I Want to Drink More Wine
Maru had come in wearing a robe, and the longer she stayed like that, the more it seemed like a lesson she would rather not be teaching. She went up to the second floor, changed into proper clothes, and came back down. Jiyu and Yumi hadn't appeared to mind much either way, but Hana's reaction had been so dramatic that Maru really had no choice. She did briefly entertain the idea of staying as she was, just to indulge the mischievous impulse, and then decided there was no need to take it that far.
"Kids, let's eat some sashimi!"
A few hours had passed since dinner, so this was their chance to eat the fresh sashimi brought straight from the shore. The moment Maru set it out, the children's eyes lit up and they came running. She arranged the slices and prepared the one thing sashimi could never do without: chojang, the sweet-and-spicy chili-soy dipping sauce. Certain gourmets insisted that dunking sashimi in chojang was a foolish way to erase the fish's true flavor, but to an ordinary person like Maru, the sashimi was nothing more than a launchpad for the sauce. Without chojang, it was just a tough slab of flesh with no taste at all.
It didn't even have the rich savor of meat, and it certainly didn't fill you up. Maru was convinced that if chojang had never existed, sashimi would have been a food she simply never touched. That was only her opinion, of course. Truly good sashimi carried a flavor of its own, and it went just as well with things other than chojang.
"Ta-da!"
Maru set out the chopsticks and the fish. Jiyu, Yumi, and Hana took their seats and dug in. She had bought a generous amount—more than enough for the children. If anything there was too much; no one was going to be left sucking on empty chopsticks.
"It's delicious!"
"It's so good!"
Jiyu and Yumi worked their chopsticks in a dazzling blur, snatching up slice after slice. Not to be outdone, Hana ate at a furious pace, as if some uninvited guest might swoop in and steal it all away. Watching them, Maru went to the refrigerator. She took out soft drinks, and a bottle of wine for herself to enjoy.
"Ooh!!!"
Jiyu and Yumi's eyes sparkled at the sight of the drinks, but Hana's lit up at the wine in Maru's hand. She hadn't touched a drop of alcohol since the beer. She knew exactly what you were meant to drink with sashimi like this, and she could not tear her gaze from the bottle. Maru ignored that look and set out glasses for the soft drinks. The only thing waiting for Hana was a soft drink. The wine was Maru's alone.
"Who wants a drink?"
"Me!!!"
"Unnie, I want some too!"
Jiyu and Yumi held out their cups and received what Maru was pouring. Hana, though, hesitated before accepting hers, the look on her face making it plain she wanted something else. Maru didn't so much as glance at her as she poured the soft drink. Hana stared at the glass set before her and sat there, thoroughly deflated.
Maru couldn't understand why Hana liked alcohol so much. There was the time she had secretly bought beer, and that ought to have been the only time she had ever tasted the stuff—and yet, strangely, she wanted to drink. Maru set a wine glass in front of herself, poured, and took a sip. The deep aroma and the rich flavor bloomed across her tongue.
This was the wine Kim Sehee had given her, calling it a gift. She had said it wasn't being sold anywhere yet. Maru's eyes flew open as she looked again at what she had just tasted. It wasn't as if this were some bottle worth thousands of dollars—she couldn't understand how it could be this delicious. There clearly hadn't been much time to age it, and yet the flavor was already this good...
She found herself intensely curious what it would become if, like other wines, it were truly cellared for years. If a bottle drawn in less than a month already tasted like this, then the moment a properly finished wine was released, the industry was certain to be shaken to its core. At the very least, in the Korean market, she suspected Starlight Wine would reign as king. The price, from what she had heard, was reasonable as well. If that held, there would be no reason not to buy it.
Hana was staring fixedly at the wine glass in Maru's hand. Seeing her, Maru smiled.
"You want it that badly?"
Then she made up her mind. It was only a glass, and she was right here watching them—surely one glass for the children would be all right? She still remembered how, when she was little and the adults were drinking, they would press a cup into her hands and tell her to have a taste.
