Chapter 178
Chapter 178
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 178
Chapter Title: Daeun's Miracle Dart Throw
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An unbelievably fast carousel.
This was definitely not the carousel I knew.
No, but kids ride this thing?
At that thought, I hurriedly checked on Daeun and the other children's reactions.
"Wow!"
...They were having fun.
It might get boring quickly if it spun slowly, but thanks to the speed, they seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit.
The only problem was that I felt like I was going to die.
It spun a full 20 rounds like that.
Even then, the owner showed no signs of stopping the carousel.
No, does she actually make money doing business like this? If anything, it seemed like this was drawing even more kids.
My stomach was churning.
But I couldn't ask her to stop.
Because Daeun was having so much fun.
Finally, after another 10 rounds, the machine came to a halt.
Screeech.
Even that was only because another customer had arrived.
"Ride more..."
Of course, the owner urged us to go again, but I didn't even listen and jumped right off the ride.
Anything else aside, this was truly unbearable.
As I got off, Daeun looked really disappointed.
"Daddy, no more ride?"
Yeah, Daddy can't. This seems to be Daddy's limit.
I wanted to say that, but I couldn't tell it to Daeun.
"Let's try something else. Don't you want to try other rides too, Daeun?"
At that, I pointed to the Blue Dragon Train, which seemed a bit less intense.
Daeun made a slightly regretful face at my words but eventually nodded.
"Daeun wanna ride that too!"
What she pointed to this time was the Blue Dragon Train.
It was probably no different from the two rides we'd been on before.
We'd get chances to keep riding, but the consolation was that it wasn't just spinning in circles.
Plus, it was the kids' Blue Dragon Train.
The speed probably wouldn't be too bad...
Whiiiiiish—!
'It's, it's fast!'
Everything was beyond my expectations.
It was the kids' Blue Dragon Train.
It definitely was, but the speed made adult versions look slow.
Was that really a kids' Blue Dragon Train?
I had my doubts, but the kids riding before us had enjoyed it.
My vision was already starting to blur, but surprisingly, my dilemma was resolved from an unexpected source.
"Daeun, want to ride with Uncle this time?"
At Painter Oh's words, I widened my eyes and asked.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?"
"I tried it once and it's not bad. Besides, it must be hard to ride right away again."
Wow, I couldn't be more grateful.
Riding back-to-back was already making my head spin just thinking about it.
But Painter Oh was stepping in for me.
"Thank you."
"No problem. I wanted to ride with Daeun too, but I'm getting old and it's tough. This way, I can at least ride with her."
So that's why he didn't ride the carousel.
Only then did I understand why he hadn't ridden the carousel.
Painter Oh headed off to the Blue Dragon Train with Daeun.
"Daddy! Daeun be back!"
"Yeah, have fun."
"Okay!"
As the two went off to ride, Director Go, who had been watching, spoke to me.
"You must be exhausted."
"No, it was fun."
"Really?"
"Um... a, a little."
At that, Director Go chuckled and said.
"But it's good that Daeun seems to be enjoying herself."
"Yeah. If I'd known she'd like it this much, I would've brought her sooner."
Truth be told, I hadn't thought to take Daeun to an amusement park yet because she was still so young.
If I brought her and we couldn't ride much, she'd just end up disappointed.
Plus, at real amusement parks, you'd have to wait in much longer lines than this.
"But how did Painter Oh know about this place? Thanks to him, we're really having a blast."
Smiling as I said that, Director Go looked at Painter Oh boarding the Blue Dragon Train and replied.
"I was curious too, so I asked. He said Suryeon came to mind so much that he went around looking for places like this."
"Suryeon?"
"Yeah, he regretted not being able to do things like this with her when she was around. So while he was in Daegu, he kept scouting out good spots for kids."
How much must he have missed her to go this far?
He didn't seem too serious on the outside, but Painter Oh's heart was probably dyed black with grief.
"But thanks to him, everyone seems happy."
"Yes, she really is."
"Look over there."
Director Go pointed at the Blue Dragon Train, and I smoothly turned my head to look at the two.
Daeun was riding the speeding Blue Dragon Train with absolute glee.
Next to her, Painter Oh was smiling so brightly—perhaps feeling Suryeon through Daeun.
That's when Director Go said something out of the blue.
"Thank you."
"Yes?"
"Thanks to you, Kanghyeok, this moment has become a gift to us."
Her word "gift" stirred something in me.
What was an everyday moment for some could be a precious gift for others.
Seeing Painter Oh smiling at the joyful Daeun made Director Go's words hit even harder.
"If we're talking about that, I'm the one who's grateful."
"For what?"
Still watching Daeun, I spoke to Director Go.
Speaking the sincere thanks I'd held back until now.
"For Hyorin. Thank you so much for looking after her."
Without Director Go, Hyorin would have had it even tougher.
Thanks to her, we were able to protect those precious paintings too.
At my words, Director Go looked at the beaming Daeun and said.
"Then we're even."
Heh.
"Yeah."
And so, our precious memories flowed on.
We rode every ride.
We went back and forth on the Blue Dragon Train a total of 12 times, and only after endlessly riding the airplane ride did we finally escape the clutches of the attractions.
