My Daughter Has Become A Fool

Chapter 12

Episode 12. Countryside

Somehow, the day in the countryside passed.

When I woke up, Yondu was already awake.

‘What is he doing?’

Peeking through the crack in the door, I couldn’t make out a thing.

I quietly got up to see what Yondoo was looking at.

“...Grandma?”

Yondoo was peering through the crack at Grandma.

It seemed like Grandma was preparing breakfast.

Uh-oh. She must have woken up early to make breakfast and curry favor.

But why is Yondoo acting like this?

Other than asking, there was no other way to find out.

“What are you doing, Yondoo?”

“Eek!”

Thunk.

Yondoo jumped in surprise at my voice and stumbled back.

Then, she quickly got up and pressed her index finger against my lips.

“Shh...”

“Huh? Did you just shush me?”

If that were the case, it would be a real disaster.

Luckily, Yondoo nodded hesitantly and replied.

“Grandma hit Dad again. I’ll make sure she doesn’t hit you!”

“Pffft. Don’t worry, Yondoo. Dad doesn’t feel a thing.”

Seems like Yondoo was quite concerned about the hits I took yesterday.

If she’s keeping watch as soon as she wakes up...

Just then, the door swung open.

Thunk.

Yondoo startled and made a squeak.

“If you’re up, get out here! Come eat!”

And so, the ice-cold breakfast began.

Well, despite the atmosphere, the side dishes were delicious.

Most of the dishes had a strong fermented flavor, which tantalized my taste buds.

If Mom were alive, I wonder if I would have grown up eating these flavors.

Yondoo also ate happily, stealing glances at me.

“Here, Yondoo. Have this with rice.”

I spread some fish on Yondoo’s spoon and handed it to her.

“Thank you!”

Grandma watched us and then snorted.

“Looks good. You’re making a fuss even before taking care of the basics.”

“Eat up, Grandma.”

“Enough of that, you!”

“But it really tastes good.”

“Hmph.”

Then Grandma turned to me.

“So... what’s the deal with yesterday?”

It felt like the taste of the food vanished instantly.

Because it wasn’t an easy topic to bring up.

I carefully opened my mouth.

“It’s more of a request than a conversation.”

“What is it?”

In reality, I had been exploring various ways to become Yondoo’s legal parent.

The government provides support for raising Yondoo as a dependent.

However, my uncle and Yondoo’s biological mother were not in a normal marital relationship.

This meant that Yondoo’s name wasn’t registered under our family lineage.

It essentially meant that legally, Yondoo and I weren’t even relatives.

“But...”

I couldn’t become Yondoo’s legal parent through any means.

The only way was through adoption.

But I didn’t meet the requirements.

“To adopt as a single man, you must be over thirty-five.”

I was twenty-eight.

There were other ways to adopt at twenty-five, with a spouse and enough financial means.

But I didn’t have a wife, nor the means to raise a child.

Ultimately, becoming Yondoo’s parent was impossible for me.

“During this struggle, I remembered...”

It was Grandma, Min Hong-im.

Grandma was relatively young at seventy.

She gave birth to our mother at a very young age, and our mother gave birth to me at a young age too.

“Yondoo is fifty-nine years younger than her.”

And she met the requirements for adoption.

So, I was thinking of asking Grandma.

To adopt Yondoo.

“I know.”

I know how difficult of a request this is.

But with my abilities, this was the only way to raise Yondoo.

“In short...”

Making Grandma my legal parent and raising Yondoo was the only way.

It would complicate our family tree, but with government support, I could raise Yondoo.

With determination, I opened my mouth.

“Grandma. Please adopt Yondoo for me.”@@@@