EPILOGUE. A Glimpse into the Future
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 201: EPILOGUE. A Glimpse into the Future
“Yujin~ Time for school.”
“Boooo... I don't wanna go...”
Doah chuckled at the sight of her daughter, who was the spitting image of her father.
As if she didn't want to hear her mother's words, Yujin buried her face even deeper into the blankets.
“You’re going to school with Dad today. Aren't you going to get up?”
“...Dad?”
A spark returned to Yujin’s sleepy eyes.
Just as she thought, the girl was completely weak for her dad.
“That’s right. Today’s the day Mom and Dad are coming to your school for observation day.”
Yujin’s eyes flew open, and in a rush, she dashed into the bathroom before her mother could even finish her sentence.
“What’s this? Did Yujin go to wash up?”
Her husband’s voice came from behind her.
Eight years had already passed since she’d had two people to look after.
“Oppa.”
“Yeah...?”
“Are you really going to wear that?”
“...You don’t like it?”
It wasn’t that she didn’t like Taemin’s outfit.
No. In fact, she thought the problem was that she liked it too much.
“Did you dress like that to make all the other moms' hearts melt?”
Even though he was in his mid-thirties, Taemin’s face still seemed to glow.
No. If anything, it felt like he was getting more handsome with age.
“Still, it’s our first time going to our kid’s school. Shouldn’t I dress up a little?”
His sharp suit gave off an aura that made him look like the lead actor in a noir film.
“If you’re going to dress like that, what am I supposed to wear?”
“Want to wear a dress?”
Taemin joked.
Ugh. It felt like he was becoming more and more like his teacher as he got older.
The man had gotten so smooth.
“Dad!”
Yujin must have run out in the middle of brushing her teeth, as traces of white toothpaste were still around her mouth.
“Yujin, you’re up?”
“Dad! Are you really coming to school with me today?”
“Of course. It’s a historic day—the first time I get to see my daughter in class.”
“I’m so happyyy.”
Yujin beamed.
It was certainly an unusual event.
Taemin was always so busy with work that he could rarely take a day off.
“If you want to go to school with Dad, you’ll have to wash your hair, right, Yujin?”
“Yeah. I’ll go wash up right now, Mom.”
Doah smiled warmly and led her daughter back into the bathroom.
She was still at an age where she was too clumsy to shower by herself.
Yujin still had trouble washing her own hair, so every morning, Doah would carefully wash and comb it for her.
“How should we tie your hair today?”
“Umm... However you want to do it, Mom.”
“Then how about we tie it back like this?”
“Okay. But you have to make it pretty.”
Watching her daughter look in the mirror with a face full of anticipation, Doah felt her own heart grow warm.
The family of three sat gathered at the dining table.
Doah quickly finished her meal first and went to put on her makeup.
Left behind, Taemin watched Yujin munching on her side dishes and started a father-daughter talk they hadn’t had in a while.
“Yujin.”
“Yeah?”
“Is school fun?”
“Nooo... it’s boring...”
“Why is it boring?”
When Taemin asked why, Yujin thought for a moment before giving her answer.
“Playing with you is more fun, Dad.”
It was a completely unrelated answer, but Taemin just found his daughter endlessly cute.
“Should we quit school and just go play together then?”
“But... if we do that... won’t Mom get mad...?”
“We’ll just go secretly.”
“My, my, Yujin knows best, doesn’t she? She even knows she’ll get scolded by Mom.”
What the. Why are you back already?
Taemin flinched at Doah’s surprise return, which was much faster than he’d expected.
“Go get the car ready. I’ll be down in a minute.”
Feeling awkward, Taemin grabbed the car keys and headed out.
“Alright. Yujin, hurry down!”
“Okay!”
Taemin went down to the parking garage first, while Doah did a final check to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything, then grabbed Yujin’s bag and went down to the basement with her.
“Ah. But if the other school moms find out Yujin is my daughter, will they bother me or something?”
“I don’t know... But it makes even less sense for you to skip your daughter’s observation day just because you’re worried about that.”
“That’s true.”
Taemin didn’t appear on broadcasts, but he was practically a celebrity.
He had produced several hit songs that anyone with even a passing interest in pop music would have heard, and in the VTuber music scene, his songs were considered classics.
If that were all, it would have been one thing, but Taemin, who was more handsome than the idols he wrote for, was one of the rare few composers to have his own fan club.
