Date? (1)
The awkward atmosphere left us eating without a word, so the meal wrapped up quickly. Ji-an must have been finished too; she was rubbing her tummy and muttering to herself.
“Ugh… I’m so full~”
She leaned back in her chair, rubbing that little belly of hers, and the sight was so unbelievably cute that a laugh slipped out of me. Noticing my smile, Ji-an glanced at my stomach, then at her own, before declaring,
“Ji-an’s belly is chubby…”
Even at six, she was still a little girl. The way she poked her slightly rounded tummy with a worried frown was honestly adorable.
“Hmm… isn’t that just because you’re full?”
“Aren’t you full, Sis?”
When she reached out to touch mine, I tightened my abs on purpose and puffed my stomach out like a balloon. Ji-an’s eyes flew wide open the moment her fingers made contact, and she stared up at my face in awe.
“!! Sis’s belly just got super puffy!”
Was it my imagination, or did her words come out a little strangely? She seemed to find my inflated stomach hilarious; she kept patting it and giggling, and I found it almost impossible to stop.
“Sis’s belly is puffy too! Hehe.”
“Ji-an? Let’s get ready to head out now.”
I was starting to tremble from the strain when Ha-jun wiped Ji-an’s mouth with a wet tissue and spoke. Her hand finally left my stomach. I let out a long breath of relief and looked at him.
“Shall we stop fooling around and go?”
“Huh? Oh… yes.”
He must have thought we were just playing. Looking back, it probably did seem a bit childish. I lowered my head and stood up from my seat.
“Let’s go buy clothes now!”
Ji-an was so eager she grabbed my hand and tried to drag me straight to the door. While my attention was on her, Ha-jun had already finished paying.
“All set. Let’s go.”
“Ah. I could have paid. I’m sorry.”
He approached me with the same casual familiarity, but it still felt burdensome. Yet when he shook his head, his expression was utterly firm.
“Miss Seoyeon, if you keep apologizing every single time, you’ll run out of energy. I’d really appreciate it if you could just relax about it.”
As he spoke, he picked up a single candy and placed it in my palm. Last time Ji-an had given me candy. How could father and daughter be so alike?
“Thank you…”
I stared at the candy for a moment, then looked up. Ha-jun was watching me with a smile that said the gesture was the most natural thing in the world. Just like before, I slipped the candy into my pocket with a soft crinkle of plastic.
“Sis! Let’s go!”
“Shall we head out?”
Two completely different people calling me in the same way—it made me laugh despite myself.
“Yes. Let’s go.”
I answered louder than I’d meant to, and it felt like something tight inside my chest had suddenly popped open. My steps through the city felt lighter than before. People strolled by with smiles on their faces, and I spotted several children around Ji-an’s age.
“Daddy! There’s a Poopoo friend over there!”
Ji-an pointed at a claw machine shop, her finger jabbing excitedly. Inside sat a gray-furred doll that looked far more like a wolf than a fox. We followed the delighted little girl toward the shop.
“Can’t you get that one for me?..”
“Eut…”
The sparkling eyes of a child at her cutest age were lethal. When I couldn’t meet her gaze and turned away, she simply switched targets to Ha-jun. He shook his head.
“Don’t we already have plenty of dolls at home? I’ll buy you one next time.”
“Hiiing…”
At his firm refusal, Ji-an let out a pitiful whine and turned those pleading eyes back on me. I tried to hold firm, but those bright, hopeful sparks kept catching my attention. A quick glance at the machines showed they had card readers. I made up my mind.
“…I’ll get it for you.”
“Really?!”
“Miss Seoyeon?”
Ji-an grabbed my arm in delight while Ha-jun stared at me, clearly flustered.
“She… she seems to want it so much. This is something I want to do for her…!”
“Sigh… I guess there’s no helping it.”
I walked over to the machine with the wolf. Sure enough, it held both wolves and the actual Poopoo doll. When Ha-jun reached for the bill slot, I gently blocked his hand.
“I want to do this with my own money.”
“Don’t claw machines usually take bills?”
Ha-jun looked at me with genuine confusion, his hand still hovering where I’d stopped it. I shook my head, lifted my phone, and tapped it against the terminal below.
“These days you can use a card terminal too.”
Of course I had only learned that a second ago, but I spoke as if I’d known all along. Ha-jun smiled and nodded.
“Looks like I’m a little behind the times.”
