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Midterms was now one week away.
The season of Spring grew deeper as it reached the end of April. Even the cherry blossoms which were once blooming beautifully were now littered throughout the streets like trash, and as time continued to pass, the weather went past being cool and was now a type of heat that wasn’t exactly warm enough to be considered hot. In other words, these were optimal conditions to play outside.
And there’s no way that the world would flow by so conveniently. Since even schools weren’t excluded when it came to not wanting to see people have fun, it was around times like this that a concept like ‘test the achievement of students at the middle of the semester’ was made in order to torment students.
Well, since teachers would end class early during examination periods so that we could concentrate on studying more, I was grateful since that meant I had more free time. I had more time to focus on my research. Albeit, it feels like they’re putting the cart before the horse since schools, which are teaching facilities, are lowering their teaching time just so that we could study for the exams ourselves.
Regardless, different from me who was overflowing with free time, it was most likely a burdensome time for most other students. All the times they’ve spent dozing off or sleeping in class would come back to bite them during examination periods. And Saeyeon who was a model student at sleeping and messing around was······.
“Uu······. Uuuuu······!”
······Well, she was like this.
Late at night. Sitting across from me on the other side of the small table that I had set up in the center of my room, Saeyeon was frozen in place while holding a mechanical pencil and glaring at the question that I had given to her. Her face was barely 5cm away from the question itself.
In that posture, her long, straight hair, which had a flower pin in it, flowed down smoothly like silk and covered her slender neck and face which boasted large eyes and smooth lips. Due to the fact that she was lowering her upper body, her perfectly-sized breasts, which were hidden by her pajamas, changed in shape as they pressed against the table. As I thought, this was quite the image. But······.
“Uuuu······! Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!”
Should I say that it was humorous in this state? Or should I say that it was pitiful?
No matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t help but worry that steam would start emitting from her head because she was overloading too much. If it’s Saeyeon, then it feels like it could actually start happening. Albeit I could instantly figure out how much she was thinking due to her serious eyes and serious groaning······.
“······You’ve been on that same question for 10 minutes already, you know?”
“Uu, uuk······.”
Saeyeon must have taken my words as urging as the end of her mechanical pencil twitched and moved, but it promptly stopped once more. I could only sigh.
Although I don’t think there’s a reason to abruptly say it now, Saeyeon’s grades are bad. To be a bit more honest, they’re really bad. If something like flunking was still around, then she would have probably been stuck in the same grade.
It was because of this that I was called to the teacher’s office ever since elementary school due to Saeyeon’s grades. Saeyeon isn’t aware, but there’s a reason why I was always in the same class as her every year. They were basically telling me to take responsibility.
“······Times up. Stop there.”
That’s why this much wasn’t too much trouble. It was within my realm of prediction.
The instant I reached my hand out after confirming the second hand of the clock went past the arranged time, Saeyeon quickly raised her head and shouted.
“I-I can solve it if I have a little more time!”
“The fact that you had to think for 10 minutes in itself is already a problem.”
That’s a fundamental question, you know?
“Uu, uu······. B-But······.”
“It’s fine, give it here. Let’s see······.”
After taking the question sheet from Saeyeon’s withdrawn hand, I fixed my glasses and confirmed the single question which she had been sincerely trying to solve. Calmly, while figuring out what part of the equation Saeyeon was weak at.
Then, although abrupt, I came to a realization once more.
“······Are you really a 2nd-year high schooler?”
That there was no point in finding what she was weak at.
“P-People can be a bit bad at studying!”
Although Saeyeon shouted confidently despite the fact that she was tearing up due to my pitying gaze······.
“No, this definitely isn’t at that level.”
I even felt sorrow while looking at the question sheet that was littered with red marks. It was to the point that I forgot about my fear of balding and started to scratch the back of my head.
I smacked my lips and since Saeyeon knew that this was something that I would do whenever I felt troubled, she drooped her shoulders.
“Is it, that bad······?”
I’m an honest person, so I answered her without hiding anything.
“Well, I don’t even know where to begin with teaching you.”
“Auu······.”
Nothing will change even if you groan cutely like that. Once I let out a small sigh, Saeyeon must have been dissatisfied as she puffed out her cheeks.
“B-But, I could have solved it if I had more time to think!”
“No, that’s absolutely impossible since you don’t even know the concept of factorization.”
“Uu, uuk······.”
Saeyeon, who was shouting while doing her best to sound tough, sunk down once more. Although I felt a bit bad, why did this girl enter the natural science track? I should have stopped her when she said that she’d follow me to the natural science track. I should have sincerely tried to stop her.
“Uu······. This is embarrassing······. This is why I didn’t want to learn······.”
“So you do know that this is embarrassing. At least you have the smallest amount of self-awareness.”
“O-Oh right! I don’t have to go to university or get a job since I’ll be getting married to Jjaro and become a wife······. Ow!”
I take that back. Do you not even have any self-awareness? After flicking Saeyeon’s forehead since she still didn’t understand her situation, Saeyeon rubbed her forehead.
“Uuu······. But studying, isn’t fun.”
Saeyeon continued to whine. It seems she really didn’t want to study as she was now pouting. Really, this girl.
How exactly was I supposed to prepare her for the midterms? There was only one week left. Would it have been better if I had started teaching her sooner? Was I being too optimistic when I thought that a decent amount could be achieved if we just crammed everything into a few couple of days?
“Mom, don’t worry! It’s all dad’s fault right now!”
“······Are you questioning my teaching method?”
Once I bared my teeth and turned around to glare at the voice behind me, Jaim had already hopped off of the bed and was glaring back at me while massaging Saeyeon’s back. This brat.
“This is the result of dad’s teaching method, isn’t it?”
An adorable face that looked like an adequate mix of Saeyeon and my facial features. I’m not saying that I’m adorable, so don’t misunderstand. I held up the question sheet with red marks all over it towards Jaim who had large eyes, soft cheeks which were perfect to pull on, and was grinning widely, resulting in her expression crumpling.
“Kid, can you still say that after seeing this?”
Jaim tactfully averted her gaze away from the worksheet and spoke. Quite the talent she has there.
“Am I wrong? To dad, taking care of mom was just your ‘job’, right? Despite that, isn’t it your responsibility for having allowed mom’s academic ability to stay like this?”
“Ack.”
That’s definitely a reasonable argument. This stung a little.
“······I, I must be bad even in Jaim’s eyes······.”
Although it seems Saeyeon became even more depressed by that.
“B-But, Saeyeon doesn’t learn no matter how many times I teach her! Even I’m capable of teaching this level of fundamental information properly!”
“Like I said, that just means you’re bad at teaching, dad. If you were teaching mom properly, then there’s no way that mom would still be clueless after how many times you’ve taught her.”
This brat had a strange amount of expectation towards Saeyeon. Do you not see that your comment just now made Saeyeon drop her shoulders even more? Jaim placed her hand against her forehead and shook her head.
