NOVEL NEXT Chapter 13
Since the last competition award, I decided to rethink what I wanted to do.
I started studying because I envied others’ academic records,
and I began playing the piano because musicians looked so cool.
Also, since I thought fit people looked pretty, I started skipping rope and doing stretches regularly.
As a result, despite being in the first grade of elementary school, I ended up studying high school level material and even won the overall elementary award for piano.
And even though I’m a girl, I have a body that anyone would envy.
Still, I honestly don’t know what I should do.
“Sis, what are you doing?”
Do-ah waddles over to me lying on the sofa.
I pick her up and place her on the sofa beside me.
“Oh, I might end up living my whole life just looking at Do-ah.”
Little Do-ah, only 4 years old, smiles brightly as if she thinks that’s great.
“Yeah, I want to live with you too.”
Looking at Do-ah makes my future seem irrelevant.
If I just keep doing this, something will come out of it.
But what if Do-ah gets a boyfriend later?
I need to earn money quickly to hire a bodyguard for Do-ah.
But what if she falls for the bodyguard?
Right, I should hire a female bodyguard.
But can a female bodyguard really protect her?
What should I do?
As I’m lost in my delusions, Mom calls us.
“Do-hee~ Do-ah~”
“Uh?” “Yeah?”
“Shall we eat out for dinner?”
Since I usually can’t be bothered to go out, our family doesn’t dine out much.
“Suddenly?”
“Yeah, do you remember my friend Min-ha?”
“Yeah. Baek-hwi’s mom?”
“Yeah, she wants us to have dinner together.”
“What about Dad?”
“He said he’s eating out.”
“Well, then I guess we should.”
While preparing to go outside, I casually put on my clothes and started picking out an outfit for Do-ah.
“Is this pretty? Hmm, not really… Do-ah, let’s take that off and raise your arms.”
“Okay.”
“Hm, this looks good too. How about a chiffon dress?”
Mom came over and joined in on Do-ah’s fashion show.
“I think a school two-piece would look good on her.”
“Hmm, how about a sky-blue ribbon with that?”
“That doesn’t really match Do-ah’s color.”
“Hm… then the black one.”
“Yeah, let’s try that one on first.”
“Do-ah, raise your arms!”
“Okay…”
Now I understand how Mom felt during the fashion show.
How can I resist when she’s so cute?
Just as Do-ah was about to cry, we finally picked out the clothes and managed to leave the house.
I finally managed to pick out an outfit and barely made it out of the house.
“Mom, where are we going?”
“Apparently, it’s a steak house, but I’m not really sure myself.”
The place we arrived at in the car turned out to be a pretty fancy restaurant.
‘Wow, how much must this cost?’
Baek-hwi’s family must really be loaded.
As we opened the door and stepped inside, a staff member warmly greeted us and politely bowed.
“Welcome! Do you have a reservation?”
“Ah, it should be under Kim Min-ha.”
“Right this way, please.”
Following the staff’s lead into the room, I saw Aunt Min-ha and Baek-hwi.
Aunt Min-ha stood up to greet us.
“Welcome! Baek-hwi, you should stand up and greet too!”
Baek-hwi greeted my mom.
“Hello, Auntie.”
“Wow, Baek-hwi, you’ve gotten even cooler, huh?”
Baek-hwi shyly turned to me and said hello.
“Do-hee, hi…”
‘Oh man, he’s still like this?’
“Ah, yes, hello, Auntie!”
“Oh my, Do-hee, you get prettier every time I see you! I heard you won a contest this time?”
“Yes, I got lucky. Haha.”
“How can Do-hee be so talented at everything? I wish I had a daughter like you~”
Aunt Min-ha showered me with compliments and then looked at Do-ah.
“Is this little one Do-ah?”
“Yes, hello.”
Do-ah was still super shy and hid behind me, clutching my hand tightly.
I secretly hope Do-ah grows up this shy and only ever looks for me.
“Oh, look at you greeting so well! Joo-hee, how do you manage to have only such cuties?”
“Well, I guess she takes after me when I was little? Hehe.”
“What nonsense. Anyway, I’m thinking about having just one more daughter.”
“Why? Baek-hwi is adorable as is!”
“Oh, our son has no charm.”
“Our firstborn is the same; thank goodness Do-ah is so cute.”
‘I’m pretty much a cute ball for my age, yet they don’t realize it.’
“Let’s sit down first; you must be hungry. Let’s hurry and order food; the steak here is delicious.”
“It looked really expensive here.”
“Come on, Do-hee, Auntie should treat you to something nice since you won that contest~”
“Thank you, Auntie~”
This is the perfect time to feast off a rich person!
“What do you want to eat, Do-hee?” Auntie asked.
“I’ll have… well-done tenderloin.”
“Ah, Do-hee, you’re still a kid and don’t know steak yet. Trust Auntie and try medium; steak should have a bit of pink!”
“Okay, then I’ll order it medium-well; I want to share it with Do-ah.”
“Sounds good. Joo-hee, what about you?”
“I’ll have mine medium.”
After Auntie called the waiter and ordered the food, the conversation between my mom and Auntie continued.
