying half of their faces.
Furthermore, their eyes were sparkling. That’s horrifying. What is that? Are they shooting brainwashing beams out of their eyes? Also, why are both of their eyes visible when they’re facing each other? Are you Picasso? Is this Cubism?
Why are the mouths on the aliens’ faces both in the shape of a ‘3’? They look cute because of that. Her artistic style is scary.
More than that.
“······.”
Why is it so obviously your and my face?
Starting from their hairstyles, even though she had drawn a pair of boy and girl aliens, she had strangely done a good job at grasping our characteristics. Though the names written right next to our faces were the deciding factor. Why did you even write that?
Ah, our eyes met again. Once I gave her a look that contained several different meanings, Saeyeon smiled timidly as if she had been waiting for this. She looked more delighted than she did embarrassed.
‘How is it? I drew well, right?’
I frowned at Saeyeon who was mouthing her words.
‘······Ehehe’
Ehehe, my ass. If you keep that up, then······.
“Saeyeon, what are you doing not listening to······.”
“T-Teacher?!”
······I knew this would happen.
“So, what happened after that?”
“It’s obvious. She got caught by our homeroom teacher and was scolded.”
Although it’s vague whether that was actually a scolding or not.
“Okay, so how did your first kiss taste like? Was it lemon-flavored like I had expected?”
“······Are you going to keep acting like that even though you already know what happened?”
I glared at Nanda but he simply laughed.
Although it seems our homeroom teacher, who had seen Saeyeon’s textbook, was struck by the alien’s brainwashing beam just as I had expected, he ended it by just saying, ‘I know that life as newlyweds must be exciting, but pay attention in class.’.
Furthermore, due to those words, once break time had arrived, the untaught masses gathered around Saeyeon and started applauding after they saw her textbook, so that became a problem. How much do you guys like applauding? Why do you guys care whether I pressed my lips against Saeyeon’s or not?
“Still, I was relieved when I realized that Jjaro wasn’t entirely uninterested in Saeyeon. Moreover, I didn’t think that you would actually ‘chu!’ her. As I thought, you can’t completely read what’s going through a person’s head.”
“Will you not shut up?”
“I’m right, aren’t I? Furthermore, that little lady should also be feeling a bit more relieved thanks to this. Ah, did you give her my autograph properly? I put more care into it since it was for my No. 1 Fan.”
“Who cares, you lolicon. Do you like the kid that much?”
“Don’t say something that’ll cause misunderstandings. If there’s someone who likes me, then isn’t that obviously something I should be happy about? Especially if it’s for an adorable little lady who claims to be my No. 1 Fan even though I haven’t debuted yet.”
Nanda was speaking with serious eyes.
“Moreover, if my eye for beauty is correct, then that little lady will definitely grow up to become a beautiful woman. Since her mom is like that, she’ll definitely maintain her cute side while her body grows glamorously······.”
“That’s bullshit like Newton making apple jam.”
“Really! No, I’m not saying your name, Jjaro. Also, what’s so bad about being nice to a cute kid? If anything, I don’t understand you, Jjaro. You have such an adorable daughter and such a pretty wife.”
“Adorable daughter and pretty wife, my ass. This is on the level of playing house anyway.”
It is actually just playing house, too. In response to my grumbling, Nanda grinned and spoke teasingly.
“So that kiss was just a joke, huh? Then, next time, will you unite with Saeyeon just like your daughter wants?”
“I’m already tired of making rebuttals.”
I could only sigh. While I was letting out a big sigh, I heard a loud sound coming from behind me.
“Jjaro!”
“Hm? What is it?”
Speak of the devil. Saeyeon’s voice and quick footsteps. Did something urgent happen? While I was thinking that, the instant I turned my head,
“Guah!”
“Oh, nice tackle.”
Saeyeon’s shoulder attack had collided into my solar plexus perfectly.
How should I describe this? Should I say that it felt as if I were hit by a car? Wasn’t there a wrestling move like this? Well, that sort of feeling. After being sent flying and falling to the floor, Saeyeon’s smiling face appeared above mine.
“J-Ja Saeyeon······. Y-You······. What, are you doing······?”
“How was that, Jjaro? Did your heart pound a bit?”
“······Wha, what······?”
Towards me who sounded as if he were breathing his last breath, Saeyeon smiled brightly and spoke.
“Jaim told me yesterday. She told me that love starts from coincidentally colliding against one another! That’s why I tried it out······. How was it?”
Love didn’t start from that, it ended. It was probably tragic.
People started to gather around the scene of the traffic accident, which was committed because someone misunderstood the place and method. Among the crowd, someone walked forward.
“That’s not right, Underclassman Ja Saeyeon.”
Upperclassman Nabom let out a small sigh.
“A coincidental collision, which has been used a countless number of times throughout history, is indeed a good method to capture the heart of a man. However, that isn’t how you do the collision part. For starters, you have to be holding a piece of bread in your mouth.”
“I-Is that so?”
“Yes. It’s a type of promise. Ah, you shouldn’t knock Underclassman Jin Jaro down like you did just now with that splendid spear move, but instead, the girl should be the one to fall down in order to display their weak side. And then, if you furtively cover your skirt and say ‘······Did you see it?’ at the end, then it’d be more perfect.”
“Why are you teaching her that as if it were common sense······?”
Beside the point, why does she always appear like this abruptly?
Saeyeon tilted her head in response to Upperclassman Nabom’s words.
“Mm······. Jjaro, ‘······Did you see it?'”
“Your practical ability is impressive. It felt like you were reading your lines straight off of some cards, though, so that part was a bit unfortunate.”
“Quit it with that cool-headed judgment. Why are you here?”
Once I asked her that after I was barely able to regain the strength in my body, Upperclassman Nabom smiled.
“My ghost whispered to me that if I came here right this instant, then I’d be able to see something interesting. So I came here and, as expected of my sixth sense, I was indeed able to see something interesting.”
What’s that supposed to mean? Before I could even say anything back, without hiding her expression that clearly showed that she was enjoying this situation, Upperclassman Nabom continued.
“In any case, how did it feel? Did your heart pound?”
It’s pounding so much that my heart might stop if I’m collided into for the second time.