“Really, if it’s going to be like this, then it would be better if I taught mom myself.”
“······Hoh, all right then.”
It’s now time to teach this brat the horror that is Saeyeon.
“Go ahead and teach her.”
No matter how many expectations Jaim has towards Saeyeon, she’ll probably lower her tail once she experiences it herself. And when that happens, I’ll get her back twice as hard. However, Jaim puffed her chest out in response to my words and spoke confidently.
“If dad’s going to come to terms with his lack of ability that much and beg like this, then there’s nothing I can’t do! I’ll teach mom!”
How boldfaced. Well, her confidence is good and all, but I gave her the biggest smirk that I could muster and spoke slyly.
“Even if Saeyeon is bad at studying, how is an elementary schooler going to teach her?”
For starters, Saeyeon is also a high school student. I know that the brat is smarter than her peers, but teaching Saeyeon should be too much for her. More than anything else, even I have no clue as to how I’m supposed to teach her.
Ignoring my words, Jaim waved her hand as if telling me to get out of the way. Fine, I’ll move aside. Once I had moved over to the bed Jaim cleared her throat and looked at Saeyeon with a serious face.
“Ehem, mom. Therefore, I’ll be teaching you now. Being taught by your daughter might be embarrassing, but getting embarrassed won’t help with anything. If you follow my instructions well, then dad will definitely be unable to laugh at you.”
This already seems sketchy. Saeyeon nodded her head as if she had resolved herself.
“Okay then, let’s begin. I’m going to start with the basics, so you have to listen carefully, okay, mom?”
I spoke coldly towards Jaim who had spoken while brushing the worksheet away, placing a single book on the table, and spreading it open.
“If you intend to teach Saeyeon sex ed, then you better stop right now.”
“······Tsk.”
Jaim clicked her tongue as she closed the home economics textbook. I let out a small sigh.
“Dad, shouldn’t you have feigned ignorance at first and shouted something like ‘Okay, that’s enough!’ later on?”
“I’m capable of learning, kid. You’re mistaken if you think that I’ll fall for your tricks forever.”
I could see through her thought process the instant she pulled out the home economics textbook anyway.
“That’s right, Jaim. Also, the upcoming midterm doesn’t cover home economics.”
Is that what you’re concerned about? Jaim turned her head away regrettably in response to Saeyeon’s soothing coaxing.
“······But teaching things that are necessary for one’s daily life is true education.”
“Your mindset in itself is good.”
In any case, since we’re not messing around anymore, it seems it’s my turn now. After saying a single remark to the complaining Jaim, Saeyeon looked at Jaim and smiled the instant I was about to stand up.
“Also, I already finished studying everything in that textbook.”
······.
“······What?”
What did Saeyeon, say just now······?
“Mom?”
In response to Jaim’s question which she had asked with wide eyes, Saeyeon giggled and rummaged through her backpack before proudly presenting her home economics textbook.
“Look, look! I’ve been studying hard by myself!”
She had opened the book to a section that had a post-it on which allowed it to be accessed with ease. In the section which she had opened, there were red lines and circles here and there with notes written almost entirely throughout the pages that had detailed reference images of both the male and female genitalia on them.
While gazing at me whose mouth was hanging agape, Saeyeon spoke as if she were proud of herself.
“I studied while going through a dictionary! That’s why, this is the sex that Jjaro was talking about before, right? The male and female take everything off and start with a kiss······.”
“W-What have you been studying!? Don’t look! I said to stop looking! Kya!”
H-How could a girl say such words!? Do you have no shame!? Blood rushed to my face and once I quickly snatched the book away from her, Saeyeon seemed upset as she pouted.
“I studied by myself because Jjaro wouldn’t teach me. I did good, right? Now you can’t make fun of me anymore, right, Jjaro?”
“That’s the wrong thing to brag about! Are you a boy going through his second year of middle school?! Why did you even underline a bunch of things with a red pencil?”
“But Jjaro would study by himself on the computer. I even looked through the videos you have on your computer, Jjaro.”
“Why did you look through them!?”
Wait, does that mean that too? Did she see that too?
“Wait a second, dad! Calm down! Life is something you should cherish!”
“Shut up! I’m going to die! My dignity has crashed, my face has crumbled, I can’t live in this sort of reality anymore!”
While struggling against Jaim who seemed to have forgotten that even if I were to jump out of the small window in my room, I would only end up in the hallway of the apartment complex, Saeyeon spoke while smiling contently.
“But I’m relieved. As I hoped, Jjaro prefers breasts like mi······. Ow!”
After hitting Saeyeon’s head in order to prevent her from saying anything more, I turned to face Jaim, which prompted her to shout in panic.
“W-Wait, dad! I-I didn’t know about this either!”
“Don’t make me laugh! Even if you didn’t instigate it, it’s because you kept making such obscene jokes that Saeyeon became like this!”
“Uu······. Jjaro definitely said that that’s how you make children······.”
“T-That’s right! Mom isn’t developing especially fast or anything! If anything, she’s on the slow side! Yeah! Mom, now that you’ve learned the basics, I’ll teach you about the more in-depth training methoubububububu!”
“As I expected, you’re the biggest problem here, you brat! If you try to teach Saeyeon weird things again, then I’m going to make you the training target.”
“B-But you won’t do the union thing that I kept ububububu!”
“No! Jjaro! It has to be me first······. Ow!”
“Let’s live with some more common sense, okay? More common sense!”
Really, what am I supposed to do with these two kids? I want to cry. Rather, I want to die. Why didn’t I delete them? Why did I think that it would be a waste if I were to delete them? No, it would have been a waste, but I would occasionally throw these sorts of stuff out whenever I went into sage mode. I should have thrown them out. I should have deleted everything. I should have self-destructed.
While I was relieving my anger, which I had knowingly brought down upon myself, and leisurely pulling at Jaim’s rice cake-like, pretty cheeks, Jaim’s mouth seemed like they wanted to say something so I let her go.
“What is it? If you have an excuse, then I’ll listen to it.”
Jaim answered while rubbing her red cheeks.
“No, I was just curious as to why you suddenly wanted to look over mom’s studying.”
“Yeah. Jjaro, you always told me to study on my own until now.”
“Eck.”
This must have also been on Saeyeon’s mind, as she stopped rubbing her forehead and turned to look at me with her large eyes. I turned away involuntarily.
“I-I just thought that it wouldn’t be good if I left things like this!”
After I cooled down my burning face by shaking it, I turned towards Saeyeon and spoke.
“How long do you intend to stay at an elementary school education level? I won’t say that studying is everything in life, but shouldn’t you have at least the smallest bit of knowledge as a student? I kept telling you to study on your own, but this is how you ended up.”
“Uu, uuh······.”
Instead of retorting, Saeyeon became even more gloomy. Jaim was also looking at me with an accusatory gaze for some reason.
“N-No, I’m not saying that it’s your fault······.”
If anything, I was the bad guy if we had to point fingers.
