Seol Ah, who left the house leaving Seung Jun behind, stayed with Yu Min at the hospital until the next morning and then was discharged.

And when she returned, she opened her mouth in absurdity.

“What is this?”

Something had increased a lot in the small house. First of all, there was an extra bedding set, and more towels and toothbrushes appeared in the bathroom.

Looking at the kitchen, there seemed to be more cups and plates as well.

‘What on earth is he doing?’

Other than that, it was so neatly organized that she couldn’t tell if someone had been there.

What should she do? While she was pondering, suddenly there was a knocking sound at her door.

‘Did he come back?’

Seol Ah quickly opened the door and went out in case Yu Min might see. Fortunately, the person standing at the door was not Seung Jun, but the landlady.

The landlady was not particularly kind. Even if Seol Ah said something was broken in the house, she would fix it after a long time.

Meanwhile, if Seol Ah was even a day late with the rent, she would make a big fuss.

“Oh, ma’am. What brings you here?”

At Seol Ah’s question, the landlady smiled from ear to ear and held out a plate. On the plate was steaming rice cake.

“What is this?”

“What do you mean what, it’s rice cake. I made some extra to bring some to Yu Min’s place too. Try it. It’s delicious.”

The brightly smiling lady seemed like a completely different person.

“Oh, thank you.”

Could she possibly be trying to ask a favor? Seol Ah took the plate with an uneasy feeling.

“Is there something you wanted to say?”

“Oh no. Nothing. Is Yu Min doing well? I haven’t seen him for a few days, did he go somewhere?”

Why is she suddenly acting like this? Could it be that she met Seung Jun? Is he plotting something? Seol Ah answered with an anxious feeling.

“He was hospitalized for a bit. He got enteritis.”

“Enteritis? Oh my. The child must have suffered a lot. Wait, I have some medicine at home that’s good for the intestines, let me…”

Seol Ah quickly grabbed the landlady as she turned around. She didn’t know why, but she felt like she shouldn’t receive anything more.

“No, it’s okay. Yu Min is being treated well now and getting better. I’ll just accept your kind thoughts. Thank you.”

“Is that so? Anyhow, it must be hard for the baby’s mother.”

With those words, the landlady turned and left.

Did she really meet Seung Jun, or does she just feel bad for treating us coldly all this time?

Seol Ah entered the house again with an uneasy feeling.

“Mom, who was it?”

Yu Min, who had been playing with the Go stones Seung Jun gave him, lifted his head to look at Seol Ah. He had put them away on the first day saying he didn’t need them, but since then, he had been constantly playing with them.

“It was the landlady. Let’s freeze this and grill it later.”

As Seol Ah put the rice cake in the freezer, Yu Min, who had been watching blankly, opened his mouth again.

“By the way, did someone come to our house?”

“Huh?”

Yu Min was quite observant. Even if Seol Ah slightly changed the location of his toys while cleaning, he would notice right away.

There was no way he wouldn’t know that the house had changed a lot.

“Oh, mom bought a lot of things while you were in the hospital.”

When Seol Ah brushed it off, Yu Min tilted his head.

“But why are there so many things?”

The house was already small, so Seol Ah tended to throw things out rather than buy and keep them. But instead, unnecessary things had appeared, so it was understandable for Yu Min to be curious.

“Well, from now on, I’m going to buy some things we need.”

“But there are too many blankets, too many toothbrushes, and too many towels.”

Yu Min, who had been lost in thought for a moment, asked again.

“Is someone new coming to our house?”

Seol Ah’s eyes widened then narrowed again. She answered with a forced smile.

“Who would come? Mom just bought extra, so don’t worry about it. You just rest without thinking about anything. You need to get better quickly and go to kindergarten.”

Seol Ah’s hand stroked Yu Min’s hair. Yu Min nodded obediently and hugged Seol Ah.

“Then nobody’s coming, right? I only need mom.”

It sounded like he knew something, so Seol Ah felt chills for a moment, but she tried to act like it was nothing. Yes, I’ll just tell him not to come back.

I told him to stay one night, not to change the house as he pleases.

Even as she thought that, Seol Ah felt like it might already be too late. She shook her head. No, it still shouldn’t happen. Absolutely not now.

*

That morning, Seung Jun woke up feeling absurd.

He couldn’t immediately remember why he was sleeping in this cramped, smelly place.

Soon, the fact that he had pushed into Seol Ah’s room drunk came to mind.

‘Crazy bastard.’

Yu Seol Ah must be even more upset. What if she runs away again?

‘But people live in a house like this? Two people at that?’

After sleeping one night, he could feel with his whole body how poor this place was. His joints ached for no reason and he coughed. It seemed like there was air that wouldn’t go away no matter how hard you swept and wiped.

‘I want to move the whole house.’

