Come Again, Sir?

Around the time winter gave way to spring, a curious spectacle took root in the café. A game of train had formed — and at the very head of that train was none other than So-eun.

Now that she could roll herself over and had started to crawl, she no longer rode in the wagon Cheongho pulled. Crawling here and there to see the sights was her own particular joy, and her territory, naturally, was the house and the café.

"Bwah!"

As if crying charge, So-eun babbled and crawled forward across the floor, and the animals packed in around her. They kept watch in case she bumped into something or — heaven forbid — got bowled over by someone passing through. Cheongho circled as if patrolling the perimeter, while the Tokkiz pressed close at her side, braced for the moment she might tip or topple.

Had that been the whole of it, there would have been no reason to call the thing a train. But plenty of others followed behind.

"I wish we were going just a little faster!"

Maru had latched on out of pure curiosity at the way the crowd surged this way and that, and still she couldn't quite hide her disappointment.

"Huff—huff! Why must I be a creature of the wing!"

Flying would have carried him too fast to keep pace, so Yubu trudged after them on two feet, laboring for every step.

"Ma! ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠This right here's a rattle, I tell ya!"

"Sass the rattle, and I'll wallop ya with the rattle!"

Daepodong and Sopodong came rattling along in their wake, shaking the bells for all they were worth.

"Hehe, she's about the same speed as us!"

"Maybe 'cause our legs are about the same length?"

Jjamong and Chikin-i were comparing their own stubby selves to the crawling So-eun.

"So-eun is just too cute."

"Right? Honestly, even without the animals, she's worth coming all this way to see."

"Cheongho looks so dependable. Think I ought to adopt a military dog?"

"Excuse me, sir. Sorry, but would you mind if I went ahead? I'd like to get a few pictures too…"

"Oh, of course. I've taken plenty. I'll step aside."

Even the customers trailed after So-eun and the animals, snapping photos and filming as they went, until a long line had stretched out behind them. It crept along at a crawl, matched exactly to the pace of her progress.

Not everyone looked kindly on the train, of course. A floor a baby crawled across could be dirty, and there was always the chance she might pick something up and put it in her mouth. I had no reason to worry about either. The animals stayed glued to her twenty-four hours a day and looked after her to perfection.

"Ten paces to the Young Mistress's front! Contaminant spotted! Soolbbang, advance!"

"Chaaarge!"

Soolbbang, front paws planted hard on a cleaning cloth, kicked off with his hind legs at Cheongho's shout and slid forward. The coffee someone had spilled — the very spot Cheongho had found — vanished in an instant, and the floor came up clean.

"Contaminant eliminated!"

The moment the coffee was gone, Soolbbang shot off to the corner, tugged a fresh cloth from the stack of clean ones, and pressed it lightly beneath his front paws, already waiting on the next order.

Keeping the place clean was not left to Soolbbang alone.

"Ten paces, forward right! Bread fragment spotted! Magpie, descend!"

The instant Cheongho spotted a piece of bread no bigger than a finger lying on the floor, he called a magpie in. One of the birds flying outside the café came in fast, slipped through the door, and snatched the bread in a flash. Not so much as a speck of crumb was left behind.

"Euu!"

So-eun, who had been making straight for that bread, was the only one displeased. She puffed her cheeks and stopped where she was. Robbed of the prize she'd been after, she sat back on her bottom and rolled her two round eyes all around. Nothing else seemed to catch her interest. She let the strength drain out of her body and flopped straight over backward.

"Ah!"

The people watching her tip over looked startled, but there was no need to worry.

"The baby's gotten plump, sha! Extra heavy today, sha!"

The rabbits who had been watching her go over came pouring in all at once and caught her from behind. Whether she understood their spirit of sacrifice or not, So-eun broke into a sunny smile and grabbed Il-gito, right there ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠beside her.

"Too!"

Il-gito, I-gito, and the rest — because every one of the Tokkiz had a name ending in gito, So-eun had taken to calling the whole lot of them Too. And Il-gito, addressed as Too, promptly bit down on the mitten wrapped around her hand and peeled it off.