In actuality, it was my responsibility for having left her like this despite having been given the role to take care of Saeyeon every now and then. It was late, but I had to take responsibility.
“In any case, follow my lessons properly. Now then, I’m going to start explaining the problem. So this part······.”
There was a knock on the door the instant I brought the problem sheet back out and was about to start explaining.
“How’s the studying going?”
“Ah, mom!”
Once Saeyeon saw her mom open the door and enter the room, she immediately smiled. She really does revive fast.
“I figured I’d check up on you guys while on my way back home from work.”
Saeyeon’s mom spoke while looking around at us.
If Saeyeon’s face gave off a cute feeling, then her mom was so refined that she didn’t resemble Saeyeon at all. Her short hair and suit really emphasized a business person-like atmosphere.
Saeyeon’s mom, who was grinning brightly, sat down between me and Saeyeon. I wasn’t certain as to whether she overlooked Jaim, who was glancing at me while rubbing her red cheeks, or she just wasn’t paying her any mind. This person was strangely hard to deal with.
“I had my hopes up in my own way, but you two really were studying hard, huh? Is it because Jaim is here? Should I take her with me?”
“······.”
Even more so because she acts like this. It seems she was enjoying my troubled expression as Saeyeon’s mom raised her chin above her clasped hands and spoke after chuckling.
“Well, jokes aside, are your studies going well? Albeit, I’m not worried since Jaro is with you.”
“You don’t have to keep worrying. As long as I’m in charge, I’ll definitely······.”
“Dad is bad at teaching, grandma!”
······This brat. Jaim, who had exclaimed that while grinning broadly, then shouted.
“I’m about to do the teaching because dad won’t do it!”
“J-Jaim!”
“Oh dear, was Jaim teaching mom?”
Once Jaim, who had been rubbing her cheeks, shouted that with an innocent and coy tone and expression which she only displayed to everyone except for me, both Saeyeon and Saeyeon’s mom opened their mouths at the same time. Saeyeon did so as if she were embarrassed, and Saeyeon’s mom did so as if she were proud.
“That’s not it, mom! I mean, I wasn’t being taught by Jaim, but······.”
“What is there to be embarrassed about? If you don’t know something, then you can learn from even your daughter. So, Jaim, what did you teach Saeyeon?”
Simply warmly, Saeyeon’s mom’s gaze looked as if she were saying that her granddaughter was admirable. However, Jaim’s gaze was······. Ah, it’s this pattern!
“I was about to teach mom about sex ed!”
With a trouble-free, bright grin and a shocking declaration.
“Good job, Jaim!”
“Why are you giving her a thumbs up?!”
Saeyeon’s mom pouted slightly due to my complaint and fidgeted. No, that’s not cute even if an old woman does that.
“But~ isn’t Jaro a bit weak when it comes to teaching Saeyeon about these sorts of things? True education is when you teach things that are necessary for real life☆! That’s more important than math equations!”
This woman, I mean, this person is really······. After chuckling at the sight of me grab my head as it was throbbing again, Saeyeon’s mom stood up and spoke.
“In any case, it’s good that you guys are studying hard, but you should continue after taking a break. I’ve peeled some fruits outside, so let’s continue after eating them together.”
“Wow! You’re the best, mom! Jjaro, let’s take a break for a bit, okay?”
······Seriously, this girl revives way too fast. I shook my head towards Saeyeon whose eyes were now shining brightly.
“No. At this rate, there’ll be a snag in our plan. Don’t even think about taking a break until you finish this worksheet.
“I-If I rest and get something to eat, then I’ll be able to concentrate more!”
This girl, she already has no intention to study······. Well, she didn’t earlier either.
“Dad, grandma went out of her way to peel fruits for us, so let’s continue after eating, okay?”
“That’s right, Jaro. You’re probably tired as well, so take a small break.”
“Jjaro······.”
I could only let out a sigh as they turned to look at me and spoke one by one.
“······Just 10 minutes.”
It’s really troubling since I’ve become such a good person now.
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It has been 2 months since Jaim had arrived.
One month since the previous incident and a month had gone by since Saeyeon’s parents had returned from their trip. During those two months, my life had changed quickly. Towards a direction that I didn’t particularly want.
2 months ago, at the beginning of the semester, on the same night that Saeyeon’s parents departed on their one month trip to Europe because it was their 10 year wedding anniversary, I had to sleep while holding Saeyeon’s hand in order to calm her down since she was apparently too afraid to sleep by herself. Don’t think of something weird, we really slept while only holding hands.
On the very next day, there was a child sleeping like a log between me and Saeyeon.
Even though we should have slept while only holding hands.
Jin Jaim. Saeyeon’s and my daughter who had come from the future.
Although I want to attach ‘self-addressed’ in front of that, it doesn’t seem like that’s the case so it’s even scarier.
Even though time travel is the result of something unrealistic, the thing she wanted was way too simple. Because Saeyeon and I got into an argument in the future, which resulted in Saeyeon leaving and forcing Jaim to grow up in a household without a mom, Jaim went back in time in order to carry out her ‘Happy Family Planning’, a plan in which she intended to improve my relationship with Saeyeon and, as a result, create a happy family.
Although her method of accomplishing this was to simply make me and Saeyeon unite at a young age and force us between a rock and a hard place.
Nevertheless, at that point, I already didn’t like Saeyeon. I didn’t. If anything, I hated her.
Because I hated families. Because I didn’t need something like that.
Different to the me at that time, Saeyeon had a happy family.
Saeyeon’s mother who loved Saeyeon ever so dearly but had passed away when she was still little. Even though Saeyeon should just be her second marriage partner’s daughter, Saeyeon’s mom still loved her as if she were her own actual daughter. And Saeyeon, who liked me and had received that love as she grew up innocently.
I disliked it all. I didn’t need any of that. That’s why I broke Saeyeon. I made her listen to only me and made her stay as a young child who didn’t even know what the word ‘love’ meant on purpose.
After everything was revealed and as the result of the words ‘I have never seen you as a woman.’ being said, Jaim was infected with ‘information contamination’ which was a sickness that was derived from time traveling.
Jaim was placed in a situation where she suffered from the delusion that Saeyeon and I were knit together from a young age even though we didn’t want to be, and that we had fought constantly, hated her for having created that relationship of ours, ignored her, and abused her. Jaim was going to return to the future in that state. I wanted things to end like that.
However, I couldn’t leave my daughter who was hurt the same way as I was, who was going to be hurt like that because of me, by herself.
Well, for that reason, it has been approximately one month since I had negotiated with the dispatched time agent who was here to observe Jaim and take her back to the future if a problem were to occur, done whatever I could to somehow cure Jaim’s information contamination, and, while I was at it, prepared documents so that Jaim could stay here.
And Saeyeon’s parents then returned from their trip to Europe.
Honestly, it was mountain after mountain, I was even prepared for death.
But······.
“Jaim, say ah~.”
