Chapter 82 – Caring for My Mother-in-Law
“Hey, are you okay?!”
No answer comes back to my calls.
All I hear is the hum of the air conditioner from one side.
I thought it was unusual, so I approached Cha Seon-young, who had fallen.
“Calm down!”
“Huh…”
Fortunately, he was breathing, but that alone did not reassure him.
Not only was she breathing hard, but even though she wasn’t hot at all, she was sweating cold all over her body.
The moment she hurriedly took the phone out of her pocket to call an ambulance, the voice of the goddess was heard.
[You don’t have to. First, put Seonyeong-nim in bed…]
—
‘An air conditioner?’
When asked back in her head, the goddess answered.
[Yes. It’s not a serious illness, but if Seonyeong-nim, who lost her mind, was left alone on the floor, she would be in danger, so I asked Do-hyun for help.]
‘Ah…’
I turned my head and looked at Cha Seon-yeong.
Carried to her bed, she slept with a calmer face than on her floor.
‘If you needed someone to nurse, wouldn’t it have been 120009 for you to have Jia with you? This person would have welcomed her Jia more.’
[No. The person who can truly help Seonyeong-nim now is Dohyeon-nim.]
‘Me?’
I don’t quite understand.
Wouldn’t it be more enjoyable to be taken care of by the daughter I’ve become friends with after decades?
[I have something important to do, so I think I have to leave. I’m sorry for bringing you so suddenly, but please take good care of Seonyoung.]
‘Are you okay. Don’t worry and work.’
Anyway, Cha Seon-young is the future mother-in-law, so she can’t say that she has nothing to do with me.
I have to stay until I come to my senses.
I couldn’t hear anything about whether the goddess had left, so I searched for an air conditioner on my phone.
… Turn off the air conditioner and ventilate?
After doing what she was told on the Internet, she sat back in the chair next to the bed.
Cha Seon-yeong is still asleep.
I know that air-conditioning is not such a serious disease, but seeing that she even lost her mind, it must have been severe.
By the way.
… What are those clothes?
Cha Seon-young said, from the time she collapsed on the floor, she was wearing some kind of animal pajamas.
Looking at the overall color and design of the hood worn on the head, it looks like a squirrel.
It was a cute outfit that didn’t match her usual cold image.
… Do you like unexpectedly cute things?
For a moment, she saw the beads of sweat on her forehead.
… Isn’t it bad when the temperature is too high?
Isn’t it often said that even in a sauna, people with a fever shouldn’t go in?
It was then that she reached out her hand, wanting to at least take off that thick animal pajama.
“Ugh…”
“Huh? Are you okay?”
“Everything, why are you here…”
“The goddess suddenly brought you. She’s in a dangerous state, so ask for help.”
“I see… Ah!”
As soon as she answered helplessly, she pressed her forehead with the palm of her hand, as if a headache had overtaken her.
“Do you have a headache? The goddess said it was an air conditioner.”
“Air conditioner? Come to think of it… I haven’t been feeling well since I was on the set today. I’ve told you several times to turn off the air conditioner because it’s cold.”
She asked in her mumbling.
“But why is it so hot right now? Did you turn off the air conditioner?
“I turned it off because I collapsed from the air conditioner. And if you’re wearing clothes like that, I think you’ll be hot even if you turn on the air conditioner.”
“What? …Ah!”
Cha Seon-young looked down at her body and her face turned red.
“Go, get out for a minute to get changed. Ouch!”
As she tries to force herself up, she lies back down in pain.
“Ah, her whole body aches… I think she was beaten with a stick.”
“Stay there. I’ll help you.”
“It’s okay. I’ll take care of it, so get out, ah!”
“Anyway, the two of us did that, so why are you ashamed?”
Unlike her shy counterpart, she calmly changed into plain thin clothes instead of animal pajamas.
Cha Seon-young, who was moaning in pain while she was changing, frowned at her even as she lay down.
“I thought I was dying from the heat.”
“So why are you wearing such pajamas?”
“…The clothes Jia bought for me.”
“Are you Jia? But that’s not what you’re going to wear in midsummer. Do you want Jia to wear it?”
“It’s not like that… Her daughter bought it for me, so I want to keep wearing it. If it’s hot, just turn on the air conditioner.”
She once said she would cut ties with her daughter for the rest of her life, and then she became a completely different person.
Anyway, I know roughly what happened.
The air conditioner had already been caught from the filming set, and the symptoms seemed to have worsened because the air conditioner was turned on hard to wear that thick pajama at her house.
“If I’m not feeling well, I shouldn’t have called someone.”
“I have no one to call.”
“You have Jia.”
“…I’m sorry to ask for help after not being able to be a mother for 20 years.”
