Once More, Love 3

29. Waiting

Chaemi appears to the side of the dining table in his pajamas. He is rubbing his right eye while the left one is still half open. "Good morning, mommy."

The dancer smiles and glances at the kid while putting steamed rice to a bowl from the rice cooker on top of the kitchen counter. She is in her house shorts and white oversized shirt that says Sweet Ballerina. "Good morning, baby."

"What's for breakfast?"

Mina flashes a proud grin as she puts rice to a second identical bowl. "Kimchi jjigae. You love that, right?"

"Ne!" Chaemi brightens up at what he just heard. "I don't know why but I always loved soups."

"Hmm..." Mina holds both the bowls with rice and walks to the dining table, consecutively putting each bowl in front of adjacent chairs. "Maybe because I also loved soups when you were still in my belly."

"Oh?" The little boy chuckles. "You really ate a lot of that when I was still in your tummy, mommy?"

"Of course!" The dancer quickly replies. She goes to the cooktop and carries the pot of stew to their dining table. "Actually, I'm not sure why I liked eating that back then. If I remember correctly..." She nods to her child who she didn't need to tell to help her slide the table mat so that she could safely place the hot kitchenware over. "In between me and your Dada, he is the one who loves soups more."

Chaemi tilts his head a little while watching his mother begin pouring soup into a small ceramic bowl. "Maybe because you were so fond of Dada when I was still in your tummy?"

"A— ah." Mina laughs with a hint of awkwardness. "That— that may be the case."

"Did Dada take care of you a lot when I was still a teeny tiny baby?"

"Um—" Mina hesitated for a second, then nodded once. "Hmm. He did."

"Outside of soup, what food do you love the most, mommy?"

"Hmm... If I get to pick..." Mina puts the bowl of soup down and glances at the ceiling. "Ketchup?"

"Huh? That's not food!"

The dancer laughs. "What do you mean not food? Of course, it is food!"

"It is a condiment, mommy."

Mina answers while pointing to the chair where the bowl of rice and soup is placed in front of. "Condiment is food."

Chaemi pouts. "Can you only eat ketchup?"

"Oh, aduel." The dancer shakes her head as she pulls the chair in front of her. "I can even eat rice alone if I have to."

"How is that possible?" The little Son pulls the chair that his mother pointed earlier and sits on it. "Rice is not delicious at all when eaten alone, mommy. That's bland."

"Tell that to your father when he comes back here. He is the one who loves bland food the most. You will notice it when he starts living with us in the long run."

"I will never like bland food." Chaemi makes a disgusted face while Mina laughs at him.

The mother and son duo then started eating their stew and soup meal. There was comfortable silence that lasted for a moment in the house's dining area.

Then, the little boy started glancing at his mother from time to time which didn't go unnoticed in Mina's eyes. "Wae, aduel? Do you need anything? Is there something in the food that you didn't like?"

Chaemi simply shakes his head.

"Then what is it, baby?"

"M—" The little kid heaves in a deep breath. "Mommy."