Valley (3)
Valley (3)
In the end, I didn't go into the deep water.
As I was about to go in, Lil' One and Cloud came trotting over and clung to me.
Did Cloud like me more than Lee Min-ho now?
I automatically puffed up with pride.
"Hey, Cloud doesn't like you anymore."
"What? No way."
"Look, he's snuggled up all cozy in my arms."
Lee Min-ho came over, in denial, insisting that couldn't be.
A-ra, who had been floating around behind us, chuckled.
"Let's put him in the middle and see who he goes to."
"Are you sure? You'll just be adding to your sorrow."
"No, I won't?!"
I checked that Lee Min-ho was sitting right in front of me, then set Cloud, who was in my arms, down in the middle.
Cloud tilted his head left and right, shaking his head as if he had no idea what was going on.
Lil' One slowly approached Cloud and licked him, lick, lick.
"Right, for neutrality's sake, Lil' One should be in the middle."
"Huh?"
"If Lil' One is with you, Seong-hwan, Cloud will go to you because of Lil' One anyway."
"Hmm... I suppose so."
I'd thought it was nonsense earlier, but now it suddenly seemed plausible.
In a way, weren't the two of them best friends? Birds of a feather flock together, as they say.
"Cloud, come here."
"No, Cloud, you have to come to Daddy, right?"
"What do you mean, Daddy? It's step-dad."
"Ahem!"
Was it because of the refreshing feeling of having gotten one over on Lee Min-ho?
A giggle escaped me.
Didn't calling him step-dad fit perfectly?
"Kki-ing..."
"Hey, don't shout. You're scaring Cloud."
"Cl... Cloud? Daddy's sorry..."
What was I doing, carrying on like this in front of a two-month-old puppy?
I lay down flat on the floor so I was at Cloud's eye level and wiggled my fingers, motioning for him to come over.
"Ah... no..."
"Yes, yes... Cloud likes oppa, right?"
"Mung."
As expected, Cloud preferred his friend's dad over the shouting, no-good step-dad.
He was slowly coming this way, wagging his tail.
Swish swish.
Swish swish.
It was similar to when he wagged his tail looking at Lee Min-ho.
"Hey! Wait!"
Suddenly, Lee Min-ho shouted loudly.
I also jumped in surprise.
"Wh... what!"
"Behind you, Lil' One!"
"Huh?"
When I turned around, Lil' One was looking at Cloud and beckoning him over with her paw.
He wasn't coming to me because he liked me; he was being drawn here by his noona, Lil' One.
I had been happy without even realizing that.
"Lil' One, you shouldn't do that."
"Mung! Mung-mung!"
"Right, right, Daddy understands how you feel."
I didn't understand perfectly, but anyway, I could tell that Lil' One had called Cloud over to my side.
What a cute little thing... trying to let Daddy win...
"A-ra Noona! Could you hold Lil' One for a bit?"
"Huh? Lil' One? Okay~"
Now that it had come to this, we had to do it without Lil' One present at all.
I called A-ra over and had her take Lil' One a little way away.
But then, Cloud's reaction started to change a bit.
Maybe it was because Lil' One had disappeared, but he started looking around restlessly and then began to whine, kki-ing kki-ing.
He clearly seemed scared.
He started to give off the feeling of a little kid who was scared because his mom had vanished.
"Oh dear... he must be scared because she suddenly disappeared."
"Should we just not do this...?"
"It'd be better not to."
I felt a sudden twinge of guilt and decided not to go through with it.
Cloud seemed to like Lil' One a lot more than I thought.
A-ra came back over here and put Lil' One down, and Lil' One approached Cloud and started licking him again.
The feeling was just like a mother soothing her son...
But, you two...
Do you know that you're only about four months apart in age?
***
"Seong-hwan-ah, grill some more meat."
"You guys eat way too fast..."
Grilling meat with my feet in the valley was nice because it wasn't hot or stuffy.
But these guys were devouring the meat so fast, it was a bit tough.
"Actually, isn't my sister-in-law the main cause of your suffering?"
At Jeong Hwan-yi's remark, I turned to look at A-ra.
Was what I was seeing real?
As if A-ra had become a Thousand-Armed Guanyin Bodhisattva, she was picking up and eating meat with her chopsticks at a terrifying speed.
No, it wasn't just meat.
Shrimp, sausage, and even mushrooms...
They were disappearing at a very rapid pace — no, being annihilated.
"Compared to sister-in-law, we've barely eaten anything."
"So, her husband had better grill the meat quickly, hadn't he?"
"Ugh... I have no choice."
If it were just the two of them, maybe I could complain, but I couldn't complain about A-ra.
Could a husband complain just because his lovely wife ate a bit of meat?
"Lil' One, Cloud. Is it tasty?"
I had also bought soft beef that the two puppies could eat.
