Chapter 453: Star, Peter (3)

April 2nd, 2048.

It was another peaceful day. A pot of doenjang-jjigae[1] was boiling, filling the air with a tasty scent.

“Lee ■■! Get up now! You have to go to school after you eat your breakfast!” Cha Ye-Eun called for her son, who was lost in his slumber once again.

Of course, as always, her son did not reply, so Ye-Eun started to shout, “Hey! Lee ■■! Get out here right now!”

“

Yawwwwn!

” A man walked into the dining room.

His hair was tousled as if he had just woken up, and it seemed he had forgotten to shave his beard this morning. He scratched his stomach, looking like a bum. It was Lee Chang-Sun, who turned 47 this year. The biggest difference from his youthful self, the one envied by many, was that Chang-Sun no longer had an air of aloof strength and was now more gentle.

“Honey, why don’t you stop shouting? You’ll yell yourself hoarse,” Chang-Sun said as he reached for a piece of a rolled omelet.

Chang-Sun was still known to have aged like a fine wine, but Ye-Eun found him annoying from time to time.

Smack!

Ye-Eun smacked the back of Chang-Sun’s hand firmly with a rice scoop. “How can I not yell? I’m already busy as hell, but my only son isn’t waking up. My so-called husband isn’t helping me out in the slightest and acts all carefree. How am I supposed to not be angry?”

Chang-Sun’s eyes wandered as he licked ketchup off his finger. “It’s because I came back home at dawn yesterday, but I still do house chores on the usual da...!”

“That’s why I’m not saying anything else. Otherwise, I would have kicked you out long ago,” Ye-Eun said, scowling at Chang-Sun.

Chang-Sun could sense that he was going to lose this battle one way or another, so he quickly fell silent. Ye-Eun was the highest authority in the hierarchy of their household, and thus any kind of comeback would result in more scolding. Besides, Ye-Eun was as busy as Chang-Sun with work, but she had still cooked him breakfast because she was worried about him coming back from his business trip at dawn. Thus, it was only right for Chang-Sun to be grateful.

“Lee ■■! Are you seriously not going to wake up?!” Ye-Eun yelled as she stomped across the living room angrily and flung open the door to her son’s room.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Ye-Eun’s son was leisurely having sweet dreams with his comforters kicked away. The sight of that was the last straw for Ye-Eun, her anger boiling like the pot of doenjang-jjigae in the kitchen.

Smaaack!

“Arrrrgh!”

While he had been enjoying the dream of his school crush confessing her love to him, ■■ suddenly saw stars, and he was forced to wake up. Clutching his aching forehead, ■■ looked up and saw Ye-Eun, who was tilting her head.

“Arrggh? Urrrgh? Just wake up already!” Ye-Eun shouted.

“W-W-Wait! Mom! Stop! Stop! You aren’t going to hit me with that again, are you?”

“I’m going to.”

“It really hurts...!” ■■ protested.

“It’s supposed to hurt!” Ye-Eun retorted.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

“Ahhhhhh!” ■■ had to quickly get up from his bed and run to escape the series of ladle strikes rapidly approaching his head. “Dad! Dad! Save me! Mom is trying to kill me!”

■■ took refuge by his dad’s side as usual. Chang-Sun was reading a newspaper as he sat at the table; even in a generation with highly developed internet access, he had an analog side and preferred printed newspapers..

“Son,” Chang-Sun began as he stuck his head out slightly from above the newspaper, looking back and forth between his wife and son who were having a confrontation on either side of him.

“Y-Yeah?” ■■ answered.

“Mom is the boss in this household, so your best move is to apologize and beg for her mercy. She won’t actually kill you.”

“B-But...!”

“Of course, she might smack you so hard that you’ll have to be hospitalized,” Chang-Sun said with a nod.

“Eeeeek!”

Chang-Sun quickly raised his newspaper to cover his face, trying not to intervene in the mother-and-son war. In the end, ■■ had to start his breakfast with two lumps in his head.

* * *

It took ■■ twenty minutes on the bus to get to school, so Chang-Sun offered to give his son a ride. Of course, Seoul’s traffic jams were horrible during rush hours.

“...I hate eating breakfast,” ■■ grumbled, looking at other cars that were moving as slowly as turtles.

“Why? It’s good for you.”

“I need to sleep more, but you and Mom don’t realize that and keep waking me up early... I’m really tired when I’m at school.”

“You don’t even study at school, do you?” Chang-Sun asked.

“...That’s not what I’m talking about. This is about how tired I am, so why is studying suddenly the topic?”

“I’m saying that your dad and mom know that it doesn’t matter when you wake up, because you always sleep in class regardless.”