"Just one glass each, all right?"
With that, she filled each of the children's glasses only about a third of the way with wine. She had considered pouring them half full, but even that much might have been a bit much for them to handle. The children cried out at the sight of the wine in their glasses.
"Wow, the color is so pretty!"
"Right? I don't think Mom's wine looked like this!"
Jiyu and Yumi marveled at the wine poured into the glasses. They had seen their parents drink wine before, so they knew a little about it. Even so, they had never seen a wine with a color this beautiful.
"Ooooh!"
Hana looked at the wine set before her, and her hands began to tremble. Ever since she had been scolded for secretly drinking beer, she had been living a life kept well away from alcohol. Maybe that was why the glass Maru had given her felt so precious now.
"Come on, cheers! Cheers!"
Maru raised her glass and toasted with the children, a little celebration of a trip that had ended safely and happily. They would have to head home tomorrow anyway, but they had enjoyed themselves today, and that was what mattered.
The children sipped at the wine in their glasses. Only Hana downed hers in a single shot, right there on the spot.
"Whoa, it tastes exactly like grape juice?"
"Right? I thought grown-ups said alcohol was bitter, but this is super sweet!"
It was the first time Jiyu and Yumi had ever tasted wine, and they were instantly captivated by the distinctive flavor of Starlight Wine. Neither of them had ever tried any other wine, so in a way, having Starlight Wine as their first was almost a misfortune. From now on, whenever they drank something else, they would have no choice but to compare it to this. Unless it was the same Starlight Wine, they were going to feel the gulf in quality all too clearly.
"Aaah!"
Hana let out a satisfied sigh as she drank. Seeing that, Jiyu and Yumi looked at her, laughed, and started in.
"Hana, you looked exactly like some old guy just now!"
"That's the face my uncle makes when he drinks!"
It was the first time Jiyu and Yumi had ever seen Hana drink, and they burst out laughing at that signature gesture of hers. Hana, of course, paid their reaction no mind. This was an adult's flavor. It was only natural that children wouldn't understand.
"But it is a little bitter!"
"Yeah. I think drinks are better than alcohol after all!"
That was Jiyu and Yumi's verdict on Starlight Wine. Sure enough, no matter how sweet it was, a child's palate could never quite erase alcohol's peculiar antiseptic smell and bitter edge. Hearing them, Hana propped her chin on her hand and spoke.
"Once you've been through enough hard times, it's no different from a sweet drink..."
She muttered on, but it never reached the other children's ears. Sensing that Hana was not to be trusted, Maru quickly hid the wine in the refrigerator. She had already drunk as much as she cared to herself; better to keep it out of the children's sight.
The moment she saw the bottle go in, Hana caught Maru by the sleeve.
"Ah, Maru! Can't I have just one more glass?"
But Maru was firm. She had already heard from Bora and from Senior Haru about the time Hana drank beer and started making a drunken scene, and she was determined not to let the girl have another drop. To keep her from sneaking any in the middle of the night, Maru set the bottle on the very top of the refrigerator, well beyond the reach of those small hands. With the wine stored somewhere Hana couldn't easily get at, she could sleep in peace. However much the girl loved alcohol, there was no reason for her to go wandering around in the dead of night just to pull out a bottle of wine.
"All right, kids. Time to tidy up and get to bed, don't you think?"
"Okaaay!"
Hana reached this way and that toward the wine, clearly reluctant to let it go, but one look at Maru's unyielding face and she gave up. Jiyu and Yumi were already in their pajamas, so they only had to brush their teeth before heading up to the second floor. Maru meant to tuck Hana, Jiyu, and Yumi into the big bed upstairs and put them to sleep. She herself could take the sofa on the first floor. And with the air conditioner blasting away, there was no need to worry about the heat.
"Come on, come on~ Good children go to bed early~"
The hour was already creeping toward dawn, but the children had been running around hard since morning, and the moment they lay down they sank straight into sleep. Maru smiled at the sight of them and went back downstairs, hoping the day would remain a good memory.