Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: Off to Jeju
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Shopping at the mart and heading back home.
None of us could say a word.
That was because everyone now knew why Daeun hadn't wanted that toy.
But precisely because of that, Daeun seemed all the more admirable.
Swipe.
In the back seat of the car, Daeun, who had cried herself to sleep from exhaustion, curled up with a soft snoring sound.
Seeing her like that, I gently pulled the blanket that had slipped down back over her.
Swipe.
At that moment, the director broke the silence.
"I'm not sure if it was really okay not to buy her that toy."
In the end, I hadn't bought Daeun the toy.
No, more accurately, I hadn't been able to.
If it were up to me, I would've bought her two or three.
"You don't need to worry too much. I'll buy it for her later, when she really wants it."
Daeun had suppressed her desire to buy the toy for her mom's sake.
How badly must a child as young as Daeun have wanted it? And yet, she held back, tamping it down over and over.
Who could say to a girl with such feelings,
"You did well, so I'll buy you that toy you couldn't have then. Mom couldn't, but Dad can!"
Daeun herself wouldn't want that.
That's why I couldn't buy it.
I planned to get it for her later, after explaining to Daeun—at the very least—why Hyorin had no choice but to act that way.
That Hyorin had done it precisely because she loved Daeun as much as Daeun loved her.
Just then, Painter Oh, seated in the passenger seat, turned her head slightly and said,
"Still, today was so much fun. Daeun cried in the middle, but somehow that made it even more meaningful."
As she spoke, Painter Oh kept smiling broadly.
[She really enjoyed it.]
Was it the shopping together that made her happy?
Her face was beaming.
At that moment, Painter Oh brought up something completely unexpected.
"And shopping with Daeun made me think of Suryeon naturally."
Ah.
It made sense when I thought about it.
I'd heard that Suryeon had been about Daeun's age when she left the two of them.
[I thought it was special only for us.]
Evidently, the shopping trip had been just as special for them as it had been for Daeun and me today.
"It brought back old memories. It was nice."
"Me too."
Even the director, the epitome of gruffness, was saying as much.
Smile.
I stroked the head of the sleeping Daeun as I said,
"It was nice for us too."
And so, the shopping trip that had been a little special for each of us came to an end.
Three days flew by in the blink of an eye.
And on the morning of the day we were set to leave for the trip—
-I'm about to head out now! Send me the address, and I'll come pick you up!
At Erina's words, I chuckled and replied,
"Oh, the director's coming to get us herself today. We'll probably ride with her."
-Really?! I could've come, but then I'll head to the airport first and wait! Oh, I was thinking of grabbing some chocolate snacks that Daeun likes—is that okay?
Why even ask something like that?
Was Erina's voice too loud while saying this?
"Daeun! Chocolate snacks!"
Daeun, all dressed up like a flower, yelled at the top of her lungs.
Hearing Daeun's voice, Erina laughed lightly and said,
-As expected, full of energy since morning! Tell Daeun that Auntie will bring chocolate snacks, so let's meet there.
"Got it, I'll let her know."
-See you soon!
After hanging up with Erina, I hurriedly got ready to head out.
"Daeun, the director will be here soon, so let's go down and wait. We'll probably have to leave right away because of the flight time."
"Okay! Got it!"
Given where our house was, we had to go down early if we wanted to depart on time.
I quickly grabbed the suitcase I'd packed and opened the door.
And then.
"Eek!"
The person standing right there nearly gave me a heart attack.
"Uncle! It's Jungeun Uncle!"
Jungeun completely ignored my shock and whined to Daeun,
"Daeun, that's so mean! Why didn't you tell Uncle you were going on a trip!"
"I should've told Daeun about the trip—"
"Of course! Daeun! Who am I?"
"Uncle Jungeun!"
"Yeah! I'm Daeun's uncle. So of course I need to know when you're going on a trip, right?"
"Um, you should know!"
"That's right! Of course you should! But."
Swipe.
Jungeun looked down at me—sprawled on the floor in shock—with a blank expression and said,
"You make me do work stuff but don't even mention something this important. Daeun's dad is the worst, right?"
At that, Daeun pouted.
"Dad's not the worst! Dad says he loves Daeun!"
As expected, only our Daeun thought of her dad.
At her adorably perfect response, I dusted myself off and stood up.
"Why are you here without any notice?"
"Why am I here? Whyyy?"
What was with him now?
"You—seriously!"
"Wait, isn't that a suitcase behind you?"
That's when I noticed it in my view: none other than Jungeun's travel suitcase.
