Chapter 11, Wholesome Co-sleeping
Chapter 11, Wholesome Co-sleeping
Early that evening.
It was still a while before my noona would arrive, but I boiled some soybean paste stew.
I tossed in some chopped green onions and tasted the broth.
"Hmm. Perfect."
I nodded with satisfaction and turned off the gas stove.
I immediately moved to the dining table and set out the grilled ham and side dishes.
The stew can just be reheated later.
And I made fresh rice, so they can just scoop it up and eat.
Ah, and the ham just needs a quick spin in the microwave.
This should be enough that I don't need to worry too much.
"With this, the prep is all done..."
I wiped the water off my hands and checked the clock.
It was about time to head out.
Where am I going at this hour?
I'm planning to visit my parents' house, as my younger noona insisted earlier today.
I just dressed casually.
I shoved my wallet and smartphone into my pockets and headed down to the first floor with a light step.
Just as I crouched at the entrance to tie my sneakers and was about to stand up.
"What the, samchon. Where are you going?"
A gaze peeked out from the gap in the living room door.
It was Baek Ha-rin, who had been rolling around on the sofa just a moment ago.
"Going to my parents' house."
"Parents' house?"
Since there's only a one-year age gap between me and my niece, it's really ambiguous what to call it.
It doesn't feel real to call it 'Grandpa's house', and calling it 'my mom and dad's house' makes me look a bit lame, considering I'm technically her samchon.
So, I just safely refer to it as my parents' house.
At my answer, Baek Ha-rin scurried out toward the entrance.
"I'm coming too!"
"What? Why are you going there?"
"It's been a while since I've seen Grandma and Grandpa. Let's go together."
"You need to reheat the stew and serve dinner when your mom gets here later. Where do you think you're going, eldest daughter?"
I put up a firm wall, but Baek Ha-rin scoffed.
"Is Ha-young a baby? If she's hungry, she can scoop it up herself. Mom is the type to take care of herself too, so don't worry about it."
Hmm, that's not wrong.
My eldest noona is definitely not the type to starve just because her 20-year-old daughter didn't set the table.
"Hurry! Just wait 5 minutes! I'll go change, and if you leave without me, I'll resent you for the rest of your life!"
"You're going to resent me for the rest of your life over something like that..."
Baek Ha-rin dashed into her room before I even gave her permission.
I took out my smartphone and sent a message to my eldest noona.
[Noona.]
[I'm going to the parents' house.]
[Baek Ha-rin is tagging along, so you and Ha-young have dinner.]
[I boiled some stew.]
[(Thumbs up emoji)]
[OK.]
[Thanks.]
A very cool and concise reply.
For reference, my eldest noona's speaking tone and her texting/chatting tone are polar opposites.
A moment later, the door swung open with a bang, and Baek Ha-rin popped out.
Her sloppy pajamas were nowhere to be seen; she was wearing a neat shirt and a tennis skirt.
To finish makeup in just 5 minutes.
"Ready! Let's go!"
Baek Ha-rin tapped my arm while putting on her shoes.
An eco-bag that looked quite stuffed was hanging off one of her shoulders.
"Why are you carrying a bag?"
"I need some things. Let's go, hurry!"
In the end, I set out with Baek Ha-rin in tow.
I opened the taxi app on the main road and called a car.
Before long, a taxi pulled up.
"Please take us to Hannam Hills in Yongsan."
"Understood."
The driver glanced at us through the rearview mirror.
Did he imagine something weird?
Still, we arrived at Hannam Hills without any strange questions.
The taxi stopped in front of the gate barrier at the main entrance.
"Customer, this is for residents only, so the barrier won't open."
"Samchon, give me the card."
"Here."
I took the card out of my wallet and handed it to Baek Ha-rin.
Baek Ha-rin rolled down the window and tapped the card on the barrier's reader.
Beep!
As the barrier opened, Baek Ha-rin handed the card back to me.
Residents' cars have registration stickers so they pass right through, but when you come by taxi, you have to tap this from the car, which is a bit annoying.
The moment I checked the meter screen near our destination...
I let out a dry cough.
"That's quite a lot..."
The charged amount was well over 30,000 won.
30,000 won for someone like me who lives on less than 5,000 won a day.
I looked at Baek Ha-rin, who was fiddling with her phone.
I approached and poked her shoulder.
"My beloved niece."
"What, why are you being creepy all of a sudden?"
"The taxi fare came out to 30,000 won, you know? Can't you pay for half?"
"Geez. You must be the first samchon to shake down his niece for money."
While grumbling with her mouth, she tapped her phone a few times, and a banking app notification went off.
[100,000 won has been deposited by Baek Ha-rin.]
"Oh..."
I asked for half, but she coolly sent 100,000 won.
Is this the financial power of a YouTuber with 300,000 subscribers?
"Is the rest a tip?"
"It'll cost about the same for the taxi ride home, right? It's annoying to transfer twice, so I sent plenty."
"Alright then."
We arrived at our destination just then, and Baek Ha-rin got out of the car first.
But she stupidly left the bag she brought behind, so I grabbed it.
"Hey, you need to take this."
"Thank you. Almost forgot."
"But what's in here? A textbook?"
If it were a book, it wouldn't be this light.
"I'm sleeping over at Grandma's house today. I packed my pajamas and underwear. I have no classes tomorrow afternoon."
"Hmm... Then should I sleep over too?"
It was a hassle to take a taxi back late at night anyway.
"I'll just sleep here."
I pressed the door lock password and opened the front door.
"I'm home."