“Aaah~.”
“Oh, you’re so cute♡! Does it taste good?”
“Yeah! It’s great!”
“······.”
Even though one month had passed, I still had no idea what to say whenever I witnessed this. For starters, my head kept throbbing. My migraine has been getting worse lately.
Think about it.
You have an adorable daughter. You raised your kind, innocent, and angelic daughter with love and affection, and since a good opportunity had appeared, you suppressed your worry and left your daughter with your trustworthy neighbor in order to go on a one month trip overseas, a trip to Europe at that.
And then imagine being introduced to your granddaughter while your daughter has her arm linked with the boy next door the moment you come back home.
It would be a situation where it wouldn’t be strange to take the boy’s head and shout ‘I’ve slain the daughter thief!’.
But.
Saeyeon’s mom smiled warmly at the sight of Jaim filling her elastic cheeks with apples and chewing them happily.
“Really, Jaro and Saeyeon are quite capable. To have been able to create such a big and adorable daughter in just a month.”
······I’ve been thinking lately, but this might be the effect of that memory manipulator or some other future technology. Even though I explained it to her last time.
“Like I said before, she isn’t our daughter but a half-sibling that one of my crazy parents had. The reason she calls Saeyeon and I her mom and dad is because I decided to raise her like a parent would since I didn’t want her to also experience the same thing that I did with my parents.”
“Oh well.”
Is this an issue that can be resolved with just an ‘Oh well’?
Saeyeon’s mom answered cooly to my words that I had said with a sigh. Honestly, it might not be solely my fault that Saeyeon grew up to be this innocent.
Saeyeon’s mom smiled as she watched Saeyeon feed Jaim pears with her fork.
“In any case, it’s a relief that Jaro seems to also have feelings for Saeyeon. Honestly, this old lady was cheering for Saeyeon to get along well with the Jaro that she likes so much, but I also had my doubts.”
She’s still sharp when it comes to weird things like this. But,
“I told you that that isn’t the case. In the first place, I······.”
I froze and turned to the side the instant those words left my mouth, and as I expected, Saeyeon looked afraid while Jaim was looking at me as if she wouldn’t leave me alone if I weren’t careful with my words. Ehem, mm.
“······Well, it’s true that I said that I need Saeyeon······.”
“Yeah. That’s why I’m able to give my daughter away in marriage without any worry.”
“Really, mom······”
“She didn’t come here to get married, you know? She’s just living with me, you know?”
“What else can that be but being sent to get married? Or should I refer to it as one of our traditional cultures, minmyeonuri?”
(TL note: Minmyeonuri – A girl who is brought up by the family of the husband-to-be)
“You’re the one who sent her arbitrarily! I was also fired because of that!”
Once I shouted in response to Saeyeon’s mom who was smiling happily, Saeyeon’s mom spoke as if she didn’t know what I was talking about.
“You even proposed to Saeyeon by saying that you needed her, Jaro. You have a cute daughter as well, so a family should live together as a family, right? But you can’t possibly consider the act of living with your family as a job, right? It’s an obvious conclusion. Well, although we’ll probably have to wait until the two of you are adults for the wedding ceremony.”
“Like I said······.”
“Or, what? Do you not want to live with Saeyeon, Jaro?”
I wasn’t able to even finish my sentence.
Because Saeyeon’s mom’s smiling face changed into a cold one.
“Don’t tell me you laid your hands on our Saeyeon and made a daughter like this with no intention of taking responsibility?”
“Uu, t-that’s······.”
While I was hesitating due to the pressure of the glint in her eyes, Saeyeon’s mom spoke in a cold voice that was incomparable to before.
“Since I trust in Jaro who Saeyeon likes, I would like it if you didn’t tell me that you had laid your hand on our Saeyeon without any thought and resolve······. So, Jaro?”
I will actually die if I give her the wrong answer.
“L-Like I said, it’s too soon to live together, well it’s······.”
“Oh dear, is that what you meant? This old woman must have misunderstood.”
That must have roughly been the right answer as Saeyeon’s mom smiled brightly once more. That scared me to death······.
“But, as I thought, you have to live together from now on so that you can experience going through all the obstacles in life together, right? Moreover, there honestly isn’t much of a difference, is there? We live right next to each other, and the two of you have eaten and slept together a lot of times. Ah, I guess it’ll be a bit different now that you have a daughter.”
“I like living together with mom and dad, grandma!”
“See? Jaim also approves.”
Of course that brat would······. I was about to gnash my teeth, but I let out a sigh instead.
Yeah. It’s been a month. It’s been a month since Saeyeon and Jaim had started to flat out live in my house.
Saeyeon’s parents, who acknowledged Jaim’s existence much too easily, stated that families should naturally live together, so after concluding that Saeyeon will be living with me from now on, they actually sent her to my place after packing up some simple clothes.
Due to this, I’m on the brink of going bankrupt. Not only was half of my income cut, but the other half of my income decreased because my royalties wouldn’t sell, and the total amount consumed within my household had increased due to the number of mouths I had to feed increasing by two.
“Now then, since I know that Saeyeon and Jaim are doing all right, I think I’ll be heading home now. Saeyeon, Jaim, let’s have a girls talk again next time as well. Then, I’ll be off~.”
While I was having those thoughts, Saeyeon’s mom said her farewells to everyone except for me and disappeared through the front door. If someone else were here, then they might assume that she was going somewhere far away. Even though she only had to take five steps across the apartment hallway to reach her home.
In any case, our break is finished.
“Now then, it’s time to study again. Let’s go back to my room.”
“I’m sleepy······.”
“Don’t make me laugh! You said that you’ll be able to concentrate better if you eat something!”
“But······. It’s already late in the night······.”
With her eyes already half-closed, Saeyeon spoke while glancing at the clock hanging on the wall next to the dining table. It was currently 9:13 pm. Certainly, in Saeyeon’s standards, this was late in the night since she would normally get ready to go to sleep at 9.
“As long as I’m in charge of your studying, I’m not going to do this half-heartedly or let you off easy! Now, go and wash your face!”
Even though I had purposely spoken in a loud voice and clapped my hands in order to wake her up, Saeyeon simply rubbed her eyes and looked at me pitifully. This girl, she keeps acting like a spoiled child.
“Dad, don’t be like that and let’s just continue tomorrow, okay? How about fixing Multi with me tonight? I’m not tired. You’d prefer that more as well, right?”
“No. You saw it as well, didn’t you? The fact that Saeyeon is in a dangerous state. I’m saying goodbye to Multi until the exam. If you have enough time to be concerned about that, then you should cooperate as well.”
“As I thought, you’re sincerely concerned about mom, dad······. Uub!”
After blocking the mouth that was speaking nonsense, I pulled Saeyeon up as she rubbed her eyes and dragged her and Jaim to my room.
There’s nothing that hasn’t changed. That’s fine. That’s an obvious fact.
The issue is how I should feel about it.
