Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Real Friends on the Train
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Clunk.
The train carrying us pulled out of Seoul Station.
"Oh dear, I hope this isn't too uncomfortable for you."
"No, no. Why say that? If anything, we're the ones imposing on you."
It wasn't intentional, but we'd ended up facing each other.
"So, where's our pretty little princess headed?"
At the auntie's question, Daeun shyly replied.
"Going to see my art friends."
"Your art friends? Oh, the art gallery?"
"Yeah, Grandma knows the art gallery?"
"Yep, I do. When I was little, I went to art galleries all the time."
"Really? So Grandma draws really well?"
Daeun's question got an unexpected response.
From the boy who'd been keeping his mouth shut the whole time—he glanced over at her question about drawing and gave a curt reply.
"My grandma draws really well."
"Oh my, what grandma draws well?"
"I said my grandma draws well."
"Aw, that was ages ago."
Daeun wasn't about to be outdone and shot her hand up high.
"My daddy draws well too!"
Her shout startled me, and I hurried to calm her down.
"D-Daeun, honey, let's be a little quieter, okay?"
"Ah!"
Even her little slip-up was adorable.
Daeun quickly clapped both hands over her mouth and whispered softly.
"My daddy draws well."
Swish.
The boy looked at me with unexpected eyes.
That gaze... it was hard to pin down exactly, but it felt like it carried a sense of longing.
"Hahaha."
I laughed to shift the suddenly heavy mood and changed the subject.
"By the way, we haven't even exchanged names yet. What's the little guy's name?"
At that, the boy suddenly stood up, put his hand on his belly button, and introduced himself.
"Hello! I'm Jun-su Kim, six years old. Nice to meet you!"
Oh, six years old?
A year older than Daeun—an oppa.
Daeun seemed eager to introduce herself too after Jun-su's.
"Daddy, me too."
I smiled at her tiny whisper.
"You can do it standing up."
Daeun furrowed her brow and shook her head.
"Daeun doesn't know how. Haven't learned it."
"Okay."
Had she thought it was something they taught at daycare?
It was such a childlike way of thinking—that you only greet after being taught how.
Swish.
I smiled and explained to her.
"When introducing yourself, you don't have to follow some exact format. Just say whatever you want while greeting them."
"Just greet however?"
"Yeah, however Daeun wants."
"Daeun... however I want?"
"Daddy'll help you from the side."
"Okay."
Nod.
She nodded, pointed ahead with her hand, thought for a moment, then mustered her courage and went for it.
"H-Hi! I'm Daeun. Daeun Lee. Um, I like rice, and I like drawing, and I like Mommy, and I like Daddy, um..."
She just kept listing things she liked. It was funny, but we had to wrap up the intro first.
I gave her a gentle prompt.
"Nice to meet you."
"Um, n-nice to meet you!"
Whoosh whoosh!
Daeun finally nailed her introduction.
Right then.
Swish.
Jun-su, who'd waited patiently for her to finish, stuck out his hand at the perfect moment.
"Let's be friends."
"Fwiends?"
"Yeah, I like you."
Such a sudden confession...
'What?'
Eek-!
"I like you too."
And Daeun accepted it just like that.
We switched seats.
I hadn't planned on it, but the kids were getting along so well that I had no choice.
"It's gotta be uncomfortable."
"Oh, no, not at all. I hope we're not inconveniencing you."
"I'm fine. It must be tough on a young person."
This felt familiar somehow, like déjà vu, so I flashed a grin.
"At least they're having fun. I was worried they'd get bored."
"Yeah. Honestly, I was surprised."
Surprised?
"Why?"
"Jun-su. He doesn't usually talk well with kids his age."
"Oh?"
For someone like that, he'd greeted Daeun right away...
The grandma seemed to feel the same, speaking in astonishment.
"I was shocked when he greeted her first. And he doesn't normally do that—he went out of his way to talk to her."
Ah, so that's why she'd kept directing questions at Daeun.
To give Jun-su a natural opening into the conversation.
Now that she mentioned it, he'd stayed silent until then, which had struck me as a bit odd.
'But is there some kind of problem?'
It was tricky to ask about stuff like that. It had to be sensitive for the family.
"Still, seeing them play so well puts my mind at ease."
"I don't know the details, but Jun-su will be fine."
"You think so?"
"Yes, of course. He's Daeun's friend now."
"Yeah."
The grandma covered her mouth and laughed, like she hadn't expected that.
"Hee hee, you're a fun one."
"Am I?"
As we smiled at each other, a thought crossed my mind.
This trip wasn't half bad.
Lively chatter, haha's and hee hee's all around.
'It's been a while since a trip like this.'
Sure, we all had different destinations and reasons, but so what? Same road, same vibe.
