Fishing Cafe
Fishing Cafe
"Hmm.. What should we take out and what should we put in.."
"Let's start by taking out the manga cafe..."
"Umm.. We have gone there a bit too often lately, right?"
Last week, even though we had nothing else to do, we still went to the manga cafe two days in a row. It really showed how bored we were.
Of course, reading manga was fun and I could say we spent our time well,
but it had started to get a little boring.
Going to the manga cafe once or twice a month was enough.
So, the thing A-ra and I were desperately racking our brains over was none other than
our date course.
A-ra had always stuck to a simple yet textbook date course:
cafe -> movie theater -> park.
But recently, starting with our visit to the manga cafe, the idea came up that instead of going to the same places in an endless loop,
we should try dating at some more unique places too.
"When you think of famous date courses, there's fishing... escape rooms... and I heard there's even a cafe where you can pan for gold..."
As A-ra began listing various unusual date courses one by one,
the word fishing came out of her mouth.
Fishing was considered the exclusive domain of women, and it had a surprisingly bad reputation.
The equipment was expensive, and since once they left the house, they never thought about coming back,
it apparently ranked high on the list of female hobbies that men hated.
But, I didn't particularly dislike it.
Rather, I thought it was a healthy and fun hobby as long as it was enjoyed in moderation.
"Fishing sounds like it'd be fun."
When I reacted positively to fishing, A-ra's face began to brighten.
Come to think of it, she had appeared on a program called 'Countryside Fisher' or something before, hadn't she?
"Right? There are places for real fishing, and I saw there's screen fishing too."
Once I showed interest in fishing, A-ra started chattering about this and that,
then brought her laptop over and began searching for all sorts of things.
She really seemed to want to try a fishing date.
"But, don't you need equipment and have to go out to the sea to fish?"
"The place noona wants to go isn't the seaside, it's a fishing cafe."
"There are places like that?"
"Just think of it as an indoor fishing spot."
"Ah."
When I first heard the words fishing cafe, I wondered if such a thing even existed,
but once she called it an indoor fishing spot, I felt like I could understand right away.
Fishing enjoyed in the heart of the city, huh...
"How about it? Want to go check it out?"
How could I possibly refuse A-ra's suggestion, her eyes sparkling with anticipation?
I nodded my head appropriately.
"It wouldn't be bad. But I don't know how to fish."
The problem was that I knew absolutely nothing about fishing.
I had never even held a fishing rod, let alone gone fishing.
It was a hobby that required a lot of physical strength to begin with,
and as someone who grew up in an orphanage, the only fishing rod I had ever been able to touch
was the magnetic fishing rod that was a communal toy when I was little.
"How many times has noona told you not to worry about stuff like that? For the most part, noona knows how to do everything."
As she said that, A-ra thumped her ample chest.
She was a reliable and trustworthy wife.
As she stroked my head, telling me there was no need—no reason—to worry, A-ra
sprang to her feet and stretched.
"Then tomorrow's date course is confirmed as fishing?"
"You're not going to just fish all day, right?"
Since A-ra tended to go all out once she got into something,
I had to give her a heads-up in advance.
There were times when that side of her was cute and lovable, but there were also times when I wanted to smack her on the butt.
"O-Of...course...?"
"....."
If I hadn't brought it up, we would have spent nearly the entire day tomorrow at the fishing spot.
That wasn't a 'date' anymore, that was just going 'fishing.'
***
"The price is pretty steep.."
"Once you find out what's inside, you won't be saying that."
We paid a total of 90,000 won for 4-hour sessions and headed inside.
The fishing cafe, which occupied an entire floor of a large building, was incredibly spacious.
There were several tub-like structures where you could fish, and on one side, it was quite impressive to see them selling various foods.
They seemed to sell alcohol like beer too.
The atmosphere was dim, but LEDs lit up the floor, making it look bright.
Fishing aside, with the soft background music, the lighting, and even the sound of water...
I could see why it was recommended as a date course.
"Look at this, look at this."
Holding my hand, A-ra led me
to the largest tub in this fishing cafe.
Some kind of UV lamp was turned on overhead, making the creatures swimming inside the tub
clearly visible.
"Wow, they've got all sorts of things here....Huh?"
And, though I wasn't sure why they were there,
an enormous number of lobsters were either sinking beneath the water or swimming around, flopping about.
"You see them? That's the specialty of this indoor fishing spot."
"You can... catch those with a fishing rod?"
"I heard they're caught more easily than you'd think."
And with that, A-ra began to lick her lips.
She clearly wanted to eat lobster.