"Daeun, was it fun?"
"Yes! Super super fun!"
But Daeun didn't look tired at all.
As if she could ride more if given the chance.
The problem was us.
If we rode any more here, we wouldn't last.
Sparkle sparkle!
If someone
'Want to ride a bit more?'
asked, her eyes said she'd bite right away.
'What do I do.'
It felt too soon to leave, but we couldn't ride more either.
As I pondered what to do, Painter Oh spoke up.
"Daeun still want more?"
"Yeah, more rides!"
"Hmm, not rides, but something Daeun would really enjoy."
"What is it? Daeun wanna do it!"
She wanted to jump in without even hearing what it was.
Daeun must have really liked Painter Oh's previous amusement spot choices.
And rightly so—we'd had a blast nonstop.
"Any other games or something?"
At my question, Painter Oh smiled and said.
"Just follow me. I know this place like the back of my hand."
Somehow, it felt incredibly reassuring.
We followed Painter Oh down a sloped hill.
A slight turn revealed a long row of shops.
Seeing it, Daeun...
"Wow! Dolls!"
She ran excitedly toward the shops lined with dolls.
I blinked and asked.
"You meant this?"
"You've heard of balloon darts? Used to see them a lot back in the day, but they're rare now."
Dart balloon popping.
I never imagined a place like this would have stalls like that.
Each handmade booth was packed with small balloons.
And next to them hung a ton of pretty big dolls.
Perfect for doll-loving Daeun.
"Daddy! Daeun like that doll!"
"Yeah, which one?"
"That one!"
"Th-that one?"
The doll Daeun pointed to was pretty huge.
She hadn't said she wanted it, but since she liked it, I wanted to win it for her. Even roughly calculating, it wasn't something you could get with one or two throws.
That's when the shop owner came forward to greet us.
"Oh, welcome. Here for balloon darts?"
At that, Director Go pulled out her wallet and said.
"We want to buy that doll. How much?"
"Pardon? You want to buy a doll?"
"Yes, you're selling them, right?"
The sudden talk of buying a doll flustered the owner a bit.
But she quickly composed herself and said.
"We don't sell the dolls."
"Why not?"
"They're prizes. You take them based on how many balloons you pop."
She wavered a little but held her ground well.
"I just want to buy it. Can't we?"
The owner smiled and asked.
"Why? Not confident?"
Swoosh.
At that, Director Go's expression hardened.
"Confident?"
"Yes, usually people who lack confidence try to buy them. It's harder than it looks."
"......"
Provoked by the owner, Director Go said stiffly.
"Kanghyeok, get ready."
"Yes."
"You too, get ready. Daeun, prepare to throw."
Then Director Go placed two 50,000-won bills on the table.
"First, give us darts for the money's worth. I'll show you what I can do."
Swoosh.
With that, as if fully committed, she even took off her outer clothes.
She was lightly stretching to prepare for darts when...
Daeun asked.
"But Daeun too?"
"Of course. Daeun has to throw too."
"Really?"
"Yeah, really. Daeun has to pop as many as possible. Got it?"
Clench!
At that, Daeun balled her fists and said with a determined look.
"Daeun can do it!"
"You have to do great. If you want that doll."
"Yes!"
As everyone vowed to win the doll...
Thud.
"Let's start with 10 rounds. That's 30,000 won. If you hit them all, you can get that doll."
30,000 won for one doll.
10 rounds meant 10 darts each—a whopping 100 hits to claim it.
Of course, if you missed any, you'd need 15 rounds or more to reliably win.
"So, who wants to go first?"
At Director Go's question, we eyed each other.
Since both Director Go and Painter Oh were older, I thought I should go first, but just as I was about to step up...
Whoosh!
Daeun suddenly shot her hand up.
"Daeun first!"
"Yeah, Daeun?"
"Yes! Daeun can do it!"
We all had to throw once anyway.
No big issue with Daeun going first.
We exchanged glances, nodded, and said.
"Alright, Daeun goes first then."
"Yay!"
Well, the goal was to pop lots of balloons, but no need to kill Daeun's excitement at the start just because she was first.
Smiling, I said to the owner.
"The kid can throw, right?"
"Of course. Kids are short, so it's hard. She can stand on the table to throw."
"Oh, really?"
Even better then.
I'd been worrying if she'd have to throw from below since the table was high.
Swoosh.
I helped Daeun up onto the table, lightly holding her body in case she fell.
Then Daeun picked up a dart and said.
"Here goes!"
"Yeah, Daeun, fighting!"
With everyone's cheers, Daeun stared intently at the balloons ahead with a resolute expression and threw the dart with all her might.
Whoosh!
The dart left Daeun's hand.
It flew in a high arc and...
'Yeah, the distance is too far for Daeun after all.'
Maybe because her arms were still weak, it didn't seem like it'd reach the balloons.
I figured it'd drop right in front of them, but right then...
'Huh?'
Something unbelievable happened.
The dart soared in a perfect high arc.
As if thrown with precise intent from the start.
Pop pop pop pop!
With four massive pops, a single dart burst four balloons.
Seeing that, I...
'Amazing!'
could only gape in shock.