Finding the Ring (3)
Finding the Ring (3)
"Wh-what do I do?"
"What do you mean, what do you do. You have to call her first."
"Or go home and surprise her."
I'd been hoping he would find the ring, but now that he actually had, he felt flustered.
How many years had A-ra spent searching for this...
It had already been five years of searching, and she hadn't found it.
"Yeah, it's better to go tell her than to make her worry for no reason while she waits."
"Should I..."
"Just be careful not to lose it."
Getting it all the way to Seoul and losing it along the way would be a catastrophe of epic proportions.
Telling her he found the ring only for it to turn out to be the wrong one might just earn him some resentment.
But actually losing it? Wouldn't that be grounds for divorce?
Of course, A-ra wouldn't abandon him over that...
But the thought crept in anyway, making him even more tense.
"Hey, then leave it with me."
"No... I'll carry it."
This was something he had to do himself.
So he wouldn't hand it over to Jeong Hwan-yi or Lee Min-ho.
After that, they finished cleaning up the food they had eaten before heading up to Seoul.
The disposable dishes were placed into the garbage bags they had bought and left outside.
He lit a scented candle on the table where the two portraits were enshrined and once again prayed for their souls.
He would take good care of A-ra, so he hoped they could rest peacefully without worry.
"Noona A-ra is the one taking care of you."
"The man calling himself her husband doesn't know his place."
"Heh... I can't really argue with that."
In a way, he was a stray cat, and A-ra was a fairy who had picked up a stray cat and raised it.
If A-ra hadn't taken an interest in him, he might have died alone on the streets.
"In that sense, you've really paid her back properly."
"Finding something for your wife like this, isn't that like a scene from a movie?"
As if proving they were men, they started chattering noisily about how it was straight out of a melodrama.
In a way, it did feel like a story that was more movie-like than a movie.
If he had to name the best thing he'd ever done in his life,
it was approaching A-ra when she was crying.
***
He took the KTX up to Seoul.
From the moment he left his in-laws' house, he had been cautious not to lose the bag slung over his shoulder under any circumstances.
It was because of the accessory storage box inside.
Because of that, a few people gave him strange looks.
Each time, he slightly lowered his sunglasses and smiled at them.
Creepy rumors would probably circulate online for a while, but wasn't that better than Jeong Hwan-yi or Lee Min-ho being treated like weirdos?
He parted ways with the two, caught a taxi, and came home alone.
Around this time, A-ra would have gotten off work and would be waiting for him at home.
"I'm back..."
Sure enough, Lil' One and Pipsqueak came out to the entrance, barking.
Now that Pipsqueak had grown a bit, he barked 'woof woof' instead of whimpering, which really made him feel like a dog now.
Before, could you say he felt more like a cotton ball doll?
Anyway, he hoped they would grow up healthy.
He lifted Lil' One and Pipsqueak into his arms and held them to his chest, and they started licking his cheeks.
'Daddy doesn't even have fur, and you're grooming him? There are no sons or daughters more devoted than this.'
"Seong-hwan-a, you're here?"
A-ra, who had appeared hesitantly at the entrance, was hiding her body and poking her head out as if she was a little shy.
Her expression was a mixture of hopeful expectation that he might have found the ring and a wistful, regretful feeling that it must have been hard to find.
"What are you doing?"
"Huh? Ah... it's nothing."
Then she started glancing furtively at his bag.
When he left in the morning, it had been completely empty.
Now it sagged a little, so she must have realized there was something inside.
But seeing her like that, she really was like a hamster.
He wanted to put a sunflower seed in her hand.
"Did you... find it?"
A-ra threw a subtle fastball.
He burst out laughing involuntarily.
Should he tease her a little?
"Find what?"
"Seo...Seong-hwan-a, you!"
A-ra's face turned red as a carrot.
She seemed quite embarrassed to have asked so directly.
He felt a slight tingle in his head.
Was that a danger signal?
He might end up being resented for teasing her for no reason, so he should stop.
"Noona, follow me to the living room."
"Huh? O...okay."
Still holding Lil' One and Pipsqueak, he headed to the living room.
Then he placed them on the dining table and gave a casual sit command.
The two dogs sat quietly and started looking at him and A-ra.
"First of all..."
She looked like she was about to die of curiosity, so he decided not to drag it out.
He took the slightly large accessory storage box out of his bag and placed it on the table.
