#57

Sunday came as expected, and we went to church for worship. After lunch, we returned home and changed our clothes together. The child wore a one-piece swimsuit and over it, a pair of shorts and a pink T-shirt that Tae-heun had bought. The man and Tae-heun also packed an extra pair of shorts and T-shirts in case they got wet.

“Why do you have so much stuff?”

Tae-heun and the man’s belongings were just one bag, but the man had packed a whole load for the child. He had towels of various types and sizes, and he didn’t forget to include emergency supplies like band-aids and ointments in case of any injuries.

“Oh right, a hat.”

At the child’s words, the man hurriedly looked for a hat. Seeing the sky filled with clouds, he thought it might not be necessary, but Tae-heun also packed his own.

Thinking they had finished all the preparations, the man picked up the bulky bag and walked toward the front gate. It wasn’t camping or a vacation, but he felt that their supplies were too minimal.

“What about the burner?”

Tae-heun urgently asked from behind him.

“Why do we need a burner?”

The man turned back with a puzzled look.

“We need to cook ramen when we get there.”

“We just had a meal.”

“Come on, that’s not the same. Ji-hye, you want to eat ramen, right?”

“Of course!”

As soon as the child answered, the man set the bag down on the floor and tried to go back inside. Tae-heun stopped him.

“I’ll take care of it. You just load the stuff.”

Tae-heun rummaged through the house as if it were her own, grabbing a burner, a pot, butane gas, six packets of ramen, green onions, and three eggs. She also found a cooler in the storage. Inside the cooler, she packed the green onions and eggs along with some kimchi to eat together.

“Let’s stop by the supermarket on the way and buy some beer for us and drinks for the child. It wouldn’t be right to just drink water.”

“Okay.”

“Do you drink?”

The child’s eyes widened at the mention of beer.

“I’ll only have one can. Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on your dad so he doesn’t overdo it.”

At Tae-heun’s words, the child made a dissatisfied face, but perhaps not wanting to ruin the mood, quickly replied, “Yes.”

This time, Tae-heun took the wheel. When they parked in front of the supermarket, the child was eager to get out first. Wondering what she was so excited about, it turned out to be a disposable camera. Now that she mentioned it, he realized he had never seen a camera at the man’s house.

“I guess Ki-beom doesn’t take many pictures?”

Tae-heun asked while picking up a can of beer.

“Only when there’s an event. I don’t have a reason to take pictures usually.”

“Why not? If you take one every now and then, it would be a nice memory.”

Saying this, Tae-heun picked up another disposable camera.

Even though he said he would only drink one can, when the child wasn’t looking, he secretly grabbed six beers, paid for them in advance, and pretended to browse for snacks like peanuts and squid. The child bought a World Cone, Ambasa, and a bag of honey twist snacks. Even when encouraged to buy more, the child didn’t choose anything beyond that. It wasn’t because she was being cautious; she simply didn’t have any greed, resembling her father.

“Ki-beom, let’s have some World Cone too.”

“I’m fine.”

Even though the man said that, Tae-heun placed two World Cones on the checkout counter.

At the supermarket, the daughter-in-law was there instead of the grandmother, and while she greeted the man and Tae-heun warmly, she was cold toward the child. The reason became clear later on the way to the stream.

“That lady is Su-ho’s mom.”

“The one who got into a fight with you?”

“Yes. She only picks on kids smaller than her.”

The man frowned at the word “kid.” The child immediately said, “I’m sorry,” but her tone didn’t sound apologetic at all.

“I don’t think I’ve seen her around here.”

“She lives in town. That lady also lives in town. The supermarket grandmother asks her to watch the store whenever she has errands.”

The child crossed her arms and spoke seriously.

It seemed she had more to say, but she kept her mouth shut. Instead, she peeled the cone and started licking it.

The man reached out and turned on the audio. He expected to hear the latest pop song, but to his surprise, it was a children’s song. It was a silly nursery rhyme that even the child could sing, but the man didn’t mind. The child initially seemed indifferent but soon began singing loudly.

“The airplane has taken off, fly high, fly high. Fly high, our airplane.”

The man and Tae-heun joined in singing.

When the song “Baby in the Island House” started playing, the child squealed and turned off the audio.

“Dad, this song. They say it’s a haunted song.”

The child lowered her voice dramatically.

“I guess those kinds of ghost stories are still going around these days.”

Tae-heun said.

“It’s not a ghost story; it’s real. Listen to the lyrics carefully. How can a baby use an arm pillow when they’re alone? Right? That pillow is a ghost.”

“That ghost is nice. It gives an arm pillow instead of mom.”

At Tae-heun’s words, the man chuckled softly.

“the child, really. A ghost giving an arm pillow, what’s nice about that! The ghost eats the baby!”

“I get it. My ears are going to fall off.”

The man patted the child, who was fuming because he didn’t believe her.

