Because I Know Shame (2)
Nothing had changed inside Miss Jeong's shop. The same languid atmosphere hung in the air. A news channel murmured from the television. And there was Miss Jeong herself, warmly greeting Hana and Hayeon just as she always did.
The moment she spotted Bang-ul, Miss Jeong's plush tail swayed and a gentle smile spread across her face.
"So you're Eunseo?"
"Yeah, that's her. The baby of our family."
"How precious… Are you settling in all right?"
"Yes! I'm doing really well, thanks to my unnies."
Bang-ul glanced over at me, and Miss Jeong seized the opening as if she'd been waiting for it. She let out a pointed hmph and turned her back on me completely. Her tail, however, kept swaying.
Then Bang-ul stared at me for a long moment. As if she'd made up her mind, she fluttered her fins and called out to Miss Jeong.
"Hwaryeong unnie."
"Hm? What is it, sweetheart?"
"Um… so… did something happen between you and Sajeong unnie?"
In that instant, everything in the shop froze. Miss Jeong, Hana, Hayeon — and me. All of us went rigid at Eunseo's point-blank question. Eunseo herself just kept looking at Miss Jeong with those perfectly innocent eyes.
Miss Jeong let out a long sigh, dragged a chair over to the table, sat down, and fixed me with a glare.
"…You told them everything, didn't you."
"The kids kept pestering me to tell them. What was I supposed to do?"
"Haaah…"
"You're happy to see her, though."
"I am not!"
Miss Jeong's ears shot straight up as her voice rose, but Bang-ul paid it no mind at all. She just kept smiling and talking.
"Um… it's called Telepathic Resonance. I can hear people's hearts like they were voices."
"You know you'll get in trouble if you go around spilling other people's feelings, right?"
"I know. But still… I just wanted Sajeong unnie and Hwaryeong unnie to be friends again…"
Whether she'd lost to Bang-ul's earnestness or not, Miss Jeong turned that glare back on me.
"You sit down too."
I couldn't even remember the last time I'd sat side by side with Miss Jeong. I was dying of awkwardness, but those two clueless kids just sat there grinning, watching the two of us like we were the afternoon's entertainment.
"…How much did you tell them?"
"Unnie's tail fur…"
Hayeon let the words trail off carefully, and Miss Jeong exhaled a deep, weary sigh.
"Aigoo… Fine. It's all true. That this human shaved my tail completely bald, and that I still hate this human for it."
"But it's also true that she saved you, Hwaryeong unnie."
Leave it to my loyal hound Hana to take my side.
"Then he should've just kept his mouth shut! Later, when the other beastfolk in the neighborhood started teasing me for being a short-tailed fox, you know what this human said? 'If you keep stroking the tail fur, it'll grow back thick'…"
"…Yeah, Unnie, that was your fault."
Even my loyal hound couldn't take my side this time.
"But… back then, a stupid joke like that was all I had to offer…"
"So, now that you're a woman, you finally get how I felt?"
"Yeah… painfully so."
In the end, I bowed my head toward Miss Jeong.
"So the only things I could do were keep coming back to pad your sales, and bring the kids around."
"…And you thought that counted as an apology?"
"What can I say. Body's like this, but the head's still a middle-aged guy who's lived half his life. I deserve the grudge."
At my self-deprecating mutter, Miss Jeong let out a short, involuntary laugh.
"If I really hated you, you think I would've just sat there while you kept bringing the kids into my shop? I'd have thrown you out."
I had nothing to say to that. The way she genuinely adored our kids, the way she grumbled and complained but never actually kicked me out — that alone was proof she didn't hate me. In the end, both of us had simply been too mortified by our own dark histories to say a word.
If we'd been children, a handshake and a hug would have settled the whole thing in seconds. But grown-ups don't kiss and make up. The kids just tilted their heads, unable to make sense of this childish pride contest between two adults.
"But Unnie apologized, so please accept it, Hwaryeong unnie."
"She's right. Our unnie's so old she can't even apologize properly."
Hana and Hayeon gazed up at Miss Jeong with round, shining eyes, and even Bang-ul sparkled at her from inside the tank. Miss Jeong finally couldn't hold out. She whipped her head away. No matter how haughty a fox beastfolk she was, even she couldn't withstand the glittering-eyed assault of two young beastfolk and one mermaid.
Miss Jeong let out a deep sigh and stood. She glanced at me once, then opened her mouth.
"…I won't give you the cold shoulder, for the kids' sake. You'd better be grateful."
