Pe-eng
The moment I saw the crowd decide it was time for photos, I called the penguins together.
"You cawwed?"
"Yeah. Those people tidied up your nests, so you ought to thank them."
"How?"
"Just stay put beside them. They might pick you up or pet you, but they're not trying to hurt you, so don't get scared."
"Awight!"
At that the penguins flapped their flippers as if to say they understood. I let out a short laugh and beckoned to the people who were staring at me, wide-eyed and blank.
"Let's start with a group photo!"
I herded the penguins in around us and shifted everyone else toward the back. Noona and I took the center with Soeun between us, and the shot found its shape from there: penguins filling the front row, the two of us and a handful of others seated behind them, and most of the crowd standing in the third row, each striking a pose of their own.
Once everyone had settled into place, the man who had come along from the government to document the work slipped quietly forward, a camera so large it could fairly be called enormous held in his hands.
"Three! Two! One!"
Without the slightest warning he launched into the count and snapped the shutter at once. Three seconds was all the notice anyone got, and for a moment the crowd flailed in confusion—but they were happy enough simply to have been in the picture.
I chuckled at the sight and called the guide over.
"Please tell them it's all right to hold the penguins and take selfies. And make sure they know they mustn't tease them or anything like that."
"Is that really allowed?"
"Yes. I got permission. From them."
I said it while pointing at the penguins. The guide looked thoroughly amazed and passed the word along, and the crowd burst into cheers, each person scooping up a penguin of their own. They hugged the birds as if they might die of the cuteness and snapped photo after photo. Someone did get a start when a penguin opened its beak and proudly displayed the inside, but on the whole everyone seemed satisfied.
Then, in that very moment, a few short shrieks rang out.
I turned toward the sound and found people stamping their feet as they stared out at the sea. I went over with the guide to see what had happened, and the story was utterly absurd.
"They were walking around with a penguin in their arms, trying to get a good shot, tripped on a rock, and sent the phone flying. They meant to protect the penguin, and ended up basically hurling the phone straight into the ocean."
"Haha..."
I let out an awkward laugh at the ridiculousness of it and looked out over the water. Then my gaze drifted to the penguin at my side.
"Oh!"
A thought flashed through my head. I brightened and called the penguin over, and the little one came waddling up, hopping across the small rocks of the beach. I pulled out my phone and held it up.
"Hey, something that looks like this went into the sea. Could you fetch it for me?"
"Awight!"
At my request the penguin dove straight in, shooting under the water like a missile. I had only a moment to wait before it burst back up with a splash, a phone clamped in its beak.
"Kyaa!"
I carried the phone straight to its owner. The person who had been stamping their feet and staring helplessly at the sea cheered as they took it, firing off thumbs-up after thumbs-up—and, of course, gave the hardworking penguin a gentle, grateful stroke as well. Needless to say, they also finished the selfie that had been the whole point, sitting on a rock with the penguin in their arms and the sea spread out behind them. Most of the others were taking pictures in much the same way.
"We ought to get going soon. By the time we reach the main island, it'll be nearly evening."
I was watching people take selfies with the penguins when the guide came over to say it was time to leave. I boarded at once with Noona, who had been photographing the birds, and the rest of the group climbed up after us.
"Pe-eng! Bye-bye!"
Soeun was sorry to say goodbye, though not so sorry she couldn't bear it; she waved her hand with all her might. I watched her for a moment, and then, with a booming roar of the engine, the boat began to move again. Slowly we drew away from the island, until it was nothing but a distant speck.
And then—
"Kweeeek!"
"I'm hewe!"
A single penguin split the sea and shot upward, landing boldly on the deck. It was possible only because the boat wasn't terribly high, and because the penguin had come flying at tremendous speed.
"Pe-eng!"
Before I, startled by the bird that had suddenly appeared, could even react, Soeun beside me marched over and seized its beak. Well, yes—the beak was shaped rather conveniently for grabbing. But would she please let go a little? I had questions for that one. I let out a small sigh as I looked at the penguin, its pupils trembling wildly. Right. You probably hadn't expected your beak to be grabbed the instant you arrived, either.
