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After a brief chat with Seo Ye-na at a cafe, Jo Seong-hyeon was surprised when she came to school to pick up Chae-yoon as usual.
As soon as he saw the child, as always, he opened his arms and found Chae-yoon running faster than usual.
“I will fall. Come slowly.”
Despite what he said, the child did not slow down.
Warak.
In the end, Chae-yoon fell into Seong-hyun’s arms and hugged her.
Jo Sung-hyun smiled and hugged Chae-yoon.
Then the child raises his head and opens his mouth.
“Dad.”
“yes?”
“I’m proud of you!”
Chae-yoon said with a bright smile.
Jo Sung-hyun blinked his eyes as he heard the child’s words.
It was the first time he’d ever heard the phrase “I’m proud of you.”
“Are you proud of me? What is it?”
Asking that, Jo Seong-hyun quickly shook his head and tried to interpret the phrase “I’m proud of you.”
And at some point, I don’t know why, I remember something that happened a while ago.
Didn’t Chae Yoon-i read the comments on the Me Tube video where Jo Sung-hyun and Chae Yoon-yi appeared together last time and used profanity?
Chae-yoon looked at Jo Sung-hyun and said that she was a good person.
Jo Sung-hyun once told a child not to use such words.
‘Is it true that I love you very much?’
I said that, but I was a little surprised that Chae-yoon would use that expression again.
Is it because I don’t fully understand the meaning?
Or is it just a simple buzzword?
If not, there may be a hidden meaning that Jo Sung-hyun does not know.
Jo Seong-hyeon struggled to organize his hair that was about to get complicated, and looked at Chae-yoon.
Waiting for the child to answer.
Chae-yoon opened her mouth and explained while shedding laughter.
“If you like something, it’s respect if there’s a reason, and if you don’t have a reason, it’s love.”
“okay?”
“yes. But I like my dad for no reason, even with a reason… great.”
While talking, he tilted his head to see if something was awkward, but Chae-yoon finished speaking anyway.
Jo Sung-hyun let out a smirk.
At the child’s words, I finally understood what he meant by saying “I’m proud of you.”
‘It means respect and love.’
Chae-yoon made eye contact with Jo Sung-hyun and showed a clear smile.
Jo Seong-hyeon looked into the clear-eyed child’s eyes, then lowered his head slightly and kissed Chae-yoon’s forehead lightly.
There is nothing happier than having your child respect you.
Parents respected by their children were the happiest parents in the world.
Jo Seong-hyeon hugged Chae-yoon without realizing it.
It was so cute, I wanted to hug her like it would break.
“Okay… .”
Chae-yoon sheds a scream of half surprise and half joke.
The child grinned and struggled.
Jo Seong-hyeon hugged Chae-yoon and put it down again.
Chae-yoon reached out to Seong-hyeon, and Jo Seong-hyun took the child’s hand.
“Chaeyoon, what do you want for dinner? Daddy will give you anything Chaeyoon wants to eat.”
“Well… Tteokbokki?”
After thinking for a while, Chaeyoon says:
At the child’s words, Jo Seong-hyeon just nodded.
There is no rice cake for Tteokbokki, but there is Joraengi Tteok.
It was originally meant to make rice cake soup, but what? Would it be okay to make tteokbokki?
Jo Seong-hyeon thought like that and walked with the child.
Chae-yoon was talking softly as she went home.
What happened at school, what we ate, what we played with our friends…
It’s not a big deal, but Chae-yoon enjoyed telling such stories.
“Oh right. Yeongjun said he started drawing.”
“okay? They said I had to draw several pictures.”
“yes. First of all, I’m going to draw a picture with a picture I took when I went to the Han River with me. Just like the old lady used to draw.”
“When it’s finished later, I’ll have to ask you to show it to me first. Is not it?”
“yes. I am very much looking forward to it.”
Chaeyoung nodded and said.
Seeing the child’s eyes twinkle with anticipation, Chae-yoon seemed to really like Young-jun’s drawings.
From https://noblemtl.com
Maybe a painting is a painting, but it could also be that Yeongjun likes himself.
Seong-hyeon Cho, thinking that far, slowly opened his mouth.
“Chae Yoon-ah.”
“yes?”
“It was Chae-yoon earlier. If you like it, it’s respect if there’s a reason, and if it’s not, it’s love.”
“yes.”
“Then Chae-yoon likes Young-jun, is there any reason?”
“I thought about it too.”
Chae-yoon said with a proud face.
The fact that Jo Sung-hyun’s question was the first thing he thought about seemed to make him proud.
Jo Sung-hyun waited quietly for Chae-yoon to continue.
“I’m glad that Yeongjun is kind and that he treats me well… It would have been bad if Yeongjun was originally a bad kid and a kid who bullied me.”
“okay?”
“yes. So it’s not love… Not even respect.”
“then?”
“I just like it!”
Chae-yoon feels proud of herself at her conclusion and speaks confidently.
Jo Sung-hyun blinked his eyes as soon as he heard the child’s answer.
This is somewhat different from the answer I was thinking of.
No, I didn’t expect or expected any kind of answer in the first place… I never thought it would be such an answer.
‘It would have been a big deal if Yeongjun had heard of it.’
It would have been a bigger problem if Hanyul had heard of it.
Jo Seong-hyeon thought that in his heart and stroked Chae-yoon’s hair.