“U-Uhm! Big Sis Nabom!”
Because of the sudden shout from Saeyeon in that instant, Upperclassman Nabom tilted her head.
“What is it, Underclassman Ja Saeyeon?”
While her eyes twinkled brightly, Saeyeon brought her hands together in front of her chest.
“Big Sis Nabom is friendly with Jjaro, right? You’re also popular, right? You’re mature as well, right?”
“······Uh, mm, I guess.”
It was my first time seeing Upperclassman Nabom become this flustered. Well, it’s a given when someone says those things to you while in the presence of others. After hearing Upperclassman Nabom respond and nod her head, Saeyeon continued.
“What do I have to do in order to have a ‘physical relationship’ with Jjaro?”
I spat out.
“Uwah, Jjaro. What are you doing? That’s dirty.”
“Cough, cough······. Saeyeon, you, what did you say just······.”
I ignored Nanda who was wiping my spit off of his face.
Upperclassman Nabom blinked her eyes at Saeyeon’s words.
“······Mm, Underclassman Ja Saeyeon. Why are you asking me this question?”
“That’s······. Big Sis Nabom is mature and you said that you had a ‘physical relationship’ with Jjaro, so it felt like you two have been getting along well lately because of that. You’re also frequently playing together······.”
While hesitantly sending me glances, Saeyeon asked.
“But Big Sis Nabom, what does a ‘physical relationship’ mean?”
“In simple terms, a ‘physical relationship’ means a partner to play with. Whether we play ‘games’ together or not, our relationship is one where we enjoy playing ‘physical’ amusements together. It isn’t something weird at all.”
After saying all that, Upperclassman Nabom glanced at me with eyes that appeared as if they were expecting something. I won’t make a rebuttal. I won’t.
“As I thought, do you need to have large breasts in order to have a ‘physical relationship’?”
“What’s with all these weird questions?!”
Despite my rebuttal, Saeyeon’s eyes continued to sparkle.
“Our classmates told me. That, as expected of boys, they always like it when they’re big. Isn’t that why Jjaro is being friendly with Big Sis Nabom?”
Stop looking at me with those shining and beady eyes.
“Uhm, Underclassman Ja Saeyeon? What gave you that idea?”
“Since Jjaro and I have a daughter now, since Jjaro and I are husband and wife now, I thought that Jjaro would treat me even better, but he hasn’t been playing with me lately······.”
Saeyeon glanced at me nervously and continued.
“That’s why I thought that if Jjaro and I were to also have a ‘physical relationship’, then Jjaro would play with me······.”
“······.”
The gazes that were coming from the people around me hurt. Especially you, Nanda. Why are you guys so interested in other people’s personal matters? Between the crowd that was looking at me as if I were a food waste disposal container with its lid open, Upperclassman Nabom spoke in a considerate voice.
“Underclassman Ja Saeyeon, don’t worry.”
Saeyeon turned her head towards Upperclassman Nabom.
“Although I may play with Underclassman Jin Jaro all the time, regardless of whether we may have a ‘physical relationship’ that’s capable of enjoying ‘physical’ amusements together without any reservations whatsoever, Underclassman Jin Jaro’s wife will always be Underclassman Ja Saeyeon, right?”
Saeyeon inadvertently leaned closer to Upperclassman Nabom as if she were being pulled in due to Upperclassman Nabom’s words, which were said with a thoughtful tone and with a tender expression on Upperclassman Nabom’s face. No, wait. As Saeyeon’s guardian, I feel like I should make a rebuttal about those words.
“The thing which Underclassman Ja Saeyeon should be concerned about isn’t something trivial like an obstacle or the matter of size. Your fight is of quantity.”
“Quantity······? What’s that?”
As if she had no idea what that meant, Saeyeon asked back while blinking her eyes. Upperclassman Nabom smiled at that question.
“It means that if Underclassman Ja Saeyeon shows how much you like Underclassman Jin Jaro through your actions, then Underclassman Jin Jaro will also end up acknowledging Underclassman Ja Saeyeon’s feelings.”
In response to Upperclassman Nabom’s words, Saeyeon nodded with a determined expression on her face, making it clear that she understood what was said this time.
Nanda tapped my shoulder and chuckled.
“It seems like it won’t end as a joke this time, Jjaro.”
······He’s right, I have a feeling that something terrible was going to happen.
[Nothing much happened between you and Saeyeon, right?]
“······Yeah. Nothing happened.”
After just barely being able to swallow down my desire to cry out for help, I was able to respond. Why is it that this person always goes straight for the point? Even though she’s Saeyeon’s mom.
[······Is that so? ······Haah.]
Additionally, why does she always sound disappointed like this? Before the conversation could go somewhere more dangerous, I changed the topic.
“How’s Europe?”
[Oh, yeah! We love it! We’re currently in the city of youth and romance, babam, we’re in Paris!]
“······You’re an old lady now, please don’t attach stars to the end of your sentences.”
[What do you mean by old lady?! My heart is that of a blooming young girl Isn’t that right, dear?]
I couldn’t even let out a sigh. ‘Huhuhu’. In order to cut off the lovey-dovey talk that was happening between Saeyeon’s mom and dad on the other side of the phone, which was so sweet that it annoyed even me, I spoke up. Jeez, it’s always like this with these two.
“Since I’m taking good care of Saeyeon, you don’t have to worry.”
[I’m not worried about that. If it’s your job, then you always do it thoroughly, Jaro.]
Because of her answer that genuinely sounded as if she really wasn’t worried, I inadvertently stopped talking.
[That’s why, Jaro, think of it as work and pay special attention to her, okay? Don’t do it with just strength and fervor. Since women are sensitive to the mood, it’d be a good idea if you paid attention to things like that. There are scented candles and a good atmospheric CD in Saeyeon’s room, and if you look in Saeyeon’s father and my room, then······.]
“I don’t need it! Moreover, that atmosphere thing, were you the one who taught Saeyeon that?!”
[Hm? Jaro, you sound like you know about it. Don’t tell me······!]
“Nothing happened!”
Seriously, this is Saeyeon’s parent for you. Once I shouted that out while gnashing my teeth, I could hear the sound of laughter coming from the other side of the receiver.