"Soeun, could you let go for a second?"
"Mm-mm!"
"Nngh..."
She had the beak in a tight grip and was shaking her head hard, and the awkwardness of it washed over me. It didn't last.
"Soeun. We don't do that."
Noona was there in an instant. She gently closed her hands around Soeun's, and the little fingers slowly came undone.
"Phew! I fought I was gonna die!"
Thanks to that, the penguin could breathe again. I snorted a laugh and lifted the little one up. It was barely half Soeun's size, so picking it up was no trouble at all. Holding it aloft, I stared straight into those pitch-black eyes and spoke.
"Why did you come here? You're supposed to live back there."
"Don't wanna! I wike her!"
At my words the penguin stretched both flippers out toward Soeun. Faced with a bird that had fallen completely for my daughter's devilish charm, I could only sigh and give my forehead a smack. What was I supposed to do with this one?
"I can't take you with us, you know."
"I dunno!"
The penguin wore a look that said such things were none of its concern, and the sighs came pouring out of me. The guide, who had been eavesdropping with open curiosity while I stood there sighing at the bird, traded a few words with Roberto and then came over wearing a bright smile.
"Roberto says he'll see what he can do, so you can take at least one penguin with you."
"...Pardon?"
"You run a café, don't you? One that's practically a zoo. So they can send a single penguin along as a gift to a zoo."
"Oh!"
I brightened at the explanation. Truth be told, I had wanted to keep at least one myself, if only because of how taken Soeun was with them.
"Hey, looks like you get to come along too."
"Weawwy?"
"Yeah. Go say thank you to that man."
"Fank you!"
At my words the penguin waddled up to Roberto and lifted one flipper with a flap.
"Oooooooooooh!"
Roberto looked half shocked to death and wholly delighted. The penguin, however, had no particular interest in him. It walked straight past and waddled at a run toward Soeun.
"Pe-eng!"
The moment she saw it charging her way, Soeun grabbed its beak all over again.
"Kweek..."
Beak caught, unable to get a word out, nothing but its flippers flapping—I had no choice but to press a hand to my forehead.
Why on earth does she keep grabbing the beak?
She was my daughter, and still I couldn't make sense of it. This time, though, she wasn't blocking the nostrils, so there was no need to stop her. The penguin seemed satisfied enough in its own way.
"Hee!"
The Tokkiz in one hand and the penguin's beak in the other, Soeun wore a look of perfect happiness. I looked at her and nodded. Well. If she was happy, that was enough.
"From now on, your name is Pe-eng. You like that too, right?"
Christened Pe-eng, just as Soeun called it, the penguin flapped its flippers as if the name rather suited it. With its beak still caught it couldn't nod or speak, so I had no idea what the flapping was supposed to mean. At any rate, we set off back toward our lodging with one new member of the family in tow.
"From here on out, it's real sightseeing!"
"Yahoo!"
A pure white sundress, a hat several times bigger than her head, and sunglasses that seemed to hide her whole face rather than just her eyes. Dressed as the very picture of a picnic, Noona held a similarly outfitted Soeun and shouted with all her might.
Among the honeymoon plans, cleaning up the penguin habitat had been as good as work, and something we absolutely had to do. That was already finished, so all that remained—just as Noona said—was sightseeing.
"All right. Sightseeing, let's go!"
I linked arms with Noona, took Soeun into my arms, and we stepped out of the lodging. The guide had been waiting, and together we headed for the day's destination.
"Today's theme is a marine tour. The Galapagos is famous for animals that evolved all on their own, but the sea here is famous too."
He spared no praise, telling us the Galapagos waters were so renowned that divers flocked in from all over the world, and with every word our anticipation swelled. The very next thing he said shattered it completely.
"Shall we start with the shark cage? There's a shark habitat a little way off, and you can go down inside a cage built to stop a shark's attack. It's safe, so please don't worry."
"Suhwan, you should try it! It'd be perfect to post on MyTube, don't you think?"
No. More precisely, only my anticipation had been shattered.