Chapter 06
Doha’s eyes widened, as if the question had caught him off guard.
“…Ye-won, what do you want to do?”
Then Doha asked cautiously.
“I want to live with you, Uncle.”
“…Ye-won, I might not be a good family for you. I… I don’t really know how.”
“That’s okay!”
Ye-won said that, then quickly added,
“I know. I can help you!”
“…!”
Doha’s expression showed he was quite shocked by the bold seven-year-old’s “I can help you.”
When Ye-won laughed softly, “Hehe,” Doha also chuckled quietly.
“…You really are your mother’s daughter. Always saying you’ll help whenever you can.”
“…!”
Did my mom say that too, just like me?
Ye-won’s eyes widened in surprise at Doha mentioning her mother.
But she couldn’t ask more about her mother.
Doha’s face had immediately darkened with sadness.
“…You really want to live with me? Why?”
“Because you’re a good person, Uncle.”
“!”
Doha’s face filled with surprise at Ye-won’s answer.
“You think I’m a good person? Why… do you think that? We’ve just met.”
“Well, earlier, when that scary man tried to take me, you protected me. That’s why you’re a good person.”
Yet Doha still looked uncertain.
“…It might be better for you to have a better guardian than me. Not for my sake, but for yours, Ye-won.”
“……”
“I could… find one. Even if it’s a distant relative, I could somehow ask them… to take good care of you.”
He would probably pay a huge amount to ask, just like he entrusted me to that “fake uncle.”
Ye-won could read between the lines of what Doha was hiding.
And she understood why he hesitated.
‘Raising a child alone as a male idol… must be really hard.’
Ye-won didn’t know much about the idol world, but she knew enough about the entertainment industry.
Top idols like Glit must be insanely busy, with hardly a moment to breathe.
It would hardly be a suitable environment to raise a child.
“Uncle,”
Ye-won wiggled her fingers nervously and looked up at Doha.
“Hmm?”
“Can I… ask you just one thing…?”
The question she wanted to ask could hurt Doha, so she was careful.
“Sure.”
There had been something weighing on her mind since earlier.
“I… have a mother, so why doesn’t my mother have a mother and father?”
“!”
This was exactly the reward from the side quest she had seen earlier:
[Quest Reward: Grandparents revealed]
In truth, this was the hardest obstacle for Ye-won.
How could Doha, who had almost no family presence until now, explain the sudden appearance of a niece to the world?
Even if he could manage childcare with a nanny due to his busy schedule, this was much harder to solve.
Nothing about Doha’s family history had ever been revealed in her previous life.
People only vaguely guessed that perhaps he lost his parents early.
No one knew he had an older sister or a niece.
And someone who is unsure about raising a child would surely try to find the mother’s other relatives.
He must have done his best to search.
‘I also thought the grandparents must have passed away…’
The quest reward revealed them, meaning they were alive.
If they were alive…
Why hasn’t Uncle thought of leaving me with them?
“……”
Doha looked at Ye-won with a somber expression.
“Your mother… never explained it to you?”
“Yes.”
That was true. Her memory at seven was faint but certain.
‘Mom, why don’t I have grandparents?’
‘…Ye-won, are you more curious about grandparents than who your dad is?’
‘Mom said my dad wasn’t needed.’
As a child, Ye-won wanted to seem mature and said that to her mom.
At that time, even mentioning her dad made her mom look very sad.
‘Hmm~ Grandparents aren’t needed either.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes. Just you and your mom are enough. Everyone else isn’t necessary.’
‘Oh, I see.’
In my child’s mind, it felt like it was just the two of us in the world.
That memory made her feel a little hurt back then.
Yes, that’s how it was.
Just as Ye-won was about to nod internally,
“…I’ll explain it to you when you’re older.”
Doha said.
“Ugh.”
Adults are all the same.
Seeing Ye-won’s disappointed face, Doha quietly looked away.
But Ye-won didn’t ask further.
It was probably a topic too mature for a seven-year-old. Even without her mom explaining, she could guess.
‘…Mom and Uncle must have had a hard time.’
Suddenly, Ye-won felt she could understand their pain.
So, she…
“!”
She hugged Doha tightly.
“Okay. If it’s hard, you don’t have to tell me.”
“…!”
Ye-won felt Doha’s neck stiffen a little.
But the more he tensed, the tighter she hugged him.
…Mom used to like it when I hugged her like this.
Uncle is part of Mom’s family, so maybe it’s similar, she thought.
“…It’s really okay if you don’t tell me?”
“Yup.”
Ye-won answered, slightly frustrated by her own slipping pronunciation.
Then she felt Doha’s hand pat her back.
Pat, pat…
The warmth of his large hand made her slowly close her eyes.
No. She had to say everything before she fell asleep again.
“Instead… please raise me until I become an adult.”
“Huh?”
C-Can that really happen…?
Ye-won laughed quietly at Doha’s murmured voice.
At that moment, a new memory suddenly surfaced—one she had never remembered before.
‘…Ye-won, you have to take care of Uncle a lot, instead of Mom. Even things Mom couldn’t do. Okay?’
She had thought it strange back then.
Why didn’t Mom just do it herself? Why ask me?
Looking back now…
Maybe Mom had some sense of all this already.
‘Why?!’
‘Mom is a bit older than Uncle, so she should have taken better care of him. But she was too young to do it back then.’
‘I see…’
‘So when you meet Uncle, you take care of him a little.’
‘But Mom could take care of him too!’
‘Yeah, she could. But Mom was so silly back then.’
Why had this memory surfaced now?
‘…Because I met Uncle Doha?’
She didn’t know why, but one thing was clear.
Mom had cherished Uncle a lot.
…What happened between them that caused them to be separated like this?
Could the answer lie with my maternal grandparents?
‘…I guess I have no choice but to complete the quest.’
The next morning, Ye-won trudged out and peeked at Doha’s room.
He was sleeping peacefully, oblivious to the world.
…Well, it was 6 a.m., so that was normal.
Ye-won yawned and headed to the kitchen.
When living with Jeyeon, all house chores were Ye-won’s responsibility, so she always got up at 6 a.m. to make breakfast and clean.
As she opened the fridge to prepare breakfast,
“….”
She realized she could barely reach the middle shelf, let alone the top.
Oops. Breakfast was going to be a problem.
She thought for a moment…
…She could bring a chair and step on it. That might work.
The problem was…
‘There’s almost nothing to call food!’
Even if she reached the top shelf, it wouldn’t help.
‘What does this person even eat…?! There’s nothing!’
The fridge contained only energy drinks, alcohol, a few bottles of soda, and a few eggs.
“…….”
This really isn’t an environment for raising a child.
Ye-won glanced at the assorted alcohol bottles and looked a little disgusted.
He drinks a lot… Living like this, even a healthy person could end up ruined. She’d have to make him quit drinking.
She decided to at least make scrambled eggs today.
Ye-won sighed and dragged a chair to the fridge.
She planned to step on it, grab a few eggs, and come down.
As she was about to step up,
“!”
Ye-won felt herself suddenly lifted into the air by someone.
“What are you doing? Seriously.”
She rolled her eyes upward and saw Doha glaring down at her.
