Return Party
Return Party
"Lil' One. Oppa's leaving. You have to be good even without oppa, okay?"
"Woof."
"Hey, my little girl doesn't like you, so hurry up and get ready to leave."
It had already been a week since A-ra left for France.
It was the day she was returning after finishing all her schedules.
Since it was time to go pick her up, I tried to send Jeong Hwan-yi and Lee Min-ho off and head to the airport. But Lee Min-ho had been clinging to Lil' One all day.
I'd noticed before that he liked dogs, but I hadn't realized he'd be this glued to her.
"Why don't you just get a dog of your own?"
"I did. She crossed the rainbow bridge, that's why."
"Ah... sorry."
"What's there to be sorry about?"
I thought I'd inadvertently touched on something unpleasant, so I apologized right away.
But Lee Min-ho gave a bitter smile, stroked Lil' One's head, and patted my shoulder, telling me not to apologize.
"I'm the youngest, so I missed out."
"They said it was a dog my oldest sister adopted when she was little."
"Ah... so that's why..."
Considering a dog's lifespan, by the time the late-born Lee Min-ho started to perceive the world, the dog would have already lived more than half its life.
Even spending a dog's entire life together is a short time, but to only be together for half... That was why I had looked for a puppy as young as possible.
"Then how about adopting a new one?"
"I wasn't planning on adopting originally, but lately Lil' One is so cute that I... adopt Lil' One..."
"Yah."
"I'm joking. I'm thinking of adopting a Pomeranian myself."
I let out a chuckle seeing Lee Min-ho pick up Lil' One with both hands and shower her with kisses.
His love for dogs was so obvious that I couldn't help but laugh.
"If you're adopting a dog, shall I recommend a shelter?"
"Right. You said you got Lil' One from a shelter."
"Yeah, they said she was still a baby but had been returned after adoption."
Just thinking about the previous owner who gave Lil' One up made me annoyed. I hadn't known there were actually people who would spout that nonsense about giving a dog up because it didn't meet their expectations.
"A shelter... not bad."
"There are a lot of babies who've been returned, you know."
"Then, while we're on the subject, shall we go check one out?"
Lee Min-ho mulled it over and nodded.
It seemed he had made up his mind to go see some dogs.
"We can get a male and pair him up with Lil' One."
"Are you going to get a Pomeranian?"
"Yeah. They're cute too."
I wasn't sure if Pomeranians showed up at shelters that often... but well, even if not a shelter, there were plenty of places to adopt dogs. Dogs are raised with heart, after all. That's what mattered.
"Then, see you at school."
"Okay, if I adopt one, I'll show you first."
Jeong Hwan-yi and Lee Min-ho waved at me and walked out the front door.
It's a phone call that came later and doesn't matter now, but I don't know where Lee Min-ho got them from—he apparently adopted two Samoyeds.
....a big dog that looks a lot like a Pomeranian....
At this rate, pairing him up with our Lil' One seemed hopeless.
***
"Noona! Over here!"
The sight of A-ra after a week.
She was dressed so prettily that you could call it celebrity airport fashion.
No, since A-ra is a celebrity, it's actually airport fashion, right?
That aside, even though it was a reunion after a week and she was wearing different clothes and sunglasses, I recognized her as A-ra at once.
I wondered if I was a pervert or just had good observation skills.
"You came? I told you to wait at home."
"I came thinking we could eat out for the first time in a while."
Dragging the carrier all the way home was awful. No matter how good the airport railway was, you still had to take a bus to get home.
Thinking about the trouble I'd had returning home after the Japan trip, there was no way I could not come to pick her up.
"Anyway, how was France?"
"Well, it was fun... but."
'But?'
That figures. Teaching A-ra about the history of cars is a waste of time. She already has most of that knowledge.
Did Bugatti do unnecessary work? With that money, they could make the car a little cheaper.
"You didn't bring Lil' One?"
"How could I bring a dog to the airport?"
"But it would've been fine? Hmm...."
As if wanting to see Lil' One after not seeing her for a week, A-ra stuck out her lower lip and acted a little sulky.
I smiled wryly at the sight.
"Then, shall we skip eating out and go home? I'll cook something delicious for you."
"Yeah! I want to go walk on the terrace."
She had completely become Lil' One's mom.
Then again, if I couldn't see Lil' One for a week, I'd probably be like that too.
