Why in the world was she smiling?
That was what the kids found the most questionable.
On the way out to the playground, the scary adult’s phone rang. Seeing him send Gyeoul off first, the kids threw glances before hurriedly clinging to Gyeoul and worriedly whispering into her ears.
“Gyeoul.”
“…Nn?”
“There’s nothing bad going on with you right…?”
“…What do you mean?”
“Like, a bad person suddenly kidnapping you or anything. It’s nothing like that right…? Nn?”
“Y, yeah. If there’s anything going on, tell us. We will help you…”
Gyeoul tilted her head, still wondering what they were talking about.
That was when Yu Jitae ended his phone call and started walking towards them. Startled, the kids immediately distanced themselves and decided to watch over them for the time being. It was because no matter how they saw it, there was a vast difference between the ‘daddy’ inside Gyeoul’s explanation and the adult in front of their eyes.
The first session of the parent attendance day – PE.
Guardians had to either watch the kids play, or match themselves with the kids and play along. That was why Yu Jitae watched Gyeoul, in order to see what she usually did during PE.
“You can do whatever you want today,” said the homeroom teacher while throwing a bunch of balls to the ground. The kids grouped up and either played dodgeball, basketball or soccer.
Despite that, Gyeoul was sitting down on the bench so he had no choice but to sit on the bench as well.
“Why don’t you go and run around.”
“…I hate PE.”
“Why.”
“…Might get hurt.”
The subject she omitted here would probably be ‘someone’. Gyeoul was still not used to manipulating her mana and she thus spent her time as quietly as possible because others might get hurt by her.
“Have you done something by mistake before?”
“…Uum.”
Listening to her following explanation, it seemed that she had never participated in a PE lesson ever since she almost hurt someone by mistake at the start of the semester.
“Isn’t it boring to watch them every day?”
“…I have friends.”
“Right now you don’t.”
Hearing that, she pointed at a group of three girls who had been throwing glances at him for a while.
“Let’s play with me for today then.”
“…Nn?”
When Yu Jitae slowly stood up from the bench, Gyeoul also stood up and followed him. They then walked towards the playground.
Meanwhile, Gyeoul’s friends who had been watching the situation unfold from a distance concentrated on their movements. The scary adult paced towards the jungle gym with Gyeoul and with a ball in his hand.
The jungle gym of this elementary school was an assembly of equipment. There were iron bars, monkey bars, slides and other equipment.
Why did he go there? A dangerous place like a jungle gym didn’t suit Gyeoul.
In the midst of their worries, Yu Jitae carried Gyeoul on his back and climbed up the jungle gym. Then, while standing precariously on top of the small bars with Gyeoul, he threw the ball towards her.
The kids found that strange as well because Gyeoul did not like playing with balls.
“Huh…?”
But against their expectations, Gyeoul exchanged the ball with him with a bright smile on her face. They weren’t simply exchanging the ball, and appeared to be trying to hit each other’s body like dodgeball.
The mysterious part was that the ball would always get sucked into Gyeoul’s hands like magnets.
“Ehng…?”
“What’s going on?”
The adult’s ball flew towards Gyeoul’s head. However, she single-handedly grabbed it and casually threw it somewhere random, as the adult had to wriggle his body unnaturally on top of the monkey bars to not drop the ball.
Finding that funny, Gyeoul laughed, “Kyaa—”
At last, the ball Gyeoul threw hit the adult on his head.
It indeed seemed to have been dodgeball. Due to the loss, the adult had to crawl on top of the monkey bars with Gyeoul on his back. And soon when they rode the slide down together, Gyeoul threw her arms high into the air with a bright smile.
Suddenly, one of the friends was reminded of the ‘kind daddy’ that Gyeoul had mentioned.
However, this wasn’t enough. It was still nowhere near the daddy of their imaginations. That scary adult right now was like a large dog that involuntarily had to play with a child because she was annoying him too much.
Although it was quite surprising considering their first impression… for the kids, it was still not enough to answer the reason behind Gyeoul’s smile.
“Our second session for attendance day will be visual arts.”
Their observation and surveillance continued into the visual art session. The two of them drew together but neither of them were good at it.
“Oi. Why did you colour that black.”
“…Why not?”
“That’s a tree.”
“…A burnt tree, why nat?”
“Burnt?”
The theme of the drawing immediately changed as Gyeoul giggled, ‘Hihi’. When the adult started colouring the area around the tree in red, Gyeoul began colouring the bottom in yellow.
“Oi. Why is there yellow underneath the tree.”
“…It’s an ice cream cone.”
“What?”
“…Strawberry green tea, ice cream.”
“What’s this black thing then.”
“…A chocolate bar?”
Whenever the adult tried to do something, Gyeoul constantly interrupted. Due to that, the picture changed from a tree to an ice cream and then from an ice cream to a clown. After that, Gyeoul covered it in black so it was impossible to tell what it was anymore.
“Gyeoul.”
