Like a squirrel running in a wheel, repeating studying, exercise, and piano practice according to my routine, winter had passed and spring had arrived before I knew it.
As if to reward my daily efforts, my piano skills improved by the day, and I reached the point of finishing Beyer—which others said took a year—in just four months.
Seeing me play the piano every day, Mom ended up selling the digital piano and buying a wooden one.
“Dohee, you’re so good now?”
Leaning against my teacher’s chest while playing the piano, this time was incredibly healing for me as I spent my boring daily life.
Pretending to answer, I turned my face and buried it in her chest as I replied.
“It’s because my teacher teaches me so well.”
“Oh my, how can you speak so prettily? Your teacher wants to kidnap you and raise you as her daughter.”
“I wike it.”
*Wah, new mommy, feed me.*
“Haha, our Dohee will be moving on to Czerny soon?”
“Heehee.”
After my warm and harmonious chest lesson with my teacher ended, Mom and the teacher had a simple tea party.
“So you see, I think Dohee can start learning Czerny from next week.”
“Oh my, already?”
“Yes, Dohee has talent and works hard on top of that, so she learns quickly.”
“Well, our daughter practiced every single day without missing once from the very first day. But I didn’t know she’d be learning Czerny in just four months. Looking at her now, she’s worked so hard, hasn’t she?”
My four months of consistent effort were paying off.
“Yes, she could probably enter a competition.”
“Really, at this rate, I think she’ll be able to enter a competition and win a prize in six months.”
Mom looked at me with a sinister glint in her eyes.
“Our Dohee is so admirable that Mommy should give you a reward. Come here, my princess.”
Mom picked me up as I sat quietly nibbling on snacks and rained kisses down on me.
“Stooop. You’ll leave lipstick marks.”
Mom’s kisses were better than Dad’s, but she left too much lipstick behind.
Once the harassment disguised as praise ended, Mom and the teacher continued their brief conversation.
When the tea party ended, Mom and I went out to see the teacher off and came back in.
“Daughter~”
Mom looked at me again with that same sinister glint from earlier.
Sensing something was wrong, I ran under the bed.
With my small body right now, the best refuge to avoid Mom and Dad’s grasping hands was hiding under the sofa or bed.
“My princess, why are you going under there again? You’ll get all dusty, hurry and come out~”
“Mom’s eyes are worse.”
“Mommy’s really not trying to give you kisses this time~ Please come out quickly~”
“I don’t believe you!!”
“Really, it’s not this time. Mommy promises~”
“You promise?”
“Of course~ Now hurry out~”
Believing Mom’s words, I crawled out from under the bed.
The moment I came out, Mom scooped me up as if catching a kitten and hugged me tight.
“Gotcha! I can’t not give my baby girl kisses. Mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah.”
“Waaaah!”
After being tortured by Mom, I went to the living room, turned on YouTube, and lay on the sofa.
“Is my princess sulking~?”
“...”
Mom called out to me, but I ignored her, keeping my eyes glued to YouTube.
“Aww, Mommy was wrong~ Our daughter is so pretty and admirable that I wanted to give her kisses.”
“...”
“But something our princess might like has come up. Should I tell you?”
“...”
“You don’t want to hear?”
“...What is it.”
“How about our daughter filming a commercial?”
“You hadn’t mentioned it for a while, so why now?”
“The offers we’d gotten so far were from places we’d never heard of, but this time it’s a famous major corporation.”
“Really? Then we should do it. What kind of commercial?”
“Well, Mommy doesn’t really know yet either, so shall we meet them first?”
“Okay.”
Seeing that I seemed to be in a better mood, Mom lay down on the sofa with me and hugged me.
“Daughter, will you get mad if Mommy gives you kisses?”
“Yeah.”
“Aww, let’s kiss~”
“I said no.”
“Ah, I don’t care. Mwah, mwah, mwah.”
“Eeeek!”
A few days later, Mom and I went to a cafe near our house to meet an advertising company representative.
When we arrived at the cafe, a man who had been sitting there seemed to recognize us at a glance and approached us.
“Ah, you’re here. You must be Dohee. Nice to meet you. You look even more like a doll in person than in photos~”
“Hewwo.”
“And this is your mother?”
“Ah, yes, I’m Dohee’s mom. Hello.”
“Shall we order something to drink first? I’ll place the order. What would you like?”
“Ah, thank you. I’ll have a warm Americano, please.”
“What about Dohee?”
“Hot chocolate.”
When I said hot chocolate, Mom looked at me with an amused smile.
“Haha, our Dohee acts like an adult all the time but has a baby’s palate, huh?”
I glared at Mom and said,
“Ha, I’m a baby so of course I have a baby’s palate. Scientifically, children are designed to like sugar.”
“Hehe, our baby~ Come here, let Mommy hug you.”
It’s not that I particularly like sweet things.
And it’s not like a baby can drink coffee or tea.
“Dohee, the mister will buy you cake too. Want some?”
“Yes, strawberry cake please.”
*Pfft.*
Mom covered her mouth and laughed.
Ah.
Once the order came out, we began talking in earnest about the commercial as we drank.
“First, I’d like to hear what kind of commercial it is.”