“Besides, Oppa. When it comes to name recognition, aren’t I a step above you?”
“Not anymore, I bet.”
How many years had it been since CLOSER disbanded?
There was definitely a time when their popularity was at its peak, but Taemin thought he had a slight edge now.
“So I’m a has-been now. Is that it?”
“Mom, what’s a has-been?”
At the question from their daughter, who had been listening quietly from the back seat, the couple paused their conversation.
“Uhh~ It’s okay if you don’t know yet, Yujin.”
“Reallyyy?”
Doah thought to herself that she needed to watch her mouth.
Unlike when Doah and Taemin were in school, the number of children had decreased significantly.
This year, there were a total of 34 new first-graders.
The first grade had only two classes.
“Yujin. How many friends are in your class?”
“About 15?”
“That’s so few.”
“Oppa. Nowadays, even that is considered a lot.”
The term ‘low birth rate era’ had long since become an understatement.
Taemin found himself looking around the sparse classroom.
“Hello, everyone~”
The homeroom teacher bowed her head and began the class.
The parents were all engrossed in watching their own precious treasures.
Taemin and Doah were no different.
“...Can I take a picture?”
When Taemin whispered this to Doah, she shook her head from side to side, signaling him not to.
“Take one after. After class.”
The topic of today’s class was future dreams.
The children took turns standing up and introducing what they wanted to be.
“I’m going to be an AI developer!”
“I... um... want to be a chef!”
“I want to be a mom!”
Whether they said it seriously or playfully, in the eyes of the adults, it was all just cute.
When it was finally Yujin’s turn, Taemin’s eyes were practically dripping with honey.
“Yujin, what kind of person do you want to be when you grow up?”
Yujin stood up from her chair and glanced back.
Her eyes met with the couple’s.
Doah gave her a bright smile, and Taemin gave her a thumbs-up as if to say, ‘You can do it.’
“I... want to be an idol like my mom!”
At the unexpected answer, all eyes in the room turned to Taemin and Doah.
Taemin tried to hold back his laughter as if he couldn't bear it.
And Doah, who gripped his collar tightly.
Doah’s pale face flushed red.
The teacher was clearly surprised too, but she didn’t lose her composure and calmly continued the class.
“Yujin, do you like to sing and dance?”
“Yes! And I’m going to stream later, too!”
Traces of Luka could still be found here and there in Taemin and Doah’s house.
To Taemin and Doah, Luka was the precious character who had brought them together.
Of course, Yujin didn’t know exactly what kind of work her mother had done, but her father had explained that her mom used to be a very famous idol.
“That’s wonderful! I’m sure you can become a star, Yujin~ Okay. Next, shall we have Jinsu?”
After about 40 minutes of the blush-inducing class, break time arrived.
Yujin came scampering over to the couple.
“Hee... Mom, did you see me?”
“Yes. Our Yujin did a great job with her presentation.”
“Really?”
“Of course~ Dad loved it, too.”
Without a hint of embarrassment, Taemin gave Yujin a kiss on the cheek right there in the classroom.
“You did so well, my daughter.”
Inside the phone’s camera.
The faces of the loving family of three were captured.
“Alright, Dad will come pick you up later, okay?”
“You can come again, Dad?”
“Of course~ Dad’s not going to work today so he can see you.”
“Yujin, be a good girl and listen to your teacher~ Mom will come with him, okay?”
They wanted to keep watching their child, but it was time for class to start again.
Doah and Taemin could feel the other couples sneaking glances their way, but they walked confidently down the stairs.
“Oppa.”
Once in the car, Doah puffed out her cheeks like a child.
“What.”
“How could you laugh back there!”
Doah slapped Taemin’s thigh with her palm.
“Hey, I’m allowed to laugh because my daughter is cute.”
“I know that’s not why you were laughing! You’re so mean. Jeez!”
There were tiring days when he really didn’t want to work, but how could he rest when he had such an adorable daughter and wife?
They were the two people he cherished more than anything.
Taemin grabbed Doah’s wrist and pulled her toward him.
Doah’s upper body tilted forward.
Taemin gave her a light kiss on the lips.
“If you keep acting like that, I’m going to show Yujin the full video of your ‘mommy aegyo’ routine.”
“Ah! Stop it!”
It was a spring day, filled with the scent of flowers.
-I Unknowingly Rejected My Favorite. (The End)