Golden Time (JungYong)

53

"Because of her brother? What do you mean…?"

"It looks like Yejin is suffering from munchausen syndrome."

Her father felt as if his heart was sinking. He never heard of or saw such a illness. 

How did she have such a mental illness...

Suhyuk opened his mouth again at the father who was making a confused expression,

"You can think of it as sort of her overzealous behavior that caused Yejin tp behave like that when her brother was born."

"Do you mean she was jealous of her brother?" 

Suhyuk nodded his head slowly.

"As I told you, it is an illness that wants to bring out the interest and compassion of others. Think about why Yejin has continued to behave like that."

The father covered his face with both hands. He could see her face in the darkness, hidden within his palms. 

-----

He drank so much that he could not figure out whether the world was trembling or if he was shaking when he got back home. "Dad!" With bright smiles Yejin was opening her two arms to welcome him. He made a frown. It was almost 12 am. 

Staggering into the porch, he looked around while squeezing at the last bits of strength left in the muscles in his legs.

"Honey, how come Yejin has not gone to sleep at this late hour?"
"Mom is sleeping with Kahyon."

He let out a sigh before he knew it. 

"Go to sleep quickly."

He grabbed her hands to take her to her room.

He laid her on bed and stood up.

"I am not sleepy yet," said Yejin. 

"Still, you have to sleep."

He felt so sluggish, and he felt his eyelids would close at once. He missed his bed so much. He was sick and tired of everything. 

Did his daughter realize that he was working his fingers to the bone day and night to feed the family? She could not understand.

He turned off the light in her room and came out. She, who lay in bed in the dark room, was looking at him through the gap of the door. 

That day he brought his unfinished work home. It was an important work for him to finish by dawn and report it to his boss early in the morning.

"Dad, is the computer interesting?"

"Dad is working, so go to Mom."

"Mom is feeding Kahyon now."

He felt some sort of annoyance coming over him. 

"Then, go and watch TV. "

"What is this?"

She looked at the document folder with a curious look.

At that moment, the documents he had sorted out fluttered and shuffled because she touched them, which then scattered here and there.

His pent-up stress burst into the open at that moment. 

"I told you go to your Mom!"

She was close to tears at his shouting. 

"Hey, honey! Just take her away!"

"I told you Kahyon seems to have a fever!"

"Don't you see I'm working now?"