In the kitchen of Seoyul's apartment, Seoyul suddenly had a hallucination. He saw Dalmi in the kitchen of his apartment. That woman came out from behind the chandelier that fell in front of him. It wasn't enough to get there, because Seoyul also saw Dalmi come out of the fridge and cabinet in his kitchen, then walked over to Seoyul while showing her sad face.
"What do you want now?" asked Seoyul with halting speech. "What are you going to do to me?!" He was dark when Dalmi walked towards him.
However, of course the incident was just a mere Seoyul's dream. "Huhhhh!!" Seoyul woke up from his sleep, then glanced at the wall clock in front of him. The clock shows 2 am. Seoyul then got up from his sleep and found that nothing unusual had happened in his house. "Thanks God!!" Seoyul rubbed his face. "After Hanseo came home, it turned out that I fell asleep here. And it was all just a dream," Seoyul said before he went to his room to go back to sleep.
~~~
Every new day is a blessing, that's how Dalmi feels. Because, at least today Dalmi is still allowed by God to breathe the cool and refreshing winter morning air. After feeling how fresh the air was in the morning, Dalmi got up from the balcony of her room and then went into her room. In the room, Dalmi was seen busy tidying up several important files, such as insurance biodata and several savings books that she had prepared for a long time for the next three years.
As soon as she finished tidying up these important files, Dalmi immediately left her room and rushed down the stairs that would lead her to the dining room and kitchen area of her house. In the kitchen, Dalmi met Changyi then they saw Zhuyang coming home from shopping and carrying a lot of bean sprouts in his hand. Seeing this, Changyi thought that Zhuyang had been conned by the bean sprout seller.
"What is this? Have you just been conned by a bean sprouts seller, or do we have no more money to buy cooking ingredients other than bean sprouts?" asked Changyi who sat on a bar stool in front of the island table — one element of the kitchen in the form of a table with four legs that is closed at the bottom and placed in the middle of the kitchen.
"Wow!! Are we going to have a bean sprouts party today?!" said Yinjun who came from the backyard, after doing work out in the morning — before going to school.
"I told you, let me replace mom's duties, shopping at the market every morning." Dalmi said while making coffee using the coffee maker. "Now, look at this mess! You brought a lot of bean sprouts to our house?" the woman added while teasing Zhuyang, who was going to the market for the first time to shop for ingredients.
Dalmi, Yinjun, and Changyi's words suddenly made Zhuyang laugh. "Hey!! The seller will give a discount if I buy a lot of bean sprouts. That's why I bought a lot of bean sprouts to store in the fridge," Zhuyang replied very clearly.
Dalmi and his two younger brothers laughed briefly. "Because you bought a lot of bean sprouts, I will add bean sprouts to our breakfast menu this morning," Dalmi replied after the laughter subsided.
"What menu will you cook for our breakfast this morning?" Changyi asked Dalmi after he took a sip of the warm chocolate milk in his glass.
"I will conjure bean sprouts into our favorite Kongnamul Japchae. After that, I will also add your and Yinjun's favorite Chungmu Gimbab and Gyerang Bbang," said Dalmi. This woman's words immediately made Changyi and Yinjun happy.
The Kongnamul Japchae that Dalmi is referring to is a healthy noodle dish made from sweet potatoes called Dangmyeon. This dish is stir-fried with Sprouts, Carrots, Spinach, Mushrooms, and Onions cooked in Sesame Oil. For the breakfast menu, usually Dalmi will add slices of beef seasoned with sesame seeds and sliced chilies into Kongnamul Japchae.
Besides that, Dalmi will also make Chungmu Gimbab. And to make it, Dalmi only needs rice and roasted seaweed as the main ingredients. Then she would roll the rice and seaweed. Due to its simple preparation, this type of gimbap is a practical breakfast menu for the Dalmi family, with Radish Kimchi and Spicy Squid as side dishes.
Lastly, Dalmi will make a Gyerang Bbang. This one dish is known as egg toast and is one of Yinjun and Changyi's favorite practical breakfast menus. Gyerang Bbang combines sweet and salty flavors. As an ideal breakfast menu, Gyerang Bbang is served with a variety of toppings, such as Mushrooms, Ham, Bacon, Sausages, Vegetables and Cheese Slices.
"Ahhh!! Just imagining it makes me even hungrier," Yinjun said which then made Dalmi chuckle.
"Isn't your stomach always going to overreact like that, when you hear good food?" said Zhuyang which was then replied with laughter by Dalmi and Changyi. While Yinjun cursed Zhuyang through his sharp eyes.
"Just so you know, whether the food in front of him is good or not, his stomach will always react like that. He's like a person who hasn't eaten for weeks. His stomach is always hungry, even though he's eaten a lot," Changyi replied in in the middle of his laughter.
