As if the question had been unexpected, Doha’s eyes widened.
“…What do you want to do, Yewon?”
After a moment, Doha carefully asked back.
“I want to live with you, Uncle.”
“…Yewon-ah, I might not be able to become a good family for you. I… don’t really know how.”
“It’s okay!”
Yewon quickly added,
“I know things! I-I can help you!”
“…!”
Apparently, hearing a seven-year-old boldly declare, “I can help you,” was quite shocking, because Doha’s expression was truly priceless.
At his dazed face, Yewon giggled, and Doha let out a small laugh as well.
“…You really are my sister’s daughter. Always saying you’ll help whenever something happens.”
“…!”
Mom said things like me too?
At Doha’s mention of her mother, Yewon’s eyes widened in surprise.
But she couldn’t ask further about her mother.
Because Doha’s face had suddenly become filled with sorrow.
“…Do you really want to live with me? Why?”
“Because Uncle is a good person.”
“!”
Shock spread across Doha’s face at Yewon’s answer.
“You think I’m a good person? Why… do you think that? We only just met.”
“When that scary man tried to take me away earlier, Uncle protected me. So Uncle is a good person.”
But Doha still looked uncertain.
“…It might be better to find a better guardian than me. Not for my sake, but for yours, Yewon.”
“……”
“Uncle can… find someone. Even a distant relative somehow… if I ask them to take good care of you, then everyone…”
He probably meant he would pay them a huge amount of money.
Just like how he had entrusted her to that “fake uncle.”
Yewon understood the meaning behind the words Doha left unsaid.
And she understood his hesitation too.
‘A male idol raising a child alone… really would be difficult.’
She didn’t know much about the idol industry itself, but Yewon knew the entertainment world very well.
Top idols like Glit had schedules so busy they probably couldn’t even breathe.
It definitely wasn’t a good environment for raising a child.
“Uncle.”
Fidgeting with her fingers, Yewon looked up at Doha.
“Yeah?”
“Can I… ask just one thing…?”
The question she was about to ask could hurt Doha, so she spoke carefully.
“Sure.”
Honestly, there had been something bothering her for a while now.
“I have a mom… so why doesn’t Mom have a mom and dad?”
“!”
It was because of—
The reward from the sub-quest she had seen earlier.
[Quest Success Reward: Maternal Grandparents Revealed]
Honestly—
In Yewon’s opinion, this was the biggest obstacle of all.
How was Doha, who had spent years acting as though he barely had any family, supposed to explain the sudden appearance of a niece to the world?
Even if they somehow solved the schedule problem with the help of a nanny, this issue would still be incredibly difficult.
In her previous life, nothing about Doha’s family background had ever been revealed.
People had vaguely guessed that he had lost his parents at a young age, and that was all.
Nobody knew he even had a sister and niece.
And someone this uncertain about raising me wouldn’t have ignored searching for Mom’s other family.
He definitely must’ve tried his best to find them.
‘I also thought my grandparents were dead, which was why nobody could find them….’
But the reward says “grandparents revealed.”
Did that mean they were alive?
And if they were alive…
Why wasn’t Uncle thinking about leaving me with them?
“……”
Doha looked at Yewon with a dark expression.
“…Did your mom never explain anything?”
“No.”
That part was true.
The memories were blurry because she had only been seven, but she clearly remembered.
“Mom, why don’t I have a grandma and grandpa?”
“…Are you more curious about grandparents than who your dad is, Yewon?”
“Mom said Dad was someone we didn’t need anyway.”
Back then—
She had said that because she wanted to seem mature.
After all, every time her father came up, her mother looked unbearably sad.
“Hm~ Grandma and Grandpa are people we don’t need either.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. As long as it’s just Mom and Yewon together, that’s enough. Okay? We don’t need anyone else.”
“I see.”
So there were only the two of them in the world.
She remembered feeling strangely lonely as a child.
Right. That’s how it was.
Just as Yewon nodded to herself internally—
“…I’ll explain that when you’re older.”
