My adopted daughter’s mukbang chapter 2

– Kyaaaa!

The moment I opened the orphanage’s door, the atmosphere changed completely. The first thing I heard was the lively laughter of children.

Children, brimming with energy like little kittens, were running wild through the orphanage’s corridors.

“Kids! Sister said not to run in the halls!!”

A nun in a white veil, who was also running through the corridor to calm the wild children, met my eyes.

“Oh my, hello. I haven’t seen you before. What brings you here?”

“Ahaha, hello. Well, I’m not sure how to explain this.”

The nun welcomed me with a kind and gentle smile.

Following the address in my brother’s will, I had come here, but I was at a loss for where to start explaining.

“Please, come in first. You seem to have a lot to share, so take your time.”

“Ah… yes, thank you.”

Feeling like a bad father who had come to leave a child at the orphanage, I followed the nun to a quiet counseling room.

Outside the window, children with beaming smiles were playing various games.

Usually, orphanages don’t have the best reputation, but the children at True Love Orphanage looked as ordinary and happy as could be, not like those who had lost their parents.

“Please, speak slowly. Any story is fine.”

“Well, actually, it’s not a very common story.”

“It’s okay. I’ve been working here for over five years, and I’ve rarely heard many uncommon story.”

“Well, then.”

Perhaps it was the nun’s gentle atmosphere, or maybe I subconsciously wanted to confide in someone.

Starting from my mother’s death when I was young, to receiving my brother’s obituary and the strange will that brought me here, I explained everything in unnecessary detail.

The nun listened to my story without any change in her expression, but at one point, she was visibly surprised.

“Excuse me. Did you just say, Lee Choa?”

“Yes, yes. That’s what was written in the will. Here.”

The nun, looking at my brother’s will as if she couldn’t believe it, asked me to wait for a moment and then left, returning about five minutes later.

The nun wasn’t alone when she returned.

A little girl.

Holding the hand of a very small girl, who looked to be about five years old.

“This child is Choa. Lee Choa.”

“Hello, mister.”

“……What?”

The little girl, as soon as our eyes met, bowed politely and greeted me. No, she was Lee Choa.

This child, who even shared my surname.

“Choa came to our orphanage at the age of two, three years ago. Her father left her with us, saying he’d come back for her but never did. His name was… Lee Sani.”

“So this child, then. Is my brother’s…”

“Yes. She’s your brother’s daughter. She would be your niece, Mr. Lee Bada.”

A daughter left behind by the brother I had only seen as a nemesis.

The only family I had left in this world, whom I thought was entirely gone.

***

Lee Choa made a strong first impression. Unfortunately, not in a good way.

From the moment I first opened the door to True Love Orphanage, to watching the children through the counseling room window.

Thanks to the love and attention from the nuns, most of the children were lively and playing happily, but Choa was quiet, as if she had matured too early.

Of course, it could just be that she has a quiet personality. But the moment Bada’s eyes met Choa’s, he could feel it immediately.

Great sorrow and wounds. And the immense efforts she had made at such a young age to overcome them alone.

As a result, her words naturally became fewer, her eyes hollow, and her default expression turned into a blank stare rather than a smile.

Naturally, he couldn’t help but understand. After all, he himself had been like that in his childhood.

And it was the same for his niece, whom he met for the first time.

‘So, my brother had a daughter.’

Bada was so shocked by the surprising fact that he couldn’t continue speaking, and at that moment, Choa cautiously approached him and looked up to ask.

“Mister, are you Uncle Bada?”

“I am… no?”

And then, the unbelievable words that followed.

Bada’s niece, whom he didn’t even know existed, knew his name.

“Daddy told me. He said Uncle Bada would come to see me soon.”

“My brother?”

“Yes. So, when Uncle Bada comes, he told me to greet you well and give you this.”

As if he had known Bada would come and had prepared for it, Choa handed him a small pouch.

With trembling hands, he opened the zipper and looked inside, finding a bankbook and a seal.

Lee Choa.

It was an account opened in his niece’s name. When he opened it and checked the records, he saw that the only deposit was 50,000 won made five years ago.

Judging by the timing, it seemed his brother had opened it when Choa was born. If so, then perhaps…

‘The password being 1004, that was the password for this account.’

The puzzle pieces slowly started to fit together.

He didn’t know what he was supposed to do with an account containing only 50,000 won, but money wasn’t the issue right now.

The nun who had been silently watching Bada and Choa opened her mouth.

“Choa is a very kind child. It’s hard to believe she’s only five years old, she’s so selfless and takes good care of the other kids.”