"Then shall we stop by the mart first?"
"Let's buy Lil' One some snacks too."
"Hmm... snacks... like animal jerky..."
This moment of walking side by side holding A-ra's hand.
It had only been a week, but somehow I felt a tightness in my chest lift. Perhaps I really did need to be with A-ra after all.
*
The list from shopping at the mart: pork belly and a ton of shrimp...
Definitely not an amount two people could eat.
Was seafood hard to come by in France? If so, that was strange—French cuisine is full of seafood.
"Can you eat all of this?"
"Yeah. The airplane food was so bad I didn't eat it."
I see. That made sense. So she hadn't eaten since at least last night's dinner.
The A-ra who regresses to infancy if she misses even one meal had starved herself. What on earth did the airline serve as food?
"Actually, the day before I ate a lot of greasy food and had diarrhea... hehe..."
"So it's your fault, noona."
"No... isn't it not really my fault?"
You didn't eat, making me worry, so it is your fault. Now, whenever A-ra says she hasn't eaten, I get startled.
Maybe it was because we hadn't talked in a while, but I felt a bit drained after chatting all the way home.
"What's wrong all of a sudden?"
"Nothing, I'm just happy."
"How bland. Noona's happy too, chatting after so long."
She smiled brightly and opened the door by holding her ID card to the lock. Sure enough, as if Lil' One had instantly realized her mom was home, the sound of small, quick, urgent footsteps came.
"Our Lil' One, did you behave well?"
"Woof!"
"Aigoo aigoo, you missed your mommy, didn't you?"
A-ra lifted Lil' One with both hands, hugged her, and patted her back. To anyone watching, it might look like she was holding a human baby.
"Today, I'll set up on the terrace for the first time in a while."
"Barbecue party!"
"Woof!"
We had pork belly and shrimp, so since we're eating anyway, it'd be best to grill them properly.
***
"Oh right, when is the car coming?"
I had been grilling shrimp for a while when I suddenly remembered and asked A-ra. She had gone for training right before the car's release. That meant the car should be delivered soon, right?
"Well... since it's an expensive car, they're transporting it slowly by ship, so it'll take a while."
"Wow... after all that waiting, we have to wait even more? It's been over a year since we ordered it, hasn't it?"
"Well, given the price of the car, it can't be helped, right?"
A-ra, who had been busily eating the shrimp I peeled for her, reached for the cola. I put down the shrimp I was holding, opened the cola, poured it into A-ra's cup, then poured myself a glass and chugged it.
"Ahh... so refreshing."
"It must have been supercooled; there's a layer of slushy ice."
"I remembered it this morning after watching CueTube and put it in the freezer."
I couldn't recall the principle of supercooling, but I had opened the lid slightly, shook it, laid the bottle down in the freezer, and it turned out well. It was just a bit annoying that you couldn't check if it worked without pouring it.
"Ahh... Seong-hwan, give noona one more glass."
"Here you go."
I poured her another glass and filled mine to the brim. If it hadn't been supercooled, there were about three more bottles in the fridge, so we had plenty and could keep drinking one after another.
"So? What did you do while noona was gone?"
"I just hung out with Jeong Hwan-yi and Lee Min-ho."
"I mean, what did you do while hanging out?"
"Well... I learned some games, among other things."
Did she want to hear about me rather than talk about herself? She endlessly asked questions.
"So, two king crabs... noona?"
"You ate king crab while noona was gone?"
"Uh...."
"But noona likes king crab too."
She popped the shrimp in her hand into her mouth and pushed out her lower lip. She looked so cute like a hamster that I wanted to stroke her head, but the feeling I got from A-ra was....
"Th... tomorrow even..."
"You'll buy me king crab?"
"Of course..!"
I rapidly nodded. Since you can't buy king crab at the mart, she had apparently tried to settle for shrimp. But when I brought up eating king crab, it must have provoked her.
"Okay, fine. Then I'll just bear it today."
"Whew...."
"But there's one thing I can't hold back..."
A-ra slowly stroked a very sensitive part attached to males. Maybe it was because she had abstained for a week, but the movement of her hand felt even lewder.
"First, let me finish cleaning up......."
"What's there to clean up?"
"No, these dishes... and I need to shower...."
"It's fine. Noona's fine with doing it without showering."
But I'd like to shower. Even so, I knew full well my wish wouldn't come true.