Maybe that's why I suddenly wanted to share something with them.
"You folks hungry? I packed some snacks."
"Daddy! Daeun wants some too!"
"Yeah, of course."
I turned to quiet Jun-su beside me too.
"There's some for you too, Jun-su. Uncle's got snacks for you."
Beam.
He didn't reply. But it didn't matter.
That big bright smile was answer enough.
"Alright, who first? Nah, gotta give 'em together."
I pulled out two chocolate snacks and placed one in each kid's hand.
"Wow, yummy!"
Daeun, who loved chocolate, was thrilled, and Jun-su...
'He likes it too.'
Like Daeun, he smiled and took his.
"Now, what's next?"
I grinned mischievously, dug into my bag, paused for suspense, then pulled out two drinks.
"Banana milk this time!"
"Yay, Daeun loves banana milk. Jun-su likes it too, right?"
"Yeah, I like it."
Luckily, they both loved it—they devoured the chocolate and downed the banana milk in seconds.
"Wow, so good."
Daeun happily patted her tummy, while Jun-su started cleaning up Daeun's trash.
Daeun jumped in surprise and snatched it back.
"This is Daeun's. Daeun cleans it up."
"No, I'll take care of it."
"No! Daeun cleans her own."
"I'll do it."
"Daeun will."
Ugh-!
What the heck?
The happy kids from moments ago were gone, staring each other down over the trash like it was a tug-of-war.
What was going on?
But the grandma seemed used to it, chuckling as she soothed Jun-su.
"Jun-su, you know you should ask first, right?"
"But!"
"Daeun might want to clean it herself. So you ask."
Honestly, offering to clean wasn't wrong, but Daeun wasn't blameless either.
It felt like she was throwing a fit over something that didn't need one.
"Daeun, oppa can clean for you, right?"
"But Daeun cleans her own stuff herself."
Sigh, such a good girl... wait, no, that's not it.
"Hmm, how about letting oppa clean this once?"
Normally, Daeun would've said okay to that, but this time she was stubborn.
"No."
"Why?"
I meant it sincerely.
Why was she suddenly so serious about the trash? Right then—
"We clean together."
Her out-of-nowhere line shocked me, the grandma, and even Jun-su holding the trash.
"T-Together?"
"Yeah, Daeun cleans together."
She stared straight at Jun-su and asked.
"Right?"
Like it'd been the plan all along, so bold. Jun-su had no choice but to nod.
"Uh, yeah..."
What was even happening? I watched quietly, and it got even funnier.
Both still gripping the trash, Daeun stood first.
She gave a look, Jun-su followed, and they marched like a train of candy—plink plink—to the trash bin.
"Okay, on one-two-three, we toss!"
Nod.
"One, two, three!"
Clunk.
'Oh, they tossed it together.'
Just like Daeun said, in perfect sync.
Super satisfied, she beamed at Jun-su.
"We did it together. So we're real friends now."
Real... friends?
The grandma, who'd overheard, gasped in realization.
"Daeun really is an angel of a child."
Angel?
"Bye-bye!"
"Yeah! Bye!"
"See you next time!"
"Yeah! Next time!"
The kids waved goodbye the whole time they faded from view.
Watching Daeun brought the grandma's parting words back.
'Jun-su, was it? What a spirited kid.'
She'd said Jun-su had probably told Daeun she was a fake friend.
I'd been shocked at first. Fake friend? I didn't get the full story, but he'd had a precious friend—a puppy he raised.
They played every day, ate together, slept together—like family. But it left Jun-su's side.
That's when he started talking less, not hanging out with friends.
And the reason? That habit of calling them "fake friends."
Adults might ask why, but kids?
They'd just push him away, hating it.
So he'd held back from approaching first.
But Daeun was different.
To his words, she threw out the trash together and said from now on, real friends.
Swish.
Once Jun-su was out of sight, she finally lowered her hand.
"All done waving?"
"Yeah, waving done."
Hearing that story made me wonder.
Why hadn't Daeun pushed him away at "fake friend" and instead called him a real one?
"Why?"
"Yeah?"
"Why'd you keep looking?"
But I couldn't bring myself to ask why she'd acted or thought that way.
It'd just highlight Jun-su's pain.
So I asked something else.
"No, just curious if you had fun with Jun-su oppa."
"Daeun?"
"Yeah, Daeun had fun."
She thought a sec, then grinned.
Nod!
"Yeah! Had fun!"
Fun was good enough.
I held out my hand to her enthusiastic reply.
"Alright, shall we go see some paintings now?"
"Yeah!"
And so we headed to Director Go's acquaintance's exhibition...
"Daddy, thank you!"
"For what?"
"Just... everything! Thank you!"
Uh... And that's how Daeun and I made it to the exhibition hall.
"Why! What for~!"