“Haha…”
A twinge of guilt hit me, but admitting I had just figured it out would only give him ammunition to tease me, so I simply laughed. When I turned back to the machine, Ji-an already had her face pressed right up against the glass. Eyes sparkling, she clenched both fists and declared,
“Sis! You have to save Poopoo’s friend no matter what!”
I smiled and gripped the joystick with fierce determination. Each movement felt strangely heavy at my fingertips. The stick that used to feel so light now required real effort.
“The joystick… feels heavier than it used to.”
“Hmm… does it?”
When I muttered to myself, Ha-jun gave the joystick on the neighboring machine a light flick. It whipped around instantly.
“Hmm… it does seem that way.”
“…”
I despaired at my new, weaker body and refocused on the machine. I poured every ounce of concentration into my slender fingers and began again. It shouldn’t have been difficult, yet sweat was already beading in my palms.
“Sis! There, right there!”
Ji-an’s eyes were huge as she scanned the inside of the case, calling out directions. I lined up the claw and pressed the button. The mechanism whirred, slowly descending until it clamped onto the wolf doll’s ear and began to lift.
“Ugh… yes! Hah!”
It slipped free at the last second. If only the grip had been just a little stronger.
“Eut! Aah…”
“Huu! Ah!”
The second and third attempts failed just as heartbreakingly. Why did it keep teasing me with such narrow misses? My hands were slick with sweat, so I lifted my head to wipe them—only to realize every person nearby was staring straight at us. Puzzled, I looked at Ha-jun. At some point he had pulled over a chair and was now sitting, gazing far out the window.
“Mr. Ha-jun?”
He only gave a small nod, refusing to meet my eyes.
“Sis! Only two tries left! Hurry!”
Ji-an, still glued to the machine, urged me on. I reached for the joystick again, but Ha-jun suddenly caught my hand.
“Se… Seoyeon! Let me do it!”
He was still sitting in the chair, yet his voice was frantic. My pride refused to back down.
“No… I really want to get it for her…”
“Ah! No— I mean, that’s not it! I want to try too!”
His flustered tone left me blinking in confusion as I stepped aside. The sight of him dragging the chair up to the machine looked strangely awkward. Why insist on staying seated? Because of his height? From behind, the tips of his ears were an unmistakable, vivid red.
“What? Daddy’s doing it now?”
“Uh… yeah.”
Ji-an seemed to find the sudden change odd and asked. Ha-jun gave a tiny nod and focused on the machine, carefully avoiding my gaze. The surrounding stares gradually melted away.
“Oh! Wow!”
I was still wiping sweat from my brow when Ji-an’s delighted cry made me look back. Ha-jun was bending down to retrieve the wolf doll he had won in a single try.
“Daddy, how did you do that?!”
Ji-an accepted the doll with pure wonder. Ha-jun smiled quietly and started to turn toward me, but then abruptly looked the opposite direction instead. What was that about? Why was he avoiding my eyes?
“Um… Miss Seoyeon, is there any doll here you’d like?”
“Can you really get it in one try?”
“Even so, just tell me. It might be possible.”
He spoke as if he had never dodged my gaze at all, peering intently into the machine. Though suspicious, I decided to let it go and looked inside.
“Hmm… if I had to choose, that bear over there.”
“The bear?”
“Yes. It looks so dependable, doesn’t it?”
He nodded in understanding, gripped the joystick with one hand, and put on a dead-serious expression. As the claw began its slow journey across the case, I unconsciously let out a sound.
“Eut! Right there!”
He paused for a split second, exhaled slowly, then refocused. Had I distracted him? I stayed as quiet as possible until the claw descended.
The doll dropped neatly into the slot. Without thinking, I gave Ha-jun’s shoulder a light pat.
“You got it! And on the very first try!”
“Y-yeah…”
Leaving the strangely awkward-sounding Ha-jun behind, Ji-an retrieved the bear and handed it to me. It had a tiny head and an enormous body, yet it was oddly charming and sturdy. How had he managed to hook it? There didn’t seem to be anywhere for the claw to grab, but somehow he had pulled it out. It was impressive.
“Shall we… take a short break?”
The suggestion caught me off guard. Maybe even he had tired himself out from concentrating so hard. I nodded.
It was the first time someone had given me a gift. When I was dating, even on anniversaries, I had always been the one giving. So this was what it felt like to receive something. It went beyond the simple present itself—it felt like someone had been thinking of me.
“Daddy~ How long are we resting?”
“Wait… if Dad stands up right now, it’ll be a real disaster.”
Ha-jun actually begged Ji-an, who was tugging at him to get moving. Had it really been that exhausting?