One Day, I Picked Up a Mom - Chapter 4

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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One Day I Picked Up a Mother – Episode 4

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“Iban, why do you keep sleeping there? I cleaned the floor, but the bed is better.”

“I don’t sleep on beds.”

Iban, having filled his stomach with meat to his heart’s content, roughly spread his blanket on the floor and lay down.

The woman who had been sitting on the bed quietly watching him suddenly picked up her pillow, came down, and lay beside him.

The woman, who had been rubbing her eyes tiredly since dinner, yawned and then blew out the candle.

“You’re sleeping here?”

“Yes, Iban, won’t you be cold? Should I bring you something to cover yourself with?”

Iban quietly shook his head and looked at the woman lying beside him. The woman’s breathing grew a little louder with her eyes closed.

Was she really crazy? No matter how he looked at it, she didn’t seem like a crazy person.

She didn’t carry flowers around or ramble to thin air by herself.

That woman with the green roof could only wander the streets, but this woman cleaned well and cooked well too.

“Mother.”

“…Mm?”

A voice heavy with sleep responded faintly after a delay.

“Are you sleepy?”

The woman suddenly opened her eyes.

“Why, can’t Iban sleep?”

The hand stroking his head was gentle. The cool hand pleasantly brushed across his forehead.

“Tomorrow we’ll go to the bathhouse to wash up. You need to sleep quickly.”

“What are we eating tomorrow? When can we eat what we had today again? The pork, I mean.”

Iban had no memory of eating such delicious food in his life.

Neither the candy En gave him nor the sweet bread he ate after being beaten by that man tasted better than today’s pork.

“Was it delicious?”

“Yes, incredibly so.”

The well-grilled pork and rice wrapped in vegetables was truly fantastic.

His stomach was still full from eating greedily, but thinking of that meat made him regret not being able to eat more.

“We’ll eat it again soon. And tomorrow we’ll make something delicious too. I bought a lot at the market.”

The woman smiled playfully and brushed Iban’s eyelids.

“So hurry and sleep.”

Iban opened his eyes again and looked at the woman who had closed her eyes to sleep.

Had she lived in the Capital?

Since she suddenly disappeared, her original family might be desperately searching for her.

If they search and search and eventually find this place… they’ll take her away, right?

Then…

Thump, thump, thump.

As his thoughts reached that point, his heartbeat inevitably became anxiously entangled.

“Mother.”

“…”

“Mother.”

Shake, shake. When no answer came for a long time, Iban shook the woman’s shoulder.

“Mm?”

“…How long will you stay here?”

“Huh?”

“How long will you stay by my side?”

Her hand gently stroked Iban’s face again. And her weak voice continued firmly.

“As long as Iban calls me Mother, I’ll stay by your side.”

“…What does that mean?”

“It means that as long as I’m Iban’s mother, I won’t go anywhere.”

Iban quietly watched the woman who kept patting his back. Before long, that hand gradually slowed down and then stopped completely.

The steady breathing sounds made Iban’s anxiety grow.

He had never once been afraid of the dark. Sleeping alone at home had always been natural.

But somehow, he became unbearably anxious and couldn’t stand it. Iban shook the woman awake again.

“I can’t sleep.”

“…Mm.”

“I really can’t sleep, Mother.”

This woman really thinks I’m her son. She was fooled because I called her Mother.

When she finds out later that it was a lie, will she leave then?

The woman seemed kind but foolish, yet had a resolute side.

So surely when my lie is discovered, she’ll leave this place without any lingering attachment.

Just like when she angrily chased the Gruff Man into the store without any hesitation.

“…Then shall I tell you an interesting story?”

The woman, who embraced Iban as if tossing and turning, whispered in a completely drowsy voice.

“Once upon a time, when tigers smoked cigarettes, the Dragon King lived in the sea.”

The woman quietly began her story.

Iban shook the woman when her murmuring voice disappeared.

