The Mart
Once So-eun took to crisscrossing the cafe at will, something settled over the place that you couldn't quite call a meme, and couldn't quite call a culture either.
It was this.
Whenever So-eun moved from one spot to another, a cry announcing her royal procession began to ring out. More precisely, every time she crossed the door between inside and out, people played it from their phones.
It had started, more or less, as a warning, so careless customers wouldn't bump into the tiny child toddling underfoot — but somewhere along the way it turned into a fan culture devoted to So-eun. What began as a simple animal-like noise grew, thanks to that, into a full announcement complete with historical-drama backing music.
…But why does So-eun seem to enjoy it?
She often looked oddly pleased to hear herself called Her Highness the Princess. I wondered if it was because she recognized the word princess from the fairy tales we read her now and then.
"Appa!"
Either way, that sound let me know she was coming before she arrived.
She came scurrying over with I-gito hugged in her arms, and when I picked her up she settled against me as if she belonged there.
"So-eun, what is it?"
"Appa, Appa! Snack! Please!"
Nestled in my arms, she gently set down the I-gito she'd been holding and held both hands out to me, palms open and neat. She'd been racing across the grass with the animals, and now that her stomach was starting to feel empty, she demanded a snack with perfect confidence.
"Want a snack, So-eun?"
"Yeah!"
A small laugh escaped me at the vigor of her nod. I scooped her up at once and headed for the counter. Even I didn't walk around with So-eun's snacks on me twenty-four hours a day.
Noona was there, sitting in a chair and looking at her phone. The moment So-eun saw her, she started waving both hands wildly.
"Hm? Why'd you bring So-eun over?"
"To give her a snack. Seems like she's hungry."
"You hungry, So-eun?"
"Mmm!"
So-eun nodded and scrubbed at her belly, and Noona immediately checked the time. Confirming it was an awkward hour for a proper meal, she pulled a small bag of snacks from under the counter — the low-sodium kind made just for babies, the ones So-eun loved.
"Oh? There's hardly any left. We'll have to buy more soon."
"How many are left?"
"Three. I thought we had plenty, but looking now, we don't."
Watching Noona hold up three fingers, So-eun copied her in pure delight and held up three of her own.
"Then how about we go to the mart today?"
"Mart!"
It wasn't Noona who answered. It was So-eun. We still couldn't leave a child that small and go any real distance, so we'd been taking her along, and somewhere in the middle of it she'd acquired a taste for the mart.
Sitting in the cart, looking over every product and every person, and coming away with a snack of her own — that was So-eun's joy. It was hereditary, of course. Noona liked the mart quite a bit herself. Department store or mart, once she went, she wasn't satisfied until she'd walked every last corner.
"Want to go to the mart?"
"Yeah, yeah!"
So-eun nodded so hard her hair fluttered.
Does she like the mart that much?
I shook my head and went back to my seat with the bag of snacks I'd taken from Noona.
"Appa, snack!"
The moment I sat down and tore the bag open, she started pestering me to hurry.
"Ahh!"
"Ah!"
I put a piece in her mouth the way she wanted, and she munched away with a perfectly happy face.
A snack portioned for a baby to finish in one sitting wasn't much, though, and it vanished in no time. Even so, true to a baby with a small stomach, she looked entirely satisfied with just that.
"Appa, bye-bye!"
Having gotten what she wanted in my arms, So-eun squirmed free and immediately started waving her hands around. Cheongho, Yubu, and the Tokkiz had appeared at her side at some point and taken up their posts.
"Kko!"
She led the animals off and toddled toward the lawn again, little arms pumping.
Someone had shut the door out onto the grass, and it was closed fast, but that was no problem for So-eun.
"Young Mistress, please go on through!"
Cheongho had already shot ahead and shoved the door open with his whole body, clearing a gap wide enough for her to pass. Not that she needed the help — small as she was, So-eun could have used the passages the animals came and went through.
And of course her personal background music had to kick in.
"Pyahaang!"
So-eun burst out laughing at the sound of her very own soundtrack, and the moment she reached the lawn she grabbed Cheongho and climbed straight up onto his back. She'd been riding him since she was practically a newborn. The motion was second nature.
"That way!"
Settled firmly on his back, she patted the nape of his neck and pointed where she wanted to go. Cheongho took off at a run toward the spot she'd chosen.
For a good while I watched, warm with it, as she laughed and ran and played with the animals. The customers in the cafe were no different. Shutters clicked and mixed with voices saying how cute she was, all of it blurring together into white noise.
And once So-eun had played herself into exhaustion and slept through one good snoring nap, it was somehow already closing time.
