“Are, are you, up…?”
These were children who wouldn’t wake up easily no matter how much you tried to wake them from the side before they got up on their own…
“When I was grilling meatballs, they came right out after smelling it.”
“Meatballs?”
“Yes, sometimes when there’s a delicious smell, children wake up on their own.”
“Ah…”
“Kkotsu, it’s hot, so eat slowly.”
The ajumma was definitely skilled at taking care of children. She was completely different from me, who was clumsily pretending to be a housekeeper.
“Dad, where are you going?”
Then Hyeol asked while chewing his meatball thoroughly.
Come to think of it, it was a precious weekend, so I felt sorry for not being able to stay with them.
“Well… I think I need to go out for a bit, but I’ll come back early.”
“Dad should also get some fresh air sometimes. How can you live just taking care of kids? I understand.”
“……”
Hyeol spoke as if he fully understood adult circumstances.
“I, I also… un, understand…”
Then Kkotsu, who was sitting across from him, held an unchewed meatball bulging in one cheek and followed Hyeol’s words.
“But you have to take this.”
Then Hyeol got down from his chair and brought something. It was that problematic pheromone deodorizer.
“No, why this…”
I should throw it away or something…
When I received the deodorizer with a troubled expression, Hyeol’s expression became stern.
“Dad is too soft. At this rate, you might get kidnapped someday.”
“……!”
I understood what Hyeol was worried about, but kidnapping…
Hyeol, your grandmother already put it into action once…
“Ki… kidnapping… what, what is it?”
Then Kkotsu, who had been listening to our conversation, asked with wide eyes.
It was natural that he wouldn’t know. Hyeol had vocabulary that was too mature for a six-year-old. It might be because he had read all the books in Kkotsu’s room. Now he seemed to be interested in the books Baek Woojin reads too, so I was thinking of either buying new books or taking him to the library.
“Kidnapping is when someone takes you away. They make it so you can’t move and take you somewhere.”
Hyeol, for some reason, taught Kkotsu the definition of kidnapping.
“Ta, take away…? Why, why…?”
Kkotsu asked with wide eyes.
“Why… well, there are such things. You don’t need to know.”
Hyeol said there was no need to know more and went back to eating.
“Hyeol speaks so well. And Seungyeon-ssi, I’ll take good care of the children, so both of you can go out without worry. Hello, Teacher Baek?”
Then the ajumma greeted us while bringing water for the children.
When I turned around, Baek Woojin was standing there in a neat suit, just like when he goes to work. He gave a light nod to the ajumma and then organized the rice grains stuck to Kkotsu’s bowl with a spoon.
“You can’t leave any.”
“Yes, yes…”
When Kkotsu nodded and answered, he immediately brushed past me and said,
“I’ll be in the study. Take your time getting ready.”
“……”
When he said that, it felt like I should get ready even faster.
“Then Hyeol, Dad will be back. Listen well to the ajumma and take good care of Kkotsu too.”
Hyeol nodded as if I shouldn’t worry about such things, then grabbed my clothes again.
“And contact us often. If you don’t, I’ll call every hour.”
“……”
“Answer.”
Sometimes when Hyeol showed this obsessive side, I thought it couldn’t be helped, but it also made me laugh.
*
“Are there restaurants that open from morning…?”
I asked as I quickly prepared to go out and left the house with Baek Woojin. The current time was 8:50 AM. Unless it’s a 24-hour place, don’t stores usually open around 11 AM at the earliest?
Perhaps sensing my thoughts, Baek Woojin smiled reassuringly and immediately activated the navigation. When I checked the destination, it was near a mountain.
Surely he’s not suggesting mountain climbing…?
“It’s a brunch cafe. If you visit in the morning, it’s quiet because it’s in the mountains and has a nice view.”
“Ah, a brunch cafe…”
I’d never been to such a place, but usually those kinds of cafes would have many visitors on weekends…
“Welcome. We’ve been waiting for you.”
But when we arrived at our destination, I realized that thought was completely prejudiced. Inside the brunch cafe, there were no customers except for the staff greeting us.
“Whoa… there’s no one here…?”
“Because I made a reservation.”
Baek Woojin, who gave me a brief reply, followed the staff’s guidance to our seats.
No, even if you made a reservation…
I followed Baek Woojin while looking around the cafe. There were antique decorations, large beautiful windows, and flowers and plants placed here and there like a garden. It was such a wonderful place that it reminded me of somewhere in Europe that you might see in a magazine or travel program.
And on top of that….
“This way, please.”
“Wow….”
The place the staff guided us to was the cafe’s only terrace, and across from the cafe, I could see a large lake beautifully shining in the sunlight.
“I’ve never been to a place like this before….”
“Do you like it?”
“Yes, really….”
I was so captivated by the lake that I couldn’t properly understand what Baek Woojin was saying.
“I ordered something simple for our meal.”
At Baek Woojin’s words, I nodded roughly and continued admiring the lake. Two swans were swimming leisurely on the calm waves. It was like a fairy tale scene.
“Hyeol and Kkotsu would have really loved it if they had come too….”
“Let’s all come together next time. Today I wanted to come with just the two of us.”
Huh…?
“Your ordered meal is here.”
While I was puzzled, the food arrived.
Fresh-looking salad and smoked salmon, eggs benedict, bite-sized French toast, and beautifully decorated fruit were placed on the table. Just that alone made me feel like I was really in a foreign country.
“Sorry to interrupt your meal, but please try to finish eating within two hours if possible. We need to operate and receive other customers here too.”
Then Baek Woojin said while cutting the salmon with a knife.
Other customers…?
I looked around the cafe once more. Excluding the cafe staff, we were the only two customers.
No way…. He couldn’t have reserved the entire cafe, could he…?
I worried about such an absurd thing while finishing all my food in less than thirty minutes. Baek Woojin also had a very satisfied expression and emptied all the food on his plate. It was the first time I’d seen Baek Woojin finish all his food. It seemed like he preferred this kind of food over Korean food.
“Thank you for the meal. It was really delicious.”
I expressed my gratitude for the wonderful meal I’d experienced for the first time in my life.
“It’s a bit early, but let’s move.”
After finishing our clean herb tea, I followed Baek Woojin who got up first. Even though it was called a cafe, the price range probably wouldn’t be cheap. If the meal cost a lot, I was planning to at least split the bill.
But Baek Woojin wasn’t going to the cashier and was walking straight toward the exit.
“Um, the bill….”
“I paid in advance when I made the reservation. Let’s go.”
“Ah….”
I had no choice but to follow him out of the cafe, putting away the wallet I was about to take out.
“Woojin-ssi, the meal was really good. Next time I’ll….”
I couldn’t finish my sentence. As soon as Baek Woojin and I left the cafe, unbelievably, people were packed tightly in chairs set up as a waiting area.
“Thank you for waiting so long. We’ll open our cafe now.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
