A Day at Sia’s House
I ended up at Sia’s house as usual, playing with her after kindergarten today.
Since Aunt wasn’t out, just the two of us were home, and I wasn’t bored at all.
The reason for that was simple…
“What color should I use for this?”
“Um… what about green?”
“Green? Got it.”
Sia and I were drawing on a huge poster together.
The sudden urge to draw came from the fact that Sia’s dad would be coming home soon, and I was there to pick him up.
He usually came back once every two or three months, and the time had finally arrived.
So right now, Sia and I were making a welcome banner for her dad’s arrival.
It seemed like they were planning a big party later, so Sia was working extra hard.
Of course, I helped too.
But I wasn’t the one leading the drawing.
It was a banner celebrating Sia’s dad, after all— I probably wouldn’t do it justice.
So I let Sia draw the base, and I colored it in with crayons using the colors she picked.
Sia also wanted to add fish that she sometimes bragged about, so I looked up pictures of the specific fish she liked online.
Since I couldn’t draw real fish, Sia copied the image pretty well, and the fish drawings came out surprisingly neat.
To make it look like the ocean, we added seaweed and coral for the underwater feel.
“Um… what color is this?”
“Navy blue… actually, I think navy looks better than blue.”
“Um… yeah!”
And the wings on Sia’s banner were my own 56-pack of crayons.
They were the crayons Dad bought for Sia and me years ago when he said we should draw together.
We didn’t use them much at home since Sia’s family didn’t have a big drawing collection, so I kept them all this time.
But when Sia mentioned making a banner, I thought they’d be perfect, so I brought them along today.
When Mom asked where the crayons came from, Sia told her we were using them for drawing, and Mom said “Oh my, oh my.”
That part was our secret.
Anyway, the banner was about halfway done.
It was made by taping together four huge posters, so we were only halfway finished, but it was already time to go.
“Whew… not finished yet…”
“There’s still time tomorrow, so it’s fine.”
“Yeah…”
“If you need more time, I’ll leave the crayons behind, and you can finish it with this.”
“No way.”
“Why?”
“I like drawing with you.”
“Oh… then let’s draw together tomorrow.”
“Yes…”
“Alright, let’s tidy up now.”
I cleaned up the crayons and tools we’d used, and Sia was picking up the broken crayon pieces from the poster.
While we were still cleaning, Sia suddenly asked me something.
“Hey… what do you think of my dad?”
“Huh? Suddenly?”
“Just… I was curious…”
“Um…”
Sia’s dad’s impression… was just a tanned, stern-looking uncle.
He treated me and my family well, so he didn’t seem like a bad person—he seemed like a good one.
“He seems like a good guy. But why did you suddenly ask?”
“Huh?! I, I was just curious, that’s all.”
“Hm, okay.”
Sia sometimes acted like this, and it wasn’t the first time, so I just let it go.
I washed the crayon off my hands in the bathroom, and just as I came out, Mom arrived.
DING DONG.
“I’m going now.”
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”
“Okay, see you tomorrow.”
With that farewell, I went outside with Mom and got into the car.
The drive home.
Mom asked me about kindergarten and other things.
“What did you do with Sia today?”
“We were drawing.”
“Oh… there was a point to taking the crayons!”
“Yeah.”
“What kind of picture?”
“I drew an ocean picture on the poster.”
“Ocean? Sounds pretty.”
“Yeah, Sia’s really excited because her dad is coming.”
“Oh, so you were drawing it for Sia’s dad?”
“Yeah, Sia did the drawing and I just colored.”
“Oh… maybe I should stop by the mart later to buy more crayons?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Oh right. So, what do you think of Sia’s dad?”
“Um… he just seems like a good person.”
“Oh… not scary at all?”
“Um… not really? The last time we ate together, he seemed nice.”
“Then that’s good.”
“What?”
“Oh, I was just worried you might feel uncomfortable.”
“I don’t… really…?”
“Alright, I get it.”
Something felt off, but I decided to just let it go.
It was more likely that Mom wouldn’t answer my questions properly anyway.
So I finished the day at home and promised myself I’d see her tomorrow.
The next day, after kindergarten, Sia and I went to her house as usual and started finishing the banner we’d been drawing yesterday.
“So, how should we draw this?”