“I’m not!” ■■ yelled.

“Son, I recently met your teacher. Your teacher was worried and asked me if you were working a part-time job at night, so don’t say you aren’t sleeping enough if you have a conscience. ”

“...Okay.” ■■ failed to find any comebacks in the end.

Chang-Sun chuckled as he glanced at his only son, who turned fifteen years old this year. From what he heard, other children in puberty worried their parents a lot because they caused all sorts of trouble. However, even though his son was immature, ■■ was still innocent, so it was possible to talk things out with him.

...Of course, putting them into practice was an entirely different story.

“You know Mom is very busy nowadays because of her new project, yes?” Chang-Sun asked.

“Yup, I know.”

“But she’s a lot busier than you think. Many people are coming from abroad to see her, and she also has to go on a lot of business trips. Come to think of it, she said that she might have to go overseas next week. She doesn’t see her son often, so she’s trying to care for him whenever she can. That’s why she wakes up early in the morning to prepare breakfast for her son, so let’s not try to take away Mom’s little joy.”

■■ pursed his lips, despite how he seemed to have a lot of things to say, which was incredible for a boy at his age. Chang-Sun smiled bitterly, as he knew the reason behind his son’s reaction very well.

Ye-Eun was always busy. As her skill was widely recognized at work, she had quickly risen to become the youngest branch manager of the Council, and was now the Council president who traveled the world. Of course, that meant she had very little time to spend with her family.

It was the same for Chang-Sun. Many Gates had opened up in this world, so a skilled Player was needed everywhere. Since Chang-Sun was the number one Player in the world, the whole world paid attention to Ye-Eun’s and Chang-Sun’s every move and word, each of which could cause a sensation.

Of course, there was no way being a child of such parents could be easy. In fact, ■■ was bound to feel as if he was constantly under surveillance, and the fact that the tiniest mistake could disgrace his parents had to be a great burden. Above all, ■■ was at an age in which he needed his parents’ attention and love, but he rarely got to meet both of them, causing him to feel lost. Even though his grandparents were trying their best to take care of ■■... it was still not enough. So, Chang-Sun wanted to pay more attention to his son whenever he could afford to.

“Your last class ends at three o’clock, right?” Chang-Sun asked.

“...”

“What’s your schedule afterward, son?”

Still pouting, ■■ looked slightly up, but his eyes subtly twinkled with anticipation as he said, “...Hagwons[2].”

“How many hagwons do you go to?”

“Three.”

“Gee, that’s a lot.” Chang-Sun gaped slightly.

“It’s been very long since I heard someone say ‘gee’.[3] ...And I have an English lesson this evening.”

“Do you want to ditch all of them?” Chang-Sun suddenly asked.

“...Seriously?” ■■ replied cautiously.

“Plus school.”

“N-No way!”

“Yes way. I happen to be free today too, so tell me if you have anywhere you want to go to. Everything is on me today.”

Chang-Sun quietly laughed after seeing ■■ noticeably making calculations in his head, wondering how his son could be that predictable.

“W-What if Mom finds out about it?” ■■ stuttered.

“Don’t worry about that when you’re starting trouble. Or do you want me to head to school right away?”

“No! NO!” ■■ yelled quickly. He then added, “Everland[4]! It was the weekend when I went there last time, and the place was full of people, so I didn’t get to ride anything properly!”

“Hehe. Good.” Chang-Sun turned his steering wheel with a grin on his face, not caring how he was not supposed to make a U-turn in this place.

Hoooonk!

Cars from the opposite side of the street blew their horns, but the father and son’s mischievous grin only deepened.

* * *

Slap!

Of course, a certain immature father was doomed to meet was a slap in the back by ■■’s mother.

Ye-Eun yelled, “You’ve got to be kidding me! You’re supposed to take him to school, not Everland! Are you a child? A child?!”

“■■ wanted to take a day off, so I help...!”

“Don’t use your son as an excuse, you fool!” Ye-Eun cried, slapping Chang-Sun harder.

■■ tried to sneak off to his room, dripping with cold sweat.

“Stop right there, Lee ■■! You’re a student, so how can you not go to school...!” Ye-Eun changed her target.

■■’s shoulders drooped lower and lower as his mother bombarded him with her nagging. It had felt great when he had skipped his school and hagwons... but ■■ could say nothing as he stood in front of his mother right now. Although his father had confidently told ■■ that he was going to handle his mother, Chang-Sun was completely helpless before her. The father and son had to kneel side by side and listen to a lecture from their family’s boss for over an hour.

.

.

A day, two days, one year, two years... Time passed as Chang-Sun and his family led their daily lives.

November 21st, 2052.