Ο
Ο
Ο
Ο
Midterms was now one week away.
The season of Spring grew deeper as it reached the end of April. Even the cherry blossoms which were once blooming beautifully were now littered throughout the streets like trash, and as time continued to pass, the weather went past being cool and was now a type of heat that wasn’t exactly warm enough to be considered hot. In other words, these were optimal conditions to play outside.
And there’s no way that the world would flow by so conveniently. Since even schools weren’t excluded when it came to not wanting to see people have fun, it was around times like this that a concept like ‘test the achievement of students at the middle of the semester’ was made in order to torment students.
Well, since teachers would end class early during examination periods so that we could concentrate on studying more, I was grateful since that meant I had more free time. I had more time to focus on my research. Albeit, it feels like they’re putting the cart before the horse since schools, which are teaching facilities, are lowering their teaching time just so that we could study for the exams ourselves.
Regardless, different from me who was overflowing with free time, it was most likely a burdensome time for most other students. All the times they’ve spent dozing off or sleeping in class would come back to bite them during examination periods. And Saeyeon who was a model student at sleeping and messing around was······.
“Uu······. Uuuuu······!”
······Well, she was like this.
Late at night. Sitting across from me on the other side of the small table that I had set up in the center of my room, Saeyeon was frozen in place while holding a mechanical pencil and glaring at the question that I had given to her. Her face was barely 5cm away from the question itself.
In that posture, her long, straight hair, which had a flower pin in it, flowed down smoothly like silk and covered her slender neck and face which boasted large eyes and smooth lips. Due to the fact that she was lowering her upper body, her perfectly-sized breasts, which were hidden by her pajamas, changed in shape as they pressed against the table. As I thought, this was quite the image. But······.
“Uuuu······! Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!”
Should I say that it was humorous in this state? Or should I say that it was pitiful?
No matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t help but worry that steam would start emitting from her head because she was overloading too much. If it’s Saeyeon, then it feels like it could actually start happening. Albeit I could instantly figure out how much she was thinking due to her serious eyes and serious groaning······.
“······You’ve been on that same question for 10 minutes already, you know?”
“Uu, uuk······.”
Saeyeon must have taken my words as urging as the end of her mechanical pencil twitched and moved, but it promptly stopped once more. I could only sigh.
Although I don’t think there’s a reason to abruptly say it now, Saeyeon’s grades are bad. To be a bit more honest, they’re really bad. If something like flunking was still around, then she would have probably been stuck in the same grade.
It was because of this that I was called to the teacher’s office ever since elementary school due to Saeyeon’s grades. Saeyeon isn’t aware, but there’s a reason why I was always in the same class as her every year. They were basically telling me to take responsibility.
“······Times up. Stop there.”
That’s why this much wasn’t too much trouble. It was within my realm of prediction.
The instant I reached my hand out after confirming the second hand of the clock went past the arranged time, Saeyeon quickly raised her head and shouted.
“I-I can solve it if I have a little more time!”
“The fact that you had to think for 10 minutes in itself is already a problem.”
That’s a fundamental question, you know?
“Uu, uu······. B-But······.”
“It’s fine, give it here. Let’s see······.”
After taking the question sheet from Saeyeon’s withdrawn hand, I fixed my glasses and confirmed the single question which she had been sincerely trying to solve. Calmly, while figuring out what part of the equation Saeyeon was weak at.
Then, although abrupt, I came to a realization once more.
“······Are you really a 2nd-year high schooler?”
That there was no point in finding what she was weak at.
“P-People can be a bit bad at studying!”
Although Saeyeon shouted confidently despite the fact that she was tearing up due to my pitying gaze······.
“No, this definitely isn’t at that level.”
I even felt sorrow while looking at the question sheet that was littered with red marks. It was to the point that I forgot about my fear of balding and started to scratch the back of my head.
I smacked my lips and since Saeyeon knew that this was something that I would do whenever I felt troubled, she drooped her shoulders.
“Is it, that bad······?”
I’m an honest person, so I answered her without hiding anything.
“Well, I don’t even know where to begin with teaching you.”
“Auu······.”
Nothing will change even if you groan cutely like that. Once I let out a small sigh, Saeyeon must have been dissatisfied as she puffed out her cheeks.
“B-But, I could have solved it if I had more time to think!”
“No, that’s absolutely impossible since you don’t even know the concept of factorization.”
“Uu, uuk······.”
Saeyeon, who was shouting while doing her best to sound tough, sunk down once more. Although I felt a bit bad, why did this girl enter the natural science track? I should have stopped her when she said that she’d follow me to the natural science track. I should have sincerely tried to stop her.
“Uu······. This is embarrassing······. This is why I didn’t want to learn······.”
“So you do know that this is embarrassing. At least you have the smallest amount of self-awareness.”
“O-Oh right! I don’t have to go to university or get a job since I’ll be getting married to Jjaro and become a wife······. Ow!”
I take that back. Do you not even have any self-awareness? After flicking Saeyeon’s forehead since she still didn’t understand her situation, Saeyeon rubbed her forehead.
“Uuu······. But studying, isn’t fun.”
Saeyeon continued to whine. It seems she really didn’t want to study as she was now pouting. Really, this girl.
How exactly was I supposed to prepare her for the midterms? There was only one week left. Would it have been better if I had started teaching her sooner? Was I being too optimistic when I thought that a decent amount could be achieved if we just crammed everything into a few couple of days?
“Mom, don’t worry! It’s all dad’s fault right now!”
“······Are you questioning my teaching method?”
Once I bared my teeth and turned around to glare at the voice behind me, Jaim had already hopped off of the bed and was glaring back at me while massaging Saeyeon’s back. This brat.
“This is the result of dad’s teaching method, isn’t it?”
An adorable face that looked like an adequate mix of Saeyeon and my facial features. I’m not saying that I’m adorable, so don’t misunderstand. I held up the question sheet with red marks all over it towards Jaim who had large eyes, soft cheeks which were perfect to pull on, and was grinning widely, resulting in her expression crumpling.
“Kid, can you still say that after seeing this?”
Jaim tactfully averted her gaze away from the worksheet and spoke. Quite the talent she has there.
“Am I wrong? To dad, taking care of mom was just your ‘job’, right? Despite that, isn’t it your responsibility for having allowed mom’s academic ability to stay like this?”
“Ack.”
That’s definitely a reasonable argument. This stung a little.
“······I, I must be bad even in Jaim’s eyes······.”
Although it seems Saeyeon became even more depressed by that.
“B-But, Saeyeon doesn’t learn no matter how many times I teach her! Even I’m capable of teaching this level of fundamental information properly!”
“Like I said, that just means you’re bad at teaching, dad. If you were teaching mom properly, then there’s no way that mom would still be clueless after how many times you’ve taught her.”
This brat had a strange amount of expectation towards Saeyeon. Do you not see that your comment just now made Saeyeon drop her shoulders even more? Jaim placed her hand against her forehead and shook her head.
