Same Sky, Different Worlds

Day 17: Cooking

Soft footsteps traverse the distance between the door of the master bedroom and the bed. The owner of said footsteps tries her best to be as quiet as possible, just like her Appa instructed. But a squeak from one of her little brother's toy's that lay forgotten on the ground ruins her plans when she accidentally steps on it.

Worried eyes look over at the figure on the bed. There's no movement. Good, eomma is still asleep.

On the bed, Se-ri is actually wide awake. She was about to leave its warm depths earlier when she heard the voices outside the door.

"Now you have to be very quiet, okay?" she heard her husband say.

"I will! I promise!" That was their daughter.

Curious as to what two of her favorite people were up to, Se-ri pulled the comforter back up to her shoulders and closed her eyes just as she heard the door open.

Now, she lays in bed, trying to keep still as she feels her eldest climb up to the bed and crawl towards her. She's not the best actress out there but she's confident enough in her abilities to make her six year old think she's still dead to the world.

Little hands find their way onto her side, gently trying to shake her awake. "Eomma," came the soft whisper.

"Eomma," It's a little louder now as Se-ri continues with her charade. "Eomma!"

Se-ri pretends to blink back into consciousness. She lets out a wide yawn as she turns to her daughter who is sitting on the bed beside her. "Good morning," she greets.

"Good morning, Eomma!" her daughter giggles. "Did I surprise you? I was very quiet like Appa told me to!"

She reaches out and draws the girl into a hug, squeezing her tight. "Yes you were very quiet. I didn't hear you at all."

They're quiet for a few moments, mother and daughter simply enjoying the time they get to spend together before the younger between them starts to squirm. "Eomma, you have to get up. Breakfast is ready."

"Can't we stay here a little longer?"

"Eomma," the little girl whines. "I helped Appa cook breakfast today."

Se-ri's eyes grow comically wide in surprise. "You did?"

"Uh-huh."

"What did you cook?"

She can practically see the sparkles that appear on her daughter's eyes at the question.

"I helped Appa wash the rice. Did you know we have to wash more than once before cooking it? It was really heavy with the water so Appa helped me put it in the rice cooker. But he let me press the button!" Her daughter clearly inherited her tendency to speak so quickly. "And then he let me try to mix the eggs for the gyeranmari but Appa said I was a bit messy so he did it instead. He also made the soup himself. He said I'm too young to help him there but I don't think so. But I got to choose the banchan for this morning!"

Se-ri smiles widely as her daughter details her morning. "Sounds like you were very busy. And I'm sure your Appa loved having you as his assistant."

The little girl looks proud of herself at her mother's statement before extracting herself from her arms. "Come on, come on!"

She tugs at Se-ri's arms in an attempt to get her out of bed quicker. It makes Se-ri laugh, loving the excitement on her daughter's young face. Finally, she gets up and lets her daughter lead her to where her husband and son are waiting, excited to share the meal prepared by two of the people closest to her heart.