Prologue

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2005, November 18

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2005, November 18

Father. I am my father's son. That is why I want to know...

빨간

The young kid headed over to the kitchen where his father was.

His father eating a bowl of some orangey-red soup early in the morning had become a common sight to the kid, for he would do it every time after he had a long day of work.

It must be very yummy if papa eats it often! The kid thought, so he decided to ask him for some one morning. I wanna be just like papa and eat it too!

"Papa, you always eat that soup." He said after some silence, pointing his short, small finger at the bowl with the soup. "Is it so good you eat it so often?" He asked, leaning forward on the table, ready to listen to whatever explanation his father had to give him.

His father just warmly smiled, patting his head. "You, my son, will understand some day." He said, his warm, fond smile never leaving his face.

"Papa," the kid spoke again after a while as his father put a spoonful of red soup in his mouth. "Yes, kiddo?" He asked, looking at his youngest child at the time. "Can I try some?" He said pointing at the bowl with the soup once more.

"I mean, you can. But it is spicy, so it is up to you if you want to try it." He said with a slight chuckle.

Papa, I know the trick. The kid thought. Parents just say that whenever they don't want their kids to eat something, my friends' parents do it all the time. He thought and nodded. "It's okay! I will try it!" He said with slightly furrowed eyebrows and a defiance filled face.

Noticing his son's defiant face, the father slid the bowl of soup closer to his son, scooping a little bit of the orangey red broth from the soup and holding it close to his son's mouth for him to eat.

After looking at the reds and oranges that swirled around in the spoon for a short while, the kid put the spoon in his mouth, eating the broth.

When the flavour of the broth reached the kid's taste buds he scrunched his face up in disgust, asking for a cup water or anything to get rid of the taste as he fanned his face as if that was going to get rid of the spicy flavour in his mouth.

His father laughed affectionately and ruffled his kid's dark, almost black hair, as his mother brought him a cup of milk from the kitchen where she had been cooking before she had to provide the cup.

He quickly chugged the milk and sighed in relief when the taste was gone, earning a laugh and coo from both of his parents due to his cuteness.

His mother tapped his shoulder lightly. "Go get ready for school." She said calmly, squeezing his shoulder fondly. He whined and pouted. "Aww, but mama! It's a Friday! Can't I just skip school?" He said whining.

"No, no young man! It's the last day of the week, so you can rest tomorrow." She said and ruffled his hair.

"Fineeeeee." He said with a pout, crossing his arms. He then looked at his father. Remembering how hardworking his father always was, he was suddenly strengthened and wanted to go to school.

"Go get ready and wake your brother up, I'm pretty sure he's not up yet." She said and the kid nodded with a smile.

He headed to his room and shut the door behind him.

As he changed into his uniform he noticed a small, thin, brown notebook sitting untouched on his nightstand.

He walked over to the nightstand to take a closer look at the notebook. It had been a gift from earlier in the year for his birthday, but it had remained untouched since then, the kid not quite knowing what to write.

Picking up a pencil that was laying around somewhere in his room, he thought about the morning and began by first writing the date, and then what had happened.

2005, November 18

Father. I am my father's son. That is why I want to know...

You said that I, your son, would understand someday. Understand what? And when will this someday be? It will probably be in the long future. There's too much time that has to happen for me to become an adult. Do I have to be an adult to understand?

I want to understand, but you haven't explained yet. If I am your son, will I really understand?

Father. I am my father's son. That is why I want to know...

Why you often eat that spicy, red soup in the mornings...

red

800 words

16 November 2018

The date was originally November 17, but I looked it up, and in 2005 November 17th was a Thursday 💀💀 so I had to change it for accuracy. Guess who "the kid" is.

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