We saw off the many customers lamenting that they had to leave, sent the staff home, and what remained was our little family of three and a teeming mass of animals.
"Keep a good watch on the house. If a thief breaks in like last time, just give them a little grief and hold them."
"Don't you worry, sir!"
"Have faith in us alone!"
"Churu. When you get back."
At my words the animals each gave their answer and scattered to every corner of the house. We'd been together going on four years, so they no longer grew anxious when we weren't home. And we, for our part, weren't anxious about leaving them either.
"Shall we head out, then?"
"So-eun, let's go to the mart. The mart!"
"Maaart!"
Settled into her car seat by Noona's hands, So-eun flailed her arms and legs, delighted to be going. Reflecting that mother and daughter truly did love a mart, I headed for the one nearby.
It wasn't far, so we arrived quickly and finished parking. It was a weekday evening, and the place wasn't particularly crowded. While Noona got So-eun ready, I fetched a cart and sat her in the child seat.
"So-eun, no kicking Daddy today, all right?"
"Yeah!"
I still remembered the last visit, when a delighted So-eun had planted a kick square in my lower stomach, so I gave her the warning — and got a bright, innocent smile in return.
It'll be fine, right?
"Suhwan, what did we say we were buying?"
"So-eun's snacks, for starters. Besides that, we ought to pick up some wet wipes. Oh, and I need shaving cream."
"Good thing we came today. Since we're here, let's buy everything we need."
"…Yeah. Sure."
I nodded at that the way a rusty hinge might move. Saying we'd buy everything we needed was, in practice, a declaration that we were going to scour every last corner of the mart.
"Appa, snack!"
So-eun, seated in the cart facing me, had no interest whatsoever in what I was thinking and cheerfully demanded a snack.
"Shall we get your snack first?"
"Mm."
To find the snack she wanted so badly, we moved to the snack aisle. The moment we got there her eyes went wide and started darting this way and that, the look of a child in serious deliberation over which one would be best.
I was watching because it was too cute when she started calling, "Mama, Mama," and picked out the one she wanted.
"Not this one."
"Hiiing…"
Noona had checked the ingredients and put her foot down, and So-eun looked terribly disappointed. In exchange, if you could call it that, she hugged tight to her chest a bag of the snack she liked best even on ordinary days. She looked as if the bag had taken the place of the Tokkiz she carried in her arms every single day.
Having loaded the cart with enough to last several days at the very least, Noona set off with a satisfied smile, as if to say that now it was her time. From the drink aisle nearest the snacks, through daily necessities, all the way to furniture and clothing, she began a circuit that missed nothing.
"Suhwan, they've got shaving cream here. Here — the kind you always use."
"Last time I looked, Namcat had stolen Chikin-i's cushion again. Should we buy another one for him?"
"This outfit is adorable! So-eun, want to try it on?"
"There's a Got-It-All over there. Let's go there too. I saw a MeTube video recommending their must-haves."
"Did we have plenty of meat left for Yubu? Just in case, let's get a little more."
"Oh, samples? So-eun, want to try a dumpling? This is a dumpling. It's hot, so blow on it — hooo. Suhwan, you have one too."
"Ah, we should grab some eggs. I don't think there were many left."
Once Noona started through the mart, she showed no sign of tiring, checking every corner with care as she went. What filled up in the meantime was the ache in my legs — and the cart. Aside from the seat where So-eun sat, the basket and the extra space underneath were both packed full.
"Ah, I feel so refreshed!"
Whether sweeping the mart from end to end for the first time in ages felt that good, Noona stood there holding So-eun with an utterly happy look on her face. I let out a short laugh at the sight, loaded everything into the car, and headed home.
But the welcome waiting for me, arms full of bags, was the animals' baffling response.
"The heck! Nothing for us?!"
"Y'all got mouths — we've got snouts!"
"…Those are snouts, yeah."
"This is raccoon discrimination! We guarded the house and everything, so why's there nothing for us!"
The raccoons grumbled that I hadn't brought anything of theirs.
"Where's the Churu?"
"There's plenty at home, so why would I buy more!"
"Accept your punishment for the crime of not buying Churu!"
That rascal Namcat, furious I hadn't bought any Churu, let fly a reckless flurry of Nyangnyang Punches.
"I've finally got something to sit on!"
Chikin-i, whose cushion had been swiped by Namcat, bit down on the new one given to him and fled in delight.
Why am I more tired after going to the mart and coming back?
Worn out by a reality that made no sense, I rinsed off quickly and dropped straight into bed. Maybe because I'd walked every corner of the mart, sleep came crashing down, and my eyes slid shut.