One Day, I Picked Up a Mom - Chapter 5

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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 5

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Iban, who had checked his side while half-asleep, hurriedly got up from his spot. The woman was nowhere to be seen.

She said she wouldn’t leave, and that she would make something delicious again.

“What the hell really….”

She said tomorrow we’d go wash up, so go to sleep quickly.

“Why did you lie!”

It wasn’t that he believed that crazy woman’s words.

Even when his mother brought home some stupid drunk man and kicked him out, even when she yelled loudly that he was some bar woman’s bastard with no known father and shouldn’t associate with her child.

Even when he was unfairly blamed and beaten up whenever something went wrong in the village, saying it was that kid’s fault, he had never been this irritated.

His stomach churned and twisted as if bugs were crawling around inside.

He should have scared her thoroughly from the start so she couldn’t run away!

He had been too complacent and ended up getting played.

“Why did you leave without saying anything! I didn’t even tell you to go yet!”

Iban, who had been stamping his feet, suddenly stood up because the sky visible through the window was dim.

It was still dawn, before the sun had even risen.

Dawn when carriages don’t even run. She surely couldn’t have gone very far.

That woman doesn’t know the geography of this village well…. If he took the shortcut, he could definitely catch up to her.

Slam.

Iban threw open the door and rushed out of the house.

Once he caught that woman again, this time he’d make sure she couldn’t secretly run away….

“Iban?”

A surprised voice stopped Iban as he was rushing down the stairs.

“Iban.”

The woman holding a large basin looked around in confusion.

“Where on earth are you going at this hour?”

Her slowly moving gaze went up to the house he had rushed out of.

“Why are you already up… were you crying?”

The woman, who had been looking at him as if she didn’t understand, came running over in one breath.

The basin she was holding was full of dishes.

“Why, hm? What’s wrong?”

The hand rubbing his eyes was bright red and cold as ice.

“Are you hurt somewhere?”

“I thought you had left.”

He thought she had abandoned him after making all those promises.

“…What are you talking about.”

Over her confused face, he could see that familiar pity again.

Sympathy and compassion. She frowned as if he was pitiful, just like always.

“Where would mother go.”

“…Really?”

“Of course. But first, let’s go inside, why did you come out without even putting on a coat.”

Iban followed the woman pushing his back as they climbed the stairs again.

At least those words about where she would go didn’t seem to be a lie. So it seemed she had no intention of leaving this place yet.

It was strange, but along with relief, an inexplicable irritation slowly crept in.

“See, mother went to wash the dishes. I fell asleep without doing them yesterday. I have to do that so I can make something delicious for Iban in the morning too.”

Iban, who had firmly locked the door, looked at the woman who was rambling on about stupid things while glancing at him with a slight smile.

“I went out quietly because Iban was sleeping well. You must have been surprised when mother suddenly wasn’t there. I’m sorry.”

So Iban firmly suppressed the irritation and anger he wanted to burst out with.

It was because in the woman’s cautious appearance, he could see an overlap with that woman from the green roof house that the neighborhood kids avoided, saying she was scary.

Instead, Iban firmly held her hand like that crazy woman’s sister did, and whispered quietly to the woman.

“Don’t go out alone. It’s dangerous here.”

He was worried that she might get caught by drunk guys if she went out, or that she might follow those people again like she had followed him.

“You absolutely cannot leave this house after the sun sets.”

“After the sun sets?”

“Right. All drunk people are bad. If you follow them for no reason, you’ll get beaten up badly. Just a few days ago, some woman was strangled to death near here.”

The woman’s gaze, which had been looking at him intently, wavered back and forth before dropping.

“…Someone died nearby?”

Then she quietly repeated his words as if she had received a shock.

“You don’t like getting hurt, right?”

Iban shook the woman’s hand that he was holding firmly once more to meet her gaze.

“So, so if you’re going somewhere, you must tell me before you go.”

Her large green eyes still shook continuously as if frightened.

As expected, the woman seemed unaccustomed to violence.

“But if you stay here, you’ll be safe.”

“Ah….”

“I’m here, aren’t I.”