"So what do you want to do first?"
"Let's start by catching fish. Let's take on the lobsters later."
"Then let's go over there."
Once again, led by A-ra, we headed to a tub where more people were sitting than at the other spots.
I sat down at a suitable spot and waited for A-ra. She gathered up various items and handed them to me.
"You absolutely have to wear the apron, the sleeves, and the gloves."
"What about this towel?"
"Keep it handy in case water splashes."
I put on the safety gear, which seemed a little big for me.
Looking around, since everyone else was dressed similarly,
they seemed to be mandatory.
"And this is the fishing rod."
I took the fishing rod A-ra handed me.
I was momentarily flustered because its shape was different from the fishing rod I had imagined in my head.
"At indoor fishing spots, you don't need to cast far, so it's a short and simple shape."
"Come to think of it, there's no reel or anything either."
"Right? Because it's light and thin, resembling a switch, it's also called a short whip rod."
Memories of catching crabs at the orphanage long ago came back to me, fresh and vivid.
Back then, we used to skewer pork belly onto a pole like this, stick it into the gaps between rocks,
and catch rock crabs...
Or sometimes we used something where the line was wound up like a spool of thread.
"And this is the landing net."
"This one looks exactly like I imagined it."
Although it was a bit small, it was sufficient for scooping up fish that had come right up to the edge.
It was lightweight too.
"Is that everything?"
"Yeah, now I'll teach you how to set up the rigging."
"Rigging?"
"You see the fishing hook? You tie this onto the line..."
While saying she would teach me, A-ra did everything herself: tying the fishing hook, attaching the sinker, all of it.
My wife's love of taking care of everything had kicked in again.
"Since there's a lot of flounder and rockfish here... a size 4 straight hook with... a size 6 sinker."
I had no idea what any of that meant, but A-ra, explaining diligently, looked happy.
Was fishing something she had wanted to do even more than racing games or card collecting?
Anyway, since she had taken my fishing rod and was doing everything,
I had no way to get any hands-on practice while she handled it all.
"At this rate, there's nothing left for me to do, is there?"
I looked at A-ra with a wry smile, and she scratched her head, saying she'd forgotten.
Then she made a slightly apologetic expression.
"Th-That's true..."
"I'm kidding. It's comfortable and nice since noona does everything."
"Hehe... I'm glad you say that."
Since A-ra really loved it when I relied on her,
I gave her something between a compliment and gentle teasing, with a smile.
And when I gently stroked her head, A-ra beamed at me.
"Still, please teach me how to bait the hook at least."
"Okay! You see this round bait ball? You just take this and..."
Jab!
She just skewered the round, dumpling-like bait ball onto the hook
and plopped it into the tub next to us.
"Done!"
"Done?"
"Done!!"
And then, A-ra leaned her head toward me, asking for head pats.
I quietly stroked her head.
"Well, I don't know about going out to the sea or freshwater or whatever, but a fishing cafe isn't a big deal, right? I told you, you didn't have to overthink it."
"You can catch fish with that round thing?"
"It's not as good as worms, but it's good enough for a fishing cafe."
And, perhaps satisfied with the head pats,
A-ra sat down on the plush sofa chair and began to stare at the water.
"Seong-hwan-a. Hurry up, cast your line and sit down."
"L-Like this?"
I clumsily tossed my fishing hook into the water and sat down next to A-ra.
Then I turned my eyes to the spot A-ra had been staring at so intently
and gazed in that direction.
"Doesn't it look like that one's about to bite?"
"Right, it keeps poking at it.........!"
A-ra, who had been raising and lowering her rod gently with one hand,
suddenly yanked the fishing rod up high.
What did they call this again?
Hookset, was it?
"Seong-hwan-a! Give me the landing net!"
"H-Here..."
She'd barely put her line in the water, but A-ra had already caught one.
She lifted the fish out.
Then, to avoid getting bitten, she put her hand in near the gills,
used a tool that looked like nippers to remove the hook the fish had bitten,
and placed the fish into the net bag provided at each spot so it couldn't escape.
"Noona, this isn't your first time fishing, is it?"
"Huh? Before I came up to Seoul, I used to go freshwater fishing a ton with Hwa-young and other friends."
"Before you became an idol?"
"That was fun back then... I wonder how everyone's doing these days..."
A-ra, lost in reminiscing about the past, began to drool a little from the corner of her mouth.
I took a handkerchief out of my pocket, wiped the drool away, and tapped A-ra on the shoulder.
She seemed to be recalling memories of boiling spicy fish stew with the fish they'd caught.