Chapter 33

“Hehehe!”

I let out a cheerful laugh as I picked up my chopsticks. I didn’t forget to grab Ha-yeon’s chopsticks too. I planned to store the wooden chopsticks separately for later use. Since metal chopsticks could just be wiped clean with water, they were better for eating Black Bean Noodles like this.

Of course, if Ha-yeon wanted to use wooden chopsticks, I’d give them to her.

“Mom~ Hurry up~!”

“Okay, I’m coming!”

I brought over a cup of water and placed it on the table. On the dining table were two bowls of Black Bean Noodles and one side dish with onions and pickled radish. As I set the cup down, I said, “Ha-yeon, eat a lot! If it’s not enough, tell me! I’ll give you some of my noodles!”

My bowl was a large portion, while Ha-yeon had a regular-sized one. Even though the regular portion wasn’t huge, it might still be a lot for a little kid like Ha-yeon. That’s probably why she usually stuck to the regular size.

Not that it mattered. If Ha-yeon said she didn’t have enough, I was ready to share mine. I wasn’t the stingy type.

As I sat down, I excitedly mixed the Black Bean Noodles sauce. Ha-yeon watched me with a big smile, mixing hers too. This was the most anticipated moment when eating Black Bean Noodles—watching the perfect noodles come to life as the sauce mixed in.

“Mmm~ It smells so good!”

I took a bite, savoring the aroma. Ha-yeon carefully ate hers too. While I was devouring mine, Ha-yeon ate hers more elegantly. It should’ve been the other way around, but…

Anyway, as we enjoyed the delicious noodles, Ha-yeon looked at me and said, “Mom, you should eat the onions and pickled radish too!”

“Ugh…”

Ha-yeon was eating the vegetables and side dishes evenly, while I was just focusing on the noodles. Honestly, the vegetables in the noodles didn’t appeal to me. They tasted weird, probably because they were stir-fried with the sauce.

But seeing me avoid the vegetables, Ha-yeon frowned and said, “Mom, you always tell me to eat everything! You should eat everything too!”

“Okay, Ha-yeon…”

I swallowed my tears internally and reluctantly ate the vegetables, along with the pickled radish and onions.

In a normal family, it should’ve been Ha-yeon avoiding vegetables and me eating them, but our house was the opposite. I didn’t like vegetables much, while Ha-yeon enjoyed them.

Ha-yeon and I got along well, but not in this aspect. So, I had no choice but to eat the vegetables while keeping an eye on Ha-yeon.

As a mom, I had to set a good example by eating vegetables so Ha-yeon wouldn’t grow up picky.

We ate until we were full. Ha-yeon looked at me and said, “Mom, you’ve got sauce around your mouth!”

“Really?”

I checked my face in the mirror. Sure enough, my mouth was smeared with sauce. It was inevitable when eating Black Bean Noodles. I looked at Ha-yeon and said, “You’ve got sauce around your mouth too!”

“Hehe! We’re the same, same!”

Ha-yeon giggled, clearly delighted by the sauce on her face. I took out a tissue and wiped my mouth. I didn’t want to look like a kid if I went out like this. Then, I grabbed another tissue and wiped Ha-yeon’s mouth. She clung to me and said, “I like it when you wipe it for me!”

“Really…?”

Seeing Ha-yeon so happy made me want to hug her. So, I did just that. I picked her up and planted relentless kisses on her cheeks.

“It tickles!”

Ha-yeon laughed uncontrollably as I showered her with kisses. I kept going to keep her laughing. It was fun to play like this even while eating Black Bean Noodles.

—

“Ugh, my head hurts…”

Ishia clutched her head from the throbbing pain. She never imagined that as a young, thriving celebrity, she’d suffer from such headaches.

Despite her busy schedule, she’d been to the hospital, but the doctor just irresponsibly called it a nervous headache and prescribed some strange medication. Of course, the medication didn’t help. Sometimes, the headaches were so severe they woke her up from sleep. Her head felt foggy and achy, which was a problem.

She even zoned out during broadcasts. Luckily, it was a recorded show, so they could just edit it out and reshoot. But if it happened during a live broadcast, she didn’t even want to imagine the backlash. Viewers only saw the on-screen persona, not the struggles behind the scenes. That was just how it was.

The public cheered for the image of celebrities on TV, never thinking about the blood, sweat, and tears behind it. Not that it was a bad thing. Honestly, Ishia didn’t want to show her struggles either.

“Oppa, can you get me an Americano?”

“Sure. Wait a bit.”

After sending her manager to get coffee, Ishia stared blankly outside. They’d parked briefly due to her schedule, but Ishia thought there were way too many cafés in Korea. Walking down the street, all you saw were cafés. If it used to be mobile phone stores, now it seemed like cafés had taken over.

You could find a café anywhere you walked. There seemed to be way more cafés than mobile phone stores during their peak. It was amazing how so many cafés stayed open without going out of business. It just showed how much Koreans loved coffee.

And she’d heard there was a lot of leftover coffee too.

“Shia! I got it. Is your headache still bad?”

“Yeah, Oppa… I think I need to go to the hospital again.”

“Really? That’s serious…”

Her manager looked concerned, knowing all about Ishia’s headaches. He knew better than anyone how much she suffered from these unexplained pains. Even during what should’ve been her golden era, Ishia was considering taking a break.

As a celebrity, she should’ve been capitalizing on her fame, but nothing was more important than her health. She could always make money later, but a broken body wouldn’t recover.

“I just want to quit everything…”

Ishia muttered something nonsensical as she took the Americano from her manager. The packaging had a big logo that read “Happy Coffee Café.” She thought it was just a franchise, but it was interesting to see an independent coffee shop like this. Surviving Seoul’s insane rent was impressive.

The aroma was amazing. She didn’t know what beans they used, but this Americano smelled incredible. Ishia was already considering making this her go-to spot. She stuck the straw into the cup.

She loved that this café didn’t use paper straws. Whoever came up with that policy, she didn’t know, but she absolutely hated paper straws. They were flimsy and annoying, especially for something like an Americano that you sipped slowly. Paper straws just couldn’t hold up.

It was ironic how they were supposedly saving the environment by cutting down trees to make paper straws. It was like causing environmental damage to prevent environmental damage. Thankfully, they seemed to realize their mistake and weren’t forcing paper straws anymore.

“Wow…!”

The first sip was amazing. It put other café Americanos to shame. Ishia started drinking it eagerly. This Americano was exactly her taste.