My Girlfriend Is Very Good to Me

TL/Editor: looloo

Status: ongoing

Illustrations: posted in discord

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Sarang finally fell asleep, exhausted from crying. Her mother sat beside her, comforting her with a face on the verge of tears.

Watching them, Lim Sunhee - mother to Heena and Heeseong, grandmother to Sarang - thought to herself:

'It's not like my son-in-law went off to war...'

She understood her granddaughter's reaction to an extent. Yeonho had been spending more time with Sarang this year, and the child had always been oddly attached to her father.

At that age, even a few days apart could feel like an eternity.

But Heena's reaction seemed excessive. Their affectionate relationship was nice to see, but this was too much.

Heena wasn't a high schooler anymore. She was a grown woman with a job. To be this distraught over her husband's 5-week boot camp stint seemed ridiculous.

Sunhee had plenty to say, but held her tongue. With her daughter looking ready to burst into tears, it didn't feel right to voice those thoughts.

As soon as they got home...

"Mom, Mother. I'm going to put Sarang to bed and rest a bit myself..."

"Alright, get some sleep too."

"Don't worry too much about Yeonho. Just rest well."

"Thank you..."

After Heena took Sarang into the bedroom, Sunhee immediately spoke up. She couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Seriously, you'd think he was deployed to Iraq. I know she's my daughter, but still..."

"Don't say anything. Sarang might start crying again."

"Of course. I'm really worried about Sarang... She'll probably start crying for her dad when she wakes up."

"It's a good thing he's doing alternative service. If he had to do active duty, I don't know how Heena would cope."

Sunhee wasn't alone in her thoughts. The other two shared similar opinions. The couple's lovey-dovey behavior was sometimes sickeningly sweet, but also over the top.

After discussing Heena's excessive affection, the topic shifted to Sarang.

"Heeseong, do you have any big cat plushies?"

"Of course. Should I buy one? I haven't gotten anything too big since there are so many people at home."

"If you see one, buy it."

"Got it. I'll look for one later on my date."

Sarang's favorite was her dad, Yeonho, but cats were a close second. Well, her mom Heena was probably somewhere in between.

As Sunhee thought of ways to comfort her granddaughter, she looked around the house and sighed.

"The house does feel empty without Yeonho..."

"Well, he was always at home, so that's to be expected."

"That's part of it, but... Sis, do you know how nice it is to see Yeonho's smile? When he greets me, it makes me feel so good. It's comforting."

"Yeonho does have that effect. His voice is pleasant too, isn't it? Not exactly melodious, but there's something about it."

"Right? Plus, with Yeonho always home lately, it's been convenient for me to run errands."

Of course, she wasn't as heartbroken as her daughter. But you don't know what you've got till it's gone. Thinking about tomorrow already filled her with a sense of loss.

Heeseong, however, had different thoughts.

'Hmm... Sarang will probably only be like this for a few days... Once Heena goes back to work, I'll have her all to myself, right?'

He was worried about his brother-in-law, sister, and niece to some extent. But the situation didn't seem that serious.

After all, Yeonho had just gone to boot camp for 5 weeks. If he had been deployed overseas, that would be cause for real concern.

Honestly, seeing his sister today made him think some time apart might be good for them.

He had gotten so used to Yeonho being stuck to his sister that he took it for granted. But today, it really hit him how little time Yeonho had to himself.

Helping with housework, looking after Sarang, never allowed to go anywhere alone when Heena got off work - he was always tied down by those two.

Of course, being a father meant giving up some freedom, but this seemed excessive.

Anyway, he was thinking about monopolizing Sarang's attention during this time. No matter how well he treated her, Sarang would only respond briefly before going back to following Yeonho around.

But now, if he played with her at home and helped with daycare drop-offs, he might get closer to her.

He wanted to become Sarang's number one uncle.

'First, I'll get her attention with a huge cat plushie, then when Heena's not around, I'll treat her to some tasty snacks. Winning over one kid should be a piece of cake.'n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Heeseong smiled, imagining Sarang playing or sleeping in his arms.

So that evening, he bought a massive cat plushie as tall as himself while on a date with his girlfriend, Cha Rin.

But despite spending a fortune on the cat plushie, Heeseong wouldn't be receiving any love from Sarang.

---

Raei Translations

---

Three days after Yeonho entered boot camp.

Heeseong sat dejectedly in the living room. He simply couldn't turn the little girl's heart.

Even though he had bought an extra-large cat plushie that she normally loved, Sarang wouldn't even glance at it.

She just listlessly drew pictures in her sketchbook. A picture of herself with her dad and mom.

Thankfully, she hadn't burst into tears since the first day, but her usual bright smile and aegyo were nowhere to be seen.

"Sarang, Uncle bought your favorite Excellent ice cream. Want some?"

"No... Sarang's okay..."

"Then shall we draw together? You know Uncle is good at drawing, right?"

"Sarang wants to draw alone..."

"I see..."

She showed little interest in the plushie, snacks, or ice cream. Heeseong finally threw his hands up in defeat, hoping his sister would come out of the bedroom soon. She had just gotten off work.

He had to admit there was nothing more he could do. His plans to monopolize Sarang's attention were already in shambles. His father, Lee Myunghun, shook his head at the sight of his granddaughter's dejected back.

"Should we... show her a video of Yeonho? Heena recorded plenty beforehand, right?"

"What if she starts crying for Yeonho after watching it?"

"Hmm... I guess you're right."

"I don't know what to do anymore... Cats, snacks, ice cream - nothing works."

The two men could do nothing for Sarang, who was more deeply hurt than they had anticipated.

