Side Story: Picnic (2)
Side Story: Picnic (2)
"Heuuu.... that's refreshing."
Anyone watching would have seen A-ra stretching with a refreshed expression as she emerged from the public restroom in the parking lot.
She was diligently wiping her damp hands with a handkerchief, probably because she had just washed them.
Did she mean the weather was refreshing?
Or was something else refreshing?
A-ra, who had slowly walked over to us, beamed brightly.
The kind of smile that made me want to forgive her for anything and grant her every wish.
"Did you empty out refreshingly?"
"Hehe, I emptied it all out perfectly."
Isn't there a saying that you have to clear away the old before you can create something new?
It meant that before you do anything, the right conditions must be set.
A-ra had effectively set the stage in anticipation of the dosirak she was about to eat.
What a foodie, really.
"Mom, what does 'refreshing' mean?"
Arini, who had been curious about that since yesterday, grabbed the hem of A-ra's sleeve and looked up at her.
Like mother, like daughter—she was a bundle of curiosity and questions.
"Umm... how should I explain this."
A-ra, apparently finding it hard to explain, scratched her head and smiled wryly.
If you try to teach something to Arini, who was only five years old, you could end up in an endless loop because she would ask another question.
Just like in the bathtub yesterday.
"Let's ask your dad, who studied liberal arts."
Having judged it impossible to explain, her ultimate move was activated.
She had passed it off to me.
"Dad, Dad."
"Arin. 'Refreshing' is, you know, the feeling you get when you drink cold water or feel a cool breeze when you're hot."
This time, I just gave her the dictionary definition.
Truthfully, I didn't know how best to explain it either.
"Hmm... I don't think that's it..."
Our little daughter just tilted her head in confusion.
***
It feels a bit odd to say this about my own daughter but...
Watching her run around in the wide field, she looked like a cow or a horse that had been let loose.
It would be more accurate to say she was running wild.
It was only natural since girls were so strong and loved running around.
But still, did it make sense for a person to run faster than dogs?
Should I put her in track and field later?
I felt like she could absolutely dominate at the Olympics if she did that.
"Isn't that, you know? The thing where you think your own kid is a genius when they're little."
"Noona, can you say that even while watching that?"
Could she really say that while watching Arini run boundlessly across the field with Lil' One and Pipsqueak, who had been let loose together?
"Hey, I was like that when I was little too. Running around all day and falling down."
"....Really?"
"Arini's just at an average level. The really extreme kids, you have to put them to bed just to get them to stop."
Was it that intense?
I didn't think the younger kids at our orphanage had been quite that bad.
"Anyway, it feels amazing just spreading out a mat and sitting like this."
A-ra stretched out once more with a big stretch, then lay down spread-eagled and looked up at the sky.
Earlier in the parking lot, it had been clear without a single cloud, but now there were clouds scattered here and there, which actually seemed better since they blocked some of the sunlight.
Seeing the autumn leaves piled up on the late-autumn fields and hills, I couldn't help but feel how much time had passed.
Lately, each day seemed to fly by so fast that I could physically feel myself aging.
"Almost twenty-eight years old, huh..."
A-ra had gotten pregnant in the summer when she was twenty-four, and our daughter was born around the spring when she turned twenty-three, so she was almost six now.
I now understood the saying that if you have the means, it's better to have children sooner rather than later, and I could see exactly how that was giving me a different kind of freedom.
The world looked different once I had a daughter.
Because I could feel the precious things in my life multiplying as I spent my days with A-ra.
That was probably what it meant to be a married couple, growing older together.
But A-ra seemed slightly dissatisfied.
"Noona's turning thirty soon, you know?"
Thirty.
Regardless of gender, there was something you felt when the first digit changed.
When you go from 1 to 2, you have expectations about becoming an adult, but also fears.
I'd heard that many people felt a vague sense of loss when going from 2 to 3, as if their youth had slipped away entirely.
"Come on, it's not like you're the only one getting older. Aren't the people your age not even married, let alone have kids?"
"Hehe, that's true."
Of course, that kind of loss was only felt by people who had never even had a proper relationship and couldn't even get a foot in the door when it came to marriage.
In a way, you could say our couple took the painful hits early.
In my case, I registered my marriage the moment I became a legal adult at nineteen, and in A-ra's case, she got pregnant at just twenty-four.
We had resolved things at a young age that other people had to agonize over as they got older...
"Seong-hwan, what about you?"
"What about what?"
"Didn't you miss out on things you wanted to do because you were so young..."
"Do you think I couldn't do the things I wanted?"
"Well..."
Usually, if you marry young and have a child, it's common to throw your entire youth away.
Because there were people who couldn't even go to university, let alone play computer games, because they had to earn money.
But we were different.
To begin with, A-ra had more than enough money, and hadn't I started Qtube as a hobby and made money from it?
A-ra also continued her idol activities that she wanted to do... well, she retired now, but still.