"Hey! That means my stomach is functioning properly!" Yinjun replied before he edged off the bar stool.
"Come on! Don't talk too much. It's getting late. While I'm preparing breakfast for us, you two better go take a shower right now or else you'll be late for school this morning," Dalmi ordered Yinjun and Changyi.
"Good grief!!" Changyi patted his forehead. "You're right! This morning, my class will also have a quiz. If I'm even a second late, then my life will be over!!" Changyi replied. "I have promised Mom and Dad to make them feel proud from Heaven, with my learning results at school," he explained seriously.
Zhuyang then put his arm around Changyi's shoulder tightly. "Changyi, if you can't get top marks on your quiz this week, then it's pointless for you to have such a big head," he teased.
Hearing that, without hesitation Changyi pinched Zhuyang's thigh so that the man winced in pain. "Do you think the size of a person's head can tell if they're smart or not?" he asked, then Zhuyang nodded. "Ahh!!" Changyi seemed to take a deep breath. This young man was frustrated when he faced Zhuyang's behavior. "I'm confused, how can a producer like you work at the number one biggest agency in Asia, like Kwangsun Entertainment?" Changyi said.
"Maybe soon Kwangsu Entertainment will regret because they made a mistake by hiring a producer like him," Yinjun said while laughing.
"Yaaaisshhh!" Zhuyang cursed Yinjun and Changyi. Then Yinjun and Changyi went to their respective rooms, while Zhuyang stayed in the kitchen with Dalmi. This man plans to accompany Dalmi to cook, even though he is not really good at making food.
~~~
After all the food was cooked, Dalmi and Zhuyang immediately arranged the food on the dining table. Not long after the food was neatly arranged on the dining table, Yinjun and Changyi, who were already neatly dressed in their school uniforms, came to the dining room.
"Haaaahhhh…" Changyi let out a long breath as the circulation in his chest constricted. "If Mom and Dad were still here with us, they would definitely have breakfast with us this morning at this table," said the handsome young man who was none other than Changyi with tears in his eyes as he sat across from Dalmi. Since earlier his eyes were busy looking at the food in front of him, while his mind remembered the late parents he loved.
Yeah... Why didn't Changyi's mind keep on remembering his late mother and father, because time certainly passed, but not a single day in Changyi's life passed without his parents in his heart. The day his parents died wasn't just a date on the calendar. But it was the day that the existence of Changyi and his three brothers changed.
"Even though Mom and Dad aren't here with us, they are always watching us from where they are. You know that, don't you?" Zhuyang looked Changyi straight in the eye. Then Changyi nodded.
Seeing a sad streak appear on Changyi's face, Dalmi immediately grabbed Changyi's hand and held it tightly. "That's right. Mom and Dad are always watching over us. Their guiding hands will forever be on our shoulders. Not a day goes by that we don't miss them. They will always be loved by our hearts," Dalmi said in a soft voice.
After Dalmi finished speaking, tears fell down Changyi's handsome face. He cried silently before Zhuyang, Dalmi, and Yinjun. Changyi's tears of sadness seemed to prove that, even though his life went on without a mother and father by his side, of course nothing would be the same as when his parents were gone.
Changyi and his siblings had to hide their hurt when others mentioned their parents' names. Changyi, Yinjun, Dalmi and Zhuyang grieved because they loved their parents so much. The tears that fell on the breakfast table that morning were a sign that living without Jingmi and Yoora was the hardest part of everything.
"If we could visit Heaven even for just one day, maybe the pain in our hearts would be gone. We would hug Mom and Dad and whisper the true words, that living life without them is the hardest thing to do. It doesn't matter how we spend our days here. It doesn't matter what we do here. There is no morning or night when we don't think of them." Yinjun chimed in with his speech halting.
The words that brought Yinjun and Changyi to tears made Zhuyang and Dalmi unable to hold back their tears any longer. "Changyi.. Yinjun.. Death doesn't take the bodies of our parents. God took their souls. But our minds always keep all the memories that have been engraved. Our hearts hold love. And our faith will tell us that one day we will meet Mom and Dad again," Zhuyang said as he looked at his siblings one by one with a sweet smile on his lips.
~~~
After being immersed in a simple conversation that touched the heart, suddenly Dalmi's sad expression changed to a surprised expression right after hearing Zhuyang's order. "Dalmi, after this, you should immediately go to Jeju!" Zhuyang said very firmly.
"Uhukkk..." Suddenly Dalmi choked when she heard that. "What did you say?" asked Dalmi after sipping half a glass of water in front of her. "I'm going to Jeju today? But why and for what?" She asked again, looking in surprise at Zhuyang who was eating beside her.