Chapter 13:

Jung dried his hands with a small rag in the kitchen as he finished the dishes. He turned to his mom, who is doing some needlework with his dad’s old shirt. ”The kitchen’s clean,” he announced. “Anything else I can do?”

“Thank you, son," his dad said absently as he buried his head in some paper work he brought home.

"Thank you, my cute prince. Go study now." Jung's mom said with a smile. Jung started walking towards his room when a new message appeared in front of him. He received a quest to finish all his chores before 9 p.m., so the chiming sound of a new window prompt was expected. When he read it though, the reward was something new to him.

Congratulations!

You are able to complete the quest "Chores before 8 p.m."

-You received 150 XP

-You received 1 Skill point

He raised an eyebrow as he sat on his bed, still looking at his window prompt. The XP was more or less in the expected range for a bonus XP reward for this kind of quest. But he didn't expect the 1 skill point reward as well. It was rather rare for a mundane quest like the one he just finished to give him a valuable reward like.

Jung smiled as he opened his workbook. It might be a surprise for him, but it was a pleasant surprise. He started on the next series of questionnaires but his heart isn't really in it. As far as he can tell, Jung is doing advanced topics at least 3 to 4 lessons ahead of what his teachers are teaching him in the mathematics curriculum now.

Idly his thoughts went back to school that day when Eun Mei growled at him for offering to help her in her assignments. He couldn't help but smile wanly at the memory when the fiery girl almost bit his head off.

He was curious if the girl liked eggplants. His eggplants in the garden will be ready in a matter of days. Jung can bring her a number of the larger one-- Hmmm…Maybe not the eggplants, he thought grimly. The kids are idiots and may misinterpret it and tease her about it. That will undoubtedly aggravate her feelings for him even more.

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I'll just wait for the tomatoes to grow, Jung thought. Everyone loves tomatoes. Especially the big juicy-.

"OWW! Ouch!"

Jung was back flipping out of his chair and bursting out of his room the moment his brain registered the distress in his mother's voice. He exploded out of his room and look left and right, looking for any potential danger. He saw his father looming over his mom's hand and dabbing a cloth over her finger.

Little Jung was comically jumping up and down while stomping his feet in his panicky distress as he saw the small blood in the cloth. "Aahh! What happened to mother!!" he cried. "Who did this?! Do we have an intruder? Where is he?! I’ll kick his ass!"

His mother gestured for him to get closer and when he did, his mom's hand reach out for him.

Then she karate chop his forehead. "Gaah!" Jung squeaked. For a moment, both parents continued to argue as they ignored Jung who is rolling in the floor while holding his head.

"Stop being so melodramatic, young man" His mother admonished Jung. The boy immediately jump back to his feet and looked attentively at his mother with concern and attention. "It was just a pinprick from the needle."

"Then don't shout like a banshee," Jung's father growled, still examining his wife's hand. "Even I was startled there for a moment."

"I did not shout like a banshee" Jung's mom harrumphed. "The pinprick just surprise me a little."

"Could have fooled me," his father said under his breath. But he did not continue when his wife glared at him. "Anyway, stop sewing in the middle of the night! You are clearly tired and the little light from the lamp is not good enough for your eyes!"

"Look who's talking!" Jung's mom retorted. "Who brought his work here and is writing a paper load of report under the lamp?!"

"My eyes are better than yours, old woman!"

"Who you calling old, you decrepit old coot!"

Jung's face helplessly followed the argument like a tennis rally as his parents started arguing. Suddenly, his mom waved his dad's favorite polo shirt in front of his face. "This is the shirt you are going to use tomorrow when you make your report to the regional office. How would you feel if your report missed the mark because you look like an old beggar with holes in his uniform?"

"I'll feel a lot worst if you forced me to carry your heavy ass to the clinic if you fell ill because of a stupid shirt!"

"Who you calling heavy! I'll have you know I'm as light as a feather!"

"And whose fault is that?!" roared his father. "What used is it to bring food into the table if your missus is not eating anything! I have a mind to-"

"I can do the needlework!" Jung interrupted. "Mom can rest. I'll do the rest of the needle work and dad- you can continue with your work. I can review your report and edit your paperwork later."

"Look at this cheeky kid! Ordering us around as if he’s boss of the house." Jung got bopped in the head, a flicked in the nose and a cupped in the ears for daring to get between his parents. But to his astonishment, the 2 reluctantly agreed to Jung's proposal.

Jin Ae, Jung's mom, set him aside and taught him about the rudimentary art of sewing. When Jung got the basics of the needlework, his mom excuse herself and said she'll take a quick nap then check on his work. The moment her head hit the pillow, she was fully asleep.

Her husband's weather-beaten face relaxed a bit looking at her sleeping form and started covering her frail body with the only blanket they have. He patted her shoulder and look at her for a moment before he return to his own work.

"Thank you, son," Kim Hyusil said quietly.

Startled, Jung just blinked at his father for a moment. After a time, he understood and hid a smile. They quietly work in the middle of the night in warm comfortable silence.

Jung didn't even bother to read the new skill he learned from the system. Something about tailoring, and he couldn’t care less about it at the time.

Jung just dismissed the prompt and silently enjoyed the moment.