A Child Who Resembles Me [EN]: Chapter 182

182. [Side Story] Stay by My Side Forever (2)

Did he see? Did I get caught?

Kook-soon’s tense lips felt parched.

After a long pause, Ji-heon asked,

“How are you feeling? Are you alright?”

“Uh… yeah. I’m fine. I was a little tired, but I feel better now.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Ji-heon nodded at Kook-soon’s answer, which concealed the truth. She thought she would be embarrassed if she got caught, but she had gotten away with it. Kook-soon secretly sighed in relief.

After that, her son-in-law’s attitude didn’t change. However, Kook-soon’s heart grew heavier as time passed. Even if her daughter didn’t notice, there was no way her perceptive son-in-law wouldn’t realize she was hiding something.

Eventually, Kook-soon spoke up first.

“…You’re not asking me anything.”

As she subtly brought it up, she saw her son-in-law’s eyes flicker as if she had been caught.

Ji-heon really didn’t know what to say. He had clearly seen Kook-soon doing something in the kitchen a few days ago.

But Kook-soon seemed so surprised and eager to hide it that Ji-heon thought it was best to pretend he didn’t notice.

Kook-soon was relieved. She had tested him properly. She had been unnecessarily worried about what her son-in-law might think, whether he had noticed or was just pretending not to, but she felt relieved after bringing it up.

“I was doing this.”

Kook-soon opened her video channel and showed him the content she had created.

Ji-heon took the phone from Kook-soon and scanned the screen, his eyes widening.

“You made this, Mother? You started your own channel?”

“My cooking class friends set it up for me. I couldn’t do it alone.”

Kook-soon shyly confessed everything.

“The day before yesterday, I was trying to film at home alone for the first time, since I had only filmed at the cooking school.”

“You have over 400 subscribers.”

“It’s amazing how it goes up a little bit every day. I was going to talk about it in about three months. I thought it would be something to be proud of by then.”

“400 is really impressive.”

Ji-heon continued to look through the content as he spoke.

Ji-heon had only realized that his mother-in-law was trying to create content. He was even more surprised because he didn’t expect that she was already running a channel and had gathered over 400 subscribers in just a month.

Ji-heon seemed to be getting excited.

“If you’re okay with it, Mother, I’ll make you a studio.”

“Oh, no. It’s not a job, it’s just a hobby.”

Kook-soon waved her hand at Ji-heon’s suggestion.

“If you try to make it too serious, I’ll feel pressured and won’t be able to do it.”

“…”

“The cooking school lets me film sometimes, and my twenty-year-old classmates all help me, so I’m just doing it for fun.”

*I don’t want to ruin my mother’s happiness. But she definitely has the potential to become more famous. I’m sure she’ll receive more love.*

Ji-heon opened his mouth with a serious expression.

“Mother, let me be realistic. Now that your recipes are online, the content is bound to become a commodity. If you continue to be active, you will naturally become more famous, and then people might covet your product.”

“…”

“If you don’t care about that, I won’t say anything… but frankly, your talent is too good to waste.”

Selfishness was inevitably mixed into his rational advice. Now, Lee Kook-soon was a very precious member of Ji-heon’s family.

“Since you’re going to become famous anyway, I thought it would be better to do it properly.”

“…”

“It’s the same with advertising. Advertising ideas are important, but so is the image. If it looks clean and the quality is good, people will watch it more intently.”

Kook-soon’s expression became solemn at Ji-heon’s words. Kook-soon was also hesitant.

“Anyway, that’s just my opinion. Don’t feel too pressured, and think about it.”

Ji-heon didn’t persistently persuade her and got up from his seat right away. Now it was up to Kook-soon to choose.

But now that he knew about Kook-soon’s channel, he couldn’t just sit still. After pressing the subscribe button, Ji-heon watched Kook-soon’s videos intently from the beginning.

It was as fun as he had expected, no, even more so. It wasn’t just because of Lee Kook-soon’s unique cooking methods. It was heartwarming content.

It felt like being comforted by his mother’s voice after coming home from work. In fact, Kook-soon’s voice, which contained the emotion that Ji-heon had never felt from Young-mi before marriage, had a special power.

He couldn’t just sit still. Ji-heon decided to put his *chujinlyeok* [drive and initiative] to work. He thought that if he prepared a studio and showed it to her, Kook-soon wouldn’t be able to resist.

And to do everything, he needed his wife’s approval.

Ji-heon eventually confessed the truth to Jeong-oh.

Jeong-oh was even more surprised than Ji-heon after checking Kook-soon’s channel.

“…Mom made this?”

“She’s really good, right? She’s already a professional creator.”

“So, Mom has been in such a good mood because of this?”

*Mom wasn’t trying to leave me!*

Jeong-oh was relieved in another way. While Jeong-oh clicked through the channel’s videos one by one, Ji-heon said,

“I think it would be nice to have a studio for Mother.”

“Yes! We should! Let’s actively support her!”

And so, the couple began a special conspiracy. But they decided to make it seem like Ji-heon was doing everything. Since Kook-soon hadn’t told Jeong-oh yet, Jeong-oh decided to stay quiet.

“I won’t act like I know for now. I’ll wait until Mom tells me herself.”

* * * * * * *

A few days later.

