A Peaceful Day (5)
A Peaceful Day (5)
As time passed and the blizzard began to rage again, the snow we had cleared from the yard started piling up once more.
When we turned on the TV and checked the news, they said an unprecedented heavy snow had paralyzed all transportation in Gangwon Province.
The screen even showed collapsed greenhouses and buildings.
Fortunately, Grandfather's greenhouses were untouched.
Grandfather, who loves snow, had made a small snowman at the building entrance before the snow started pouring down, writing Si-yoon on it. Now he was sitting under the eaves, sipping coffee and admiring the heavily falling snow.
He had even put one of Grandmother's treasured little hats on the snowman. Smiling faintly, Grandfather looked like a serene sage enjoying the moment.
As soon as Grandmother's nagging, calling for Grandfather, rang out, he scampered off into the kitchen.
With the snow falling so heavily, people retreated inside the buildings and rarely came out. Only now and then, one or two people would emerge, shovel a path, and go back in.
I started playing Go with Lee Gi-seok while eating hot sweet potatoes and drinking milk.
Whenever I pressed the attack, Grandfather chimed in enthusiastically from the side, and Lee Gi-seok, staring at the Go board with a grave expression, admitted defeat.
"...I lost."
"I won~"
"Si-yoon."
"Yes?"
"The way you hold the Go stones... could you at least change it a little...?"
"Why?"
"...It's unsettling because it feels like I'm losing to a complete beginner."
"Aha. I'll think about it~"
I dodged the answer and left.
As the representative of the group, I spoke to Grandfather.
"Grandfather?"
"Do you need something?"
"I want to go ice fishing for smelt."
Grandfather pondered for a moment and looked around.
Seeing the children with their eyes sparkling, he nodded and gathered those who wanted to go ice fishing.
Things snowballed, and the shoveling began, led by Park Ji-hoon.
People who came for healing but ended up suffering more than in the military because of the pouring snow.
I stood with my hands clasped behind my back like a battalion commander driving his soldiers. But no one said a word to me about it.
I did try holding a shovel once, but someone who was resting snatched it away.
Like that, more than ten shovels passed through my hands.
As if my hands possessed some kind of enchantment effect, the people using a shovel that had been graced by my touch shoveled with even greater zeal.
It felt strange, but if it made them happy, what could I do?
I guess there's a reason healers are always depicted as beauties.
And so, the hero snatches them away.
Though the distance to our destination was considerable, when people pooled their strength, they could accomplish what seemed impossible.
We arrived at the lake and started clearing the snow off the thoroughly frozen surface in a large circle.
The bodyguards had already worn themselves out from the earlier shoveling, yet here they were talking about building igloos...
Their stamina really was top-tier.
We pitched the largest tent in the center and set up a cooking station.
"Are we, like... filming a survival show or something?"
Some went into the simple tents, drilled holes, and started ice fishing for smelt.
The rest were building igloos.
The younger bodyguards' stamina was far beyond what we had imagined; they kept moving and moving without showing any signs of exhaustion.
By the time most of the igloos and tents were finished, the snow began falling in earnest.
Park Ji-hoon and Kim Tae-oh were catching smelt while munching on the prepared snacks, and I brought Da-yeon and Min-ji along and cooked together.
Everyone worked hard; I figured I should at least make them something to eat with the smelt we caught.
When I cleaned the smelt's innards with a small pair of scissors, Da-yeon grilled them beside me, and Min-ji provided support.
From doribaengbaeng stew to fried and grilled dishes, the food kept being completed, and the bodyguards, who had stashed bottles of soju between the igloos, enjoyed their fishing while drinking.
As they say, rules form when people gather.
Each igloo's catch bucket had a number written on it, and we made snacks from whatever they brought in those buckets.
After Da-yeon and I finished cooking, we entered the tent where the kids were.
The inside of the tent was toasty, completely unlike outside.
There were holes drilled through the insulation mats covering the floor, and from the fishing lights to the krill used for bait, it was a full-on serious setup.
Still, Grandfather might have set it up for play and laughs, but with Kim Tae-oh and Park Ji-hoon there, there was no way they'd do it half-heartedly.
I took out the gear I'd brought from home.
Under curious gazes, my electric smelt fishing rod emerged from its case.
"Whoa, what's this?"
"A smelt-specialized fishing rod."
I set up the holder and skewered on a pink maggot I'd gotten from Grandfather.
Once you set the water depth and press the button, it releases the line on its own, so there's no need for any reeling action.
You couldn't underestimate smelt—the feel of a bite on the line was no joke.
After catching just two or three, I handed the rod over to Min-ji and Jun-su, who had been watching with glittering eyes, so they could enjoy it.
