A child who looks like me

In Class 1-1, it was time for the end-of-class announcements.

“Everyone, make sure to wake up early tomorrow and give the letters and carnations you made today to your parents, okay?”

“Okay!”

“And you have to listen to your mom and dad.”

“Yes!”

The teacher’s reminders were met with enthusiastic replies from the kids.

Yena carefully placed the letter and the carnation she made during class into her textbook and packed it into her bag. The thought of how happy her mom and dad would be to receive the carnations made her very excited.

“I’m back!”

“Did you come home, my puppy?”

Yena, returning home with a bright smile, froze at the quiet atmosphere in the house. The only person who welcomed her was her grandmother. Her mom was not there.

“Grandma, where’s Mom?”

“Yena, your mom went to the hospital to have your little sibling.”

“Why did she go so early? She said the baby would come out next week.”

“No one knows when the baby will come. Our Yena was born a month early, you know.”

“Why?”

“Who knows? Maybe she was eager to see her mom’s face.”

Her grandmother replied with a gentle smile, but Yena couldn’t smile like her grandmother.

“So the baby is out?”

“Not yet. It’s going to take some time.”

“Then will it come out by dinner?”

“We still don’t know. It could come out sooner or take much longer.”

Yena grew anxious at her grandmother’s vague answer.

After returning from the academy, having dinner, and playing around while watching TV, Yena occasionally felt gloomy.

“Grandma, why aren’t Mom and Dad here?”

“The baby hasn’t come out yet.”

“Why isn’t Sim-kung coming out?”

“Good question.”

“Then Mom and Dad aren’t coming today?”

“They’ll be at the hospital for a few days. Your mom needs to rest after giving birth.”

Last April, when Jeong-o said she would take a break from work, Yena was overjoyed.

Though she didn’t show it, she had envied her friends Do-bin and Saebyeol, whose mothers greeted them after school and spent all day with them.

She had been so happy that she didn’t think much about the fact that a little sibling would be born someday. Even while decorating the sibling’s room and saying she had been waiting for the baby to arrive, she didn’t really grasp what it meant.

Yena asked with a downcast expression, “Then what about Dad?”

“Dad needs to take care of your mom.”

“And what about me?”

“Our puppy will be taken care of by Grandma.”

I’d rather have Dad take care of me than Grandma.

Yena pouted and turned away.

An hour later, tired from waiting, Yena changed into her pajamas and came back, asking tearfully, “I have to go to bed now, but why hasn’t Mom called?”

“The baby hasn’t come out yet. Your mom is probably too tired to call.”

“What about Dad? He shouldn’t be tired.”

“Dad is busy taking care of your tired mom.”

Yena’s eyes filled with tears. She looked hurt, as if she couldn’t believe Dad might forget her, and Kuksun felt a pang of affection.

“Let’s sleep with Grandma tonight. Grandma will hold you.”

Holding Yena’s hand, Kuksun went to the room and laid down bedding on the floor.

As Yena lay down in her grandmother’s arms, she spoke after a while.

“Grandma, when Sim-kung comes out, I’m going to scold him.”

“Why would you scold your little sibling?”

“Because he’s making Mom suffer so much. Tomorrow is Parents’ Day.”

“…”

“The teacher said we should give our moms and dads carnations in the morning. But because of Sim-kung, I won’t be able to see Mom and Dad tomorrow morning.”

Tomorrow is an Important Day for Yena Too

It would be Yena’s first Parents’ Day with her mom and dad after not having her dad around for seven years.

A child who is loved thinks of giving just as special as receiving. Yena had probably imagined her parents’ happy faces upon seeing the flowers she made, and Kuksun felt a pang in her heart thinking about how disappointed she would be if she had to abandon those expectations.

.*. *. *. *. *. *.

The next morning.

After finally getting the third child, Dohee, to sleep in the late morning after crying all night, Jinseo sighed heavily at the sticky mess on the kitchen counter.

There was also a bundle of wet wipes that hadn’t been thrown away yet, and a single empty yogurt bottle in the trash can.

The culprit was all too obvious. In trying to carry out a perfect crime, Do-bin had made things even more troublesome.

“Park Do-bin! Come here!”

Jinseo shouted, unsure of where Do-bin was. She couldn’t yell too loudly, worried that Dohee might wake up.

Do-bin approached with a bright smile, seemingly unbothered about getting scolded.

“Why are you drinking yogurt instead of eating breakfast? And why did you spill it here?”

“Mom bought yogurt, so…”

“If Mom hadn’t bought yogurt, I wouldn’t have spilled it!”

“Ugh. How can I win against you?”

As Jinseo picked up a rag to clean the sticky floor, Do-bin suddenly held something out to her. Jinseo raised her eyebrows and asked curiously.

“What’s this?”

“A letter! I wrote it!”

“You wrote a letter? Park Do-bin?”

“Yep!”

Wondering what this was about, Jinseo opened the letter with a somewhat indifferent expression.

– Dear Mother, thank you for giving birth to me. But next time, please give me a little brother. Thank you. Father, thank you for earning money and playing with me. Happy Parents’ Day.

The letter awkwardly ended with “Happy Parents’ Day.”

Was it so hard to add just one more “yo,” my son?

Seeing her child proudly present an unfinished letter was so amusing that Jinseo couldn’t help but laugh. In truth, she felt a sense of gratitude too.

Now I also receive congratulations on Parents’ Day.

Would he adapt well to school? Would he continue to get into trouble? She had worried endlessly about her son, but surprisingly, he was gradually growing up.

He was still a troublemaker who secretly drank yogurt, spilled it in the kitchen, and couldn’t clean up properly, but he was growing up just like a typical eight-year-old—brave and strong.

