Chapter 14: Having Dinner with Neighbors (2)

Yongsu Kwon had been in a few relationships, but Mijeong Shin didn’t know about them.

Or rather, she didn’t believe it.

After parting ways in high school, five years had passed by the time they met again.

Back then, Yongsu had bought a house and stayed holed up writing, barely leaving.

So Mijeong didn’t believe Yongsu could have had a girlfriend and still thought he was perpetually single.

“You, you, you… for real?”

Speak in English.

I told her to use English, worried the kids might overhear.

Hye-yeon and Yuri were staring at me because of Mijeong’s comment.

“No way it’s another one of your fans…”

Yeah, it’s a fan.

“No way.”

As Yongsu’s former assistant at the publishing company, Mijeong managed his fan letters and gifts.

She’d even seen women give him their contact info at fan meetings.

But things were completely different back then.

“You know what?”

What?

“Ever since your slump, you get annoyed whenever women come up.”

“ ”

Stability is crucial.

Many famous athletes marry young for mental stability.

Not everyone has a steel-like mentality.

This guy’s even worse.

Especially for Yongsu, who’d lost his dream, his mental state was incredibly fragile.

That’s why Mijeong often suggested dating or marriage to him during his slump.

New experiences, whether emotional or physical, help people grow.

“This one seems to have caught your interest, huh?”

“ ”

I didn’t say anything.

It wasn’t about being interested or in love—it was just hard to ignore her like I usually did.

Let’s drop this topic. The kids are watching.

“Alright, got it.”

In the past, Mijeong would’ve dug deeper to find out who I was thinking about.

But now, Yongsu was like a balloon filled with air.

He was aware of his slump, but she had to avoid triggering any stressful emotions.

“Uncle, do you have a girlfriend? For real? How old is she?”

Yuri’s eyes sparkled as she looked at me.

Hye-yeon pretended to be indifferent but kept sneaking glances.

At their age, they were naturally curious about romance, so they couldn’t ignore Mijeong’s comment.

I don’t.

“Liar! You’re smiling right now!”

Am I?

At Yuri’s words, I touched my lips.

I wasn’t sure if I was smiling, but my mouth felt like it was curving upward.

“A woman knows a woman’s heart! If you like someone, tell me!”

It’s fine. Just eat.

Even if I was casual about dating, I wasn’t about to take advice from a 10-year-old.

“Ryan.”

Mijeong, finding Yuri’s comment cute, smiled and clung to Ryan.

Ryan, who was feeding the kids, made a face.

“Get off. You’ll jinx me.”

“You’ll die?”

“Sorry.”

“I’ll take over feeding them. You eat.”

“Sweet!”

Ryan swapped places with Mijeong and quickly dug into his food.

He ate fast so Mijeong could eat too.

Marriage…

Watching them care for each other, Yongsu’s thoughts deepened.

***

Jiyu and the other kids got along great.

Despite the language barrier, they instinctively ran around the house playing hide-and-seek.

Maybe it’s a universal game from caveman days, because they had fun without speaking.

Eventually, they fell asleep on the sofa.

I sent Hye-yeon and Yuri to shower first, and we sat at the table, lightly sipping drinks.

…Nicole Portman.

While the two were drinking, I checked the SNS profile for the ID Nicole gave me.

It was full of photos from trips and food.

Not a single photo of her face?

Oddly, there wasn’t one picture showing her face.

You’d think showing her face would skyrocket her followers, but she seemed to dislike revealing it on SNS.

It’s like a vlog style.

There were a lot of photos with books, all titles I recognized.

I clicked on one post.

<Reading my favorite author’s book at a café>  

ID: @Nicole1512  

[Photo of coffee and the book *Papa*]  

It’s been a while since I had a day off, so I read Adele Louis’s *Papa* at home.  

Highly recommend giving it a read!

-Isn’t this the book that got flak for promoting gender discrimination?

-LPC folks went crazy over it. But sales and ratings are insanely high. If you don’t cry reading it, you’re not human.

-Adele Louis writes stories based on real-life events or things that could happen, which makes them so fun.

-I read it too, Nicole! Totally recommend.

-The world’s so harsh these days, you have to watch every word. But this book is worth it. It teaches us what to value beyond discrimination.

-I hugged my dad after reading it.

My fifth novel, Papa, is literally about a father.

The protagonist is a daughter, and it was inspired by a laborer’s story.

When I wrote it, even the publisher hesitated to release it due to potential controversy, but its sales and ratings crushed the criticism.

