“I’m sorry, students. My hand slipped…”

“What the, that’s hilarious. Why are you speaking to us so informally?”

“Exactly. Who do you think you are to talk to us like that? Ma’am, do we know you?”

“Just because you sell tteokbokki in the market, you think you’re an adult. Are you some kind of boomer?”

“…I’m sorry, students.”

“Not ‘I’m sorry,’ but ‘I apologize.'”

My mother didn’t respond to Song Yeo-reum’s words, which were delivered as if teaching a slow child.

Song Yeo-reum and her group snickered once more as they watched my mother pretend not to hear and wipe the spilled broth from the floor with a rag.

“Hey, hey. Record it, record it.”

They openly pointed their phone cameras at her.

Even as kids less than half her age humiliated her in this way, pretending not to hear was the best my mother could do.

“Ah, so when are you giving us the wet wipes?”

“Shouldn’t you be wiping our shoes?”

But honestly.

Isn’t messing with someone’s parents crossing the line?

“…Student, I tried to be patient, but… you stuck your leg out when I was passing by. I tried to avoid it, but you extended your leg, and I tripped over your foot, which is why I fell.”

“Wow, she ‘tried to be patient.’ Anyone would think the market lady was doing us a favor.”

“Who asked you to be patient? Don’t be.”

“Hey, Song Yeo-reum.”

I cut in.

“Did you trip my mom?”

I tried to ask without showing any agitation, but my voice trembled. Song Yeo-reum sneered at me and said.

“What if I did?”

“…”

“What about it? Are you going to call the police?”

“…”

“You can’t. It’s not like this shabby store has any CCTV.”

Go ahead and try, Song Yeo-reum taunted, leaning her face in with a smile.

“…”

If I were 29, I would have really called the police.

I would have reported them for property damage or obstruction of business, summoned their parents who are their legal guardians, and demanded compensation for the broken dishes and other damages. I would have told them off for not educating their children properly.

I would have made them know what it feels like for their parents to be humiliated because of them.

Do kids like that think getting dragged to the police station is some kind of medal? Do they really not get scared when their parents are called?

‘We’ll see about that.’

Surprisingly, at the level of neighborhood bullies, there aren’t many kids who can remain composed when they’re about to become criminals.

Aren’t most of them the type to hide behind the parents they usually disregard, unable to even state their own names properly?

I definitely would have done that.

If I were 29.

‘But I’m 18 right now.’

If I were to make a fuss about reporting them with my phone now, my mom, far from taking my side, would try to stop me, saying, ‘Why report something like this?’ and the police would dismiss me because I’m a student.

‘It’s not like I haven’t experienced this before. It happened on the day of the college entrance exam too.’

When I went to report the old man from that morning with a swollen face, they said, ‘It seems the student is very upset about messing up the exam, but calm down and go home to rest for now.’…

…Wait a minute.

They’ll dismiss me because I’m a student?

“Ah, crap, how do I tag the location? I want to post this on our school’s page.”

Song Yeo-reum’s minion, still loud and wearing a hoodie that looked incredibly tacky to me, giggled. The camera of a white smartphone with a pink bunny-eared case was pointed directly at me and my mom.

I opened a can of cola that had been rolling on the floor and poured it on that expensive-looking, obviously new phone.

“Ack!”

The startled minion dropped her phone and shot up.

“F*ck! What the hell!”

“Hey! Are you crazy?!”

“Fck, fck, f*ck…”

The pale-faced minion hastily took off the case and tried to turn the phone on, but the power was already gone.

To break that easily. I guess smartphones from 10 years ago didn’t have basic water resistance.

Anyway.

‘To think the only word she has to express her state of bewilderment is ‘f*ck.’ What a poor vocabulary.’

Do people become calm when they get extremely angry?

As I was calmly thinking that, Song Yeo-reum shot up from her seat.

Her expensive shoes, which she had been bragging about, were a mess from the cola and tteokbokki sauce that had spilled from the table.

They definitely couldn’t be called new anymore.

“Hey, Kang Da-hye…”

Song Yeo-reum’s voice trembled as she called my name. Just like mine had earlier.

“These are worth over a million won. Are you confident you can pay for them?”

I calmly replied to the dumbfounded Song Yeo-reum.

“Why should I have to pay for them?”

“…What?”

“Do you have proof? Your shoes. Her phone. Do you have any proof that I ruined them? Like you said, it’s not like there’s any CCTV here.”

“What the…”

“I’m not going to pay. If you feel wronged, you can call the police.”

I held out my phone, suggesting she could use it to report me if her phone was also broken. When Song Yeo-reum didn’t take it, I explained slowly.

As if teaching a slow child.

“You always called me a loser and a nerd. But what looks like a loser to you, looks like a sincere student to adults.”

Even if the police tend to ignore students, it would be different if there was a point of comparison.

