Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: Why Say Sorry If You Like It?
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We headed to the 7th floor.
When we got there, clothes that were just so incredibly pretty filled the place in every direction.
Daeun seemed absolutely delighted in stores like this, constantly glancing around everywhere.
"Wow! So many pwetty cwothes!"
"Yes, today I'll buy every single outfit that Daeun wants, so feel free to say anything you like. Got it?"
"As much as you want."
"Yes, as much as you want."
Everyone except Daeun knew exactly how generous CEO Yoon's words were. Even kids' items in the luxury hall weren't cheap.
Even outfits that didn't look all that pricey would easily run tens or hundreds of thousands of won at least.
And she was telling her to pick whatever she wanted.
Swoosh.
At that moment, Daeun looked up at CEO Yoon and asked,
"Is it okay to buy Daeuni so many cwothes wike this?"
Daeun probably knew what kind of feelings CEO Yoon had when buying the clothes for her.
But on the other hand, she must have been curious.
Just why she was buying clothes, and if it was really okay to buy them so freely like this.
Swoosh.
Then, CEO Yoon placed both hands on her knees and lowered her body a bit to speak.
"It's totally fine to buy them like this. Compared to what Daeun did for me, this is nothing at all."
"Daeuni did a wot!"
"Yes, you taught me so, so much, and you were the first one to say we should go see Mommy, right?"
"Yeah! That's twue! Daeuni said that!"
"That's why I'm buying them. Because I'm grateful."
Hearing those words of thanks, Daeun smiled shyly and said,
"Daeuni did so, so good!"
"Yes, Daeun did an amazing job. Shall we go look at some clothes then?"
"Yes! I wike that!"
With CEO Yoon's words full of kindness, we walked deeper into the 7th floor.
The interior brimmed with all sorts of brands.
There, we saw not just moms with their kids, but families with grandparents too.
'Even here, there are so many people.'
It was like the crowds were the same, just the people browsing were different.
For an introvert like me, this kind of atmosphere still felt totally unfamiliar.
But thankfully, Daeun and CEO Yoon didn't seem to mind at all.
"Daeun, how about this one? It looks so pretty."
CEO Yoon pointed at a dress hanging at the store entrance, and Daeun nodded over and over.
"Daeuni wikes it!"
A cute dress in a soft pink hue. The small pink ribbon in the same color on the chest added a perfect adorable touch, so it seemed like it would suit Daeun perfectly.
In response, CEO Yoon asked,
"Should we get this one?"
I chuckled at CEO Yoon, who was ready to toss it in the basket without even trying it on, like she was shopping at a supermarket, and stopped her.
"Hold on a sec. We should at least try it on once, right? Hand it over, I'll help Daeun put it on. You like that, don't you, Daeun?"
"Yeah! Daeuni wants to twy it!"
"Oh, right. We should do a fitting."
Hmm, from that exchange just now, I could tell exactly how CEO Yoon's shopping trips usually went...
With no option for it not fitting, I gave an awkward smile and took the outfit from CEO Yoon's hands.
And that's when I spotted the price tag on the hanger.
'Fo-forty thousand won?'
No way—what, did they plate baby clothes in gold or something?
It used less fabric than adult clothes, yet it cost forty thousand? It was hard to wrap my head around, but the one actually spending didn't seem fazed at all.
"Alright, let's go try it on then."
The conversation was already settled, and we couldn't refuse CEO Yoon's kindness after coming this far.
In the end, I took Daeun into the fitting room.
Click.
I locked the latch and said to her,
"Daeun, Daddy will help you get dressed."
"Yeah! Daeuni wants to twy it!"
At her eager words, I quickly undressed her and slipped on the dress CEO Yoon had picked.
And once again, I realized just how spot-on CEO Yoon's eye was.
"Wow..."
"Daddy! Am I pwetty?"
Not only was the size perfect, but it fit her like the dress had been custom-made for her from the start.
The subtle pink brought out Daeun's face beautifully, and the small ribbon as a focal point amplified the cuteness by two hundred percent.
Plus, with Daeun asking so adorably if it was pretty...
"It suits you perfectly!"
"Really?"
"Yeah! You're so, so cute! It suits you so, so well!"
"Twuly so, so much?"
"Yeah! If CEO Yoon doesn't buy it, Daddy wants to!"
"Really?"
I couldn't help but react like that. No—even these words felt insufficient.
And Daeun loved my reaction.
"If Daddy wikes it, Daeuni wikes it too!"
Like that, I came out of the fitting room with Daeun in her pretty dress.
Seeing her like that, CEO Yoon...
"Huh."
She seemed a little surprised at first.
"It suits her so, so, so perfectly."
She even used "so" three times, so she must have loved it.
At CEO Yoon's words, Daeun shyly wriggled her body.
"All good, so Daeuni wikes it a wot too."
That sealed the deal.
I smiled at CEO Yoon and said,
"We'll change back into her regular clothes and come out."
"Yes, I'll wait."
"Let's go change then."
"Yeah!"
So I took Daeun back into the fitting room and switched her back to her original outfit.
When we came out, CEO Yoon took the pink dress from me.
"I'll go pay for it right now."
"Yes, then I'll..."
But right then, Daeun said something completely unexpected.
"Daeuni doesn't want it!"
Whoosh!
"What?"
I asked in shock, and Daeun smiled as she replied,
"Daeuni doesn't want to buy it anymore!"
At Daeun's words, both CEO Yoon, who had been about to check out, and I froze solid, only able to stare.
'Why?'
With that huge question hanging over us.
Slurp-!
We left the clothing store and went up one more floor.
