Chapter 35

“Ha-yul, you did well.”

“Big sis and boss, you did well too!”

By 3 PM, I start preparing to leave work. The café is open until 6, but Ha-yeon gets out of kindergarten around 3. Of course, I tell her every day that if kindergarten ends early, she can wait at home.

But Ha-yeon seems to prefer waiting at the café rather than at home. So on days when kindergarten ends early, she comes to the café and waits until I finish work. At first, there weren’t many customers, so she could just sit in an empty spot, but now it’s different.

There are no empty seats left. The boss said that before I came, the café wasn’t this busy. It might be a bit self-centered, but ever since I started working here, the number of customers has skyrocketed.

Since nothing else about the café has changed except for me joining, I guess I can take some credit for the increase in customers, right? Anyway, that’s what I decided to think.

I went into the employee break room. Inside, Ha-yeon was sitting there, fiddling with her phone. When she saw me open the door and come in, she stopped looking at her phone and stared at me.

“Mom!”

“Ha-yeon~”

I gently caught Ha-yeon as she ran toward me. She leaned her head against my chest and said, “Mom… I missed you!”

“Really? I missed you too, Ha-yeon!”

Being so young, Ha-yeon was quite the little spoiled one. Of course, I didn’t mind her being like this. In fact, I liked it. I tried to put her down, but Ha-yeon had no intention of leaving my arms. I looked at her and said, “Ha-yeon, mom needs to change clothes.”

“Heeeng…”

Perhaps realizing it was a nuisance to keep holding on, Ha-yeon let go. I quickly changed my clothes. I wondered if I should be showing my underwear to Ha-yeon, but it didn’t matter. We’re both girls, after all.

And I’ve heard that parents aren’t really embarrassed about showing their bodies to their kids. So I decided to confidently change in front of Ha-yeon. She just stared at me blankly. Anyway, after successfully changing, I took Ha-yeon’s hand and said, “Let’s go home!”

“Okay!”

Ha-yeon nodded, tightly holding my hand. She was just so cute and lovable. Just looking at her made me smile. If Ha-yeon hadn’t become a hunter, she might have been a top celebrity. Her looks were that stunning. Even as a child, you could already see how beautiful she’d grow up to be. It was like holding a lottery ticket you were sure would win first prize.

—

“So, mom… today I played with Yoo-in-a…!”

I listened intently to Ha-yeon’s story. It seemed she was doing well at kindergarten. I felt silly for worrying about whether she was adjusting well. After all, Ha-yeon is so mature, there’s no way she wouldn’t adapt to kindergarten.

“Really?”

“Yep!”

As we chatted, a delicious smell wafted in from somewhere. I couldn’t help but follow the scent.

“Mom, where are you going…!”

Ha-yeon grabbed my hand and pulled me back. It wasn’t the direction of our house. But this smell was definitely…!

I spotted a food stall in the distance. Then I said to Ha-yeon, “Ha-yeon, are you hungry?”

“Huh?”

Ha-yeon looked at me with wide eyes, as if asking what I meant. I felt like I needed to explain further.

“Let’s go to the food stall, Ha-yeon!”

I said that and took Ha-yeon’s hand, heading toward the food stall. Ha-yeon followed along, though I was the one leading her by the hand. We arrived at the food stall. They were selling all sorts of food, from fish cakes to tteokbokki… Just looking at it made my mouth water. Even though I had lunch, working hard at the café made me hungry.

“Ha-yeon! Let’s have tteokbokki and fish cakes!”

“If mom wants to eat it, I’m okay with it too!”

With Ha-yeon’s permission, I boldly said to the stall owner, “Boss! Can we have some tteokbokki and fish cakes?”

“Of course. The prices are listed above!”

I glanced up at the price list. The prices for fish cakes and tteokbokki were quite reasonable. Since I’m working at the café now, it wasn’t a burden. After all, fish cakes and tteokbokki are considered common people’s food.

“Hmm hmm~”

I hummed as I started scooping tteokbokki onto a plate. The stall used disposable styrofoam plates. Since Ha-yeon, being a kindergartener, couldn’t reach, I had to serve her portion. Ha-yeon’s eyes sparkled as she watched.

“Ha-yeon! It’s not made by mom, but I served it with care!”

“Hehe!”

Ha-yeon laughed and took the tteokbokki I handed her. I watched her fondly and took out another plate. It was my turn to serve myself some tteokbokki. Eating it made me happy. After all, eating delicious food always makes people happy.

“Mom… I want to eat something else too.”

“Really? How about fish cakes?”

Ha-yeon had already finished her tteokbokki. I served her some fish cakes on another plate. Ha-yeon ate them happily. I thought it was a good idea to visit the food stall.

And so, Ha-yeon and I enjoyed the delicious tteokbokki and fish cakes from the food stall.

—

“Ugh…”

Maybe because it was the weekend, I couldn’t open my eyes. I gave up on getting out of bed. The electric blanket made the bed feel so good. Even if some people dislike winter, no one could hate the feeling of lying on a warm electric blanket under a thick comforter on a cold winter day.

This was almost a universal truth. The warmth from the electric blanket on my back and the thick, cozy comforter on top—it was perfect. I slightly opened my eyes and checked the clock. It was still 9 AM. Even in winter, the sun should be up by now.

I unconsciously reached out my hand. Instead of Ha-yeon, there was just a teddy bear. Ha-yeon was always an early riser. In a way, she was more active in the mornings than I was. I called out to her. Hearing the news playing outside, I knew Ha-yeon was in the living room.

“Ha-yeon, where are you…?”

Hugging Ha-yeon was better than hugging a teddy bear. Ha-yeon must have heard me because she came into the room from the living room.

“Mom, did you call me?”

“Ha-yeon… do you want to sleep more with mom?”

“Hehe, sure!”

Luckily, Ha-yeon snuggled into my arms. I hugged her tightly. Hugging Ha-yeon filled my heart with warmth more than hugging a teddy bear ever could. Ha-yeon looked at me and said, “Mom, you smell nice!”

Then she buried her face deeper into my chest. I laughed and accepted her playful antics. Ha-yeon was a kindergartener, so this kind of affection was natural. It’s no wonder parents love their daughters.

Even as they grow older, girls tend to show more affection to their parents compared to boys. Of course, it’s not that boys are bad, but recently, parents seem to prefer girls for this reason.

Though, whether Ha-yeon was a boy or a girl, my love for her wouldn’t change.

I buried my nose in Ha-yeon’s hair. A faint scent of baby powder wafted up. Ha-yeon’s scent gave me an indescribable sense of comfort. It was like a cat sniffing catnip.

“Mom, that tickles!”

“Stay still, Ha-yeon~”

I hugged Ha-yeon tightly. Our morning was going to last a little longer. With Ha-yeon not going to kindergarten and me not going to work at the café, we were free to laze around at home like immortals.