Tears on the Picture Book
Tear-filled, sparkling eyes looked up at me intently.
"..Hey, Yoona?" Is something bothering you? I looked at the magical girl named Pink Rose with an awkward smile.
"..Hah, it's okay." Pink Rose said with a gentle smile. "You were just being chased by a monster, so it's understandable to be confused."
Well, maybe that's it.
"By the way, are you her father?" "Yes?" "You look really young." The child is an elementary school student.. she added.
Uh.. I could just say yes, but for some reason, the words got stuck.
In reality, my relationship with Yoona was no different from complete strangers.
What if Pink Rose asked for my ID?
She'd find out that a twenty-four-year-old man has an eight-year-old daughter.
If she got suspicious and decided to investigate..
"How old are you.." "I, well.." My heart sank and I started to feel cold sweat.
Then. "He is my dad, magical girl unnie." "Ah..!" Yoona, who had been looking only at my face, said clearly in a tearful voice.
"I'm sorry, you look so young that I couldn't help but.." "Haha, it's fine."
This kid..! Just this morning she was being cold to me. I wondered if she figured out I'm not her dad, or if I said something in my sleep.
I couldn't hide my smile from the overwhelming joy.
"Thank you for coming even on a weekday afternoon." Pink Rose smiled brightly. "Not at all! I'm glad I wasn't late."
"Well then, I'll be on my way. The meaning of a pink rose is.." She struck a lively pose. "A vow of love! It was Pink Rose!" Then she winked mischievously at Yoona and shot into the sky as a streak of pink light.
Did Yoona see that wink? "..." Yoona had buried her face in my chest again. The collar she was holding was stretched out.
On the way home. I asked Yoona if it was uncomfortable being carried, but. "..I want to be held by Dad." Yoona said that and stayed glued to me.
She was so light it wasn't a burden. But it was strange how she wouldn't even hold my hand on the way to school but was acting like this now.
Of course, I was happy since I could play the dad role properly.
"So, Yoona, did anything fun happen at school today?" I asked the question parents usually do to break the awkward silence.
"Nope."
Ah, I see.. I shut my mouth, embarrassed by the cold reply.
Well, it was a day she almost got eaten by a monster, so of course there wasn't anything fun.
"..What about Dad?" I thought the awkward silence would continue, but surprisingly, Yoona asked back.
"Huh?" "Did anything fun happen to Dad today?" Of course, she was still burying her face in my chest, only glancing up at my face with her eyes.
I pondered for a moment. All that happened today was going to a wedding hall, eating lunch and taking a nap, then rushing over and throwing a chair at the monster.
"Hmm.. I don't know." I couldn't tell the truth. "Meeting our Yoona?" I dodged appropriately.
Is this what paternal love is? My dad acting skills have improved quite a bit.
"..." Honestly, even I thought it was a good line, but maybe not to Yoona. She didn't seem to react.
Was it too cheesy? Just as I was biting my lower lip thinking I'd said something unnecessary.
—Squeeze. I felt strength in the small hand gripping my collar.
What? Does she not like hearing it? I just looked down at the top of Yoona's head in my arms. Still not understanding her intention, I headed home.
5, 2, 0, 0. When I opened the door and entered, the cool house smell greeted me again.
"We're home." The house was still empty. Yoona's mom was nowhere to be seen. She really will come back after just a week, right?
"Up we go." When I naturally lowered my body, Yoona obediently got down. Outside, she had clung on like she didn't want to let go.
After roughly washing my hands and coming back, Yoona came running with a book and held it out to me.
"Read this to me."
I was going to rest a bit, but this. What Yoona handed me was a magical girl picture book.
On the cover, a pink-haired magical girl was posing against a sky full of stars.
It wasn't the Pink Rose I saw today, but a rounder, cuter drawn character.
"..." The kid who didn't even glance at her favorite Pink Rose when she was right in front of her. Bringing a magical girl picture book as soon as we got home.
"You want me to read this?" "Ung."
Sitting on the sofa with the picture book, Yoona came running up and stuck right next to me.
But soon, seeming uncomfortable.. "..Dad." "Yeah?" She ended up climbing onto my lap, rustling around to get comfortable. "Now read it."
