Chapter 3

Whoooosh—

The cold winter wind blew. Ha-yeon, feeling the chill, clung to my side and wouldn’t let go. Maybe I should’ve bought her a warmer padded jacket. I usually don’t hold back when it comes to buying clothes for Ha-yeon, but I still felt bad for not paying more attention.

Over the past five years, I’ve grown really attached to Ha-yeon. She’s the only one I’ve been with since I became a woman. Apart from playing with Ha-yeon, I don’t have many other memories. It’s natural, though, since I’ve never seen anyone else besides her.

To fill the void left by my husband, I played with Ha-yeon even more. Luckily, Ha-yeon didn’t seem to mind her father’s absence. Some kids cry and look for their parents if one of them isn’t around, but not her.

“Mom, it’s cold!”

“Yeah? Come behind me! I’ll block the wind for you.”

I tried to get Ha-yeon to stand behind me, but she just clung to my side again.

“No! I want to stay next to you!”

I don’t know why, but Ha-yeon didn’t want to leave my side. It didn’t matter much, though. Even if the winter wind was cold, it wasn’t enough to give us a cold.

I wasn’t too worried since I’d dressed her warmly. Besides, we weren’t going to stay outside for long. Once we got inside the kindergarten, it’d be warm.

And so, we arrived at the kindergarten. I chose the one closest to our house because I didn’t want Ha-yeon to get tired from traveling too far.

Whether it’s school or work, the closer, the better. People in Seoul spend 2-3 hours commuting, living a hellish life. I didn’t want to teach Ha-yeon that kind of lifestyle.

[Sunflower Kindergarten]

“Hmm…”

The name was pretty ordinary. Holding Ha-yeon’s hand, I walked into the kindergarten. I saw a teacher standing in the hallway. I could’ve mistaken her for a parent, but luckily, she had a name tag that said “Teacher.” If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference.

“Hello, Teacher.”

The teacher looked at us and said, “Hello~ Are you perhaps her older sister?”

This was the kind of reaction I always got when I was with Ha-yeon. I’m 20, and Ha-yeon is 6. In Korea, it’s easy to mistake us for sisters. Plus, I look a bit younger than 20. So whenever I walked around with Ha-yeon, people thought we were sisters, not mother and daughter.

Whenever I said I was her mom, people would look at me and Ha-yeon with surprise.

“No, I’m here as Ha-yeon’s parent today…”

“P… Parent?”

The teacher’s eyes widened. I understood her reaction. Physically, I wasn’t Ha-yeon’s birth mother. Her parents were someone else. But according to the novel’s description, the protagonist’s parents never appeared.

Whether they died or abandoned Ha-yeon, I shook off those thoughts and said to the teacher, “Yes, I’m Ha-yeon’s mom.”

“Ah, okay. Please come this way.”

And so, Ha-yeon and I entered the office.

“Over here…”

The teacher explained everything very kindly. Even someone as clueless as me could understand. I glanced at Ha-yeon, who seemed uninterested, just closing her eyes beside me.

After about 30 minutes of the teacher’s explanation, it was time to send Ha-yeon off. I hoped she’d get along well with the other kids. She’s mature for her age, so I thought she’d do fine.

“Ha-yeon, shall we go with the teacher?”

“Waaaaah! No! Mom!”

But Ha-yeon, who’s usually so mature, suddenly acted like a little kid. Seeing her cry so hard about leaving the kindergarten broke my heart. I hugged her tightly. Ha-yeon buried her face in my chest and said, “I don’t want you to leave, Mom!”

“Ha-yeon…”

Seeing her like this made me weak, but I couldn’t just leave her alone at home all day. I had no one to look after her while I went to my part-time job at the café. And I couldn’t just quit the job either. Money was running out faster, so I had to work to make ends meet.

But I didn’t want to send Ha-yeon away either. I felt like crying, and Ha-yeon was already in tears.

The teacher, who was watching us, looked troubled. While Ha-yeon and I were having our emotional moment, the teacher must’ve been in an awkward position. Sure, as a kindergarten teacher, she’s seen this kind of thing before, but it’s still awkward.

So the teacher came over and said, “Ha… Ha-yeon’s mom. Even if you’re sad, you can’t act like this. You’ll only be apart for 6 hours. And it’s not just today—you’ll have to be apart on weekdays too. You can’t hold Ha-yeon in your arms forever, right?”

“Th… That’s true…”

She was right. As Ha-yeon grows, she’ll need to become more independent. I can’t keep her under my skirt forever. And at 6 years old, she’s old enough to start being apart from her parents.

I looked at Ha-yeon and said, “Ha-yeon, can you wait just 6 hours? I can’t take care of you all the time, so you’ll have to be strong for me.”

“But…”

“You’re smart, so you’ll listen to me, right?”

“Mm…”

Ha-yeon seemed to sense my firmness and stopped whining. I handed her over to the teacher and said, “Please take good care of Ha-yeon.”

“Don’t worry, Ha-yeon’s mom.”

“Ha-yeon, I’ll come get you in 6 hours!”

I shouted to Ha-yeon, and she nodded.

“Promise!”

“Promise!”

And so, I successfully sent Ha-yeon to kindergarten. She’s usually so mature, but seeing her act like a little kid was kind of fascinating. It felt like she was finally acting her age.

I left the kindergarten. Since it was my first day at the café, I needed to get there early and show that I was ready to work. As long as you’re punctual and diligent, you’ll get at least 50 points as a part-timer.

—

“Such a model-like mother and daughter…”

Lee Si-eun, the teacher at Sunflower Kindergarten, thought as she watched Kim Ha-yul and Kim Ha-yeon. At first, she thought they were sisters. Ha-yul, the parent, looked way too young. If she wore a school uniform, you’d think she was a high school student. No, even in her current clothes, she looked like a high schooler wearing adult clothes.

With her youthful looks and model-like appearance, she didn’t look like a parent at all. Usually, after giving birth, women show some signs of aging, no matter how well they take care of themselves. Giving birth is tough and exhausting for women.

Your belly grows for months, your body gets tired, and your skin cracks. And there’s no magic cure for it.

After seeing Ha-yul off, Si-eun turned to Ha-yeon, the new student. Ha-yeon stopped crying as soon as Ha-yul left.

“Ha-yeon, are you okay?”

“Yes.”

The calm and cold demeanor was a complete 180 from the crying child she was just moments ago. It was hard to believe this was the same kid who was throwing a tantrum in front of her mom.

Ha-yeon just nodded without saying a word. The change in atmosphere was overwhelming, even for an adult like Si-eun.

“Then let’s play with the teacher until your mom comes back, okay?”

Nod nod—

What a unique kid. Si-eun had been a kindergarten teacher for over 3 years, and every year, she met new kids. It was probably just part of the job.

And so, Si-eun took Ha-yeon’s hand and led her into the classroom. She needed to introduce her to the friends she’d be spending time with. At least Ha-yeon wasn’t looking for her mom anymore. Some kids just sit down and cry when their mom leaves.