Chapter 143
Chapter 143
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 143
Chapter Title: The Real Family Photo
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The outfit Daeun picked suited me better than I expected.
"Oh, it looks great on you. This isn't an easy outfit to pull off."
The shop owner complimented me, and Daeun beamed with a huge smile, clearly pleased.
"Yeah! Mommy picked it out!"
Yeah, Mommy.
What was that out of the blue?
I felt a flicker of confusion for a moment, but then Daeun kept talking, and I ended up not asking.
"Daddy! Let's take pictures quick!"
"Uh, yeah. Okay."
Led by the hand by Daeun, I stood with her in front of the full-length mirror and checked out the clothes we were wearing.
'Not bad at all.'
Suits really are like the national dish—comfort food.
I'd just thrown it on, but it looked better than I'd thought.
Daeun seemed to think the same, looking up at me and saying,
"Daddy so handsome!"
"Really?"
"Yeah! Super handsome!"
"Thanks. You look great too, Daeun."
Hee!
As we complimented each other, the shop owner smiled and spoke up.
"You two look perfect together. So, for the photos, do you have a concept in mind? We can do standing, sitting, whatever. How would you like them?"
Her question gave me pause.
I'd never taken a family photo before, so how was I supposed to know?
As I pondered what might work best, I suddenly remembered the family photo Daeun had been staring at earlier.
Mom and Dad standing on either side, with the kid in the middle.
When you don't know what to do, go with the classic. That standard family photo pose everyone pictures should be fine.
I'd just decided on that and was about to smile and tell the shop owner when...
"Daeun knows!"
"Yeah? Knows what?"
"Daeun knows!"
No, what exactly does she know?
Right then, the shop owner smiled and asked,
"Does our princess have a pose she wants to do?"
Nod!
"Yeah! Daeun wants to do this one!"
"Oh, then tell Auntie what it is, and we'll do it that way."
As she said that, the shop owner winked at me.
Like she was signaling to just let Daeun have her way and we'd switch poses later.
Appreciating her thoughtfulness, I smiled and nodded, and she started getting directions from Daeun on the pose.
"Daddy here!"
"Yeah, Daddy has a spot too?"
"Yeah! And Daeun stands here."
"Ah, uh, like that?"
Standing the way Daeun said felt incredibly awkward somehow.
Like the proportions were all off.
But Daeun looked thrilled, nodding vigorously.
"Daeun wants it like this!"
I had no idea why she wanted this pose, but since the shop owner was being so accommodating, I decided to go with it.
"Alright, photo time!"
"Yeah!"
Daeun looked blissfully happy, like this one picture had given her the whole world.
'Well, if she's happy, that's what matters.'
"One, two, three!"
Click!
She took about ten shots in the pose Daeun had described.
Then she asked Daeun,
"Princess, is this good?"
"Yeah!"
Satisfied?
"Now it's Daddy's turn. Any pose you want?"
At her question, I told her about the idea I'd had earlier.
"Um, I saw a family photo outside earlier. Could we do something like that?"
"Of course. We'll need to adjust the pose a bit, so Daddy, come over here a little..."
The shop owner repositioned us, and now it finally felt like a stable setup.
Click!
"Yes, perfect! Daddy, could you look lovingly at our princess?"
"Uh, at Daeun?"
"Yeah!"
She even does this stuff.
Wanting to try different angles and poses, the shop owner suggested quite a few variations.
I stood with Daeun in front of me and tilted my head down to look at her.
Then the shop owner made one more request to Daeun.
"Princess, can you look at Daddy too?"
We ended up gazing at each other at her request.
Seeing Daeun's face lit up with a big smile naturally brought one to mine too.
And for some reason, it made me want to tease her.
Of course, in the middle of family photos, I held back, knowing I shouldn't.
"Daddy!"
"Yeah?"
"Nose hole super big!"
Well!
I couldn't hold back against Daeun's unexpected attack.
In the end...
Poke!
I poked her cheek with the hand on her shoulder.
"Ow!"
She seemed a little startled by the sudden play, but then she giggled.
We both completely forgot about the photos and burst out laughing.
Even in that moment, the shop owner kept snapping away.
Click!
After a long while of capturing our laughing faces, we finally wrapped up the family photos.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
We changed back into our regular clothes and sat in the spot where she'd edited our passport photos earlier.
The shop owner, who'd been waiting for us, checked the time and said,
"Oh my, it's gotten this late already."
By the time we'd finished the family photos, two hours had flown by.
I'd only planned on passport photos, but adding the family ones had taken longer than expected.
"By the time we edit everything, city hall will be closed. Or you could just pick the photos now, and I'll edit and print them later to send to your place. Would that work?"
Since the whole reason we'd come was for passport applications.
"Yeah, we might have to, given the time."
"Got it. Let's quickly check the photos then."