Doha answered.
“Bleh.”
Adults really all used the same tricks.
When Yewon looked disappointed, Doha quietly avoided her gaze.
Still, she didn’t ask further.
It was probably something inappropriate for a child her age to hear. Just from the fact that her mother had hidden it too, she could roughly guess that much.
‘…Mom and Uncle must’ve suffered a lot.’
For some reason, Yewon suddenly felt like she understood their pain.
So—
“!”
She simply wrapped her arms around Doha’s neck.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me if it hurts.”
“…!”
At Yewon’s words, Doha’s body stiffened slightly.
But the stiffer he became, the tighter Yewon hugged him.
…Mom used to like it too when I hugged her like this.
Since Uncle was Mom’s family too, maybe he’d be the same—that was what she selfishly decided.
“…Are you really okay with not hearing it?”
“Yesh.”
Yewon answered while inwardly cursing the childish pronunciation she couldn’t stop.
Then she felt Doha patting her back.
Pat, pat…
The stability from those large hands slowly made her eyes grow heavy.
No.
I need to say everything before I fall asleep again.
“But instead… please raise me until I become an adult, Uncle.”
“Huh?”
S-So that’s how this became settled…?
Yewon heard Doha muttering under his breath.
Listening to his voice, she quietly giggled.
But then, at that moment—
“…Yewon-ah.”
“!”
What was that?
Suddenly, a new memory surfaced.
A memory she had never recalled before.
“…You have to be very nice to your uncle for Mom, okay? Even for the things Mom couldn’t do for him.”
At the time, Yewon had thought her mother sounded strange.
Why ask me to do it? Why not do it yourself?
But now that she thought about it…
Maybe her mother had somehow sensed all of this would happen someday.
“Whyyy?!”
“Because Mom was older than your uncle. I should’ve taken better care of him… but Mom was too young back then and couldn’t protect him properly.”
“I seeee.”
“So if you meet your uncle someday, be good to him for me, okay?”
“But Mom can be good to him too!”
“Right. I could. But Mom’s really foolish, isn’t she?”
Why was this memory suddenly appearing now?
‘…Because I met Uncle Doha?’
She didn’t know the reason, but one thing was certain.
Her mother had cherished her uncle deeply.
…What kind of story caused the two of them to grow up so separated from each other?
Could the answer lie in the identity of her maternal grandparents?
‘…I guess solving the quest is the only answer.’
The next morning.
Yewon dragged herself awake and peeked toward Doha’s room.
Doha was sleeping peacefully without a care in the world.
…Well, it’s only 6 AM. Sleeping is normal.
Yawning, Yewon headed toward the kitchen.
When she lived with Jeyeon, all the housework had been Yewon’s responsibility, so waking up at 6 AM to prepare breakfast and clean had become a habit.
So naturally, she opened the refrigerator to make breakfast—
“….”
And then Yewon realized she could barely even reach the middle shelf, let alone the top shelf of the fridge.
Oops.
Guess breakfast is impossible.
Yewon thought for a moment.
…Maybe if I drag over a chair and climb on it, I can solve that part somehow.
The problem was—
‘There’s barely anything here that could even be called ingredients!’
Even if she somehow reached the upper shelves, it would be useless.
‘What does this person even eat every day?! There’s basically nothing here!’
The refrigerator contained only energy drinks, alcohol, a few bottles of sparkling water, and several eggs.
“……”
This really isn’t an environment for raising a child.
Looking at the alcohol bottles lined up by type, Yewon felt slightly disgusted.
He drinks this much? Even a healthy person would collapse living like this. First thing I need to do is make him quit drinking.
For now, scrambled eggs would have to do.
Sighing, Yewon dragged a chair in front of the refrigerator.
She planned to climb up and at least grab some eggs.
Just as she was about to climb onto the chair—
“!”
Yewon suddenly felt her body lifted into the air by someone.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing?”
Rolling her eyes upward, Yewon saw—
Doha glaring down at her with an angry expression.