In the midst of a long and exhausting day, Rose comes face to face with the city where her aunt lives. When she stops by a sweet shop. She takes a good look at the shop and pulls her car to the side of the road because the place is as busy as ever, and then takes a left towards the shop to purchase some sweets for her aunt and her son.
As it was already afternoon, the sun had already begun to set and the sky had turned a brilliant orange colour; the cold breeze was not refreshing, but it did make the busy road feel more spacious; as she stepped out of the car, she noticed an elderly gentleman standing near her aunt's house; she ignored his presence.
While Rose was about to open the gate of the house, Derff came out wearing his shorts and a t-shirt and holding a soccer ball in his hand. She assumed that the elderly gentleman was waiting for Derff and walked away from the sight of them.
Rose was taken aback by how much he had grown, as she explained "Oh my God, take a look at yourself! Derff, you've grown tremendously in stature."
Derff said this with a slight smirk "Thank you so much, older sister! My mother is in the house, and I'm going to play with one of my friend" Rose nodded as Derff walked away with the same old man she had been staring at, wondering what he had been waiting for all this time.
The whole time they were leaving, Rose was staring at them, and when Aunty called her, she turned around and hugged Aunty tightly, saying, "it's been so long, how have you been aunty?"
"We were fine, but Derff's school fees were delayed because I was busy and could not make it to his school to deposit them; as a result, the school informed me that he was not permitted to attend school while his fees were outstanding; as a result, I will make it to his school the following day to deposit them." Aunt says while looking down on her hands.
Rose took a good look at her aunt and felt fortunate that she had grown too old to continue working for a job that paid such a meagre wage. "It's fine, we'll talk about it when we get back to the house because it's hot outside," Rose says with a smile.
Rose arrives at the house with all of the bags of gifts, and as she walks in, the room is cold due to the air conditioner running.
She places all of the gifts on the table and says, "I got some presents for you guys as I will be gone in two days for my work meetings so I made up my mind to meet you guys."
Aunt says this with a smile on her face "Thank you so much, honey!! Derff would be delighted with your gifts. In the meantime, I'm preparing pork soup and rice, as well as your favourite pickle dish."
Rose quickly washed her hands and helped her aunt in chopping some vegetables as she recalls that she almost forgot to inquire about the elderly gentleman who was waiting outside the house and had gone as a friend of Derff to play with him.
When Rose inquires about the elderly gentleman, Aunt says without hesitation that the elderly gentleman saved Derff's life by preventing him from injuring himself while playing with other children at the park, and Derff developed a friendly relationship with the elderly gentleman.
"Then we should invite him over for dinner as a thank you for saving Derff earlier in the day and for the enthusiastic relationship between them," Rose says, as her aunt nods and says, "yess, that would be fantastic."
As soon as Rose and Rose's aunt finished preparing dinner and heard the click of the door closing, Derff returned after paying for an hour's service.
Rose's aunt rushed towards the door as she inquired of her son and asked "Does the old man appear to be outside, son??".
Derff nodded as Rose's aunt opened the door and went straight to him when she saw him standing in front of the light post. Rose's aunt greeted the old man with a smile and bowed towards him.
When aunt says, "Well, it appears that my son and you are really close, and as a responsible mother, I should be thanking you in any way for looking after my son as I didn't pay any attention to his carvings,"
the old man pauses and says, "it's quite good to see such a responsible and humble parents, and I didn't do anything with him that you will thank me with,"
"Well, if you don't mind, sir, can we have a night dinner as you took such wonderful care of my aunt's son, sir?" Rose adds as she joins them to thank him and bows.
As Rose and aunt smiled and welcomed him inside the house and locked the gate, the elderly guy laughed and said, "very formal of the both women sure I will accompany you."
As they enter the house, the old guy is already taken aback by the table, which is piled high with delectable meals waiting for them.
Rose and Derff moved side by side to the left side of the table, where the elderly guy was in the middle and the aunt was on the opposite side of the middle, while Rose cleared her throat and asked, "Can we dig in?"
Aunt laughs and nods as Derff takes a bowl of rice and a glass of milk on one side, while Rose serves a large portion of grilled pork and a bowl of rice to the old man and inquires if he has any family as the old man takes the serving in his hand and says "My son left me when he was a senior in high school because he had a difficult time with me. He went to medical school and worked part-time to pay his tuition and taxes so he could live on his own. I, too, have a daughter who is married and has a happy family. She is kind; she used to come twice a week to make me meals and arrange for money to pay for mine; however, as time went on, she had a cute little kid around Derff's age, and she now transfers money every Wednesday to make up for it. She also owns a successful bakery on Korea's 14th Road, and her husband works for a chartered bank. That is why he built a pleasant relationship with Derff and accepted the fact that youngsters are still affectionate toward elderly people."
"I suppose it's difficult," Rose said with a shrug, "but we still have supper!!" Aunt laughs as Derff finishes his dinner and aunt takes him to his room to sleep.
When Aunt returns from his room, she says, "I believe you can hang with us and not just Derff," which the old man appreciates and walks out of the house wishing them good night.
As soon as Rose enters and notices that aunt is already washing the dishes, she runs over and says, "I'll take care of it, aunt."
"Such a sweet girl, thank you," aunt adds with a smile. Rose nods and picks up where her aunt left off, telling her to hurry up the pace because it was past twelve o'clock.
She went to her room to sleep after washing and cleaning everything because she was leaving this place early the next morning. Rose's phone flashed with a message from Liam saying that 'their meeting had been rescheduled because the weather in Korea was not suitable enough to travel for the meeting.'