Then the weak voice would continue and break off. When he shook her awake again, a strange story that didn’t make sense continued.

At “The turtle took the rabbit into the sea,” Iban stopped shaking the woman awake.

‘Iban, has your mother returned?’

‘It means that as long as I’m Iban’s mother, I won’t go anywhere.’

Instead, he burrowed very close into the woman’s embrace.

* * *

I had eaten dinner and fallen asleep, then woke up again because my back hurt from the hard floor.

“Ow.”

Iban’s gentle breathing settled over my voice whimpering in pain.

The child didn’t seem to find sleeping on this hard floor painful.

I looked up at the bed, which would be softer than this, then turned my head toward the window.

The room was completely dim, as if the sun hadn’t risen long ago.

My whole body ached from sweeping, wiping, and making a fuss all day, and my eyes were too heavy. I wanted to just lie here next to the child and sleep again.

But I remembered the fact that there were plenty of dishes from last night’s dinner that I hadn’t washed.

It was a sad fact, but I had to wash them to eat breakfast.

“I need to get up.”

If it were just me, I would have easily skipped breakfast. But I had Iban.

Since Iban was clearly smaller and thinner than other children, I couldn’t skip breakfast even for a day.

How long had it been since I resolved to be a good guardian to him!

I left the house carefully, trying not to wake the sleeping child.

If you went further behind the house, there was a small well nearby.

The people here did their laundry or washing dishes at that communal well.

There was no one around now, probably because it was early, but thanks to that I could comfortably settle in.

I quickly scrubbed the dishes with salt. It was something I learned by watching other people washing dishes here yesterday.

Getting rid of the pork grease wasn’t easy, but after scrubbing about three times, it was no longer slippery.

“Ah, finally finished.”

When I straightened my bent body, my back was stiff. Seeing how stiff it was, quite a bit of time must have passed, but there was still only me at the well.

“…Am I the only one who postponed evening dishes to the next day?”

The satisfaction that had been gradually building from the clean dishes instantly deflated.

“How diligent is everyone?”

I raised my head to look up at the houses that seemed quiet, still sleeping.

The buildings around the well were all the same as our house.

The way they were packed closely together, the exterior without a single decoration, and the rusted doors.

It was obvious at a glance that this place was a slum.

Though most of the houses seemed to be empty.

Despite spending the entire day yesterday bustling around from the laundry area to the market and the well, I hadn’t met a single person who recognized me.

“Are there just many houses but not many people living here?”

Thanks to that, I still hadn’t figured out even my own name.

There was no one who recognized me and called my name, and Iban only called me Mother.

Far from learning about the world I had possessed, even finding out a single name was proving this difficult.

I glared at the densely packed doors, frustrated by the still unhelpful situation.

“…Right, I just need to approach them first.”

The conclusion I reached after a long while was that I would try harder.

Anyway, considering all these circumstances, I was probably like an extra in this world.

A poor woman who wasn’t particularly pretty and was even raising a child alone couldn’t possibly be a main character.

In contrast, Iban sparkled so much it was hard to believe he was my child.

Large eyes that shone as if they contained the sea, an already strong-willed nose bridge, and red lips with upturned corners.

Iban was a beautiful child that anyone would have to acknowledge.

If his hair and eye color weren’t exactly the same as mine, our blood relation might have been questioned.

If this really was inside a novel, Iban with his outstanding appearance would surely be a main character.

Of course, I couldn’t know exactly how special Iban’s face was in this place.

But at least he didn’t seem like an extra like me—that was my conclusion.

-Kiaak!

A sudden stray cat’s cry interrupted my thoughts. The eerie sound echoed chaotically through the empty alley.

Kyaak-.

During the day when people gathered in small groups, this street had seemed quite pleasant, but perhaps because it was early dawn, it felt different from yesterday.

At the stray cat’s continued desperate cries, I somehow felt chilled and hurriedly picked up the bowls and stood up.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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