Kook-soon, who had gone to the cooking school to learn video editing, got up from her seat an hour later. Ji-heon had called her urgently. He needed to buy a gift for Jeong-oh and needed Kook-soon’s help.

For Kook-soon, who always stepped up for her daughter’s affairs, her son-in-law’s request was a pleasant one.

“Kook-soon, you’re leaving early today.”

“Yes, my son-in-law said he needs my help. He said I need to go somewhere with him.”

She didn’t say who her son-in-law was, but she enjoyed subtly bragging like this. At Kook-soon’s boast, her classmates encouraged her, asking if she was going on a date with her son-in-law, and Kook-soon barely managed to shake off their farewells, so she was a little late for her appointment.

Ji-heon was waiting outside the school. Kook-soon got into Ji-heon’s car and greeted him.

“I’m sorry. Did you wait long?”

“No, I just arrived.”

Ji-heon replied briefly and immediately drove off.

Ji-heon led her to a place not far from home. It was a shopping mall with clothing stores, so she naturally thought they were going to buy clothes, but Ji-heon went up to the second floor of the building.

Ji-heon, who had walked ahead quickly, stood in front of a door with a door lock.

When the door opened, a wonderful space like a small restaurant appeared. Kook-soon’s eyes widened.

“…What is all this?”

“It’s your studio, Mother.”

The bright, open space with plenty of sunlight had a large wooden cooking table and a spacious dining table that could accommodate three or four adults.

All sorts of cooking utensils were neatly arranged on the cooking table, and a camera was installed on top of it.

“How do you like it? If there’s anything you don’t like, I’ll fix it.”

Kook-soon blinked her moist eyes.

“Did you prepare all this, Ji-heon?”

“…Yes.”

Of course, Jeong-oh had done most of the studio setup, but he had repeatedly warned her not to tell anyone, so she had to hide the truth.

“Mother. And this is our apron.”

Before she could ask more questions, Ji-heon handed Kook-soon an apron and put on his own apron. It was a couple apron, just like at home.

“I’ll be your assistant today, Mother.”

Kook-soon stood there, unable to say anything or react. It was the first time in her life she had received such a big gift. It was too much of a gift for just doing a hobby, but she couldn’t refuse a gift that had already been prepared.

And she also knew that her son-in-law would accept any gift she gave him without hesitation. So he would want her to accept it without hesitation as well.

He would be happy if she accepted it happily.

“Ah… what should I make… what should I do?”

Kook-soon wiped away her tears and stood in front of the cooking table. Meanwhile, Ji-heon adjusted the camera angle.

Kook-soon thought about what food to make and looked around again. After carefully examining the placement of the cooking utensils and the interior, she was able to confirm.

*This is our daughter’s handiwork.*

She had often seen her daughter looking at something on her phone and pondering. She had been worried that something was on her mind, but her daughter had been making a studio.

*Our daughter knew everything but pretended not to know. Waiting for me to tell her myself.*

Her throat tightened as she guessed the truth.

“Does our son-in-law like *yakbap* [sweet rice with nuts and jujubes]?”

“Yes, he loves it.”

“Then shall we make that?”

She wanted to make *yakbap*, which her family loved, and take it home.

Kook-soon put on her apron, washed her hands, and began filming after clearing her throat.

“Today, our son-in-law is going to be my assistant.”

“Hello. I’m son-in-law Jeong.”

“Our son-in-law has a nice voice, right? He looks even better in person. I want to brag about his looks, but let’s respect our son-in-law’s privacy.”

Perhaps she was born to be filmed, she felt relaxed and excited once the recording started. The two of them always worked well together, so the filming was completed without much trouble.

“I’ll do the editing. I’m still learning, so I’ll be lacking, but I’ll study hard to be able to do it skillfully.”

“No, I’ll do it.”

Ji-heon volunteered to do the editing, but Kook-soon refused.

“It’s fun to learn these things. I’ll ask questions about what I don’t know and do it myself. Thank you.”

The two of them packed up the *yakbap* they had made together and went home.

When Kook-soon returned home, she told Jeong-oh everything that had happened. Jeong-oh, who had made a firm promise with Ji-heon, acted as if she had only learned of Kook-soon’s secret today, but her acting was a little clumsy.

Kook-soon couldn’t help but laugh at her daughter’s acting.

“You decorated the kitchen, didn’t you?”

“You recognized it?”

“I’m your mother, how could I not recognize it?”

Jeong-oh smiled awkwardly.

“I’m sorry for pretending not to know.”

“I’m more sorry for hiding it all this time.”

“…”

“Thank you. To our Jeong-oh, and to our Ji-heon. Thank you so much.”

And then came the peace without secrets again.

“Mom, even if you become famous, you have to live with me. Okay?”

Jeong-oh clung to Kook-soon’s arm and acted spoiled.

When Kook-soon didn’t answer right away, Jeong-oh protested as if she was getting impatient.

“Answer me quickly. Are you going to live with me or not?”

“Where would I go?”

Hehe.

Stay by my side forever.

Jeong-oh, who was always Lee Kook-soon’s little baby, held her mother’s arm and rubbed her face against it for a long time, just like Ye-na.

In the meantime, Kook-soon’s phone vibrated. It was a text message from a cooking school classmate.

– Kook-soon! I saw the video you uploaded! But did your son-in-law help you? Why is your son-in-law’s voice so nice? It’s totally awesome!!”