Aquarium(2)
Aquarium(2)
The next day, we pushed through the traffic and arrived at Lotte Tower, located in the heart of Seoul.
It housed not only the Arinium, but also a concert hall, a department store selling luxury goods,
and even a regular mart, so the crowds multiplied endlessly on weekends, or so they said.
When we arrived, the parking lot was already nearly full.
The heater didn't even seem to be on, but it was toasty warm from the heat of all the cars.
"It's probably a little chilly inside the Arinium, don't you think?"
"Why?"
"Because there are fish and penguins?"
That made sense.
Plus, the glass walls chilled by the water would absorb heat and bring the temperature down a bit.
Thinking about that, wearing an outer layer was a good idea.
Still, it's a little warm now, so I'll unzip it a bit.
"No, you'll catch a cold."
A-ra, seeing me lower the zipper, immediately zipped it back up.
Maybe she remembered how I suffered from a cold recently.
*
After leaving the parking lot and coming up to ground level, A-ra and I
first went into a cafe.
Since we were out anyway, we planned to have a cold coffee before going inside.
"It's nice to come out and have coffee after so long, isn't it?"
"Yeah... It's been a while since I went on a date with you, noona..."
Recently, A-ra had gotten busy and it was hard to make time for dates.
So usually, most of our dating was cuddling while watching movies at home.
When she wasn't busy, we'd go to fishing cafes, to the movies, walk in quiet parks...
But now that I've become famous too, those dates are impossible.
"I'm sorry, Seong-hwan."
"I told you, there's no need to be sorry. And you said it'll quiet down soon."
It had already been two weeks since A-ra's group Queens released their album.
It was about time for the fans to calm down, and things would likely settle into a lull until the next album.
Of course, once another album drops, we'll face similar days again.
"When you're busy, we can just have dates at home, you know."
"Yeah... thank you."
A-ra probably thought I was a very understanding man.
But I wasn't particularly understanding; I just genuinely thought that way.
Since I'm a househusband, there are many weekends when I'm doing housework, and some days it's hard to go out because I need to take care of our Lil' One and Pipsqueak.
And now that we've got a cat, I have to take care of it diligently—wouldn't they feel neglected if we went on frequent dates?
"Right, when are we going to pick up the cat?"
"They said we can bring it home next week."
"Then let's set a time next weekend and go together."
She said that with a bright smile, then picked up the cup on the table and drank it all down through the straw.
As expected, a sweet iced Americano was the best.
"Noona, the ice is all melting."
"Huh?"
The poor coffee had already half melted and turned into watery soup.
Still, A-ra couldn't bring herself to throw it away, so she sipped through the straw and finished every last drop.
After separating the cup for disposal, we went outside and headed straight to the Arinium.
Going down the escalator to the first basement floor, we spotted the large entrance and a sign that read "Lotte World Arinium."
There were so many people even at the entrance that we couldn't see what the inside looked like.
"Seong-hwan, hold noona's hand."
A-ra, afraid she might lose me, gripped my hand tightly.
A-ra had said she had something like a trauma from getting lost as a child while out with her parents.
She once said she cried all the tears she'd ever have in her life that day.
Looking at A-ra's old photos, she was such a cute little girl that I found myself wanting to see her at that age.
*
We followed the bean-sprout-like waiting line and arrived at the ticket booth.
A-ra, still holding my hand, talked to the staff, finished paying, and after getting the tickets, led me back to the entrance.
The entrance had a design that felt very familiar, like I'd seen it somewhere before.
That's a subway ticket gate.
"You just put the ticket in here and go through."
"They still have these nowadays."
You'd see them occasionally in old dramas or movies.
These days, there's nothing but NFC transit card readers attached everywhere.
"Did you know that in Busan they still have ticket machines and gates where you insert tickets like this?"
"Really?"
"Yeah, noona found it fascinating when filming."
While having that conversation, we inserted the tickets and passed through the gates inside.
As soon as we entered, we saw small sharks and tropical fish.
And electric eels and reptiles caught our eye.
"Fish grow that big even in freshwater..."
"I've never seen tropical fish that big, either."
