Chapter 186
Chapter 186
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 186
Chapter Title: Fulfilling Hyorin's Wish
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Minji had stepped away for a moment due to a call from the school while we were talking.
In the meantime, I asked Daeun.
"Daeun-ah, what are you thinking about?"
"Daeuni..."
"Yeah, what are you pondering so deeply?"
At my question, Daeun spoke up.
"Mommy!"
"Yeah, Mommy?"
"Yeah! The magic Auntie did earlier! Mommy show Daeuni!"
"Really?"
"Yeah! Super duper exciting!"
She really showed it.
The first time I met Hyorin, one of the things that surprised me a lot was stuff like this.
She was more versatile than I'd thought.
At first, I figured she was just great at painting, but she was good at cooking too, and even magic that required a lot of dexterity.
Watching her like that, she almost seemed like an extraordinary person.
Like someone who'd come from another world.
As Daeun shared her story, I smiled and asked.
"Was it that amazing, Daeun?"
"Yeah! Super!"
"Bet it was fun."
"But Mommy said..."
"What?"
"Mommy's magic is a secret."
"Why?"
"Daeuni doesn't know!"
Her magic being a secret—what on earth did that mean?
But with Hyorin gone right now, I couldn't get an answer about the reason.
I could only think about it.
Thud.
Just then, Minji returned from taking the call and said.
"Whew, the call dragged on longer than I expected."
She checked the time.
It had already been well over an hour since we'd arrived.
Minji looked regretful as she said.
"Let's wrap up the talk for now and head to the ball pool. If Daeun's gonna play even a little, we don't have much time left."
I'd been about to bring that up myself.
"Daeun-ah, we'll finish the story later. Let's play first."
"Yeah! Daeuni likes it! Go to ball pool!"
At Daeun's eager reply, we all got up and headed to the kids' ball pool where Hyorin had worked long ago.
Ten years had passed, and a lot had changed in that time.
But the familiar scenery put my mind at ease for some reason.
Back in the day, I'd been surrounded by kids here.
Memories were flooding back fresh and vivid.
Minji smiled at the sight and asked.
"You're remembering the old days, huh."
"Yeah, it's changed some, but it still has that old vibe."
At that, Minji grinned and said.
"I actually swung by near the ball pool during that call earlier, and it was exactly the same."
"You checked out the ball pool?"
"Yeah, that's why I brought it up. Otherwise, I might've kept chatting."
She let out a playful laugh.
"But I'm kinda bummed."
"About what?"
"What Hyorin said back then."
"Yeah, what about Hyorin?"
"She said that if she ever had a kid, she'd definitely want to come here together."
Ah.
Anyone seeing kids playing so happily would think the same.
I'd thought it myself.
"And she mentioned something she really wanted to do."
"What?"
Minji's expression turned a bit awkward at my question.
"But I can't quite remember it. She definitely said she wanted to do something together, but that part's fuzzy for some reason."
"Ah, I see..."
It was disappointing, just like Minji said.
If we could remember what Hyorin wanted to do, we could've made Daeun even happier.
Too bad there was no way around it since she couldn't recall.
"If it comes back to you, let me know."
"Yeah, got it. Maybe it'll click while we're reminiscing about the old days."
With that, we arrived at the kids' ball pool area.
"Wow!"
A ton of kids were already inside playing.
Parents stood around the edges, watching their little ones.
And there were college students volunteering inside the ball pool.
"Come on, everyone—play nice and no getting hurt!"
"Yes!"
At the student's words, the kids shouted back energetically and dove back into play.
Daeun came up to me and asked.
"Daddy! Daeuni play too?"
"Of course. That's why we're here."
"Yay!"
Just then, Jungeun said to Daeun.
"Daeun-ah, wanna play with Uncle?"
"Yeah! Daeuni likes!"
With that, Daeun grabbed Jungeun's hand and headed into the ball pool.
Watching them intently brought back old memories one after another.
The image of Hyorin after finishing her magic show in front of the kids came sharply into focus.
Back then, to my question about whether it was tiring, she'd said.
–Not really. If anything, it energizes me. When the kids laugh, it's like taking vitamins—I get a burst of strength without even realizing it. Doesn't it work that way for you? Looking at Daeun's laughter as she played with Jungeun in the distance, I found myself smiling too. 'You're right, Hyorin. Spot on.' It wasn't just because she was my daughter. There was some mysterious energy in kids' laughter that spread like a contagion, making smiles bloom on faces naturally. Just watching them play filled me with energy effortlessly. Then, Hyorin's words came back to me again. –If I get married and have a kid someday, I wanna show them magic. Seeing them happy watching my tricks would make me so thrilled. She'd probably been saying that to me. But like an idiot, I hadn't grasped the meaning back then. I'd even gotten tense over it. Wondering if she had someone else in mind... 'Hold on.' There was one more thing she'd said back then that I hadn't properly understood. It was this. –I saw there's a drawing area behind here. If I get married and have a kid, I'd love to draw pictures together with them. I shot up from my seat.
"Hahaha."
I really was an idiot. Wanting to draw pictures—she'd been thinking of me when she said that. In other words, she'd been telling me over and over that she liked me, and I hadn't even noticed. Minji had said Hyorin wanted to do something together but couldn't remember. But now it hit me. What Hyorin had wanted to do with our future kid. I immediately called out to Daeun, who was playing happily with Jungeun.
