Golden Olive
"Golden Olive!!"
"...Hana. We had Golden Olive yesterday."
"Golden Olive!!!"
Honestly. He never thought he'd live to see the day he sighed at the sight of a daughter who had always looked nothing but adorable.
It wasn't that he begrudged the money. Truly, if Hana had simply fallen head over heels for Golden Olive Chicken and was begging to order it every single day, he would have bought it for her with a smile, as often as she wanted. But then he remembered yesterday — how even she had gotten sick of it, grimacing through a few pieces before leaving the rest for Hyun-soo to choke down — and he had to admit the situation called for a second look.
The reason Hana was this desperate for fried chicken had nothing to do with the chicken. She was begging with a single, shining purpose: she wanted to have dinner with the big sister next door who happened to share her name.
For the past few days — more precisely, ever since he had asked Yukino to pick her up from kindergarten — Hana had started clinging to her with startling intensity. She even went over to Yukino's apartment every day, as if going a single day without seeing her put thorns in her mouth. And that was on top of Yukino already coming out to meet her every afternoon. He felt a little sorry for Yukino, being run ragged by a kid who wasn't even in elementary school yet. Then again, considering that kid was his own daughter, he didn't have much room to talk.
"You already went over to Yukino's yesterday, and it didn't work out."
"That's because Auntie showed up! There was nothing I could do! But she won't be there today, so it's fine!"
Another peculiarity: she called Yukino Mama. Given Yukino's personality, she would never have asked to be called that, and it was just as strange for Hana to have started it on her own. For now, he chose to believe there wasn't any deep meaning behind it.
"Golden Olive!!!"
"...All right. But you can't just barge over there like yesterday. Daddy will call first and ask, and if she says no, you give up quietly. Deal?"
"Otay."
They say no parent can win against their own child, and in the end Hyun-soo agreed to his daughter's demand — after at least a minimum of negotiation.
He dialed the number they had exchanged not long ago. The ringtone sounded, then the call connected.
"Moshi moshi? Master?"
"Ah, Yukino. Would you happen to be free this evening?"
"This evening?"
"Yes. My daughter says she wants to have dinner with you... If it's any trouble at all—"
"Should I come now?"
"Pardon? ...Ah, no need to rush. We're ordering chicken, so we'll be waiting a bit anyway."
"Okay. I'll head over now!"
The line went dead. Hana immediately looked up at him with sparkling eyes.
"She's coming?"
"Yeah."
"Yesss!!"
Watching her throw both arms up in triumph, he let out a wry little laugh.
"You like her that much?"
"What, you don't?"
Hana even tilted her head, genuinely puzzled as she turned the question back on him.
"Mama's super pretty."
"...Huh?"
"She's not?"
"No, she is. She's pretty."
Hyun-soo admitted it readily. Yukino's looks really were the kind of beauty you almost never saw in real life. So kids really did evaluate appearance with that kind of pure honesty. Was that why she liked Yukino — simply because she was pretty?
And yet, why was Hana smiling so satisfied at his answer? More to the point, why had she suddenly asked him that in the first place?
Hyun-soo never quite managed to form the question.
I finished the stream, and Master's call came through at just the right moment, so I got ready to head out.
"Ready" was a generous word for it. All I really did was change clothes.
Makeup? I don't do that.
Sea and I had bought cosmetics while we were out shopping, sure, but I couldn't quite bring myself to actually use them. The most I'd managed, under Sea's relentless nagging, was BB cream and lip balm. Besides, I was just going to see Master and little Hana. No need to fuss over how I looked.
Ever since I'd started taking cooking lessons from Master, we'd been eating together more and more. We'd grown close naturally, and now we were comfortable friends.
...At least, that's how I think of it.
I don't only think of us as friends, do I? Just me?
Anyway, an age gap doesn't mean you can't be friends. And if you actually do the math, it isn't even that big. I'm twenty-three and Master's twenty-eight, I think...?
Ah, for the record, the Information Window lists me as twenty-one. Probably a Japanese age-calculation thing.
Anyway, the point is Master and I have a surprisingly small age difference. Though the fact that he's a dad does make him feel a little more distant. People tend to get married later these days, and having kids even more so.
Ka-tok!
Hm? Master?
I checked, but it wasn't Master — it was a KakaoTalk from my manager.
She sends a message like this after every single stream, and at this point I don't even feel like the broadcast is truly over until the KakaoTalk arrives.
