Movie Night and a Game of Hide-and-Seek
Jeong-woo and Se-ah returned home with their favorite fruits. Jeong-woo’s mind had already sketched out the rough shape of their day together.
“Today we’re watching a movie with Daddy.”
The movie was the first item on his list. He hadn’t settled on a specific title yet, but he had prepared a few options. For Jeong-woo, the small joy of debating which film to watch together was part of the happiness itself.
“Se-ah, what movie would you like to see?”
“Se-ah likes them all!”
Probably not, he thought. She wouldn’t do well with horror.
“That’s what I figured, so Daddy made a list.”
“Wist?”
“Want to take a look?”
He began with animated films suited for Se-ah—charming stories about cute characters rescuing a princess from their homeland or setting off on adventures to find lost friends.
“Rabbit! It’s a rabbit!”
The one that captured Se-ah’s attention was an animated feature with an adorable rabbit and fox on the poster. Jeong-woo had seen it before and remembered it was enjoyable even for adults.
“Shall we watch this one?”
After a moment’s thought, Se-ah shook her head, contrary to his expectations. What could she possibly want to watch?
He moved on to action, comedy, romance, and various other genres. When he saw which one Se-ah finally chose, Jeong-woo could only blink at her in surprise.
“You really… want to watch this?”
“Yes!”
He couldn’t understand why, but her eyes burned with such fierce determination that it almost looked like resolve.
The film Se-ah had picked was, of all things, a horror movie. Despite the fact that she had once secretly watched part of one Jeong-woo was viewing and spent the rest of the night clinging to him in his arms, she had still chosen horror.
“Oh-ho… Will our Se-ah really be okay?”
Se-ah nodded firmly once more.
“Why did you suddenly want to watch a horror movie?”
She smiled brightly as she answered.
“Because Daddy likes horror movies.”
She wanted to watch it with him because he enjoyed them. It was almost too sweet.
Still, a truly terrifying film might be too much for her. I should pick something moderately scary…
He settled on a thriller instead of outright horror. Jeong-woo knew all too well that humans were far more frightening than ghosts or spirits, but Se-ah was still too young to understand that.
After choosing a suitable movie, he carefully prepared the fruits he had bought. He would have loved to peel every grape individually and remove the seeds, but strangely, Se-ah preferred eating them with the seeds still inside. He could never forget how disappointed she had looked the time he brought home seedless grapes.
He sliced the melon and pineapple into easy-to-eat pieces, arranged them beautifully on a plate, and that was that. The purple, green, and yellow arranged together looked like a work of art all on their own.
When he set the plate on the table in front of the sofa and sat down, Se-ah immediately snuggled up close beside him. Eating the sweet, refreshing fruit was important, but her eyes were glued entirely to the TV.
Having boldly declared that she would watch a horror movie herself, she seemed to sense the ordeal that was coming and sat there visibly tense.
“All right, it’s starting.”
“Eek…!”
The moment the screen darkened, Se-ah burrowed straight into his arms.
The film Jeong-woo had chosen wasn’t a horror movie after all—it was a thriller. No matter how bravely she had insisted, he couldn’t actually subject her to the kind of horror films he liked. The movie maintained a constant undercurrent of tension, but it never brought out ghosts or apparitions like true horror films did.
Perhaps that was why Se-ah’s tightly curled, trembling body gradually began to relax.
That wasn’t the end of it. Once her fear eased, what remained was pure focus on the story. Before long, Se-ah was completely absorbed, mouth slightly open, every ounce of her attention poured into the screen.
Jeong-woo had enjoyed the film when he first saw it, so rewatching it should have been fun. Yet he found himself unable to look away from the way her eyes sparkled. It wasn’t unusual to see Se-ah concentrate so completely—she showed the same intense focus when she baked cakes. She could concentrate far better than most children her age.
There was one sure way to tell when she was truly focused: that little mouth of hers would part just slightly.
She seems to be having a great time.
It really had been the right choice to pick a thriller instead of horror. If it had been a real horror film, those big, shining eyes might have been spilling over with tears by now.
Se-ah clutched a single grape tightly in her small hand. She had clearly picked it up to eat, but her focus on the movie was so complete that she hadn’t taken a single bite.
A soft chuckle escaped him. She looked as if she didn’t want to miss even one frame. In fact, she seemed to have completely forgotten she was holding the grape at all.
Jeong-woo picked up a piece of melon and gently slipped it into her mouth. Se-ah didn’t notice until the cold fruit touched her lips. Startled, she flinched and pressed herself even closer to him.
“Haha. Did that scare you?”
“In Se-ah’s mouth…!”
Her eyes had grown huge, probably from the tension the thriller had built up. Only after realizing the cold thing was melon did she let out a long sigh of relief.
“Phew…”
“You’re going to fall right into the TV. Here, Se-ah, try this one. It’s delicious too.”
