Chapter: 06
“Since it’s a remote mountain area in Gangwon-do, it’s standard for both staff and students to live in the dormitories. For staff with families, we also provide housing like this.”
After a heated discussion with the principal, Dongbaek skillfully guided the group to the staff residence.
“The front door code changes every week, so check the family group chat. A few years ago, it was run too loosely, and some clever student managed to steal everything, so they hurriedly changed it~”
“Y-yes…”
“Our place is on the top floor. Let’s take the elevator.”
Unlike Saebyeok, who had come with just a backpack at dawn, Dongbaek had dragged along four or five suitcases.
He even took a huge cello case out of the trunk, and while organizing all of it, he didn’t even offer to carry Saebyeok’s backpack.
“Um… I can carry my own bag—”
“Haram, what do you want for dinner?”
“Omelette rice made by Dad.”
“You little rascal. What do you know?”
Hmm. I guess he didn’t hear that.
Saebyeok quietly followed them into the elevator.
When they arrived on the top floor, a cozy space was prepared just for them.
“Home, my sweet home!”
Dongbaek exclaimed cheerfully and flopped onto the living room sofa.
Haram naturally sat on his back, while Saebyeok opened the curtains and looked outside. Being on high ground, the terrain surrounding the frozen lake came into view all at once.
“That way is the master bedroom. If you go down this hallway, there are two small rooms. The bathroom is here. Saebyeok, do you want to use the master bedroom?”
“No. You should take the big room.”
“It’s fine, you use it. You’ve ended up living under the same roof with a bunch of grumpy guys, so you should at least be comfortable.”
“Right, Haram?” Dongbaek asked, immediately targeting Haram’s armpits.
Haram let out a shrill scream and tried to escape, but Dongbaek held him tightly and wouldn’t let go.
…Somehow, it looked less like a father-son relationship and more like an immature uncle with his nephew.
Sliding away from the intense wrestling scene, Saebyeok picked up her backpack.
Just as she was about to disappear into the master bedroom, Dongbaek, who had persistently clung to Haram’s ankle, spoke up.
“Take the blue suitcase too. It’s yours, Saebyeok.”
“Mine?”
“You’re going to wear that to work?”
This was… awkward, but Saebyeok had some conscience.
A stretched-out hoodie, jeans that looked freezing just by looking at them, and a fleece jumper that had lost all its fluff.
Saebyeok, who hadn’t had the luxury of feeling embarrassed about her shabby appearance until now, blushed for the first time in a while.
“I was planning to buy one when I got my first paycheck…”
“Kids these days are clever. You have to crush their spirit from the start. Look at Haram too—I stomp on him, and he behaves like a good boy.”
“It doesn’t feel like crushing his spirit, more like you’re just bullying him…”
“Eheh, you don’t get it. Boys play like this. Right, Haram?”
Haram, having given up resisting, flopped down as if to say, “Do whatever you want.”
Saebyeok, not in a position to interfere with the two who seemed so close, focused on something else instead.
It was the suitcase, too heavy for her to carry with both hands.
“Th-this is all clothes?”
“There’s clothes, shoes, bags~”
“My goodness, how much is all this…?”
“The foundation provides all the funding. Saebyeok, just think of me as a black card and swipe to your heart’s content.”
“How can you do that… Ah, what if the sizes don’t fit? Will the delivery person come? I might need to exchange some things.”
“Exchange? That shouldn’t be necessary.”
Dongbaek, lying backward on the sofa with Haram in his arms, casually looked up at Saebyeok.
“Top and bottom are size 55, and shoes are 230, right?”
“….”
Hmm. Saebyeok decided not to be surprised by things like this anymore.
She smiled at herself reassuringly and placed her backpack on top of the suitcase.
Just as she was about to push it into the master bedroom, a thought suddenly crossed her mind.
‘…Ah.’
The burn ointment. She had bought it.
Hesitating, Saebyeok opened the front pocket of her backpack.
Dongbaek’s hand, injured at his family home.
He had said he’d take care of it himself, so she let it go, but it had lingered on her mind.
She had bought ointment thinking it was a burn…
‘Looks fine.’
Glancing at his hand, now back to its original color, Saebyeok fiddled with the ointment.
Of course, as a magician, he would have his own way of treating it.
If there was no need for the ointment, that was good.
“Oh!”
Haram, quietly nestled in Dongbaek’s arms, suddenly shot out like a rocket.
He darted over like a squirrel, hiding behind Saebyeok’s back.
“Teacher! Bad Dad is bullying me!”
“Oh? Let’s see about that?”
“Teacher!”
Dongbaek got up and strolled over.
Saebyeok, unsure what to do, instinctively raised both hands.
Pointing between her own eyes and the child’s, Dongbaek, acting foolishly, looked at her in confusion.
“What’s that?”
“Huh, huh?”
“The thing in your hands.”
Before she could hide it, Dongbaek snatched it from her.
“…Burn ointment? What’s this? Saebyeok, are you hurt?”
“Uh, no.”
“Right? You’re with me, you wouldn’t get hurt.”
Saebyeok blankly watched his right hand lightly shaking the ointment.
Maybe because he kept acting like an adult right in front of her. A murmured question slipped out.
“…Your hand’s okay?”
“Huh?”
Ah.
Saebyeok snapped back to reality.
She quickly erased the hint of worry on her face, but couldn’t escape Dongbaek’s sharp observation.
Seeing her calm expression and the ointment in her hand, Dongbaek soon reached the right conclusion.
“….”
“….”
Ah…
In the uncomfortable silence, Saebyeok frowned quietly in self-reproach.
If you’re going to give it, give it properly. If you’re hiding it, hide it properly.
She had failed at both, so the mood became awkward.
Then it was up to her to fix it.
