Summer Vacation Prep Complete!!!
"J-Jia..."
After the huge commotion had finally settled, I sat trying to soothe Jia, who was slumped in a chair, sobbing.
"Hic... hhkk... d-did you... sniff! really... hhkk! hate me... that much...!"
She was trying to talk and cry and sniffle all at once, and there was plenty getting in the way of actual communication — but I knew exactly what she was trying to say.
"No, Jia..."
As a parent, I felt so ashamed of myself. I was a full-grown adult, not a child, and here I was picking at my own daughter's wounds.
"Hic... nngh... waaaaah..."
Jia only cried harder, more pitifully than before. I knew it was shameless of me, given how sorry I felt, but still...
I bent down, eased her up from where she sat crying, and pulled her into a tight hug. It was genuine paternal love, warm and sincere, welling up from the heart of a real dad.
Maybe she felt that I meant it. Jia's sobs began to subside, and her breathing gradually steadied.
"Hic... hhkk... nngh..."
The crying had stopped, but my daughter kept hiccupping. The sight of her was incredibly cute, and yet the guilt of having made her cry sat heavy in my chest.
I was still gently patting Jia's back when a ringtone chimed from my pants pocket. My wife never called at this hour, so I figured it was Yerim and just sat there without answering.
I was definitely trying not to pick up...
"Answer it."
"Huh? What? Jia...?"
"I said answer the phone, Dad... sniff..."
"O-okay..."
I let go of the hug to take the call and pulled my phone from my pocket.
Ah...
So this was what they meant by reaping what you sow. Only after seeing the caller ID did I start counting how many times the ringtone had already gone off.
Including this one, that made eight rings total.
This is my life...
It was all my own fault, so I decided to just accept it and answered the phone.
"Eight times."
My wife's voice came through low and pointed, driving the nail of my guilt right back in.
"Y-yeah... I'm sorry, honey..."
"Why didn't you pick up?"
"Huh? I-I did pick up..."
"No. Why didn't you pick up the second it started ringing?"
Jiwoo thought I'd ignored her call on purpose. Wait... had I actually ignored it on purpose...?
"Hey. Jeon Hanbyul. Why did you ignore my call on purpose?"
I just hemmed and hawed, unable to give a proper answer, and a deep sigh came through the line — along with a third person's voice.
"He didn't ignore it on purpose."
"...?"
"Huh?"
The voice belonged to Jia.
"Put Jia on."
"O-okay..."
I handed the phone over just as my wife asked.
"Sniff... h-hey, Mom..."
Her voice cracked the moment she started talking, still hoarse from crying. Anyone could tell she'd been bawling her eyes out, and I felt like I was already staring my fate in the face.
Did you cry?
"N-no..."
Don't lie to me.
"O-okay..."
Why?
"I-it's not... um..."
Why. Who made you cry.
"D-Dad did... waaaaaah... waaaaah... waaaah..."
Jia's tears, which I'd thought were all dried up, came pouring out all over again.
...
"Waaaaah... hic... nnnngh..."
Put your dad back on, Jia.
"Okay..."
Jia handed the phone back to me. The moment I took it, I could see my fate staring me right in the face.
"Jeon Hanbyul. So the second I'm not around, you just do whatever the hell you want?"
"N-no..."
Whatever she'd been holding back finally exploded, and my wife bellowed through the phone.
"You fucking... First you go around mixing your body with some other bitch, and now you're hurting Jia too? You piece of shit, that's it. I'm done."
"J-Jiwoo... just listen to me..."
"Listen to what, you fucker. That's it. I'm coming over right now. Stay right there, you cheating bastard. You like other women that much? Fine. I'll fuck you so hard you won't even remember another woman's name. You horny married piece of shit."
My wife wasn't just angry — she was genuinely pissed. I knew I'd done wrong, so I couldn't even make an excuse. I just stared at the fluorescent lights of Mo-nyeo Deopbap with a look of utter despair.
Everything that had happened up until now flashed through my mind like a revolving lantern, and I was watching each scene play out one by one when—
"Mom... Dad didn't do anything wrong... sniff..."
Jia spoke up to Jiwoo.
"What?"
She must have switched to speakerphone at some point, because my wife's voice came through even louder.
"The thing is, we decided we'd earn the money for this trip ourselves."
"What?!"
"So I've been working a part-time job with Dad."
"A part-time job?!"
"I just... I was having a hard day and I started crying before I even realized it... Dad couldn't pick up because he was trying to calm me down."
Jia spoke up in my defense, laying out a version of events that was half true and half not. Hiding behind my daughter and watching my wife's reaction, I couldn't help thinking what a pathetic excuse for a man I was.
"Hah... We have more than enough money. Why on earth would you two do that?"
"I think Dad just doesn't want to keep asking you for money. Right...? Dad?"
