A Special Child.
A Special Child.
I was in Dad's studio.
"Si-yoon, wanna go on TV with Daddy?"
"Can't be bothered."
"...Okay."
I was watching a variety show on Dad's tablet PC.
Just then, there was a knock at the door, and Ji-su and Ji-eun came in.
""Si-yoon~""
"Hey."
I climbed onto Ji-su's lap and sat down like it was the most natural thing in the world, and Ji-eun stared at me like she felt left out.
"Wow... I've known you longer..."
"Ji-su's prettier."
"...Wow."
When I didn't take my eyes off the tablet, Ji-eun spoke.
"Isn't this the show the CEO mentioned?"
Dad, who had been working, glanced at the tablet at Ji-eun's words.
"That's the one."
"Didn't you appear on it recently too?"
"Yeah."
Hearing that, I searched for Dad's name, and there was a video uploaded a year ago.
Come to think of it, I'd gone along to that shoot too.
"Oh..."
Dad looked like a mischievous dork, showing off the puppyish charm that made him look nothing like a married man.
I was watching with a grin when Dad spoke.
"Doesn't Si-yoon want to be on there too?"
Ji-su was popping snacks into my mouth.
"Yeah, looks like fun."
Kang In-seong, a man who'd tasted the pinnacle as an athlete and still wasn't satisfied, now hitting the top as an MC.
We ended up appearing on the program he hosts, Next-Door Hyungnim.
When Dad opened the door and walked in, a roar of cheers went up.
""Whooooaaaa!!!""
And when I came in behind Dad, holding his hand, everyone's faces melted into adoring expressions.
This whole scene was planned, and we'd already finished the script reading.
Dozens of cameras directly ahead.
I was seven years old, wearing a high school uniform.
I threw out my signature hand greeting at them half-heartedly, then headed for the teacher's desk.
The celebrities tried to strike up conversation with me; Dad was smiling.
When I held out my arms to Dad, he lifted me up and tried to seat me in the prepared chair,
but I shook my head.
"Why? You don't want to?"
"I want to sit on the teacher's desk."
"....."
Wordlessly, Dad carefully set me down on the teacher's desk. I started to cross my legs, but caught the look Dad was giving me, so I just sat there swinging my legs instead.
"Hey there."
"".....""
At my response, which hadn't been in the rehearsal, everyone started getting flustered.
A small body, seven years old. A face that looked like a doll.
Only the director nodded at the sight of me, radiating this incongruous way of speaking and an air of innate class.
Kang In-seong, a man more than twice Dad's size, spoke in a cutesy voice.
"Si-yoon~ did you transfer to Next-Door Hyungnim today?"
"Speak properly. I understand you."
"....."
On a show where using banmal was the rule, I'd spoken coldly, off-script from rehearsal, but the professionalism of South Korea's top MC was truly something else.
Kang In-seong put on a pouty face, and starting with him, a barrage of questions came my way.
"Can you introduce yourself?"
A young man was looking at me. I swept my hair back, looking annoyed, and said with a sideways tilt of my head.
"I'm Si-yoon."
A short man standing behind Kang In-seong spoke.
"Do you go to daycare?"
"Of course I do."
"....."
Dad smiled awkwardly at my prickly talk.
"Si-yoon, what's your dream~?"
"Painter."
As if sensing they could finally keep the conversation going, they kept asking me questions.
"Why do you want to be a painter?"
"Because I get angry a lot? Ahaha."
"".....?""
"Kidding. Truth is, I'm good at everything else, but drawing's what I'm worst at."
Starting with me tossing the script out the window, everyone began laughing and talking at once.
The director was amazed that the shoot was proceeding so smoothly, even though it was revolving entirely around a seven-year-old me.
The short man, who'd been reading the booklet listing my talents in the back, spoke up.
"Si-yoon... your special skill is listed as 'Everything Except Drawing'?"
"Yep."
"So, are you good at acting?"