“By the way, Do-hee goes to a public elementary school, right? Why not send her to a private one?”
“She just thinks it’s a waste of money and says she’ll just go to the one near our house.”
“Come on, that’s not a waste of money! The kids you meet at private schools all come with their connections anyway.”
“More than that, the quality of education at private schools is different from public schools.”
Mom seemed to be considering whether she should transfer Do-hee to a private school right now after hearing Auntie’s words.
“Auntie, I wouldn’t learn anything at a private school anyway.”
“Oh, Do-hee might think that, but once you go, you’ll find it’s different!”
“Um… I’m already studying high school stuff…”
“Huh? High school? What do you mean Do-hee is studying high school?”
“Well, Do-hee has been studying alone since she was little, and now she’s reading high school books…”
Aunt Min-ha said this in surprise, hitting Mom’s arm.
“You’re crazy! Wait, you knew Do-hee was this smart but kept it a secret?”
“I just thought if I blurted it out, Do-hee would be the one to suffer.”
“But still! Then shouldn’t you at least enroll her in gifted education or something?”
“Well, she’s doing well on her own, plus Do-hee doesn’t want to go to gifted programs, haha…”
Auntie continued the conversation excitedly with Mom while looking at me.
“Do-hee, really, don’t you want to be my daughter-in-law?”
“Nope.”
Auntie pointed shyly at Baek-hwi sitting next to us.
“This guy, at least he takes after me and is good-looking, right? There are tons of girls in school who confess to him!”
‘Then why am I the one chosen?’
“Haha…”
“And his family is rich too; he’s already studying middle school material, right?”
‘Isn’t it child abuse to make a first-grader study middle school stuff?’
“I’m just planning to live my whole life with Do-ah~”
“Oh, so you’re still too young to be interested in boys? Seriously, there’s no guy better than Baek-hwi, right?”
“Uh-huh…”
“Auntie isn’t giving up on making Do-hee her daughter-in-law, huh?”
‘Please give up…’
Finally freed from Auntie’s grip, I turned to Baek-hwi.
“Hey, are you really studying middle school stuff?”
“Yeah, I haven’t been at it for long, though…”
“How can an elementary student do that and not find it hard?”
“You’re studying high school stuff, though.”
“I’m doing it because I want to.”
Baek-hwi replied with a smile.
“I’m doing it because I want to as well.”
Then he blushed and spoke quietly.
“And you said before that studying hard makes you cool…”
Ah.
Did I set up a flag?
” No, I mean, everyone thinks working hard is cool, right…? ”
” Uh-huh… ”
” Alright, do your best, but if it gets too tough, take a break. ”
” Okay! ”
Sigh…
After all, no girl’s going to hesitate to pounce on her if she stays like this.
By then, she’ll probably give up.
” Unnii~ ”
Do-ah, unhappy that I was talking without her, tugged at my arm with her tiny hands.
” Our Do-ah was bored because unni didn’t play with her~ ”
” Uh-huh. ”
” Unni will only be with Do-ah forever~ ”
” I like unni too. ”
” Unni too~ ”
– Knock Knock –
With a knock, the staff entered with our food.
” I’ll set the food down for you. ”
” Yes, thank you. ”
The steak in front of me smelled amazing from the start.
As I cut into the steak and took a bite…
” Wow, this is so good. ”
” Hyung, Do-hee’s mom said not to use bad words. ”
” Ugh, anyway, it’s super delicious. ”
Aunt Min-ha, who had been listening to our conversation, chuckled.
” Haha, it seems it suits Do-hee’s taste? ”
” Yes, it’s really good. ”
” If you marry Baek-hwi, you can eat it every day, right? ”
” That’s a bit… ”
” Just kidding, just kidding. ”
What a joke.
I cut a small piece for little Do-ah, whose teeth were still coming in, and offered it to her.
” Do-ah, ah~ ”
” Ah~ ”
Watching her munch with those tiny lips is just too cute.
” Is it good? ”
” Uh-huh, it’s delicious. ”
It’s clear that expensive places really deliver on quality.
No matter what I become in the future, I need to earn a lot of money.
So I can treat our Do-ah to tasty food.
How about an overseas Michelin tour?
After finishing the meal and saying goodbye to Baek-hwi’s family, we got in the car to head home.
Do-ah, looking tired, rested her head on my knee and fell asleep.
I decided to share my feelings about not being able to focus on daily life since winning the contest with my mom.
” Mom. ”
” Huh? ”
” What should I do? ”
” What about later? ”
” Uh-huh. ”
Mom thought for a moment before replying.
” Whatever you want, you’re just my daughter, after all. ”
” Oh~ That was a cool line, Mom. ”
” How’s my sense? ”
” It sounds too prepared, so minus 10 points. ”
” Is our princess about to get a flick on the forehead again? ”
” Hehe, so 90 out of 100 points. ”
” Since when did my daughter start giving high scores? ”
” Just because you sound like a mom. ”
Mom chuckled in response.
” When was it not? ”
” Uh-huh… ”
Looks like it wasn’t even a question worth worrying about.