[Ahaha, okay okay, I’ll stop teasing you. We’re almost done with half of our schedule here, so we’ll return around the beginning of next month, just as we had planned. In any case, can you pass the phone to Saeyeon? I want to hear our daughter’s voice since it’s been a while.]
“······Uh, S-Saeyeon can’t answer the phone at the moment. Please leave a message after the beep.”
[Jaro······. That isn’t even remotely similar, you know?]
Please don’t sharply annotate my joke.
[Well, all right then. I’ll call again later on.]
Despite that, since she was the mom who had raised Saeyeon like this, she was generous when it came to things like this. How am I going to avoid this next time? While I was trying to think of a plan, Saeyeon’s mom spoke.
[Ah, Jaro. Now that I think about it, I have something to tell you.]
“What is it?”
[I met your mother.]
······.
······.
[It seems she’s doing well. Though she must still be busy with her work since I couldn’t see her for long.]
“······Yeah. Must be good, since she’s busy.”
Why is this person sharp when it comes to weird things, but blunt when it comes to things like this? I then heard Saeyeon’s dad say something in the background and Saeyeon’s mom spoke right after.
[Ah, sorry! I’ll have to hang up now. I’ll call again later!]
An annoying ‘doodoodoo—‘ sound started to come from the receiver. Once I put the phone down, Saeyeon tilted her head and asked me a question.
“Jjaro, was that mom?”
“Yeah. It seems your parents are doing well. They must be busy since your mom hung up abruptly.”
“Really? I wanted to talk to my mom, though. You should have handed me the phone.”
“She said she’s going to call again later so you can talk to her then.”
Of course, I absolutely won’t let you pick up the phone.
What should I do next time? ······I don’t think I’ll be able to keep hiding Jaim from them.
While I was contemplating that and letting out a sigh, I noticed that Saeyeon was still looking at me while tilting her head.
“What? It’s fine. Your mom said she’ll call again later, so you don’t have to worry. Your dad is with her as well, isn’t he?”
“No, it’s not that······.”
Just in case she was feeling anxious, I smiled as I said that to her, but Saeyeon continued to look straight at me with her large circular eyes before asking me another question.
“Jjaro, why is your expression so dark?”
I was at a loss for words for a moment due to the head-tilting Saeyeon’s words.
I’m pretty sure I was making the same expression as usual.
I’m certain I was showing the same forced smile which I would always show.
The smile which I would make when causing a disturbance like an idiot in order to make people not be concerned about me.
Because of Saeyeon’s words, even Jaim, who was reading manga on the sofa, ended up turning to look at me. A stillness fell upon us as they waited for my answer.
However.
“No, it’s because I was jealous of their trip to Europe.”
This girl wouldn’t understand even if I told her.
Explaining something to a person who wouldn’t understand no matter how hard one tries was a waste.
“In any case, let’s eat. It’s almost time anyway.”
“Ah, wait, Jjaro!”
Saeyeon then grabbed onto the edge of my clothes when I was about to brush my way past her.
“What is it now?”
Once I turned my head, Saeyeon spoke with eyes that were filled with determination.
“I-I’ll cook today!”
······.
“You will?”
“Ah, what’s with that answer?! Even I know how to at least cook!”
“No, well that may be the case, but why······.”
Why does Saeyeon, who has never held a kitchen knife before, want to cook all of a sudden? Don’t tell me? Does she still have a grudge against me because of what happened earlier today······?
“Like Big Sis Nabom and Jaim had told me, I’m going to show off how much I love Jjaro! With my cooking of love!”
“That’s it, Mom!”
I ignored the little kid who had popped up behind me all of a sudden with a smile on her face and admiration in her eyes.
For some reason, while looking at me, who was only flapping my lips since I actually had a lot of things I wanted to say about this but didn’t know what to say first, with a satisfied look on her face, Saeyeon laughed.
“Are you looking forward to it? Since I’ll make Jjaro······ drunk? Is that right, Jaim? I’ll make you love drunk!”
30 minutes later.
“······.”
“Okay, it’s all done, Jjaro, Jaim! Enjoy!”
“······.”
I turned my head away from Saeyeon, who was beaming radiantly, and looked at Jaim. Jaim’s eyes were now filled with darkness even though they were filled to the brim with hope and expectation just a second ago. That’s a relief. This girl at least had a conscience.
I returned my gaze back to the table.
Oh, Lord. For a scientist like myself to look for God.
“······Saeyeon, what is this exactly?”
“Hm?”
Saeyeon looked as if she had no idea what I was talking about.
“What do you mean? It’s potato rice and sweet potato rice!”
“······.”
No, I was asking her why she added chips in the rice.
“Mom would always say that it’s not good to eat just white rice, so she would add other ingredients! I tried copying her. How is it? I was thinking about whether I should make potato rice or sweet potato rice earlier, but I ended up making them both.”
Yeah. There were definitely chips that came from bags with ‘potato’ and ‘sweet potato’ in their product names that were poking their heads out from between the grains of rice, flaunting their existence. The fact that they were placed here and there inside this pile of steam was really······.
“······And, what’s this?”
“It’s spicy seafood stew. How do you not know that, Jjaro?”
Those things that were floating around in the thin broth, I’m pretty certain that that’s the seafood-shaped chips that people ate for fun.
“How about this?”
“Shrimp fried rice.”
Why did you fry the snacks that people say even crows like?
“A-And this?”
“Soy sauce braised potatoes.”
Are potato chips truly potatoes? This is on the level of a philosophical thesis.
“Ah, do you perhaps prefer Saddo Bap over just rice, Jjaro?
“······.”
“Then how about Indian Bap?”
That’s right. Indian Bap is good. I want to hit your back. (TL note: ‘Bap’ is ‘Rice’ in Korean. ‘Saddo Bap’ is basically the name of a brand that sells chips. ‘Indian Bap’ is a type of punishment game that’s played by kids in Korea. If you lose, then you have to bend your back as if you’re bowing and the other kids will gather around you and hit your back a bunch with the palm of their hands)
Saeyeon grinned and turned towards Jaim.