Saebyeok prepared a service-industry smile she had perfected through various part-time jobs.
‘Hahaha! Surprise gift!’ she thought, ready to deliver her line…
‘What?’
Dongbaek had already spread the ointment over the back of his hand.
Flustered, Saebyeok grabbed his sleeve.
“W-why are you putting that on? It’s healed.”
“Oh, really? It looks like that?”
Dongbaek held out his hand.
There was indeed a faintly reddish spot. Very slight.
“The doctor said to manage the remaining parts with the ointment. But management, huh? Who has time for that? Always running out whenever called.”
“….”
“But thanks to you, Saebyeok, there won’t be a scar this time.”
Dongbaek smiled and shook his right hand slightly. The loose sleeve slid down, revealing a wrist full of faded scars.
A man’s wrist, with thick knuckles.
Startled, Saebyeok quickly lowered her head.
“Ah… no. I’m just glad it helped.”
What is this atmosphere?
Feeling inexplicably embarrassed, Saebyeok met the gaze of Haram, who was watching them with wide eyes.
‘Ugh.’ The child let out a surprisingly adult-like sigh…
“Alley-ri-kol-ley.”
And then ran off to his room.
Because it’s such a remote mountain area, the staff at Willow School get a longer vacation than elsewhere.
How Saebyeok spent the time before returning to work…
“Haram, do you like this too?”
“Haram?”
“Oh, right.”
Special mission: ‘Mother and son bonding.’
Dongbaek had assigned this task, always too busy to see his face.
‘They really don’t seem close, do they?’
‘We just met today, of course not…’
‘But they shouldn’t look like a mother and son who are completely strangers. They look like the homeroom teacher of Class 3 and a student from Class 7.’
…It couldn’t be denied.
‘Let’s spend time together to get closer. Saebyeok, think of him as your nephew or cousin if it’s easier.’
‘Yes…’
‘And Haram? Let’s work on what to call me. You keep calling me Teacher, right?’
Over the past few days, Saebyeok learned a lot about Haram.
For example, he liked omelette rice, but with gochujang instead of ketchup.
He desired adult coffee, enjoyed dried squid and jerky like an adult.
Though his expression seemed blank, he knew how to share snacks with raccoons from the mountains.
Saebyeok watched Haram drawing quietly, just as she had suggested.
“….”
The child, who had looked uneasy receiving the sketchbook, was now completely absorbed.
Lips pursed from concentration, fingers covered in colors.
…Our Haram’s coloring is very aggressive.
Looking at the chaotic coloring, Saebyeok nodded kindly.
Of course. Children have their own world.
“Haram colored the sky green? Why?”
“Because it’s dying.”
“The sky?”
“No, the dinosaur.”
Oh… What looked like spiky chestnuts were actually dinosaurs.
“Don’t you want to play with dinosaurs, Haram?”
“I can’t play with dead dinosaurs.”
“Hmm… you can draw them, right?”
“Then it’s fake.”
Discussing existence at seven… no, eight years old.
“Haram really loves dinosaurs.”
“….”
The child’s hand slowed while vigorously coloring the sky green.
As Saebyeok carried an empty cup to the kitchen, she heard a small voice.
“Teacher… maybe you too…”
The words cut off.
Turning, she saw only the top of the child’s head buried in the sketchbook.
Saebyeok put the tray down and sat back.
“Haram, if calling me ‘Mom’ feels strange, you don’t have to.”
Since Dongbaek forbade ‘Teacher,’ Haram had noticeably reduced his speech.
“It’s hard to call someone you just met ‘Mom.’ I don’t know why you’re helping with this, but I want your seven-year-old self to be happy.”
“….”
“If that’s possible, does it matter if I’m Mom or Teacher?”
Gently smoothing the soft hair, Saebyeok thought:
Yes, this is right.
A child should grow up happy in any situation.
“…I don’t really know. If I call you Mom, do you really become my Mom?”
Haram slowly lifted his eyes, looking cautious.
“I don’t have a Mom, so I don’t really know.”
“…That’s just like me. I don’t have a Mom either.”
Sitting side by side on the sofa, Saebyeok thought of a solution.
“Then let’s play pretend family.”
“….”
“I’ll be your fake Mom, and you’ll be my fake son. Remember, the dinosaurs you play with are all fake. Right? Fake can be anything.”
Even extinct dinosaurs can become anything if labeled ‘fake.’
Modern movie Velociraptors revived by science, a T. rex friendly with children, or a sleek reptile without ugly feathers—all possible.
So we too can become anything.
“It doesn’t matter if we aren’t close. Or don’t know each other well. We’re a fake family anyway.”
“Is that okay?”
“Who cares what the papers say? We just become a family that isn’t close and doesn’t know each other well.”
No need to twist yourself to match a perfect family.
It’s better to enjoy being a happy fake than being a mediocre neither-real-nor-fake.
Haram seemed to think deeply about this explanation.
Saebyeok watched him, faintly smiling.
Hopefully, it would ease the child’s burden…
“And Haram? Actually, your drawing is fake too.”
“…?”
Haram’s eyes narrowed rebelliously at being criticized for his nice drawing.
Saebyeok cleared her throat and pointed like a real teacher.
“This one is a Brachiosaurus, this one an Ampelosaurus, right? Unfortunately, Brachiosaurus lived in the Late Jurassic, and Ampelosaurus in the Late Cretaceous. Unless you jump thirty million years, they can’t appear in the same picture.”
Crash!
Thunder struck above Haram’s head.
Seeing the shocked child, Saebyeok inwardly cheered.
“So, Haram?”
No matter how grown-up he acted, it’s a hundred years too soon to stand above a real adult.
“Shall we draw Haram skating with a T. rex in the next chapter?”