She said that to me with the corners of her mouth raised.
The first sentence of the picture book was, "The magical girl had someone she loved."
"..And so, the magical girl cried herself to sleep in front of the man's grave."
That was the last sentence of the picture book.
The story of a magical girl who fell in love at first sight, forgot her duties for a while to share love with the man, but when the man was in danger, she lost her powers and couldn't save him, and foolishly regretted it.
—Thud. Closing the picture book after the last page showing the magical girl crying in front of a beautifully drawn grave.
"..." Suddenly I realized that Yoona hadn't reacted for a while.
Maybe she fell asleep? I lowered my head to look at Yoona's face on my lap.
"Yoona, did you fall asleep.." I stopped whispering.
Yoona wasn't asleep. Instead, she was just staring at the picture book with her trembling lower lip tightly bitten.
'It's sad.' I almost burst out laughing.
Well, the content was quite sad for a children's picture book.
A magical girl unable to protect the one she loves and crying in front of his grave.
Of course, when I was young, I cried my eyes out watching "A Dog of Flanders" and told my mom to throw the book away immediately.
I stroked Yoona's head as her body trembled.
"It's a shame, isn't it."
After trembling for a while, when my hand touched her, she stopped trembling, sniffled a bit, and said "..Ung." shortly.
She was cute. Someday when I get married, I want a daughter like this.
"But it was fun, right?" I asked to lighten the mood.
"..." Instead of answering, Yoona said. "..Dad." "Yeah?" "When is Mom coming?" She asked me a question like a tragic heroine from a modern novel.
..What should I answer?
Yoona, who had been staring at me, opened the book again and looked at the sadly crying magical girl on the last page.
It seemed like seeing the book made her feel upset and all sorts of thoughts came to her.
"Mom will come soon." I had no choice but to dodge like that.
"..So when is she coming?"
"In a week?"
"A week?" She added, "If I sleep seven nights, she'll come."
Hearing my words, Yoona started counting seven nights by folding her fingers one by one.
One, two, three.. She stopped midway, maybe getting tired of it.
"..Too many." She pouted and lowered her head deeply.
In truth, I couldn't guarantee that Yoona's mom would come in a week. But saying "I don't know" would be too much like crushing her hope.
"It is a lot. But it'll be quick." I chuckled and messed up Yoona's lowered head.
A week must feel like an eternity to an eight-year-old. Even for me at that age, the night before a field trip felt so long.
"..." Yoona looked at me intently again.
"..What about Dad?" "Yeah?" "Is Dad leaving in a week too?"
Ah—. I tried to answer naturally as much as possible, but I couldn't easily answer this question.
What should I do?
"..." If I told the truth, I should say yes.
After filling the week and taking the money, I would be someone with no reason to come here anymore.
But how could I say that to Yoona's face?
"Aw, Dad's not going." So in the end, I told a white lie.
The white was limited to me, and in a few days it would turn pitch black for Yoona.
"Really..?" Looking at Yoona's teary eyes, which seemed soaked in emotion.
"Yeah, really." I decided to leave it to my future self.
Only then did Yoona smile faintly and burrow into my arms.
Yoona fell asleep just like that. After stroking her a bit, she quickly fell into a peaceful sleep.
—Thud. After carefully laying Yoona on the bed, I finally lay down on the living room sofa and groaned.
"Augh, damn.." No matter if I fell into bushes, falling is falling.
Above all, as I'm slowly approaching mid-twenties, my body is starting to get a bit sore.
"Ehyo.." I sighed while lying on the sofa as if it were my own house.
In a week, do I really have to leave Yoona behind and return to my normal life? Of course, if her mom comes, that would be fine.
"..." The last time I contacted her, I heard the sound of her smartphone falling into water. I felt some uneasy feeling, but..
"Well, it'll work out somehow.." I didn't like it. After setting a small alarm on my phone, I closed my eyes for a bit.
And what I saw as soon as I woke up was.
"Uh, uuuu.." Yoona, who had taken curry out of the fridge, spilled it, and was crying while wiping it with a towel.
Yoona, who made eye contact with me, cried even more.