Indoor Hot Spring (2)
Indoor Hot Spring (2)
"Mmm..."
"What's wrong?"
"It's a little different from what I had in mind."
I'd been looking up hotels famous for domestic hot springs, and the results were nothing like what I had imagined.
I thought they'd be at least somewhat similar to Japanese ryokan-style places, but I hadn't expected the difference to be this stark.
"What did you search for?"
"I searched for hot spring hotels."
When I searched for hot spring hotels, all that came up were old, run-down places that had been operating for ages, or water park-like facilities where you could enjoy yourself even in winter as if it were a swimming pool.
That wasn't what I wanted.
To be more specific, they were barely any different from a large public bathhouse.
The kind of bathhouse with a hot tub and a cold tub, and a so-called special tub filled with herbal remedies.
"Wouldn't searching like that give you nothing?"
"Then how?"
"Let me see for a second."
A-ra reached out with both hands, asking for it, so I handed over my phone.
Taking my phone, A-ra used her small hands to search Google for a hotel information site.
That site was the same one we used back when we went to Ganghwado.
"You probably won't find anything there either."
"Just wait a moment."
After browsing here and there, A-ra paused to think, as if the right search term wasn't coming to mind.
She looked just like she was trying to recall something someone had told her before.
Had someone other than me been trying to find a ryokan-style hotel?
Come to think of it, Yeji had seen our photos and said she'd booked a flight to Japan.
"Look at this. Wasn't this the kind of feel you were looking for?"
"Oh, that's really it."
When I looked at the phone screen A-ra showed me, I saw a list of accommodations with the exact kind of bath I'd been wanting.
But this... didn't seem like a hot spring?
"What does it matter if it's not a hot spring? As long as I'm with Seong-hwan, anywhere is good for me."
"Noona..."
See?
When she says things like that, how could anyone just sit still and hold back?
Anyone would feel the urge to step up and do things for her first.
"And besides, it's a pension, so we can bring Lil' One and Pipsqueak with us, too."
Lil' One, who had been lying beside A-ra, heard her name and jumped up onto A-ra's lap.
Pipsqueak was tilting her head on the floor, waiting to see what else would be said.
Since we were going to a pension anyway, I should give Pipsqueak her first bath ever.
She was getting a bit bigger by now, after all.
She didn't smell weird and still only gave off that warm, toasty scent, but
it was about time to get her used to hot water.
If I didn't acclimate her now, she'd probably try to avoid water for life.
Even if dirt got in my eyes, I couldn't bear to see that!!
"So... where should we make a reservation?"
"Should Noona pick?"
"Yes, pick a place where you can rest comfortably, Noona."
As for me, anywhere was fine, but what mattered was that A-ra, who was going to rest, could actually relax properly.
People are heavily influenced by their environment when they're trying to relax.
She tapped the phone screen with her fingers, searching, then showed me two decent-looking places.
Since their business sites were linked, the location was the same, but the feel was divided into modern and natural styles.
"I think Noona would like the one on the right?"
"Oh, this one is really similar to the place we stopped by in Yufuin before."
"Right? It's deep in the mountains, so I guess that gives it more of that vibe."
.
The place we had visited in Yufuin before was a hot spring nestled in the mountains, blending with nature.
This place A-ra found this time gave off a similar feeling.
If there was one slight difference, it was that in Yufuin, it was a rotenburo enclosed on all sides,
whereas the pension A-ra picked was open on all sides, giving it a feeling of total openness.
But... looking at it now, it was quite far away.
Not so far that we couldn't make the trip, but to go and rest comfortably, we'd need at least 2 nights and 3 days.
"Hmm... so we'll have to stay about two days and then come back, huh?"
A-ra had also picked up on that point and sent me a questioning look, as if to ask if that was alright.
Of course, I nodded to signal it was fine.
"It's fine with me."
"Don't you have classes?"
"A day or two is okay. I've never missed a single class before."
To declare, right in front of my wife, that I was going to skip school—that was pretty absurd.
Still, for A-ra, I could afford to throw away that many attendance points.
I wasn't exactly aiming for the top of the class anyway.
"Our Seong-hwan really knows how to have fun, huh?"
"Ahem... it's just this once that I'm skipping."
"Really? You're not secretly skipping school and going out to play behind Noona's back?"
Her tone sounded like she was about to scold me, telling me I shouldn't do that, but seeing her face grinning from ear to ear,
it was obvious she was pleased and just trying to change the subject with nonsense talk.
This was exactly why she was so damn cute.