Seung Jun went back and forth between the single room, kitchen, and the small attached bathroom, pondering. He wanted to call a moving company right away and take all the luggage.

But then Seol Ah would really run away. She refused the card he gave her to use for Yu Min.

But he doesn’t want them to keep living here. What should he do?

Something suddenly caught on Seung Jun’s feet.

Seung Jun bent down and saw that it was a sketchbook. A smile spread on Seung Jun’s lips as he opened the sketchbook.

‘Wow, this is really spectacular.’

How can someone draw this badly? People look like utility poles and utility poles look like people, houses look like trees and trees look like houses.

You can’t tell what’s what at all.

Seung Jun, who was laughing out loud without realizing it, suddenly felt a voice that came to mind fill his head.

‘Seung Jun, you may not be good at singing, but you’re good at drawing and numbers. Everyone is good at different things. So you don’t have to feel bad about that. You’re still the best son to mom.’

The owner of the sweet voice was Hye Won. The mother of his heart who had never left him.

When I was a real son. I had such a time too, and you probably heard the same thing from Seol Ah. Because Seol Ah is a good mother.

Seung Jun soon looked for something else. A diary written in crooked handwriting appeared. The diary written along with the drawings could be thrown away in terms of the drawings, but not the writing.

It was a diary written so coherently that it was hard to believe a seven-year-old child wrote it.

‘You were growing up.’

Where I wasn’t. Even when I didn’t know you. You, who are like me, were growing up.

He looked up and unconsciously stared at the certificate hanging on the wall. At first, he thought it was just a certificate, but when he read the contents, he laughed.

− Best Eater Award

− Prettiest Smiler Award

− Best Cleaner Award

‘These days, naming certificates also requires creativity.’

Next to it was a picture of Yu Min and Seol Ah smiling brightly. It looked like they had gone to an amusement park, and Yu Min and Seol Ah were wearing the same rabbit-shaped headbands.

The child and mother smiled brightly without a blemish. Seung Jun stared at the two with a stiff face, then slowly stroked their faces with his hand.

‘Yu Seol Ah, you raised the child well.’

Of course, I’m upset that you ran away without me knowing. But you lived your best for the child.

Seung Jun looked around the room again. It was the same room as before. But strangely, it looked different.

When he first woke up, it was a squalid, smelly place that was hard to endure even an hour, let alone a day.

But now that he knew this was a place imbued with the breath of life of Seol Ah and Yu Min, a strange familiarity began to arise.

Seung Jun, who had been lost in thought for a while, went outside. He went around nearby marts, convenience stores, and shops, and returned with this and that.

Toothbrushes, toothpaste, towels, and even a bedding set.

After organizing the house, the already small house felt even smaller. But it was satisfying.

As if he was living together.

After finishing the arrangement, Seung Jun called Manager Nam.

“I’ll send you an address, so please find a good house near there. The size should be about 30 pyeong, no, 40 pyeong. A clean, newly built place with good sunlight and a nice view.”

In any case, a better place than this space now.

“With a spacious bathroom and a bathtub.”

What else was there?

“A place close to a playground nearby.”

Seung Jun left the house. A small semi-basement room. The owner was most likely the owner of the two-story house above the semi-basement.

Just then, a lady who was taking out the garbage from the two-story house saw Seung Jun and abruptly stopped.

Seung Jun stared at the lady and walked over steadily. It was evident that the other person’s eyes were stiffening with tension.

“Are you the owner of that house?”

“Oh, yes. But why?”

The woman’s eyes blinked rapidly as if gauging what kind of relationship it was.

Seung Jun put his hand in his bosom and took out his wallet.

He took out a few crisp bills, put them in a white envelope, and held it out to the landlady.

“Wh-what is this?”

The landlady took the envelope from Seung Jun and checked the contents. The landlady’s eyes widened.

“Oh my, is it okay to just take this?”

“I’m giving it to you to take.”

“But they paid the monthly rent.”

Seung Jun said in a low voice to the flustered landlady.

“It’s not rent, it’s allowance. You must have times when you need personal money too.”

“P-personal money?”

“Money is also either money everyone else knows about or money only I know about. Rent is money everyone else knows about, so it’s hard to spend as I please.”

Seung Jun’s words were scratching the itchy spots of the landlady. She had already been frequently conflicting with her husband over money these days.

“That’s right, if I only receive rent, my husband tells me to give it to him.”

“If you need more, just let me know. I’ll give you my contact information.”

Seung Jun saved his contact on the landlady’s cell phone and pressed the call button. And he saved the number that appeared on his cell phone.

“But why are you doing this? Suddenly appearing and giving all this big money.”

“What I want is one thing. A person’s life becomes more comfortable if their living space is comfortable. Help Yu Min and Yu Min’s mom live comfortably. That’s all.”

Seung Jun bowed and turned to walk away. The landlady was watching his back with a dumbfounded look.