I had worried whether Cloud wouldn't be able to eat, but he was eating well, which made me feel glad. Lil' One was a given.
"Hey, Lee Min-ho, don't you give Cloud stuff like meat?"
"I've given him some that was completely minced."
"Hmm..."
So that was why he was eating it so well.
If he'd never given him any, maybe he wouldn't have known what it was and wouldn't have eaten it.
"Ah, so good."
Maybe it was because I was grilling and eating meat while listening to the sound of the trickling water.
I felt a sense of elegance; it was really nice.
"Jeong Hwan-ah, add some charcoal."
"How much?"
"There's a lot of meat left, so put a lot in."
"Okay."
Still, since I was in charge of grilling the meat, it was nice to be able to order them around.
Is this... why people try to gain political power?
"Lee Min-ho, give me a cola."
"Here."
I took the cola and downed it in one go.
It wasn't cold since we had left it outside, but the fizzing carbonation was the best.
"Ugh... Speaking of which, it's getting cold now."
"Even though you're right in front of the fire?"
"The wind is blowing too, so the warmth isn't reaching here."
It was August, so it should have been the hottest time, but my body had gotten wet from going in the water, and it felt chilly because the wind was blowing a lot up here in the mountains.
But then, the temperature was naturally low since we were in the mountains.
"Hey, but if the chef disappears, how are we supposed to eat the meat?"
"Don't worry, I'm not going in~"
They weren't worried I might catch a cold; they were worried they wouldn't get to eat their meat.
I think I definitely chose the wrong friends.
Just then, A-ra, who had been picking up meat to eat, slowly walked over.
And then, she hugged me warmly.
"Cold?"
"Yes, I'm cold..."
"Then go inside the farmhouse cabin. Noona will grill the meat."
"No, I'll still be the one to grill the meat."
A man has his pride.
A man should be responsible for his wife's meals.
If I gave up even this, what would I have left to offer?
"Noona is okay with it..."
"I'm not okay with it. More importantly, shall we start eating?"
"Yeah. Is there doenjang jjigae?"
"Of course."
I had prepared everything in advance at home.
All we had to do was heat up the rice in the microwave inside the farmhouse cabin and boil the doenjang jjigae that we had brought in a thermal container.
And then, by adding just a single shrimp into it... an incredibly amazing doenjang jjigae broth would be complete.
"Then I'll go prepare it."
"Yeah, see you soon."
"Lil' One, let's go with Daddy."
"Mung!"
I was scared to go alone, so I took Lil' One with me.
That was because there were bamboo groves scattered around here, making it look like it would be all too easy to get lost.
Plus, don't people say there are ghosts in bamboo forests?
If I took a spiritually strong doggy with me, she would protect me.
"Right? Our Lil' One will protect Daddy, won't you?"
"Mung!"
"Yes, yes, Daddy only trusts Lil' One~"
Lil' One and I climbed up out of the valley.
It felt even colder after getting out of the valley...
***
After finishing the meal, Lil' One and I went into the farmhouse cabin at the far end.
As expected, was it because it was a farmhouse cabin used as a chaebol family's vacation home? Inside, there was a TV, a karaoke machine, and all...
There was even an air purifier and everything.
And it was kept spotless — probably tidied up from time to time.
Lee Min-ho's mother had said not to tidy up and just leave things, that a staff member would clean...
"Oh, right... air conditioner."
They had said to feel free to turn on the air conditioner, so I set it to 18 degrees Celsius.
It couldn't be helped; Lil' One struggles in hot weather, but I was struggling too.
But I'd thought it would be small because it's called a farmhouse cabin, but it's bigger than I imagined.
I hadn't noticed earlier when I was just heating up the soup and rice, but it was a farmhouse cabin with a second floor.
I slowly climbed the stairs up to the second floor.
"Huh? There's a computer here?"
There was a computer — I had no idea why — and a bed you could sleep in.
Could it be that the telecom pole I saw below was for this computer's internet connection?
Chaebols really do defy imagination.
"Lil' One?"
"Mung!"
As expected of a farmhouse cabin, the step was high, so Lil' One couldn't come up from the first floor and was whining, kking-kking.
What a cute little thing.
I scooped Lil' One up into my arms, went up to the second floor, and set her down on the bed.
Maybe because she had stepped onto a soft, fluffy place, Lil' One's eyelids grew increasingly heavy and she started to doze off.
We'd have to sleep together in the bed today.
There was nowhere else to put her on her own.
I also settled myself comfortably into the bed and lay down.
I decided to place Lil' One not beside me but near my head, taking special care to make sure there was no chance I would roll over and squish her.
"Come to think of it, what is A-ra Noona doing...?"
The bed was single-sized, so we had said it would be hard to sleep together and had come in separately, but I was pointlessly worried about what she was doing.
I should give her a call.
Talking to her on the phone from just a short distance away felt romantic, too.