Chapter 8

“Delicious, so delicious!”

As expected, the fried rice I made was incredibly tasty. Of course, it took Ha-yeon’s blood, sweat, and tears to achieve this flavor. No matter what kind of fried rice I made, Ha-yeon always ate it happily. Sure, she’d throw some harsh critiques after finishing, but… considering the journey to make this delicious fried rice, the feedback was worth it.

“Alright, I’ll do the dishes. Ha-yeon, can you wash up by yourself?”

“Yep!”

Ha-yeon scurried off to the bathroom. Washing her hair, brushing her teeth, and washing her face were simple tasks she could handle alone. And Ha-yeon had the maturity to do it. It was time to graduate from bathing together.

I put the frying pan in the sink and started washing the dishes. There wasn’t much to clean—one of the perks of fried rice. Just one pan to wash, and that was it. Nothing could beat that.

After finishing the dishes, I peeked into the bathroom. Ha-yeon was washing her hair. As expected, she was doing just fine on her own. She didn’t need my help at all. If anything, I was the one who needed her help, not the other way around.

She only asked for help with things that were physically out of reach or tasks too difficult for a child.

I went into the room and opened the closet. A musty smell wafted out. I was sure I’d put in an air freshener… I pulled out the air freshener tucked in the corner. There was no way it should smell this bad. But I quickly realized why.

I’d left the packaging on. My mistake. It was like running an air purifier without removing the plastic wrap. I tore off the packaging, and a sweet fragrance filled the closet.

I didn’t have many clothes to wear. I rarely bought clothes for myself. Even when I did shop, it was always for Ha-yeon, not me. So, I ended up rotating the same five outfits all week. On weekends, since I didn’t go out, I’d just toss them in the washer.

Of course, Ha-yeon had several times more clothes than I did.

Her clothes were far more important than mine. With only one closet, space was limited. So, I minimized my clothes and maximized hers to balance the closet.

Even though Ha-yeon wore her kindergarten uniform most of the time, I took it out and shook it to get rid of the musty smell. I grabbed the Febreze from the corner and sprayed it on her uniform. This way, she wouldn’t smell weird later.

As for my clothes, I just picked something dark and calm for the parent observation class. It looked like I was dressed for a funeral, but I had no other options. While I was pondering over my outfit, Ha-yeon came into the room.

“Mom!”

“All done washing?”

“Yep!”

Her hair was still dripping wet, so it seemed she hadn’t dried it properly. I grabbed the hairdryer and gestured for her to come over.

“Let me dry your hair. Come here.”

Ha-yeon grinned and hugged me. I turned on the hairdryer and started drying her hair.

*Whirrrrr—*

The hot air blew through Ha-yeon’s hair, making it flutter. Even though we didn’t use fancy shampoo, a sweet scent wafted from her.

“So warm~”

Ha-yeon giggled, enjoying the hairdryer’s warmth. Seeing her like that made me smile too. With that, our preparations for kindergarten were complete. We finished so early that we had time to watch some TV before leaving.

There was still over an hour until kindergarten started. I was engrossed in a children’s educational program, but Ha-yeon wanted to watch something else, so I had no choice but to switch to the news. The news wasn’t exactly thrilling, but…

Ha-yeon loved watching the news, so I didn’t have much of a choice.

—

Ha-yeon clung to her mom’s side. Even on the way to kindergarten, she didn’t want to leave her mom’s side.

Honestly, she just wanted to stay with her mom forever. Being apart for those six hours at kindergarten was tough. She’d rather earn money herself and let her mom stay home. Of course, that was impossible. No place would hire a six-year-old for part-time work.

Maybe in industrial revolution-era England, but in 21st-century Korea, with its developed human rights, there were no evil bosses hiring kids. Plus, Ha-yeon’s physical abilities made it impossible. She was too small and lacked strength.

“Ha-yeon, it’s been a while since you started kindergarten, huh?”

“Really? Then today, I’ll show you around our kindergarten!”

Ha-yeon smiled brightly, holding her mom’s hand as they entered the kindergarten. The interior was filled with yellow, reminiscent of baby chicks. After all, it was Sunflower Kindergarten. Even Ha-yeon’s uniform was yellow. Why kindergartens loved yellow so much was a mystery, but it suited her.

Even now, Ha-yeon’s uniform looked adorable and charming.

“This is where Ha-yeon studies!”

Since it wasn’t class time yet, there was no issue with looking around. Occasionally, they’d run into other parents, exchange brief greetings, and continue exploring.

“Is this Ha-yeon’s seat?”

“Yep!”

Ha-yeon showed her mom her seat. Her mom sat down and admired it.

“It looks great~”

Of course, it looked great with so few people around. But Ha-yeon wasn’t the type to point that out. They wandered around the kindergarten together, happily. But they couldn’t stay together forever. Class time was approaching.

“Ha-yeon! Come here!”

A friend called out. Ha-yeon glanced at her mom, who waved her off.

“Ha-yeon, go to your friend!”

“Ugh…”

Reluctantly, Ha-yeon left her mom’s side and returned to her seat, pulling out her notebook and pencil.

“Excuse me, are you the older sister of a child here?”

“You look so young! My skin used to be just like that!”

“Hahaha, you’re really beautiful!”

These days, it wasn’t just moms who came to parent observations. Dads came too, mostly in their mid-30s. That made sense, given Korea’s average marriage age—32 for men and 30 for women.

Statistically, by their mid-30s, parents would have kids old enough for kindergarten. It took 6-7 years to raise a child to that age.

So, it wasn’t surprising that Ha-yeon’s mom stood out among the observing parents. Ha-yeon noticed the stares and felt a surge of anger.

The men seemed to be eyeing her mom with sinister looks. It made it hard to focus on class. She wanted to jump up and run to her mom. Standing among the mid-30s parents, her mom looked so young.

At 20, she couldn’t help but look youthful. While others her age were enjoying their freshman year of college, her mom had given up her daily life to raise Ha-yeon. Ha-yeon was always grateful.

But she also wanted to keep her mom all to herself. Yet, she could only sit and watch.

“Ha-yeon! Look forward! You need to pay attention to the teacher’s lesson!”

Seeing Ha-yeon glancing back, her mom quietly reminded her. Ha-yeon nodded and turned back to the front. She wondered if bringing her mom to the observation class was a mistake. She just wanted to keep her mom hidden at home, away from everyone else.