"Daeun-ah!"
"Yeah! Daddy!"
"Let's go draw some pictures!"
Go draw pictures!
"Yay!"
Behind the ball pool was a space for drawing.
Not a huge area—partitioned into sections where a few kids were huddled together, drawing.
True to the Baby Dino Museum, each sheet of paper had prints of characters we'd seen on the way in.
It was more like filling in colors on pre-drawn images.
'Not full drawing—coloring pages, huh.'
But apparently even that was a blast, because Daeun settled into a spot like a pro and picked up a crayon.
"Daddy! Daeuni color!"
"Yeah, here's some paper."
I handed her a sheet with a baby dino illustration.
Daeun stuck out her tongue in concentration and carefully selected a crayon.
Then she started coloring the picture boldly with swift strokes.
'Baby dinos are green, no doubt.'
Every image I'd seen so far had been green.
Naturally, Daeun filled in the baby dino with green.
Seeing that made me suddenly want to draw too.
The two watching must've felt the same.
"Should I give it a go?"
"Let's do it together."
Minji and Jungeun claimed spots next to Daeun and got seriously into coloring.
No surprise from art school grads.
Not just Daeun—they filled in every detail meticulously.
I smiled and asked.
"You guys aren't getting a bit too intense?"
Jungeun replied.
"You've gotta take drawing seriously."
Nod.
"Exactly. I've never once not treated it with full seriousness."
"Figures—you know your stuff."
"You bet."
"Born with talent? No amount of grinding catches up."
Man, their banter flowed like water.
I said in exasperation.
"You two are way too in sync."
"They say you start to resemble what you love."
"Yeah, I love Minji, so of course I'm turning into her."
"Same here."
Grin!
What was this? Talking with them was starting to grate on me.
Maybe this was how they felt watching Hyorin and me back in the day.
I could see why they'd said stuff like that during our volunteer work together.
This must be what they call walking in someone else's shoes...
Anyway, I said to them.
"That's why, this is..."
No, I was about to speak, but Daeun's words—as she focused on her drawing—made me clamp my mouth shut.
"Daddy, you try too! It's super fun!"
"Oh, yeah?"
Her single sentence wiped away any annoyance.
Daeun was definitely my vitamin and my source of vitality, no doubt about it.
I slid into the spot next to her.
Minji handed me a sheet with a drawing on it.
"Alright, show us what the talented one's got."
Tsk.
It felt like praise mixed with teasing, leaving a sour taste, but holding the crayon lifted my spirits.
No matter how much I denied it, I was apparently born to be an artist who draws.
Like the others, I picked up a crayon and started filling in the colors one by one.
The image I got was a character with a red nose.
Toner, the alien from the planet Tabia, with his red nose and yellow curly hair.
Swish swish.
As I colored him in, I started getting ambitious.
'All the Baby Dino characters together would be perfect.'
With that thought, I filled the empty space with other characters.
Toner was already there, so I added the baby dino, the tall character, and even the bird one that looked like an ostrich.
Now with the Baby Dino friends all in place, it felt complete.
'But a Baby Dino comic without the star? That'd be a crime.'
Sure, the protagonist of Baby Dino was undeniably the baby dino itself.
But over time, I'd come to think this comic had a different lead.
The one who made it all possible—the house owner providing the home for the baby dino and friends.
Maybe sketching him as a stand-in for the quintessential Korean dad figure, along with their family, turned it into what looked like a family portrait.
One of the volunteering students approached my drawing and said.
"Wow, you draw really well. Are you a webtoon artist by any chance?"
"Nope."
Webtoon artist?
The unexpected question made me chuckle and shake my head, and the student said in genuine awe.
"Seriously? And you're not even a webtoon artist, but you draw this good."
"Ah, thank you."
The sudden compliment brought a smile to my face unbidden.
I made my living drawing pictures.
But maybe because it had been so long since I'd heard praise like that, it felt nice anyway.
The student smiled and added.
"But this looks just like that one over there! The composition, the style—everything!"
"My drawing?"
She pointed to one of the many pictures hanging on the wall.
"I spotted it the second I got here and skimmed them. That one right there."
We all—who'd been drawing—turned to look at the picture she indicated.
A single faded old picture, its colors worn from the passage of time.
And then.
Daeun—who'd been drawing intently—bolted up and shouted.
"Mommy! Daddy, that's Mommy!"
She scampered over to the picture on the wall, beaming, and said.
"Mommy misses Daeuni!"
Hyorin's picture was still up there.
They usually collected drawings once they hit a certain level, but hers must've been so good they'd kept it on display.
Looking at Hyorin's picture alongside it, Minji said.
"Ah, I remember now. What Hyorin said she wanted to do together."
I thought it was drawing pictures.
Was there something else?
Right at that moment, Minji said with a look of clear relief.
"She said she wanted to bring our future kid here someday and tell them the story. About how this place made Mommy fall even more in love with Daddy."
At Minji's words, I let out a hollow laugh.
"Hahaha."
Hyorin's wish—it felt like it had come true.
"Daddy! Daeuni so happy!"
Truly happy.