Chapter 56

Chapter 56. A Sinner Called Mother (3)

“What do you mean?”

Yukgap asked in confusion.

Subin quietly shook her head.

“I feel bad about your situation, but I can’t let someone who’s like family to me get tangled up with Abraxas. Plenty of people have gotten involved with them and disappeared without anyone ever knowing what happened.”

She narrowed her eyes and stared at Yukgap.

“And some of those people were probably killed by you.”

“...”

Yukgap had nothing to say.

He knew perfectly well that anything he said now would sound like nothing more than a pathetic excuse.

Subin seemed to notice that too, and continued firmly.

“Anyway, that’s all I can tell you. Find another way.”

“B-But...!”

Yukgap stammered.

The thought that a clue to his past was slipping away right in front of him made him desperate.

“Mom!”

At that moment, a high-pitched voice came from the distance.

The little boy they had seen earlier was running toward them with quick little steps.

Subin immediately brightened.

“Seongryeol!”

Yukgap and Victoria whispered to each other.

“Who’s that?”

“Probably the son she mentioned.”

The boy called Seongryeol smiled brightly and clung to Subin.

“I heard Mom’s voice, so I came out.”

“Where’s your dad?”

Subin quickly looked around.

She was clearly worried that her ex-husband might catch them like this.

“He’s with my stepmom, so he doesn’t know I came out.”

“Right. I see.”

Only then did relief appear on Subin’s face.

Seongryeol pouted.

“Mom, why don’t you come home to see me these days? Don’t you want to see me?”

“Of course I do! How could I not want to see my own son? I’ve just been busy lately.”

Subin hurriedly made excuses.

Seongryeol only smiled brightly.

“Then that’s okay. Hehehe.”

He looked like any other ordinary child.

Unlike Subin’s ex-husband, he seemed completely unaware that his mother’s life had once put him in danger.

He was simply excited to see her and kept chattering happily.

“Oh, right! We’re going on a kindergarten field trip tomorrow.”

“Really? That sounds fun.”

“But all the other kids are bringing lunchboxes their moms made. Can you make me one too?”

“A-A lunchbox?”

Subin’s expression immediately stiffened.

Ignoring that, Seongryeol clung to her with an earnest look.

“I want to eat a lunchbox Mom made, not one my stepmom made.”

Subin hurriedly nodded.

“I will! I’ll definitely make one!”

“Really? Mom’s the best!”

Seongryeol smiled brightly at her promise.

Then he cautiously turned back toward the house.

Apparently, it was time for him to return.

“I’m going now. I snuck out without Dad knowing. If I stay longer, I might get in trouble.”

“Okay. Go on.”

Subin watched him leave with obvious reluctance.

Her son kept looking back several times as he walked away, checking to see if she was still there.

Even until the moment he entered the house, he seemed unable to stop worrying about his mother.

Victoria spoke quietly.

“He’s a sweet kid.”

“Right? He’s my son, but he really is.”

Subin could not take her eyes off the house.

“Even though his mother barely comes home... even though I’ve been living a miserable life by myself since the divorce... even though his stepmother treats him well... he still remembers his real mother and worries about me.”

Victoria eventually spoke carefully.

“Why don’t you try talking to your ex-husband? You should at least have visitation rights.”

Subin gave a bitter smile.

“I don’t.”

Victoria blinked.

“A mercenary I’d made an enemy of once took Seongryeol hostage, and he nearly died. After that, my husband got a restraining order through the court.”

She looked toward the house.

“The fact that he turns a blind eye when I hang around like this is already more than I deserve.”

Apparently, there had been a complicated incident in the past.

Victoria hesitated before asking,

“So... are you going to make the lunchbox?”

“I can’t cook. I’ll probably just buy something at a department store and make it look decent.”

Subin answered carelessly.

Victoria suddenly smiled meaningfully.

“Hehehehe. You’re really lucky.”

“What are you talking about?”

Subin looked confused.

Victoria proudly raised her chin.

“Because right here, you have the transcendently beautiful alchemist Victoria and her chef, Yukgap!”

“...Did you just call yourself transcendently beautiful?”

Yukgap immediately apologized on her behalf.

“Sorry. Victoria has a pretty serious case of excessive self-confidence.”

Then he calmly continued,

“But she isn’t wrong about the important part. Ever since I escaped Abraxas, I’ve been working as a restaurant chef. If you want, making one lunchbox is easy.”

Subin stared at him warily.

“I still won’t introduce you to Kevin.”

“I don’t care. I just want to make the lunchbox.”

