A Special Person
A rare weekend had finally arrived.
With nothing particular planned, I intended to savor the day off by never leaving my bed.
But my phone suddenly started ringing, jolting me fully awake. I pressed my fingers to my brow with a sigh.
There was only one person who would ever call this number.
"Hel—"
"Yu-seong~!!!"
The moment I steeled myself and brought the phone to my ear, a volume that mercilessly assaulted my eardrums made me clutch my throbbing head.
"I told you not to do that out of nowhere… Mom."
I let out another sigh and spoke in a thoroughly fed-up tone. No matter what, I could never get used to this energy.
Oblivious to my inner turmoil, Mom shot back, "I told you to call once every three days! It's your fault for making Mom worry!" — and somehow I ended up being the one scolded.
"…Once a week is plenty."
When I first left home, the condition I'd agreed to so she wouldn't worry had been once a day.
Of course I never kept it faithfully; most of the time I simply forgot or couldn't be bothered. And so, every now and then, situations like this cropped up.
"You've heard my voice, so we're good, right? I'm hang—"
I had nothing much to say beyond a quick check-in and was about to end the call when Mom's voice stopped me cold: "Come on, you're satisfied with just a voice?"
"…What?"
A strange chill ran down my spine at the exact same moment the doorbell rang out of nowhere.
This woman is unbelievable…!
I burst out of bed and checked the intercom. On the screen, Mom was beaming with a bright smile. "Yoo-hoo~ I came over~"
"Um, is something wrong?"
Startled by the sudden turn of events, Seol-hwa hurried over with a bewildered look and asked.
"…It's my mom."
"Y-your mother?! I thought you lived alone? And so suddenly…"
"That's what I'm saying. This is driving me crazy…"
I answered while pressing my fingers to my brow and letting out a denser sigh than usual.
Meeting her was always awkward in more ways than one, so the last time she announced she was coming I'd deliberately made sure to be out of the house.
After that, she started dropping by without any warning at all.
It was clearly my own fault and I had no right to complain — but the problem now was that Seol-hwa was here.
There was no time to hesitate. Mom had a spare key to the place.
She only rang the doorbell out of courtesy; if I delayed any longer, it wouldn't be strange for her to just unlock the door and walk right in.
"Go into the room. Don't come out no matter what."
If she got the wrong idea, it would become a real headache. Given Mom's personality, I could already imagine exactly what would happen if she saw Seol-hwa.
With no other choice, I asked Seol-hwa to understand, pushed her into the room, and opened the front door.
"Honestly! Mom came all this way just to see her son — you should open the door right away!"
She puffed out her cheeks and thumped my chest with both hands. I let out a long-suffering sigh.
She was a fully grown adult in her forties, yet she looked young enough that you could believe she was in her early-to-mid twenties, and she pulled this kind of stunt every single time.
There was nothing mature about her at all… which made her a headache in every possible way.
Whether she noticed my feelings or not, Mom breezed past me with a cheerful "Well then, I'm coming in~" and stepped straight into the entryway.
"Oh? It's cleaner inside than I expected."
"…I did a big clean recently."
It wasn't a lie — as long as I left out the part where Seol-hwa had helped.
Mom made a thoughtful "Hmm~" sound and stared straight at me, so I looked away, feeling awkward.
"It's really clean. The usual Yu-seong would half-ass everything and never clean properly. Is the sun rising in the west?"
"…Even I get the urge to be capricious sometimes."
I trailed off at the end, my conscience too guilty for a clean denial.
If Seol-hwa hadn't skillfully helped out, this place would still be a pigsty even now.
…Not that that was anything to brag about.
"You didn't just shove everything into a corner of a room, did you?"
After surveying the living room as a whole, Mom suddenly hummed again and struck a pose with her index finger and thumb on her chin.
Then she started staring intently toward Seol-hwa's room, and cold sweat began trickling down my back.
It was the guest room, but since we never used it I'd basically treated it as a storage closet — a fact she knew perfectly well.
"If I was going to do that, I wouldn't have cleaned at all—"
I was desperately inventing excuses to keep her as far from that room as possible.
But before I could even get the words out, a loud thud! — the kind of sound anyone would find suspicious — came from inside the room. I had no choice but to press my fingers to my brow in silence.
"Yu-seong."
"…What is it, Mom."
"What are you hiding in there?"
"…Nothing."
"My son is wonderful in every way, but he has no talent for lying."
What on earth did you do in there, Yun Seol-hwa.
Now even the option of making excuses was gone.