“You seem to like Youngjun a lot.”
“Of course. Youngjun is a friend.”
Chae-yoon nodded and answered.
Jo Seong-hyeon wanted to ask the child a naughty question, but he resisted it.
For some reason, the moment she asked a question, Chae-yoon seemed to think about it for a long time.
Jo Sung-hyun didn’t want Chae-yoon and Young-jun to be more than friends.
Instead, he turned.
“The next time we make tteokbokki, will Chaeyoon help Dad?”
“I can help.”
Chae-yoon shakes her head and turns to look at Jo Sung-hyun and says:
Usually, Jo Sung-hyeon usually did not allow Chae-yoon to come near him when he was cooking.
When making simple foods like gimbap or tofu sushi, that is, non-dangerous foods, I also made them with Chaeyoon.
For food that requires the use of a knife or fire, I cook with Chaeyoon in the living room for safety.
I’m a little worried about using fire for Tteokbokki as well.
‘Because I can wash the rice cakes.’
Jo Sung-hyun thought about it and smiled.
“Then, Chae-yoon can help Dad.”
“right.”
Chaeyoung nodded her head proudly.
It was two hours later that the child turned the kitchen into a sea of water while washing the rice cakes.
* * *
“I didn’t know it would be so slippery… ”
Chae-yoon speaks with a gloomy face.
At the table, the child washed the rice cakes with water and Joraenggi rice cakes provided by Jo Seong-hyeon, and eventually spilled the water.
The table was dripping with water and the chairs were wet.
Seong-hyeon Cho found that the child was confused and did not know what to do, holding a bowl of rice cakes in his hand and looking at the spilled bowl in vain.
“I wish I wasn’t hurt.”
He said so and wiped the chair.
Chae-yoon was also wiping the chair from the other side.
Fortunately, the rice cakes were unharmed, so it didn’t seem like it would be difficult to make tteokbokki.
Seeing Chae-yoon wiping her water while whining with a slightly pale face, Seong-hyeon opened her mouth.
“Chae Yoon-ah.”
“yes?”
“Last time, there was a song that Chaeyoon wrote.”
“At Muse unnie’s company?”
“yes. Dad made it into a file. Would you like to hear it?”
“really? Let’s hear it.”
Chae-yoon said as soon as her eyes lit up.
The child was looking at Jo Seong-hyeon with his eyes twinkling as if he had become pale.
“Hurry up and put this all together, and Daddy will play it for you.”
“okay!”
Chae-yoon answered right away.
After cleaning up the spilled water with the child and washing the rice cake again.
Cho Seong-hyeon is a song that Chae-yoon wrote while making rice cakes, and Jo Seong-hyun finalized it.
‘Happiness’ was played.
While the child was listening to the song, Jo Sung-hyun went back to the kitchen and started making tteokbokki.
Cut the vegetables.
As I was preparing for this and that, I sometimes looked behind me, and Chaeyoon was listening to the song with a happy face.
The feeling of listening to a song you wrote yourself is pretty good.
After listening to the song, Jo Sung-hyun confirmed that he was slowly entering the part he modified.
Chae-yoon had a pleasant face, but after listening to the song, she opened her eyes and looked at Jo Sung-hyun.
Jo Sung-hyun smiled.
Chaeyun blinked and got up from the sofa and listened to the song.
Jo Sung-hyun’s corrections were very small, but those small corrections made a big difference.
Basically, the underlying feeling of loss disappears, and satisfaction and happiness take over.
Jo Sung-hyun continued to make tteokbokki, and thought that it would be good for Chae-yoon to know his feelings.
the song is over
“I want to hear you again.”
Chae Yoon-yi told Jo Seong-hyun, who immediately played the song again.
The child sat down at the table and listened to the song over and over again.
Chae-yoon, who sat still and listened to the song until Jo Seong-hyeon finished making the tteokbokki, came to her senses when the tteokbokki was placed on the table.
“Oh, it smells delicious!”
“Come and wash your hands.”
Jo Sung-hyun smiled softly and said to the child.
Chae-yoon nodded and headed to the bathroom.
While the child washed his hands and came out, Jo Sung-hyun finished preparing the meal.
He also went to the bathroom, washed his hands, and sat down at the table.
“It’s hot, so eat carefully.”
“yes. Daddy has to blow and eat too.”
Jo Sung-hyun laughed at Chae-yoon’s words.
The speed of eating was not that fast.
The tteokbokki just made was hot, and Chae-yoon carefully simmered the tteokbokki for a while and started eating them one by one.
So I finished eating.
While Jo Sung-hyun was washing the dishes, the child walked towards the refrigerator and took out a piece of yogurt.
“I want to eat this.”
“yes. The straw is here in the drawer.”
Chae-yoon takes out a straw, dips it in yogurt, and starts sucking on the side.
Seong-hyeon Cho just finished washing the dishes, and in the same way, took out the yogurt from the refrigerator and headed to the sofa.
They sit next to each other and drink yogurt.
Chaeyoon opened her mouth with a loud “Kyaah” first.
“Dad.”
“yes?”
“I like daddy.”
Jo Sung-hyun could see that the child’s words were the answer to Chae-yoon’s song that he had modified.
He smiled softly.
“Dad too, I love Chaeyoon so much.”
To feel a sense of loss and emptiness.
Father and child loved each other very much.
