Picnic 3
"You came, huh."
"Sorry. We were a bit late."
"It's fine. We just got here ourselves."
"That's a relief."
With Siwoo's family, we ended up enjoying the picnic together.
Honestly, I was still in a daze.
Like, was this all a dream?
But.
"Siwoo, what is this?"
Looking at Sia sitting right beside me and browsing the things I'd brought, I knew this wasn't a dream.
"It's bug repellent."
"Bug repellent? Ah... how do I turn it on?"
"Here, give it to me."
"Okay."
I flipped the switch on the bug repellent Sia had handed me, and with a little vibration, power kicked in.
"If we leave this right in front of the tent, the scent that bugs hate will drive them away."
"Amazing."
"Right? It's a must-have for picnics."
"Then later, it would be great if we used it together when we go on another picnic."
"...Later?"
I didn't know what Sia meant by later, but... it sounded like she wasn't planning to stop after this one time, but rather that we'd keep going on picnics together forever.
But I couldn't answer right away, because I wasn't sure if what Sia had said was really the thing I thought she meant.
I didn't want to say something that could cause a misunderstanding... I didn't want to be teased by my parents either.
So I picked my words carefully, decided to answer Sia, and opened my mouth.
"I am..."
But right then.
"Siwoo! Come here!"
Dad's shout buried my words right away.
I tried to speak again, but Dad and Sia's dad were looking our way with sparkling eyes, so I had no choice but to go.
While I was hesitating on how to respond, Sia got up from the camping chair and turned to me.
"Later, you can tell me slowly."
"Eh?... Uh..."
"Come on, let's go."
And she held out her hand to me.
I hesitated for a moment, then took her hand.
Sia pulled me up and walked into the tent with me.
We both set the bug repellent down at the tent entrance and entered a bit later, but inside the tent was laid out a camping mat that almost filled it up.
It was incredibly thick.
And looking closer, it was the exact model Dad had wanted to buy before, so I looked at him and said.
"Wow... you ended up buying this mat, Dad?"
"Hm? Ah, this isn't ours."
"Eh...? Then..."
"Hahaha, this one is mine."
"Ah... I see."
Sia's dad, who had been standing beside Dad, smiled as he spoke.
"Before I got married, becoming an adult and going camping became my hobby and dream."
"Why after becoming an adult?"
"I was born and raised by the sea, right? So from when I was little, I helped my dad go out on the boat and catch fish."
"Wow..."
"But back then, I hated it, so I thought I'd rather play on land than the sea, and that became my dream of camping."
"I see... but now..."
"Well... ironically, now I'm a deep-sea fishing vessel captain, but since I still have the dream of spending time with family, I've bought a few here and there."
"Ah..."
I felt a slight pang at those words.
It was like... I felt like I was intruding on an uncle's dream.
But then a warm hand felt on top of my head.
"Anyway, these aren't bad either. It's good to play with family, but playing with close people like this is also a precious memory."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, at least that's how I feel. Come on, lie down."
"But is it okay?"
"Of course it is. Come on, lie down with Sia quickly."
"Yes!"
Swoosh! Thump!
Sia and I lay down on the camping mat in a big hug.
It cushioned our bodies like a bed mattress.
Our family's camping mat was thin, so we had to be careful moving, but the one Sia's dad brought was extremely thick, so there was no worry at all.
"How is it?"
"It's super soft!"
"Softer than a bed!"
"Hahaha! It was worth buying it expensive!"
"Hmm? How much was this?"
"This one? This is... originally 1 million won, but I got it on sale for 800,000 won!"
"...You didn't say you bought it for 400,000 won before?"
"Eh... that..."
"Wait a minute... this is the model you said you were thinking of buying before, right? But back then you said it was only 300,000 won to me."
"Eh... you..."
"It'd be better to explain properly."
"Eh... this..."
"That... so... what I said... I was talking about fake stuff..."
"You... you hate fakes so much. Why would someone like that buy fakes?"
"So... that..."
After that, Dad and Sia's dad started receiving a storm of scolding from Mom and the aunties.
Of course, it didn't concern us much, so we lay down on the soft camping mat and chatted.
"What's this?"
"A rechargeable fan."
