Episode 38
That night, at Ye-won and Do-ha’s house.
After confirming that Do-ha—who came home much later than expected—had switched childcare duty with Woo-yeon, Ye-won immediately fell asleep again.
In fact, there wasn’t much to confirm.
“…Uncle?”
“Yeah. Go back to sleep, Ye-won. I’m here.”
“…Okay…”
She had already been asleep, but when she sensed someone’s presence and opened her eyes, Do-ha was sitting by her bed, gently patting her while looking down at her.
She had wanted to greet him properly, but perhaps because she was in a child’s body, she couldn’t resist the overwhelming sleepiness.
When she opened her eyes again, it was now 4 a.m.
“…I’m thirsty…”
Yawning, Ye-won stepped out of her room.
Woo-yeon uncle is probably sleeping in the living room. I should be careful not to wake him.
As expected, Woo-yeon—who absolutely couldn’t share a room with Do-ha—was asleep on the living room sofa.
…He could’ve just used the room Uncle Eon used before.
But maybe he was worried that Uncle Eon would make a fuss if he did.
Ye-won grabbed a banana milk from the refrigerator and began walking back toward her room.
Then—
“…Huh?”
Light was leaking out from Do-ha’s studio.
What? He’s not sleeping?
Surprised, Ye-won walked toward the lit room.
Come to think of it, she had never entered this room before.
It was always tightly shut, so she never thought to open it.
“Uncle?”
She carefully stepped inside.
“!”
The room was larger than she expected. With thick soundproof walls, it looked like a professional studio you’d find at an entertainment company.
And in the middle of it, Do-ha sat facing a monitor, wearing headphones.
Even though he was using headphones, the music was loud enough to leak outside.
No wonder he didn’t notice anyone.
Ye-won lightly tapped his arm.
“!”
Do-ha startled and quickly turned around.
“…Ah. It’s you, Ye-won.”
He let out a deep breath.
“Uncle, aren’t you sleeping?”
“I will.”
He said that, but he didn’t look like he had any intention of sleeping.
Ye-won raised an eyebrow at his completely alert face.
“Do you usually stay up working at this hour?”
“……”
Uh-oh.
He’d been caught.
A bead of cold sweat ran down Do-ha’s back.
“Well… that is…”
He could’ve brushed it off easily, but instead he smiled and placed a hand on Ye-won’s head.
“Are you drinking banana milk?”
“Should I give you some?”
“I’m okay. You drink it. Finish it and go back to sleep.”
“I’ll sleep when you sleep.”
“I just can’t fall asleep.”
Ye-won frowned at the unsatisfactory answer.
“You don’t sleep much, right? Mom said it’s bad if you don’t sleep enough.”
“I sleep. Don’t worry.”
“If you don’t tell me, I’ll wake up in the middle of the night every day to check.”
“……”
At Ye-won’s threat, Do-ha scratched his cheek.
Seeing the determined look in her eyes, he relented.
“I… tend to sleep in batches. So… um. Oh!”
He suddenly smiled as if remembering something.
“Do you remember the storybook I read to you before? The one about the bear?”
Ye-won nodded but looked puzzled.
Why suddenly a bear?
“I’m like a bear too, so I sleep in batches like hibernation.”
“I may be a kid, but I’m not stupid.”
“……”
The excuse didn’t work at all, and Do-ha looked embarrassed.
“You need to sleep properly.”
“Mm…”
“Even if you can’t sleep, you should lie down and close your eyes.”
“Mm…”
“If you really can’t sleep, should I help you fall asleep?”
“Huh?”
“I’ll read you a story. To make you sleepy.”
“Well… I’m an adult. Reading a story won’t make me sleepy.”
“That’s why you drink alcohol, right?”
“!”
Do-ha’s eyes widened.
“There was a lot of alcohol in the fridge.”
Ye-won knew. In her previous life, her awful uncle also used to say he could only sleep after drinking.
Why are adults like this?
Both the Ye-won from before and the Ye-won now couldn’t understand adults like that.
They drank too much and slept irregularly—doing everything unhealthy.
She looked at Do-ha with clear disapproval.
Even if they weren’t related, those habits would be annoying—but now that he was family, they were even more so.
“Well… um. I threw it all away.”
“Mhm.”
“But I still can’t sleep…”
“Did you sleep well when Uncle Eon was here?”
“……!”
Do-ha froze.
Seeing his expression, Ye-won’s eyes grew serious.
She had suspected it before—and it was true.
The reason the two most sensitive members of Glitter had lived together.
She didn’t know all the details, but at least for Do-ha, this seemed to be why.
“You can’t sleep because Uncle Eon isn’t here?”
“……”
For a moment, Do-ha’s face hardened.
Just as Ye-won tried to correct herself—
“…Yeah.”
He admitted it.
Wow.
Ye-won clicked her tongue inwardly.
These people are really strange.
“Did you sleep well when he was here?”
“Not exactly…”
Do-ha lowered his gaze and sighed.
“But Eon helped me a lot back then.”
“How?”
“I don’t remember everything… He just did what he could.”
“……”
“He may seem prickly, but he’s a good kid.”
“I can tell.”
Ye-won nodded.
Honestly, part of the reason he became prickly was probably Do-ha’s fault.
Eon just wasn’t good at expressing his feelings; he didn’t seem like a bad person at all.
“Woo-yeon and Yeon-ho are definitely good people too, but they’re different from me.”
“……”
“But Uncle Eon… he’s a bit like me. So somehow… it was comforting.”
Like you?
She hadn’t known him long, but they seemed like opposites.
“What was similar?”
“…I don’t know.”
Do-ha chuckled softly.
“…Maybe the fact that neither of us is honest.”
He hesitated, then added:
“If we’d both been just a little more honest, we probably wouldn’t have fought and could’ve gotten along… but neither of us could.”
Instead of answering, Ye-won simply looked up at him.
These were things he probably couldn’t tell the other members or adults.
Because she was just a child who wouldn’t fully understand, he could open up a little.
And the 4 a.m. emotions probably helped too.
At 4 a.m., everyone’s guard comes down a bit.
Also, he probably wasn’t thinking clearly from lack of sleep.
While thinking that, Ye-won placed her hand on Do-ha’s head as he leaned closer.
“!”
Then she gently patted his head.
“I’m jealous.”
“Huh?”
“You have a friend who understands you.”
I’ve never had one.
Not even once.
Ye-won smiled bitterly.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t let Uncle Eon go.”
“……!”
“Bring him back. You won’t find another friend like that.”
Do-ha stared blankly.
“And…”
Ye-won added quietly:
“…You should probably stop bullying Uncle Woo-yeon so much.”
“……”
She made sure to speak her mind while she had the chance.
Today was the first filming day of the main season of <Glittering Baby House>.
…Everyone came earlier than expected.
Ye-won was surprised to see Eon and Yeon-ho arrive early.
Neither of them spoke much with Do-ha, but at least they were cooperating with filming.
Let’s keep this momentum going into the next album promotions!
She strengthened her resolve.
At that moment—
Eon spotted her and strode over.
“…Hey, kid.”
“Y-Yes?”
Ye-won was startled—she hadn’t expected him to speak first.
“You… you’re not seven years old, are you?”
“!!!”
W-Wait… am I getting exposed here already?