“Ah, right. To put it briefly, it’s an aloe beverage commercial.”
“Ah, an aloe drink commercial?”
“Yes, aloe has such a healthy and green image, so it’s good to have a cute child model.”
“There must have been many mothers who wanted their children to do it.”
“That’s right. Actually, we usually hold auditions for that reason, but after accidentally seeing Dohee’s photo, we thought she was a perfect fit for the commercial image and didn’t even need to hold auditions.”
To me, what kind of commercial it was didn’t matter.
“Mom, lend me your ear.”
“Hmm? Something you want to say?”
When Mom brought her ear close, I whispered,
“The most important thing is how much they pay. Ask about that first.”
“Tsk, our princess shouldn’t focus on money already. You’ll get scolded.”
Mom was unusually saying she’d scold me.
I had to ask myself.
“Mister, so how much do you pay for the commercial?”
“Hey, Lee Dohee!”
“Hahaha, was that what you were curious about? How much do you want?”
“I researched everything before coming. You make the first offer.”
“Kekekek. Alright, the appearance fee is set at 2.5 million won for six months. We’re paying more because it’s a major corporation.”
“Ey, if it’s a major corporation, shell out a bit more. What’s 2.5 million? Pay just a bit more and I’ll give a jaw-dropping performance.”
“Dohee, aren’t you going to stop? Who acts rudely while adults are talking? I’m sorry, our child was raised receiving nothing but love.”
“Not at all. She’s just cute. Haha.”
“Right, being cute earns forgiveness.”
“This won’t do. Lee Dohee, you’re getting scolded when we get home later.”
“It’s because Mom keeps teasing me—how is that my fault?”
The meeting proceeded in such a pleasant atmosphere, and the fee was decided at the initially quoted price.
I felt like I could’ve gotten more if I coaxed him a bit, but I couldn’t because of Mom. Ugh.
“Then we’ll text you the location before the filming day, so let’s meet at the set in two weeks. Dohee, bye bye~”
“Yes, goodbye, mister.”
“You worked hard. See you next time.”
In Mom’s car on the way home, her gaze was ominous in a different way.
It seemed she was really going to scold me this time.
Well, I had been a bit rude.
I hadn’t acted like a gentleman.
Pretending to know nothing, I asked Mom with baby-like eyes,
“Mom, what’s for dinner tonight?”
“Dunno. Eat what’s there.”
“Is Mom sulking?”
“Hah. I’m not sulking, I’m angry. Get ready to be scolded when we get home.”
“Eyy, you’re going to scold such a pretty daughter?”
The corner of Mom’s lips twitched.
“Hm?”
Even though I used to be an adult man, I was now a five-year-old princess—no, a five-year-old girl—and having adapted quickly, I felt no shame.
None.
That’s right, none.
I said none.
“Hmm?”
“Hmph, I won’t let you off even if you act cute and do aegyo.”
She really, really seemed ready to scold me.
I decided to act intimidated until we got home.
The moment we entered the house, I immediately ran to my room and crawled under the bed.
“Lee Dohee!!!”
Hehe, did you think I’d obediently let myself be scolded? I’ve got a long way to go.
“Aren’t you coming out?”
No matter how much Mom stretched her arm, she couldn’t reach me tucked deep under the bed.
“You’re the only one who loses if you keep this up. How long are you going to stay there?”
“I’ll come out if you say you won’t scold me.”
“Just come out and get scolded quickly. You have to study and play piano, things Dohee likes.”
“I’ve done so much until now that I can skip a day.”
“You have to eat, right?”
“Dunno. I’ll starve.”
Mom kept trying to coax me, but it was no use.
When coaxing didn’t work, Mom started threatening.
“If you keep this up, Mommy will take all of Dohee’s commercial fee.”
“What!!! How could you say that?!”
“What kind of way is that to talk to your mother? Hurry and come out. I won’t scold you too much.”
“You really won’t scold me too much?”
“Yeah, now hurry out.”
“You lied during the day too. If you lie again, the trust between Mom and me will decrease. You know that?”
At that, Mom’s eyes wavered again.
I knew it, I knew this would happen.
“See, it was a lie after all. If you keep doing this, how can your daughter trust you?”
“Ugh, fine. Mommy will let it go this time, but you have to be polite next time, okay?”
“Okay, thank you!”
After a dramatic compromise with Mom, I regained my freedom and was able to keep my daily routine until dinner time.
That evening at dinner,
Mom told Dad about what happened that day.
“So I couldn’t even scold her. Ugh.”
“Haha, then should Dad scold her instead?”
“Hmm???”
Dad stood up.
“Ah, don’t.”
“I said don’t.”
Dad ignored me and picked me up as I quietly ate my rice.
*Smooch.*
“Okay, stop now.”
*Smooch, smooch.*
“Gah!!! You rascal, can’t you stop now?!”
*Smooch, smooch, smooch, smooch.*
“Waaaah!”
*Smooch, smooch, smooch, smooch, smooch.*
“Mom, save me, I was wrong!!!! Aaaack!”
After enduring the cruel torture, I staggered to my room and collapsed on the bed.
*I shouldn’t act up anymore in the future…*