“Ki-beom, can you move to the middle seat? I want to eat ice cream too.”

“Oh, okay.”

Tae-heun parked the car. Despite it being a somewhat forced suggestion, the man sat the child in the passenger seat and squeezed himself into the middle seat.

“I guess it’s still unfamiliar driving a truck; it’s a bit hard to drive with one hand.”

He added an unnecessary excuse as he resumed driving.

The man peeled two cones and held one up to Tae-heun’s mouth.

“Ki-beom’s is going to melt. Don’t just give it to me; you should eat some too.”

The child watched the two of them while sipping her ice cream.

“Ji-hye, hurry and eat your ice cream. If it melts and falls in the car, there will be ants everywhere, you know?”

Before taking a big bite of the World Cone that the man handed her, Tae-heun scolded the child.

Realizing late that ice cream was dripping from her finger, the man, holding cones in both hands, could only look at the child helplessly. The child found some wet wipes in the glove box with her sticky hands. She smiled at Tae-heun and the man.

“Ki-beom, ours is melting too. Ahh.”

She kept her gaze forward and opened her mouth wide.

The flustered man quickly put one cone in his mouth with one hand and held it up to Tae-heun’s mouth with the other. Just then, the car jolted as if it hit a rock. As a result, Tae-heun bit the man’s hand instead of the ice cream. It was just a light bite, but the man was startled and dropped the ice cream. Without thinking, he bent down to pick up the fallen ice cream.

Tae-heun slammed on the brakes. She barely managed to stop the man from leaning toward his groin. The spot where the ice cream fell was right under Tae-heun’s feet, and when the man bent down, it looked like he was doing something inappropriate. As she tried to stop him, she wondered if she was the only one feeling that way, feeling awkward, but the man turned bright red like a tomato as if he had just realized it. Only the child, who didn’t understand what was happening, innocently asked, “Why aren’t you picking it up?”

Tae-heun laughed like a madman. She probably turned as red as the man. Heat rushed through her body. It had been months since she felt that way down there. She cautiously looked down, worried she might have gotten aroused. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.

The stream was smaller than expected for all the fuss the child made. She wondered how many crayfish lived in this little stream. First, they spread out a mat with the man and set down the things they brought. After taking a commemorative photo, the child threw off her clothes and jumped into the stream in her swimsuit.

“You have to warm up before going in!”

The man raised his voice. He hurriedly walked toward the child, wobbling on his slipper-clad feet. Tae-heun followed and caught the man, who almost slipped on a rock.

“I’ll bring her back. Ki-beom, you finish up here. Yoon Ji-hye! Didn’t you hear your dad? You have to warm up before going in.”

Tae-heun ran toward the child. Even though it was a shallow stream that barely reached an adult’s knees, the man seemed scared. Tae-heun leaned down and picked up the child, who was swimming in the stream, and brought her back to the shore.

“You have to warm up before going in. Your dad is worried.”

“Yes.”

The child replied with a downcast face.

“Follow what the uncle does.”

She raised her arms first. The song for the national exercise was playing in her ears, but she couldn’t remember any of the movements. Maybe it was because she only attended elementary school for four years. As she tilted her head, the child stared at her so intently that she just tried to do any movement. The child’s reprimand came flying.

“Didn’t you go to school, uncle? How can you not do that? You’re worse than the old men in our neighborhood. Follow me. One, two, three, four.”

The child counted firmly.

“Do they still do the national exercise these days?”

“Of course. During gym class, we mainly do the New Millennium Health Exercise, but during assembly, we do the national exercise. The older teachers only know the national exercise.”

The man, who had approached them late, quietly watched as the child and Tae-heun did the exercises. Tae-heun winked at the man. He nodded and smiled back.

The child was truly energetic. Even Tae-heun, an adult, found it hard to keep up. She wondered if the child had been a rabbit in a past life, as she dashed around so well on the uneven, slippery rocks. The man, who already had trouble balancing, seemed to struggle walking on the rocks but tried hard to match the child’s rhythm without showing it.

While the man waited below the stream with a net, Tae-heun and the child made a loud commotion, turning over every rock.

“It seems Ji-hye’s friend caught all the crayfish.”

“Right? How come there aren’t any?”

The child huffed.

“Let’s catch some fish instead.”

“Yes!”

Determined to catch fish they couldn’t even see, Tae-heun and the child dashed toward the man. In all the commotion, Tae-heun stumbled, and the man laughed loudly at the sight. The child screamed and giggled, then fell over herself. Soaked through, the child and Tae-heun exchanged glances and slowly approached the man.

Without knowing what was happening, the man waved them over. Tae-heun and the child exchanged glances again and then splashed water at the man almost simultaneously. The man shouted, “Ah!” and tried to block the water with both hands. As their attacks intensified, the man began to fight back. Everyone was shouting and screaming, attacking each other. The target of the attacks shifted from the child to the man and then to Tae-heun.