“Park Do-bin, what trouble did you cause this time?”

Seung-kyu approached as he noticed Jinseo’s expressive face.

Without answering, Do-bin hurried to the room and returned with a paper flower.

“Dad, look at this!”

A bright red paper flower that looked like a presidential medal. Seung-kyu flinched at the sight.

“It’s a carnation. I made it. Hurry and pin it here.”

Do-bin urged as he pointed to Seung-kyu’s left chest.

“…Okay. Thank you, my son.”

“Hurry and pin it.”

“Alright. Is that good?”

Seung-kyu pinned the flower to his shirt with a clip on the back and showed it to Do-bin.

“Oh, no, no.”

Do-bin shook his head and went to get Seung-kyu’s suit jacket, which was resting on the living room sofa.

“It needs to be pinned here.”

Without a word, Seung-kyu pinned the paper flower to the jacket.

“Dad, you have to keep it on at work too. I’m going to video call later. Got it?”

“…Sure.”

A punishment disguised as a gift.

Seung-kyu suddenly thought of his own father after a long time. When he was little, he had made paper carnations like this too. On Parents’ Day morning, he had pinned a flower to his father’s chest.

His father had gone to work happily with the flower pinned on. However, when he returned home, the flower was gone. He had secretly felt sad about that, but now he felt he could understand his father’s situation. People can only understand as much as they have experienced.

.*. *. *. *. *. *.

“Yena!”

Arriving Early at School

Do-bin, who arrived at school early, ran straight to Yena as soon as she got there.

“Did you pin a flower on Mom and Dad?”

Yena didn’t look very happy.

“No. Mom and Dad didn’t come home yesterday.”

“Why?”

“They went to have the baby.”

“Oh, then they won’t be home today either?”

Having experienced the arrival of a sibling last March, Do-bin understood immediately.

“Was the baby born?”

“Yeah, yesterday.”

“Then did they come back from the hospital?”

“No, they’ll be back after school later.”

“Why? I went to see my baby sibling on the day they were born.”

“They said I have to go to school.”

Tears welled up in Yena’s eyes. She looked very sad, so Do-bin quickly changed the subject.

“Congratulations on getting a little sibling. I bet they’ll be cute.”

“No. Not at all. Want to see?”

Wiping her tears, Yena took out her phone from her bag and showed him a photo. It was a baby wrapped in a green blanket, looking like a cocoon. It was a picture she received from her dad that morning.

As Do-bin looked closely at the photo, Yena asked, “Doesn’t it remind you of something?”

“What does it remind me of?”

“It looks like the cabbage we saw in Grandma’s yard last year.”

Yena, unable to look at her sibling in a positive light, said with a pout, “Right?”

“Really?”

“Yeah. So I told Grandma to name it Cabbage.”

“Cabbage? Then it’ll be Jung Cabbage?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s funny, Jung Cabbage.”

Do-bin giggled. Yena felt better seeing Do-bin’s reaction.

“Then people will tease your little sibling. Every time they eat kimchi, they’ll say, ‘Hey, Jung Cabbage, don’t eat kimchi!’”

But when Do-bin predicted what would happen later, Yena’s smile faded. It was okay for her to tease her sibling, but she didn’t think she would feel good if others did it.

As if reading her thoughts, Do-bin offered another perspective.

“I think it looks prettier than cabbage.”

“……”

“Look at it again. Isn’t it prettier than cabbage?”

“…… A little.”

“Yeah. And since I’ve had two younger siblings, I know that after a few nights, they get cuter. This one will be like that too.”

“Had two?”

Do-bin’s words sounded a little strange, but somehow Yena felt that he seemed more mature than ever. She reflected for a moment on how she had insulted her sibling. She decided not to be spiteful any longer and to welcome the sibling who would soon become prettier.

.*. *. *. *. *. *.

After school, Yena went straight to the hospital with Kuksun.

She was excited in many ways. Excited to see her sibling. And excited to give her flowers and letter to her mom and dad.

“Princess Yena!”

Jiheon was waiting in the hospital lobby.

“Dad!”

Yena ran to Jiheon and hugged him. Jiheon lifted Yena high into the air and asked,

“Yena, were you sad that I didn’t come yesterday?”

The baby was born after Yena fell asleep last night. Jiheon called Kuksun in the middle of the night to share the news, and Kuksun had told him that Yena was feeling very sad.

“Yeah. You didn’t even call.”

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t contact you because I was busy watching over Mom since she was in pain. Can you understand, Yena?”

“Yeah.”

Yena nodded bravely. If Dad said he was sorry, she could certainly understand.

“What about the baby?”

“She’s in the room now. The nurse took her there.”

Yena’s heart raced at Jiheon’s response.

“You’ll be able to hold your little sibling too.”

“Really? Can I hold her?”

“Of course. Just be careful when you do.”

While the baby was in Mom’s belly, Yena had talked to her many times. She had encouraged the baby, saying, “Come out quickly so we can play together!” Now she could finally hold her sibling.

Yena’s steps quickened. She pulled on Kuksun and Jiheon’s arms as she hurried toward the hospital room. As they approached the door with her mom’s name on it, they could hear the baby crying loudly.

With a big smile on her face, Yena pushed the door open with all her might.

“Mom!”

“Princess Yena, you’re here?”

As Jiheon was soothing the second baby, he looked up and welcomed Yena.

However, Yena’s bright smile quickly faded.

Despite promising not to be spiteful any longer, seeing her mother holding and soothing the crying cabbage made her unable to say anything else.

“…Mom, put the baby down quickly.”

Yena’s voice wavered with unshed tears.