As the time gradually melted away with the Christmas special movies and animations playing,
a few minutes later, I felt Shiyeon’s movements stirring above me.
“Umm…”
It was a mumble, resembling sleep talk.
I shifted my gaze from the TV to Shiyeon.
From the slight lift of her head, it seemed she had woken up, but she still hadn’t fully opened her eyes.
Her appearance reminded me of a newborn animal, and I gently pinched her defenseless cheeks, feeling them like clay.
Though not as plump and bouncy as those of an elementary school student, they had a soft and sunken, clay-like feel.
After rubbing her cheeks several times with my palm, Shiyeon slowly opened her sleepy eyes.
After our gazes met, I was the first to speak.
“Are you awake? You were sleeping well.”
“Yawn… yeah.”
Rustling, Shiyeon got up from the sofa, her messy hair and yawn trailing behind her.
Even with her foggy mind, she nodded.
The pressure of two sacks of rice that had been pressing down on her body was gone.
The lingering warmth in the spot where the weight had been was present.
Since Shiyeon’s body is generally warm, the area we touched was damp with sweat, enough for her clothes to darken.
Leaving the moisture behind, I got up to solve the first meal that had been put off because Shiyeon had fallen asleep.
“Shall we have bread for breakfast?”
“Yeah…”
It was 1:05 PM on a holiday, just after waking up.
The time felt too lazy to prepare something grand.
Shiyeon’s attitude, nodding with a vibe of ‘anything is fine,’ suited the situation.
In line with that convenience, I took out a bag of bread from the freezer and arranged the slices evenly in the air fryer.
Squeezing mayonnaise carefully around the neatly laid-out edges to form a rectangle, I cracked one egg onto each slice of bread.
When the content of the cracked eggs slipped gently into the center without touching the mayonnaise, the eggs became trapped inside.
After repeating that process three times, I grabbed a fork and poked the yolks to break them, sprinkling a bit of salt and sugar evenly.
I closed the air fryer and set it to the highest temperature for about seven minutes without preheating.
When the timer rang, I didn’t take it out immediately but left it for about five minutes.
The remaining heat would finish cooking the eggs.
The mascots were gathered in my room, munching on snacks and daring not to interfere with the humans’ meal.
While fiddling with my smartphone, Shiyeon fully woke up.
Including the time she had spent on me after waking up, it must have been over 12 hours, so her mind probably cleared up quickly.
Maybe she heard the timer too, as she stealthily approached the air fryer, asking me.
“Is it done?”
“It needs to stay for another five minutes.”
After I answered her question, looking at my smartphone, I shifted my gaze to the clock on the screen.
1:16 PM.
Since I had set the timer for eight minutes, it would be ready around twenty minutes past one.
From her eager question, it seemed she was indeed hungry.
To relieve her hunger accurately, I picked a time to convey to her.
“I’ll take it out at 20 minutes.”
“Okay–”
After answering, she settled by the sink and began using her smartphone.
I took out the remaining vegetable buns from the fridge, placed them in a bowl, and put them in the microwave.
Assuming that we would each eat one, that would be two, needing about three minutes to heat.
The outer part would be too hot; however, to ensure the inside wasn’t cold, I needed to heat it for this long.
On this lazy Christmas holiday lunch table, whether it was lazy or not… it tasted great.
December was passing through, subtly drifting away.
Rudolph and Santa, a white Christmas decorated with red and green.
As the flashy commercial marketing faded away after Christmas.
Year of the Rabbit, Year of the Earth Dragon, Year of the Eul Sa.
Even if I wasn’t curious about which year it was, the new year animal marketing kept popping up for promotions.
Thinking it must be tough to do business, I lay on my bed.
‘It’s already the New Year.’
That dawn, transitioning from December 31st to January 1st.
At the moment the clock struck twelve.
Even though it was a time for a new year transition, it felt just like any other day.
…I thought that for just a moment.
While I was on my bed, in the middle of a game chat room, a message failed to send.
Is it a data issue? I thought, opening my search engine, yet the internet connected just fine.
It appeared that a massive amount of messages were being sent to commemorate the new year, causing the messenger app to become unable to send messages.
‘This can’t just stop….’
I took a step back from the conversation I had been immersed in and returned to reality.
I heard footsteps padding softly in the living room.
The only ones who walked softly at home were Shiyeon and me.
Did she come out for water? I thought, glancing towards the door….
Then, I heard the sound of the refrigerator opening with a creak.
‘Was dinner not enough?’
That thought crossed my mind as I observed Shiyeon’s actions.
Yet, it seemed like we had ordered oven chicken to celebrate the year’s end, indulging until we were full….
‘Should I make some late-night snacks?’
When that thought flitted through my mind, the door burst open.
The light switch turned on too quickly to confirm whether I was asleep.
“Ah…”
My eyes, accustomed only to the dim light, shut tightly, relying on the bright smartphone light.
