Chapter Text
In all honesty, every Saturday Sol dreads going to her mother’s house for dinner. It is a long tradition. One that got started after Sol graduated from Hankuk University and “officially” moved out of her mother’s house and into the shared apartment that her and Joon hwi rented together. To give her blessing about them living together before marriage, she made them promise that they will have dinner with her and Byeol every saturday. Crazily enough they agreed. And since then, every Saturday, no matter what happens, her and Joon hwi drive over from work to her mother house for the inevitable dinner.
In the beginning, Sol did not mind. In fact, Sol even welcomed it. What is not to like, she gets to spend the evening with her three most favorite people in the world and she gets a free meal. Plus, her mom always packs numerous side dishes for them to take on their way home. Sol was even more excited and looked forward to these dinners more after she started working well enough to buy her mother a new apartment that is a ten minute drive away from the apartment that her and Joon hwi share. That shortened the drive by a good forty minutes. Moreover, it stopped Sol from feeling guilty every time she had to leave Byeol and her mother by themselves in this dangerous area.
No, Sol definitely did not always dread saturdays. She only started dreading them after her thirty five birthday. When her mom started seeing a relentless clock over Sol's head every time she met her. In the beginning, her mom only dropped the subtlest hints. A comment there about “How it has already been five years since Sol and Joon got married.” A statement about “how time passes very quickly.” A conversation about “how their neighbour just gave birth to her FOURTH child, even though she is only THIRTY years old”.
Okay so maybe they were not that subtle, but they were indirect enough that Sol can just act like she does not understand and let the conversation fall. And for two years, this method worked until her twin sister Kang Dan gave birth to two healthy twin boys. And then all hell broke loose and any subtlety was thrown out of the window.
Since then, Sol dreads meeting her mom, knowing how passive aggressive she gets in her quest to convince her daughter to have children. As a result, Sol tries her best to avoid her mom, which means constantly finding excuses to not go to Saturday's dinner. After a lot of trial and error, Sol discovered that the only time her mom allows her to skip dinner is when she tells her that she is sick.
Thus, Sol started faking sickness to avoid seeing her mom. She was even able to convince Joon hwi to help her, who definitely knew that she was acting sick yet collaborated her story when her mom asked. And for a couple of weeks, this trick worked, allowing her to escape from her mom’s clutches with her dignity intact
However, after citing being sick as the reason she was unable to come a couple of times in a row. Her mother unceremoniously showed up in front of their apartment to take care of her sick daughter and ended up staying with them for a week. In fact, Her mother only agreed to leave after she was sure that her darling girl is fine and in perfect health. During this nightmarish week, Sol’s mom kept judging Sol for everything she does, while justifying to Joon Hwi how even though “Sol is a bad wife, she still has a good heart” and how she will teach her better. To make matters worse, she kept reprimanding Sol about how Joon hwi cooks breakfast in the morning and how Sol orders out in the evening instead of cooking a healthy meal for herself and her poor husband. Not only that but she kept commenting about Sol work hours and how Sol needs to cut back her working hours and focus on her house more.
Sol knew that her mom does not mean to be so critical of her actions and that she actually cares for her. She also knows that her mom has been lonely ever since Byeol moved into college dorms. To make matters worse, her mom had to stop working due to her health. This led to her mom having a lot of extra energy that she seems to want to dedicate to her middle child. But even though Sol understands the struggles that her mom has been dealing with, these hardships do not excuse the way she has been treating her. In the end, Sol had to drop heavy hints about how she and Joon want to spend some alone time to finally get her mother to leave.
For Sol, her mother nitpicking about her faults was not really what hurt her the most. She was used to it. From a young age her mother would always compare Sol's mediocre grades to Dan’s excellent one. She would always point out Sol’s unruly behavior and comment about how she is a lady right now and need to act like such. Instead, what really pained her was how her mother kept insinuating that she did not deserve Joon. How her mother kept making underhanded comments about how she is a bad wife and such. It reminded Sol of their early dating days, when no one would understand why a second round exam passer would possibly want to date a student who keeps barely making the cut.
It unsettled Sol more than she is willing to admit. Especially now that Sol is considered one of the best attorneys currently in the field and that she is able to win most of her cases. So days of people looking down at Sol or underestimating her is just a mere thing of the past. Nowadays, people look at Sol with admiration and respect, or at least everyone except her own mom.
After a little bit of ceasefire, where Sol was able to take a much needed distance from her mom. Sol felt that she is now better prepared to face her mom and decided that she will simply not take any comment her mom says to heart. So,when the morning came, with just a mild reluctance, Sol started getting ready for the day. She made sure to wear the prettiest suit and most elegant heels that she owns, even though most days she forgoes heels to wear her trusty, comfy sneakers. To top it off, Sol even got ready extra early to give herself time to donne her makeup. Something that Joon hwi merely raised an eyebrow about but wisely chose not to comment. He only complimented her, saying something about how she simply looks breathtaking while kissing her forehead before going to work.
Sol was aware of the fact that her looking breathtaking as Joon put it will likely not stop her mom from pointing out her flaws nor will it stops her from commenting about the lack of children in Sol’s life. However, a small part of Sol had hoped that when her mom saw how competent and professional Sol looked, she would be more reluctant to push for kids.
Of course, Sol was mistaken as always. It did not go bad from the beginning. Even though Sol ended up arriving the lastest. She still arrived on time, something that rarely happened. To top it off, Sol just got a promotion from work. This made Sol feel lighter and happier than she has been in ages.
Thus, when her mom asked Sol about if there is any new update in her life (meaning is she pregnant). Sol naively thought that if she shares the fact that she just got promoted at work, her mom would be more willing to cut her some slack about the children issue. However, her mom immediately rebuttal her achievement by asking her if she is gonna accept this promotion or not. And then went off ranting about how she already dedicates most of her time on work and how she will never be able to cut back on working hours if she keeps accepting all of these responsibilities at work.
Sol suddenly felt tears rushing to her eyes. Was it really too hard to expect her mother to be proud of her hard work? This promotion did not just drop on her head out of nowhere. No, she paid for this promotion through her work, blood and tears. Sol suddenly felt so defeated and let down that the only thing she could do was excuse herself from the table and goes to the kitchen to try and collect her thoughts.