As I shared various stories about school, it was already 1:40 PM.
When my stomach let out a rumble, my sister Jiun checked the time.
“Oh, has it already gotten this late?”
Startled while lying in the living room, Jiun quickly sat up.
She grabbed the thin jacket that had been carelessly left on the floor and hurriedly searched for her smartphone and wallet.
I wondered if she had an appointment as Shiyeon and I stared at her intently.
“Have you both not had lunch yet? Let’s go out together.”
Out of the blue, she suggested going to have lunch.
It wasn’t just a casual “Shall we go out?” but a firm invitation of “Let’s go out.”
With no option to decline, and since it wasn’t a bad idea after all, I began to gather my things.
Could it be that she was so frantic because she missed lunch?
A bit later, while standing in the shared entrance of the adjacent apartment, a bright yellow van rolled into the complex.
The name of the kindergarten was proudly written on the van’s door.
Ah, it was Juwon’s pick-up time.
Right, she wouldn’t be in such a rush just because she missed lunch…
Reflecting on having treated my life senior as a woman obsessed with lunch, I welcomed Juwon as he bounded out of the van.
Energetically hopping out of the car, Juwon ran up to his mom, excited to say his first words.
“I’m back!”
“Hello, Juwon-”
The cheerful kindergarten teacher waved at him with a smile from inside the car.
Seeing that, Jiun grabbed Juwon’s shoulders, turning him towards the car as she said,
“You should greet the teacher.”
“Goodbye-”
Juwon bowed politely as he greeted her.
As the kindergarten teacher exchanged warm pleasantries with Juwon, she glanced over at us and, with a slightly surprised expression, asked Jiun,
“Do you have older daughters like this, Juwon’s mom?”
“They’re my nephews, like daughters to me.”
Responding to that question, Jiun pulled us in tightly with both arms as if to boast to the teacher.
In technical terms, they’re just someone else’s kids, but as for intimacy, there’s hardly any difference between the two families.
Unable to explain it verbally, Jiun expressed it as “like daughters.”
“Oh, I see, wow… I’m surprised.”
Hearing her response, the teacher’s surprised expression shifted to one of understanding, hinting at her thoughts mixed with amazement.
‘To have a high schooler at her age…’
I simulated in my head what kind of assumptions the kindergarten teacher might have made.
If I assumed she had two high school students in her early to mid-thirties, that would mean having a child as early as middle school, at the latest around high school.
That would be beyond just a reckless speed; it’s essentially a mistake or just forgetting to hit the brakes.
It wasn’t an unreasonable reaction.
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, take care-”
As the brief adult exchanges ended, a loud sound of a door closing echoed, and the bright yellow van drove away from the apartment complex.
In front of the shared entrance remained a kindergarten student, two high schoolers, and one adult.
Jiun turned to Juwon and asked,
“Is there anything you want to eat, Juwon?”
Being a motherly figure, she left the decision for lunch to Juwon, who had already eaten at kindergarten.
But isn’t human greed never-ending?
“Umm…”
Juwon seemed to be pondering that.
Reflecting on it, at his age of kindergarten, it’s still a time where one can be true to their desires.
Even if they’re full, if asked what they want to eat, they would answer honestly without hesitation.
Deciding the lunch menu as a little bundle of greed, Juwon declared…
“Pizza!”
Exactly, pizza.
Given our household where we often have to stretch one pizza over two days, it’s one of those foods we seldom eat.
Recently, smaller frozen pizzas had become common, so it wasn’t something we typically ordered.
After hearing Juwon’s bold answer after some deliberation, Jiun turned to us, alternating her questions.
“Pizza? How about pizza, guys?”
“Sounds good!”
“There’s no denying that.”
In contrast to Shiyeon’s honesty about liking it, I attempted to articulate my agreement in a rather sophisticated manner, knowing I wasn’t in a position to dispute it since I was getting a free meal.
Holding Juwon’s hands, Jiun swung him on a swing and chatted about how Juwon would have to go to school in a couple of years, as we arrived at the local pizza place.
We ordered a total of two pizzas.
One was a bulgogi pizza, a common choice with almost universally good reviews.
The other was a gold chicken tender pizza topped with sweet potato mousse, which Shiyeon liked.
“When will it come out?”
“You’ll have to wait a little bit.”
“How long?”
“About 10 minutes?”
As we waited for our order, time passed as I chatted with the curious Juwon, who wanted to know everything.
