A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 177

177. [Side Story] The Children Grow Up Too Fast (1)

It was dismissal time for Class 1 of the first grade.

“Everyone, wake up early tomorrow morning and give the letters and carnations you made today to your parents, okay?”

“Yes!”

“And you have to listen to your mom and dad.”

“Yesss!”

The children answered the teacher’s reminder energetically.

Yena also carefully put the letter and carnation she made in class into her bag, tucked inside her textbook. She was very excited, thinking about how happy her mom and dad would be to receive the carnation.

“I’m home!”

“You’re back? My puppy.”

Yena, who came home with a bright face, paused at the quiet atmosphere in the house. Only her grandmother greeted Yena. Her mom wasn’t there.

“Grandma, where’s Mom?”

“Yena, she went to the hospital to have your sibling.”

“Why did she go already? She said it would be next week.”

“No one knows when a baby will be born. Our Yena also came a month early.”

“Why?”

“Well, maybe she wanted to see her mom’s face quickly?”

Grandma answered with a gentle smile, but Yena couldn’t smile like her grandmother.

“Then, is the baby born yet?”

“Not yet. It will take some time.”

“Then will it be born in the evening?”

“I don’t know yet. It could be born sooner, or it could take much longer.”

Yena became anxious at her grandmother’s ambiguous answer.

Even after going to the academy [after-school tutoring], having dinner, and playing around while watching TV, Yena occasionally became gloomy.

“Grandma, why aren’t Mom and Dad coming?”

“They said the baby isn’t born yet.”

“Why isn’t Shim Kung [literally ‘Heart Flutter,’ the baby’s nickname] coming out?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“Then aren’t Mom and Dad coming today?”

“They’ll be in the hospital for a few days. It’s hard for Mom to give birth to a baby, so she needs to get treatment at the hospital for a few days.”

Last April, Yena was so happy when Jeong-o said she would be taking a break from work for a while.

Although she didn’t show it, Yena had been envious of Dobin’s and Saebyeol’s families. It was amazing and like a dream that her mom would greet her when she came back from school and spend the whole day with her.

Because she had been so happy, she didn’t think much about the fact that a sibling would be born someday. Even while decorating the sibling’s room and saying that she was waiting for the sibling to be born, she doesn’t seem to have really felt anything.

Yena asked with a gloomy face.

“Then what about Dad?”

“Dad has to take care of Mom.”

“Then what about Yena?”

“Grandma will take care of our puppy.”

I wish Dad would take care of me instead of Grandma.

Yena pouted and turned away.

An hour later, Yena, tired of waiting, changed into her pajamas alone and came and asked tearfully.

“I have to go to bed now, but why isn’t Mom calling?”

“The baby isn’t born yet. Mom must be too tired to call.”

“Then what about Dad? Dad isn’t tired.”

“Dad is also busy taking care of Mom who is tired.”

Tears filled Yena’s eyes. Guksoon felt sorry for her, as she looked hurt as if she didn’t know that even her dad would forget about her.

“Let’s sleep together today with Grandma. Grandma will hug you.”

Guksoon took Yena’s hand and went to the room and spread out the bedding on the floor.

Yena, lying in her grandmother’s arms, opened her mouth again after a while.

“Grandma, I’m going to scold Shim Kung when she comes out.”

“Why are you trying to scold your sibling?”

“She’s making Mom too tired. Tomorrow is Parents’ Day.”

“…….”

“The teacher told me to put carnations on Mom and Dad tomorrow morning. But because of Shim Kung, I can’t see Mom and Dad tomorrow morning.”

Tomorrow is also an important day for Yena.

The first Parents’ Day that Yena, who had been without a dad for seven years, is having with her parents.

A child who is loved thinks as much about giving as they do about receiving. She must have kept thinking about her mom and dad’s faces when they saw the flower she made, so Guksoon hugged Yena even tighter, feeling sorry for how upset she must be to have to give up her expectations.