“What’re you looking at?”

Nothing.

I quickly turned off my phone at Ryan’s question.

Ryan poured soju into my glass until it overflowed.

“Talking to a girl?”

Get lost. It’s not like that.

I let out a deep sigh and brought the soju glass to my lips.

After downing it, I grabbed some snacks.

Mijeong, resting her chin on her hand, said,

“So? Think you can write again?”

Nope. Not at all.

“Have you tried?”

Not since I brought the kids. I didn’t even bring my laptop to Korea, and it’s only been a day since we got here.

Mijeong let out a deep sigh.

“Ugh… when will that slump end?”

Might never end.

Honestly, I don’t even know why I should write anymore.

Papa was practically a product of my 20s’ passion.

I knew it could stir controversy, but I wrote it fearlessly.

Despite the publisher’s suggestion to use a different pen name, I boldly published it as is.

It’s not easy anymore.

The fearless 20s passed, and in my 30s, I started shrinking back.

I got scared of more things and was easily hurt.

Emotions that were once calm now stirred easily.

“By the way… isn’t it that season soon?”

The anniversary party?

“Yeah, that. Right.”

Got a call about it already.

Since they start contacting people a month in advance, Mijeong must’ve remembered it suddenly.

“You going?”

Dunno. What’s a slumping writer gonna do there? Just embarrass myself.

“There you go again. Just go and make small talk. That’s enough, so why bother?”

I’d be embarrassed.

“It’s not because of that fight, is it?”

…That’s part of it.

That’s why I sighed in the car.

Artists often have strong opinions and stubbornness, so disagreements are inevitable.

In my 20s, I didn’t think I was the best, but I never thought my path was wrong.

I clashed with another writer over it, and we had a big fight.

It caused a stir in the writer community.

They called it a battle between the greatest modern writer and the greatest old-school writer.

Someone posted it on SNS, and it blew up.

“And you got your slump right after that fight… ugh.”

The fight didn’t cause the slump.

But the timing was so bad it was annoying.

Now, going to the party felt awkward, and I was uneasy about leaving the kids alone.

Well, I can’t keep skipping it…

The publisher had done a lot for me, so I’d have to go eventually.

I’d have to face the writer I fought with too.

But I wasn’t ready to decide yet.

“Khh…”

I brought the soju glass to my lips.

The tingling alcohol scent hit my nose, clearing the clutter in my mind.

I set the glass down and grabbed some snacks.

“So, what’s tomorrow’s plan?”

“Did you show them around the village?”

No?

“Then do that. It’d be good for them.”

Oh, yeah?

“Come over to our place too.”

I hesitated at Ryan’s words.

Was it okay to go?

You still have that stuff at your place?

“What stuff?”

The taxidermy.

“Oh… yeah, of course.”

Then maybe not.

Ryan’s house had taxidermied animals.

Including the moose we saw today, there were bears and wolves too.

They were all animals that trespassed into his livestock pens.

He’d stuffed them out of spite and displayed them at home.

“Tch… think the kids will be scared?”

Bessie and Roy were fine, but my kids, who freaked out at the moose, would probably be terrified.

I was too, the first time I went to Ryan’s place.

Let’s visit your place later when the kids are closer. Tomorrow, I’ll go thank Marcello.

For making the porchetta.

I decided to make sandwiches with the leftover porchetta tomorrow and stood up.

“What, you’re done eating?”

Yeah. It’s time for the kids to wash up, and Jiyu needs to brush her teeth.

I shook Jiyu, who was sleeping on the sofa with Bessie and Roy.

Jiyu, wake up. Your sisters are done showering, so you need to brush your teeth.

“Ugh… Jiyu’s teeth… are clean…”

“No, they’re super dirty right now.”

“They’re not… ugh…”

Jiyu squirmed, not wanting to get up.

But I lifted her up.

“Ugh…?”

Come on, Uncle will help you brush.

“Don’t wanna…”

Jiyu buried her head in my chest.

It wasn’t late yet, but she couldn’t fight sleep.

“Oh, Uncle.”

Gonna brush Jiyu’s teeth?

Hye-yeon and Yuri came out of the bathroom, done showering.

Yeah, I’ll handle it. Play with Aunt and Uncle.

“Okay.”

“Oh, right, Uncle.”

What?

Yuri smiled and pulled something out.

It was a picture frame.

“Uncle, are you close with Benjamin?”

I scratched my head at Hye-yeon and Yuri’s sparkling eyes.