Seulgi woke up grumpy. She hid It well, but those who knew her could tell. She went through her morning just like usual. The main change was that her mother was present as well.
What was unusual was that her mother was being polite. Not in the superficial ‘we’re at a party’ sort of way. Not in the ‘we’re having guests over’ sort of way. But in an honest way. She could be ruthlessly charming. She could be devastatingly polite. But, this morning over pancakes, she was just being nice.
It was unnerving. Seulgi was loving it, she was relishing it, but neither did she trust it. Seulgi thought that she was unobtrusively rushing to get out the door before her mother’s change creeped her out too much.
She didn’t know that she was the cause of the change. When she kissed both of them on the head and bid them to sleep well, her mother’s heart broke a little. It had been so very long since she had done that. And she knew that it was her fault.
Her actions had long since calcified into a habit. But, she wondered if she had it in her to change to win her daughter back. She knew that there were some things that she could not change. There were things that she would not change, even if she could. But, that did not mean she could not soften her edges when and where she could.
If it would be enough, only time would tell.
Her jaw nearly dropped when her husband handed both girls bentos that he had made himself. She didn’t even know that he could make bentos let alone would. Her day froze into incredulity when Seulgi stopped, to bow her head to her father and submit for a kiss on the forehead. She almost stopped breathing when Yeji stopped, got her lunch, and requested a forehead kiss as well. Yeji let out the most charming giggle (That didn't come from her daughter) that she had heard in a long time.
She understood the attraction that both he and her daughter had for the girl. She was adorable.
He made sure that they had everything they needed before wishing them a good day at work.
Even Suki got into the production. Mostly to make sure she shed on her human than any real affection. Alfred also snatched her up off the floor to make sure she didn’t try to escape. She wouldn’t, she knew better. But she still had to test to see if he was qualified to watch over her.
She realized that she needed to make an apology to the cat as a way to get forgiveness from Seulgi, too. She did not realize that she was setting herself up for a Herculean task. That fuzzy little princess was easily as stubborn as she was. But, she was up to the task. Or so she thought.
While he was walking back down the entryway, he was thinking about all the things that he needed to do that day when he came to the kitchen, he found his wife up to the elbows in suds, washing dishes. He set the Princess Floof down on the couch and joined his wife in doing the dishes. No words were said. No words were needed. They have not had this companionable silence, doing a simple task together like this in a decade. It was just what they both needed.
They both dried their hands, got coffee, and sat down at the breakfast table.
“So, now what, Alfred?”
“Just as a reminder, I have my appointment this afternoon. So, you’ll be on your own today. With my father at home, it should be safe for you to go home, or whatever you like, after work.”
Yeji nodded at this. Seulgi didn’t need to know that she would still be shadowing her, just from a distance. “Got it,” was all she got in reply.
On the elevator ride up, they both cracked open their bentos and giggled again.
“I got a dog with a heart. You?” asked Yeji
Seulgi laughed at hers and said, “I got a bear. But I got a carrot heart.”
“Awww, that’s so sweet. Your father is a very nice man.”
They closed the bentos as the elevator dinged as they reached their floor. Yeji went left, and Seulgi went right. Seulgi went to her office, set her things down, booted her laptop, and went to take her bento to the breakroom fridge. She made herself a mug of tea. She decided to change things up and got an English Breakfast tea rather than her usual Earl Grey. She thought today would be to have a change.
She got back to her office and proceeded with her routine. She stopped in shock, finding a steaming cup of tea already waiting for her. She smiled. She found a still steaming taiyaki next to the tea as well. Grinning, she knew that today was going to be a good morning
She didn’t even question the taiyaki’s presence. It was there. So was she. It would be consumed as fast as her already full belly would allow her. She didn’t have many vices, but this was one of them and she was not ashamed to admit it. She did not quite wallow in her pastry, but she did not hold back, either.
Still, she had to do her daily work. The laptop powered up, the email opened, and she started reading her morning mail. Nothing terribly exciting in her InBox. There were some very important things, some utterly ridiculous spam things, and everything else in between.
She deleted the unimportant spam and emails. She kept the relevant ones and started the important ones. She reviewed everything that was left. She deleted the ones that had nothing to do with her or her department.
She didn’t care that HR decided that everyone was supposed to use a specific font and typeface. She didn’t understand why people needed to stop stealing green sharpies. She didn’t understand why people would steal green sharpies in the first place. Everyone here gets paid well, why steal anything at all? She shook her head and thought, Humans.
She typed up notes for each person in the group for the morning meeting. She didn’t bother making one for the Big Boss today. Even if he sends some minion for his printout, she would just shoo them away. She did not have time for this nonsense today.