There was a gelato shop, and CEO Yoon suggested we take a break there with some ice cream.
So we each held our favorite flavors and quietly licked our gelato ice creams.
'Why on earth doesn't she want the clothes?'
On the way out of the store and up here, I'd subtly asked why she didn't want to buy it anymore, but she hadn't given a straight answer.
Just that she didn't feel like buying clothes now.
'Hmm.'
Daeun, who had been happily eating her chocolate gelato, swung her legs back and forth and said,
"But Daddy."
"Yeah?"
"Daeuni has a question."
"What's your question?"
"If you wike it, why do you have to say sowwy?"
"...What?"
Like it, but say sorry? What on earth did that mean? I asked again.
But Daeun shook her head at my question.
"No!"
Then she went right back to focusing on her chocolate gelato.
'What the heck?'
What could it be?
I couldn't pinpoint the exact situation, but I could roughly guess where Daeun had heard that from.
She hadn't gone to daycare or kindergarten separately before meeting me, and Hyorin wouldn't have left her with anyone else.
Which meant the only person who could have said it was Hyorin.
And for her to ask something like that in this situation...
Swoosh.
'Maybe she remembers something that happened with Mommy?'
It was possible it wasn't that, but considering Daeun's memory...
'Similar situations probably bring back those memories naturally.'
Even everyday things trigger past memories in similar spots for normal people—why wouldn't it for Daeun?
She'd recall it even more vividly than most, probably.
Which meant her refusing the clothes now was tied to that memory.
Suddenly, I got curious.
What had happened back then?
"Daeun."
"Yeah?"
"That thing you just asked about."
"Yeah, what?"
"The 'say sorry if you like it' part."
Daeun blinked her eyes.
Seeing her reaction, I smiled and said,
"Did you hear that from Mommy by any chance?"
Daeun jumped in huge surprise, so I smiled and asked again.
"Right?"
"Yeah! How did Daddy know?"
Hmm, I wanted to say anyone could tell from her reaction, but instead I said,
"Daddy heard Mommy say that once a long time ago."
"Really? Did Mommy twuly say that to Daddy too?"
Nod.
"Yeah."
"When? Why?"
Why ask halfway and then stop when you're so curious now?
"Wanna know?"
When I asked with a smile, Daeun pushed her ice cream aside and leaned her face in close.
"Yeah! Daeuni's cuwious!"
"Got it. I'll tell you."
I actually had heard those words from Hyorin before.
It was from way back, but the memory stuck with me strongly for some reason.
"Hmm, it was probably when Daddy was a junior in college."
Just then, CEO Yoon, who had been awkwardly eating her ice cream nearby, hesitantly asked,
"Um, could I listen too, maybe?"
Yeah, after getting this far, keeping her from hearing would be like torture.
At CEO Yoon's request, I nodded with a smile.
"It's not some super exciting story worth sharing with the world, but if you want..."
"Yes! I'd love to!"
"Alright, then. I'll tell you."
Somehow CEO Yoon was joining in too, but it was no big deal.
The real point of this was to get Daeun to open up.
I'd keep the story short and simple to hear hers, so I didn't overthink it and began.
"Probably around that time—it was a really hot summer day. The kind where it was so sweltering you didn't want to do anything. And what happened was..."
It had been ages since I'd last shared the story of Hyorin and me with Daeun.
Cicadaaaa-!
A scorching summer day when the cicadas were screaming like mad under the blazing sun.
I... could only scream in agony.
With the air conditioner breaking out of nowhere, every minute at home was pure torment.
So I had no choice but to abandon home and evacuate to school.
It was vacation with no classes, but thanks to the professors' kindness, the studio doors stayed open.
And that summer studio, packed with cool air...
Whirrrrr-!
"Ughhh, I might actually die!"
"For real."
"Yeah, it was seriously too hot."
Was like heaven to the students.
"Yeah, this is paradise."
"Right? Everywhere else is hell."
"I even brought my blanket 'cause I plan to sleep here tonight."
"Blanket? What is this, a hotel room?"
"Ugh, whatever. I'm sleeping here tonight."
But I wasn't the only one in this boat.
Jungeun Park, who lived nearby in a goshiwon, and Hyorin, who commuted from farther away, were in the same mess.
Swoosh.
Just then, Jungeun rubbed his belly with a relieved look, like he could finally breathe.
"But now that it's cool, I'm hungry. Aren't you guys?"
"Dude, anyone hearing you would think this really is a hotel. You gonna roll out a mat and everything?"
Despite the jab, Jungeun stayed chill and smoothly changed the subject.
"Hey, instead of this, wanna eat some ramen? I stocked my locker full just for times like this."
"Ramen?"
Ramen, huh—honestly, it sounded kinda tempting.
Maybe because he mentioned it, but I was starting to feel a bit peckish.
But...
"Bu-but isn't it kinda hot? Eating ramen and sweating buckets on a day like this..."
"You don't get it. Ramen under the AC on a hot day is the best."
"Ugh, whatever, let's just get ice cream."
"Ice cream?"
At the word "ice cream," Hyorin, who was prepping to draw nearby, lit up and said,
"Ice cream sounds great. I want chocolate."
Jungeun tilted his head for a sec, then said,
"Ice cream? Yeah, that's a win. Cool."
Then me too.
"I'm down for ice cream."
Hearing our replies, Hyorin thought for a moment, then spoke with a sly smile.
An offer we absolutely couldn't refuse.
"Hmm, how about a bet? It'll be way more fun than just buying ice cream. What do you think?"
Hyorin's suggestion made that already scorching summer day burn even hotter.