“Jaim, do you also want a different type of rice?”
“N-No······ i-it’s okay, Mom······.”
Oi, kid, the luster in your eyes is gone.
“Okay, Jjaro! Let’s hurry up and eat! The dad normally eats first!”
“······.”
All right, there might still be some hope. Who knows if it’s tasty or not? Additionally, this is a meal that was made by Saeyeon for the first time. Saeyeon is also over there taking glimpses at me with those sparkling eyes of hers like that. I took in a deep breath and scooped up a spoonful before putting it into my mouth.
I chewed.
Cruunch, crunch, ggrgruuunch.
“······O-Oooooooh!”
This taste······! This savory flavor emanating from the crispy and well-cooked chips! This highlight that further added to the tasty flavor by preventing the fragrance from escaping! Yes, there’s no mistake!
“So, is it good?”
Towards Saeyeon who asked that question while smiling, I smiled back at her.
“⎯⎯⎯How could you call something like this cooking?!”
I’ll flip this table over!
Cooking isn’t particularly my hobby, but the experience I had piled up while living by myself for about 10 years now was trembling with rage! Cooking, cooking isn’t like this!
“Kid, help me out he······huh?”
Where’d she go now? Did she run away? Did she go to the bathroom?
“I’m right here.”
While I was looking around for her, I heard Jaim’s answer come from the kitchen. I could also hear something boiling.
“What are you doing over there?”
“Hm? I’m cooking.”
You are? You, the girl who claims to be Saeyeon’s daughter?
“Don’t worry and wait a bit. It’ll be over soon.”
What’s going to be over? My life?
Without being able to stop her, Jaim started placing her cooking onto the table one plate at a time. For now, they looked okay. After taking off the apron that was so big for her that it was dragging on the floor, Jaim spoke.
“Although it’s not proper manners to do this even though Mom had already made us a meal······.”
Jaim licked her lips.
“But still······. Uhm······.”
Yeah. It’s fine to say just that much. I disregarded Saeyeon, who appeared to be sulking with a pout on her face, and picked up my spoon for now.
“······So?”
I made the nervously asking Jaim sit back down with a hand gesture and turned to talk to Saeyeon.
“Saeyeon.”
“······What?”
“This is what cooking is!”
Excellent, it’s excellent, kid. It’s 美味(Exquisite taste). Regardless, Saeyeon continued to pout and turned her head away before mumbling.
“It’s not that different, though······ it’s even the same menu.”
“Saeyeon, did your eyes go bad?! Should we go get you glasses?!”
“Mom told me, mon. She said that cooking is when you mix something tasty with another thing that’s tasty in order to get something tastier.”
I’m telling you this now, but that cooking theory is wrong.
“Really, I don’t think I can do that even if I wanted to on purpose.”
“B-But······.”
“That’s enough. Let’s just eat.”
I could only sigh.
Am I really going to end up marrying this girl and having a kid? Even if we really did, how would our dining table end up? And our children’s children, and······. Ah, the future of humanity is dark!
“It’s okay, Mom. I’ll teach you how to cook next time!”
“······All right. Thank you, Jaim. But······.”
Saeyeon opened her mouth and hesitantly spoke in a weak voice.
“Uhm, Jjaro······.”
“What?”
Once I looked at her blankly with a spoon held in my hand, Saeyeon asked me a question while tears were starting to fill her eyes.
“If bad food is made, the food will be tossed aside, right? You’re going to toss it aside and scold me like that, right? Are you······ going to toss it?”
Toss? The meal?
Once I followed Jaim’s gaze which had been taking glances at me, I could see the drama that was being aired on the TV we had turned on in order to watch while eating.
Today as well, it was that drama, where the food was tossed aside and physical affection was being shared.
“······.”
I licked my lips due to the awkwardness and turned my head away.
Saeyeon was tearfully looking at me as if she were afraid of being scolded.
And Jaim was looking at me with interest as she grinned.
“······Uh, I mean······.”
Today’s lesson: Let’s not watch TV while eating.
“How······could this have······.”
The moment I entered my room, I felt as if I were going to break down into tears because of the huge sense of despair that had hit me.
“How······ how could, something like this······.”
This is a nightmare. It has to be a nightmare. It can’t not be a nightmare.
I couldn’t form words properly. My steps were faltering and my hands were convulsing involuntarily. My vision kept flickering. Though there was also the fact that the tears in my eyes were making my vision blurry, because of the large shock, I felt as if I also had vertigo.
“How could someone······ while wearing human skin······.”
While feeling as if Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, Fate, were being played in the background, I lifted up the catastrophe that had occurred in my room.
An opened box. Crafted and remaining fragments.
And besides that, a neatly assembled······.
“KID, COME HERE RIGHT THIS INSTAAAAAAAAAAAANT!”
“Hm? What’s wrong, Dad?”
I shouted at the kid who had cracked open the door and was poking her head in.
“What do you mean ‘what’s wrong’?! What color is your blood?!”
“It’s red?”
“That’s not what I’m asking! How dare you act so innocently!”
“I answered because you asked······.”
“Why are you making that annoyed face?! What is this?!”
Jaim, who was tilting her head as if she had no idea what I was talking about, soon figured out what I was referring to and nodded her head.
“Yeah! I assembled it. Isn’t it cool?”
It seems she must have been proud of the item that was placed on top of the desk as Jaim smiled brightly and lifted it up.
The time was the year of 1942. During this time when the 2nd World War was still in full swing, a tank that would leave a mark in Germany’s weapons history was born.
With a main gun that was capable of destroying any other tanks that were on the battlefield at the time, it had heavy armor that couldn’t be breached even after being hit by a countless number of grenades. The armed vehicle achieved an unbelievable number of distinguished military services, and all of the war heroes who had left their names behind in history had utilized those tanks as their favorite armed vehicle. The sight of that tank trampling over the enemy tanks portrayed its name perfectly. This beautiful name that was described as being so perfect that it would be difficult to name it in any other way that would fit the performance of the tank itself.
Tiger I. The Tiger of the Battlefield.
⎯⎯⎯’s 1/35 scale plastic model.
“Why?! For what cause?! I was going to assemble it, you know?!”