“Right, I’ll definitely tell you when I go somewhere. I’m sorry, Iban.”

In the embrace that hugged him tightly as if afraid, Iban smiled slightly.

She was definitely scared.

“Even if someone asks you to go with them, you can’t follow. If they grab your wrist and drag you, scream for help. Everyone except me are bad guys.”

“Okay, I will.”

“Then I’ll come rescue you. But you have to scream very loudly. So I can hear you. Got it?”

Iban slowly patted her back just as she had done for him yesterday evening.

It was while he was continuously patting her back as she held him in her embrace that had lost its warmth to the cold outside air.

“…Iban, should we move?”

“What?”

He suddenly raised his head at the words the woman had suddenly uttered.

Even so, he could only see her clothes, but after squirming a few more times, the woman released him from her embrace.

“Should we move to a slightly safer neighborhood? To a neighborhood without drunk people.”

“….”

“…This place, this neighborhood seems dangerous for Iban. Since Iban is still young, I think it would be good to move to a place with many friends. How about it?”

If they moved, would they continue living together?

If they went to a place where no one knew them. If they went to a place where no one could tell this woman about his lies, could they continue living together?

Then mother, when his real mother comes back….

“I’m sleepy.”

Iban lowered his gaze and opened his mouth wide to swallow his breath.

“Ah, right, you must have woken up too early. If you’re tired, sleep a little more,”

“…Yeah.”

“I’ll wake you up again when breakfast is ready.”

The foolish woman seemed to have forgotten what she was asking him and changed the subject.

Iban, who had escaped from the woman’s embrace and returned to his bedding, fiddled with his pillow and quietly spoke.

“Mother.”

“Yeah?”

“Continue the story from yesterday. The story about the turtle and rabbit from when tigers smoked.”

The woman, who had been moving busily as if to light a fire in the brazier, suddenly looked at him and smiled brightly.

Then she came close, arranged his blanket, and continued whispering yesterday’s story.

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“So?”

Iban sat quietly on the dining table as the woman had placed him and urged her on again as she gently stirred the pot with a wooden ladle.

“Just as they were going home, roar! If you give me one bread, I won’t eat you!”

A scream mixed with laughter burst from Iban’s mouth at the woman’s face that had come right up close to his.

“So she appeared again. The lady let out a deep sigh at the bread that didn’t have much left, and handed over the bread with trembling hands.”

“So, did you go?”

“Yeah, but I still had to walk a long way to get home. Mother got worried that the tiger might appear again and started running.”

“That pig bastard will probably come again. Just how much bread does he eat?”

At the woman’s urgent voice as if she was really being chased, Iban hunched his shoulders and grumbled.

“…Iban, pig bastard is a bad word. You shouldn’t use words like that.”

It was when the woman, who had been blinking in surprise, frowned a beat late and gave him a warning.

Thud, thud, thud!

The thin wooden door shook as if it would break at any moment from the fierce pounding.

“Iban! Are you home?”

Thud, thud, thud.

At the familiar voice, Iban’s face, which had been stiff with tension, contorted completely.

“Who is it?”

The woman, who had been rolling her eyes in confusion, moved as if to check who was outside the door.

Iban hurriedly jumped down from the table and grabbed the woman’s skirt.

“The jam will burn. I’ll go out. They’re my friends.”

“Friends?”

“Yeah, my friends.”

“Then should I give them something to eat together?”

“No need, they’re going to the forest today. They’re busy.”

Iban muttered bad words under his breath that would horrify the woman if she heard them, directed at those who kept knocking on the door, and tugged at her skirt again.

“The apple jam, we made it together but what if it burns. If Mother goes out, I’ll watch the jam.”

“No, you said fire is dangerous. Are you really sure you don’t want to invite your friends in?”

Thud thud, thud.

“Iban!”

At the sound of the frantic door knocking, the woman’s gaze kept turning toward the door.

“I told you it’s fine. They’re all full from eating so they don’t need food. I’ll go and come back. Don’t let the jam burn!”

Iban caught the woman’s attention once more and quickly slipped out of the house, opening the door just a little.

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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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