“If you report it to the police, I’ll just deny it. I’ll say you were the one who came to our store and caused a scene. Me, in my school uniform helping my mom at her store at this hour, and you, who is obviously a troublemaker. Who do you think the police will believe?”

Since there’s no evidence, it will be a 100% credibility battle.

“Go ahead and report it. I’m really curious.”

I said with a smile.

Seeing me taunting her with a smirk, Song Yeo-reum lost her cool first.

What happened after that was, well, as expected.

‘Hey, I really can’t go to the police station again.’ Song Yeo-reum’s other, relatively quiet minion, tried to stop the frantic Song Yeo-reum. As the store got noisy, other merchants from the area gathered and practically chased Song Yeo-reum’s group away.

As she was leaving the store fuming, I said.

“Pay before you go. It’s 21,500 won.”

21,500 won at today’s prices. They ordered a lot just to piss my mom off.

“What?”

“I’ll be generous and not charge you for the broken dishes, okay?”

Oh, and.

“If your shoes get you that worked up over a little tteokbokki sauce, they were too expensive for you to handle in the first place. Consider this a lesson learned and don’t buy them next time.”

“Kang Da-hye, no matter what, to a customer…”

“They’re only customers if they bring profit. What kind of customers are they? They just broke dishes.”

“Still, pouring cola on them? If you act like that, you become just like them.”

“No, Mom, how can the person who hit and the person who fought back be the same? Then are the Japanese invaders and Admiral Yi Sun-sin the same?”

“That’s not it.”

“Aish, forget it. Go inside. Go inside and get some rest.”

I pushed my mom’s back and forced her into the inner kitchen.

I set the tables upright, wiped the floor. After tidying up, I went inside and saw my mom sitting blankly in front of the refrigerator.

I purposely made my presence known as I walked over, and my mom stood up, wiping her eyes with the palm of her hand.

After wiping her wet hands on her apron, my mom asked nonchalantly.

“Have you eaten.”

“I’m about to. What about you? Did you eat?”

“You eat. I’m fine.”

“Hey, I came here to eat with you. Mom, do you happen to know rosé tteokbokki?”

“Rosé what?”

“Wait here. I’ll make it for you.”

It was quiet after that.

My mother kept her head down with a gloomy face as I bustled around, buying ingredients from the supermarket next door, making the tteokbokki, and sitting across from her at the table with the finished dish in front of us.

“…It’s good.”

“Right?”

And then silence again.

I pushed the quail eggs I had greedily added onto my mom’s plate and changed the subject.

“Mom, later… when I get into a good university and make a lot of money. Let’s go on a trip abroad.”

“What do you mean, abroad.”

“Let’s go. Let’s go somewhere really far. How about America? Have you ever been to America, Mom?”

“As if I would have. Hurry up and eat.”

“Let’s fly business class. I’ll make a lot of money and take you.”

Only when I started bragging about all the things I would do for her when I made a lot of money did my mom finally let out a small laugh.

“It’s true. I’ll let you live in luxury, Mom.”

“I should be the one letting you live in luxury. You just take care of yourself and live well.”

“…”

“I’m sorry that I can’t provide you with the things everyone else has.”

Drip.

A tear fell onto the back of my mom’s hand, which was holding her chopsticks.

“My daughter, so smart. With so many dreams and things she wants to do. If she had been born into a different family, she would be so much happier now.”

What’s with this sudden depressing mood…

“…That’s right, there are a lot of things I want to try.”

I want to ride an airplane.

I want to eat fish and chips from the shop with the blue sign on the beach in Sydney, where Seo Jae-gyeom went during winter break.

I want to place a very, very particular and complicated order at a cafe in Manhattan where both the customers and staff speak quickly.

Succeeding on my own is one of those things I want to do.

“Like you said, Mom, I’m smart, so I can do it on my own without your help.”

In this second life I’ve been given, I’m going to try everything I wanted to do without giving up.

“So instead of feeling sorry, cheer me on. Give me strength.”

“…Okay.”

“Mom, but isn’t this really good? Should we sell this as a new menu item? Rosé tteokbokki.”

“Forget it. It’s not that good.”

“Hmph.”

The next day.

“Ah, I didn’t get money for the workbook.”

It wasn’t the right atmosphere to ask for money yesterday…

Let’s see. First.

“I need to ask Ji-soo if she’s okay with the three of us, including Do-yeon, eating together…”

Ji-soo is nice, so I’m sure she’ll say it’s fine, but I should still ask.

With that thought, I crossed the crosswalk. As I started up the hill toward the school gate, I saw a familiar back.

“Oh, it’s Ji-soo.”

Speak of the devil.

I raised my hand to greet her happily but then paused.

Seo Jae-gyeom was walking with Ji-soo.

Seo Jae-gyeom was naturally carrying Ji-soo’s large bag. Their eyes met, and Seo Jae-gyeom said something with a smile.

Ji-soo burst out laughing.