Her World – 2

I met the child again two days after buying them ice cream.

I spent both night and day at the playground where no one came.

In truth, I had no choice. Unlike the child or the ice cream man, I couldn’t leave the playground.

“Hello!”

The child greeted me brightly upon seeing me.

“Oh….”

I awkwardly raised my hand and waved.

I was worried they might start talking to me, but the child was focused on playing.

They played catch with a ball,

climbed up the slide, shouting cheers as they slid down,

walked to the other side of the seesaw with their arms outstretched,

and spun around on the merry-go-round before jumping on…

They spent their time utilizing all the equipment in the playground.

I could do nothing but sit on the bench and stare at the child.

There wasn’t much conversation.

Just a word or two when a ball bounced off the slide and landed near my feet.

That’s how a day, three days, a week passed.

“Mister.”

The child approached me as soon as they entered the playground.

“Yeah?”

I tilted my head, noticing they weren’t heading straight for the playground equipment as usual.

“Please push me on the swing.”

A shadow had fallen over the child’s usually cheerful face.

“The swing?”

“Yes. The swing. The one over there.”

A small finger pointed to the swing. A crude swing made of metal chains.

“Why?”

“Won’t you do it?”

“There’s no reason why I can’t….”

Before I could finish speaking, the child ran to the swing and plopped down.

“…….”

“Hurry~”

I wondered why they were suddenly like this, and as I stared, the child tapped their feet impatiently, urging me on.

I gently pushed the child’s back, reaching up to their neck.

The child soared into the sky, flying with the swing.

“I’m moving.”

After a few pendulum swings, the child spoke.

“Moving? Where to?”

“Far away.”

“So that’s why you’re upset? Because you’re leaving your friends?”

“No.”

I don’t have many friends. The child mumbled, trying to ignore it.

“Then?”

“The playground.”

“The playground?”

“They don’t have playgrounds like this there. No slides, no merry-go-rounds.”

“Ah… but if you look, you’ll find one.”

“Really?”

The child tilted their head back to look at me. I nodded.

I slowly reduced the swing’s speed.

When the swing stopped, the child jumped off.

“Then it’s okay!”

“Is the playground that important?”

“Yes! These days, Mom and Dad aren’t home much, so I’m bored by myself. It’s no fun if the playground isn’t good.”

The child presented their own logic, and I couldn’t help but nod.

“I have to go home now.”

Looking at their cute children’s watch, the child said it was late and hurriedly left the sandbox.

The child, who had been running and kicking up dirt, suddenly turned around.

“Mister.”

“I’m moving to Injin-dong, please come visit.”

The child said what they wanted to say and left the playground.

And, as if the screen had changed, the playground disappeared.

[Injin-dong Community Center]

I was sitting in a gazebo at the community center.

The warm sunlight tickled my eyes, and a slightly chilly breeze crept up my pants legs to my torso.

It was a typical March day.

“This place is….”

Like the playground, there was only a community center standing alone in a desolate area.

“Did the space change?”

As I circled the community center, trying to gauge how far I could go, my attention was drawn to a shout from somewhere.

“Mom!”

It was an irritated shout. I moved towards the sound.

What I saw was a mother and daughter.

A woman who looked to be in her forties and a student in a school uniform were glaring at each other, facing off.

I automatically checked the name tag on the uniform.

‘Lee Mina’

There was Lee Mina, who appeared to be a middle school student.

“Stop doing embarrassing things.”

Could it be that the child who left the playground had grown up?

Time flowed faster in Lee Mina’s inner world.

“What’s so embarrassing about it?”

The person who seemed to be the mother raised her chin as if she couldn’t believe her daughter’s words.

“They said the requirements aren’t met. So we can’t receive it. What more are you asking for there?”

“Oh, you’re so smart but what’s the use. What’s the point of being first in school? You don’t know the world. Public officials are all just wasting taxes. You have to argue like me to barely get anything. Look. That’s why I got something.”

Her mother held up a heavy plastic bag.

“What did you get? Mom!”

Lee Mina shouted in frustration.

“Still, getting something is getting something. It’s stingy of them to eat fruit among themselves? They should share a little.”

“Ugh… seriously, I’m going crazy.”

Lee Mina’s ears turned bright red as she buried her face in her hands.

Ignoring her daughter’s feelings, her mother snorted and left the community center.

Lee Mina didn’t even think about following her, and didn’t raise her face for a long time.

Perhaps anger, or maybe humiliation, was weighing down on her head.

That’s what I thought.

Lee Mina, now a student, didn’t show up as often as she did at the playground.

I barely saw her once a month.

At first, I wondered if there was a reason to drop me off in a place where I had no connection with her.

But after spending a week alone at the community center, I realized why I had come here.

People often talked about Lee Mina.

They smoked cigarettes and shared stories about Lee Mina.

Her parents always came to the center asking for financial assistance.

She came to the center that her parents had messed up and apologized instead.

The people at the center always seemed to have to put a cigarette in their mouths because of that bitter reality.

“Sigh, it’s not the kid’s fault.”

“I’m worried the blame will fall on her.”

The civil servants who were smoking one cigarette after another sympathized with Lee Mina.

“I called her separately last time and gave her money to buy snacks. But she flatly refused.”

Someone who appeared to be a superior said.

“Her pride must have been hurt. It’s a sensitive time.”

Because it’s puberty. A subordinate replied, lighting a cigarette.

“Well, pride is the biggest reason, but… she said she can’t receive this kind of support because she doesn’t meet the support requirements. She’s very assertive.”

The civil servant gave a bitter smile.

“There’s a saying, isn’t there? That children from poor families grow up quickly.”

“Well, yeah. It’s a shame. I just hope she doesn’t go astray.”

“As far as I know, she’s good at studying?”

“How do you know that?”

“A cousin who’s a lot older than me goes to the same school. She’s at the top of the school.”

“Wow… and she doesn’t even go to academies.”

“That’s right. Seriously, she’s at the top of the school just by listening to school classes. That’s amazing.”

They flicked the ends of their cigarette butts and went back into the center.

“I wish my kid was like that. Academies and everything else. Why are there so many places that cost money… Sigh, let’s go in.”

I stared blankly at the place where they had disappeared, and then I was startled by the presence I felt next to me and awkwardly straightened up.

“Excuse me. Can I sit here?”

Lee Mina sat down next to me.