Observatory
Observatory
"Seong-hwan-a. Do you know how to read constellations by any chance?"
"Constellations?"
He was lying in bed, enjoying some web surfing, when A-ra suddenly asked him if he knew about constellations.
A-ra, perched on the edge of the bed, kept scrolling through her phone screen.
He moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, peering at the phone to see what she wanted to show him.
On it was something densely written in languages like English and French — utterly unreadable to him.
"I've been studying astronomy lately, you know? So I was just asking."
"Hmm... astronomy, huh..."
From ancient times to the present, astronomy had greatly influenced people's lives.
From the Jagyeokru, a water clock that told time, to the Ongnu, which was further supplemented with the Heumgyeonggak — a model of the sun's setting that allowed observation of seasons, celestial time, and the movements of heavenly bodies.
And even
the almanac that told the date.
All of these developed through astronomy.
However, what A-ra was studying seemed to be a little different...
"What you're studying is a field called planetary science, so I don't know much about it."
"Hmm... I actually know even less about the planetary science side, though."
"Look at this. You take these three stars and group them together..."
He would never have imagined that what A-ra was teaching him in bed would extend beyond that,
but the subject was more interesting than he'd expected.
Constellations were not just a field of study built on myths and legends — they seemed scientifically very important and greatly helpful in daily life.
In particular, the anecdote about the Big Dipper being used in place of a compass was quite fascinating.
"They say there are 88 constellations in total, but only six can be seen from the Republic of Korea at any given time."
"Even with a Mang telescope and not just the naked eye?"
"Yeah, and there were a lot of constellations you can't see at all."
"I suppose that can't be helped."
After all, the sky visible from the northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere was a different sky.
What could be seen from here couldn't be seen from over there, so it was more or less the same either way.
"Astronomical... astronomical, huh..."
"What's up? Is it boring?"
"No, it's not that..."
Wasn't there a great date spot among things related to astronomy?
He remembered there being a nice place where you couldn't see stars with a telescope, but you could see the night view.
"Noona, have you ever been to an observatory?"
"Of course I've been......"
A-ra, who had clearly been about to say she'd been, suddenly paused to think about it.
It seemed she couldn't quite remember either.
"I can't remember..."
"Then how about we go check one out this time?"
"Really? You won't be bored?"
"I like stars too, you know."
Men who disliked stars were probably rarer, weren't they?
If anything, a woman like A-ra taking an interest in constellations was the more unusual case.
"A nice nighttime stroll after a long while sounds good too."
"Then this weekend?"
"Yes, let's do this weekend."
A-ra was heading down to Busan again starting tomorrow.
He wanted to go to Busan too for the first time in a while...
"Can't I go down to Busan, too?"
"What about Lil' One?"
"Ah... right."
It hadn't been long since he'd soothed her temper, and if he fell out of favor again, there'd be no fixing it.
He'd just have to stay quietly planted in Seoul.
"Alright..."
"There, there. Noona will work hard and come back."
He looked up at A-ra as she gently stroked his cheek.
He seemed to have been completely tamed by now.
***
"So? You're alone again?"
"Yeah."
He was spending time with Jeong Hwan-yi and Lee Min-ho, having a cup of coffee at a pet-friendly cafe.
With the weather gradually getting hotter, leaving Lil' One alone at home felt a bit off, so he'd chosen a cafe that allowed pets inside, even if it was a little pricier.
It was located inside a large dog center, but coming once in a while seemed nice enough.
The coffee wasn't bad either.
"Still, your wife can't really help it."
"You understood all that when you got married, right?"
"Of course. I don't have a single complaint."
What grounds did he have to complain?
If anything, it would make more sense for A-ra to be the one complaining.
Thanks to whom was he able to live like this? How could he possibly voice any dissatisfaction?
And moreover, toward a wife who made an effort to soothe his mood whenever she came back from a long trip away.
"How are things going with your love lives?"
"I broke up."
"What? You broke up?"
He was startled by Lee Min-ho's bombshell announcement.
This guy had been making it obvious he wanted to be in a relationship from the very start of the school term, so why had he dumped a girl who liked him?
Or had he not broken up with her, but been dumped himself?
That would be more natural and understandable, though.
"That's not it. I was the one who said we should stop because I felt like things were growing distant."
"What did she say?"
"She was pretty cool about it. Said okay."
"Hmm..."
Lee Min-ho coolly sipped his coffee, revealing nothing about whether it was the truth.
He and Jeong Hwan-yi just stared at him with dumbfounded expressions.
"Not me — Jeong Hwan-yi, what about you?"
