TBVP 11

Chapter 11

Dad? Brother?

“Louder. Ah!”

Geren shouted while holding the soup.

Janice shot him an irritated look, but since he had agreed to her conditions, she also had to do her part.

“Ah!”

Janice opened her mouth. Geren pushed the spoon into her mouth.

The soup was crab meat soup, famous for being easy to digest. It was delicious. Unfortunately.

One spoonful, then two. At first she ate because she was surprised, then because Geren was forcing her, but after a few bites, the soup no longer went down her throat.

“I can’t eat anymore.”
“Why?”
“Just because.”
“‘Just because’ doesn’t exist. If you don’t want to eat, give a reason. Should I take the house back?”
“You’re so petty!”

What a rotten man. If her grandfather and grandmother were here, they would’ve stopped him!

Thinking of her grandparents made Janice feel their absence again, and at the same time she felt a delayed guilt in case they were worried about her.

“Um… are Grandma and Grandpa okay? They must’ve been really worried about me, right?”
“Do you even care?”

Geren frowned as if it was ridiculous and asked back. Janice shot him a glare.

The old general and the old lady were also worried about her.

From how quickly they brought crab soup when asked, they were probably still outside the room worrying and listening to the conversation.

But he couldn’t tell her that. It would only burden her more. Geren hid the truth.

“No need to worry. Those two live without much stress. This kind of thing is nothing for them. As long as you don’t cause trouble from now on.”
“You have a really bad personality, mister.”
“People say that a lot.”

My bad personality isn’t new, and people complaining about it isn’t new either. Geren replied calmly.

“…I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For everything.”

For hitting him, for pushing him when he was sitting on the chair, for stepping on him.

For making noise while he was sleeping under the excuse of singing.

For using every opportunity to climb onto the old couple’s side and bother Geren.

But what she regretted the most was what she had just said to him today.

She hadn’t meant it, but Janice must have been very hurt. Seeing how she poured everything—including things she had meant for Min Kyung-tae—onto Geren.

In reality, Geren was the one who had been wronged.

Janice continued hesitantly.

“I understand the situation.”
“What?”
“It’s stressful, isn’t it? Having a kid like me. You don’t even remember me, and then suddenly I show up saying I’m your daughter… I understand why you don’t like me. If I were you, I’d probably feel the same.”

Geren was speechless. This tiny thing… seriously.

“I’m sorry… for being born.”
“……”

Those words were also something she wanted to say to her mother in her past life.

Sorry, Mom. For being born…

Maybe fate was just like this. Both in her past life and this life, her birth felt like something unblessed, and it made Janice truly sad. But she still felt she had to apologize to Geren. Because of her, he had suddenly become a single father.

She had once stubbornly demanded that if you gave birth to someone, you should take responsibility. But if it had happened to her, she wasn’t sure she could accept it easily either.

A 25-year-old father and a 7-year-old daughter. They were technically father and daughter, but they looked more like siblings with that age gap.

“What are you sorry for?”
“That’s…”
“Hey. That’s not something you need to be sorry for. It’s my fault. And at the very least… at the very least, you were a blessing to my parents. Got it?”

Janice knew the old couple liked her.

“And probably to your parents too. I mean your adoptive parents, the Bakers. Did they ever make you feel unwanted?”

Never. Janice shook her head strongly.

“See? They were probably really grateful you were born.”
“Really?”
“Of course!”

Geren said firmly. That certainty made a part of Janice’s frozen heart slowly melt.

She felt like an old wound inside her was healing a little.

But then—

“…Me too.”
“Huh?”
“I mean me too. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have a child. So your birth is a blessing.”

Geren told her not to have strange thoughts. But for some reason, that made her chest feel tight.

Janice felt tears again.

“Hey! Don’t cry while eating!”
“Um, sniff… I…”
“Why are you crying? I didn’t even say anything bad!”

Though rough and bad-tempered, he was completely clueless when it came to sensitive matters. He panicked, not understanding why the little girl was crying.

Janice murmured softly.

“I’m glad… that it’s you, mister.”

Whether in her past life or current life, her origin might still be miserable, but still… this father was better than the last one. Much better.

After that, Janice and Geren became a little closer. More accurately, Geren kept bothering her unilaterally.

Whether he was doing it on purpose or not, they spent quite a long time alone together. Unlike their earlier hostile relationship—like a dog and a monkey, a cow and a chicken—the time between Janice and Geren became strangely quiet and peaceful.

Time passed idly.

Then Janice suddenly spoke.

“Mister.”
“Yeah?”
“I think I’m really a bad person.”

At the sudden comment, Geren looked up. His gaze turned to Janice, curled up on the bed.

“I actually liked it here. I did think about my mom and dad, but not as much as when I was with Fernando. Isn’t that awful? My mom and dad loved me so much.”

The child seemed to need someone to talk to.

“It’s been a long time since they died. I don’t know if you’ll understand this, but humans are creatures of forgetfulness. After a certain amount of time, memories, feelings, and thoughts naturally fade. That’s human nature.”

Geren rambled on. The words were too difficult, so Janice stared at him blankly.

He quickly switched to simpler words.

“Your parents would probably want that too. Instead of clinging to the sadness of the past, they’d want you to focus on your present and future happiness.”
“……”
“So… just smile a lot. Enjoy yourself. Be happy. Don’t be too sad. Ah, is this still hard? How should I put it…”

Geren tried his best to speak at her level. Janice let out a small laugh.

Stupid, clumsy Geren!

And yet, for some reason, it warmed her heart.

The more he fumbled, the more she wanted to laugh. She knew this wasn’t a situation to laugh in, but she still couldn’t help it.

She chuckled.

“…Why?”
“You’re just so stupid, mister.”
“Hey!”

The bad-tempered man snapped, then quickly restrained himself.

“…Don’t call adults stupid.”
“Are you even an adult?”
“Hey, I’ve eaten way more bowls of rice than you!”

Geren was so old-fashioned. There really wasn’t a single redeeming point.

Bad personality, rude, sharp-tongued, and now a stubborn old man too. It felt like he had all the worst traits.

At least he had his face, money, and power.

“You really want to argue with a 7-year-old?”

She had a lot more to say, but since she was living in his house, she decided to step back a little.

But even her small remark left him speechless.

He seemed to be thinking hard about how to win against her.

So childish. No manners, no sense. A father? More like an immature older brother.

She had no intention of calling a man her age “Dad.” But she decided to appreciate his awkward efforts anyway.

Janice said,

“I can’t call you Dad.”
“……I know.”

Her awkward “current-life father” seemed to understand himself well enough. He answered dejectedly.

The man who always fought back against her had lost all his energy.

Janice felt strangely uncomfortable.

A father isn’t something just anyone can be. At least the old general deserved to be called father! But seeing this awkward man so discouraged bothered her more than she expected.

“I’ll call you older brother instead.”
“……?”
“Not Dad, but still kind of like a dad…”

She was about to explain that she meant it as a compromise.

“Just call me mister.”
“Huh?”
“Older brother is worse. Just call me mister.”

He even said she could call him by his name. But being called “older brother” was absolutely not allowed.

“…I should’ve just called him little brother instead of older brother!”