The few little beams of light that dusk offered struck the huge window panels at an angle and sent soft white light bouncing through the spacious room. Thoroughly wood panelled, the room felt homey and comfortable, a sense that was strengthened by framed pictures of smiling children and adults littering the table top pushed flush against the windowsills.
Resting her head against her palm, elbows against a huge soft armrest and slouching in her seat, a fine young lady lazily eyed a pair of crocheting needle as they weaved precisely in and out and around string of yarn, controlled by a deft pair of hands.
"Eomma, why are you so young?" the restless little lady asked.
Her mother half-smirked, not once stopping her work.
"Thank you for the compliment darling but at 46 and pushing 50, I am definitely not young in that sense that I think you're thinking," the older female seated at complete ease on her own armchair replied.
"Yeah, you're not some spring chicken but considering that I'm 22 and you're 46, you are "young". And for people who think you're Oppa's biological mother, you're like, super-young. I mean, what 46 year old nowadays has a 26 year old son?"
"Teenaged mothers in my time would have children older than your Oppa now, HanYoung."
The little lady shifted in her seat, swinging her legs over one armrest and resting her head on the other. She frowned and folded her arms, unsatisfied by that answer.
"I know I was not a planned baby Mother, but I was not a complete surprise either. I was not born under the same circumstances as others born to teenaged moms. You had a shot gun marriage but you two lived under the same roof even before getting the cert. So why'd you choose to have a kid so young? Don't you ever lament your wasted youth?"
The older woman immediately stopped what she had been doing and looked straight at her daughter.
"I did NOT and do NOT regret having you, So HanYoung," she answered sternly.
She pursed her lips, a little fury bubbling beneath her skin. With skin still as smooth as down and with nothing more than a few wrinkles, Chu GaEul had remained almost exactly the same since twenty years ago, save for her cheeks that had now become slimmer, giving her a sharper, wiser look that reflected the experience she had garnered. She had felt insulted and angry that her daughter thought herself a liability. She did not raise her up to think like that.
"Moo~~oom" Hanyoung whined, a mannerism that she had unknowingly adopted from her half-Swedish half-Korean elder brother. "Mother, I know that you don't regret your life but I was just saying what if. I mean, if we go by today's system, you'd spent maybe seventeen to eighteen years in school, preparing for the working life and then just when you'd finished schooling and were ready to spread your wings and fly high, you move in with Appa and had a baby come your way. Maybe if there wasn't me, you could have been the kindergarten school's principal!"
GaEul cocked her head to one side and stared at her daughter who was waving her arms around animatedly. An amused smile played on her lips.
"I mean, yeah, you still worked while I sucked on bottle teats but don't you think a child at that age burdensome?" Her daughter was still raving. "Or you could have followed Appa as he jet-setted around the world establishing his worth as an up-and-coming potter instead of being stuck at home with kid who knows nothing but to cry. Opportunities! So many! And you just had to have a kid to close all those doors. You could've had established a career and risen up the ranks."
Finishing her rambling, the glow in HanYoung's eyes dimmed slightly as she let her hands limp against her chest.
GaEul cut the silence with a small chuckle.
"I guess that was your announcement telling me not to expect any grandkids from you soon," she smirked.
"Well, yes, Eomma, but I was really curious too."
GaEul put her needles together and set her crochet work upon the small table to her right. Then, she leaned back deep into the soft pillows of her back rest.
"To be completely honest, if your father was not rich, I would probably have regretted having you so early. I'm not really sure if I could have handled being a young adult with an unstable or paltry income and carried the burden of supporting a child without breaking down. I am seriously in awe of young, ordinary couples or single parents who don't have the luxury of old money to support them."
The younger girl turned to look at her mother and raised an eyebrow, her interest piqued.
GaEul clucked her tongue twice and shook her head. Perhaps the fortunate-little-miss really could not comprehend middle-income lifestyle.
"Remember all those times Nena took the day off and I forced you to wash the dishes instead of letting some other maid do it? Imagine doing that every day. Also, remember that work-for-charity drive I made you participate in? And that cooking I made you learn with me. If you didn't have money like your father, you'd have to do all those yourself. No Nena, no Samshik Ajumma, no one else but the family living with you to help. Imagine having to scrape enough for your food, rent and baby diapers and formula and milk bottles and even the massive medical fees that you have to pay for all of the child's check-ups."
