Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Daeun Becomes a Star
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It was plenty surprising for me and my friends alike.
And no wonder—countless kids were clustered around Daeun in a perfect circle.
'What are they doing?'
I wanted to check it out, but with so many gathered, it wasn't easy to get a look.
So instead, I decided to survey the surroundings.
The auditorium was quite spacious inside.
It was packed with all sorts of play facilities for the kids.
As the name suggested, there were maze games, drawing stations, sandboxes, slides, seesaws, swings, and more.
The quality was so high, it was hard to believe this was a university auditorium.
'Well, they did say the professors were fully backing it.'
For the sake of a peaceful festival, they needed a spot where parents could confidently leave their kids.
So they'd poured school funds into it without holding back.
The result was this place: the kids' playground.
"They're drawing, huh?"
With an attached kindergarten, there were naturally tons of kids playing inside.
But most of them were crowded in one spot.
The center of it all, where Daeun was, turned out to be the drawing experience corner.
Murmur murmur.
It was far away, and the surrounding noise was so loud that the kids' voices didn't carry well.
So we all tilted our heads toward them, straining to hear.
That's when it happened.
"Um... do you need any help?"
The student who'd explained things to us earlier approached with a smile.
"Ah... haha!"
"Haha."
It was a bit awkward.
Chang-sik, Jungeun Park, and I let out awkward laughs and quickly averted our eyes.
Then, staring off at distant mountains, we spoke up.
"Oh, no, we're not here because we were worried about Daeun or anything. We were just curious if she was having fun, so we came to check."
"Yeah, exactly. I'm a big Daeun fan, so I figured I'd at least catch a glimpse..."
"Same here, pretty much."
We were rambling excuses without even being asked.
The student glanced over the three of us, then broke into a smile.
"You're here to see if Daeun's having a good time?"
"Yes, that's it."
"Right. Is she having fun?"
Nod.
To our question about whether she was enjoying herself, the student replied with that same smile.
"Well, it's not just 'having a good time'... she's become a star."
"What?"
A star?
"The moment Daeun walked in, I asked her if there was anything she wanted to do. But she asked me where she should go to make friends."
She'd asked so directly? I never imagined.
"And then?"
"So I took her to the kids' favorite spot."
"You mean..."
"Yes, exactly. That crowd over there? That's the drawing experience area."
Drawing pictures even here?
Sure, drawing was Daeun's hobby and specialty, but wasn't that a different matter altogether?
"But do that many kids usually gather there?"
If it was naturally popular with kids, I'd get it, but the other areas looked way more fun.
In fact, aside from the kids who'd come specifically to draw, the biggest crowd was at the maze.
"There were some kids from the start, but not like that. They all flocked there because of Daeun."
So the scene we'd walked in on was spot on, after all.
That left one burning question.
What exactly was Daeun doing to draw such a crowd?
"Um, do you know why all the kids are gathered around her?"
The student beamed and looked toward the group.
"Seems like Daeun really wanted to make friends with the other kids. And she knew exactly how to do it."
"What?"
She knew how to make friends?
"She's drawing portraits for them."
"Portraits?"
"Yeah. She's doing caricatures of their faces."
Chang-sik, who'd been listening quietly, looked even more shocked.
"Daeun's drawing caricatures?"
"Yes, but not just that—she's drawing other things with them too."
What on earth was she drawing to make the kids go so wild? The question lingered only briefly.
The student's next words gave us the answer, and all three of us could only nod in silent agreement.
"She's drawing their favorite cartoon characters right next to the caricatures."
I'd only ever seen her as cute and adorable.
But it looked like Daeun had a real knack for fitting right in.
She drew cartoon characters alongside caricatures that captured the kids' unique features.
Maybe because those characters didn't exist in real life.
The kids went crazy for Daeun's drawings, swarming her one after another to get one.
'I had no idea she remembered that many characters.'
I couldn't exactly ask when she'd seen them, but I cautiously guessed it was during that time after Hyorin passed, when she was briefly at the orphanage.
Anyway, the point wasn't that—it was that thanks to her talent, Daeun got even closer to the other kids.
"Daddy!"
Two hours flew by, and Daeun came running over.
"Did you have fun, Daeun?"
"Yeah! Super duper fun!"
To me, it looked like she'd spent the whole two hours tirelessly drawing for the kids, but Daeun didn't seem worn out at all.
If anything, she was buzzing with excitement from all the new friends she'd made.
"Daeun made lotsa friends! And drew lotsa pictures too!"
Then she tilted her head at a 45-degree angle, as if recalling something from moments ago.
"Sang-woong has a tiny nose and buck teeth, and Joo-hae is super duper cute, and..."
Seeing her rattle off her friends' features, I was relieved that her memories held their good sides.
Though there are times kids might not want to remember such details.
Still, for Daeun, this whole experience would become a treasured memory.
"I'm glad you made so many friends, Daeun."
