Night Fishing
Night Fishing
"Seong-hwan-a, I'm heading out."
"Take care~"
Seeing Seong-hwan bury his face in the bed and wave at me gave me a wry smile.
Kkomul Pipsqueak and Tiny had climbed onto Seong-hwan's back and were kneading away, so he was stuck lying face-down, unable to get up.
But wait, did dogs do that kneading thing too?
Raising a dog and a cat together means they kind of blend halfway, you know.
"Heung-heu-heung~ Heu-heu-heung~"
Maybe because it was my first night fishing trip in a long while, I felt extra cheerful.
Without even realizing it, I was humming to myself as I slipped out of the hotel lobby and headed toward the parking lot.
It really was a relief that my husband liked SUVs.
When we go on trips like this, you absolutely need a car with a big trunk, after all.
And later, if we have a kid or something... it'd be great for putting them in the back too...
Why don't they make sports cars with four seats, anyway?
"Hehe, what am I even thinking."
I did want a child, but that was something we could think about later when we were older.
Seong-hwan was still young, and I was young too, so there was no need to rush.
Ppyok-ppyeok.
Hearing the sound of the car locking, I pulled on the door to make sure it was properly secured.
After confirming it, I hummed to myself again and walked toward the dock area.
Compared to what I'd seen from outside the elevator earlier, there seemed to be fewer people now, but plenty were still enjoying their fishing.
Since so many people come to Busan specifically to fish, the hotel had probably arranged this as a courtesy.
I knew the real fishing was supposed to be down below at the actual dock.
Looking at it now, going down to fish in that slippery, dangerous-looking spot... well.
Sure, you'd probably catch more fish down there, but it wasn't worth giving up a comfortable, well-lit spot for.
"Hoooh...!"
I grabbed one of the chairs and a small table set out nearby for fishing and settled into a corner.
When I'm fishing with friends, my younger siblings, or my husband, a lively atmosphere is nice.
But when I'm fishing without anyone I know, I much prefer doing it quietly.
Besides, I'd only end up bothering the other people fishing for no reason.
"Hoooh... it is a bit chilly, though."
If the whole point of coming to Busan had been fishing, I would've brought a folding hot tent or a mat and all that.
This trip wasn't for fishing, so I hadn't packed any of it.
I hadn't come with serious intentions, but still, smelling that salty sea breeze... My fishing instincts just kicked in and I wound up grabbing the rod anyway.
"Maybe I'll just catch two and call it a night."
Isn't it a wife's duty to look after her husband if he's bored?
I smiled faintly, thinking of my husband, who was probably back in the hotel room taking care of the dog and cat to pass the time.
***
"Kkomul-ah, try this."
"Woof."
It was labeled as a dog treat provided by the hotel, so I offered some to Kkomul Pipsqueak.
Taking a little sniff, it seemed like something made from ground and dried chicken and pork.
It had that Hong Kong jerky, bakkwa kind of vibe, so he ate it without being picky at all.
"Is it good?"
"Woof! Woof!"
"Want more?"
Apparently it tasted even better than Cesar.
Those two never got this excited even when I mixed Cesar into their food.
"Now that I think about it, I'm hungry too..."
On the whole way here, I hadn't eaten anything besides the algamja potatoes and the tornado sausage.
No matter how little I eat, that's not nearly enough to fill anyone up.
Should I use the hotel room service...
Or should I go out and buy something decent to eat?
"Kkomul-jjomul-ah, want to go on a nighttime walk with Daddy?"
"Woof!"
"Mung."
There it was, Pipsqueak's answer, dry and understated as ever.
Just once, it'd be fine if he barked a big, loud "Woof!" like Lil' One, you know.
"Tiny... well, you..."
She'd already claimed her spot, curled up in a round ball in the corner, fast asleep.
The time was... eight o'clock, so it was about bedtime.
Don't they say baby cats sleep a lot, anyway?
"Then it should be fine to leave her here."
I nodded to myself and got up from my seat.
Now, which bag had I put the leash in...
"Found it."
How could I forget where I'd put the leash?
After searching hard, it turned out it was just sitting there conspicuously inside the dogs' cage.
I must have just tossed it somewhere while packing, figuring I'd put it away properly later.
I always end up losing things like this because I'm so careless.
But... I'd been noticing something for a little while now. Somewhere, it sounded like people were having a very loud argument.
I couldn't tell whether it was from the next room or the one behind us...
"Is it just my imagination?"
Maybe it was just the TV from somewhere turned up loud...
In the first place, who would scream at the top of their lungs for over an hour straight?
"Ah, what does it matter to me, anyway."
