Chapter 3: The Morning After: Pancakes, Promises, and a Little Envy

“Do you have a microwave at home?”
“Yes! It’s outside the room. Why?”
“I’m going to heat up the pizza.”
“What should I do in the meantime?”
“Do whatever you can.”
“Yes!”
I took the pizza out of the room.
I transferred the pizza to a plate in the kitchen and microwaved it briefly.
With a ding-! sound, I returned to the room with the heated pizza.
“Oh-”
In the meantime, the kid had smartly set up the table and even poured the cider into cups.
As I placed the pizza on the table, the kid stared up at me.
“Why are you looking at me?”
“Because you should eat first. I’m watching when you’re going to eat.”
She’s polite.
I took a slice of pizza and ate it first, and the kid followed suit.
It was amazing how her eyes sparkled as soon as she took a bite of the pizza.
“Is it delicious?”
The kid nodded at my words.
It was a bit cute how she was munching with her cheeks full.
It was also a very typical kid, sipping the cider.
“Do you like pizza, Oppa?”
“No. I’m a little tired of it because I eat so much.”
“You eat a lot of pizza? Why?”
“I work at a pizza place.”
“Wow…”
The kid next door looked up at me with eyes full of envy.
“Then do you eat pizza every day?”
“I used to, but not so much these days. Why? Are you envious?”
“A little. I wish I could eat pizza every day too.”
“You get tired of eating anything every day. Well, maybe everything is good for a kid.”
The kid, offended by my words, pouted and looked at me.
“I’m not a kid…”
“Then what…?”
“Ji-eun!”
“You’re a kid.”
I playfully said, and the kid yelled.
“Ugh~! If I’m a kid, Oppa is a giant!”
“Better than a kid.”
The kid glared at me again.
“Are you going to call me Giant Oppa?”
The kid was looking at me with her cheeks full of air.
If I tease her more, she’ll cry? I should stop here.
“Let’s decide what to call me later and just eat for now.”
“Tch- okay.”
The kid was a little sulky, but soon ate the pizza again.
I ate four slices, and the kid ate two.
As I started to clean up, the kid yawned loudly.
“Tired?”
“Yes.”
I glanced at the clock, and it was past eleven o’clock.
“It’s late. Wash up and go to bed quickly. You need to brush your teeth.”
“After tidying up…”
“I’ll clean up, so wipe the floor with a wet wipe. Can you do it?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll keep the rest of the cider at my house.”
“Yes.”
I put the cider in my refrigerator and separated the pizza box for recycling.
When I returned to the kid’s house, the kid was nodding off after wiping the floor.
“Hey, you have to brush your teeth before you sleep. You’ll get cavities if you just sleep like that.”
“Yes.”
“Can you wash up on your own?”
“Yes. I’m going to be an elementary school student next year, so I can do that much, of course. What about Oppa?”
“I’ll go wash up at my house. Just hurry and wash up.”
“4||”
The kid, took out a towel from the corner of the room and headed to the bathroom.
In the meantime, the kid came out after washing up.
“Lie down and sleep.”
“3”
“Oppa… is going?”
“I have to.”
“I’m scared of sleeping alone…”
“I’ll stay here until you fall asleep, so just lie down. You’ll catch a cold.”
The kid seemed relieved by my words and lay down on the bed.
The kid, pulling the blanket up to her chin, looked at me without closing her eyes.
“Hey, close your eyes. That’s how you fall asleep.”
“I woke up from washing my face.”
Annoying, really.
“Shall I turn off the light first?”
“Ah! I’m scared if you turn off the light.”
“You won’t fall asleep unless you turn off the light.”
“Then… please! Stay here until I fall asleep.”
“Okay. Turn off the light?”
“Yes.”
I turned off the light and went back to my spot.
“Oppa, aren’t you scared of sleeping alone?”
“Stop talking and just go to sleep.”
“I’m scared if I don’t do anything…”
“It’s okay. You’ll get used to it-”
Something warm touched my hand.
The kid carefully held my hand.
Unable to push away, I carefully held the kid’s hand.
“I’ll hold your hand, so sleep.”
“Hehe… yes.”
The fear disappeared from the kid’s voice, as if she was relieved then.
After a while, only the sound of the kid’s breath could be heard in the dark and quiet room.
I very carefully removed the kid’s hand that was holding mine, even though she was asleep.
After getting up from my seat like a thief, I took the kid’s house key and carefully left the house.
“Phew… what am I doing in the middle of the night?”
I carefully locked the door and put the key under a brick next to the door.