While I stood there speechless, Mom suddenly cried "Found a gap!" and flung the door open before I could stop her.
Seol-hwa, sprawled on the floor, locked eyes with Mom. I let out a huge sigh of pure resignation.
Once the commotion had settled, we ended up seated around the living-room table — Seol-hwa beside me, facing Mom.
"Han Yu-seong! If you brought home a bride candidate, you should have told your mother!"
"A b-bride candidate?!"
"Absolutely not…?"
This was exactly why I hadn't wanted her to find out. I knew it would become a hassle.
"Anyway, what happened earlier? Were you feeling unwell? You were collapsed on the floor."
"W-well… at first I was hiding under the blanket, but when I heard voices it sounded like you were about to come in, so I thought hiding in the closet would be better… and when I tried to get out I tripped, so…"
She must have thought she sounded ridiculous herself.
Watching Seol-hwa trail off more and more, I couldn't find anything to say. She kept bowing her head and murmuring, "I'm sorry…"
"Ever since Yu-seong started living alone he never once mentioned friends, so I was worried — and then he brings home a cute girl like this… You've grown so much! Mom is so moved!"
Mom, who had been watching the whole scene with a beaming face, suddenly said that.
I cut her off firmly. "Unnecessary worry."
This place was giving me a headache in its own way; I'd already lost count of how many times I'd sighed today.
My head was throbbing so hard it was starting to make me dizzy.
"What's your name, dear? Ah, I'm Seo-jin. Lee Seo-jin! You can even call me Seo-jin~ if you want!"
Completely ignoring her son's feelings, Mom's eyes sparkled as she clasped both of Seol-hwa's hands and started chatting away.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing? You're a grown adult."
I will mention again that she was in her late forties.
I threw out a perfectly reasonable protest, telling her to act her age as she leaned in so enthusiastically.
But Mom just brushed it off with a breezy "Come on, my heart is still in its girlhood, so it's fine!" and I was left with nothing to do but sigh.
From the start, unless it was Dad, stopping Mom once she got going was nearly impossible.
…If that man had come too, I would have found some way to escape long ago.
No — he was never going to come, so it was a pointless assumption. I sighed inwardly.
"I-I'm Yun Seol-hwa…"
"Wow, Seol-hwa! What a cute name!"
"C-cute… I'm not… someone like me…"
…Thinking about it now, I realized Eun-ha and Mom had the same kind of energy levels that had no upper limit.
Just like with Eun-ha, Seol-hwa — swept up in that excessively high tension — had no choice but to be thoroughly flustered.
I even felt a little sympathy for how visibly confused she looked.
"Oh, what are you talking about! Anyone can become cute or cool! It's just that they don't think so themselves! If you want, I can prove it right now?"
In perfect contrast to Seol-hwa, Mom's eyes kept sparkling and she showed not the slightest sign of backing off.
"U-um… Mother."
"Oh my, oh my! You're already calling me Mother?!"
"What?! Th-that's not what I—"
Cornered on all sides, Seol-hwa rolled her eyes toward me in a clear SOS. Unlike with Eun-ha, I couldn't just leave her, so I had no choice but to stick my arm out and block the space between Mom and Seol-hwa.
"That's enough. Seol-hwa's uncomfortable."
"Ehh~ Fine, I guess."
Mom pouted and grumbled. I sighed as if to say "See?"
"…Anyway, Mom, there's something I need to tell you."
I glanced at Seol-hwa with a silent "Is this okay?" She nodded without a word. Once I confirmed that, I told Mom our story.
That her family situation was strained, that she was sick and living alone so I'd felt sorry for her and given her the unused room.
Now that Seol-hwa had already been discovered, it was better to say what needed saying.
Of course, so the listener wouldn't feel burdened, I skipped or rewrote a few parts to soften the bitter edges before reporting to Mom.
"So, when are you getting married?"
…And that was the first thing that came out of her mouth after all that.
"You did understand what I said, right?"
Faced with a reaction that seemed completely unchanged from the beginning, I pressed my fingers to my brow and forced my expression not to twist as I spoke.
It was always like this. Mom, with her extreme my-pace personality, was difficult to deal with in a completely different way from Dad… truly.
This is why I didn't want to talk about it…
"Nope, I don't understand at all~"
"…What don't you understand? I explained everything."
Even so, maybe getting permission for cohabitation was still hard.
Seeing Mom lace her fingers on the table with a rare serious expression, I swallowed hard without meaning to and answered.
"So the two of you are living together right now?"
"…Yeah."
"And yet!"