She tossed the words out and swept into the kitchen. Bang-ul was grinning at me, all teeth. I supposed… that meant I'd been forgiven. Hana and Hayeon traded looks and snickered, while I just stared down at the table.
I don't know how much time passed. The clink of dishes being washed drifted from the kitchen, and the sound of another customer coming in filled the shop. Only then did I lift my head and look at the kids.
"You hungry? Let's eat."
With that awkward three-way confrontation behind us, the four of us decided to have lunch here, same as always. Hana and Hayeon picked their usual risotto and pasta. Bang-ul studied the menu for a long time before settling on a seafood dish. The three kids' orders alone were already a little frightening, but it was Bang-ul's first meal out. This much was fine.
And I, instead of my usual pizza toast, decided to order a proper meal this time. Tomato pasta. It was the first thing we'd eaten together, back when Miss Jeong's tail had been a bald mountain and I'd been trying to cheer her up. It was also my favorite.
I brought the menu over to Miss Jeong. She scanned it once, then looked at me.
"What's this? No coffee and toast today?"
"We've got time today."
"…Fine. Go sit with the kids."
The fact that she hadn't told me to go crumple up in the corner, or that I was too filthy to come near, only made it more awkward. I went back to my seat and passed the time talking with the kids about what we'd do at home during the rainy season.
A little later, Miss Jeong came out with a tray of freshly made food and began setting a plate down in front of each of the kids. Last of all, she placed a steaming plate of tomato pasta in front of me, then turned and went back to the kitchen without a word. She hadn't said anything — but the tail swaying behind her as she walked away was wagging more than usual today.
A cozy family meal was a nice thing, except all three of them were staring at me like I was some kind of novelty.
"What? Never seen me eat spaghetti before?"
"I don't know, Unnie just seems more like a buckwheat noodles kind of person."
"And she always just orders pizza toast."
"Oh, come on… Then what's Eunseo staring at?"
Bang-ul paused mid-bite of her seafood-loaded pasta and just looked at me.
"Ah… never mind. Eat up."
Only then did Bang-ul break into a bashful little smile and go back to concentrating on her food.
"Anyway, I may be old at heart, but I can eat Western food just fine."
"What happened to all that fussing about herbal tea?"
Miss Jeong's teasing voice floated out from the kitchen, and all three kids burst out laughing at once.
"That was… a joke. Just a joke."
"Oh, is that so~?"
Miss Jeong's bright laugh rang out, and I felt the tension I'd been carrying in my shoulders drain away all at once. Yeah. This was how a fox beastfolk was supposed to look. Not nursing a grudge and playing it cold — sly, and taking far too much pleasure in needling people. Kids really were the best medicine for a fight between grown-ups. I looked fondly at the three of them snickering at me, and picked up my fork again.
After the meal, I went to the counter to pay, and Miss Jeong gave my shoulder a light shove.
"Don't bother. Seeing Eunseo's face is enough for me."
"You sure? Today's bill couldn't have been cheap."
"I make more than you do anyway. Use the money to buy the kids something nice."
Well… she had a point. A fox beastfolk running a restaurant in the city was always going to out-earn a woman who ran around wrestling monsters with a gun.
"…Thanks. It was good."
"Get going. They say the Dimensional Anomaly is coming in with the rainy season — it might hit sooner than expected."
"Yeah. You be careful too."
"I've got plenty of Hunters stationed around here. Don't get all dramatic. Just go."
Miss Jeong waved me toward the door. I gave a little wave back and stepped outside. The kids were already waiting for me. Looking up at the sky, I had to admit it — we'd only had lunch and a bit of chatter, but the shimmer in the sky felt a little closer than it had this morning.
Shame… I was hoping to pick up at least one outfit for Bang-ul while we were out.
"Unnie! We just got an emergency alert! We need to get back, fast!"
Hayeon and Hana were already shoving Bang-ul's tank back into the rear seat of the truck.
"Yeah. Let's go. If we're any later, the police box is going to start hounding us."
"Then help us push this in, Unnie!"
Bang-ul's tank had caught on something and wouldn't go in. Hana called for help, and I threw my weight in too, grunting as we shoved.
"It came out just fine earlier. Why won't it go back in…"
"I don't know either…"
Bang-ul fidgeted helplessly inside the tank, looking sorry, while passersby stopped to stare at the spectacle. Together with Hana and Hayeon, I gave the tank one last heave and shoved it in.