"Yeah!"
Just then, Jungeun Park, who'd been gazing at her adorable response with loving eyes, asked,
"Didn't you miss Uncle Jungeun?"
Why would he ask something like that?
But whether it was her kind nature or something else, Daeun smiled like an angel at his sappy question.
"Daeun missed Uncle Jungeun lots!"
"Oh! You really, really missed your uncle?"
"Yeah!"
Then Daeun reached out her hand toward him.
I figured Jungeun would be baffled by the random gesture, but no.
Somehow reading it in her eyes, he plunged his hand into his pocket and declared,
"Of course I prepared! A special uncle gift for Daeun."
In that instant, a fist-sized candy popped out of Jungeun's pocket.
"Wow! Candy!"
"Uncle bought it just for you, Daeun."
"Thanks, Uncle! Daeun loves this!"
Jungeun peeled the wrapper and handed it to her, and she savored it like she'd won the world.
Chang-sik chuckled softly at the sight.
"One piece of candy can bring such joy."
To little kids, candy could be a huge source of happiness.
And seeing Daeun's happiness from it...
"Makes us happy too."
...could become our happiness.
In the end, wasn't this moment making everyone here happy with just one candy?
That was probably why Jungeun always brought gifts for Daeun.
But it seemed even kids could do the same without needing to be adults.
Rustle.
'Oh.'
As Daeun happily munched her candy, other kids started gathering around her one by one.
And toward her, they held out...
"Here, take this."
"What's this?"
"It's my favorite snack. Thanks for the drawing."
"You're really giving it to Daeun?"
The kids who'd gotten drawings from her crowded around, sharing their snacks.
Behind them, I spotted smiling moms.
Nod.
The moms nodded thanks to me, as if to say they were grateful for making their kids smile.
I bowed my head in return.
Chang-sik, who'd watched it all from the side, grinned and said,
"Reminds me of back then."
Back then?
"What?"
"You know, that festival day when I first saw you and Hyorin."
The word "festival" brought back old memories once more.
"Now that you mention it..."
"Yeah, thinking about it, she was the same back then. Hyorin was practically a star."
Her being a star made me smile instinctively.
'Yeah, she was.'
Looking back now, there was a reason Chang-sik couldn't help but fall for Hyorin that day.
Even I thought she was pretty cool.
Festival day, early morning.
I was dragged out of the house by Hyorin before dawn, barely able to open my eyes.
"You had to drag me along too to feel better?"
"Should I do it alone then?"
"No, not that, but there are other people..."
Pout.
Hyorin pursed her lips and glared at me. I swallowed dryly and shook my head.
"No, I'll help."
Yay!
Pleased with my answer, Hyorin spun around, her face bright again.
"Then let's go shopping quick. We've got a lot to buy today, so we need to hustle."
With that, she grabbed my arm and pulled.
"Hurry!"
"Got it. I'll walk. I'll walk!"
And so I spent nearly two hours at the food mart, dragged around by Hyorin's hand.
'Man, my arm nearly fell off.'
Who knew what she planned to sell or how much, but we dropped over 500,000 won on ingredients.
And then Hyorin and I had to haul it all back, split between us.
"Whew, that's a ton. Right?"
"Yeah. My arm really almost fell off."
My arm was still tingling. I rotated my wrist to loosen the knotted muscles and asked,
"So what now?"
"Hmm, the prep team for ingredients will be here soon. Till then, we decorate the stall."
"Decorate the stall?"
Glance.
The school provided only tents and tables.
Everything else—menus, banners—each department had to make themselves.
Looks like we drew the short straw.
"But why us? Isn't this usually seniors' work?"
We freshmen had zero festival experience.
I figured at least the upperclassmen who'd done it before would step up.
"The professor recommended us strongly."
"Who?"
"Professor Lim. He said he really wanted the two of us to handle the stall setup."
"The professor said that?"
I knew he was special, but I had no clue what was going through his head.
"Yeah, but he showed us photos from last year done by seniors, so it shouldn't be too hard."
With that, Hyorin showed me the pics from last year's festival that the senior had given her.
"Just make the stall sign and menu board. We can grab supplies from the department office. That's the rundown. Ready to get started?"
She rolled up her sleeves.
'Is this what she finds fun?'
Hyorin's face was full of smiles, like she was having the time of her life.
Honestly, jumping into stuff like this upfront wasn't my style...
"But you're enjoying it, so that's what matters."
"Huh? What'd you say?"
I shook my head.
"Nah, let's get to work. What should I start with?"
Listening to my story, Daeun's eyes sparkled as she said,
"Daeun knows! Why Mommy liked Daddy!"
Oh, the reason Hyorin liked me?
All eyes turned to Daeun.
Chang-sik asked with a serious face,
"So what was it? Why'd Mom like Dad?"
He was probably the most curious of all.
Daeun grinned wide.
"It's a secret. Hee!"