“Hm? Because there was a plastic model there?”
“Don’t make up weird excuses! Have you lived your life never being taught that you shouldn’t place your hands on other people’s stuff? Did you receive your domestic education from fantasy stuff?!”
“I received it from you, Dad.”
“It was me?!”
“Also, you weren’t going to assemble it anyway, right?”
“I bought it beforehand so I could assemble it when I had time later on!”
“Even though you have so many······. Are you that upset that your daughter assembled a single one?”
“Do you know how much that one costs, kid?! My energizer for life that I was barely able to buy after splitting up my living expenses and research expenses······!”
Moreover, for it to be my······ my Tiger-chan! This brat!
“But I was bored.”
It seems she was unaware of my boiling anger as Jaim carefully placed the model back on top of the desk and spoke.
“You told me not to come to school anymore, so there’s nothing to do by myself at home······. You said so as well, didn’t you, Dad? To find something to play with on my own. That’s why I assembled this since I finally had something to do.”
“I was referring to games, I didn’t mean that you should do as you please and assemble something that’s mine! Play with that game console or whatever that you brought with you!”
In response to my shout, the kid’s face became sullen.
“It ran out of battery······. I forgot, the charger······.”
“······Oh, well, I see.”
That’s terrible. If your battery runs out when you’re in the middle of a boss fight, that’s just really······.
“······No no, that isn’t related to me! Then why did you do something like this? Going on the computer would have been better!”
“There are way too many weird things on the computer, so I didn’t want to touch it. Why are you watching things like that when you already have Mom?”
“Till the very end, this kid!”
Should I just hit her? Jaim opened her eyes wide and spoke.
“Are you going to hit your daughter? You’ll hit your daughter, Dad? Hit your daughter?” (TL note: ‘Hit your daughter’ can also be read as the shortened version of the Korean slang term ‘masturbate’. The slang isn’t related to one’s actual daughter whatsoever, it’s just a coincidence that they use the same letters)
“Don’t say weird things! You have to be taught a lesson if you touch someone else’s stuff without permission! That’s the same as being a thief!”
“For you to want to hit your daughter just because she touched your toy······. If you have the time to get this upset, then you should just unite with Mom. It’s already been several days since I got here, but you’re still like this.”
Jaim spoke confidently while boldly sticking out her chest. This won’t do. I have to do something and teach this kid about the laws of society.
“Kid. When you did things like this, what did your father do?”
“What do you expect······. He didn’t do anything.”
So that’s why she’s like this. In that case, I have to do something. While watching me raise my body up with a determined look on my face, Jaim gazed at me with sparkling eyes and asked a question.
“Oh, Dad. Are you finally going to take action now?”
“That’s right. I’ve come to an understanding because of your words. As I thought, the future can only be changed through one’s efforts. I can’t be content with this reality.”
“That’s the spirit, Dad! Just let your instincts lead you and get it done! I’ll wait here patiently! Dad, good luck!”
It seems Jaim must have been truly happy since even tears were forming at the corner of her eyes.
“Dad is finally listening to me······. I’m, happy!”
“It’s a bit too soon for you to be happy. The time of enjoyment will begin from this point forth after all.”
A feeling of perplexity spread across Jaim’s face once my shadow loomed over her.
“······Wait a moment, Dad? Why are you approaching me while making that sort of face?”
“It’s because I’m feeling ecstatic since I’m finally going to be able to relieve all of the stress which had piled up because I had to constantly see my daughter. It’s okay. Although it’ll hurt a little, it’ll be over soon.”
“B-Be over soon······? Dad, don’t tell me······?!”
“Currently you and I are the only ones here. In other words, there is no one here to help you.”
“K-Kyaah! P-Pervert, you’re a pervert, Dad! What are you trying to do to your daughter?!”
I leaned in and whispered into Jaim’s ears as she continued to panic.
“I’m going to hit my daughter.”
“······What?”
I lifted Jaim up, placed her on my lap, and lowered her pants. Don’t think of something weird, I only lowered it to below her bottom. A taut and smooth posterior came into my line of sight. I see that her skin is good. I folded up my sleeves.
“W-Wait! What are you going to do, Dad?!”
“Although there are many people who say that punishment is a bad thing. I also agree with them since I’ve gotten in trouble with my teachers often. Nevertheless, as I expected, you have to be scolded if you do something wrong, and stealing other people’s stuff is a bad thing.”
“D-Don’t tell me!”
“And then that actually occurred.”
Jaim, who had been opening her eyes widely, quickly shut them tightly.
“⎯⎯⎯Ow!”
Smack, smack.
Although I may have been filled with rage, I wasn’t that cruel. I didn’t hit her hard or painfully. I only hit her rear just enough that it’d leave a hand mark. Beside the point, her rear really is firm.
“H-How could you hit your daughter when she’s this adorable, ow!”
“From this point forth, you are not my daughter!”
“Hi-hiiik?!”
“Be quiet! Do you think there’s a child who was able to grow up properly without being hit?! Should you mess with another person’s stuff without their permission or should you not?!”
“Ow ow! B-But, aung! This is too much, auh! Hua!”
“Don’t make weird sounds! Are you sorry or are you not sorry?!”
“J-Just because I played with that a bit, aauung! I-I’m sorry!”
“Are you going to do it again or are you not going to do it again?!”
“I won’t! I won’t do it again!”
“Hm, good.”
I hit her one last time before pulling her pants back up and lowering her down from my lap.
“Uu······. Uu, uuhuk, uuu······. My butt, hurts······.”
“That’s the point.”
“······Huk, uu, uuwaaa······. Mommy······.”
Jaim, whose butt must have still been aching since she was rubbing it, was unable to hold back any longer and started to cry. What a kid. While tears dripped down her face, Jaim glared at me.
“I-It’s unfair······! Even my dad has never hit me before······!”
If she’s going to be like this, then I can only give her one answer.
“I am your father.”
“······.”
The next day. Since the weekend had arrived, I was going to take care of the backed up laundry, but I had no other choice but to stand there blankly while holding up the laundry basket.
“······What are you doing there?”
“······.”
Jaim didn’t listen to me and, while hugging her knees, turned her head away.
