By Zephyria ‘He’s gotten thin.’
Ki Tae-ho glanced at his son, who wouldn’t even make eye contact with him, pretending not to look. The boy, who had lost a lot of weight, sat down without a single greeting and was just fiddling with his water glass. Especially the white forearms under his T-shirt were thinner than before.
Does he skip meals often? Ki Tae-ho’s gaze quickly scanned the side dishes on the table. Meat, vegetables, fish, and various seasonal foods. It was a perfectly balanced diet of carbohydrates, protein, and fat. It seemed to be lacking in nothing, no matter where you looked, in terms of taste and nutrition.
But despite that, his son was thin. Why? He had heard that his mother was also sending separate ingredients. The question arose again. Was there something else wrong? Was he thinking too much from an adult’s perspective? Should he have catered to the boy’s taste? Just as a series of thoughts were continuing, a strange question suddenly popped up: ‘But what is Jae-eon’s favorite food?’ What does my son eat well? Ah…… Silence revealed the blank space in the question. That’s right. He didn’t even know his son’s food preferences. Ki Tae-ho narrowed his brow at the bitter taste lingering on the tip of his tongue.
‘I only knew how to push him.’
He didn’t pay attention to what he liked or disliked.
It felt like he heard the sound of a whistle, beep-, along with a red [Father Disqualified] ejection card from somewhere. Ki Tae-ho rubbed his wrinkled eyes with a bitter expression.
In fact, he knew it too.
That this seat was very uncomfortable.
It wouldn’t just be his son. Starting with Kim Yeong, who had created the seat, the young Exorcists of the main office would also find him difficult and unfamiliar. Yes, he knew everything.
But despite that, there was a clear reason why he had stubbornly attended this dinner. Simply, he wanted to see. He wanted to see his son laughing brightly with his peers. Because that memory, which he should have naturally held as a ‘parent,’ was missing for him.
‘I know it’s shameless now.’
He had no excuse, even if it was his own fault.
Even just once. If he saw that sight, he felt like he could go with a cool smile, without a single regret, without any lingering feelings, even if the moment came when he had to give up his life for his son in the future. Ki Tae-ho swallowed hard and watched his son silently eating his meal.
‘Will the day ever come when I ask you what you like?’
He was continuing such repentance.
Thud- Crash!
Drip- drop!
The cup next to his son was hit by his elbow and fell over.
“Oh!”
“Whoa!”
Amidst the children’s short exclamations, he saw his son’s flustered expression. Then, suddenly, their eyes met.
At that moment, for a very brief moment, he saw it.
A look of shrinking back, as if thinking ‘I’m going to get scolded.’
That frightened light soaked his heart.
Numerous memories flashed through Ki Tae-ho’s mind. The way he had scolded him for not following dining etiquette, the way he had taken away his side dishes for even a small mistake, the way he had starved the child as punishment for not memorizing the spellcasting.
Regret washed over him.
Food? It’s okay to spill some while eating.
Everyone has different tastes, it’s okay to be picky.
It’s okay for a child to get a word wrong.
He’s my son.
He’s my son.
Why was I so harsh?
“Jae-eon-ssi, I’ll get you something to wipe with.”
Thump- Ki Tae-ho brushed past Kim Yeong, who was trying to get up, and moved first. Then, he strode into the kitchen, grabbed a dishtowel, and headed straight for his son. His hurrying toes lightly brushed the floor. Huh? What is Grandmaster Ki Tae-ho doing? The hands that were holding spoons stopped in mid-air. Dozens of bewildered gazes turned to him at once. Undeterred by the piercing stares, Ki Tae-ho silently lowered himself and began to slowly wipe the water from the edges. Swish- Swish- Only the sound of wiping the floor remained, replacing the scolding.
……Huh. Huh?
The frozen children exchanged glances.
They wondered if what they were seeing was really happening.
Ki Tae-ho, the Head of the Gi Clan, higher than the sky!
Kneeling and mopping in front of everyone!
“Elder! I’ll do it!”
Kim Yeong was the first to come to his senses. He rushed over and tried to snatch the dishtowel from Ki Tae-ho’s hand. But Ki Tae-ho insisted it was okay and wiped up all the water with his own hands. It was stubbornness, but not quite.
“Give me a dry towel.”
