When You Go Out to Play, Accidents Happen
When You Go Out to Play, Accidents Happen
A-ra and I returned to the room and had a late dinner.
I had thought about ordering wine to set the mood for the first time in a while, but A-ra said she'd pass for today, so I ended up not ordering any.
The hotel didn't operate a buffet; instead, they ran the restaurant as fine dining.
Maybe because of that, the quality of the room service food was outstanding as well.
"Noona, try the potato too."
"Is that potato?"
The dish I held out was something mashed and mixed with something else.
I had wondered what it was at first too, but it was just boiled potato mixed with cheese.
"This is good?"
"I think it's a mash or purée, but it's interesting they didn't melt the cheese into it."
I also liked the slightly chewy texture, maybe because they used Gouda cheese.
It's pretty hard for cold potatoes to taste good, after all.
"Seong-hwan, couldn't you make it even tastier?"
"Hmm... well, I could make it if I tried, but..."
As for whether I could make it tastier than a hotel restaurant chef... well...
I only had a Korean cuisine cooking license, and I was just someone who cooked as a hobby.
There was no way I could beat a professional with a career in it.
Those people had all graduated from culinary science departments and spent years sweating it out in kitchens.
"Hmm... is that how it works?"
A-ra tilted her head in confusion.
A genius idol who's good at everything probably wouldn't understand.
Maybe next time I should try teaching A-ra how to cook.
If she got into cooking as a hobby, I might be able to get a meal out of it once in a while.
*
After we finished eating, the staff cleared away all the dishes.
We were sitting in lounge chairs, relaxing and spending time at our leisure, but there was one thing that was bothering both of us a little.
"But hasn't it been a bit noisy for a while now?"
A-ra pointed out the sound of someone yelling that could be heard from somewhere.
I'd been aware of it too, and even after several hours, there was no sign of it quieting down.
Just what kind of fight could you have in a hotel that would last over three hours...
I thought I'd better file a complaint at the front desk to tell them to keep it down.
"I'll do it."
A-ra snatched the receiver next to the TV and dialed the extension.
There was a brief signal tone, and then it connected instantly, a voice coming from the other end of the receiver.
When A-ra asked them to find out what was going on, they replied that several staff members were already going around to check.
Staff were also having trouble figuring out where the sound was coming from.
"Don't tell me, do they just suddenly stop fighting when someone approaches?"
"Come on, there's no way people like that exist."
"You never know."
It's not like they came to the hotel to fight, after all.
I wish they'd kick out those troublemakers quickly.
***
"Seong-hwan! Yoo Seong-hwan!"
What was she shaking me awake for this time?
Did she discover something unexpectedly fun?
"Noona, what time is it?"
"Three minutes to nine. Hurry and get up!"
It didn't seem like she was telling me I'd overslept, so I stretched wide, yawned, and slapped my cheeks to wake myself up.
A-ra had gone behind the drawn curtains, opened the terrace door, and was looking down outside.
"Haaahm....."
I also dragged my heavy body up and went out toward the terrace where A-ra was.
Looking around, other hotel guests were also out on their terraces, looking down below.
Wondering what on earth was going on, I slowly looked down.
Below, two ambulances were flashing their lights, and people who looked like emergency rescue workers were moving busily around.
It was sort of like when I collapsed before, I guess.
"Did someone get hurt?"
"You heard someone fighting yesterday, right?"
"Yeah. Don't tell me it turned into a fistfight?"
It was two women's voices, so it must have been quite a scene.
Remembering when Yeji beat up that rapist before made me shudder all over.
Seeing me think that, A-ra shook her head.
And then she let out a really chilling remark.
"I heard they even pulled a knife..."
"Hiek... then did someone die?"
"No, I heard no one got stabbed, but there were a lot of cuts and slashes."
"But how do you know that, noona? Did you go outside?"
"No, I saw it on the internet."
Looks like our journalists have been busy since morning.
Those flashes going off over there must be journalists living nearby.
Anyway, getting the full story of something that happened right in front of us through the internet... Times really have changed.
Times really have changed.
"So anyway, let's check out of this hotel today."
"Should we? It definitely feels a bit unsettling to stay longer."
We had originally planned to stay until today, but it couldn't be helped.