Subin looked genuinely confused.

“Why?”

Yukgap looked toward the house Seongryeol had entered, a house Subin could no longer share with him.

“Do you know why I escaped Abraxas?”

He continued quietly.

“It was because of my family.”

“I can’t even remember their faces, but I know I had a family. I missed them enough to risk my life escaping Abraxas.”

Yukgap’s expression softened.

“So even if it’s someone else’s problem, I don’t want to ignore something involving family.”

He added,

“Maybe my own family is waiting desperately for me too, just like your son is waiting for you.”

“You really stick your nose into everything.”

Subin dismissed him with those words.

Then she thought for a moment.

Eventually, she nodded.

“Fine. I was going to buy something at a department store anyway. If I’m going that far, I might as well leave it to a restaurant professional.”

Yukgap smiled in satisfaction.

“Good choice.”

“Gimbap would be best, right?”

Yukgap asked as he took ingredients from the refrigerator.

Subin quickly answered,

“Not that. Make sushi. My son likes inari sushi.”

“What about kimchi?”

“He can’t handle anything too spicy, so put in white kimchi without the seasoning.”

It was a surprisingly simple order.

Yukgap lined up the ingredients and lightly stretched his body.

“All right. Time to show off a little.”

He began moving rapidly around the kitchen.

He shaped the sushi, rinsed the kimchi, peeled fruit for snacks, and fried side dishes.

His movements were so fast that they barely looked human.

Subin stared in amazement.

“You’re ridiculously fast.”

“This is basic.”

Yukgap grinned as the lunchbox rapidly took shape.

He had once handled an entire lunchtime rush at Restaurant Shelley by himself.

Filling one child’s lunchbox was nothing.

“Ta-da! I brought a special insulated lunchbox!”

While they were preparing the food, Victoria arrived carrying a cat-shaped lunchbox.

“With this thing, the food should stay at the same temperature for at least ten thousand years!”

Yukgap stared coldly at the lunchbox in her hands.

“Tell me the truth. What did you do to that thing?”

Victoria subtly looked away.

“N-Nothing...”

“Don’t lie! There’s no way a normal lunchbox can preserve food temperature for ten thousand years!”

Unlike Yukgap, Subin seemed to like Victoria’s creation.

“It’s cute.”

“Right? I made it in the shape of a cat because kids like them!”

Victoria answered proudly.

But Yukgap remained suspicious.

“Are we really using that? I’ve got a bad feeling.”

Victoria snapped.

“Oh, come on! It’s a perfectly ordinary lunchbox! I only added an efficient thermal preservation system and eighty-eight minor support functions!”

“Did it never occur to you that having eighty-eight support functions in a lunchbox is the problem?!”

Yukgap knew Victoria’s history better than anyone.

He could not possibly relax.

Subin, however, calmly began placing food inside.

“It’s fine. At the end of the day, it’s still a lunchbox.”

She gave a bitter smile.

“I’ve never even bought Seongryeol a proper lunchbox before. No matter how I think about it, I really am a useless mother.”

She glanced at the cute cat-shaped container.

“Compared to me, someone who can make him something this cute is already better.”

The lunchbox was gradually filled with inari sushi, side dishes, and fruit.

Subin looked down at the neatly packed meal.

“It’s pretty.”

Her voice softened.

“My son will like it.”

Yukgap quickly scanned the surroundings.

Victoria, standing beside him, asked tensely,

“What about her ex-husband?”

Yukgap looked around again, then shook his head.

“Not here.”

“Anyone else?”

“Just kindergarten teachers.”

“Good. Perfect.”

They were hiding near the kindergarten Seongryeol attended.

They had been careful in case they ran into Subin’s ex-husband, but fortunately, that did not seem likely.

“Go give it to him.”

Yukgap urged Subin.

She was holding the lunchbox they had carefully prepared the previous day.

But for some reason, her hands were trembling, and she could not bring herself to step forward.

“O-Okay. Fine. I’ll just give him the lunchbox and come right back.”

Subin watched the situation nervously.

The teachers were currently guiding the children onto a bus.

“All right, we’re leaving soon. Everyone get on the bus.”

“Yes!”

The children chattered as they climbed aboard.

Seongryeol was among them.

Unlike his friends, however, he kept anxiously looking around.

“Seongryeol, why aren’t you getting on?”

One of his friends noticed something was wrong and asked.

Seongryeol lowered his head.

“Mom said she’d make me a lunchbox...”

Apparently, he was worried because Subin still had not appeared even though it was already time to leave for the field trip.