“Ah! Yes, yes. Just a moment.”
Kim Yeong hurriedly returned with a white towel.
“Elder.”
“Hmm.”
Thank you. With a quiet greeting, Ki Tae-ho took the towel and carefully dabbed at his son, Ki Jae-eon’s, wet arm. It was an awkward gesture, but it clearly conveyed that he was treating him with care. As if he would fly away if he blew on him, or break if he touched him. Ki Tae-ho took the utmost care in drying his son’s wet body.
“Anywhere else wet?”
“…I’m fine.”
The children of the main office held their breath. No one added a word. They simply watched the suffocating scene of the father and son of the Gi Clan. Even Kim Yeong, who had arranged the seating, stepped back cautiously, sensing the mood. Ki Tae-ho’s actions were that unconventional.
It was like witnessing a scene from a news report, where the head of a major corporation held a child who had fallen on the floor of a neighborhood mart and whispered, “Ouchies- Ouchies- All go away.” A strangeness, as if seeing the ordinary side of someone who should never be that way.
A parent’s proper care for their child.
Or, in a way, it was natural.
Ki Tae-ho was Ki Jae-eon’s father, after all.
But that’s why it felt even more awkward.
Because it was Ki Tae-ho.
One of the children from the main office suddenly thought. That man is also a father, after all. A man whom no one dares to treat carelessly, kneeling down and wiping up water himself. Worried that his son might catch a cold. Isn’t it really… amazing? A person who would never give anyone a glance or a moment of his time is different today. They, who could never command him, is now prostrating himself before his own flesh and blood.
Observing his son’s mood and gauging his reaction.
As if he didn’t want to be hated.
Only to Ki Jae-eon.
‘Somehow… I’m envious.’
The child thought so and turned away.
Meanwhile, Ki Tae-ho neatly folded the towel he had finished wiping with and said to his slightly stiff son.
“It would be better to change your clothes.”
“…No. I’m fine.”
“If you stay damp, you’ll cat-.”
Before he could finish, a sharp voice quickly cut in.
“Father taught me that it is impolite to leave one’s seat during a meal.”
Am I wrong? The eyes that questioned him pierced Ki Tae-ho painfully. In the chilling atmosphere, someone swallowed their breath.
“Ah, well-.”
Kim Yeong hurriedly tried to interject and stop the two.
“That’s right.”
Ki Tae-ho nodded.
“I certainly said that. Yes, that’s right. …You’re right.”
At his ready acceptance, Ki Jae-eon’s expression seemed to harden even more.
Ki Tae-ho, who had finished speaking, stopped as he was about to return to his seat.
And added in a very ordinary voice.
“You can… spill it. You can make mistakes.”
Let’s eat slowly. His one sentence lightened the air, if only a little.
Except for one person, Ki Jae-eon.
“Ki Jae-eon.”
After the meal, as the door closed, dozens of footsteps disappeared down the hallway. Thanks to everyone’s consideration, or perhaps because of it, only the two of them were left at the table. Kim Yeong had casually said, ‘The Elder is leaving soon, so say goodbye,’ but there was nothing to talk about.
Moreover, hadn’t he openly embarrassed his father in front of the children?
He had already crossed the point of no return.
‘Awkward.’
As he was about to move his hands to clear the dishes out of sheer awkwardness.
“I’m glad… I could have a meal with you before leaving.”
An uncharacteristically hesitant voice lingered in his ear.
‘Glad?’
Ki Jae-eon’s fingertips paused in the air, then dropped.
An expression that was neither smiling nor crying.
“…Glad?”
A dry voice cut through the air.
Ha, haha-. His lips twisted, and a bitter smile escaped.
“Glad, glad…”
Ki Jae-eon, who had been muttering to himself, slammed his hand hard on the table. But unlike the violent movement, his expression was cold and frigid.
“What was so good about it? I’ve always lived hearing things like, ‘Follow the etiquette, don’t show an undignified appearance, don’t act presumptuously!’ But today was good? Today, when I spilled water and messed up the order of eating?”
His jaw trembled as he spoke.
“You’re the one who didn’t treat me like a human being for even one mistake with my chopsticks!”
It was truly resentment.
“Or… is this what you wanted? A moronic appearance? Then you should have said so from the beginning. I wouldn’t have tried so hard to live!”