It'd be ridiculous for me to get worked up over other people's business.
Let's just not pay it any mind.
*
Until we got outside, I carried both of them in my arms.
Even if it was a place where dogs could come and go freely, there were bound to be people who were scared of dogs, weren't there?
Well, how many people could there possibly be who'd be scared of our Kkomul Pipsqueak, though.
The one little kids come up to and pet on the head is Lil' One.
"Puppy!"
"Want to pet his head?"
"Thank yuu!"
A child who looked barely three years old toddled over and petted Lil' One's head.
Our Lil' One and Pipsqueak are so gentle that they won't even bark loudly in front of children.
They'd be startled themselves if they suddenly heard a loud noise, so they probably put themselves in the other's shoes.
"Cute, right?"
"So cuute! What are their names?"
"Lil' One and Pipsqueak."
The little girl, barely three, tilted her head as if she didn't understand what that meant.
But seeing how she didn't take either hand off the two dogs' heads the whole time, she was definitely a dog lover in the making.
After she'd been petting their heads for about ten minutes, the child's parents came running over.
Apparently, she'd gotten lost inside the hotel.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
"Oh, no... I just let her pet the dogs, that's all."
Somehow, I'd ended up doing a good deed.
At times like this, it honestly feels pretty nice, you know.
"Let's go find your mom~"
"Woof!"
The two dogs started following A-ra's scent, their little butts wiggling from side to side.
The one disappointing thing was that I hadn't been able to capture that moment just now with an expensive camera.
Well, it's a sight I see every single day on our walks, so there wasn't any real need to photograph it...
But still, I wished I could have captured the sight of the two dogs taking a walk in an unfamiliar environment.
After leaving the parking lot and heading toward the back, even though it was nearly bedtime, there were more people than I'd expected — some casting fishing rods, some out on dates.
Maybe because I didn't know much about fishing, but what was the difference between daytime fishing and night fishing that made people want to distinguish the two?
Did you catch more fish at night?
But from what I'd seen, fishing wasn't necessarily more fun just because you caught more fish.
"Mung!"
"Huh? Jjomul-ah?"
It had been a while since I'd heard Pipsqueak bark so loudly.
Wondering what it was, I looked in the direction Pipsqueak was staring and saw a pretty person with a hat pulled down low, fishing.
Anyone could see it was my wife, A-ra.
Pipsqueak was straining with all his might, trying to run over to A-ra.
"Alright, alright... let's go to Mommy."
"Mung!"
She wasn't far away, but maybe she was so focused that even with Pipsqueak barking Mung-mung, she didn't notice us until we were right beside her.
I brought over a chair, unfolded it comfortably, sat down, and cleared my throat.
"Ahem... hello."
"Yes, hello."
What?
Could she really not have noticed?
I could understand with the dogs, but I'd thought she'd at least recognize her own husband.
So in this dark night, if you're focused on fishing, you really can't even recognize your husband!
I guess this was why it always ranked in the top five of hobbies women had that men hated.
"Noona. Is fishing fun?"
"Yeah, I already caught two."
She then showed me the bag containing the fish.
Apparently, she hadn't failed to recognize me — she'd just been pretending not to.
But I'd wondered what you could even catch in shallow water like this, and she'd managed to catch some familiar-looking little guys.
A baby mackerel, and was this a sardine?
She'd only caught teeny-tiny fish.
"Can you eat these?"
"You can't!"
A-ra declared proudly that you couldn't eat them.
Looking now, the fish were floating belly-up.
So they weren't alive anymore.
"I was planning to let them go originally, you know? But they suddenly died."
"Well, mackerel are creatures that die easily to begin with."
They're extremely hard to transport alive anywhere.
Isn't that why Japanese cuisine developed around coastal areas?
A-ra puffed out her cheeks, looking disappointed.
She must have wanted to show them to me while they were still alive.
But to do that, shouldn't she have at least brought one of those air stone bubblers along?
Not that it would've been a guarantee they'd live even with one.
Ggoreureuk-
As I kept sitting there watching A-ra fish, I remembered that the reason I'd come outside in the first place was because I was hungry.
I was so hungry now that sour stomach acid was starting to rise.
"Noona, let's stop fishing now and go back to the room to eat."
"Mm... it's about that time, huh."
We could always fish again after eating, anyway.
Since it was safe enough for a man to come all the way here alone, and the area was well-lit and safe, I figured it was absolutely not dangerous for A-ra at all.
Why did the ocean have to be full of such dangerous things, though?
They could make it a little safer... I wished they'd make it so you couldn't even enter the dangerous spots to begin with.