Jia demanded an answer, her eyes red-rimmed and puffy. Making a daughter this pretty and this good cry, then using her like this — I was garbage. The worst kind of trash, a man who couldn't even play the part of a father.
"Y-yeah... I've just been relying on you for everything this whole time..."
"Hah... But still, a part-time job..."
For a long while, the three of us just sat in silence.
"Alright. I get how you feel. That's enough. Just use the money we have at home and go on a luxurious trip."
My wife's tone had softened considerably from before.
"Thanks, Mom."
"Thank you, honey..."
"Alright, Jia. Stop crying now. Put your dad back on."
"Oh, Mom, you're on speaker. You can just talk."
"Hanbyul. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I-I'm sorry..."
"Forget it. What's the point of being sorry after you've already gone and done it. Finish out the days you already agreed to work and then stop. And grant every single one of Jia's requests today."
"Y-yeah... of course..!"
At my wife's words, Jia's body gave a little twitch, and the corners of her mouth tugged upward.
"Ah, and one more thing."
"Y-yeah..."
Everything she'd said so far had been a formality. The words coming next — what Jiwoo was about to say now — that was the real point.
"Lying about working out and the part-time job, eight missed rings, and making Jia cry. When I get home, you're going to take all of it at once. Got. It?"
This was a wife who would collect what she was owed no matter how much I cried and begged — even if she had to wait until the next day. A part of me almost wished she'd just yell at me instead...
Yeah, like I have any right to be picky about this.
I'd already disappointed her enough as both a husband and a father. This was a punishment I could take gladly.
"I-I understand... honey. I'll be waiting for you. Completely clean."
"Good. You said it yourself. Com.plete.ly. clean. Right?"
"Y-yes!"
"And when you're on the trip, I want you filming videos and sending them to me every single day."
"H-honey!! Jia's right here..."
"So? Jia doesn't know what I mean."
At that, Jia leaned her innocent face in close to the phone and asked her mother.
"Huh? Mom, what is it?"
"Kids stay out of this."
"What?! I'm an adult too!!!"
Then she turned to look at me and asked again.
"What is it, what is it? Dad, what's she talking about?"
I wanted to tell her, but unless my wife said it was okay, I couldn't.
"Th-there's just... something..."
I felt bad for Jia, but I didn't answer her.
"Nnngh... leaving me out..."
"..."
Honestly, what parent in the world would just casually say, Oh, it's just me filming videos of myself jerking off to send to your mom...?
"Alright then. Have a good trip."
"Okay! Love you, Mom~"
"Thank you, honey. I love you~♡"
I'd gone through a crisis thanks to my wife, but thanks to my wife, I'd also been able to wrap things up well with Jia.
"Did everything work out?"
"Ah... yes..! I'm so sorry..."
They must have been listening to our conversation, because the moment the call ended, the mother and daughter pair came out on their own.
"Jia, as an adult, I sincerely regret what I did... I'm sorry..."
"J-Jia... me too... actually, I was the one who suggested it first..."
They looked like the queen and princess of a pure-white ice kingdom, offering us their apologies. That's how radiant they appeared.
I'd always known they had great figures from seeing them every day in those green shirts and blue aprons with Mo-nyeo Deopbap written across the front — but I'd never realized how beautiful and captivating they could become once they changed into their regular clothes.
"I-it's okay... I'm sorry for being so prickly this whole time, too."
Jia bowed at the waist as she apologized.
"I'm sorry as well..."
I bowed toward the three of them and offered my own apology.
"Nnngh!!!"
Having finished writing up the account books, Baek Iseul stretched her arms overhead.
"Still, we earned a whole week's pay in a single day, so I'm satisfied!"
Baek Jiwoo beamed as she finished tallying up the day's sales.
"Dad, I'm sorry about everything."
"My girl... Daddy's sorry too..."
Yang Jia and Jeon Hanbyul sought each other's forgiveness, growing even closer than before. And with that, their long, long preparations for the summer getaway finally came to an end.
"Yaaawn... I am so tired today..."
Jeon Hanbyul stretched out across the bed, letting his body go limp.
"I really can't wait."
In two days, he'd finally be going on the summer trip he'd been waiting and waiting for, and his chest swelled with anticipation.
"I've got a lot to do tomorrow, so I should get some sleep."
Just as he headed toward the door to turn off the master bedroom light, the door opened, and Jia walked in clutching a pillow, wearing dolphin shorts and a crop top.
"Huh? Jia?"
"D-Dad..."
"Yeah? What's wrong? Is something the matter?"
"Um... well... I have a favor to ask..."
I remembered what my wife had told me before hanging up.
"Oh, right! She did say that. Okay, what's the favor?"
Jia stood there for a long time, fidgeting in place.
"It's okay. You can just say it."
Those words must have been the signal. Jia, who normally carried herself with such a haughty air, looked uncharacteristically embarrassed as she made her request.