“Really, if it’s going to be like this, then it would be better if I taught mom myself.”
“······Hoh, all right then.”
It’s now time to teach this brat the horror that is Saeyeon.
“Go ahead and teach her.”
No matter how many expectations Jaim has towards Saeyeon, she’ll probably lower her tail once she experiences it herself. And when that happens, I’ll get her back twice as hard. However, Jaim puffed her chest out in response to my words and spoke confidently.
“If dad’s going to come to terms with his lack of ability that much and beg like this, then there’s nothing I can’t do! I’ll teach mom!”
How boldfaced. Well, her confidence is good and all, but I gave her the biggest smirk that I could muster and spoke slyly.
“Even if Saeyeon is bad at studying, how is an elementary schooler going to teach her?”
For starters, Saeyeon is also a high school student. I know that the brat is smarter than her peers, but teaching Saeyeon should be too much for her. More than anything else, even I have no clue as to how I’m supposed to teach her.
Ignoring my words, Jaim waved her hand as if telling me to get out of the way. Fine, I’ll move aside. Once I had moved over to the bed Jaim cleared her throat and looked at Saeyeon with a serious face.
“Ehem, mom. Therefore, I’ll be teaching you now. Being taught by your daughter might be embarrassing, but getting embarrassed won’t help with anything. If you follow my instructions well, then dad will definitely be unable to laugh at you.”
This already seems sketchy. Saeyeon nodded her head as if she had resolved herself.
“Okay then, let’s begin. I’m going to start with the basics, so you have to listen carefully, okay, mom?”
I spoke coldly towards Jaim who had spoken while brushing the worksheet away, placing a single book on the table, and spreading it open.
“If you intend to teach Saeyeon sex ed, then you better stop right now.”
“······Tsk.”
Jaim clicked her tongue as she closed the home economics textbook. I let out a small sigh.
“Dad, shouldn’t you have feigned ignorance at first and shouted something like ‘Okay, that’s enough!’ later on?”
“I’m capable of learning, kid. You’re mistaken if you think that I’ll fall for your tricks forever.”
I could see through her thought process the instant she pulled out the home economics textbook anyway.
“That’s right, Jaim. Also, the upcoming midterm doesn’t cover home economics.”
Is that what you’re concerned about? Jaim turned her head away regrettably in response to Saeyeon’s soothing coaxing.
“······But teaching things that are necessary for one’s daily life is true education.”
“Your mindset in itself is good.”
In any case, since we’re not messing around anymore, it seems it’s my turn now. After saying a single remark to the complaining Jaim, Saeyeon looked at Jaim and smiled the instant I was about to stand up.
“Also, I already finished studying everything in that textbook.”
······.
“······What?”
What did Saeyeon, say just now······?
“Mom?”
In response to Jaim’s question which she had asked with wide eyes, Saeyeon giggled and rummaged through her backpack before proudly presenting her home economics textbook.
“Look, look! I’ve been studying hard by myself!”
She had opened the book to a section that had a post-it on which allowed it to be accessed with ease. In the section which she had opened, there were red lines and circles here and there with notes written almost entirely throughout the pages that had detailed reference images of both the male and female genitalia on them.
While gazing at me whose mouth was hanging agape, Saeyeon spoke as if she were proud of herself.
“I studied while going through a dictionary! That’s why, this is the sex that Jjaro was talking about before, right? The male and female take everything off and start with a kiss······.”
“W-What have you been studying!? Don’t look! I said to stop looking! Kya!”
H-How could a girl say such words!? Do you have no shame!? Blood rushed to my face and once I quickly snatched the book away from her, Saeyeon seemed upset as she pouted.
“I studied by myself because Jjaro wouldn’t teach me. I did good, right? Now you can’t make fun of me anymore, right, Jjaro?”
“That’s the wrong thing to brag about! Are you a boy going through his second year of middle school?! Why did you even underline a bunch of things with a red pencil?”
“But Jjaro would study by himself on the computer. I even looked through the videos you have on your computer, Jjaro.”
“Why did you look through them!?”
Wait, does that mean that too? Did she see that too?
“Wait a second, dad! Calm down! Life is something you should cherish!”
“Shut up! I’m going to die! My dignity has crashed, my face has crumbled, I can’t live in this sort of reality anymore!”
While struggling against Jaim who seemed to have forgotten that even if I were to jump out of the small window in my room, I would only end up in the hallway of the apartment complex, Saeyeon spoke while smiling contently.
“But I’m relieved. As I hoped, Jjaro prefers breasts like mi······. Ow!”
After hitting Saeyeon’s head in order to prevent her from saying anything more, I turned to face Jaim, which prompted her to shout in panic.
“W-Wait, dad! I-I didn’t know about this either!”
“Don’t make me laugh! Even if you didn’t instigate it, it’s because you kept making such obscene jokes that Saeyeon became like this!”
“Uu······. Jjaro definitely said that that’s how you make children······.”
“T-That’s right! Mom isn’t developing especially fast or anything! If anything, she’s on the slow side! Yeah! Mom, now that you’ve learned the basics, I’ll teach you about the more in-depth training methoubububububu!”
“As I expected, you’re the biggest problem here, you brat! If you try to teach Saeyeon weird things again, then I’m going to make you the training target.”
“B-But you won’t do the union thing that I kept ububububu!”
“No! Jjaro! It has to be me first······. Ow!”
“Let’s live with some more common sense, okay? More common sense!”
Really, what am I supposed to do with these two kids? I want to cry. Rather, I want to die. Why didn’t I delete them? Why did I think that it would be a waste if I were to delete them? No, it would have been a waste, but I would occasionally throw these sorts of stuff out whenever I went into sage mode. I should have thrown them out. I should have deleted everything. I should have self-destructed.
While I was relieving my anger, which I had knowingly brought down upon myself, and leisurely pulling at Jaim’s rice cake-like, pretty cheeks, Jaim’s mouth seemed like they wanted to say something so I let her go.
“What is it? If you have an excuse, then I’ll listen to it.”
Jaim answered while rubbing her red cheeks.
“No, I was just curious as to why you suddenly wanted to look over mom’s studying.”
“Yeah. Jjaro, you always told me to study on my own until now.”
“Eck.”
This must have also been on Saeyeon’s mind, as she stopped rubbing her forehead and turned to look at me with her large eyes. I turned away involuntarily.
“I-I just thought that it wouldn’t be good if I left things like this!”
After I cooled down my burning face by shaking it, I turned towards Saeyeon and spoke.
“How long do you intend to stay at an elementary school education level? I won’t say that studying is everything in life, but shouldn’t you have at least the smallest bit of knowledge as a student? I kept telling you to study on your own, but this is how you ended up.”
“Uu, uuh······.”
Instead of retorting, Saeyeon became even more gloomy. Jaim was also looking at me with an accusatory gaze for some reason.
“N-No, I’m not saying that it’s your fault······.”
If anything, I was the bad guy if we had to point fingers.