As we were enjoying fishing, the heavy snow grew more and more intense, so we returned home.
We'd caught almost too many smelt.
Lee Gi-seok, eating Grandmother's homemade doribaengbaeng, savored the taste and smiled.
Watching Lee Jin-seok's expression, I'd bet anything he'd go home and order the staff to make doribaengbaeng.
That night, I crawled under the blankets in my room and lay down with Da-yeon and Min-ji.
"Sis!"
"Yeah?"
"Let's come again next time!"
"To say that, you'd need at least two more days here though?"
"Ah!? Then I'll say it again the day after tomorrow. Ahaha."
When morning came, we saw the snow piled up to waist height, and we once again plunged into full-scale snow clearing.
By then, the bodyguards' arms and legs had pumped up, becoming excessively thick.
Their expressions were slightly crumpled; it seemed the snow pouring down since morning had finally begun to look like garbage to them.
Time passed, and even by the fourth day,
there was no sign of the snow stopping, so Lee Gi-seok contacted the government to report that we were stranded here. The government took the lead in opening the road, and we each went home.
The sight of soldiers swarming in and shoveling the road was truly...
"Ah!!! My Whitey!!!"
The filthy snow covering the road had left the undersides of Da-yeon's car and my car terribly dirty.
Even so, having come back from a proper healing trip, we were all smiling brightly.
Twenty years.
A long period that no one could dismiss lightly passed before I finally became an adult.
Looking back, I seem to have built up more memories than I expected and enjoyed myself over the past two decades.
Turning twenty, I went out drinking with Da-yeon, Tae-oh, and Ji-hoon.
I only drank in tiny sips so I wouldn't get drunk, but apparently getting any alcohol into my system at all was the problem.
Tae-oh and I spent the whole day just throwing up before being carried home, and I got my back smacked hard by Dad.
When I checked my phone, the first thing that caught my eye was a photo of me wearing the pink lip gloss Da-yeon had given me as a gift, thickly applied,
The first thing that caught my eye was a photo of me wearing the pink lip gloss Da-yeon had given me, with kiss marks all over Da-yeon's face and body.
Da-yeon's expression in the photo, like she was eyeing prey, gave me the chills, but...
As I lay on the living room sofa staring at the ceiling, Dad brought me honey water.
"Drink."
"I think I'm gonna throw up... my stomach's rolling..."
"You, haaah..."
Dad looked like he wanted to say something but was forcefully holding it in...
Alpha and Beta, now very old, flopped down beside me too.
It had been a while since I lifted Alpha's front paw and sniffed that nutty paw smell; I felt like I might survive.
"Drink it already."
"I said I feel like throwing up?"
"......I'll leave it here."
"Dad."
"Yeah?"
"Sit here."
I showed Dad the photos we took yesterday.
Dad no longer stopped me from squeezing my boobs.
"I'm an adult now."
"Haaah....."
Honestly, compared to what Dad was like when he was young, I've grown up fairly well-behaved.
I didn't run away from home claiming I was pursuing music like someone else, or anything like that.
The end of vacation approached, and the graduation ceremony took place.
Unlike all the closing ceremonies up until now, I tried to have a quiet, well-behaved graduation ceremony, but...
With countless photo requests, I ended up grinning like a clown and taking pictures.
As I took photos with everyone who requested as if we were extremely close friends, just as I was growing psychologically exhausted, I spotted Jong-su in the distance.
"Yo~ Jjongsu~"
When I called out to Jong-su, his ugly face broke into a smile because his family was there.
Jong-su's family was beside him, and looking at the eldest son in his family, Han Hyeon-su... all I could think was that all the genetic luck had been concentrated into one person.
With those bright, round eyes that beat the extreme odds among a family of slit-eyes, I almost suspected he was picked up somewhere.
Jong-su said he was leaving for Australia tomorrow.
His family seemed worried sick, but his father, at least, looked like he'd given his permission.
Saying that a little struggle would be good for him...
His father was already predicting Jong-su's life out on the streets.
We all ate lunch together, and for dinner I stayed home and enjoyed cooking with just Dad.
"You do know the trend these days is getting married in your thirties, right?"
"I have zero thoughts about it, okay? And like, do I really have to hear that the moment I graduate high school?"
"Aha."
I dipped a cucumber pepper in ssamjang and ate it, placing a piece of pig's trotter on a lettuce wrap.
"Daughter."
"Hmm?"
"Is there anything you want to do?"
Something I want to do, huh...
It's a question I always get from people around me, not just Dad.
But I feel like the answer changes as I get older.
Honestly, if I really think about it, doing nothing and having a full belly and a warm back is the best.
If, hypothetically, I went back to being a kindergartener and my family was poor, I'd start buying Bitcoin immediately.