Inside the washing machine.
“······.”
Because it was a worn-out, conventional washing machine, her head was slightly sticking out from the top. Once I stared at her wordlessly, I could hear mumbling from inside of the washing machine.
“It’s unfair. Even though I was told to stay home by myself, Dad hit my butt just because I made that. Even though he never cared about what I did until now. What has Dad ever done for me?”
Mumble mumble. She was mumbling to herself in a way that was clearly meant for me to hear.
Regardless, it’s been a long time since something like this had happened. Going inside the washing machine. When Saeyeon got upset in the past she would also go inside of the washing machine and behave like this.
“Hey, stop it and come out. I have to do the laundry.”
“Hmph, mon. I’m not here, mon.”
“I can clearly see you in there, you know? Are you an ostrich?”
They say that ostriches believe things aren’t there if they shove their head in the dirt.
“Mom and Dad are mean. I was able to travel back in time from the future, and yet I keep being told to just stay at home. Mom and Dad don’t even help me with my ‘Happy Family Planning’.”
“If you’re doing this because you’re bored, then go ask Saeyeon to play with you. Get out of there. I have to do the laundry.”
“Mom is too childish! ······I didn’t imagine that Mom would be like this.”
This comment was a bit amusing. For an elementary schooler to call a high schooler ‘childish’. Well, Saeyeon is a child though. Jaim seemed to have snapped after hearing me laugh as she quickly turned her head towards me.
“Mom completely treats me like a little kid! When I ask her to play with me, it’s either playing house or playing hide and seek······.”
“Well, playing with an elementary schooler would normally mean that kind of pastime.”
“I’m not an elementary schooler!”
“Don’t make me laugh. If it’s your current height, then I’d even believe that you’re a pre-schooler.”
Jaim must have gotten really upset by my words as she cried out.
“I-I’m going to grow taller soon! I’m entering middle school soon as well!”
“······.”
A middle schooler who goes inside of a washing machine, is it?
“Say something that makes sense. Rather, doesn’t that mean you really are an elementary schooler?”
“I’m small because I resemble Mom!”
Now that she mentions it, it was like that in the past as well. Even Saeyeon, who currently boasts the height and body of a model, was a short kid until middle school. If I think about it, it was around that time that Saeyeon still went inside of the washing machine······.
Even while I was reminiscing the good old past, Jaim’s complaints continued.
“But Mom completely treats me like a child······. No, it feels like Mom is the child.”
Jaim turned her head again and muttered while staring at the inner-wall of the washing machine.
“The moment I met her for the first time, she believed that a child was born after sleeping while holding hands, she doesn’t know what uniting means, and I became more doubtful when I heard her say those things while we were watching that drama. Seriously······. I knew that Dad was this sort of person, but I didn’t know Mom was like this······.”
“That’s why I told you before, didn’t I? I told you that Saeyeon was a kid. The thing you were thinking about didn’t happen.”
“But still······. I was looking forward to seeing what sort of person Mom was······.”
Because of Jaim’s grumbling comment, a sudden thought came to me.
“Wait. Didn’t you say that Saeyeon and I were getting along well before she left after a fight? And yet you didn’t know Saeyeon was like this?”
“······I didn’t.”
Jaim lowered her head completely before continuing. I really couldn’t see her now.
“······Mom left while I was still young······.”
“······When you were young?”
“I was really young so I don’t remember that well.”
Only a sullen voice was coming out from inside of the washing machine.
······This girl.
“So why exactly did you think that it was my fault that Saeyeon left?”
“Because I remember the day when Mom left. I woke up in the middle of the night because I heard fighting downstairs. I left my room to check it out and saw Mom and Dad arguing. I don’t remember why you were fighting, but at that time, Dad, you said this to Mom, ‘Since the very beginning, I’ve never seen you as a woman.’. After that, Mom disappeared.”
“······.”
“That’s why I thought that it was all Dad’s fault.”
Jaim only stuck out her glaring eyes from the washing machine before continuing.
“I was made fun of a lot when I was a kid for not having a mom. Each time that happened, I would go crying to Dad but he didn’t care. ‘What’s so bad about saying the truth about not having a mother when you really don’t?’. That’s why I thought that Mom got sick of Dad who was like this and left.”
However, Jaim’s voice died down little by little.
“But······ I understand a little now. About why Dad said something like that.”
Jaim muttered while making a weird smile.
“But still, if I came back to the past, to a time when Mom was still around and we were living happily together, then I thought that I could make everything better if I could just make Dad see Mom as a woman. But Mom is childish, Dad keeps meeting up with that weird girl, and he’s even cooperating with her to get me to leave or whatever······.”
Hmph, she lowered her head once more and the washing machine spoke.
“As I thought, maybe I came here for nothing······.”
“Yeah. So hurry up and go back to the future.”
I felt like I heard something snap. Well, what does she want?
“In the first place, families aren’t like how you think they are. Something like a family is unnecessary.”
“No, it isn’t! Families are something precious! You only have a single family!”
“Heh, how foolish. That’s all an illusion made by the media.”
I can’t stay still after hearing something like that. Even if it’s for the future of all of humanity, I have to teach her the truth.
“Listen carefully, kid. Families aren’t like that.”
People often say that your family must be cherished.
Existences that can never be severed from you because you are bound by blood. Existences that help each other if something difficult happens and share their happiness, work, and exhaustion with each other. Existences that everyone obviously has and would make one feel grief if they didn’t.
There is a countless number of moving tales that inform people of the importance and the preciousness of families. A child who donates their organ for their parent, parents who devote their entire lives in order to nurse their daughter, someone who travels a thousand miles in order to find their mother, well, tales like these.
These were all lies.
Lies that were passed down for generations in order to preserve society.
Parents who pass on all of their debt to their family and disappear, children who don’t care about how their parents live, whether they starve to death or not, and play around, divorce, abandoned children, love and war, and things like that.
If you look around for them, then you’ll discover that the world is brimming with these dirty and messy stories.
Families are precious? They’re existences that can never be separated from you?
Why do you think family courts exist?
I don’t believe in words like that.
Something like a family is unnecessary.