“Is that so.”

“But… she’s also a child with many scars. Her father, your brother, used to visit once or twice a month, but he suddenly stopped coming about six months ago.”

Six months since the visits stopped.

It made sense. That was when his brother had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and had been admitted to the hospital.

The last time he saw his brother, just before the cremation, his head was completely bald, and he was so thin that even a breeze could break his bones.

In such a state, he wouldn’t have been able to come to see his daughter. In a way, it was only natural.

Of course, neither the nun nor Choa knew that her father had cancer.

“Since then, Choa started closing her heart. She used to play a little, but then she suddenly spoke less and shut herself in her room, only reading books. I can’t even remember the last time I saw her smile.”

Bada knew that feeling all too well.

When his mother passed away. And when his trusted brother suddenly disappeared.

At first, he thought they would come back if he just waited a bit, but eventually, he gave up.

Even when he wanted to resent them, he couldn’t because of the feelings of guilt and gratitude, leaving him unable to freely curse them. That horrible feeling.

He hated it, but he knew it all too well.

That’s why he could be certain. It was too cruel a thing for a child only five years old to go through.

“Um… Mr. Bada.”

“Yes, Sister.”

“It might be an impertinent question, but… what do you want to do about Choa?”

“That…”

Bada couldn’t easily answer the nun’s question.

He turned his head and saw Choa reading a fairy tale book in the corner of the consultation room with a blank expression.

Bada knew. That child, pretending to be indifferent, knew everything. She wasn’t really seeing the words or pictures in the book, but was listening to the conversation between him and the nun.

“Honestly, I want to adopt her and raise her. If the circumstances allow.”

His brother? He was a hateful person. Ever since he left home, Bada had thought of him as a mortal enemy.

But his brother’s daughter, his niece, had done nothing wrong. What could that little child possibly have done wrong?

He wanted to raise her immediately. Because he knew too well the pain she was going through, he wanted to show her that there were many happy and good things in the world.

But money was always the problem.

‘I still have student loans to pay off and just got a job. Raising a child is out of the question.’

In truth, Bada’s situation wasn’t bad.

He had worked tirelessly, as if possessed by a grudge against delicious food, and he worked harder than anyone else.

Despite the hardships, the hungry child who dreamed of becoming a chef was now working as a chef at the only Michelin-starred Korean restaurant in Korea.

But that was as far as it went.

He had to work from morning till night. It was enough for him to live alone and plan for the future.

But to raise a child here?

Realistically, he couldn’t give her anything better than what she had at this charity orphanage.

“Then, how about you check it once?”

“Check?”

“There was a password written in the will. We only knew that Choa had received the bankbook, not the password. Of course, we weren’t interested in it. So, why don’t you check it out?”

The nun suggested.

She suggested that Bada take Choa to the bank.

After a moment of hesitation, Bada asked.

“What if I take the money and run? I don’t even know how much is in there.”

“Then that would be your brother’s will too.”

“Haha… I have no words.”

Seeing the nun give an immediate response as if it were the most natural thing, Bada thought he had lost.

After receiving the nun’s contact information in case anything happened, he took Choa outside the orphanage.

“Oh, right. I didn’t properly introduce myself as your uncle. I’m your dad’s younger brother.”

“Daddy told me. Uncle Bada.”

“Is there anything you want to eat? It’s almost lunchtime. If you’re hungry before we go to the bank, I can buy you something.”

“It’s okay. I can eat lunch when we get back.”

It was just as I had thought.

Choa had completely shut herself off, becoming indifferent to everything to protect her mental state.

Watching her like this made Bada’s heart feel incredibly heavy.

The other children at the orphanage seemed so happy and energetic, playing all day, eating heartily, and sleeping soundly—such simple joys for their age.

Lost in these complicated thoughts, Bada found herself in front of the bank.

Entering the bank, she took a number and waited in silence until it was her turn. Choa didn’t say a word unless Bada initiated the conversation.

When Bada saw her number flash on the display, she sat down in front of the bank clerk and handed over Choa’s passbook.

“I’m here to update this passbook.”

“Oh, sure. Just a moment.”

After a basic identity check, the bank clerk looked surprised and asked, “There are a lot of transactions here. It’s quite long to fit in one passbook. Should I print it out separately?”

“Yes, please.”

A lot of transactions? Just how much was there?

Bada was a bit flustered as she took the transaction statement the clerk handed her.

The statement was three A4 pages long, detailing the past five years of her brother’s life.