The Encounter
When Sia declared she would call her mom, I tried to stop her, but she refused.
"I don't know when exactly, but I'll bring her over tomorrow!"
"No way! Don't bring her!"
"Why? You're just mad you can't see my mom!"
"It's not that..."
My heart, which had been carefully guarded because of Sia's stubbornness, vanished in an instant.
It was Sia's fiery personality that saved the day.
From then on, until I reached kindergarten, I kept telling Sia not to bring me home.
After all, it was embarrassing to meet her parents.
And with those final words of warning to Sia before the end,
I headed home with peace of mind, since she had simply said "Got it".
But the next morning, I saw something entirely different.
"Hello~ You're Park Siwoo, right? I came because I was curious about Sia. She told me you guys play together so well."
A beautiful woman with long black hair was holding Sia's hand.
It was because I had only mentioned dropping her off at kindergarten the day before, and she had never been told to pick me up in the morning.
It was a clever little trick for a child, and I felt a bit betrayed, but...
What really locked me inside my own head was...
She's so pretty.
Of course, I couldn't have known about genes back then, and I simply thought she was a normal neighborhood mom.
But now she was standing right in front of me, stunningly beautiful.
My parents had warned me how to handle this situation, but...
I just stared blankly at her face.
"Oh my, oh my..."
Sia's mother smiled with gentle eyes upon seeing me.
As I babbled while looking at her, Sia, who had been glancing between me and her own mom, suddenly puffed out her cheeks and...
Thud!
"..."
"Mom's leaving! Come on, let's go inside!"
"Huh? Wha... wait..."
"Hurry!"
Just as Sia dragged me into the Gaenari Class, I turned around.
Her mom was smiling while watching us, and when I turned, she gave me a little wave.
Following Sia, who suddenly started pulling me into the classroom, was actually fine...
...
...
... idiot.
"Why?"
"Tch!"
Now she was glaring at me the moment I was brought over.
I was confused and wanted to demand an explanation, but...
Zzzzt!
My sharp glare from Sia left me speechless, sitting quietly beside her.
When I felt restless and tried to move toward something I could grab...
Crunch!
She squeezed my hand tightly.
Of course I could have shaken her off, but even as a young child I knew that if I resisted, things would only get worse, so I simply sat back down in silence.
After a long, silent moment, Sia finally spoke first.
"I like my mom. I like you."
"...Huh?"
"I like my mom! I like you!"
She suddenly asked me whether I thought she was pretty or if her mom was prettier.
I fell into deep thought over her words.
Objectively, Sia was beautiful.
But at the time, I thought her mother was prettier than Sia right in front of me.
"Your mom."
I blurted it out without any filter.
Thud!
"I hate you!"
And that's how I got smacked by Sia.
"???"
"Hmph! I'm not playing with you anymore!"
As a five-year-old, this was my first time being hated by a girl.
After that... nothing happened.
Sia got angry, then left with the kids to play elsewhere.
I watched her sudden change with confusion and simply told her not to come, so I started playing alone.
At first, I played like before, stacking blocks, but...
"...I'm so bored."
It was terribly boring.
Before meeting Sia, it hadn't been an issue, but now that I was trying to spend time alone after meeting her, it was unbearable.
Only then did I realize...
Sia's presence made my days enjoyable.
And without her, I felt empty.
Because of that feeling, I turned to look at her.
"..."
Coincidentally, Sia was also looking at me.
After a moment of eye contact, Sia suddenly whipped her head away with a loud sound, as if something had poked her.
I didn't know why she was angry, but even as a child I knew that poking at her now would only make things worse, so I stayed silent until she calmed down... but there was a bigger problem.
"Um... what should I do? Sia and Siwoo suddenly got into a fight..."
"Huh?! Suddenly?"
"Yes, that's how it was today."
"Hmm... for lunch time, let's just seat them together... maybe that will calm things down? Today's menu is something delicious, after all."
"Shall we?"
The teacher and principal thought we could easily make up and decided to act.
Today's lunch was bulgogi, a favorite of kids that would melt their hearts.
So I, who had been sitting away from Sia, was led by the teacher to join her side.
"Come on~ Siwoo, sit here."
I guess those two thought it was settled...
"What? Why are you sitting here?"
"I don't know, she suddenly told me to sit."
"...I hate you. Get away."
"I didn't want to sit here either."
"Eek! Get away! Get away!"
Paba baaa!
It was like a cat punching with its paw, and Sia kept hitting me.
"I get it!"
Forced by Sia's persistence, I sat alone in a distant spot.
But the problem was that lunch was served inside the Gaenari Class, so all the seats were taken and there was no place for me.
So I went to the spot where we had been playing before and plopped down.
The teacher, who had been distracted by serving the other kids' lunches, didn't notice me and came running when she saw me alone.
"Si-Siwoo... do you want to eat over here...?"
"Sia said not to."
"Eh... I'll talk to her properly."
"It's fine."
"Wait a second...!"
Even though I said it was okay, the teacher insisted on going to Sia and asking if it was really all right.
"No way! I don't like it!"
The teacher was completely at a loss with Sia's strong rejection.
Well... at that time, I was flipping over a block box to make a makeshift table.
It was a bit uncomfortable, but I had done something like camping with my dad at home before, so I gave it a try for the first time in a while.
Since it was my first time doing it at kindergarten, I felt lucky and sat down to eat.
The teacher was sweating while trying to persuade Sia, so I just started eating first.
My mom often left for my dad's work before I was born, and I often ate alone.
So I was fine sitting alone even when I first came to kindergarten.
Therefore, I thought it would be fine now too as I ate...
'Tastes bad.'
The rice didn't taste good.
It wasn't that the rice itself was bad, but nothing about eating it felt right.
I didn't know it back then, but...
If I replayed that moment now, in that short time, Sia had somehow taken the seat in my heart so boldly.
I had fallen completely for her actions and childish speech.
Of course, I didn't notice such things when I was little, so I just thought the rice tasted strange and kept eating.
Anyway, after finishing lunch, I thought that would be the end of it.
After all, I had no reason to feel sorry.
So I spent the day and went home to meet my parents who were just getting off work.
"Son!"
"Siwoo! You fought with your friend today?!"
The moment I entered the house, my mom and dad surrounded me with urgent voices.
Before I could say anything, they continued in a frantic tone.
"Son! What happened?"
"Yes, the kids at kindergarten were playing so nicely!"
They looked extremely worried and asked, but I calmly replied.
"It was just... I suddenly got angry?"
"Suddenly?"
"Yeah, suddenly."
"What happened before that?"
"Um..."
I told my parents everything.
"Um... I guess this can't be helped."
"You!"
"No, the kids are pure, so this can't be helped!"
"Sigh... all right... I see why you fought..."
"This... what should I do..."
"Well... it's tough..."
"Yeah... son, go eat."
"Okay."
And so I let it go easily and started dinner.
It would bother me a little starting tomorrow to eat alone again, but I decided to go back to normal.
The next day.
When I arrived at school and met Sia...
"...Um."
...
I walked past without a word and sat alone in the corner to play by myself.