Despite his awkward smile, poking at Saebyeok’s side, and even making baby-talk, the response was cold. No matter how much Gong Pyeonghwa tried to act cute, Saebyeok remained firm.
“I’m tired.”
“Honey. Iseul’s daddy, baby, my Saebyeok.”
“I want to sleep.”
Saebyeok wasn’t particularly upset, just genuinely tired, and closed his eyes.
Gong Pyeonghwa had to spend a torturous night in his hometown, where he had experienced all his first thrills and excitement.
‘At least Iseul is sleeping well…’
Just then, the sound of a baby wailing could be heard.
“Haa…”
Having unnecessarily tempted fate, Gong Pyeonghwa trudged out and took Iseul into his arms.
Until dawn, no, until the babysitter arrived, Gong Pyeonghwa had to soothe Iseul.
The next day, a reliable babysitter came to the hotel.
“Oh my goodness… what’s all this about.”
Butler Hwang, who had retired saying he wanted to spend his later years in nature, smacked Gong Pyeonghwa’s back.
“Ow! Ow! That hurts!”
“Since Madam and the Chairman don’t know about this, you deserve to be hit! What! We send you to study abroad and you come back with a child!”
“Owwie…”
Butler Hwang, who had remained unmoved by Gong Pyeonghwa’s pathetic aegyo, softened his expression as soon as he heard Iseul’s babbling and took her into his arms.
“She looks just like Pyeonghwa when he was little. She’s not shy with strangers. Our little baby. Isn’t that right?”
Gong Pyeonghwa felt pain as if his back had been hollowed out in the shape of a palm, but he couldn’t reach his back, so he squirmed in agony.
When Saebyeok, who couldn’t bear to watch any longer, rubbed his back, Gong Pyeonghwa looked at him with the most affectionate gaze.
“Oh my, I should be resting at my age, yet you’re asking me to watch a baby who’s barely a year old. This is elder abuse.”
“Ah, come on. You’re speaking like that again. You recognized me right away even though it’s been so long. Because I look exactly like when I was little. How is it that you don’t age?”
As Gong Pyeonghwa slipped his arm around him with a sly smile, Butler Hwang laughed as if he couldn’t resist and pushed Gong Pyeonghwa and Shin Saebyeok toward the door.
“I’ll take good care of her, so go enjoy yourselves. But keep it a secret that I watched her.”
“I wuv you!”
Gong Pyeonghwa put his arm around Saebyeok’s shoulder and blew him a hand kiss.
“Let’s go. On a date.”
Every time Pyeonghwa laughed, the skin where they touched vibrated together. The pleasant trembling and his deep, resonant voice couldn’t have felt better.
Gong Pyeonghwa, still laughing like a boy with his open smile and thick eyebrows that curved slightly, made Saebyeok’s heart flutter anew.
“Yes. Let’s go. On a date.”
Saebyeok was still in the midst of his first love.
***
“Should we eat first?”
“Sure. Is there something you want to eat?”
“Hmm. Should we have a traditional Korean meal? No, no. Let’s decide when we get there. When we get there.”
Gong Pyeonghwa hummed as he turned the steering wheel.
Whenever Gong Pyeonghwa hummed, something unexpected or tiresome always seemed to happen, and Saebyeok wondered if things would be okay.
Curious about what Gong Pyeonghwa was planning to eat, Saebyeok gently poked his side, asking for a hint.
Gong Pyeonghwa just grinned silently and pretended not to notice.
Without getting any information, the Pyeonghwa-Saebyeok couple arrived at the amusement park, bought all-day passes, and entered right away.
What could he possibly want to eat at an amusement park restaurant, where the options were so predictable?
Saebyeok secretly expected some sort of event that might make him break out in a cold sweat. Though he didn’t realize it himself, Saebyeok enjoyed thrills more than he thought.
Gong Pyeonghwa dragged Saebyeok straight into a fast food restaurant.
After eating hamburgers the entire time in America, why here? Of course, Korean flavors were different, but still.
Saebyeok thought nothing of it and entered the restaurant.
His body felt stiff thanks to the fast food restaurant’s characteristic eye-straining interior and uncomfortable chairs that made it difficult to sit for long periods.
“Cheeseburger?”
“Yes.”
After pressing various buttons on the kiosk, Gong Pyeonghwa soon appeared with an armful of hamburgers.
He arranged a cheeseburger, zero cola, and french fries for Saebyeok, and for himself, he laid out four hamburgers of unknown names, two orders of french fries, cheese sticks, and nuggets.
The cheeseburger tasted like an ordinary cheeseburger. It had that common fast food taste, somewhat crude with the cheese flavor barely noticeable.
He had secretly wondered if there might be custard pudding inside the hamburger patty, but it was just an utterly ordinary meat patty.
Gong Pyeonghwa grinned the entire time while eating his hamburger, clearly pleased about something.
He kept smiling like someone who was full even without eating.
“Why do you keep smiling?”
Did he do something to the ketchup? Saebyeok repeatedly stabbed the ketchup with his french fries. It was just ordinary ketchup.
“Just. Because I’m happy.”
“You’re so cheesy.”
Gong Pyeonghwa interlaced his fingers with Saebyeok’s and kept smiling.
“Well, when we came on the school trip, we couldn’t eat together. Too many eyes watching.”
