A Snowy Day
A Snowy Day
Amidst the busy days passing one after another.
Two months had already flown by since the end of the semester.
Thinking that the next semester started next month was unbearably sad, but thinking that there was still a whole month left was also a joy.
I was truly experiencing the truth of the saying 'six of one, half a dozen of the other.'
"Haah... Now that I think about it, third year also means field practicum."
"What's field practicum...?"
"You're awake?"
It was Saturday, so A-ra had slept in late.
I handed a bottle of water to her as she rubbed her eyes.
"Open it for me..."
A-ra handed the water bottle back to me. Maybe because she wasn't fully awake yet, she seemed younger than me.
A-ra, who was older but sometimes showed a younger side...
I really wanted to just eat her up.
"I already opened it."
"Hehe, thank you..."
She held the bottle with both hands and started gulping it down.
The droplets of water trickling around her lips and plopping onto her collarbone and the valley of her chest seemed to be seducing me.
Of course, A-ra was always seducing me.
This was probably just an unconscious act on her part.
"So, what's this about field practicum?"
"The Department of Social Welfare, upon graduation, issues a Social Worker License Level 2 under the name of the Minister of Health and Welfare, you see?
But to complete it, you need at least 120 hours of field practicum."
There was a mandatory course called Social Welfare Field Practice.
Literally, if you didn't complete it as a requirement, you couldn't get the license issued, regardless of credits or anything else.
If that happened, completing the major would also become impossible.
I'd heard that in departments without practicum requirements, you could graduate just by meeting the required credits...
If I'd known this, I should have just entered some suitable humanities department and graduated.
"Can't you get around that with an employment confirmation?"
"They said it's not allowed."
"Hmm... Then there's no helping it."
What wasn't allowed wasn't allowed.
A-ra nodded and flopped back down onto the bed.
Then she spread both arms wide.
It meant I should jump in.
*
"By the way, they say it's going to snow today."
"Snow?"
Come to think of it, I hadn't opened the curtains since waking up.
I had been clinging to A-ra for two hours after she woke up...
Feeling gradually hot and stuffy, I got up from the bed.
A-ra, as if missing my arms, flailed her hands and then puffed up her cheeks.
Seeing that, I chuckled and pulled back the curtains covering the large window with a whoosh.
"Oh... Noona, come here and look."
"Did it snow a lot?"
"It snowed an incredible amount. It's piled up so much you could practically get buried in it."
It was, without exaggeration, a major cold wave.
How long had it been since it snowed like this?
Last year, there had been rain instead of snow.
"Wow... It really did snow a lot."
Unbeknownst to me, A-ra had brought Lil' One and Pipsqueak into her arms and was holding them out toward the window.
Lil' One and Pipsqueak were probably seeing snow for the first time.
"Noona, shall we go out and take a walk?"
"That sounds great! Little Pipsqueak will be seeing snow for the first time, too."
I'd heard that Pomeranians were originally a derivative breed of Spitz and Samoyed.
Since both were dogs that lived alongside snow in cold regions, the DNA that loved snow would surely be alive in Lil' One and Pipsqueak.
"Woof! Woof woof!"
"Aww, our little puppy darlings. Do you like snow that much?"
"Woof."
On behalf of the overly excited Lil' One-noona, Pipsqueak answered.
It seemed you truly couldn't fool the blood flowing through their bodies.
First, we decided to eat lunch before going out.
We had clung to each other so affectionately for two hours that we'd skipped breakfast and unintentionally ended up eating brunch.
We ate more heartily than usual to make up for it.
I had resolved never to skip meals for A-ra and the dogs and the cat, even if I skipped my own...
I had broken the very first promise I had made to myself.
"I said it's fine, okay? Skipping one meal isn't going to kill anyone."
"But Noona, you might die, you know..."
A-ra was the type to cry if she skipped a meal.
She must have been very hungry.
"Give me one more bowl!"
"Yes, yes~"
I got up from my seat, took A-ra's bowl, and headed to the rice cooker.
It seemed like the rice had turned out even better than usual today.
***
"Woof! Woof woof!"
"Hey now, little one. I said you can't just run around like crazy."
Lil' One had been dashing about wildly since earlier, as if the cold snow felt good.
For reference, Pipsqueak was currently being petted profusely by the kids in the apartment complex.
Lil' One had barely escaped that hell.
Though it was a fleeting, threadlike moment of freedom, I wanted her to enjoy it to the fullest.
Our apartment complex unexpectedly had many households that raised dogs.
And it seemed there were hardly any people who disliked dogs either.
So, since people had suggested letting dogs off leash in open areas, I had taken off her leash.