The atmosphere was off, and soon broadcasting stations would probably come to cover the story, which would just be a hassle.
"First, let's eat breakfast... then stop by the aquarium, and then head to Gimhae?"
"We have to fish too!"
"Right, right... we have to fish too."
Fishing wasn't the main point, but depriving A-ra of fishing felt like too cruel a thing to do.
As her husband, I should be understanding.
*
"Still, since an incident happened, they gave us a refund."
"Yeah... I thought they wouldn't give us one."
I hadn't even thought about a refund, but to think they'd give us one.
I could use this to buy something delicious for our younger siblings later.
A-ra and I left the hotel and were heading toward Haeundae.
It had taken quite a while to check out because we'd had an amazing debate about whether to take a walk on Haeundae Beach first and then go into the aquarium, or see the aquarium first and then take a walk.
Naturally, the winner of the debate was A-ra.
It was because the aquarium's exit was near the beach.
A-ra had been here a few times, and I'd never been here once, so it was only natural I didn't know.
It was only natural for A-ra to win.
"What are we going to do about the kids?"
"I'm going to leave the heater on in the car. I'll just crack the windows so they can't get out, and it should be fine."
Our dogs were well-behaved and stayed quiet in the car to begin with, so there wouldn't be a problem.
We just had to see the aquarium quickly and come back out.
"It would have been nice if we could bring them in..."
"The fish, reptiles, and animals inside would all be shocked, wouldn't they?"
Just imagine if they started barking inside.
The creatures inside the tanks might awaken to true terror for the first time.
***
We were nearing the end of our walk through the aquarium.
A school of fish was swimming beautifully in a massive tank that looked about ten times the height of a person.
To think you could see a sight normally only found in nature inside an aquarium...
"Did you like it?"
"Yes... it's really beautiful."
"Then how about going scuba diving with noona next summer, somewhere like Thailand or the Philippines?"
"If we do that, can we see that kind of sight in nature?"
"I can't guarantee it. It's more like... you can see it if you're lucky?"
A-ra shook her head, saying there were no guarantees.
That actually made me feel her sincerity more.
"Then let's go next summer."
"Hehe, I think I'm really good at luring my husband into things."
A-ra really liked getting me involved in her hobbies.
Not long ago, she'd pushed stargazing and saunas on me, and she'd succeeded in pulling me in.
"Looks like noona knows how to scuba dive too."
"No? I don't know how?"
"Huh?"
"I've never done it either. I'm trying it because you said you wanted to try it, Seong-hwan."
What a touching moment this was.
It seemed that because I'd shown interest, A-ra wanted to try it first, learn it, and then guide me so I could do it well.
"Noona..."
"Hehe, want to bury yourself in noona's chest?"
I nodded lightly and let myself be held softly against A-ra's chest.
Anyway, the aquarium interior was dark, with only a single dark blue light on, so even if people around us looked, they probably couldn't see what we were doing.
"...But now that I think about it, fish..."
"Ugh..."
There's no way A-ra could miss a place with a lot of fish.
On top of that, places like Thailand or the Philippines are hot countries, so the fish there would be huge too.
In short, it was the perfect place for fishing.
"Are you going to fish?"
"Uh... yeah... is it not okay?"
A-ra looked incredibly apologetic.
As I thought, she'd picked Southeast Asia with fishing in mind.
"It's not that it's not okay... but you're not prioritizing fishing over me, right?"
"O...of course not! Why would you think that?"
She started holding me close, saying there was absolutely no way that was the case.
"If you ever said you hated noona fishing, Seong-hwan, I wouldn't do it."
"No, it's not that I hate it... I just want to be together with noona."
Fishing is being together too, but A-ra's mind wouldn't be there, would it?
A-ra's mind would be deep under the sea, totally absorbed in catching fish.
That aside, Southeast Asia...
If we stick to safe places, nothing bad will probably happen...
It's just that every time we go on a trip, something always happens, so I've become cautious.
On top of that, for places like the Philippines or Thailand, I don't even know the language...
It would be on a completely different level from our trip to Japan.
So, I absolutely didn't want to go to places like that, nor did I want her to drag me there.
There are so many safe countries, so why go to places like that?
If we went and got hurt, we'd probably get more insults than sympathy.