Chapter 39

“Mommyyyyy… I’m sorry… I peed myself…”

As soon as Ha-yeon saw me, she burst into tears and spoke. I immediately realized that Ha-yeon had had an accident in the restroom. Beneath her legs was a puddle of what appeared to be urine.

The only silver lining was that she was wearing a one-piece dress, so all she needed to change were her underwear and shoes. She wasn’t wearing socks, so those weren’t necessary.

I knew I had to comfort Ha-yeon. Gently stroking her head, I spoke as kindly as I could.

“Ha-yeon! It’s okay. Mommy made a lot of mistakes when she was little too! You’re perfectly normal.”

“But… I made a mistake…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay, Ha-yeon. You don’t have to feel embarrassed at all.”

“Sniff…”

Ha-yeon was sniffling as she spoke to me. I never expected Ha-yeon, who always acted so mature, to show such a childlike side… It was a strange thought. But what was done was done, and I had to handle the situation. I spoke to her calmly. There was no reason to get angry or show any negativity.

Though I did wonder if I should’ve stopped her from drinking so much cola earlier.

“Ha-yeon! Wait a moment! Mommy will go get a towel and some other things! I’ll be back in 10 minutes!”

Since this was a shopping complex building, there was a clothing store on the lower floor. It was connected to both the theater and the department store.

I quickly ran to the shopping area. I had to come up with a solution before Ha-yeon made any other choices. I bought underwear, a towel, wet wipes, and slippers. I didn’t even look at the price tags. Saving time was far more important than the cost.

“Ha-yeon!”

I returned to the theater restroom. Ha-yeon was quietly waiting at the far end. I completely removed her clothes and wiped the accident area with wet wipes. The soiled slippers and underwear went straight into the trash. I felt bad for the cleaning staff, but there was no other choice.

After drying her legs with the towel, I handed her the new underwear I had just bought. Ha-yeon was still sniffling. Thankfully, once she put her dress back on, she looked so neat that you wouldn’t even think about the accident. I held Ha-yeon’s hand and carefully left the restroom. We had to cut the movie short today. We needed to get home quickly. Even though we had wiped everything with wet wipes and a towel, there might still be some lingering discomfort.

“Mommyyyyy…”

Ha-yeon seemed a bit shocked and didn’t say much. I thought taking a taxi would be better than the bus. So, after hailing a taxi, we quickly arrived home and rushed inside. I turned on the water in the bathroom and gave Ha-yeon a thorough wash. Once we were home, Ha-yeon seemed to relax a bit and started talking again. As we washed, we began to chat, and Ha-yeon eventually started talking normally.

“I really had to pee…”

“You did drink a lot of cola!”

Now we could even joke about it. It was just a little accident, and there was no need to scold her. Ha-yeon already knew what mistake she had made. And since Ha-yeon was wiser than anyone, she wouldn’t make such a mistake again.

As I dried Ha-yeon’s hair, I thought to myself.

‘When Ha-yeon grows up, isn’t this going to be one of those cringe-worthy memories?’

I almost felt like taking a photo. It would’ve been funny to show it to her when she’s older. Of course, I kept that thought to myself. It was already a shocking experience for Ha-yeon, so there was no need to tease her about it.

“Mommyyyyy! I won’t do it again!”

“Good girl, my dear.”

Ha-yeon buried herself in my arms. Just a while ago, she had hesitated to hug me, probably worried that her accident might have left a smell. But I didn’t care at all. Ha-yeon was Ha-yeon. No matter what, she would always be herself.

And so, our theater trip came to an end. I thought we’d have to go again sometime. I regretted not being able to finish watching “Love Live! Superstar!!”

—

Ha-yeon looked at her sleeping mother. Just watching her mom sleep made time fly by. She felt a bit embarrassed about what had happened yesterday. She was already in kindergarten, yet she couldn’t even hold her pee. Of course, her mom had been very kind about it.

“Mommy is so kind…”

Her mom was sleeping with her mouth slightly open. To others, it might’ve looked a bit messy, but to Ha-yeon, it didn’t matter. Only she got to see her mom like this. If her mom had been like this in front of other men, Ha-yeon wouldn’t have forgiven her, but now it was different. It was just the two of them at home.

Ha-yeon gently kissed her mom’s cheek. There was no reaction. Seeing this, Ha-yeon quietly slipped back into bed. Her mom, perhaps sensing Ha-yeon’s presence, hugged her like a pillow. Ha-yeon buried her face in her mom’s embrace. Her mom’s scent was sweet and comforting. Even though she didn’t wear any perfume, she smelled like she was wearing an expensive, fragrant one.

“Hehe!”

Ha-yeon giggled as she enjoyed her mom’s embrace. In this world, no one else could do this but her. Only she, as her daughter, could bury her face in Ha-yul’s arms. This fact made Ha-yeon puff up with pride. Anyone else would’ve ended up in a police station before they could even try.

Though lately, her friend Yoo-in-a seemed to be eyeing her mom a bit…

But since her mom loved her the most, it was okay if her friend got a little affection too.

—

Time flew by quickly. Before we knew it, Ha-yeon had been in kindergarten for over half a year. Now, the blazing heat of midsummer had arrived. The ground was so hot it felt like you could fry an egg on it.

“It’s so hot…”

I was lying in the living room, complaining about the scorching summer. We had an air conditioner, but I hesitated to turn it on because of the cost. Even though, as a single-parent household, we received some support for electricity bills, it wasn’t enough to cover everything.

Besides, the air conditioner wasn’t even that good. It was old and worn out, like something you’d find in a junkyard. I stared at it blankly. Now that I was earning money, maybe it was time to buy a new one. A new air conditioner could last for ten years, so it might even be a good investment.

“Mommyyyyy… It’s so hot…”

Ha-yeon came out of the restroom like a zombie, clearly struggling with the heat. Seeing her like that made me think we really needed to buy a new air conditioner. This old piece of junk couldn’t cool our house properly. It was time for a new air conditioner friend.

Whoosh—

The electric fan alone wasn’t enough to beat this heat. And the fact that Ha-yeon wasn’t clinging to me showed just how hot it was! Ha-yeon, who usually loved sticking to me, was keeping her distance. I couldn’t help but be surprised. Ha-yeon rarely wanted to be apart from me.

I decided to turn on the air conditioner we had at home.

I fiddled with the remote and turned it on. The air conditioner’s blades opened, and it started blowing air. But the breeze felt lukewarm. Whether it was out of refrigerant or just too old, the performance was terrible. Ha-yeon frowned as she felt the weak airflow.

“Mommy. It’s not cool at all.”

“Uh… yeah?”

I finally made up my mind to buy a new air conditioner. We’d used this one for so long, so it was time for a replacement. And since I was earning enough now, a little splurge wouldn’t hurt. It was time to treat ourselves.

“Ha-yeon, let’s go buy an air conditioner!”

“Okay!”

Ha-yeon responded immediately, as if she’d been waiting for me to say it. We got ready to go outside. Since it was so hot, shorts and a T-shirt were enough. Of course, I wanted to take off this annoying bra that made me sweat, but I couldn’t. Ha-yeon would’ve noticed.

And so, Ha-yeon and I headed out. Our destination was a retail store that sold air conditioners.