I took out my phone and told the old man, the number of whom I called earlier, about the key’s location, and returned to my house.
I changed clothes, and I also washed up in the bathroom.
As I lay down in bed after turning off the light, the dark ceiling came into view.
It was a scene that was too familiar to me… but I hoped the kid next door wouldn’t be familiar with this scene.
“I didn’t tell her to sleep well.”
I should have done that much and come back.
I hoped she would have good dreams, even though it was late.

-Giant Oppa-!
The voice of the kid shouting my name in the house came in.
-Oppa-aa-!
I was going to sleep a little more, but I finally got up because of the voice that kept coming.
I moved the blanket to the side and opened the door, and the kid next door was looking at me with a beaming smile.
“What are you doing, causing a commotion first thing in the morning…?”
“Grandpa came and said to eat breakfast~!”
“Eat a lot yourself. I’m going to sleep a little more. Go…”
“There’s sausage too. There’s eggs too…! Let’s go-!”
The kid grabbed the hem of my clothes.
I couldn’t resist, and I was in trouble.
“Huh? Hurry, let’s go!”
In the end, I couldn’t refuse and was dragged next door.
I met the grandfather, who was cooking in the kitchen outside the single room.
“Aaa-! Thank you so much yesterday. Eat breakfast.”
“No… I was dragged along with the kid, and I’ll just take breakfast next time…”
“Really? Then how about lunch? How about eating meat outside with my granddaughter?”
“No. You don’t have to…”
It’s burdensome.
“I’m grateful for looking after my granddaughter yesterday.”
“No, it wasn’t that difficult… Then I’ll just eat breakfast, assuming I’ve received something.”
“Will that be enough?”
“It’s okay because there’s sausage. Meat is burdensome instead.”
“Then come on in. Ji-eun, take Oppa inside.”
“Yes~ Hurry, let’s go.”
In the end, I was dragged into the house.
“Oppa’s hair is messy.”
“It’s because you dragged me here. What time is it?”
“Eight o’clock. Are you usually asleep so late?”
“It’s not late… It’s a break… How many hours did you sleep?”
“Seven o’clock.”
Like a new country’s child.
“You did well.”
“Shall I wake you up tomorrow too?”
“No. You can sleep until nine o’clock during the break.”
“There’s also a saying that the early bird catches the worm.”
“You know that too? You’re smart.”
“Hehe.”
The kid, it wasn’t exactly a compliment, but she seemed happy.
“What are you doing today, Oppa?”
“I’m going to sleep.”
“Are you sleeping again?”
“I have to sleep a little more to go to work in the evening.”
“Why do you work when you’re a student?”
“I guess. Do you want to go instead?”
The kid smiled and nodded at my words.
“I want to try making pizza too.”
“I deliver, so I don’t make pizza.”
“Then I want to deliver too.”
“You don’t have a license. You have to go to jail without a license.”
The kid next door hesitated for a moment and then opened her small mouth.
“I know how to ride a bike. Can I use a bike?”
“Are you kidding?”
“I can’t do anything.”
“That’s what it’s like at seven.”
As I was talking with the kid, the grandfather came in with the table.
On the table, there were kimchi, sausage, fried eggs, anchovy stir-fry, and so on.
It was much more plentiful than I thought.
The egg soup with green onions smelled very good too.
“I don’t have much to offer.”
“I’m not a very breakfast person. But I want to eat today.”
“Just keep talking.”
“Yes. I’ll eat well.”
When I answered, the kid next door pulled her rice bowl closer to me.
“What did Oppa eat to grow up like that? Did you eat a lot of anchovies?”
I think that the key to the height was due to genetic factors, but… I had to give the kid dreams and hopes.
“Yeah. I think I ate a lot of anchovies. You eat a lot of anchovies too.”
When I answered, the grandfather sitting next to me also added a word.
“You heard it, right? Ji-eun has to eat a lot of anchovies too?”
“I don’t like anchovies…”
“Then keep living as a kid.”
The kid, displeased with my words, glared at me.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m going to eat a lot and grow bigger than Giant Oppa. See you then.”
“Do it. Here – anchovies.”
I picked up the anchovies with chopsticks and put them on the kid’s rice.
“Thank you.”
The kid, didn’t forget to say thank you, even though she was teasing.
It was cute to take a large spoonful of rice and put it in her mouth.
“Eat too.”
“Oh yes. I’ll eat well.”
It was a warm breakfast that I was eating after a very long time.
“Um… can I have another bowl?”
It was so delicious.