Chapter 67
Chapter 67
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Playground Friends
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The man who approached me looked apologetic as he asked,
"Excuse me, I'm really sorry, but could you watch that kid over there for just a moment?"
"Sure."
"Ah, well..."
I wondered what the problem was.
Even as he spoke, the man's face was pale as a sheet.
And from his story that followed, I understood why he was making such a request.
"I... I really need to use the bathroom. Urgently."
"B-Bathroom?"
"Yes. The man waving over there is the kid's dad. The girl with the bob cut right next to him is my daughter. If it's okay with you... ugh."
I had no idea what he kept asking if it was okay for.
Especially when he himself looked anything but okay.
"Go ahead. The bob-cut girl about to go down the slide, right? I'll keep an eye on her."
Whoosh!
"Thank you!"
With fervent thanks, the man bolted to the bathroom like lightning.
He vanished from sight so quickly that I found myself blinking in surprise.
'If the bathroom was that urgent, why didn't he just go without asking?'
The bob-cut girl the dad had mentioned looked about Daeun's age at first glance.
So I figured she'd understand some explanation, and he could probably make a quick trip.
That was when it happened.
"Daddy!"
That's when I realized why the dad couldn't leave.
"D-Daddy! Daddy!"
The bob-cut girl started screaming repeatedly, searching for her dad.
I waved my arms exaggeratedly and tried to call her name...
'Oh, I don't know her name.'
Still, it was an emergency, so I shouted,
"Hey, sweetie! Daddy just went to the bathroom for a bit. So..."
"Daddy!"
Was she not hearing me?
The girl wasn't listening to me at all. Or rather, she couldn't hear me over her distress.
No matter how much I shouted as a stranger, with her dad nowhere in sight, how could my voice reach her?
In the end, I had no choice but to kick off my shoes and climb up the play structure.
"Sweetie! So, Daddy's..."
"Daddyyyyy! Waaah!"
"Oh dear."
Finally, the girl burst into tears. I hurried even faster to reach her, but...
Slide!
This was a slide.
Slide!
'Oh.'
No matter how fast I ran, I couldn't make it up. Meanwhile, the bob-cut girl started crying even louder, and around me...
"Wow! Uncle's having fun!"
"Me too! I wanna do it too!"
"Hee! Fun!"
They must have thought what I was doing looked fun, because all the kids started copying me.
Just then, Daeun, who had climbed the stairs late, spotted me and shouted in surprise.
"Daddy! Daddy's bored too?"
No, that's not it.
I wasn't here to play.
But to the kids' eyes, it must have looked like I was.
'Ah!'
Then, a good idea suddenly struck me.
"Daeun!"
"Yeah! Daddy! Daeun go down too!"
"No, no! Could you maybe calm down the friend next to you?"
"Friend?"
She turned her head and looked at the crying bob-cut friend.
"Her?"
"Yeah! Think you could cheer her up a bit?"
She seemed to think for a moment, but then Daeun nodded bravely.
"Yeah! Daeun can do it!"
With that, she patted the bob-cut friend's shoulder.
"Waaah, sob sob."
The crying girl, tears streaming like chicken poop, glanced over at Daeun's gesture, and at her words...
"Stop!"
"......Waaah!"
She cried even louder.
Ah, this was my mistake. How could a young child like Daeun know how to soothe a crying friend?
I hadn't even told her how, just asked her to cheer her up.
But contrary to my thoughts...
Smooth.
"Yeah."
At Daeun's next words, the girl's crying stopped like magic.
"Let's play slide together!"
"Sniff... together?"
"Yeah! Together!"
Then she stuck out her hand again and asked,
"Friends with Daeun!"
I doubted such words could calm her, but...
The effect was tremendous.
"Yeah!"
To the point of jaw-dropping surprise.
After that stormy time passed, the kid's dad returned from the bathroom.
Unlike when he left, his face was full of life.
"Ah, thank you so much. You saved my life."
Anyone would think I'd literally saved his life.
I explained everything that had happened to the dad, who stood there looking relieved to be alive.
"No, no. By the way, she cried a ton thinking her dad was gone."
"Ah, she did cry, huh? Sorry, you must have been shocked."
He seemed to know his child's temperament well.
"Our girl is a real clingy type. If she can't see me, she cries. That's why I couldn't even go to the bathroom."
It wasn't bad that the kid loved her dad so much, but being stuck like glue could lead to some troubles.
As we talked, the dad looked a bit surprised and asked me,
"But how did you calm her down? When I first got here, she wasn't crying, so I thought she didn't recognize me or something."
"Ah, I asked my daughter. If she could cheer her up."
"And she calmed right down?"
"Yeah, it didn't take long."
"I see."
The dad tilted his head repeatedly, finding it fascinating.
"Would it be okay to ask how she did it? How she stopped crying so quickly?"
His question sparked one of my own.
"Does she not calm down easily usually?"