It was the day of ■■’s college entrance exam. Several cameras rolled in front of the test venue, and exam takers tightly hugged their parents, who were wishing them luck. ■■ bowed deeply to Chang-Sun and Ye-Eun for coming to root for their son despite how busy they were.

“I’ll do well on the exam! Thank you for raising your immature son until now, Father and Mother!”

“■-■■, don’t...!”

“Hahaha! Yeah, good luck with your exam.”

People around ■■’s family burst into laughter, so Ye-Eun tried to stop ■■ in embarrassment, while Chang-Sun joined in on the laughter. Regardless, the fact that their son had grown up this much brought indescribable joy to Chang-Sun and Ye-Eun.

February 20th, 2059.

Click, click.

The sound of cameras filled the air. The graduates, who were getting ready to leave their school, adjusted their graduation caps as they took photos with their parents and friends. ■■ also took some pictures with Chang-Sun and Ye-Eun. Little by little, wrinkles were appearing on the faces of those two people who had once looked ageless.

August 4th, 2066.

In the middle of summer, Chang-Sun and Ye-Eun met a woman whom ■■ introduced as their future daughter-in-law.

“I want to marry her, Mother and Father,” ■■ said with a smile.

Their no-longer-immature son had already become independent and was now trying to start a family of his own.

“You’re such a fine young woman.” Ye-Eun beamed, stroking her future daughter-in-law’s hand.

March 2nd, 2067.

Chang-Sun and Ye-Eun met their future daughter-in-law’s parents[5].

May 12th, 2068.

It was the day of ■■’s wedding. Chang-Sun’s and Ye-Eun’s daughter-in-law was a very beautiful May bride. Just as it was said that a father-in-law was the one who loved his daughter-in-law the most[6], Chang-Sun rejoiced at the fact that he had a new family member now, and Ye-Eun quietly wiped away her tears.

October 29th, 2071.

[Mother and Father! You have a granddaughter now! Hahaha! It’s such a relief. I was worried a boy would take after my temper...

Phew!

]

Chang-Sun and Ye-Eun finally heaved a sigh of relief after receiving ■■’s happy call. They had received the news at dawn that their daughter-in-law’s water broke, so they had been worrying sick about their daughter-in-law and grandchild. Of course, they had used their magic to ensure that there were no problems during birth... but life was still unpredictable, so it had been worrying them until now.

“What about my daughter-in-law? Is she okay?” Ye-Eun asked quickly.

[Yes, yes, she’s fine. You don’t have to worry.]

“Receiving good care after childbirth is important, so make sure to take good care of her. She must be in no condition to do anything right now, so you call her parents too.”

[Mom, you’re a grandma now. Isn’t it about time that you stop worrying about me this much anymore?]

“It’s because you’re too immature.” Ye-Eun pouted.

■■ was still a child in Ye-Eun’s eyes, so Chang-Sun smiled as he listened to the two’s conversation.

.

.

Time continued to flow. Their child became an adult, who soon became a father. Chang-Sun and Ye-Eun were now an elderly couple.

.

.

Their lives continued, on and on.

May 3rd, 2088.

Chang-Sun and Ye-Eun, who were in their eighties now, were enjoying a peaceful day under the sunlight as a reward for their busy past, sitting on a park bench. They held each other’s wrinkled hands without exchanging words, but they could tell what each other was thinking from their eyes and the air around them.

Chang-Sun, the observer of Worldline #801, silently watched the elderly couple from behind. From the beginning to the end, it was the life he had been hoping to have with his Cha Ye-Eun, Ithaca. Although that very life had been granted to others, it seemed Chang-Sun could never have such a thing. so the only thing he could do was watch the couple in silence.

“...How did you enjoy my memories?”

Right at that moment, a very familiar voice came from behind—Lee ■■. The name had been censored from the beginning to the end, so Chang-Sun continued to refer to the man by the unfamiliar name ‘Peter’. Chang-Sun’s possible blood kin from the distant future was walking toward him.

Tap, tap―!

When Chang-Sun turned his head, Peter, who took after Chang-Sun and Ye-Eun, stood.

“I wondered what you would think of a peaceful and ordinary life,” Peter said, looking at Chang-Sun with a calm gaze before concluding, “Father.”

1. Soybean-paste stew.

Image.

?

2. Korean private education institutions. ?

3. The raw is ?? ?? ?? ? ???. ? is old Korean slang that’s similar to ‘gee’. ?

4. A Korean amusement park. ?

5. It’s a Korean custom for the bride and groom’s parents to meet and have a meal before a wedding. It’s about getting to know each other’s families before getting married and getting their parents’ approval. ?

6. It’s an old Korean saying. ?