Manager worked hard today too. Even a manager of her caliber must have been thrown by that sudden mess. Thankfully we managed to wrap it up cleanly. Especially thanks to that unexpected helping hand in the middle of the explanation stream, the whole thing died down with astonishing speed.
When Jjangjjangwang suddenly dropped a donation on me, I seriously wondered if I was dreaming. I even pinched my cheek in secret. It hurt like hell. So — reality.
I found out later how it had all unfolded.
I'd been telling the story of yesterday's viewer meetup on stream, the chat had turned into a cesspool and then a battlefield, and I'd ended up cutting the broadcast. That whole situation had spread through Jjangjjangwang's community cafe. Apparently there'd been arguments there too. Some people thought my behavior could be a problem, but luckily most of them decided I hadn't done anything wrong.
Even so, the thread about me in the cafe just kept burning hotter, and a recap post that chronicled the whole thing hit the popular board — which was how Jjangjjangwang, who'd been taking a break, ended up seeing it. In the end he wrote an official notice himself, and that put the whole thing to rest. Then he even came to my stream and donated.
The sudden spike in viewers had been his audience, too, coming over after reading the cafe posts. Anyway, Jjangjjangwang's notice and donation — a one-two punch — and the situation died down almost too fast. It was a meaningful chance to feel, secondhand, what they call the power of a major corporation.
Enough reminiscing. Time to head out.
I went to the front door, put on my shoes, and left the apartment.
Ding-dong—
At the doorbell, Hyun-soo opened the door.
"You got here fast."
"Uh... is that a problem?"
"No, no. I just thought the delivery would get here first."
As far as Hyun-soo knew, it took women a fair amount of time to get ready to go out — but she had arrived so quickly you could almost say she'd come the instant the call ended.
And she really was beautiful.
It was still early spring, chilly enough to feel it, and though it wasn't even six yet the sun was already sinking, painting the sky with sunset. The corridor window caught that crimson light and laid it across Yukino's hair like the most flattering spotlight in the world. A light outfit that didn't look like she'd put any effort into it, and makeup so faint you could barely tell it was there. If anything, that only lifted her freshness and purity, heightening her charm.
It was an unreal kind of beauty. Pretty, yes — but if he had to compare, she felt less like a celebrity you'd see in a drama or a movie and more like a fictional character who'd stepped out of an anime or a novel. Maybe he was unconsciously feeling that way simply because she was Japanese.
The moment Yukino arrived, Hana came flying out of her room and launched herself at her.
"Mama!!"
"Nashi-chan! Konbanwa~"
Watching how close they were put Hyun-soo in a good mood. The one thing that nagged at him was Hana's form of address. ...If she kept calling her that, other people might get the wrong idea. He'd have to say something after Yukino left tonight.
"Come on in."
"Hai."
Once she was inside, Hana essentially took over as lady of the house. She didn't spare so much as a glance for her own father, just gazed endlessly at Yukino — enough to make him jealous of how much she liked her. Before long the two of them had disappeared into Hana's room entirely, chattering and playing, just the two girls.
"...So this is what they mean when they say there's no point raising a daughter."
He'd always figured that was something you said later, when your daughter got a boyfriend. He'd never imagined he'd lose his daughter not to a boy, but to another girl.
"Chicken delivery~"
"Yes, just a moment."
He took the chicken from the delivery guy, whose face looked familiar — probably from yesterday. The guy must have thought it was pretty weird, getting the exact same order two days in a row. No need to explain that there were circumstances.
"The chicken's here! Golden Olive!!"
"Whoa, this is watashi's favorite."
Yukino's face lit up at the sight of the chicken, bright with genuine delight. She'd seen it yesterday too — was she acting, for Hana's sake? The expression was too bright for that. It only looked sincere. If this was acting, she absolutely should have been a celebrity.
Come to think of it, this chicken was how they'd first met. A delivery had come to the wrong door by chance, Hana had eaten it as-is, and Yukino had been left in utter confusion over the disappearance of her chicken. ...Remembering that, her reaction now probably wasn't an act.
Anyway, they all had a delicious dinner together. To be precise, it was only delicious for her. Hyun-soo and Hana were already thoroughly sick of the same menu from yesterday. Still, she'd enjoyed it, so it was a decent enough ending, wasn't it?
After dinner, once Yukino had gone home, Hyun-soo put his planned conversation into action. He was going to correct Hana's form of address. First, though, he decided to ask why.
"Hana. Why do you call her Mama?"
And Hana answered right away.