A-ra and I walked together hand in hand through the entry area.
We hadn't even properly gone inside yet, but it was already this fun.
We should have come sooner.
"Isn't that a crocodile?"
"Yeah, it's a crocodile, but it's really small."
Most of what we think of as crocodiles are of the crocodile species.
So that one must be a Nile crocodile that lives in freshwater.
"But it's a bit small, isn't it?"
"Maybe it's still young?"
Since I wasn't knowledgeable about reptiles, I mumbled vaguely.
I should ask a reptile enthusiast among the DongArin members later.
As we went further inside, various fish and animals caught our attention.
A-ra showed particular interest in the turtles, and she also looked at carnivorous fish like candiru and piranhas with fascination.
Was it because she's a woman that she likes that sort of thing?
Maybe it was because they were being fed at that moment that she was even more interested.
"Pretty..."
After the native fish and tropical fish, next came a tunnel themed after the Amazon.
When I was little, I used to dream of living in a house like this...
Now that I think about it, I could see myself calculating the maintenance costs first.
This was why an aquarium was nice.
It seemed to restore our long-worn childhood innocence back to the way it once was.
You could tell just by looking at A-ra, who was spinning around with sparkling eyes.
I felt like we'd made the right choice coming here.
*
"Se...Seong-hwan! Look at that! That!"
"Oh... that looks like a beluga."
It was a near-threatened species, and its Korean name is white dolphin.
Anyway, being a dolphin,
it was all alone in such a large tank.
"It looks lonely being alone."
"Still, it's swimming around as if it's in a good mood."
Only the dolphin itself knows how it feels inside the aquarium.
But swimming around with a smile—didn't that look like it was happy?
Still, I wished it could return to the sea someday.
***
Afterward, we finished looking at the jellyfish area and then settled into the ocean-themed cafe nestled in between.
It seemed like a place operated in collaboration between a famous franchise cafe and the Arinium, but the menu didn't seem much different.
"I was thirsty from all the walking, so that's a relief."
"Eat some bread too."
I took the bread she offered and chewed it slowly.
It was definitely bread with meat in it, but because I'd just been looking at fish, I had the illusion of eating a light grilled fish.
"Didn't they say there's a restaurant here too?"
"It's probably upstairs. Seems a bit different from a food court."
"Then shall we have dinner there tonight?"
"It's been a while since we ate out."
I'd been worrying about what to make for dinner, so the timing was perfect.
I'd postpone grocery shopping until tomorrow.
As I sat chewing the bread, I noticed the people around us.
There were many families who had come with their sons or daughters, but surprisingly many couples walked around arm in arm.
As they say, an aquarium was an attractive date spot.
"You've been to the Busan Aquarium too, noona?"
"Yeah. There wasn't an aquarium in Gimhae where I lived. So I used to go to Haeundae often to see it."
"Busan probably has more fish, right?"
I'd searched yesterday and found that the aquarium in Haeundae was right by the beach.
That way, they wouldn't need to go to the trouble of bringing in seawater like in Seoul, and fish stress management would be easier.
"Hmm... I don't remember well. Ever since that incident, I never went to an aquarium to have fun."
"That incident where you said you cried so loudly your eardrums almost burst?"
"Yeah... That's why I was holding Seong-hwan's hand so tightly."
She had held my hand tightly, determined not to lose me.
When I thought of that expression from earlier, she still seemed so cute I could die.
"So you really don't remember well?"
"Yeah... That's a bit disappointing... But why?"
"I was thinking maybe we could go to Busan sometime. To the Haeundae area."
Come to think of it, I'd never really enjoyed Busan properly.
The last time I went, when I found A-ra's parents' ring, I took the KTX straight to Gimhae.
So, wouldn't it be good to set aside some time and have some real fun in Busan?
I'd also like to try the authentic pork gukbap there.
Gukbap... I wondered if it'd be difficult to upload a gukbap video on CueTube.
Since there was so much involved in making it, I was once advised that gukbap was something best avoided if at all possible.
From whom?
Of course, from someone in the same industry.
Who that person was was a secret.