This World is too Cruel to Men – Chapter 668

“Then I’ll open the door.”

Saying that, I urgently tried to stop Mom, who was starting to operate something that looked like a watch on her wrist.

“Wait, just a moment!”

“Huh? Why?”

“Um, actually, there’s one more companion with us.”

“Oh? Who is it?”

Her voice gave off no hint of malice, just pure curiosity, which momentarily left me speechless.

It was a thought that suddenly lifted my head.

‘What should I… say?’

That dilemma didn’t last long.

The remark about how time was running out wasn’t just an idle comment; I could see ‘anxiousness’ settling on Mom’s face.

“I-I’ll call them over first.”

In the end, my choice had to be avoidance rather than confession.

It wasn’t difficult to summon the Senior to this place.

If it was the Senior I knew, she wouldn’t miss an opportunity to find me after I left like that. So, I raised my voice into the air and not long after, through the peculiar sound of “Tiiing—!”, it echoed into the shared room we were in.

How long had it been since that sound resonated?

From the direction of the corridor I had walked out of, the Senior appeared.

Even from a considerable distance, had she spotted me right away?

The Senior, who had momentarily flinched and stopped, soon began to quickly close the distance.

“Dogan, you…!”

Her face looked as if it was on fire with anger,

Yet, despite that, a feeling of concern lingered heavily on the Senior’s face. The moment she confirmed Mom’s figure standing next to me was when the first crack appeared.

Truly, she was the one who had secured the title of Student Council President two years in a row, a feat that most people could hardly attain even once.

The Senior had an incredibly sharp intuition.

With just that one face resembling mine, had she instinctively recognized Mom’s identity? In an instant, she dropped her previous composure and straightened her posture.

“So then, who…?”

The words flowed from Mom’s mouth, who had been silent until now, right after that.

And once again, I found myself at a loss for words.

The moment I had desperately wished to avoid had once more been thrust before me.

What should I… say?

After a brief moment of contemplation, I opened my mouth.

“Um… She’s my Senior at school.”

At those words that slipped out, the Senior’s expression darkened in an instant.

“Oh, is that so?”

In contrast, Mom’s expression brightened slightly.

However… I had no intention of leaving it at that.

Since I thought I needed to make it clear now that I had started speaking.

“And… she’s my girlfriend too.”

As soon as I added that quickly, the Senior’s face, which had been turning an ashen gray, brightened as if it had never been that way.

Although in stark contrast to the Senior’s face, Mom had a look that seemed to say, “Huh? Then what about Yoonseo?”

Seeing that expression on Mom’s face made my lips feel as heavy as lead… but still, I pushed on.

“Um… Yoonseo too.”

It might seem rather obvious, but Mom’s reaction was nothing short of intense.

“What…?!”

Could it be that she found it hard to believe that her son was seeing two girls at once?

A gaze filled with horror pierced through me unapologetically.

Thus… I couldn’t bring myself to utter the words.

‘Actually, it’s not just the two here; there are two more in reality…’

Of course… I knew that.

I understood that at some point—no, very soon—it would come to light.

However… there was no pressing need to reveal it right now.

They say it’s better to take a beating early, but from my experiences, preemptively receiving a beating doesn’t mean it won’t hurt.

“Sh-should we talk about this later when we return?”

Regardless of how much of a mother she was, could she really not be flustered at the fact that her son hadn’t one but two girlfriends after reuniting after several years?

Momentarily fumbling, Mom, who had previously shown such remarkable dexterity, hesitated before pressing a bright red button that appeared on the screen in front of her.

And then what appeared before my eyes was something that looked like a rift yet didn’t quite resemble one.

Did she ride this to suddenly appear?

Once Mom created the rift and I passed through it, I was greeted by an all-too-familiar sight.

As I recited the word ‘house’ in my mind, the image of the living room—the one that naturally popped up—welcomed me back to reality.

“Ugh, what is that smell?”

Thanks to that, I realized anew.

So, Mom… didn’t even know that I was living under one roof with Yoonseo, the Senior, Chae-rim, and Bora.

“You should clean up even when you’re busy. How long has it been that your house smells like this?”

“Uh…”

“Someone would think, ‘Huh? Did they go on a trip for a few months or something?'”

Cold sweat began to trickle down my spine.

“Let’s see. Where’s the light switch…?”

I couldn’t help but feel that way due to the sight of Mom, already standing in front of the wall, fumbling around.

And just as the living room brightened—

“Hm? What kind of dust is this…?”

I was already pulling out my Mobile Phone from my pocket and typing a message to Chae-rim and Bora.

Finally, everyone had gathered in one place.

The meeting spot was none other than our living room.

Seeing the scene of the living room filled with people after such a long time, I was deep in thought.

What should I even call this… gathering? I wondered.

Would it be ‘five-person meeting’ including Mom and my four girlfriends? Or should it be ‘six-person meeting’ including me in that count?

One thing was clear: the couch that was supposed to feel soft today felt like a thorny seat.

“So, um… do all these people here… belong to you, Dogan?”

Having only the Senior and Yoonseo was already shocking enough, but did she finally realize there were four instead of two?

“Is this… some kind of hidden camera that’s trending among kids these days?”

The first words that came from Mom, who was pressing her forehead for a long silence, were exactly that.

Hearing that, I couldn’t help but be at a loss for words even more.

“No, how…?”

How did it come to this?

When I thought about asking how it had ended up like this, maybe due to all the parties being present, that wasn’t an appropriate question.

After cautiously opening her lips, Mom turned her gaze toward Chae-rim, who was sitting to her far left.

“Uh… Right? Lightning Lady…?”

“Uh, yes, Ma’am.”

That’s how Mom glanced at Chae-rim for a moment, and before long, her gaze sweepingly traveled from left to right over the four of us squeezing onto the three-person sofa, including Yoonseo, who had just come to her senses, before it landed back on me.

“Our son… really has quite the talent, huh?”

Her expression looked half-enlightened.

As I lowered my head even more, a sigh escaped Mom’s lips.

“I really don’t know how to face Yoonseo’s parents or the in-laws.”

Feeling like something was being piled on my shoulders, I lowered my head even further.

“I thought my son was someone who could handle anything on his own…”

It was quite a sad thing not to have any allies on my side.

However, this was also the karma I would have to bear.

So, it was likely that I was quietly playing the role of a punching bag at that moment.

“Haah…”

A deep and heavy sigh escaped Mom, then—

“Do all of you really like my son that much?”

When that question followed, I involuntarily recoiled and shivered at the moment. The answers from the four of them echoed through the living room.

All at once.

“Yes.”

“Of course!”

“I-I like him.”

“Should you give me permission, I’ll take responsibility for Dogan for all my life.”

She probably didn’t expect to hear that response right after asking.

The simultaneous chorus of their answers deeply etched furrows into Mom’s brow.

At the same time, her hand was instinctively reaching toward her nape, and it felt like her blood pressure shot up in an instant.

In response to Mom’s reaction, a wave of tension washed over the four of us in unison—

“Well, what can we do? If you all care for each other that much, let’s make sure to live well together.”

Those words flowed from Mom’s lips.

Did that sound like a declaration of surrender or resignation? Perhaps it was just my feeling.

Regardless, at that moment, her words—essentially a form of approval—brightened the expressions of the four of us.

And backed by her permission… the five of us began preparing for marriage.

It was spring.