“…Yes?”
“If you do this, what happens to everything we’ve drawn so far.”
“…It’s a fissure.”
“You’re saying the clown we drew went into a fissure?”
Gyeoul placed her two hands beneath her chin and stared at Yu Jitae.
“…Is that, what you thought?”
“What?”
“…Cute.”
She once again started chuckling as the adult shook his head, seemingly dumbfounded.
‘They’re really enjoying themselves…’ The friend wearing glasses murmured.
They looked like they were having a lot of fun.
‘Maybe he only looks scary?’
‘Ehng? But his voice is also super monotone…’
‘But he didn’t do anything bad right?’
‘Would he do anything bad when there’s people around and when he’s playing with his daughter?’
‘Aren’t you treating him too much like a criminal…?’
The kids started having different ideas at this point. It was ‘Not sure yet’ vs ‘He’s a good person’.
During the break, the kids were observing the adult and Gyeoul while whispering to themselves. That was when the rear door of the classroom was pushed wide open as a boy started walking in in large strides.
‘Huh? It’s him. The one that gave flowers to Gyeoul.’
Looking only at the ground, the boy marched towards Gyeoul’s seat but seemed to have noticed the large adult at one point. Startled, he changed his direction as if nothing was wrong and naturally left through the front entrance of the class.
Gyeoul’s gaze remained on the boy for a little longer than it normally would so Yu Jitae asked.
“Why. Who is he.”
“…Gave me flowers.”
“He gave this to you?”
Yu Jitae took out the bouquet of money from the drawer.
“…Yes.”
“Why don’t you go and return this to him.”
“…By myself?”
“Then what. Go together?”
“…”
Blankly, Gyeoul stared at him with blinking eyes.
“Has this happened to you before?”
Gyeoul shook her head. Similar things did happen in the past but it was her first time receiving a bunch of money publicly in front of people. Yu Jitae looked at the memo stuck in between the bouquet of flowers that had a name and a phone number written on it.
“Why do you think he gave this to you.”
“…”
“Isn’t he trying to leave a good impression on you?”
“…”
“It’s related to you so you have to handle it yourself. It’s rare for me to come to school like today.”
“…”
“You never know if something like this will happen again. Instead of that being the first time, would it not be better to experience it when I’m here with you. I will help you if there is a problem.”
“…”
“It is important to tie a knot. The one that gave this to you might be waiting.”
“…”
“So go and talk to him. I’ll be here.”
“…”
“Hn?”
Gyeoul directly gazed back at Yu Jitae without saying anything in return.
Nervously, the kids also gazed at the adult and Gyeoul.
Right. Playing and having fun for a bit was not the most important part. What the adult said just then appeared to make sense but at the same time, they could also understand why Gyeoul would be reluctant to go alone.
‘Is Gyeoul going to be scolded?’
‘This isn’t something to get scolded for right…?’
‘But, I don’t think the scary ahjussi is wrong…’
Yu Jitae closed his mouth and looked back at her.
The kids were frightened and flinched because he looked even scarier now that he wasn’t saying anything.
However, Gyeoul did not look away.
She simply reached her hand out and grabbed Yu Jitae’s clothes by his sleeves.
Her hand was smaller than her peers while Yu Jitae had a body bigger than others so her hand holding onto the long sleeves of the shirt appeared extremely tiny.
Tension built up as they silently stared at each other but Gyeoul was stubborn.
“Alright… I got it. Let’s go together.”
When he reluctantly stood up, only then did Gyeoul’s expression turn bright. Gyeoul toddled in small steps carrying the bouquet of flowers as he walked behind her in large strides. Her friends also furtively stood up and followed behind them.
The boy was in the corridor. Perhaps because he was more mature than others, he appeared to be in his puberty as he blankly stood there leaning on the wall.
He still had some hope after seeing that Gyeoul hadn’t thrown the flowers away. She likes money so maybe she would give him a message or something through the number – that was what he thought.
That was when Gyeoul walked out of the classroom and looked around. After finding the boy, she held the flowers out.
“Uh, uhh? W, what?”
“…Returning.”
“Y, you don’t have to though?”
He didn’t receive it so Gyeoul gently tossed the flowers toward the boy. Since he couldn’t just let the flowers drop on the ground, the boy had to receive it back.
“Uhh, uh, umm. Then, can you tell me your number?”
“…Nn?”
“Can you tell me your number.”
Gyeoul had to think to herself for a bit.
It was easier to reply when Myung Jun-il whom she knew of had expressed his good will towards her, but it was her first time getting confessed to by someone she wasn’t really acquainted with, so she had trouble looking for the right words to say.
But like what Yu Jitae told her, it would probably be good to end relationships with a firm knot.
“…You know.”
“Huh? Yeah yeah.”
“…I’m, not, interested in you.”
“W, why? I, have a lot of money. I’m tall and I can play the piano well…”
Gyeoul pondered again before giving her reply.