They could only hope that Heena would somehow manage to heal her daughter's heart. With Sarang, who always brought laughter to the house, in this state, the entire atmosphere was gloomy.

Yesterday and the day before, Heena had worked late, leaving little time to care for Sarang. Finally, today she got off work at the normal time, giving her a chance to comfort Sarang.

When Heena came out of the bedroom after changing clothes, both men's eyes turned to her. Though she looked much gloomier than when Yeonho was around, she wasn't as bad as Sarang.

They just stared at her.

With eyes full of expectation.

---

Raei Translations

---

As I came out of the bedroom after changing clothes and grabbing my laptop, my brother and father were staring at me with desperate eyes.

"What are you two doing there?"

"Nothing... Just do something about Sarang. We got a call from the daycare earlier. They said she has no energy at all."

At those words, I turned away from them and approached Sarang. Having used up my vacation days when Yeonho entered boot camp, I had no choice but to be stuck at work for the past two days.

Before me, I saw Sarang listlessly drawing with crayons. I could understand my daughter's feelings better than anyone else in this world.

Though not to the point of soaking my pillow with tears, I still couldn't help missing Yeonho every day.

My husband, who was always by my side, was now gone.

"Sarang, are you drawing?"

But I was Sarang's mother. While I might indulge in my sadness when alone, I couldn't show such vulnerability in front of Sarang.

So I put on a small smile and spoke to Sarang from behind.

"Sarang... and Daddy... and Mommy... going to see kitties..."

"Oh? You drew it well. Is this Daddy?"

"Yes..."

Sarang's response wasn't very enthusiastic. Of course, how could she be when her beloved father wasn't around? Only Yeonho could truly solve this.

I placed my laptop next to Sarang's sketchbook and said:

"Sarang, do you want to watch Daddy's videos with Mommy?"

"When is Daddy coming...?"

"Daddy said, remember? He'll come back after Sarang sleeps well for forty nights. But Sarang, if you stay like this, Daddy might come back even later, you know?"

"But Sarang is being good!"

"Mommy knows Sarang is always good. But Sarang, you know how much Daddy loves your smiling face, right? Are you not going to smile for him?

If Sarang keeps smiling, Daddy might want to come back faster because he misses your smile so much."

"Really?"

"Of course~ Here, shall we write down how many nights are left until forty? Sarang can do it."

Other family members probably couldn't bring up Yeonho for fear of triggering Sarang's tears.

She had cried so much on the first day. Crying until exhausted, falling asleep, waking up and crying again. Only after being told multiple times that Daddy would come back later did she finally stop crying.

Of course, since then she had been like this, as she was today.

I praised Sarang as she carefully wrote down the numbers from one to forty without missing any.

"You wrote them so well~ Now, we'll count one number together with Mommy every day. Okay? When Sarang finishes counting all of these, Daddy will come running to hug Sarang."

"Sarang will! Sarang will count every day!"

"That's right, shall we start from today? Sarang, what's the very first number?"

"One!"

"My Sarang is so smart~"

Feeling the energy return to her voice, I played a video on my laptop. Inside the folder were countless videos. Videos that he had recorded in advance, for me and for Sarang.

And in the first video I played, thankfully, Yeonho's face immediately appeared on screen. My heart ached as soon as I saw him. I missed Yeonho so much.

But if I showed my pain now, the comfort I had just given would be meaningless. Though Sarang wasn't looking at me, I maintained my smile as best I could.

[ Heena, did you press the record button? ]

[ Yeah, I did! ]

[ Really? Sarang~ Come here! Daddy will give you a hug! ]

[ Okay!! ]

[ Oof! That body slam was a bit... ]

"It's Daddy! Mommy! Daddy's there!"

"Who's there with Daddy?"

"Sarang! Daddy and Sarang together!"

"But look how beautifully Sarang is smiling there? Can you see how happy Daddy is looking at Sarang's smile? Can our Sarang smile like that too?"

"Yes! Sarang can smile prettily!"

I gently hugged Sarang from behind as she bounced excitedly in her seat, watching Yeonho in the video. From then on, we slowly watched the video together.

Engraving in our eyes the image of Yeonho, who always showed us his beautiful smile - though we couldn't see him now.

Yeonho must be struggling much more than us, both physically and mentally. I couldn't stay dejected.

Not just Sarang, but I too had to smile prettily like I did in the video.

On the day my husband, Sarang's father, returns to us, we must greet him with smiles as beautiful as blooming flowers to put his mind at ease.

"I miss Daddy..."

"Mommy misses Daddy so, so much too. So let's smile prettily together so Daddy can come back quickly. Okay?"

"Okay... Sarang will smile prettily..."

"Yes... Our Sarang is so good and pretty..."

So please.

Stay healthy and safe.

Come back to us.

---

Raei Translations

---

At that moment.

While Sarang regained some of her spirit, Heena did her best as a mother, and the rest of the family breathed a sigh of relief.

Oblivious to all of this, I was...

"Damn, this is delicious. What's it called again... Wa? It's called Wa? Don't they sell this outside? I don't think I've seen it before."

"Holy shit, it's so good... It tastes even better after getting chewed out at lunch."

"You idiot! You got caught eating MSG and that's why you got chewed out! Oh man... If only we hadn't been caught!"

"Come on, Yeonho. Don't be like that. You took a bite too, it's not fair to just blame me─ mmph!"

"Shut up!"

I was bickering with my bunkmate.

Since we couldn't use the PX yet, we weren't eating something bought there, but rather some MSG seasoning this guy had smuggled in when he enlisted. We got caught and chewed out for it.

But damn, it was tasty.