In actuality, it was my responsibility for having left her like this despite having been given the role to take care of Saeyeon every now and then. It was late, but I had to take responsibility.
“In any case, follow my lessons properly. Now then, I’m going to start explaining the problem. So this part······.”
There was a knock on the door the instant I brought the problem sheet back out and was about to start explaining.
“How’s the studying going?”
“Ah, mom!”
Once Saeyeon saw her mom open the door and enter the room, she immediately smiled. She really does revive fast.
“I figured I’d check up on you guys while on my way back home from work.”
Saeyeon’s mom spoke while looking around at us.
If Saeyeon’s face gave off a cute feeling, then her mom was so refined that she didn’t resemble Saeyeon at all. Her short hair and suit really emphasized a business person-like atmosphere.
Saeyeon’s mom, who was grinning brightly, sat down between me and Saeyeon. I wasn’t certain as to whether she overlooked Jaim, who was glancing at me while rubbing her red cheeks, or she just wasn’t paying her any mind. This person was strangely hard to deal with.
“I had my hopes up in my own way, but you two really were studying hard, huh? Is it because Jaim is here? Should I take her with me?”
“······.”
Even more so because she acts like this. It seems she was enjoying my troubled expression as Saeyeon’s mom raised her chin above her clasped hands and spoke after chuckling.
“Well, jokes aside, are your studies going well? Albeit, I’m not worried since Jaro is with you.”
“You don’t have to keep worrying. As long as I’m in charge, I’ll definitely······.”
“Dad is bad at teaching, grandma!”
······This brat. Jaim, who had exclaimed that while grinning broadly, then shouted.
“I’m about to do the teaching because dad won’t do it!”
“J-Jaim!”
“Oh dear, was Jaim teaching mom?”
Once Jaim, who had been rubbing her cheeks, shouted that with an innocent and coy tone and expression which she only displayed to everyone except for me, both Saeyeon and Saeyeon’s mom opened their mouths at the same time. Saeyeon did so as if she were embarrassed, and Saeyeon’s mom did so as if she were proud.
“That’s not it, mom! I mean, I wasn’t being taught by Jaim, but······.”
“What is there to be embarrassed about? If you don’t know something, then you can learn from even your daughter. So, Jaim, what did you teach Saeyeon?”
Simply warmly, Saeyeon’s mom’s gaze looked as if she were saying that her granddaughter was admirable. However, Jaim’s gaze was······. Ah, it’s this pattern!
“I was about to teach mom about sex ed!”
With a trouble-free, bright grin and a shocking declaration.
“Good job, Jaim!”
“Why are you giving her a thumbs up?!”
Saeyeon’s mom pouted slightly due to my complaint and fidgeted. No, that’s not cute even if an old woman does that.
“But~ isn’t Jaro a bit weak when it comes to teaching Saeyeon about these sorts of things? True education is when you teach things that are necessary for real life☆! That’s more important than math equations!”
This woman, I mean, this person is really······. After chuckling at the sight of me grab my head as it was throbbing again, Saeyeon’s mom stood up and spoke.
“In any case, it’s good that you guys are studying hard, but you should continue after taking a break. I’ve peeled some fruits outside, so let’s continue after eating them together.”
“Wow! You’re the best, mom! Jjaro, let’s take a break for a bit, okay?”
······Seriously, this girl revives way too fast. I shook my head towards Saeyeon whose eyes were now shining brightly.
“No. At this rate, there’ll be a snag in our plan. Don’t even think about taking a break until you finish this worksheet.
“I-If I rest and get something to eat, then I’ll be able to concentrate more!”
This girl, she already has no intention to study······. Well, she didn’t earlier either.
“Dad, grandma went out of her way to peel fruits for us, so let’s continue after eating, okay?”
“That’s right, Jaro. You’re probably tired as well, so take a small break.”
“Jjaro······.”
I could only let out a sigh as they turned to look at me and spoke one by one.
“······Just 10 minutes.”
It’s really troubling since I’ve become such a good person now.
Ο
Ο
It has been 2 months since Jaim had arrived.
One month since the previous incident and a month had gone by since Saeyeon’s parents had returned from their trip. During those two months, my life had changed quickly. Towards a direction that I didn’t particularly want.
2 months ago, at the beginning of the semester, on the same night that Saeyeon’s parents departed on their one month trip to Europe because it was their 10 year wedding anniversary, I had to sleep while holding Saeyeon’s hand in order to calm her down since she was apparently too afraid to sleep by herself. Don’t think of something weird, we really slept while only holding hands.
On the very next day, there was a child sleeping like a log between me and Saeyeon.
Even though we should have slept while only holding hands.
Jin Jaim. Saeyeon’s and my daughter who had come from the future.
Although I want to attach ‘self-addressed’ in front of that, it doesn’t seem like that’s the case so it’s even scarier.
Even though time travel is the result of something unrealistic, the thing she wanted was way too simple. Because Saeyeon and I got into an argument in the future, which resulted in Saeyeon leaving and forcing Jaim to grow up in a household without a mom, Jaim went back in time in order to carry out her ‘Happy Family Planning’, a plan in which she intended to improve my relationship with Saeyeon and, as a result, create a happy family.
Although her method of accomplishing this was to simply make me and Saeyeon unite at a young age and force us between a rock and a hard place.
Nevertheless, at that point, I already didn’t like Saeyeon. I didn’t. If anything, I hated her.
Because I hated families. Because I didn’t need something like that.
Different to the me at that time, Saeyeon had a happy family.
Saeyeon’s mother who loved Saeyeon ever so dearly but had passed away when she was still little. Even though Saeyeon should just be her second marriage partner’s daughter, Saeyeon’s mom still loved her as if she were her own actual daughter. And Saeyeon, who liked me and had received that love as she grew up innocently.
I disliked it all. I didn’t need any of that. That’s why I broke Saeyeon. I made her listen to only me and made her stay as a young child who didn’t even know what the word ‘love’ meant on purpose.
After everything was revealed and as the result of the words ‘I have never seen you as a woman.’ being said, Jaim was infected with ‘information contamination’ which was a sickness that was derived from time traveling.
Jaim was placed in a situation where she suffered from the delusion that Saeyeon and I were knit together from a young age even though we didn’t want to be, and that we had fought constantly, hated her for having created that relationship of ours, ignored her, and abused her. Jaim was going to return to the future in that state. I wanted things to end like that.
However, I couldn’t leave my daughter who was hurt the same way as I was, who was going to be hurt like that because of me, by herself.
Well, for that reason, it has been approximately one month since I had negotiated with the dispatched time agent who was here to observe Jaim and take her back to the future if a problem were to occur, done whatever I could to somehow cure Jaim’s information contamination, and, while I was at it, prepared documents so that Jaim could stay here.
And Saeyeon’s parents then returned from their trip to Europe.
Honestly, it was mountain after mountain, I was even prepared for death.
But······.
“Jaim, say ah~.”