She pulled up the family photos one by one on the screen for us to see easily.
The early ones were the ones where Daeun had directed the positioning.
They'd felt awkward in the moment, but looking at them now, they weren't bad at all.
Daeun, naturally, scrutinized the ones she'd picked.
She pointed at one with her finger and said,
"Daddy! Daeun wants that one!"
"Yeah, this one?"
"No, the one next to it!"
They looked pretty similar since we hadn't changed much, but not to Daeun's eyes.
She pointed at one with a subtle difference.
"Daeun wants this one!"
"Yeah, you want this one?"
Was she thinking of printing it big to hang up? As I was about to ask again...
Daeun drew a little rectangle in the air with her finger.
"Picture! Daeun wants this as a picture!"
Ah, that's what she meant.
Looks like Daeun wanted to keep a copy of our family photo.
That's probably why she'd insisted on directing the pose herself.
I glanced at the shop owner and asked,
"Could we print this one without edits?"
"Yes, of course. There'll be a small extra fee, but for small prints, any number is fine."
"Oh, good. Then we'll take the one Daeun picked today. And for the family photo..."
I pointed at the one where we were both cracking up laughing.
"Hmm, Daeun, what about this one?"
"Like!"
"This one, please. You can edit it later at your leisure."
"Ah, we'll go with that for now. Give me your number, and I'll send the edited versions later. Once you're happy with them all, I'll print big ones and send them over."
"Yes, please do that."
And with that, everything was settled.
Checking the time, city hall would close in an hour.
If we hurried, we could make it.
"Wait just a sec. I'll bring the edited passport photos and the one our princess picked, printed."
"Yes."
About ten minutes after she went in back, she came out with the photos in a small envelope.
She handed me mine and Daeun's passport photos, and gave Daeun the family one from earlier.
"This the right one?"
"Yeah! Right! Thank you!"
"Oh, thank you. Come back for more photos next time."
"Next time?"
"Yeah, next time when our princess is a bit bigger."
Daeun smiled hugely and replied,
"Yeah!"
And so, our photo session—with all its little twists—came to an end... or so I thought.
It was only after we got home and finished everything that I finally understood why Daeun had acted that way.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Click.
"Whew, that was tiring. You okay, Daeun?"
She clutched the family photo from earlier to her chest like a treasure and answered,
"Yeah! Not tired!"
"Wow, our Daeun is so tough."
Hee!
Pleased by the praise, she grinned wide, kicked off her shoes, and headed inside.
Smiling, I called after her,
"Let's wash your hands when you get back from outside."
It was our usual routine, so I figured she'd do it and went inside to prep dinner without thinking twice.
But...
Thud thud thud!
Instead of the bathroom, Daeun dashed straight to the master bedroom like something was urgent.
I leaned back and called out,
"Daeun! Wash your hands first! Or you'll get tummy ache!"
Unlike usual, she didn't head to the bathroom—instead, she yelled back loudly,
"Daddy wait a sec!"
What could she be doing that she wouldn't even wash her hands first?
"Daeun, what're you doing?"
Curious about her behavior, I stopped what I was doing and walked to the master bedroom.
Inside, I heard...
Clatter! Rustle!
She was rummaging through the vanity drawer that Hyorin used to use.
I approached quietly and peeked over her shoulder to see what she was after.
"What're you doing?"
"Ah! Found it!"
She hadn't even noticed me coming.
"What're you looking for?"
She turned back to the vanity and answered,
"Yeah! It's here!"
"What?"
"Wait a sec!"
What on earth could be in there?
Now I was dying to know.
Forgetting to scold her, I crouched down beside her to watch.
How long had she been digging around?
"Ah! Here it is!"
Daeun pulled a small notebook from the drawer.
'A notebook.'
Rushing home to grab a notebook?
Did she want to draw? As I was about to ask...
Flutter!
A single sheet of paper slipped from between the pages and fluttered to the floor.
'Th-that's...'
It was definitely a photo tucked in the notebook.
I'd seen it clearly, but it had flipped over, so I couldn't make out what it was.
Daeun picked up the fallen photo and said to me,
"This is what Daeun picked! This picture!"
She held it up with both hands to show me.
It was an older photo, but preserved in the notebook, so it was still in good shape. Inside...
Gulp.
'Daeun...'
There was a young Daeun in an outfit strikingly similar to the dress she'd picked at the photo studio, posing with Hyorin.
But what really shocked me was something else.
"Like this!"
Daeun took out the photo she'd treasured all the way home and overlapped it with the one of Hyorin.
In that moment...
'The real family photo...'
It formed a true family photo with Daeun in the middle.
Me and Daeun on either side, just like we were standing together.
"Hee! Family picture!"
"Yeah. A family photo. Daeun really took a family photo."
I stared at the photo in her hands for a long time.
One I'd thought we'd never be able to take.
Our real family photo.