Come to think of it, they did come to the amusement park for a school trip in their second year of high school.
Saebyeok barely remembered it. He just recalled coming to the amusement park for the trip and walking around separately with their own groups of friends.
Thinking about it now, he did seem to remember eating hamburgers then. Gong Pyeonghwa had eaten hamburgers too. Although they couldn’t eat together like they did on the rooftop.
“I’m happy we can eat together now.”
Gong Pyeonghwa tickled the back of Saebyeok’s hand while playing footsie under the table. He tapped Saebyeok’s shoes with the toe of his shoe, stretched his legs, and even brushed against his calf playfully.
“I wanted to do this back then too. Throughout our school days.”
Seemingly not finding it uncomfortable at all, Gong Pyeonghwa devoured hamburgers with one hand like a crab hiding its eyes, and slurped his cola. His face was still smiling, but his eyes looked somewhat bitter.
Saebyeok felt a pang in his chest at the words that ten years ago, Gong Pyeonghwa had wanted to sit face-to-face like this, eating and joking around together.
Instead of saying anything, Saebyeok silently interlaced his fingers with Gong Pyeonghwa’s. He tightly gripped the hand that was one size larger than his own.
Gong Pyeonghwa beamed like someone who had the whole world and said:
“We’re finally dating openly.”
“That’s right. We’re dating openly. After 10 years.”
The wedding rings on their interlaced fingers sparkled beautifully.
***
Gong Pyeonghwa and Saebyeok roamed the amusement park excitedly.
They shared churros and smoothies, and even wore animal ear headbands they would normally never consider, enjoying the amusement park to its fullest.
Gong Pyeonghwa, like a 9-month-old puppy who had just understood the word “walk,” excitedly dragged Saebyeok around.
“Aah!”
“Hehehe.”
They rode the bumper cars.
“There’s a camera. Camera. Kiss. Kiss!”
“Get away.”
They rode the flume ride.
“The photo came out weird.”
“Whyyy. It’s pretty. Let’s buy it and put it up at home.”
They took strange photos.
They went to the game arcade to play whack-a-mole, try the punching machine, and play shooting games.
They laughed throughout, belatedly doing things they had wanted to do as students 10 years ago but couldn’t.
After eating palm-sized bead ice cream, greasy hot dogs, sitting briefly to watch a show, and then riding more attractions, the sun had set before they knew it.
Lights came on at each ride, creating the amusement park’s characteristic night scenery.
Positioning Saebyeok in front of the carousel, which could be considered a hotspot for couple photos, Gong Pyeonghwa took pictures like a madman.
You’d think he would have gotten used to it by now, but Saebyeok still felt awkward when Gong Pyeonghwa went on a photo-taking spree like this.
After the paparazzi-like photo time ended, Gong Pyeonghwa approached a woman among the bystanders, spoke to her, and handed over his phone.
As soon as he placed the phone in the woman’s hands, Gong Pyeonghwa ran back to Saebyeok and immediately grabbed his hand.
The passing woman, though these weren’t even her own photos, began taking pictures with her legs spread wide in a self-sacrificing pose.
They put their arms around each other’s shoulders, held hands, hugged, faced each other, and not stopping there, eventually even kissed.
Even the woman burning with photographic passion seemed surprised by the kiss, as the picture was slightly shaky at that point.
The carousel lights were so bright that the slight shake actually made the photo look more natural.
“Shall we take the last one again?”
As if she had some kind of mission with photography, the woman actively suggested.
With what seemed like pride in her photography skills, she repeatedly zoomed in and out on the phone screen. Then she said something to her companions and pulled out a DSLR camera.
“Let’s retake just the last one, shall we?”
“It’s fine…”
Saebyeok was about to say no and that he was grateful for the beautiful photos, even searching his pockets for his wallet to give her a hefty fee, but Gong Pyeonghwa, who just wanted to kiss more, shamelessly said:
“We definitely should! What are you doing, honey? Come quickly.”
Even the woman’s companions chimed in unnecessarily.
“Hey, try changing the lens.”
“Bend your wrist more. Spread your legs wider. Just stick to the ground.”
What was it about photos, or rather, it’s understandable for photos, but why were they so passionate about taking pictures of strangers… It suddenly felt like they had really returned to Korea.
After taking one more kiss photo, Gong Pyeonghwa expressed infinite gratitude to the passerby who had become the best photographer and gave her an invitation to their child’s first birthday party.
Returning evil for good? Saebyeok was utterly shocked, but they seemed to have become friendly in that short time as the atmosphere was harmonious.
“Returning evil for good, really…”
“Oh, I got her SNS account and commissioned her for our baby’s first birthday photos. At twice the average rate.”
“Oh…”
But how could such a coincidence happen? They randomly stopped someone on the street, and she turned out to be a photographer?
When Saebyeok asked out of curiosity, Gong Pyeonghwa rattled off a Conan-like deduction.
“At a glance, I could see she had no male companions, just a few friends, and judging by her noticeable outfit and hairstyle, there was a high probability she was in the arts field. And since there were some celebrities around earlier doing a program shoot, considering everything, I thought she might be a fan photographer or part of a filming crew, so I took a chance.”
“…”
My husband is amazing.
Gong Pyeonghwa, clearly pleased with the photos, hummed continuously. He lifted and lowered their interlaced hands, swinging them, obviously in a very good mood.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