Surely he hadn't come all packed to tag along?
"You're not thinking of coming with us, are you?"
"I am."
"But your company—you said you were swamped with articles to write."
"That's always the case."
"No, you made it sound like you absolutely couldn't make time for regular stuff."
I felt zero guilt toward Jungeun.
I'd even called ahead just in case, to check his schedule.
"No, you have to tell me if it's Daeun going to Jeju for fun. If you just ask if I have time this weekend, I think you're assigning work—who'd think it's a trip?"
"That's your assumption. I clearly asked if you had time."
"You're unbelievable! Ugh!"
No comeback, so he was just nitpicking.
"So you're really coming?"
"Yeah, not the same flight, but I barely snagged one right after."
"You booked a flight?"
His dedication was impressive.
"And I booked a place right next to your hotel. Man, if you'd told me sooner, I'd have booked the hotel too, but no rooms left."
He'd already checked that far.
All I could do was laugh dryly at Jungeun's obsessive determination, which bordered on awe-inspiring.
Just then, a question popped into my head.
"Hang on, then your company—if you said you'd take something else, but you're a team leader, so you're genuinely busy, right?"
It could be an excuse, but his position meant he was slammed regardless.
Did he really have time for a trip? So I asked.
Jungeun grinned with unfocused eyes and replied,
"Yeah, I handled it."
"You... didn't."
"No, I really did. I told the section chief I'd take the day off no matter what—even threatened to quit if he didn't let me."
"..."
That wasn't "handled it well"—that was blackmail.
"So what'd the section chief say?"
Jungeun laughed hollowly.
"I won. I seized it. I pulled it off."
I had no idea what trials he'd gone through just to take a day off, but his presence here meant he'd succeeded.
Even if I'd explained properly, he'd have had to go through it once anyway.
"No chance you have to pull an all-nighter after getting back or something, right?"
At my question, Jungeun...
"Hahaha! Ha, ha... haha."
Just laughed out loud.
"I had no idea you'd be coming too, Jungeun."
"You're the one who's too much, Director. You could've given me a heads-up for a trip like this."
Anyone else might freak out at Jungeun blaming the director, but.
It was all too familiar to me.
"I didn't want to bring a reporter along on a vacation."
"Come on, that's too much. How many articles have I written for you?"
"Hmm, the problem is none of the sources in them came from me."
"Psh, minor details. Minor."
"Minor? They were pretty sensational for 'minor.'"
At that, Jungeun flushed and shouted,
"B-but I write the facts as they are! I do my absolute best!"
Truth be told, for all his bluster, the director kept him close for good reason.
Jungeun wrote articles more grounded in facts than anyone.
Frankly, not a single artist had suffered from his pieces, even with a little embellishment.
That's why the director liked Jungeun.
"Take a separate flight."
"What, you stingy about the ticket? I thought you were big-hearted, Director! Turns out you're super cheap!"
"Cheap?"
The director's face darkened menacingly, but Jungeun didn't flinch.
"I can't owe a cheap director anything. Don't worry—I booked my own ticket with my money."
At that, Painter Oh, who'd been watching the whole exchange from the side, burst out laughing, clutching her stomach.
"Haha, looks like you met your match."
Whoosh!
At "match," murder flashed in the director's eyes, but she quickly turned away.
She wanted to argue, but it was all true.
Just then, the speaker on the waiting room wall announced,
-In a moment, boarding will begin for the 10:30 flight to Jeju Airport...
I checked my boarding pass from check-in against the announcement.
"Oh, that's our flight, right?"
Nod.
"Seems like it."
"Then let's hurry and board."
With that, I stood up quickly.
Since we'd checked our luggage at boarding, there wasn't much to worry about.
I just needed to keep an eye on Daeun in case of any mishaps.
"Alright, Daeun, time to get on the plane."
At my words, Daeun...
"......"
"Daeun?"
"Ah, yeah!"
What was that? Daeun's reaction was a beat slow. Like she was too tense to hear me.
[Is she scared?]
It was her first time flying, so it was natural to be nervous.
Of course, going way up into the sky...
"Daddy!"
"Yeah?"
"But my friend at Grandma's house said!"
"What'd your friend say?"
It didn't seem like Daeun was reacting this way out of fear of flying.
The reason for her reaction was, well, all of it.
"You can really see heaven when you go up in the sky."
"What?"
H-heaven?
There was only one heaven Daeun could mean.
The place where Hyorin was.
[Daeun...]
I had no idea what to say, and could only agonize over it.