"This is what I found today."
"Th-this is?"
"I opened the cabinet under the sink looking for disposable plates, right? Then I saw a reflection of light from the side where the drain is, so I checked, and this was there."
And he told her how he had dismantled the cabinet with the help of Jeong Hwan-yi and Lee Min-ho and opened the compartment.
Seeing A-ra listening attentively without missing a single word of his explanation made a smile creep onto his face.
"And... inside here..."
Since there was no key and it was impossible to lock, he had secured it with a rubber band.
He reached to undo the rubber band, but the timing was so absurdly perfect that the band, having reached its limit, snapped.
The fragment flew toward Lil' One, who was sitting beside him, and disaster struck only our poor Lil' One.
"Kkomura~, are you hurt?"
"Woof!"
Seeing him, she seemed to relax a little and picked up Lil' One to check for any injuries.
'As they say, people need some composure.'
"Noona, look at this."
"S-sorry."
Holding Lil' One like a baby, she began to look at the box.
In time with that, his hand flipped open the rattling lid of the box wide.
Inside the accessory storage box were various pieces of jewelry.
A necklace, a brooch, and others; it was full of jewels that anyone could see were expensive.
"These were in here..."
"Do you recognize them?"
"Yeah, I bought all of these for Mom and Dad."
Perhaps because she was seeing them after a long time and was lost in memories, she held the accessories in her hands and looked at them with sad eyes.
But the most important thing still remained.
"And, I brought this separately just in case."
Then he held out to A-ra the ring box he had kept carefully hidden in his bag and brought with him.
Seeing that, sure enough, droplets began to well up heavily along A-ra's eyes.
The tears, growing larger, could not withstand the surface tension and began to trickle down her cheeks, then drip-drop down.
Lil' One, who was in her arms, climbed onto the table and licked A-ra's cheek, as if telling her not to cry.
"Open it."
"Okay..."
The ring box opened with a clicking sound.
Inside, two quite old silver rings were placed neatly side by side.
She took out the rings, looked at something engraved on the inside, and this time, tears began to stream down.
"It's Mom and Dad's..."
She must have confirmed the initials or something similar.
He slowly walked over to A-ra, who was crying, and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
She cried as if she was going to pour out all the sadness and pent-up frustration caused by not being able to find this ring.
"Thank you... thank you, Seong-hwan-a... I don't know how to express how grateful I am..."
"It's nothing. Just stay by my side."
He pulled a tissue from the table and wiped A-ra's tears.
The tears kept flowing, so he used up all the tissues, and even his handkerchief became damp and soaked.
So, while she was crying, he kept giving her water to keep her hydrated.
She would probably cry for a long time today.
Was it because she'd found the ring?
A-ra smiled a bright, relieved smile, as if she had been freed from the guilt that had weighed on her heart for five years.
***
"Haa! I feel refreshed!"
A-ra smiled broadly as she stretched her arms high over her head.
It was an expression that didn't quite match the black suit she was wearing.
"You're not crying anymore."
"I found the ring, so Mom and Dad will be smiling too!"
They stopped by the columbarium, placed the rings in offering, and came outside.
When they came last time, she cried so much and it was hard for him to comfort her.
But this time she was smiling as if nothing was wrong, which drew a bitter smile from him.
Was it because she found the ring?
Since that day, A-ra seemed to have become even more energetic.
"This is all thanks to you, Seong-hwan-a."
"Ahem... that's a little embarrassing."
"So, about that, noona wants to repay you."
"Repay me?"
He tilted his head.
A-ra wanting to repay him; this was a new direction for him.
"Is there anything you want to have? I don't care if it's expensive."
"Umm... then, the newly released smartphone..."
Recently, he had been thinking about starting a smartphone collection, and he wanted to start it off with something meaningful.
If A-ra bought it for him as thanks, it would be the perfect start.
"Of course I can buy it for you! Shall we go right now?!"
"Where are you planning to buy it?"
"Hey, they'll sell it if we go to the mart."
"Umm... will they have it?"
Nowadays, phones aren't only sold at carriers, what with unlocked phones and all that.
But it hadn't been long since that system started, so he didn't know much about it either.
"Get in, quick!"
"Okay, okay."
He got into the passenger seat of the Bugatti Chiron.
They probably wouldn't come back to this columbarium until next year.