I glanced at Dad for a moment.
"Never tried it, but I think I'd be good."
Dad looked at me like I was unbelievable.
"Then can you do speed eating?"
"Are you kidding me?"
"What! You can't do anything!"
I went dead serious and gave a small tilt of my head.
".....?"
"Uh... sorry..."
Under the lights, my pale skin was practically glowing.
We'd been chatting and laughing when an ugly man right at the front suddenly asked.
"Who's better-looking, your dad or me?"
"You call that a question?"
"So mean~ seriously."
The man at the front laughed awkwardly, and I spoke directly.
"You don't have any friends, do you?"
"No, I do!"
"Heh? Sure you do~"
A hush fell over the set at my faint smile.
Then Kang In-seong looked at me and said.
"Si-yoon... is so pretty~"
At Kang In-seong's words, the people who'd been zoning out quietly nodded.
"I know."
I'd been smiling, then went dead serious and started speaking casually to Kang In-seong. A young man laughed as he spoke.
"Do you know Yoo Yeon-seok?"
"Yeah."
"Who do you like more, Yoo Yeon-seok or Kang In-seong?"
I pretended to think about it for a second.
"Hmm... I like Kang In-seong because you can see an athlete's passion in him, and I like Yoo Yeon-seok because you can see the earnestness he had when he was struggling and still has now."
Who would ever think that was an answer from a seven-year-old girl... Everyone went speechless.
"".....""
In the hushed silence of the set, I was the one to ask a question first, to keep things moving.
"I'll ask a question, so guess~ What's the first thing I say the moment I wake up?"
The celebrities raised their hands and started guessing.
"Feed me."
"I'm not you."
Kang In-seong, wounded by my reply.
"You say it to your dad, right?"
"Yeah."
"Daddy, I wanna brush my teeth."
"Sigh... Isn't eating first and brushing your teeth after the right order...?"
"Huh, you're right..."
Dad smirked like he already knew the answer.
Seeing that, people threw out answers.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Mm... close."
"Can't you give us a hint?"
"It's something I've said every single day, since I was two."
Dad looked at me as if asking whether I actually remembered that.
Then a handsome man raised his hand.
"When Si-yoon was two?"
"Yeah."
"Daddy."
"Put a little more feeling into it."
"Daddy?"
"That's the answer."
"Wow... Si-yoon, you can remember being two?"
"I remember being in the womb, too."
Everyone looked at Dad with astonished expressions, and Dad spoke.
"That's right. Before, Si-yoon said she used to play with something like a long cord in the womb. I was really shocked then, you know?"
"Wow... that's amazing..."
Dad was looking at me with a faint smile.
"Next question."
Everyone began focusing on me.
"Something I watch every day?"
They all answered as if it were too easy.
"Daddy...?"
"Mm... well, if we're going that broad, wouldn't that also include water, food, our house, my room, cat, doll, friend, cell phone?"
"....."
Swinging my legs from the teacher's desk, I closed the script, looked at the PD, and said.
"I told you they'd never guess if we did it this way."
I met Kang In-seong's eyes again and said.
"It's something I've watched on Neotube in secret from Daddy since I was little."
"Pororo!"
"Nope. There's no way I'd secretly watch something like that behind Dad's back."
The handsome man who'd been quiet spoke up.
"Cartoons?"
"Pororo is a cartoon too, idiot."
"Sorry..."
Then an answer from the young man.
"Dramas!"
"I do watch those a bit lately~"
The young man quickly kept going.
"Movies!"
"Be a little more specific."
"Mm... old movies?"
"Close, but no."
"Hint!"
"Haa... make some effort... don't try to get a free ride!"
Talking to a seven-year-old, they got this weird feeling of carrying on a conversation with an adult,
and yet the body they could see with their own eyes was so very small.
Then a tall man spoke.
"Reviews?"
"You're almost there!"
"Movie reviews!"