If I were basking in immense popularity and drowning in money along with it, would I really have anything I desperately wanted to do?
I could do anything I set my mind to...
That had already been proven through my art, and the personal exhibition hall Dad gave me early as a high school graduation present already existed in South Korea.
Real estate?
It's more profitable to paint one more picture in the time I'd spend investing in land,
and mine is a life where I can pretty much obtain anything if I just mention it to Dad or Lee Jin-seok.
If I played some Go with Lee Gi-seok to entertain him for a while, and then said, give me one of your subsidiaries to play with since I'm bored, he'd happily hand it over.
After all, Lee Gi-seok wanted me as part of the family—just as I'd once connected the exceptionally capable Kim Seon-hwa with Lee Jin-seok.
So then, what should I do?
Honestly, flaunting my wealth is really damn fun, but...
I briefly considered doing some serious streaming, but it doesn't align with my philosophy.
I prefer being the bully over being the bullied.
Maybe that's why I can't bring myself to leave Dubu...
When you watch people submit to capital, there's a certain thrill to smacking them with money.
In the end, after brooding for a long while, I looked at Dad.
"As expected, a rich unemployed bum?"
Dad can't even use my allowance as leverage to threaten me anymore.
Even if I just quietly sell off a few of the paintings I've done, I could buy a building on a nice sunny plot of land and a fully optioned-out supercar, cash on the barrelhead.
Dad chuckled softly and looked at me.
"If my daughter is happy, Dad will allow whatever you want to do~"
"Twerking in skimpy clothes?"
"...No."
"Tattoos?"
"No."
"Alcohol, cig—"
"Hey!"
Permission, my ass. Unless I secretly do it, there's a mountain of things Dad will control me on until the bitter end.
Park Ji-hoon actually applied to the Marine Corps, got accepted, and was now preparing to enter boot camp.
Park Ji-hoon contacted me first, asking if I had any interest in shaving someone's head.
Right now, I'd borrowed the barbershop on the first floor of our house and sat Park Ji-hoon down.
"What's your unit?"
"1st Division, Pohang."
I carved a highway through Park Ji-hoon's consistently dyed red hair.
"Heihachi cut."
"Ah..."
Park Ji-hoon let out a sigh as if his soul was leaving his body.
I grabbed both sides of Park Ji-hoon's now bare-crowned head and shook it. I couldn't hold back my laughter at the ugly sight.
"This dumbass ended up with a face you'd see in a porno."
"Haah... fuck... you look so goddamn happy, don't you?"
"Huh? Just thinking about you rolling around getting cursed out by kids makes the world look especially beautiful today."
"Yeah, bullshit~ Honestly, even back in the day, running with you was harder than getting thrashed in the Marines~"
"Bullshit? You sucked the honey dry and you're saying that? I was dragging around some short-timer punk who couldn't fight for shit. I stopped those guys from seriously harassing you."
"Whoa... fuck!? You call that "harassing" me? And you stopped them? If anything, you fucking stirred them up so they rode me even harder!"
"Honestly, I knew it and did it on purpose."
"...What?"
"To give you some grit. Sometimes I'd tell the guys behind your back to harass you more."
When I grabbed both sides of Park Ji-hoon's hair and shook, my eyes met his shaking pupils.
"Wow... wow... you crazy fucking demon... You're seriously evil... wow... that's fucking chilling."
"Kyahak?"
"I... I died protecting this kinda bastard?"
"Hey, honestly, if it weren't for me, wouldn't have even made it into the Tiger ranks, you know?"
"You should've been the one to get messed up by that psycho bitch Cho-a... Just thinking about her still makes me feel like I'm gonna piss myself, fuck..."
"Sorry, but I can't badmouth Cho-a, man."
"Well, she did only look at you. She had that single-minded devotion, didn't she. Crazy bitch."
I smacked Park Ji-hoon's head hard with my palm and put the clippers down as he ran his mouth.
"Hey! I'm totally justified to badmouth her! If you hadn't stopped her, she would've poured boiling oil on my head!"
"That's because you provoked the hell out of Cho-a, you dumbass piece of shit."
"That's ridiculous. Honestly, just 'cause I told a broad to spread her legs and try seducing someone, she drives a person to that state?"
"Do you know how hard it was for her to get to that position in a woman's body?"
"Even now, just thinking about that day, the spots where the needles went in still throb even though it's a different body. She was a seriously, genuinely crazy bitch... she was really dangerous, you know?"
"Did I tell you about the day I first met her?"
Park Ji-hoon, as if the sudden topic interested him, shut his mouth like he was ready to listen.
"Nope."
"Since being born into this body, even memories I'd forgotten have been coming back to me."
"......"
I briefly recalled the past.