“Yeah, this time find a killer whale for me.”
“Killer whale? Got it.”
Just like yesterday, we carefully finished the picture.
“Here… so this is the end?”
“Yeah, that’s the end.”
“Whoa! It’s done!”
We managed to finish it.
Thanks to the much faster pace than the first day, we finished everything we hadn’t been able to yesterday.
After cleaning up, Sia and I looked at the finished banner and smiled with satisfaction.
“You drew it well.”
“Yeah… thanks to you, Siwoo.”
“Huh? I didn’t really do anything. You did it all.”
“No… it’s because you helped.”
Sia said it with a serious look in her eyes.
“Hearing you say that makes me happy.”
“Um!”
From experience, when Sia said something with such seriousness, she truly believed it—so I answered accordingly.
At that moment, Aunt came in from the kitchen carrying a bowl of cut fruit and said,
“Oh, it’s finally finished?”
“Yes.” “Yeah!”
“Wow… it’s really well done!!”
“Right! Siwoo helped a lot, so it was done quickly!”
“Oh! Amazing!”
Aunt ruffled my hair.
Then…
“……”
I felt a gaze from the side and desperately avoided looking over.
“Thank you.”
“Hmm… then how about I make something delicious?”
“It’s okay. Besides, we have to go soon.”
“Oh… the time has come already. Siwoo, Sia, wash your hands and eat the fruit.”
“Yes.” “Yes.”
After washing our hands, eating the fruit, and waiting, Mom came to pick us up.
When we entered the entrance, Aunt said to Mom,
“Come in and eat the fruit before you go.”
“Is it okay?”
“Of course. Come in and eat.”
“Then I’ll take a little liberty.”
Mom stepped inside.
“Hello.”
“Sia, hello. Hello to you too, son.”
“Hello…”
Somehow, the four of us ended up sitting together comfortably, sharing stories and enjoying the fruit.
Of course, Sia and I were just eating the fruit messily,
while Mom and Aunt talked most of the time.
The topics of conversation changed every time.
Recent prices, the weather, things that happened today—small but varied topics that sparked lively talks.
After chatting for a long time, the topic of Sia’s dad came up again.
“By the way, when is Sia’s dad coming?”
“This Friday evening.”
“Tomorrow the day after? He’s probably coming straight from Busan Port.”
“That’s right. He said he’ll eat with family, finish work in one day, and take the fastest flight or train.”
“Can he really get a ticket like that?”
“He said it’s possible, but I get so anxious when time is tight I can’t do it.”
“Same here. But my husband is so free it’s driving me crazy.”
“He’s not that busy with work?”
“Work is work, but at home it’s different.”
“Oh, I get it. The person at home is completely different from the one at work!”
“That’s right. It’s that difference that drives me crazy.”
“That’s just how it is.”
“Yeah… oh, it’s getting late. I should go soon!”
“Yeah, go quickly. Siwoo, take care.”
“Goodbye.”
“Sia, take care!”
“See you later.”
“Bye!”
Sia and I both gave each other our farewells.
We headed home.
After showering when we arrived home, Dad had already come back from work.
The return time had been a little late lately, so I was a bit worried.
“You’re late again today…”
“Son~ Dad is sorry. There have been so many things to handle lately.”
“……”
“How about going on a picnic this weekend?”
“This weekend? Dad’s busy, right?”
“Don’t worry about me! Dad will handle everything!”
“Um… as long as Dad isn’t too tired…”
“Then it’s decided! Wahaha!!”
“Hehe…”
I was really looking forward to family time with everyone after a long time.
We’d gone out for a meal recently, but eating out and a picnic were completely different things.
The next day, while talking to Sia at kindergarten, Sia mentioned that she was going on a picnic too.
Sia was overjoyed because it was the first time she’d go with the whole family in a long time.
Since I was also going with my whole family, I was equally excited.
I thought briefly that it would be amazing if I met Sia’s family at the picnic spot, then quickly forgot about it.
The probability of meeting Sia’s family in such a large country was low.
Today Mom came early to pick us up from kindergarten for the picnic preparation.
“Take care.”
Surprisingly, Sia saw us off properly.
Previously she’d said not to go, but I thought maybe she was reacting that way because her dad was coming, so I felt a little… very slightly sad.