Episode 14. Still, I Love My Daughters (2)
Min Seung-yeon left the cafe with Kang Yeyoung to pick up her eldest and second daughters.
Lee Seojun, who had just returned after a busy work period, belatedly spotted Min Seung-yeon and tilted his head.
“Madam, you seem quite down today. Are you alright?”
“Well… it’s nothing serious. I’ll probably be fine.”
“You didn’t fight with the boss, did you?”
Kang Dae-oh gave a bitter smile.
“We already fought all our fights before marriage. Nowadays, we rarely get angry at each other.”
Part of it was that they understood each other better than before.
But also, because they were raising three children.
They were so busy with them that they didn’t even have time to fight.
Of course, Kang Yera, Kang Yebin, and even Kang Yeyoung. Since the three sisters weren’t ordinary children, the difficulty of raising them was extremely low compared to other families.
Still, they had to take care of what needed to be taken care of.
For example, changing Kang Yeyoung’s diaper.
In this way, even though she had regressed, she was still physically a baby, so there were countless things she couldn’t do by herself, even if she wanted to.
Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon had to share these duties and care for her.
At Kang Dae-oh’s words that they hardly ever fought, Lee Seojun nodded several times as if he understood.
“Indeed. I can’t really imagine the boss and madam fighting with red faces.”
“Thank you for seeing it that way.”
Kang Dae-oh moved to refocus on his work, but perhaps his wife’s words were bothering him.
His gaze would occasionally drift towards where Min Seung-yeon had disappeared.
The kindergarten teacher waved to Kang Yera.
“See you tomorrow, Yera!”
“Yes, Teacher! Goodbye!”
Kang Yera bowed deeply, greeting the kindergarten teacher who was looking forward to tomorrow.
At her gesture, the kindergarten teacher chuckled.
“Yera, how can you be so articulate and good at greetings? Yera’s mother must be happy to have a daughter like Yera.”
“Is Yera doing well at kindergarten?”
“Of course! When I or other teachers aren’t around, Yera even takes on the role of a teacher. The kids follow Yera well too. I’m in charge of Yera’s class, and you wouldn’t know how much the other teachers envy me. They say, ‘How wonderful would it be if we had at least one child like Yera in our class…’”
Praising one’s child always makes parents smile.
However, Min Seung-yeon’s smile today was, how should I put it?
It contained a subtle, peculiar emotion.
If it had been Min Seung-yeon before she knew her daughters’ secret, she would have been purely delighted.
But knowing that Kang Yera was already an adult, things like this started to feel natural.
How to describe it?
It felt like another joy as a parent had diminished.
With this feeling of regret, Min Seung-yeon lightly clicked her tongue.
She took Kang Yera and headed to the daycare center where Kang Yebin was.
At the daycare center, praises similar to what the kindergarten teacher had said earlier poured out.
Among them, the daycare teacher especially had high hopes for Kang Yebin.
“Yebin. Think about what kind of pretend play we’ll do tomorrow, okay?”
“Yes, Teacher.”
Min Seung-yeon briefly tilted her head.
As soon as they parted ways with the daycare teacher, Min Seung-yeon asked Kang Yebin what her words meant.
Kang Yebin replied as if it were nothing.
“The pretend play settings and character designs were too ordinary. So, these days, I’ve been adding settings myself. The teachers like it more than the kids. They say it feels like watching a morning drama after a long time.”
“Ahaha…”
A laugh filled with a spoonful of awkwardness escaped Min Seung-yeon’s lips.
Indeed. According to her husband, Kang Yebin used to be a successful actress.
Her understanding of drama would be extraordinary.
Kang Yera and Kang Yebin. In this way, the two daughters were becoming local stars, already gaining attention in their respective places.
Kang Yeyoung, too, would follow the same path as her unnies once she started daycare or kindergarten.
Meanwhile.
Kang Yebin, who had been looking up at her mother’s unusual expression, made a suggestion.
“Mom. Can we stop by the kids’ cafe before going home?”
“Kids’ cafe… The one we went to last month?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Are you sure you want to go? I don’t think you two would find it very fun.”
Min Seung-yeon instantly covered her mouth with one hand, as if realizing her mistake.
“I’m sorry. I said something unnecessary.”
Perhaps it was because the thought that her daughters were already adults inside kept lingering. Even for ordinary places, the question of whether the children would truly enjoy it stopped Min Seung-yeon’s thoughts like a brake.
Kang Yebin smiled awkwardly and said,
“If not now, when else can I go to a kids’ cafe and play freely with unnie? And I actually secretly enjoy playing like a child.”
Kang Yera questioned with a ‘Really?’ expression.
“You, a few days ago, you showed a lot of dislike, saying it was too childish and immature… Aah!”
“Get a clue, unnie.”
The second daughter’s elbow attack landed on Kang Yera’s side.
Kang Yeyoung also sighed and shook her head at Kang Yera’s behavior.
Fortunately, Min Seung-yeon didn’t pay much attention to Kang Yera’s words.
“Alright. Let’s go then.”
Since her daughters wanted to go.
Min Seung-yeon changed direction towards the kids’ cafe.
The kids’ cafe was right next to the cultural center Kang Yera used to attend when she was little.