She slammed the table with a bang and raised her voice. I squeezed my eyes shut, thinking even Mom would be angry about me doing something like this without a word or a call—
"Why are you still using formal speech with each other!"
…and then stopped mid-close.
Of course there was no "what if" — I'd briefly forgotten, because of the tension, that this was the kind of person Mom was.
"Seol-hwa, you don't have to be so polite either. You two are the same age, aren't you?"
"We are, but…"
I couldn't flatly deny it, so it was hard to say anything from my side. With Eun-ha it had been almost forced, but somehow they'd switched to casual speech; with me, Seol-hwa still used formal language.
"I-it's less cohabitation and more that my life was such a mess… Yu-seong just helped me. Boarder or freeloader would be the right word…"
"Seol-hwa."
"Y-yes…?"
Mom reached toward Seol-hwa, who was only dripping cold sweat. Did she think she was about to be harmed?
Seol-hwa squeezed her eyes shut in fear, and Mom silently placed a hand on her head and stroked it.
"If you think of it that way, Yu-seong will be sad, you know?"
"…Huh?"
"His personality's a bit twisted, but Yu-seong doesn't treat people like that."
"Sorry for being twisted."
"That part of him, you know~ Anyway? There's a saying: if you live together and sit at the same table to eat, that's family! I hope you won't think of it only that way. In any case — Han Yu-seong?"
"…What."
"Start by dating already."
"Want me to kick you out?"
If she hadn't said that last part, I might have thought she was being a little adult for once.
While my sighs only increased, Mom's face never lost its bright smile, as if something delighted her endlessly.
"Still, without some goodwill you wouldn't have let her into the house, right? Especially you, Yu-seong."
"…That."
I felt pathetic for how often I kept getting stuck for words.
After what happened in middle school, I'd left home on my own and lived without forming any real connections with anyone.
At first it had been impulsive.
But now… I couldn't completely deny that there was something about Seol-hwa that drew me in. To say I felt no fondness at all would be a lie.
She got discouraged easily, bowed her head over the smallest things, and for all her intelligence she often did the most ridiculous things — a bit of a fool.
(Yu-seong… at least to me, you've become a good person.)
That bright smile she showed so happily…
(I was able to realize… that being together could feel this good.)
I must have been drawn in too. Before I knew it, I was thinking the same thing.
That it was… fun.
"Mom."
Along with that realization, I let out one last big sigh as if expelling everything, and then opened my mouth.
"Sorry for not saying it sooner. Is it… okay if I let Seol-hwa stay here?"
"See, Seol-hwa?"
"…Huh? S-see what?"
"This is my son, so there might be some bias, but even if his mouth is rough sometimes and he seems blunt and prickly, deep down he's the kind of good person who can say things like this.
I worried a lot about how long he'd keep wandering, but he seems to be getting better, so I'm relieved… From now on, take care of Yu-seong for me, okay?"
"I should be the one… I'm always in his debt. So, um… please take care of me…!"
"Having such a cute, kind girl stay with him — even though he's my son, I'm so jealous~ Ah! Should we exchange phone numbers? Yu-seong is never honest when I contact him, so Seol-hwa, would you report on him for me instead?"
"I'm right here, you know?"
Shouldn't conversations like that at least happen when the person in question isn't present?
No — even if they happened elsewhere they'd still be a problem, so I ended up interrupting anyway.
"Um, well… I don't have a cell phone…"
"Huh? But Seol-hwa, you said your body isn't well? What about the hospital? You need a phone for emergencies."
Mom asked worriedly as Seol-hwa fidgeted with her hands and answered awkwardly.
"I got rid of it when I left home… phone bills and hospital costs were a problem too…"
"Oh, that won't do! In this day and age a cell phone is essential! No choice then. I'll send you a decent one soon."
"What?! I-I'm fine! Just freeloading is already…"
At the sudden offer, Seol-hwa waved her hands frantically to decline. But…
"At times like this, just say 'Thank you!' That's all you need! Like I said earlier — freeloading or whatever, if you live together you're family. No need to refuse."
If she'd been the type to listen to that, things never would have gotten this far. Seol-hwa's refusal was cleanly ignored.
"Family…"
"So… ah, if you're that uncomfortable about it~ how about I set one condition?"
While persuading Seol-hwa, Mom suddenly changed the subject.
That expression — she's definitely plotting something.
Unaware of the ulterior motive, Seol-hwa only asked back, "A condition…?"
Then Mom put on a full smile that practically screamed "I've got a bite" — or rather, an expression that looked extremely worrying — and opened her mouth.