Nod.
"Yeah, we've heard a lot about her temperament, but no matter if we scolded her to try to calm her, gave her snacks, or even promised toys, she never stopped."
If even that didn't work, it must have been really tough.
"In the end, she'd cry until she tired herself out."
Hearing that, I understood once more why the dad couldn't go to the bathroom.
"Must be tough."
"So how did you calm her?"
"Ah, my daughter just said let's play together, and she stopped right away."
"Really? She said that, and it worked immediately?"
I didn't know why he was so surprised, but it was all true.
"Yes."
"Wow... that's amazing. Really."
Then the dad glanced over at the two kids happily going down the slide together.
After thinking for a moment, he asked me,
"Could I get your kid's name? Ours is Jiyul. Park Jiyul."
"Ah, mine's Daeun. Daeun Lee."
"Daeun. Pretty name. If it's okay with you and Daeun, would you like to play with our Jiyul today? Ah... is the mom here too?"
"Ah, just Daeun and I came."
No need to mention Hyorin.
"Perfect! How about snack time in front of the shop as a thank-you? My treat. They sell marble ice cream too, I think..."
It was as if Jiyul had heard her dad's words from afar.
Thud thud thud!
The two kids came running energetically, shouting,
"Daeun wants marble ice cream!"
"Jiyul too!"
Their hearing was sharp when it mattered.
They'd been pretty far, but they heard and came running.
Maybe finding the kids' shouts cute, Jiyul's dad grinned and raised his hand.
"Who wants marble ice cream?"
"Me me!"
"Daeun too!"
"Okay! Let's go get some marble ice cream quick."
"Yayyyy!"
With that, Jiyul's dad herded the two kids toward the cafe.
When he first suggested playing together, I'd wondered if it might feel burdensome.
'Maybe it's not so bad after all.'
I thought playing together like this wasn't half bad.
Our first meeting was chance, but such chances often spark connections.
And so, following the three heading to the kiosk,
"Daddy come too! Come on!"
I ran energetically.
Daeun and Jiyul sat facing each other, eating their marble ice cream.
'Is it that good?'
They'd become friends by chance, but Daeun and Jiyul played so well together.
Watching them, Jiyul's dad suddenly asked,
"By the way, I haven't asked Daeun's age yet. How old is she?"
"Daeun? Five."
"Oh! Our Jiyul's five too. True friends, huh."
They looked similar, but I hadn't expected the exact same age.
"Where do you live? Seeing them play so well, it'd be great to meet up again sometime. Right?"
Both Jiyul and her dad.
They seemed to have no reservations about getting close to people.
Like we'd known each other forever—comfortable, somehow.
"Yeah. They're so fun to watch. Let's play together again when times match. Daeun would love it."
As we spoke, we watched the two kids chattering away.
That's when we overheard their conversation.
"Jiyul! What do you like? Daeun likes chocolate!"
"Jiyul likes chocolate too. Next time, give Jiyul's to Daeun."
"Really? Give chocolate to Daeun?"
"Yeah! 'Cause Daeun's Jiyul's friend!"
"Hee!"
Wow, the two kids talking was too cute.
Jiyul's dad must have felt the same, staring at them with the exact same expression as me.
"But Daeun!"
"Yeah?"
"Why does Daeun like chocolate?"
"Chocolate yummy. Super yummy. So like it."
"Super yummy so like?"
"Yeah. Jiyul?"
"Um, 'cause Mommy likes it, so I like! Mommy gives Jiyul chocolate!"
"Mom...my."
Daeun's face darkened the moment mom came up.
'I didn't expect mom talk here.'
It was kids' conversation.
I hadn't anticipated it at all, so it caught me off guard a bit.
But the kids' next exchange flustered me even more.
"Daeun's mommy super far away."
"Far?"
"Yeah, super far, so later! Super later see."
Maybe something she heard from her mom, I thought, when...
"Oh! Jiyul too!"
What?
"Jiyul's mommy super super far too!"
So Jiyul's mom...
I turned to look at Jiyul's dad, who gave a wry smile and said,
"Whoa, didn't know we had this in common."
He probably hadn't expected this either.
Who could have foreseen it?
He continued with a slightly sad expression,
"It's been about two years since my wife passed. She was healthy before, but not long after getting pregnant with our second, her health tanked suddenly. At first, I thought it was just fatigue, but the doctor said it was preeclampsia. We took good care of her and went to the hospital faithfully... about two months before the second was due?"
He covered his mouth with his hand as he spoke.
"For some reason, she went with the baby. Leaving just me and Jiyul behind."
What should I say?
I was always the one receiving comfort, so I wasn't sure how to give it.
Seeing Jiyul's dad, sad yet detached, I pondered briefly before speaking.
Offering the comfort only I could.
"Maybe the moms are meeting up there together?"
At my words...
Pfft!
Jiyul's dad laughed in agreement.
"Yeah, maybe they are."