Sudden brightness.
Memories of Gomtaengi shining a flashlight directly into my eyes during elementary school flashed through my mind.
“Surprise!”
“Ta-da!”
“Happy Birthday!”
As I barely managed to open one eye, naturally, what I saw and heard were the shapes and voices of Shiyeon and the mascots.
Surprise and congratulations, what was all this for?
In a baffling situation, I rose from the bed, trying to adjust my eyes to the light while blinking rapidly.
In Shiyeon’s two hands was a bright blue cake box symbolizing a franchise.
‘Ah.’
Only then did I suddenly recall that it was my birthday.
I should have gotten used to it by now, but January 1st didn’t feel like my birthday.
Who would understand this strange sensation, where my birthday didn’t feel like my own?
“Mary, happy birthday!”
“Oh, uh….”
A mix-up of embarrassment and surprise, with a delayed realization resulting in a dazed and lukewarm reaction.
If I had remembered it was my birthday, I could have even shown an exaggerated, surprised response….
Setting that regret aside, Shiyeon looked at me with satisfied rabbit-like eyes as she turned on the kitchen light and pulled out a chair, urging me to sit down.
“When did you prepare all this?”
“Hehe, surprised, right?”
As I rubbed Shiyeon’s proudly smiling cheeks, I asked.
Now that she had grown a bit older, her skills in hiding surprises had improved, unlike in her elementary school days.
When had she gone out to buy the cake that I had rejected on Christmas and stored it at home?
It was natural to be happy about Shiyeon growing up, whom I had raised like my own child since kindergarten, but it felt strange that her actions were increasingly moving beyond my expectations.
“Ta-da!”
With a joyful exclamation, Shiyeon pulled the cake out of the box, filled with anticipation.
The type of cake listed on the receipt was cookie and cream cake.
If you include the toppings, it was undoubtedly a certain brand, but it seemed they were marketing it indirectly due to the controversial nature of the product’s name.
“I remembered that you were eating those snacks last time!”
“Yeah, this might be pretty good….”
It was a cake that seemed relatively less sweet than the chocolate-covered ones.
As I admired Shiyeon’s choice, imagining the taste in my mouth, the two mascots near my head excitedly chimed in.
“Let’s hurry and slice it up!”
“It seems delicious!”
“Hey, aren’t we going to sing a birthday song?”
As the two little creatures urged on, Shiyeon asked, a bit sadly, why we weren’t going to sing the birthday song.
For me, it was more like a ‘do we have to?’ but if Shiyeon wanted to, it was a different story.
“Why, do you want to sing?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, just a moment….”
When I asked if she wanted to sing, Shiyeon nodded as if it was a given.
Thinking she retained a bit of a childlike side, I rummaged through the cake box.
Inside were thin candles and a little plastic knife for the cake, along with a small and adorable paper bag containing two matches.
I handed her the candles first, and the mascots helped by sticking them onto the cake one by one.
After checking that all were in place, I pinched the match between my thumb and index finger, quickly drawing it against the red part of the paper bag to ignite the tip.
When lighting the cake, the important things are speed and accuracy; if delayed, I might burn my fingers.
After moving the tiny flame from the match to the candles, I blew out the matchstick flame.
This signaled the start of the song.
“Alright, one, two, three—”
“Happy birthday to you—! Happy birthday to you!”
Afterward, as everyone knows, it’s time to say “I love you” and cheer while mentioning the name.
After the audience erupted into cheers and applause, the birthday person blows out the candles with a single breath; that’s how it ends.
After putting the extinguished candles back into the paper bag, the cutting ceremony commenced with a plastic knife that came with the cake, leading us to the cake tasting time.
Just as I thought, the chocolate taste wasn’t overwhelming, and it was addictive enough to allow us to each eat two pieces at our seats.
‘Looks like I can’t go to bed early tonight.’
Having stuffed cream, bread, and snacks like this in the early hours, I wouldn’t be able to lie down immediately.
Thinking I would have to digest leisurely and sleep around 2 AM, a vibration from my sweatpants pocket interrupted my thoughts.
‘Huh?’
The messenger app that had been dead seemed to have recovered; a series of vibrations came all at once.
With a fork still in my mouth from cutting the cake, I pondered whether there were any important messages and checked the app.
Among them were gift coupons sent by several school friends to celebrate my birthday.
The one that had been sent right at midnight was from none other than Taehyun.
It seemed like his message got lost amid the New Year wishes and just now arrived.
However, the content of that gift coupon was, coincidentally, cake.
‘Too late now.’
I appreciated the gesture, but with the messenger app explosion coinciding, it felt like a time-lagged gift.
For now, I sent a simple thank you reply, but no matter how much of a birthday it was, receiving two cakes felt a bit excessive.
What a shame; the honor of the first birthday cake of my life should go to Shiyeon.
What can I say? I’ll just have to use it when I crave something sweet.