.*. *. *. *. *. *.

The next morning.

Jinseo, who had finally managed to put the third child, Dohee, who had been crying all night, to sleep, came out to the kitchen and sighed deeply at the sticky feeling in front of the counter.

And a bunch of wet wipes that she hadn’t been able to throw away. One empty bottle of yogurt in the trash can.

The culprit was obvious. He dreamed of a clumsy perfect crime, but made it even more troublesome.

“Park Dobin! Come here!”

Jinseo shouted at Dobin, who was nowhere to be seen. She couldn’t shout loudly because she was worried that Dohee would wake up.

Dobin approached with a bright expression, not even worried about being scolded by his mom.

“Why are you eating yogurt without eating breakfast? And why did you spill it here, why.”

“Because Mom bought yogurt.”

If Mom hadn’t bought yogurt, I wouldn’t have spilled yogurt there.

“Oh, how can I beat you [What am I going to do with you]?”

When Jinseo, who had given up, picked up a rag to wipe the sticky floor, Dobin suddenly held something out. Jinseo asked, twitching her eyebrows, with a sulky look.

“What is this.”

“A letter! I wrote it!”

“You wrote a letter? Park Dobin?”

“Yeah!”

Jinseo listlessly unfolded the letter, wondering what was going on.

– Mother, thank you for giving birth to me. But please give birth to a baby brother next time. Thank you. Father, thank you for earning money and playing with me. Happy Parents’ Day

Happy Parents’ Day. The letter ended awkwardly here.

Was it that hard to write one more ‘yo’ [a casual ending particle in Korean], son.

Jinseo burst out laughing at the child who proudly presented the letter that he hadn’t even finished properly. Actually, she was also touched.

Now I’m getting congratulated on Parents’ Day.

The son who made his mom anxious, wondering if he would adapt well to school and if he would only cause accidents every day, was surprisingly growing up little by little.

He’s still a troublemaker who secretly eats yogurt, spills it in the kitchen, and doesn’t clean up properly, but he was still growing up healthy and strong like an ordinary eight-year-old.

“Park Dobin, what accident did you cause again.”

Seunggyu, who recognized Jinseo’s expression that revealed her emotions, approached and asked.

Dobin didn’t answer the question, but quickly went to his room and came back with a paper flower this time.

“Dad, this!”

A bright red paper flower that looked like a presidential medal. Seunggyu flinched the moment he saw it.

“Carnation. I made it. Put it on here quickly.”

Dobin pointed to Seunggyu’s left chest and urged him.

“……Okay. Thank you, my son.”

“Put it on quickly.”

“Here. Is it done?”

Seunggyu showed Dobin after attaching the flower to the left chest of his shirt with a pin attached to the back of the paper flower.

“Ah, no, no.”

Dobin shook his head and brought the suit jacket that Seunggyu had placed on the living room sofa.

“You have to put it on here.”

Seunggyu attached the paper flower to his jacket without complaint.

“Dad, you have to keep wearing it at work. I’m going to video call you later. Okay?”

“……Okay.”

A penalty in the name of a gift.

Seunggyu was reminded of his father for the first time in a while. Seunggyu also made carnation paper flowers like this when he was young. And on Parents’ Day morning, he put the flower on his father’s chest.

His father was happy and wore the flower to work. But the flower was gone on the way home. He was secretly sad about that…… Now he felt like he could understand his father’s situation. People can only know as much as they have experienced.

.*. *. *. *. *. *.

“Yena!”

Dobin, who arrived at school early, went straight to Yena as soon as she came.

“Did you put flowers on your mom and dad?”

Yena somehow didn’t look good.

“No. Mom and Dad didn’t come home yesterday.”

“Why?”

“They went to have a baby.”

“Ah, then they won’t be able to come home today either?”

Dobin, who had experienced welcoming a sibling last March, understood right away.

“Was the baby born?”

“Yeah. Yesterday.”