“Aaah~.”
“Oh, you’re so cute♡! Does it taste good?”
“Yeah! It’s great!”
“······.”
Even though one month had passed, I still had no idea what to say whenever I witnessed this. For starters, my head kept throbbing. My migraine has been getting worse lately.
Think about it.
You have an adorable daughter. You raised your kind, innocent, and angelic daughter with love and affection, and since a good opportunity had appeared, you suppressed your worry and left your daughter with your trustworthy neighbor in order to go on a one month trip overseas, a trip to Europe at that.
And then imagine being introduced to your granddaughter while your daughter has her arm linked with the boy next door the moment you come back home.
It would be a situation where it wouldn’t be strange to take the boy’s head and shout ‘I’ve slain the daughter thief!’.
But.
Saeyeon’s mom smiled warmly at the sight of Jaim filling her elastic cheeks with apples and chewing them happily.
“Really, Jaro and Saeyeon are quite capable. To have been able to create such a big and adorable daughter in just a month.”
······I’ve been thinking lately, but this might be the effect of that memory manipulator or some other future technology. Even though I explained it to her last time.
“Like I said before, she isn’t our daughter but a half-sibling that one of my crazy parents had. The reason she calls Saeyeon and I her mom and dad is because I decided to raise her like a parent would since I didn’t want her to also experience the same thing that I did with my parents.”
“Oh well.”
Is this an issue that can be resolved with just an ‘Oh well’?
Saeyeon’s mom answered cooly to my words that I had said with a sigh. Honestly, it might not be solely my fault that Saeyeon grew up to be this innocent.
Saeyeon’s mom smiled as she watched Saeyeon feed Jaim pears with her fork.
“In any case, it’s a relief that Jaro seems to also have feelings for Saeyeon. Honestly, this old lady was cheering for Saeyeon to get along well with the Jaro that she likes so much, but I also had my doubts.”
She’s still sharp when it comes to weird things like this. But,
“I told you that that isn’t the case. In the first place, I······.”
I froze and turned to the side the instant those words left my mouth, and as I expected, Saeyeon looked afraid while Jaim was looking at me as if she wouldn’t leave me alone if I weren’t careful with my words. Ehem, mm.
“······Well, it’s true that I said that I need Saeyeon······.”
“Yeah. That’s why I’m able to give my daughter away in marriage without any worry.”
“Really, mom······”
“She didn’t come here to get married, you know? She’s just living with me, you know?”
“What else can that be but being sent to get married? Or should I refer to it as one of our traditional cultures, minmyeonuri?”
(TL note: Minmyeonuri – A girl who is brought up by the family of the husband-to-be)
“You’re the one who sent her arbitrarily! I was also fired because of that!”
Once I shouted in response to Saeyeon’s mom who was smiling happily, Saeyeon’s mom spoke as if she didn’t know what I was talking about.
“You even proposed to Saeyeon by saying that you needed her, Jaro. You have a cute daughter as well, so a family should live together as a family, right? But you can’t possibly consider the act of living with your family as a job, right? It’s an obvious conclusion. Well, although we’ll probably have to wait until the two of you are adults for the wedding ceremony.”
“Like I said······.”
“Or, what? Do you not want to live with Saeyeon, Jaro?”
I wasn’t able to even finish my sentence.
Because Saeyeon’s mom’s smiling face changed into a cold one.
“Don’t tell me you laid your hands on our Saeyeon and made a daughter like this with no intention of taking responsibility?”
“Uu, t-that’s······.”
While I was hesitating due to the pressure of the glint in her eyes, Saeyeon’s mom spoke in a cold voice that was incomparable to before.
“Since I trust in Jaro who Saeyeon likes, I would like it if you didn’t tell me that you had laid your hand on our Saeyeon without any thought and resolve······. So, Jaro?”
I will actually die if I give her the wrong answer.
“L-Like I said, it’s too soon to live together, well it’s······.”
“Oh dear, is that what you meant? This old woman must have misunderstood.”
That must have roughly been the right answer as Saeyeon’s mom smiled brightly once more. That scared me to death······.
“But, as I thought, you have to live together from now on so that you can experience going through all the obstacles in life together, right? Moreover, there honestly isn’t much of a difference, is there? We live right next to each other, and the two of you have eaten and slept together a lot of times. Ah, I guess it’ll be a bit different now that you have a daughter.”
“I like living together with mom and dad, grandma!”
“See? Jaim also approves.”
Of course that brat would······. I was about to gnash my teeth, but I let out a sigh instead.
Yeah. It’s been a month. It’s been a month since Saeyeon and Jaim had started to flat out live in my house.
Saeyeon’s parents, who acknowledged Jaim’s existence much too easily, stated that families should naturally live together, so after concluding that Saeyeon will be living with me from now on, they actually sent her to my place after packing up some simple clothes.
Due to this, I’m on the brink of going bankrupt. Not only was half of my income cut, but the other half of my income decreased because my royalties wouldn’t sell, and the total amount consumed within my household had increased due to the number of mouths I had to feed increasing by two.
“Now then, since I know that Saeyeon and Jaim are doing all right, I think I’ll be heading home now. Saeyeon, Jaim, let’s have a girls talk again next time as well. Then, I’ll be off~.”
While I was having those thoughts, Saeyeon’s mom said her farewells to everyone except for me and disappeared through the front door. If someone else were here, then they might assume that she was going somewhere far away. Even though she only had to take five steps across the apartment hallway to reach her home.
In any case, our break is finished.
“Now then, it’s time to study again. Let’s go back to my room.”
“I’m sleepy······.”
“Don’t make me laugh! You said that you’ll be able to concentrate better if you eat something!”
“But······. It’s already late in the night······.”
With her eyes already half-closed, Saeyeon spoke while glancing at the clock hanging on the wall next to the dining table. It was currently 9:13 pm. Certainly, in Saeyeon’s standards, this was late in the night since she would normally get ready to go to sleep at 9.
“As long as I’m in charge of your studying, I’m not going to do this half-heartedly or let you off easy! Now, go and wash your face!”
Even though I had purposely spoken in a loud voice and clapped my hands in order to wake her up, Saeyeon simply rubbed her eyes and looked at me pitifully. This girl, she keeps acting like a spoiled child.
“Dad, don’t be like that and let’s just continue tomorrow, okay? How about fixing Multi with me tonight? I’m not tired. You’d prefer that more as well, right?”
“No. You saw it as well, didn’t you? The fact that Saeyeon is in a dangerous state. I’m saying goodbye to Multi until the exam. If you have enough time to be concerned about that, then you should cooperate as well.”
“As I thought, you’re sincerely concerned about mom, dad······. Uub!”
After blocking the mouth that was speaking nonsense, I pulled Saeyeon up as she rubbed her eyes and dragged her and Jaim to my room.
There’s nothing that hasn’t changed. That’s fine. That’s an obvious fact.
The issue is how I should feel about it.
Ο