"Will you try calling me 'Mother' like earlier?"
"Whaaat?!"
"Hey, time-out."
I knew it.
I sighed in that exact sense, then peeled Mom away as she leaned in toward Seol-hwa from head-on with sparkling eyes, whining, "This is the most important part right now~!"
"Ugh, I don't want to leave Seol-hwa yet…"
"Yeah, yeah. If you go back any later it'll interfere with work."
She wasn't as busy as Dad, but she still had quite a lot on her plate.
She must have pushed herself to come because I'd made her worry. After I nagged her, Mom put on her shoes with a sulky face.
"It would be nice if I could just take Seol-hwa home with me too…"
"…You know that's impossible."
That man — Dad… at least for now, I still didn't want to see him again.
Even if I were forced to, I wouldn't know what to say.
"…I didn't bring it up just in case, but did you tell her about the old stuff?"
"…Not yet."
To Mom, who whispered so Seol-hwa wouldn't hear, I answered with a self-deprecating sigh.
Mom only let out a soft "I see…" and sighed.
"U-um…"
Just as Mom finished getting ready to leave and was about to grab the doorknob, Seol-hwa suddenly stopped her.
"Hm? What is it, Seol-hwa?"
"W-well… 'Mother' is still too much, but… c-could I call you Seo-jin…?"
"Still, huh~ Yu-seong?"
"…What."
"She's a friend you finally made, so treat her preciously."
"I was going to even without you saying so."
Hearing my answer, Mom finally smiled in relief and said, "That's good," before leaving.
"I feel somehow exhausted…"
"…Same."
After a visit that felt like a natural disaster had passed through, both Seol-hwa and I were completely drained and collapsed onto the floor and the sofa respectively.
It was a holiday, yet I didn't feel like I'd rested even a little — and that wasn't just my imagination.
"Still… Seo-jin really cherishes you, Yu-seong."
"…That's just the kind of person she is."
My-pace, doting to a fault, and severely overprotective… but in a way, all of that was just another form of affection.
I was already quite the delinquent student, but the fact that I hadn't completely crossed the line was largely thanks to Mom.
…If you ignored the part where she caused incidents like this and left people wilted and exhausted, she was a good person.
"…Hey, Yu-seong."
Hugging her knees, Seol-hwa asked in a voice that somehow sounded pitiful, almost murmuring.
"Do you think… my mother cherished me?"
At those words I looked over at her in silence. But with her face buried in her knees, I couldn't see her expression.
I couldn't see it… but she was probably wearing a sad face.
She didn't want it to be seen. That was the kind of person she was.
"What are you talking about. She's your mother. Of course she did — and then some."
I gently stroked Seol-hwa's head as if to reassure her.
If her mother hadn't been that kind of person, a child like this never would have come from that household in the first place.
"…Is that… so?"
"At least that's what I want to believe. Isn't that enough?"
I stood up, stretched, and plopped down right beside her on the sofa.
Seol-hwa flinched hard as if startled and retreated all the way to the edge of the sofa.
"…Did you hate it that much?"
Wondering if I'd closed the distance too much or done something awkward, I scratched my cheek with a finger… when Seol-hwa, hiding her face behind a cushion, hesitantly opened her mouth.
"I-it's embarrassing…"
"…Even now?"
"Because of the word… family. It made me think."
Hearing that, I wordlessly snatched the cushion she was using to hide her face.
"…Hyeh?!"
Her face was flushed red as a tomato, steam practically rising from her head, as she started hopping like a frog trying to snatch the cushion back.
But with the height difference, even with her arms stretched high she couldn't reach the cushion I held up.
"G-give it back…!"
I didn't have a hobby of teasing people, and normally I would have returned it by now… but maybe it was because Mom had just been here?
"Then I have one condition too."
Whether it was playfulness or genetics.
"Use casual speech with me and I'll give it back."
"Th-that's unfair! It's blackmail!"
"You managed just fine with Eun-ha. You even gave her a nickname — Eun-ha, Eun-ha~"
"D-don't say that!"
"Anyway, it's a little unfair that I'm the only one you still use formal speech with."
At those words Seol-hwa hung her head low, and I started to feel like maybe I'd been a bit mean, so I was about to return the cushion… when her next words made my strength leave me and I dropped it.
"But Yu-seong… to me, you're… a special person, so…"
While I froze, unable to say a word, Seol-hwa's face turned even redder than before. She blurted "I-I'll try… my best!" and fled outside as if running away.