"At the very least, haven't we both lived doing everything we wanted?"
"Come to think of it, we have."
That was why the two of us didn't need to feel sorry toward each other.
Wasn't our marriage one we both wanted, and wasn't our child one we both wanted to have?
"Right now, I think I'd be happy as long as you and Arini are healthy."
"Me too... I just want you and Arini to be healthy."
A-ra, who had been sitting, slowly scooted closer to me and rested her head on my shoulder.
I gently brushed her bangs back and placed my hand on her head, stroking it softly.
*
"Hwaaaam..."
After eating the dosirak, Arini let out a big yawn.
She was the kind of child who would run around energetically and then, once her belly was full, her eyes would immediately start drooping.
"Arin. You know Dad always says that if you sleep right after eating, you'll turn into a cow, right?"
"Yeah... I know, Dad..."
Even as she said that, she was rubbing her eyes, and I smiled wryly.
Because our Arini always said she knew but ended up nodding off and falling asleep anyway.
A-ra, next to me, also smiled wryly and yawned.
I couldn't tell if it was contagious or if A-ra was just tired too.
But when it came to A-ra, she didn't hide things from me.
Things she didn't even need to mention, she would say first.
"It's fine. Arini exercises hard, too."
"Exercise... was that really exercise?"
Was it right to assign meaning to an activity that was purely running around?
Still, it was true that thanks to that activity, Arini was healthy and didn't gain weight...
"Alright. Song Ah-rin, I'm allowing it just for today, got it?"
"Nnyah..."
"....She's already asleep."
Arini was already lying face down on my thigh, drifting off to sleep.
I lifted Arini up, laid her down properly, and took out a small blanket from the dosirak basket to cover her.
Maybe she was a little cold, because my daughter grabbed the edge of the blanket and pulled it all the way up to her chin, and I let out a small chuckle.
"Should we all just take a nap together?"
"Let's. The weather's nice and cool, too."
Lil' One and Pipsqueak had also eaten their fill and were settling down to sleep.
Dogs had the best lives, so there was no reason we couldn't sleep well too.
"Noona."
"Yeah?"
"Next time, should we take Arini to an amusement park or something?"
"Sounds good. Arini will absolutely love it."
Sure enough, as we talked about going to an amusement park, Arini was sleeping with a bright, innocent smile on her face.
Wait, was she really asleep?
It seemed like she was pretending to be asleep?
Should I test her?
I cleared my throat with a dry cough and brought my mouth close to Arini's ear, whispering quietly.
"Amusement park."
"....."
"Camping."
"...Heue..."
"Trip to Japan."
"Heueee..."
Her beaming smile was the spitting image of A-ra.
How could she take after her mother so exactly?
"Song Ah-rin, you're not asleep, are you?"
"..........."
The moment those words ended, I heard the sound of her breathing.
I brought my hand near her nose and was surprised to find she was genuinely asleep, not pretending.
Wait, so she had been reacting to what I said while actually asleep?
"Maybe she's having a good dream? Like a dream where Dad takes her to an amusement park."
"I guess we have no choice. Next week... it'll be chaos because of the typhoon, so we can't go. How about the week after next?"
"If my Seong-hwan says let's go, then we go."
Then A-ra beamed very brightly.
....Honestly, wasn't A-ra the one who really wanted to go?
***
"Arin. Come on, wake up."
"Kuuuul...."
"No choice... Eutcha!"
I lifted up Arini, who had fallen into a deep sleep and had no intention of waking up.
I handed the carrier with Lil' One and Pipsqueak to A-ra, then hoisted Arini onto my back.
"Isn't she heavy?"
"Heavy... if I let this much bother me, I wouldn't be much of a dad."
Honestly, she was a little heavy...
But I had some pride, after all, so I somehow held out and made it all the way up to the apartment.
I headed straight for Arini's room and gently laid her down on her little bed.
The fact that she didn't even notice she was being carried was exactly like her mother.
"Udeudeudeudeuk! Refreshing."
Did I need to oil my joints now?
Feeling slightly stiff, I stretched and sat down lightly on the living room sofa.
A-ra had also freed Lil' One and Pipsqueak and sat down on the sofa.
Then she was staring at me intently.
What was this?
Had I done something wrong?
No, at times like this, apologizing first was the priority, whether I'd done wrong or not.
I scratched my head slightly and turned my face just a little toward where she was sitting.
Smack---
The moment I turned my head, I felt a soft, tender sensation.
A-ra had kissed my lips as swiftly as a bee sting.
It had already been over seven years since we started living as a married couple, but the affection A-ra gave me was no different from seven years ago.
And the freshness of those feelings was no different from now, either.
I stared at her intently, my face flushed red.
She smiled brightly and once again slowly brought her soft, warm lips to mine.
The first was a simple butterfly kiss, but this time it was a deep, intense kiss.
We continued sharing that deep kiss until Arini woke up, came out to the living room, and shouted, 'Mom is eating Dad!'