“…Because I’m not interested in money, height and piano.”
“Ah, uh, then? What should I do?”
“…No. I’m just not interested in you… You dun have to do anything.”
“…”
“…Sorry. Goodbye.”
When Gyeoul waved her hand and went back into the classroom, only then did the boy realise that his confession had ended as a clean failure. Abandoning the idea, the boy returned to his own classroom.
*
Gyeoul’s friends watched the back of the boy.
It seemed that everything had worked out fine.
‘That went well…’
‘Hmm… Right?’
Kids their age often became mean for no reason from a failed confession or talked behind their backs, but it seemed that the boy had perfectly given up on the idea.
After returning to the classroom, Gyeoul hugged Yu Jitae who was standing in front of the door. She asked if she did well, and he replied telling her she did well.
The kids could slightly understand what Gyeoul meant when talking about her kind daddy, but it was still somewhat lacking. Her friends still couldn’t really understand why Gyeoul was smiling so brightly.
“Last lesson will be a test of your creativity. Let’s get into groups and make a cake together.”
But with the start of the last lesson, the kids finally realised it.
“Ah, hellooo… we are Gyeoul’s friends.”
“Yeah. Right.”
Because Gyeoul wished for it, the kids got into the same team as Yu Jitae. The kids along with the adult diligently whisked thickened cream to make it stiffer, cut the bread horizontally to make layers, plastered all the layers with cream, and decorated the top with strawberry and jam.
Throughout the process, Gyeoul constantly splattered whipped cream onto the adult’s face and chuckled out loud. Then, the scary adult also dumbfoundedly splattered whipped cream onto her face.
It was the same as when they were drawing together.
Looking at it from a close distance, Gyeoul’s friends realised that the two of them playing appeared extremely guileless.
‘Gyeoul’s daddy is actually very innocent…’
‘Hmm… Right…’
‘Someone fun to tease? That kind of adult…?’
‘Teasing him…? Gyeoul has iron nerves I guess. I don’t think I can do it.’
During their whispers, one of the girls came to a realisation.
‘Hey hey! I think I get it.’
‘Huh?’
‘What is it?’
‘That scary ahjussi. He’s been playing with Gyeoul for real till now…!’
‘Nn? For real…?’
4th grade of elementary school. Some of the mature kids would start gazing at the world through their own standards. Kids in this age group can clearly tell apart oneself from others, understand others and start thinking of how themselves would be perceived by others. They would then also realise what adults did when playing with kids.
Adults played along with kids.
By playing along, it didn’t mean they were playing together. They simply ‘played’ with kids for them to enjoy it.
As adults they matched themselves to the children and played along with them. Standing one step back, they would be considerate of the enjoyment of the children.
As they grow older, children begin to understand that the adults are considerate while playing with them and after realising that, it becomes difficult to play together with a sincere heart.
At the start it was only the adult that had to be considerate of the child but it would later be the child being considerate of the adult’s feelings as well. There is no way that hiding their inner thoughts and being considerate of each other would be a fun way to play.
In that sense, that scary adult was a bit unique. He didn’t seem to be enjoying it nor was he trying to play along that well.
However, he drew with Gyeoul when drawing without any pretence, and asked a question from the side of the drawer when she ruined the painting. That wasn’t the end. He wasn’t trying to draw a good drawing, and he didn’t scold her for ruining what they had drawn.
‘He is yeah…’
‘That’s true… he’s just having fun playing with her.’
Even now, it was the same.
Although he was making a cake, he appeared to have no concerns about the objective itself of this situation. The result was a terrible cake but he did not give any evaluations regarding that.
Throughout the random and mindless drawing session, and even during the cake-making session, both the adult and Gyeoul were sincere and that’s what was allowing Gyeoul to enjoy herself.
Looking at it from the side, they also started finding it funny. When Gyeoul, who was about to put the small strawberry into Yu Jitae’s mouth, suddenly changed her direction and stuck it into his nose, her friends giggled softly.
His reaction and his sincerely dumbfounded expression was also funny. Gyeoul’s friends also started being absorbed in the situation and their laughs became more audible. At last when Gyeoul trolled by cutting the circular cake into squares, her friends also burst out into uncontrollable laughter.
“Ey ey ey! You ruined it!”
“Kyahahaha!”
“Yu Gyeoul! Why are you cutting it like that!”
At this point, Gyeoul was almost rolling on the ground laughing.
*
After the end of the parent attendance day, the scary adult left the school with a wave of his hand and the kids waved back. The day passed by in a flash and only then did the kids realise it.
“I think I get it.”
“Me too…”
Because they had been thinking of Gyeoul as a special child who didn’t smile often, they thought there would be a unique reason behind her smile. However, nothing special was required to make her smile – just like how they themselves had started wholeheartedly laughing at one point after dropping the thought of analysing the reason behind the smile.
So looking back now, the reason why Gyeoul smiled at everything related to her daddy was simple.
It was just that fun.