Lee Min-ho suddenly changed the subject and asked Jeong Hwan-yi.
Jeong Hwan-yi was dating his high school classmate.
As long as he hadn't switched to someone else, things were probably the same.
"Well, we're doing fine."
"Sigh... I'm jealous, so jealous."
"Of what?"
"No... just, I'm jealous that you're doing fine."
He wasn't sure if that was something to be jealous of, but Lee Min-ho let out deep sighs as he gulped down his coffee.
He didn't know why those sighs were coming out, but he could tell with 80% certainty that Lee Min-ho had been at fault and that was why the breakup happened.
Normally, it wasn't easy for a man to be dumped for doing something wrong...
And managing to pull off that difficult feat — that was Lee Min-ho for you.
"Romance isn't something that succeeds just by keeping it simple."
"Really? I think it is simple."
"That's exactly why you got dumped."
"I said I didn't get dumped."
He nodded while watching Lee Min-ho insist to the very end that it wasn't the case.
Sure, he'd let him have that one...
"Anyway, want to come over to my place?"
"Can I bring Cloud too?"
"Of course. Our place might not have a yard, but it does have a safe terrace."
They'd even laid down artificial grass, so it was a really nice spot for dogs to run around — he thought Cloud would like it too.
"Ah, speaking of Cloud, that reminds me. I'm thinking about adopting one more dog."
"Why? To pair Lil' One up with someone?"
"Yeah, so is there anywhere I could adopt a Pomeranian?"
"Hmm... a Pomeranian..."
Honestly, it would be convenient to adopt from a place like a pet shop,
but he wanted to take in a young rehomed dog rather than going to a pet shop.
Was it because he'd been an orphan himself?
Was it because he knew that even if you were abandoned, you could succeed perfectly well under parents who were more like real parents than your biological ones?
Or was it simply because he felt sorry for the dogs?
Well, that didn't mean he held some rigid belief against adopting from a pet shop.
If he ran out of options entirely, he figured he'd probably end up adopting from a pet shop anyway.
"Sorry, nothing comes to mind."
"Me neither."
"That's a shame. What about a Samoyed, then?"
"A Pomeranian and a Samoyed...?"
"It wouldn't work, right?"
"The size difference makes it impossible."
Was that so.
But dogs were the same species, so if the size difference were resolved, would babies come?
Or did small breeds and large breeds not produce babies at all?
"You're thinking about weird things again, aren't you?"
"What is this guy even saying?"
At first, they yawned and dismissed it as him spouting nonsense again, but now they were laughing like it was a regular occurrence.
And then, apparently a little curious themselves, they started searching on their phones.
"Genetically speaking it's possible, but they say it's impossible in any practical sense."
"So it really is the size difference after all..."
"That, and... well, other things too."
"Like what?"
"Look it up yourself later."
In the end, without telling him anything further, he got up from his seat.
Wondering where he was going, he saw him trudging toward the spot where Lil' One and Cloud were playing with some other dogs.
"Why's he like that?"
"No idea."
Lee Min-ho shrugged his shoulders, saying he didn't know either.
Then Lee Min-ho also got up and headed toward the dogs.
"Cloud, Kkomul. Let's head home soon."
"Meong."
"Meong!"
The timid Cloud barked quietly, and our utterly carefree Lil' One barked loudly.
Maybe because he was the one who'd taken care of her, she had completely let down her guard now.
These days, she didn't even bark when he picked her up and held her.
"That's exactly why you should've treated her well."
"Ugh... I even did a 20km walk with her..."
"...You did that?"
Yeah...
He'd nearly collapsed from exhaustion, but in the end, he'd succeeded at the 20km walk.
No matter how much of a puppy our Lil' One was, how could he break a promise?
"She's only a few months old, but who knows why she loves walks so much..."
"She's just fundamentally energetic. Even at home she plays a ton on the terrace..."
At first, he'd even taken her to the hospital, wondering if it might be stereotypic behavior.
But the veterinarian had confidently assured him that Lil' One was simply active and enjoyed moving around — there was nothing wrong with her or any abnormal symptoms.
"Meanwhile, the owner just stays cooped up at home."
"What's that supposed to mean. Is this cafe my house?"
He got around outside perfectly well.
He took Lil' One out for a walk once every single day without fail, so he was out and about every day.
"Then let's not go straight home — let's stop by a park or somewhere for a little walk first."
"Sure, what else would I do at home but eat more anyway."
He'd been planning to prepare a proper feast for them for the first time in a while, but they were kicking away their own good fortune with their own feet.
For you guys, frozen food is just right, not homemade cooking.