You’ll be lonely if you live by yourself? Humans aren’t that weak. No human who’s incapable of living by themselves exists in this world. As long as they’re confident enough, they can overcome it at all times. If they can’t, then that just means that person is weak, and humanity needs to overcome that weakness.
As humanity has continued to develop, you can tell this fact is true by just looking at how the division of family has lessened.
That’s right, something like family is an antiquated system that was only needed to fight against the beasts in Africa. In order for humanity to develop further, they have to endeavor in order to become the sole perfect existence.
In response to my sincere speech, Jaim, as if she had come to a realization, smiled brightly and spoke.
“Dad, are you an idiot?”
“Idiot, how could you call me an idiot?! I even explained it to you in simple terms!”
“······I knew it, Dad is the bigger problem than Mom.”
Jaim let out a deep sigh and placed her hand against her forehead. That action really upset me. That’s why you should be upset too.
“Rather than that, you normally run around all energetically, but since you’re inside that washing machine, you’ve finally become a bit docile.”
Twitch, Jaim reacted. She reacted by glaring right at me.
“Although it’s a good thing for a child to be energetic, if a small thing like you keeps running around, then you’ll stay underdeveloped forever, you know?”
Twitch, twitch. If you keep that up then your vein will burst.
“That’s why you should just obediently stay at home and make plastic models.”
“······What?”
In response to my final words, Jaim, who had been gnashing her teeth, opened her eyes widely.
“You said that you were bored, didn’t you? It seems you also like making plastic models, so if you’re that bored, then play with them moderately. I would have liked it if you just played games, but those will probably be boring for you since they’re ancient by your standards.”
Being alone is a boring thing. That’s an issue different from loneliness.
An empty space in time where you’re just waiting for someone. I’m completely familiar with the weariness that one feels while you’re meaninglessly waiting for time to go by.
Well, furthermore, if I don’t do this, then there’s a chance that this kid will go crazy because of the stress and come to school again.
It’s best to get rid of the source of anything nerve-wracking beforehand.
Instead, I decided to put my foot down on a single thing.
“If you make something that costs more than 30,000 won, then I’ll end you.” (TL note: 30,000 won = Approximately $30)
“······Okay!”
Don’t smile, I’ll get attached. In any case, even though this kid doesn’t even do anything······. My Tiger-chan too······.
But, well······. Nevermind.
I shook my head and got rid of my pointless thoughts.
Emotions like that will call upon the same incident that happened on that day.
“Ah, I found you, Jaim!”
In that instant, I heard a voice coming from behind me, so I turned around.
“Huh? You’re here as well, Jjaro? I was playing hide and seek with Jaim. Do you want to join us, Jjaro?”
“······.”
The moment I sent Jaim a glance, Jaim seemed to have understood what my gaze meant as she then shouted.
“I-I’m doing this because Mom said she wanted to!”
“Did you not want to play hide and seek with your mom, Jaim?”
“N-No, I didn’t mean it like that······.”
Although Jaim quickly answered Saeyeon’s question, which was asked with wide eyes, it seems those words must have still concerned Saeyeon.
“Ah, then do you want to play something else?”
······What did I expect? It was Saeyeon. She’s naive.
It seems Saeyeon thought that the issue was what they were playing, so she clapped her hands as if she had a good idea.
“Right! Since Jjaro is here, let’s play something else, okay? It’s been a really long time since we played together, so I want to play house with Jjaro! It’s boring when only me and Jaim are playing. Okay?”
“······.”
Once I turned my head slightly, I could see Jaim sending me a pleading gaze. Yeah, playing house with just the two of them, that’d probably put a strain on her. I let out a sigh and answered.
“Fine. Let’s play after I put the laundry in the washing machine.”
“Really? Did something happen, Jjaro? You would always say no.”
“Well, it seems the kid is also bored. I’ll play with you two for a bit.”
“Wow! It’s been so long since I’ve played house with Jjaro!”
Don’t sincerely become delighted. Sheesh, what am I going to do with you?
Yeah, Upperclassman Nabom said it before. Think of it as playing house. Of course, I despise the idea of something like a family, but if it’s just pretending, then I can at least do this much.
“That’s why, Saeyeon, hurry up and bring out your laundry as well. I’ll put yours in together with mine.”
“Okay! I’ll bring them right now!”
She must really want to play house since Saeyeon quickly shouted that out before promptly leaving. Really, she’s only fast in times like this. It wasn’t long before Saeyeon came out of her room with a large bundle of laundry held in her arms.
“······You need to bring these out regularly. You aren’t the one who does the laundry anyway.”
“Ehehe······. They ended up piling up because I kept lending my clothes to Jaim.”
The moment I tried to receive the laundry from the smiling Saeyeon, Saeyeon instead took the laundry basket from me.
“I’ll help, Jjaro! I just have to put these in the washing machine, right?”
“What do you mean help? Just wait obediently. Don’t ruin it like you did your cooking.”
Saeyeon became upset by my comment and pouted.
“I can at least do this much! I can help as well, mon!”
Confidence was overflowing from her sulking and pouting face.
“Mom said that all you have to do is put the laundry in the washing machine, pour some detergent in, and press the button! I’ve seen it done a lot!”
“······.”
She doesn’t sound believable at all······. Rather, you shouldn’t look down on laundry.
But, it can’t be helped. It’ll be troublesome if she starts sulking.
“Fine. Then give it a shot.”
“All right! Leave it to me!”
Saeyeon beamed brightly once she heard my answer. I stepped to the side and Saeyeon inched forward while holding onto all of the laundry. Jaim watched her with interest. However, as if she were afraid of something, Saeyeon stood in front of the washing machine with shaking arms. It seems Jaim, who had been watching Saeyeon while only sticking her head out, had finally come to her senses.
“Ah, sorry Mom! I’ll get out right now!”
Jaim placed both of her hands down on the washing machine, and ‘hut’, she put strength into her arms and jumped up. Only her upper body came out. Jaim seemed to contemplate for a bit before wiggling as she tried to take out her leg first. It was too narrow so she couldn’t.
“······Dad, help me.”
In the end, while looking at me with teary eyes, she raised both of her arms.
