Chapter 26

“Uweh?”

I opened my eyes. My head hurt. I didn’t drink much, but this headache was something else. This body’s alcohol tolerance was clearly garbage. Looking around, no one was there. Ha-yeon seemed to have already woken up. I got out of bed and opened the door.

In the living room, Ha-yeon was watching TV. She always had the news on. To me, the news was boring and uninteresting.

Every day, it was the same old stories about politicians fighting, cursing, and repeating things I didn’t even want to know. Not that the news was bad, but the more I watched, the worse it felt for my mental health. It was always so negative.

“Ha-yeon, you’re up?”

“Yeah! Mom, you woke up super late!”

I looked at the clock. It was 11 AM. The sun was already high in the sky. I panicked and asked Ha-yeon, “Are you hungry? Should I make you something to eat?”

Dori-dori—

Ha-yeon shook her head side to side, as if she didn’t want to eat. I could tell why. Looking at the bowl on the table, I figured she had already eaten. Probably cereal. That was a relief. Even if no one made food for her, Ha-yeon could take care of herself.

I’d heard that kids couldn’t eat unless someone prepared food for them, but Ha-yeon was different. She was small, so her movements were a bit limited, but she ate just fine on her own. She was mature enough that I could trust her to be home alone.

“Hmm…”

It was the weekend, so I didn’t have much to do. I didn’t have any plans, and all I had was hanging out with Ha-yeon. Without friends, there wasn’t much else for me to do. Once Ha-yeon grew up and became independent, I’d probably live a very lonely life.

To avoid that, I worked hard at my part-time job. My small circle of connections—my boss and the ladies at work—were precious to me. If Ha-yeon ever became independent, the only people I’d know would be my boss and those ladies. That didn’t sound great.

I sat at the table and opened my household ledger. The ledger had traces of my pen marks, carefully written. Since I was raising a child, I received government support. And every month, I could buy rice cheaply at the community center.

10kg for less than 10,000 won. It was a price that would shock others. There was a lot of support for households with a woman and a child. Honestly, if I didn’t overspend, the money I earned from my part-time job would be enough to live on. I could even save.

There were also various childcare supplies provided, and the biggest help was probably the ongoing government support.

Of course, I also deposited the insurance money. But the interest was so low that even if I deposited 100 million won, the annual interest would only be about 3 million won. Plus, there was additional income tax on that interest.

Still, I could hold out until Ha-yeon became a middle schooler. No, even until she became an adult. Assuming I kept working part-time, that is.

With that, I finished updating the ledger for today. There weren’t many expenses from yesterday. I had dinner covered by the company dinner, and I bought a few snacks Ha-yeon wanted.

Closing the ledger, I looked at Ha-yeon. She was still engrossed in the news. Don’t little kids usually like cute characters in animations? Ha-yeon seemed different.

I naturally moved next to Ha-yeon. Right on cue, she switched to a children’s animation.

“Mom, let’s watch together!”

“Okay!”

I sat there, mouth slightly open, staring at the animation. For something made for kids, it was pretty entertaining. The characters made me want to collect merchandise. I heard they sold merchandise for those characters…

After the animation ended, I turned to Ha-yeon.

“Ha-yeon, want to go to the department store?”

I wanted to go to the department store with Ha-yeon. Seeing my enthusiasm, Ha-yeon nodded happily.

“Okay!”

I thought I’d buy Ha-yeon some spring and summer clothes. I didn’t feel like buying clothes for myself, but I had to get some for Ha-yeon. She was growing so fast that it was noticeable every year.

—

“Mommy and shopping~”

Ha-yeon was in such a good mood that she held my hand tightly and hummed a tune. Don’t kids usually sing nursery rhymes? Ha-yeon was singing a girl group’s song. Maybe she just liked girl group songs. I decided to think that way.

We took the escalator and arrived at the clothing store. Since it was the floor for kids’ clothes, there were many parents with children like us. I looked around, searching for clothes that would suit Ha-yeon.

Ha-yeon also looked around with me.

Then, I found a decent clothing store. The design had an animation character right in the center. I really liked it. This kind of outfit would definitely make Ha-yeon look stylish. I asked her, “Ha-yeon, how about this one?”

“Mommyyy…”

Judging by her expression, it was a failure. Ha-yeon rarely made such a displeased face. Taking her reaction as a lesson, I suggested other clothes. But Ha-yeon just shook her head firmly. As a mom, I felt ashamed for not knowing her taste.

So, I started looking for a store Ha-yeon might like. Since we were at the department store, I had to buy her clothes. The ones from last year didn’t fit anymore. She could still wear them if forced, but it would be uncomfortable.

The sleeves would be too short to cover her arms, and the pants would be so short they’d look like capris. I asked Ha-yeon, “Is there something you want to buy?”

“Yeah!”

Ha-yeon grabbed my hand and led me to another store. It wasn’t the animation character clothes I had seen earlier. It didn’t seem like something kids would like. It was stylish, but lacked other points. Though, it might suit an adult woman…

But Ha-yeon seemed to think differently.

“Mom, how about this?”

Ha-yeon held up the clothes and checked them against her body. Honestly, I liked the previous ones better. They showed her innocence and childlike charm. But Ha-yeon seemed to like these.

It was better to buy what Ha-yeon liked, not what I liked. After all, she was the one wearing them, not me. And even if I bought clothes based on my taste, if Ha-yeon didn’t like them, it would be a waste. The clothes would just sit in the closet, unworn.

“Okay, let’s get that!”

“Mom, you’re the best!”

In the end, we bought clothes, but according to Ha-yeon’s taste. She didn’t compromise at all when it came to her preferences. Well, it didn’t make sense to compromise on something like taste.

With bags full of clothes, we took the escalator to head home. But then, something caught my eye.

“Ti… Tiny Ping!”

It was merchandise from the animation we watched this morning. I walked over to the display, mesmerized. Since it was the kids’ floor, there were so many things I liked. There was a cute character figurine on display. I stared at it, mouth slightly open.

If only I could put that on our table at home… It would look great as a display.

I glanced at Ha-yeon. She didn’t seem interested. So, I decided to hold back my tears and walk away. The price tag under Tiny Ping also hurried my steps. The price was outrageous for such a small toy. It was enough to buy half a year’s worth of rice.

Then, Ha-yeon spoke up.

“Mom. Can you buy me just this one?”

Ha-yeon opened the door. I nodded enthusiastically.

“Of course!”