As soon as I stepped inside, the sound of slippers shuffling came urgently from the living room.
"My son!"
Mom, dressed in comfortable loungewear, ran to the entrance.
As a representative lawyer at a large law firm, she's full of charisma outside, but at home, she's a total son-fool.
Mom hugged me tightly and naturally patted my butt.
"Mom. Why are you hitting a grown adult son's butt?"
"In Mom's eyes, you're still a baby! But it's been four days since you were discharged, and you're only showing your face now?"
Mom dissed me with a disappointed expression.
Good thing I didn't come any later.
"I was busy with this and that. Taking care of some backlog."
"Busy, my foot. You were probably just playing games in your room."
"..."
I couldn't refute that.
In a world where SLI is gone, I was indeed distracted playing games with two 5090 32GB cards installed.
When I was speechless from the fact-bomb, Baek Ha-rin, who was standing behind me, popped her head out.
"Grandma! I'm here too!"
"Oh my! Our Ha-rin is here too?!"
Mom hugged Baek Ha-rin tightly and patted her butt just the same.
Baek Ha-rin acted cute as if she were a puppy.
Looking at them like this, it really...
They look like sisters with not much of an age gap.
"But Mom. Why do you seem to get younger every time I see you?"
"Hehe, that's because, you see? Mom splits her work hours or lunch time to go to the dermatologist. If you get lifting procedures and take care of yourself, anyone can be like this."
I burst out laughing because her confident answer was absurd.
Just then, Dad, who was watching TV in the living room, let out a deep sigh.
Perhaps it was a sigh about the hundreds of millions of won Mom pours into the dermatologist, and the fact that she even splits her work hours to get treatments.
But since it's Mom's money, it might not matter.
"Dad, I'm here."
"Yeah. Our eldest son. You worked hard protecting the country for 2 years."
"Yes. It was a bit tough. But now it's a year and a half."
For reference, my father was a 6-month reservist.
I had dinner with my parents for the first time in a while.
The table was set with top-quality Korean beef galbi-jjim and seasonal seafood dishes.
We exchanged the trivial, meaningless conversations that families have when they gather.
By the time we finished the meal and were peeling fruit, Mom asked.
"Jae-jun. You're sleeping over tonight, right?"
I answered while glancing at Baek Ha-rin, who had already changed into pajamas and was sprawled out on the sofa looking at her phone.
The women in our family are so confident everywhere, just like it's their own home.
"It's late anyway, and I don't have any plans tomorrow."
"Great, that's good. Ha-rin, I'll lay out a soft topper on the floor in your samchon's room, so sleep there."
"Huh?"
Why my room?
There are other rooms even if it's not my room.
Is it because we slept together since we were young?
I think my mom should be a bit more considerate.
At that, Baek Ha-rin sat up abruptly and whined.
"Aang! I want to sleep with Grandma in the master bedroom!"
"It's not right for a grown granddaughter to squeeze into the bed where Grandma and Grandpa sleep."
"Grandma and Grandpa are still only sixty~"
"Fifty-eight, to be exact."
I corrected her from the side.
Dad and Mom married early, even by the standards of that time.
"Hmph. Doesn't Grandma think it's even weirder to make a grown 21-year-old samchon and a 20-year-old niece sleep in the same room?"
"If someone saw us, they'd think we were co-sleeping or something, you brat."
I tossed that out because it was absurd, and Baek Ha-rin glared at me.
Dad laughed heartily watching us bicker, and Mom went into the room to get bedding.
A while later, I washed up and came into my room at my parents' house for the first time in a while.
Even though it's my room, I haven't actually spent that much time in it.
Bang.
The door opened, and Baek Ha-rin walked in, yawning widely.
She was holding an expensive-looking memory foam pillow in her arms.
She flopped down on the bedding next to my bed.
"But samchon~"
The brat who was grumbling just a moment ago is sending me a strange smile.
"Creepy. Just get to the point."
"No, I've been shaking my hips too much lately filming Shorts, so my back isn't great. If I sleep on the floor, I might not be able to go to school tomorrow because my back will hurt."
"You said you had no classes."
"It's not like I only go to school tomorrow, right?"
"So? What are you trying to say?"
"So, can't you sleep on the floor, and I sleep in the soft bed? Hmm?"
I was so dumbfounded I couldn't speak.
"This is my room, and that's my bed, so why should I have to curl up on the floor? Absolutely not."
I refused flatly.
At my firm attitude, Baek Ha-rin bit her lip, then this time, her eyes sparkled as she brought out a different strategy.
"You're really cold-hearted. Then... can't I just sleep next to you, samchon?"
"What?"
My brain froze for a moment at the unexpected compromise.
My bed is king-sized and wide, but still, isn't it a bit of a dangerous situation for a grown adult man and woman to lie side-by-side in the same bed?
If we happened to brush against each other while sleeping, it would be super awkward for both of us.
'But well, we're real family with shared blood, so is it okay?'
Anyway, if we each cover ourselves with our own blankets and sleep back-to-back, that's it.
I thought it would be better to just let her sleep in the same bed and sleep quietly than to listen to her whine all night about sleeping on the floor.
"Haa. Fine. But if you snore, I'm kicking you."
"Woo-hoo~!"
As soon as my permission dropped, Baek Ha-rin leaped onto the bed.
Then she quickly took the corner spot against the wall and pulled the blanket up to her chin.
"Ah, damn, I was going to sleep in the corner."
Having lost the cozy spot against the wall, I grumbled and sat on the outer edge of the bed.
Sigh, my life.