“Okay. Se-ah got so surprised. Suddenly something cold just… in my mouth…!”
Her short arms waved through the air as she tried to explain exactly how startled she had been.
“Was it that surprising? Daddy’s sorry. Here—ah—”
“Aaaah—”
Se-ah brought her little hands together like a baby bird and opened her mouth wide. Jeong-woo placed a perfectly sized piece of melon inside. The cold sensation that had touched only her lips now spread throughout her whole mouth.
Her small lips closed, and she began to chew with quiet crunching sounds. The refreshing sweetness hidden beneath the chill quickly filled her mouth.
“How is it? Tastes good, right?”
“It’s like candy!”
“Really?”
Jeong-woo took a piece for himself and found she was right—it really did taste like candy. As someone who loved melons, he could honestly say this was the sweetest one he had ever eaten.
“Oh…”
The grandmother—no, the store owner—had chosen it after tapping it several times. To think it would be this sweet. She had seemed a bit cold at first, but Jeong-woo’s eyes had not been wrong.
The eyes truly were windows to the heart, especially when they looked at Se-ah with such affection.
The other fruits were just as wonderful. The grapes and pineapple were so sweet it was as if someone had sprinkled sugar over them.
“How about the movie? Is it fun?”
“Yes! It’s super fun. Se-ah wants to do it too.”
“Huh? You want to do it?”
What could she mean? Thinking simply, the answer was obvious. Since the movie featured a chase scene, she must want to play something like that.
Is Se-ah… a lot more active than I realized?
Looking at her sparkling eyes, it seemed the desire to actually play wasn’t just because the movie was entertaining—it was a big part of it.
“Hmm… Se-ah, why do you want to do that part?”
“Tag looks fun.”
“Ah, tag?”
Jeong-woo burst out laughing again. To think she had interpreted that intense chase scene as tag. Come to think of it, they had never played games like that together before. He had always valued simply spending time with her more than structured play, and honestly, he hadn’t had much energy to spare.
At her age, she should be running around the playground with children her own age, but the world wasn’t like that these days. There had been an incident in the past where a Gate had appeared in a children’s playground. When a Gate formed, the Association would track it and dispatch staff immediately. That process naturally took time.
Children are curious creatures. A suddenly appearing Gate became an object of fascination, and the result was exactly what everyone feared. Access to the playground hadn’t been banned, but after the incident, parents stopped letting their children play outside nearly as often. There had been many similar events. Playgrounds that used to be full of children were much quieter now.
“So Se-ah wanted to play tag.”
“Yes. Tag looks really fun.”
“Then shall we play tag with Daddy?”
“Yes! Tag with Daddy!”
“First, let’s finish watching how this game of tag ends, then we’ll play. Sound good?”
“Okay!”
Se-ah’s face was already glowing with excitement. This couldn’t be just a little fun. It had to be incredibly fun.
Se-ah did her best to calm her fluttering heart and returned her attention to the movie. Meanwhile, Jeong-woo began thinking about how to make their game of tag as enjoyable as possible.
Can we even play it properly inside the house?
It would have been better if the house were a little larger. Then they could have had a much more exciting game. No—he was getting ahead of himself. The game hadn’t even started yet. It was too soon to be thinking like this.
The movie was reaching its climax. They had nearly finished all the delicious fruit as well. In the end, the protagonist escaped the pursuer, rescued the person he loved, and lived happily ever after. It was the classic ending every movie seemed to choose, and they all chose it for the same reason—because that was what people wanted to see.
“How was it?”
“It was good! The uncle won the game of tag!”
“Did Se-ah like that the uncle won?”
“Yes! Yes!”
“Then at home, hide-and-seek will be even more fun than tag. Quick, go hide!”
When Jeong-woo raised both hands in a mock-threatening pose, Se-ah jumped up from her seat, already preparing to hide even though the game hadn’t officially begun.
He wondered where she would hide in their house. Filled with a mixture of anticipation and curiosity, he was about to start counting when Se-ah stared at him with wide, serious eyes.
“Daddy.”
“Yes?”
“You can’t look!”
“All right. I absolutely won’t look, I promise.”
“Hehe. Okay!”
“I’ll count to thirty, so hide really well.”
With a determined expression, Se-ah hurried off to find her hiding spot. Jeong-woo pressed his face against the wall and began counting.
“One, two…”
What Jeong-woo didn’t know was that Se-ah had already planned exactly where and how she would hide while the movie was nearing its end.
“Five, six…”
The numbers climbed steadily. Se-ah moved quietly, careful to silence her footsteps as she headed toward the spot she had chosen. It wasn’t far.
If he paid close attention, he would soon hear Jeong-woo finish counting to thirty. The moment Jeong-woo began searching, he noticed something different even though he hadn’t moved from his spot yet.
Haha. What am I going to do about this?
It was such a heartwarming sight that he couldn’t help but smile.