"Ooh... bigger than the hand fan at home."
"The wind is stronger too, right?"
"Want me to turn it on?"
Whoosh!
"Waaaa! It's refreshing!!"
"Right? It's super refreshing, isn't it?"
We were rolling around in the fan's wind.
Of course, Dad and Sia's dad were still being scolded with a storm of words.
After the two of them finished the storm of scolding.
"I'm getting a bit hungry. What do you say to eating lunch?"
"Good idea. We moved so early this morning that our stomachs are already empty."
"Honey, where's our bento?"
"It's in the cooler over there. Sia and I packed it together, so bring it with you."
So the two families ate a slightly late morning and early lunch together.
We put two folding tables together and sat on them, dividing up the various foods.
"Mmm...! This soy sauce marinated squid is really delicious! Where did you get it?"
"Ah, this one I made myself."
"Really? It tastes great."
"Hey, Siwoo's mom makes this fried stuff well too."
"How do you know my wife is the only one who makes food well?"
"This guy..."
"Ah..."
"You can't cook food at all!"
"Hey, but you can at least do pork belly stew or bulgogi? That's basic for men."
"I can't cook."
"Ah, is that so?"
"Haha, because I'm bad at controlling the stove, so instead I can make sashimi really well."
"Wow..."
"I also have a Japanese cooking certificate as a hobby."
"...I'm impressed."
"Hey, but Sia and her mom don't like sashimi much."
"...Not that she doesn't like it. You eat it all yourself."
"Eh..."
"AHAHA!"
"This... it's embarrassing."
In this cheerful atmosphere, Sia and I.
"Sia, try this."
"Mmm... delicious!"
"I seasoned it."
"Seasoned...?"
"Mmm... I made the sauce."
"Waa!"
"If the first time tasted good, that was lucky."
"Then try this."
"Hmm... mmm...! Delicious!"
"I sliced it!"
"The ingredients?"
"No! Gimbap!"
The gimbap was lumpy, but I knew what to say in this situation.
"You cut it well."
"Hehehe..."
White lies were good lies, after all.
While we ate and chatted in this cheerful atmosphere, it was already around noon.
"It's already noon."
"Time sure flies."
"Yeah..."
"What did you do to get so much energy this early?"
"You're the one who doesn't exercise."
"Ugh... SiwooSia, what are you going to do?"
"Hmm? We're going to play with the frisbee over there."
"Eh... did you bring sunscreen?"
"Yeah, we both put it on."
"Good... then..."
"You can play right in front of us, so no need to worry."
"...Okay, have fun."
"Okay." "Okay!"
So we picked up the frisbee and ran to the grassy field.
Looking at Park Siwoo and Lee Sia playing, the adults each expressed their thoughts.
"You know... my son is an adult."
"Right, every time he comes to our house he greets us politely, and he plays with Sia, and even if you believe he's a middle schooler, it's believable."
"Sia always says Siwoo is an adult to me... it seems like that."
"Yeah... it was the same back then too."
"Haha... who he takes after... honestly, I feel sorry for Siwoo."
"Yeah... no matter how you look at it, making him so adult-like is probably all our fault."
"Even if you always have to be devoted to family, at some point the family gets pushed to the back and work becomes the priority, right?"
"I understand that. You have to have the economic means to take care of the family."
"That's why I always envy Lee Hyeonseung."
"What?"
"Your job is tough, and you still call Sia every night, and the first thing you do when you get home is go to the house, right? I want to do that, but my body doesn't follow anymore."
"...You're the one who doesn't exercise."
"Because of overtime... be a little lenient..."
"...I should be taking care of Siwoo better... I thought I'd have more free time once the company got established..."
"Sorry... no, a large-scale project came in and I couldn't refuse."
"I know that, so I just feel sorry for Siwoo."
"......" "......"
Sia's family, who knew the situation of Siwoo's family, listened silently to my words with a sigh.
At the same time, they looked at Siwoo playing with Sia up ahead.
I thought, he might be sad because he's stealing time away from family to play with Sia, even though he's playing happily with her now.
Since I said it was good for Siwoo to play with Sia, I prepared it as a surprise.
But looking at him playing like that, I wondered if it was really what Siwoo wanted.