The fact that she herself didn't realize how cute she was.
"Next time I meet Seong-hwan-ssi and Lee Min-ho-ssi, I'll have to ask."
"Oh, come on... shall we make a bet on it then?"
"A bet?"
A-ra tilted her head at the sudden suggestion of a bet.
Since I had never once skipped school because I wanted to play, I confidently proposed the bet.
Maybe it was because I came on too strong.
A-ra scratched her head a little and then, subtly trying to change the subject, picked up Lil' One, who had been sitting there.
"Oochie-oochie, little wriggler, shall we eat soon?"
"Noona?"
"S-Seong-hwan-a, sit here and rest. Noona will go feed Lil' One."
"It's not time for her to eat yet..."
Watching her scurry away quickly to the kitchen, I let out a wry smile.
Lil' One, happy that she was getting food again, barked and followed after A-ra.
Only Pipsqueak and I were left in the living room, quietly watching that scene.
***
Time usually drags before going on a trip, but for some reason, it flew by and it was already Friday.
It was a long journey, and our goal was to leave this evening and arrive around tomorrow morning.
Since it was a pension, there wasn't a fixed check-in time, so I contacted the owner to let them know we'd be arriving early.
"Little wriggler, you have to get in now."
"Woof!"
Lil' One and Pipsqueak went into a cage big enough to fit five dogs and settled in.
Since they were still fluffy little cotton-ball puppies, one cage was enough, which was a plus—it made bringing them along convenient.
Sitting like this, they were practically dolls themselves.
There was still time before we departed, so I should set them on the table and admire them a bit more.
"Right. I need to pack some dog food and a few cans of Cesar."
Since we were leaving the house empty for two whole days, I had to bring food for the dogs.
Since it was a pension, there wouldn't be any food or anything when we got there, so we had to buy everything beforehand...
Subtly, that sort of thing could be considered a downside.
You could play freely without worrying about anyone, but you had to do so much yourself.
Of course, cooking utensils and grills were supposedly all provided as basics.
If they told you to prepare even those, people would just stay home and play; nobody would bother going to a pension.
"Noona~ Are you all done getting ready?"
"Just a minute! Not yet!"
What on earth was my wife doing over there since earlier, trying to bring something?
Hadn't we packed the clothes and towels yesterday?
"Right, little wriggler, what do you think Mommy is doing?"
"Woof!"
"Uh-uh, but you still can't go out."
"Kkeu-ing..."
Because the door wasn't locked, she tried to rush out, but I stopped her from leaving.
This was because recently, Lil' One had startled A-ra badly, causing the tablet PC she was holding to be completely destroyed.
It wasn't that I was sad about the broken tablet PC, but if she got startled while holding something heavy and dropped it,
our Lil' One, right underneath, could take a direct hit.
That was what I was most afraid of.
So, whenever A-ra was packing something or busy, I tried not to let them in.
Only after quite a while did A-ra show herself to us, waiting in the kitchen.
She was carrying a heavy-looking shoulder bag.
"That is..."
"Hehe, I wanted to try it once at the pension. Is that not okay?"
"There's no reason it wouldn't be. For a little while..."
She probably wanted to show off to other people.
Or maybe she intended to communicate with her fans.
"Shall we get going then?"
"Okay! Want Noona to carry the cage?"
"No, I'll carry it."
Even while lugging that heavy-looking bag, she wanted to carry something else.
Her thoughtfulness in looking out for a man was truly impressive.
"What car are we taking?"
"We're heading into the mountains, so we'll leave the Chiron behind, right?"
"Aww... I wanted to ride in the Chiron."
For reference, A-ra's car had been nicknamed Chiron-ie.
The nicknames I had given it, like Bbang-bbang-ie or Bureung-ie, had been rejected.
"We have to buy a cage and food anyway, so we can't take the Chiron."
"Ah, right, that's true."
The Bugatti Chiron's trunk was less than 50L.
And there were no back seats, so forget about setting the dog cage down—we couldn't even hold it and get in the car.
A-ra, who had been disappointed until just a moment ago, now seemed convinced, as she lifted up the cage and began grinning.
"Got everything packed?"
"I've got everything packed, too."
"Then let's go!"
Saying that, she raised her hand high and started to show something off.
What she was holding was definitely the car key I had placed on the table.
Since A-ra Noona liked driving, whenever we went out as a family, I hardly ever got the chance to drive.
On one hand, it was convenient at times, but on the other hand, it also felt a bit sorry—that was a husband's heart.