Though I was of the same age at that time, I had the experience of speaking with Shiyeon, so I was somewhat of a pro in taking care of kids.
With the ability to match their speech patterns, I had naturally absorbed that skill.
“Sister! Look at this!”
“What is it?”
Juwon proudly displayed his smartphone, clutching it tightly in both hands.
It seemed Jiun had already guessed what he was showing, as she made a face of disdain and remarked toward me,
“He’s been making a fuss about some game lately; you should intervene.”
“Game?”
The mention of a game made my eyes light up.
That’s my specialty.
The screen Juwon proudly showed off was a first-person shooter game.
However, it seemed closer to a sandbox game with high freedom than a well-made shooting game.
So kids these days play games like this.
Not knowing what he wanted to show off, I was just responding appropriately while looking at the screen when the owner of the store popped out of the kitchen.
Since delivery was their main product, there were only three tables in the shop.
Those two pizzas filled that small table to the brim.
“Pizza is ready-”
“Juwon, put your phone away.”
Parents generally can’t stand seeing their kids using smartphones at the table.
No matter how much time passes, that never changes, and for Juwon, who was finishing up a game, there was a tantalizing game before him.
Despite being told to put his phone away, Juwon wore a pained expression, fixated on the screen.
“Just a moment…”
“Are you going to say ‘just a moment’ again?”
Of course, from the parents’ perspective who don’t play games, they generally disapprove of their children playing games, especially when there’s a repeated ‘just a moment’ being thrown out.
Seeing Jiun’s intention to snatch the phone from Juwon, I intervened.
I fully understood that nothing was sadder than your game abruptly turning off mid-session.
Standing up for Juwon this time, I subtly pushed Jiun’s arm away.
“It’ll take just 3 minutes, 3 minutes.”
“You were supposed to be stopping him…”
“It’s that the game can’t be paused.”
“Ugh, do as you like.”
With a sigh tinted with resignation, Jiun finally gave in to the agreed-upon 3 minutes.
When whatever game he was playing ended and the results screen appeared, Juwon finally handed over his smartphone.
With the phone placed down, I naturally passed it to Jiun as if it were the most normal thing to do.
What a well-behaved kid to have.
Finally, we began tasting the pizza after a slight delay.
The pizza, just cooling down enough to be grab-able with our hands right after coming from the oven, was a fulfilling and delicious lunch thanks to the blessing of flour and cheese.
Just when we were about to go home, Jiun stopped us.
“Since we’ve eaten, let’s do one thing.”
“Huh?”
Before we could even ask what it was, Jiun naturally guided us and had us hop into the car.
Of course, there are no free meals in this world.
The destination we arrived at was the department store we had visited the day before.
After all, it wasn’t easy for a three-member household with adult women, and even adult men, to carry a week’s worth of groceries in one go.
That’s why we were given pizza to fill our stomachs and to serve as haulers.
“When my husband comes back, he’ll be exhausted, and I can’t have Juwon carry the bags.”
“Well, that’s true.”
I replied, glancing at Juwon in the back seat, who was fiddling with his smartphone.
Maybe in ten years, that would have been one thing, but I couldn’t have that little one carrying groceries.
From the backseat, Juwon’s voice chimed in, sounding somewhat annoyed.
“Aw, come on!”
“If you think you can just order it online, it’s not that simple because you have to actually see the vegetables and fish to feel safe about it.”
Regardless of that, Jiun seemed unable to trust fresh products like vegetables or fish bought online.
She was the type of person who needed to see things for herself, even if it meant bringing someone along.
In fact, I could empathize with that…
With articles referring to ‘the meat delivered from the internet being all fat!’, it seemed almost a monthly occurrence.
“Since we made it to the mart, should I ask Juwon for a toy? Hehe.”
“A toy?”
At the mention of the word toy, Juwon perked up and exclaimed as he lifted his head from his smartphone.
Oh no, there was another intention behind this.
“What would our Juwon want to have~?”
With a teasing tone, Jiun asked.
Today’s toys often cost tens of thousands of won.
Even so, they were undoubtedly pricey, so I quickly racked my brain.
‘What could it be…?’
Items that kids would be more interested in than toys…
Damn, was there no sharp idea?
Then, I suddenly noticed the smartphone in Juwon’s hands.
Given the negative perception of parents towards games, it was something they would have never gotten for him.
“Juwon, would you like me to buy you a gift card?”