While stopping by the large supermarket, Min Seung-yeon began mentally organizing the groceries she would buy on her way home.
Meanwhile. Kang Yera, quietly watching her mother from the ball pit, spoke with concern.
“Does Mom dislike us, who regressed from the future?”
Kang Yebin shook her head, firmly denying her unnie’s thought.
“That’s not it. She’s just…”
“Just?”
“She’s probably very confused.”
Perhaps because she had entered the entertainment industry from a young age and worked with adults, Kang Yebin was very quick-witted.
She roughly knew what her mother was thinking.
In that sense.
“In a way, Dad is amazing. He immediately accepted us when he found out we were regressors.”
Kang Yera recalled the moment she revealed her identity to Kang Dae-oh.
Of course, he also showed signs of being flustered at first.
But that was only for a moment.
Soon, Kang Dae-oh showed a willingness to accept the current Kang Yera as she was.
Going a step further,
He even showed an active role in cooperating with Kang Yera to overcome crises.
On the other hand, Min Seung-yeon still seemed to need a lot of time to reach that stage.
As Kang Dae-oh said.
Ultimately, what Min Seung-yeon needed was time.
Kang Yera had one biggest worry.
That was.
“Mom wouldn’t hate us, would she?”
Being hated by her loving mother.
At this stage, this was what Kang Yera feared the most.
And for good reason.
“You two always lived with Mom. But I hadn’t seen Mom for a long time.”
“…”
In the future world, Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon ultimately chose divorce.
Kang Yebin and Kang Yeyoung stayed with Mom.
And Kang Yera ended up living with Dad.
Because of this, Kang Yera seemed to care about her mother more than her younger sisters.
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
“Why?”
“Even after we separated, Mom was always worried about you. And… Dad too, of course.”
“Haa.”
Bringing up the bleak future story made her sigh.
Their individual success was important, but it was also important for their mom, dad, and unnies and dongsaengs to gather happily and live together harmoniously once again.
Fortunately, thanks to Kang Yera and Kang Yebin, the family was able to overcome several crises where their finances could have been severely shaken.
Now.
“It depends on what Dad does.”
“Indeed.”
No matter how much the daughters told Kang Dae-oh about future events and gave him advice, the outcome would vary greatly depending on how he accepted and utilized it.
Nevertheless.
The two daughters somehow believed that their dad would do well.
Because he had done well so far since the regression.
As the two daughters secretly talked while their mother wasn’t looking.
Min Seung-yeon approached the ball pit where her two daughters were, carrying Kang Yeyoung.
“Girls. I’m sorry, but can you watch your sister for a bit instead of Mom? My stomach isn’t feeling well, I must have eaten something wrong this morning…”
If it were a normal household, entrusting a baby who hadn’t even had her first birthday to two young daughters would be unimaginable.
However, Kang Yera and Kang Yebin were different.
They were already adults inside.
From Min Seung-yeon’s perspective, it was fortunate that her eldest and second daughters were regressors in a situation like this.
Kang Yeyoung, who had just graduated from her swaddle, was held in her eldest unnie’s arms.
Kang Yera looked down at her youngest dongsaeng and chuckled.
“When you grew up, you were so stubborn and didn’t listen to unnie. But seeing you as a baby, you’re cute.”
Perhaps it was due to her eldest unnie’s provocation.
Kang Yeyoung eagerly showed off her leg kicks.
But they didn’t reach Kang Yera.
“Your legs are too short to reach~?”
“…”
Kang Yeyoung quickly began to well up.
Because she knew well that a baby’s ultimate move was ‘crying’.
Kang Yera and Kang Yebin were greatly flustered when their youngest tried to unleash this ultimate move.
Because there’s nothing more embarrassing than a baby crying in a public place.
“It’s all unnie’s fault!”
“N-no. I just wanted to tease our youngest because she’s cute…”
The moment they were about to shift responsibility onto each other.
Something rang out even before Kang Yeyoung’s cry.
It was.
Peeoong—!
An explosion.
Min Seung-yeon, who had just finished using the restroom, stood in front of the mirror and began washing her hands.
After washing her hands, she closely examined her face reflected in the mirror.
“I’m not making too many complicated expressions in front of the kids, am I?”
As Kang Dae-oh had said, even if they came from the future, they were still Min Seung-yeon’s daughters.
In fact, there was no reason or need to worry.
But it just wouldn’t come easily to her.
“When I see this, he’s truly amazing.”
She suddenly felt a renewed respect for Kang Dae-oh.
She wished she could immediately adopt the same attitude as Kang Dae-oh, accepting things as they were.
“Right. It’s not too late. Don’t overthink it, just treat them as I normally do.”
With that, she gave herself a pep talk in the restroom.
After leaving the restroom, Min Seung-yeon headed towards the kids’ cafe where the children would be waiting.
But then.
The atmosphere inside the mall was unusual.
People were in chaos.
And screams occasionally leaked out.
Min Seung-yeon grabbed a passing employee and asked.
“What’s going on?”
The employee said with a frantic expression.
“There’s a fire due to a gas explosion at the kids’ cafe! Please evacuate quickly!”
“What…?”
For the first time, Min Seung-yeon felt what it was like for her world to come crashing down.