“······Seriously. Don’t go in there next time. It’s bothersome.”
If she didn’t know how to come out, then why did she even go in there in the first place?
“······On a side note, Saeyeon, what are you doing?”
“Sniff, sniff······. It smells like Jjaro······.”
“······Don’t smell the laundry.”
My dress shirt only smells of sweat, you know?
Once we appropriately set the washing machine and sat down in the living room, Saeyeon spoke with sparkling eyes.
“Since it wouldn’t be any different if Jjaro is the dad and I’m the mom, let’s switch it around! This time Jaim will be the mom and I’ll be the daughter!”
······I knew that Saeyeon was like this, but she really is abrupt.
“Then let’s~ begin! Dad, welcome home!”
After clapping once, Saeyeon mimicked the short-tongue speaking habit of a little kid. I sighed and spoke. Yeah, I did say that I would play with her.
“······Yeah, I’m home.”
It seems the setting was that I had just come back home from work, so Jaim promptly stood up and pretended to take off my coat.
“What would you like to do first? Take a bath? Have dinner? Or maybe······.”
While grinning slyly, Jaim glanced towards Saeyeon and spoke.
“Unite with your daughter?”
“······Okay. That’s a wrap! That’s the end of playing house!”
“If it’s playing house, then is today’s concept supposed to be one where you call the daughter your wife and unite?”
“It’s not! Rather, what’s with that concept?!”
This kid was aiming for this! She was acting when she said that she was bored earlier!
Different to me who had stood up and shouted, Saeyeon was contorting her face while poking her head as if she didn’t understand.
“W-Wait, uuu······. T-Then, since we’re playing house, does Jaim return to being the daughter and I become the wife again?”
“That’s right, Mom! You got it! That’s why you have to unite with Dad!”
“Stop it with that uniting thing!”
“But Dad, didn’t you become interested?”
“I didn’t! More than that, uniting with your daughter? What’s with that crazy family?!”
“It felt like you were in your lassitude period, so I thought I should add in a new type of stimulus.”
“I don’t need that kind of new stimulus!”
“Even though you told me, ‘From this point forth, you are not my daughter’ yesterday.”
“Jjaro, did you say something like that to Jaim again?”
In response to Jaim’s comment, Saeyeon sent me a sharp glare. I didn’t mean it like that. Before I was able to muster up an answer, Jaim spoke up first.
“Mom, it means that Dad doesn’t see me as his daughter but as a woman······.”
“Will you stop teaching her weird things?!”
“······Our classmates told me before, but, Jjaro, do you actually like little kids?”
“I don’t! Also, who’s the bastard who said that!”
Saeyeon stuck out her lips.
“Everyone said so. They said that the reason why Jjaro isn’t becoming interested in me is probably because he might like little kids. ······But what is ‘becoming interested in’ supposed to mean? Is it fun?”
“Yup, Mom. Someone even said that it’s like a game.”
“This kid is trying to give out distorted information!”
As if I had said something favorable for her, Jaim turned to look at me and spoke.
“It isn’t distorted information! Dad looks at Mom as if she’s a child too much. Even though Mom is also at an age where she should know everything.”
No. Regardless of that, referring to that as a game is distorted information, isn’t it? Jaim looked at Saeyeon this time and continued.
“Mom, you shouldn’t listen to what only Dad says so much. Climbing up the stairs of adulthood has to be done with your own strength!”
As if she had said something inspirational, Jaim proudly stuck out her chest. Saeyeon, who had been tilting her head at my conversation with Jaim until now, seemed to have at least understood that and smiled.
“But everything Jjaro says is right, you know? Like the thing about pressing lips together, Jjaro doesn’t lie.”
“······.”
Jaim stared blankly at Saeyeon as if she had forgotten about what she was going to say. Saeyeon stroked Jaim’s hair.
“Also, Jjaro said to me before that since he’s saying all that for my sake, I should just follow him obediently.”
“······Even though you heard what that weird girl said last time.”
“T-That’s······. Big Sis Nabom is an adult and has a physical relationship with Jjaro, so······.”
In response to Jaim’s blunt and somewhat unsatisfied comment, Saeyeon answered in a flustered manner. More than anything else, how does this kid know about that? Was it Nanda?
“In any case, Jjaro. If it’s a game, then isn’t it something fun? Do you want to ‘become interested in’ one another together?”
“No! I won’t! Also get off of me!”
Once I pushed away Saeyeon who had latched onto my arm during a moment of my carelessness, Saeyeon let out an unsatisfied grumble.
“Hmph. If you don’t want to, then it’s fine, mon. Instead, we’ll keep playing house. I won’t yield this. I’ll be the wife this time!
“······Go ahead.”
I let out a sigh from the deepest part of my lungs and nodded my head. Yeah, let’s endure. I’ll be patient. People say that everything starts from patience.
Saeyeon beamed happily at my nod and spoke.
“Then I’ll try that out as well.”
“That?”
“Mm······. Welcome back, dear. You’re tired, right? What would you like to do first? Take a bath? Have dinner? Or me?”
So it was that? She’s really influenced by everything she hears.
“······But Jjaro, what is this supposed to mean?”
Look. Just as I had expected, she doesn’t know. While looking at the head tilting Saeyeon, I let out another sigh.
“Saeyeon, it means that······.”
Grumble.
“······.”
While gazing at me with glimmering eyes, Saeyeon asked once more.
“Take a bath? Have dinner? Or me?”
Saeyeon, who was modestly sitting up straight on her knees, swallowed down her drool. A grumbling noise came from her stomach once more.
Her large, hope-filled pupils sparkled as if they were shooting brainwashing beams out of them. Saeyeon asked once more with shining eyes.
“Have dinner? Have dinner? Or have dinner?”
“······L-Let’s eat.”
“Okay!”
Saeyeon smiled radiantly at my brainwashed answer.
TL note: I should probably clarify a small thing. The ‘mon’ that Saeyeon says at times is basically something that’s said when upset or when one feels like they’re beating treated like a child. She isn’t Jamacian or anything. It’s just something kids do. In any case, we’re passed the halfway point of the volume. I wonder if I can finish this volume before the end of the month. Let’s see how it goes.
