Chapter 108
Chapter 108
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: Under the Great Tree
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I walked along the alley behind the house with Daeun.
When I first came here, I'd thought I should visit often, but I'd been too busy lately and hadn't come much.
*Hyorin said we'd keep doing what she was doing...*
I'd been too neglectful.
If Daeun hadn't said she wanted to come here, I might never have made it back.
Crunch.
As we climbed along the alley, an old park came into view.
And we arrived at the bench where Hyorin and I used to paint.
"We're hewe!"
"We haven't been hewe in a long time, huh?"
"Yeah! We come hewe with Mommy awmost every day!"
"Oh, really?"
Hearing it put like that made me feel even guiltier.
Thud!
Daeun set the sketchbook she'd brought on the easel and plopped down on the spot.
Then she looked at me and said,
"Daddy isn't gonna draw?"
"Daddy?"
I'd brought an easel just in case... no, that's not it.
She was asking me to draw.
"Of course I am."
Only then did Daeun's expression relax.
Swish.
I set up my easel and placed the same sketchbook as hers on it.
Holding a pre-sharpened pencil, I asked Daeun,
"But Daeun-ah."
"Yeah, Daddy?"
"You know that story from earlier."
"About Mommy talking about Daeun's painting?"
"Yeah. What did Mommy say when she saw your painting? Can you tell Daddy?"
At my question, Daeun looked at me and grinned.
"I'll tell you watew. Aftew we draw."
"Okay, after we draw, you'll tell me."
Was there a reason, or was it just a whim?
I didn't know, but it seemed like Daeun really wanted me to draw.
So I decided not to push.
"Got it. So you'll tell me after we draw."
"Yeah! Pwomise!"
At that, I turned my gaze to the neighborhood view beyond the easel.
Late afternoon. The sun was still up, but maybe because time was getting on, the whole neighborhood felt serene and peaceful.
It warmed my heart somehow.
Like I'd thought from the start, I could see why Hyorin had chosen this place as her studio.
Then a sudden thought struck me.
*Shall I try drawing this?*
What thoughts had Hyorin and Daeun shared on their way up here?
If I were Hyorin, what mindset would I have had coming here?
I decided to paint from the perspective of Hyorin the mother, not me the father.
That's when a question popped into my head.
"But Daeun-ah, Daddy has a question."
"What?"
"Did Mommy ever draw here too?"
"Mommy?"
Hmm...
At the word "Mommy," Daeun thought for a moment before answering.
"Yeah, thwee times."
I was surprised as I pondered what she meant by three times.
"Th-three times?"
Three times meant out of all the days they'd come up here, she'd only painted three times.
Daeun had made it sound like they'd come a lot, but only three...?
"Mommy only painted exactly three times?"
"Yeah! Just thwee times!"
Daeun's words made me desperately curious what paintings Hyorin had made.
But there was no way to check them right now.
No, it was questionable if those paintings even still existed.
Maybe that's why Daeun had brought me here.
For whatever reason, I suddenly felt like painting something.
"Daeun-ah."
"Yeah!"
"Daddy wants to paint now."
"Weally? That's supew exciting! Just wike me!"
I knew it.
Looking straight into Daeun's eyes, I told her,
"Then let's paint together."
Not as Daddy, but as Mommy.
"Yeah!"
This must be what Hyorin would have painted.
Scribble scribble.
And so, Daeun and I began painting together.
I suddenly recalled something Hyorin had said during an art psychology class back in the day.
-Paintings are so mysterious. It seems like you're just drawing, but the artist's heart is captured inside.
Hyorin had said that was the most amazing and wondrous part.
And that it was the real reason she loved art psychology.
*She's right.*
Honestly, back then, it had been hard to relate to what she was saying.
And for good reason.
Back then, I staunchly believed,
*Paintings are fiction!*
No matter how much she talked about psychology, it hadn't gotten through to me.
But now, I could somewhat understand Hyorin's feelings.
Scribble scribble.
Painting as Hyorin.
Not as father Kanghyeok Lee, but as mother Hyorin.
What must an art psychology major like Hyorin have been thinking as she painted?
She probably wanted to express her heart through her paintings.
And the fact that she could think and act that way implied...
*She knew about Daeun's abilities.*
Those three paintings done here were Hyorin's heartfelt words to Daeun.
And Daeun remembered them as what Mommy had told her.
*With all my heart.*
I poured my best into the painting.
Worried that my feelings might not reach Daeun properly.
Not to uncover my subconscious through the painting, but to convey my heart to her through it.
Scribble scribble!
Slowly, I worked toward completing the painting, until the sun dipped lazily behind the mountain ridge.
"Done!"
Finally, I finished my painting. And beside me, Daeun, who had been painting along...