The older lady rolled her eyes upon seeing her daughter scrunch her nose.
"Having a middle-income life isn't actually that bad but you get the sense of how much harder it is without all the hired help and having to work regularly whether you like it or not just to live. Even if you're tired, you still have to chug through and you can't have escargots and foie gras daily."
"I don't even like foie gras," HanYoung retorted.
"You know what I mean. So, I admit. I had it easy with you. But I did sometimes wish that I could let you go long enough to follow your father overseas. Career wise, I never thought about much more than being a kindergarten teacher. Perhaps I could have done well being a kindergarten principal but I never coveted that seat, much less think about climbing even higher, to be the Minister of Education or what not. That again is something that your father's money allowed. Freedom from money is one of the most powerful freedoms we have in this capitalistic world. You, my darling, just have no idea how fortunate you are."
HanYoung nodded slightly, as if sort-of understanding what her mother meant.
"But don't you ever wish that, maybe, you could have left the marriage a little later and partied a little more? I mean, you went straight from being under your parents to being loaded with wifely responsibilities. Whatever happened to that independent phase in between where you could have just flitted around like a butterfly and have drinking parties with your friends or something? You could have had more experience with other men than just Appa!"
"Are you having some experience with other men?" GaEul eyed her daughter suspiciously.
"No! I mean, mother, what happened to the freedom of singledom?"
"Yeah, well, I wasn't interested in other guys other than your father."
HanYoung balked and lifted a hand up, palm facing her mother.
"Mother, that was so cheesy that I wanna puke so please don't ever say that in front of me ever again."
"What made you think I didn't date in highschool?"
"Oooh… so Appa was not your first love?" HanYoung leaned against the edge of her armchair, looking at her mother with a mischievous glint in those soot black.
"He already knows."
The little lady grimaced.
"This is so not fun," she declared, slumping back into her seat.
"Hey, being a young mother brings its own experiences and joy too, you know!" GaEul retorted. "Since I already had a husband, I didn't have to asses and filter every guy I met. I didn't have to search for the perfect one and do you know how hard that is? I also had a constant companion with whom I could share my young adult struggles with. Plus, being younger, my pregnancies were easier and I could return to my old self easier than all my other classmates who married later. And, I actually understand you, since our age gap is not that big."
"Mother, what am I? An alien? Are you seriously thinking that you wouldn't be able to understand your own daughter?"
"Yes! For example, I didn't understand how somebody could tank her entire semester's result because she was mooning over an idol that she'd caught a glimpse of while strolling down the street."
HanYoung groaned. "Eomma!"
GaEul continued anyway. "And on that note, being a young mother, I also had a stronger heart to cope with all the shenanigans that the teenaged you brought."
GaEul brought her hands together and placed them coyly beside her cheek, wiggling and pouting as she went "I will marry Mason Oppa!"
"Mom, I was young and stupid. Don't judge me," the young adult complained as she lifted an index finger in her mother's direction.
"Did you know what a heart attack you gave us that spring?" GaEul barked.
"I said I was sorry and I cleaned up! Mother!"
"See, you're lucky you still have your mother here due to her strong, young heart! And of course, whenever we attended those parent-teacher meetings, I would always be the youngest parent there, looking the most youthful!"
"Vain," HanYoung scoffed.
"What do you know?" GaEul retorted. "So, did someone propose to you or something? Because I have no idea why you'd suddenly ask such a question."
"No, Eomma, I choose to extend my singledom. The question just popped up in my head."
From a distance, the sound of a door being slid open and shuffling feet came, along with loud voices from arguing people.
"Then, did someone ask you to be their girlfriend?" GaEul provided a guess.
She watched as the young woman resolutely did not answer. But she saw a tinge of pink creep up her cheeks.
GaEul cocked an eyebrow.
"Hyung, I really did not steal your worm!"
"Then where could my last bait have gone, huh? I put it in a closed box!"
"Kids…" a familiar, low voice full of exasperation floated through the crack in the door leading the where the ladies were.
GaEul half-rose from her chair before turning to look at her daughter.
"Do you want to know the best thing about being a young mother?" she asked.
"What?"
"Being able to tease drunken truths from my daughter at aged 46 instead of 56. Beer?" GaEul smirked.
"Mother!"
HanYoung threw a cushion at her retreating mother's back as the older lady let out peals of laughter and landed a peck on the lips of her "young" husband as they met in the corridor.