Accidentally become a father-Chapter 54: Data, Not a Sin
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It took about five minutes to clean up the puddle of soy sauce.
I mopped the floor.
Yuna wiped the counter.
Her movements were still cautious. Sometimes too cautious.
She seemed afraid of making a second mistake.
Once the floor was no longer sticky, I wrung out the mop in the sink.
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"That’s enough."
Yuna was still scrubbing a small spot on the counter.
"...there’s still a little bit left."
"It’s fine."
She stopped.
Stared at the counter for a moment.
Then put down the rag.
The kitchen looked the way it had before.
Small. Cramped. But no longer like the scene of an accident.
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I opened the fridge.
There were still a few eggs left.
I took out two.
Yuna watched from behind me.
"...Is Papa going to cook?"
"A repeat experiment."
She tilted her head.
"...Experiment?"
I placed an egg in her hand.
"Hold this."
She immediately tensed up.
"...What if it breaks again?"
"If it breaks, it means we know the threshold for excessive force."
She stared at the egg like a fragile object that might explode.
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I pointed to the kitchen counter.
"Tap it here."
Yuna hesitated.
"But earlier... it smashed."
"That was because you used too much force."
I stood behind her.
Her hands were small.
I held her wrist lightly.
"At this angle."
I guided her hand a little.
"Just a little force."
She swallowed.
"Like this?"
"Yes."
The egg was tapped against the counter.
Tap.
A thin crack appeared on the shell.
Yuna froze.
"...It cracked."
"Good."
I nodded toward the clean bowl on the counter.
"Now open it."
She separated the shell carefully.
The egg white fell into the bowl.
The yolk remained intact.
Yuna stared at the bowl with wide eyes.
"...It worked."
"Yes."
She looked genuinely surprised.
As if she had just discovered a magic trick.
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"I... can do it."
"You can."
I cracked the second egg the same way.
We beat the eggs in the bowl.
Added a little sugar.
A little soy sauce.
I turned on the small stove.
The pan heated up.
Yuna stood beside me.
Observing intently.
As the eggs were poured into the pan, she said quietly,
"...I thought Papa was going to be mad earlier."
"Why?"
She looked at the floor.
"...Because I made a mess in the kitchen."
"Kitchens often get messy."
"At Mama’s house... that wasn’t allowed."
I didn’t answer right away.
The egg in the pan began to set.
---
I rolled it slowly with chopsticks.
Yuna watched the movement.
"If I made a mistake..."
She paused for a moment.
"...I usually got yelled at."
I transferred the rolled egg to a plate.
Then said,
"A mistake is not a crime."
Yuna looked at me.
I continued in the same tone.
"A mistake is just data."
"...Data?"
"Information about what doesn’t work."
I cut the tamagoyaki into several pieces.
"If an experiment fails, we don’t punish the experiment."
"Then what?"
"We try again with a different method."
I placed the plate on the folding table in the living room.
Yuna sat across from me.
The tamagoyaki didn’t have a very good shape.
One side was slightly burnt.
I took a piece.
Chewed it.
It tasted a bit too salty.
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"Too much soy sauce."
I swallowed.
"Good data."
Yuna stared at her piece of egg.
"...Can I eat it?"
"Yes."
She picked up a small piece.
Bit into it gently.
She chewed for a few seconds.
Then her eyes widened slightly.
"...It’s good."
"It can still be improved."
She nodded.
For the first time since coming to this apartment—
Yuna smiled.
Not the polite smile she usually showed to adults.
Not a smile that looked practiced.
But a small smile.
Light.
Like a child who finally felt safe.
We ate in silence.
In the small kitchen that was now clean.
And for that day—
no other experiments needed to be done.
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