It may or may not be understandable, and it is ambiguous.
“Are you calling friends or other acquaintances?”
“I haven’t had a single friend since I had Ji-ah. My acquaintances are only people related to work, so what’s the point of contacting them?”
“Ah…”
She’s been friendless for over twenty years.
“Then what do you do when you rest at home?”
There was a reason for asking this question.
Like a popular celebrity, the house is really spacious and the home appliances and furniture are expensive, but there was nothing to soothe the boredom.
It felt like there were no computers or laptops, and only the things necessary for life were brought in.
“Just watch TV or memorize the script.”
“…Aren’t you lonely?”
Cha Seon-young answered with her head turned the other way.
“…Lonely. But what can I do. I’m the type of person who builds walls for others.”
A deep sense of resignation is heard in the voice over the back of her head.
Imagining Cha Seon-yeong lying alone on a wide bed in an empty house, blankly watching TV, made my heart bitter.
With no one to comfort her, she must have been plagued by her loneliness and her bad memories of Gia and her dad.
Even when she cursed at her daughter before, she only looked at Cha Seon-young badly, but now that she has reconciled with her daughter, her pity for her is greater.
“…Sorry, I’m going to sleep.”
“Yes. I’ll stay until you feel 120009, so tell me if you need anything.”
For Ji-ah and Ha-eun, I went to see her family over the weekend and stayed by Cha Seon-yeong’s side.
Caught in an air conditioner, she couldn’t sleep comfortably because of her body aches and coughs, so I brought her water or went out to buy painkillers.
The next day, Saturday morning.
I brought the delivered porridge in front of the bed.
Cha Seon-yeong ordered it because she couldn’t digest it.
“I’ll feed you, so sit down.”
“Okay, I’m going to eat… Oops!”
“How are you going to eat when you can’t even move your arms properly?”
He made her sit down and blew her porridge on her spoon.
Although Cha Seon-young was embarrassed, she could not overcome her hunger, so she reluctantly accepted and ate her porridge.
After feeding them all, I filled my stomach with the porridge that I also ordered.
When the clean dishes were put down on the tray, Cha Seon-yeong, who had been quiet, spoke.
“Why are you nice to me?”
“How can you leave a sick person alone? They say they have no friends and no one to call.”
“…”
“Do you need anything else?”
“No. I just want to get some sleep.”
“Wait a minute. I’ll bring you water, so take your medicine and go to sleep.”
“…Okay.”
—
“Um…”
After falling asleep, she woke up.
When she lifted her upper body from the bed on which she was lying face down, she saw Seonyeong Cha lying there with her open eyes.
“How are you?”
“It’s much 120009. My body is still heavy, but it doesn’t hurt. Thank you.”
To say that it has improved though, it is worth taking care of her diligently from her Friday night when she found her collapsed until Sunday afternoon.
“I’m glad. I’ll rest more just in case.”
“Okay. That… I’d like to return it, but if you need anything, tell me. I’ll buy it for you.”
“I don’t really need anything, so I just get along well with Jia. Do you need anything besides me?”
“What do you need?”
“Can I get you some water?”
“…”
Suddenly, without a word, she is lost in her thoughts.
As I waited patiently without knowing her reason, her closed lips moved.
“You know. Will you go back when I’m completely healed?”
“Is that so?”
“Then before you go… Hug me.”
“Yes?”
I looked at her at her unexpected words, but her opponent’s expression was desperate, as if she wasn’t joking.
“I know you’ll be in trouble if I do this. So I’ve been holding back from wanting to contact you… But it’s the first time I’ve been cared for by someone like this since I was young…”
Cha Seon-yeong, who blurted out her words, pleads with her eyes this time.
She had asked for her relationship several times before, but never so much in her longing as she did now.
“It’s okay to wrap it up once and finish it… I want to feel a little more like I’m not alone…”
I’m in trouble.
She thought that until she lost contact with her, she wouldn’t have to hurt her head over this problem anymore.
Also, she was torn between her conscience as Jia’s lover and her sympathy for Cha Seon-yeong.
But maybe it was after Cha Seon-young heard that she had lived a lonely life for a long time.
Or is it because her eyes that touch me right now look so pitiful?
Even though she promised never to have a private relationship again, she just couldn’t resist.
“Yeah, okay.”
“Me, really?”
“Yes, what.”
“Then… Can I ask you one more favor?”
In the yard that I was going to do it anyway, it didn’t change anything if I did one or two more requests.
“What is it?”
“Actually, I’ve seen you do it with Jia.”
“I beg your pardon?”
When my embarrassed eyes widened, Cha Seon-yeong continued.
“At that time, just like she did to Jia… Couldn’t you be kind to her?”