At first, she tilted her head as if puzzled about why the leash was off, but she seemed to have gotten used to it by now.
"Little one, do you like it?"
"Woof!"
"It's rare to see snow piled up this much, so enjoy it."
"Woof!"
Was I feeling pointlessly excited because it had been a long time since I'd seen snow piled up this much?
I packed some snow into a suitable ball and threw it at Lil' One.
Along with a 'thwack' sound, the packed snow burst beautifully.
I had thrown it lightly, but it seemed to have hit her quite hard.
"Li...little one? Are you okay?"
"Grrrr..."
"S...sorry..."
She must have been angry, because she started baring her teeth for the first time in a while.
It was the first time I'd seen her do this since the time we went to Ganghwado and left her with Lee Min-ho.
I ran over, lifted Lil' One up and hugged her, and slowly stroked her head.
Gradually, her growling subsided, and her cute, gentle expression returned.
I had nearly been disliked by Lil' One.
Our little daughter was smart, so I had to take good care of her.
"Ahaha, that tickles."
Anyway, were A-ra and Pipsqueak okay?
They had been surrounded by apartment residents since earlier.
I was a little worried.
People might question who was worrying about whom, but A-ra was surprisingly soft-hearted.
If asked for an autograph, she gave it; if asked for a handshake, she shook hands.
It wasn't that she was a yes-girl who could only say yes, but she wasn't the type who could firmly say no either.
So hadn't she said that Eun-ji had always played that role by her side?
I should treat Eun-ji to a meal later as thanks.
"This isn't the time for that... Little one, let's go see your mom."
"Woof!"
When moving somewhere without a leash, you had to hold the dog in your arms.
It was both out of consideration for other people and to keep Lil' One from getting hurt.
Speaking of dogs, things had been unsettled lately due to biting incidents.
*
"Noona?"
"Seong-hwan-a, come here."
Thinking she was just signing autographs again, I walked over slowly, but she was doing something much more fun than I expected.
Wasn't she having a snowball fight with the middle and high school students living in the complex?
The kids were laughing as they were pelted by snowballs flying from all directions at all times.
There was a hint of madness in the air. The atmosphere was so fierce I wondered if they were hiding pebbles inside the snowballs.
"Come on, where would pebbles be?"
"You're right... By the way, where's Pipsqueak?"
"Pipsqueak's playing over there?"
I looked where A-ra pointed, and Pipsqueak was near the flower bed, chasing after a flying insect, whether it was a butterfly or a moth.
A butterfly on a day of heavy snowfall...
"That's not a butterfly. It's made of paper folded by the kids."
"Ah... So that's why she's playing with it."
Pipsqueak was hopping and kicking her legs, trying to catch the paper butterfly she could never catch.
It was just a shame I couldn't capture that scene right away.
But had our Pipsqueak always played well alone like that?
I hadn't known that fact because she was usually with Lil' One and Tiny.
"Shall we bring Tiny out too?"
"No, cats probably won't like the snow."
"But Tiny is all fluffy?"
"That fur isn't the kind for withstanding winter, you know."
In the first place, cats were territorial animals, so you should refrain from bringing them outside.
On top of that, bringing her out to a place completely covered in snow in this freezing weather would be too much.
"In that case... shall I build a snowman with Noona?"
"That sounds great. I don't know how to build one, so please teach me."
"As much as you want. Huhu..."
A-ra's expression as she said she would teach me how to build a snowman had changed ominously.
It seemed I had somehow triggered a switch in A-ra.
This was a bit troublesome.
Since A-ra always wanted to see things through to the end once she started, she might refuse to go inside until we made a truly proper snowman.
"Th...there are small ones, right? Please just make a tiny one."
"A small one? Since it snowed so much, we should make a big one while we're at it..."
"No, snowmen melt anyway, right? A small one is enough, really enough."
Weren't we out here to build memories, not to take on some grand challenge?
If we made a huge one for no reason, the most important thing, building memories, might get in the way.
"Really? If that's what you think, Seong-hwan-a..."
She crossed her arms and started to think deeply.
Was she pondering how best to make the base of the snowman?
"Let's roll the snow first and think."
"Okay. But how do you roll snow?"
"First, try packing the snow into a round ball like when you're having a snowball fight."
I did as A-ra instructed, lightly squeezing the snow and kneading it into a ball.
As the soft snow was packed and packed, it became as hard as a rock.
If you poured water on it and froze it, it would become a weapon, wouldn't it?
"Next, sprinkle a little water on the ice."
".....We shouldn't do that."
"A snowman can only stand strong and firm if the center is solid. Go on, do it."
A-ra handed me a water bottle she had procured from somewhere.
It seemed she intended to be serious about this, even if we were making a small one.