"Correct! Ever since I was even younger, I've watched movie reviews in secret from Dad."
Just as I was about to brush past it, the tall man who'd been doing a celebratory gesture at the camera spoke.
"Isn't there some kind of prize for guessing right?"
"What do you want?"
"Won't you give me a kiss or something?"
"...? That's a crime, you know."
""...?""
The young man at the front burst out laughing.
"Huh?"
I looked at the tall man.
"I've never even given my dad one?"
Beside me, Dad nodded with a bittersweet look on his face.
"Dad."
"Yeah?"
"I've got something to tell you."
Thinking I urgently needed the bathroom, Dad leaned his ear toward me.
I'd meant to just give a light peck and move things along, but Dad collapsed, and the whole set went dead silent.
"".....?""
Dad's eyes were red-rimmed, as if he'd just managed to pull himself together.
"Ah!... I... I've really never gotten one before..."
If I'd known he'd be like that... I should've done it every now and then.
Before Dad could start firing off questions, I held out my arms, and he sat me down in my designated chair.
"Hmm... What was the happiest moment of my life?"
"When Si-yoon was born!"
"Hm... I'm sorry to Si-yoon, but that time was actually pretty sad for me."
A hush fell over the set, but when I nodded without the slightest hesitation, Dad laughed.
"The first time you heard me call you Dad."
"Huh? Ah... That's true, but... the answer I'm looking for is different... sorry."
Dad hadn't made a full comeback yet, but his hair was now a mix of blond and green for the performance.
"Hint!"
"It was something that happened at Si-yoon's daycare."
Only then did I realize which moment he meant.
"Ah~ that was your favorite?"
Dad smiled and stroked my hair.
"It's always good, but that time really stuck with me~"
"Oh... that's a good answer. You've improved a lot."
"Ahaha, thanks~"
People were amazed at the way he held a conversation with his seven-year-old daughter.
The short man, who'd been watching our exchange, spoke.
"Is it something touching?"
"Hm... a little?"
"When Si-yoon did a talent show?"
"Nope. Because of C-19... we didn't have a talent show at kindergarten... I really wanted to see one..."
I said with a dead serious face.
"Lucky break."
Kang In-seong spoke to me.
"...Si-yoon, do you dislike talent shows?"
"I don't like talent shows, but I also don't want to wear some childish, embarrassing costume."
"Oh... Si-yoon's a fashionista like In-seong, huh?!"
"I know I'm a fashionista, but not like you."
"....."
At my answers, which drew a clear line in the sand, everyone broke into fond dad smiles.
The focus shifted back to Dad, and the ugly man spoke.
"This is too hard~ Hint!"
"Hmm... it was probably around the time I first released a song with Si-yoon."
Suddenly, the tall man shot to his feet, clapping his hands.
"When you sang with Si-yoon."
"Oh... you're almost there! What did Si-yoon and I do together!"
At that, the handsome man snatched the answer as if he'd just remembered the first song Dad made with me.
"You played piano with Si-yoon!"
"Correct!"
As the handsome man celebrated, the tall man let out a huge groan of disappointment from behind.
"Hmm... the truth is, I had enough money to live on for the rest of my life, and I had Si-yoon to raise, so I was planning to quit music."
"".....""
"But then Si-yoon was at kindergarten, playing the piano. Just a toy piano that fit her tiny body... but when I saw Si-yoon sitting there, I wanted to play so badly I thought I'd go crazy."
Everyone began focusing on Dad.
"I walked up and pressed a key, and how do I put it... I felt a shiver? I'd quit, sworn off music for four whole years, but the moment I pressed the keys one by one, a melody started playing in my head like magic."
Dad steadied his excitement and went on.
"That melody made me feel happy. I can't remember it now, no matter how much I want to play it again, but I was truly... happy."
I watched Dad, lost in memories and sentiment, and then said.
"I remember it, though?"
"...Huh?"
Dad's pupils shook as he looked at me.