“Then did you go to the hospital?”

“No. They told me to go after school later.”

“Why? I went to see my sibling on the day she was born.”

“They said I have to go to school.”

Tears welled up in Yena’s eyes. Dobin subtly changed the subject because she seemed very sad.

“Congratulations on having a sibling. Your sibling must be pretty.”

“No. She’s not pretty at all. Do you want to see her?”

Yena, who wiped the tears from her eyes, took out her cell phone from her bag and showed him a picture. The baby was wrapped like a silkworm in a green swaddle [a type of blanket used to wrap babies]. It was a picture she received from her dad in the morning.

While Dobin was carefully looking at the picture, Yena asked.

“Doesn’t it remind you of anything?”

“What does it remind me of?”

“It looks like the cabbage I saw in your grandmother’s yard last year.”

Yena, who couldn’t see her sibling in a good light, said with a sullen expression.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. So I told Grandma to name her Cabbage.”

“Cabbage? Then Jeong Cabbage?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s funny, Jeong Cabbage.”

Dobin chuckled. Yena felt good because Dobin responded to her.

“Then people will make fun of your sibling. They’ll keep making fun of her every time they eat kimchi [a traditional Korean side dish made from fermented vegetables]. Jeong Cabbage, don’t eat kimchi!”

But as Dobin went further and predicted what would happen later, her laughter disappeared. It was okay for me to make fun of my sibling, but I didn’t think I would feel good if someone else made fun of my sibling.

As if reading her mind, Dobin suggested a different perspective.

“I think she’s prettier than cabbage.”

“…….”

“Look at it again. She’s prettier than cabbage, right?”

“……A little.”

“Yeah. And I know this because I’ve had two siblings, but she gets prettier after a few nights. She will too.”

Because I’ve had them?

Dobin’s words were a little strange, but somehow Yena felt more mature than ever. Yena regretted making fun of her sibling for a while. She decided that she should no longer be sullen and welcome her sibling, who would soon become prettier.

.*. *. *. *. *. *.

After school, Yena went straight to the hospital with Guksoon.

Yena was excited in many ways. At the thought of seeing her sibling. And at the thought of giving flowers and letters to her mom and dad.

“Princess Yena!”

Jiheon was out in the hospital lobby.

“Daddy!”

Yena ran to Jiheon and hugged him. Jiheon, who lifted Yena up, asked Yena.

“Yena, were you upset that Dad didn’t come yesterday?”

The baby was born last night after Yena fell asleep. He called Guksoon in the middle of the night to tell her the news, and Guksoon told him that Yena was very upset.

“Yeah. Dad didn’t even call.”

“I’m sorry. Mom was sick, so I couldn’t contact you because I was watching her. Can Yena understand?”

“Yeah.”

Yena nodded vigorously. If Dad said he was sorry, she could definitely understand.

“Where’s the baby?”

“She’s in the room now. The nurse took her to the room.”

Yena’s heart beat faster at her dad’s answer.

“Yena will be able to hold her sibling too.”

“Really? Can I hold her?”

“Of course. You can hold her carefully.”

When her sibling was in her mom’s belly, Yena also talked to her sibling a lot. Shim Kung, come out quickly and play with your sister, she had encouraged her a lot, and now she was finally able to hold her sibling herself.

Yena’s steps quickened on their own. Yena grabbed Guksoon and Jiheon’s arms and reached the hospital room at a fast pace. As she approached the door of the hospital room with her mom’s name on it, she heard the baby’s loud cries.

Yena opened the door with a bright smile.

“Mom!”

“Princess Yena is here?”

Jeong-o raised her head and greeted Yena while soothing her second child.

However, the bright smile that had spread across Yena’s face disappeared.

Even though she had vowed not to be sullen anymore, she couldn’t say anything else when she saw her mom holding and soothing the crying cabbage.

“……Mom, put the baby down quickly.”

Yena’s voice was also full of tears.