"All done!"
Had nearly finished hers too.
At Daeun's words, I smiled and asked,
"You finished?"
"Yeah! What about Daddy?"
"Daddy's done too."
"Then show me Daddy's painting!"
For a moment, I thought of asking to see hers first, but then changed my mind.
It suddenly felt better to show mine first.
"Okay, take a look at Daddy's painting."
With that, I showed Daeun what I'd drawn.
Swish.
Daeun looks at my painting.
Her eyes wide as saucers, staring at it.
Then...
She smiled.
I wasn't sure if my feelings had gotten through, but her smile deepened.
*Yes.*
Then Daeun suddenly wiped the smile from her face and said,
"Daddy."
"Yeah?"
"Daeun's gonna show Daddy Daeun's painting."
Swish.
And she showed me her painting.
At the sight of it...
*Ah...*
For the first time, I perfectly understood Hyorin's heart.
I could almost hear what Daeun was trying to tell me. No, I could see it.
Swish.
On a field of green grass stood a massive tree, bursting with lush leaves.
Beneath it sat Daeun and Hyorin, gazing off into the distance.
Holding hands, smiling, looking far away.
I wasn't in the painting.
But it didn't make me sad.
Because the painting was telling me.
They firmly believed I'd come back someday.
So I couldn't help asking Daeun as I looked at it.
Swish.
"Daeun-ah."
"Yeah."
"Wasn't it hard waiting for Daddy?"
At my question, Daeun nodded.
"Yeah, Mommy said Daddy would definitewy come. So it wasn't hawd fow Daeun at aww."
"Then was it not hard for Mommy either?"
Daeun had seen Hyorin's painting. That meant she'd seen Hyorin's heart too.
At my question, Daeun nodded.
"Yeah, Mommy said Daddy would come back no mattew what. So neithew Daeun now Mommy had it hawd."
I'd suspected as much, but hearing Hyorin's heart directly through Daeun made my chest ache even more.
*What an idiot...*
Everyone else said I was dead, and believed it.
Yet the person who had it hardest couldn't let me go.
Of course, that's why I'm alive now, but if Hyorin had...
That's when Daeun said to me,
"So Daddy!"
"Yeah?"
"Don't be sad."
"What?"
Her next words left me... I hesitated a long time, not knowing how to respond.
"Waiting fow Daddy wasn't hawd fow Mommy ow Daeun at aww."
She grinned.
"Don't cwy, Daddy."
Apparently, in the painting Daeun saw, I was crying.
After cleaning up from painting in the studio on the hill behind, Daeun and I headed home.
On the way back.
Daeun poked around the alley here and there, constantly playing pranks.
Seeing her like that, I had to reflect on myself.
*What an idiot I am.*
I'd thought I'd shaken it off, but I was still covering Hyorin's love with guilt.
I shouldn't do that.
In the end, that feeling had reached even Daeun.
*Still didn't hear that story, though.*
What Hyorin had said to Daeun.
Daeun had read the guilt in my painting, so I'd forgotten to ask again.
I still hadn't heard it, but maybe now she'd explain that feeling.
"Daeun-ah."
At my call, Daeun stopped peeking around and looked at me.
"Yeah?"
"That thing... what Mommy said about your painting. Can you tell me now?"
At that, Daeun turned her gaze away again and said,
"Daeun towd Daddy awweady!"
Yeah, she says she did.
I definitely don't remember hearing it. When did she tell me?
So, just in case, I asked again.
"Yeah? When? Daddy doesn't think he heard it."
At my words, Daeun pouted and said,
"Daddy! Daeun towd you thwough the painting!"
Oh...
If it had been Hyorin, could she have read what Daeun was trying to say through the painting?
If I'd known, I should've paid more attention to art psychology class in college.
Anyway, in the end, I still didn't know what Daeun was trying to say.
"Sorry, Daddy doesn't get what you meant. Could you maybe just tell me directly?"
She put her hands on her hips and glared at me.
*Haha, she doesn't need to copy this part.*
She was acting exactly like Hyorin standing there.
At her expression, as always, I gave an awkward smile, and Daeun said,
"I'll say it just once."
"Got it. Daddy'll listen properly this time."
"So what Mommy said to Daeun was..."
Swish.
Daeun came close to my side, stood on tiptoe, and whispered softly in my ear.
"Daeun takes aftew Daddy a wot."
What? She takes after me?
Just as I'd told Daeun she took after Hyorin, Hyorin had said Daeun took after me.
"When Daeun gwows up, she'll make evewyone supew happy, just wike Daddy did!"
Daeun beamed as she said it, looking utterly delighted.
Seeing her like that, I...
*A painter who makes people happy...*
Could only smile back in silence.