The mittens were there to protect her hands while she crawled, but once she was sitting they did more harm than good. A mitten smudged with dust could go straight to her face, so the rabbits were faithfully following the order to pull them off whenever she sat down. Glad, it seemed, to have them gone, So-eun seized a handful of Il-gito's fur with a bright smile. The fur was short, but her fingers were small and short to match, and holding on was no trouble at all.

"Aaaah! Someone's collapsed over here!"

"I am a doctor! Patient's current status: heart-flutter — correction, cardiac arrest! CPR must be initiated at once! You there, yellow hair, red top, green pants! Call 911!"

"M-me? Uh—uh! What's the number for 911 again!"

"Ah! The heart has resumed! Risk of a second swoon, so the patient must be moved somewhere they cannot see So-eun! Everyone, assist!"

There was a brief uproar, but it resolved in a flash, and I went over to So-eun. The sudden commotion had turned her head; she had spotted me, and she was reaching out to be picked up.

"Ba-bap!"

"Aigoo, your knees are covered in dust. You've been crawling hard, haven't you?"

"Bwah!"

I brushed off the knee pads — stuffed with guards and soft cotton, and gone a little black — and gathered her into my arms.

"Hmm. Time we started closing up."

It was already a little past six, and the day had gone dusky. I decided to shut the café a bit early. After a commotion like that, no one was in any state to relax over a cup of coffee. At my word the staff lit up and threw themselves into closing, and by the time I had finished holding So-eun's hand and giving it a shake, every last preparation was done. Sure enough, the way to get employees moving is an early clock-out — or a bonus.

We saw the customers out, finished the close, sent the staff home, and headed back to the house. Today, though, one thing was different from usual.

"So-eun! Say auntie! Auntie!"

"Mwoo!"

"Not mwoo — auntie!"

"Mwoo!"

"Hng."

Yeongji — my sister-in-law, and Noona's younger cousin — was coming home with us. She carried So-eun in her arms, grinning one moment and crumpling into a pout the next, and came into the house alongside us.

"You're staying for dinner, right?"

"Yeees! So-eun, let's eat num-nums with Auntie!"

"Num-nums!"

"Auu, you're so cute!"

Yeongji stamped her feet at how adorable she was, fetched the baby's high chair from its place at one side of the table, and sat her in it. She was still at the age where someone had to spoon-feed her, but the moment a spoon was pressed into her hand she gripped it tight and waved it around. I laughed at the sight, pulled the dinner things I'd prepared ahead of time out of the refrigerator, and set them out, while Noona got So-eun's baby food ready.

"So-eun, aaah!"

"It's a lot easier with Yeongji here."

Once the meal began, Noona and I felt an ease we didn't usually get. Tending to a baby like So-eun first always turned our own dinner into an ordeal, and with Yeongji spooning baby food into her mouth, of course it was comfortable. ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠And so, after a rare and easy meal, we gathered in the living room with fruit and fell into this and that.

"Unnie."

"Mm?"

"When do you think So-eun will be able to walk? I actually ordered her a pair of light-up squeaky shoes to give her once she does… hehehe."

Somewhere in the middle of the conversation, the subject of So-eun's first steps came up, and at the sound of it we turned toward her with expressions that had gone a little subdued. Babies, as a rule, start walking around their first birthday. So-eun's was drawing near, and she still hadn't taken a step.

"Well… honestly, a baby So-eun's age ought to be starting by now. But it seems she just doesn't feel like it yet."

When Noona told her as much, Yeongji looked startled. She had gone and bought shoes for a gift, only to hear there would be no point in putting them on.

"I-it isn't something wrong, is it?"

"They said it isn't. The doctor actually told us ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she's healthy. Some children just do it a little late, so we should wait and see."

"Right. Even if So-eun can't walk yet, she scurries around crawling with everything she's got. Isn't that so?"

"Bya!"

At my words she threw both hands up, as if to agree.

Just then I caught sight of Cheongho, who had been holding his post near the entryway as if on watch, slipping off toward the kitchen. He was going to drink from the water dispenser we'd set out for the animals.

"Huh?"

Watching him go, something felt slightly off. The moment So-eun saw Cheongho heading for a drink, she suddenly started to crawl.

……

I turned it over in my head for a moment, then called him back once he had finished his water and returned to his place.

"What is it, sir?"