episode_0058

They say too much of anything is as bad as too little. I felt a bit tired of looking at the sea for so long, so I finished swimming and left the pool. Of course, it was burdensome to be constantly watched and noticed. It seemed like an area where even if you tried to become numb, you couldn’t.

Since there was no separate changing room when leaving the pool, I had to put on a gown just like when I came and return to the room.

After returning to the room, Da-young, Da-bin, and then I decided to shower after they had washed first. Da-young and Da-bin came out quickly after washing since there wasn’t really anything on their bodies. Finally, it was my turn to shower. As I took off my swimsuit and looked in the mirror, I could see a clear line where my skin had tanned a bit under the swimsuit.

“Ugh, this will itch later, right?”

I muttered while quickly washing myself, and when I went out to the room, the kids were already dressed.

“Need help drying your hair?”

Da-young asked, and I nodded, handing her my head.

-Vroom!

The sound of the hairdryer echoed loudly.

“Well, I always feel this way, but your mom’s hair is really nice, isn’t it?”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. Your mom might actually have Turner syndrome, which could be a beneficial disease for people.”

“Oh, you naughty girl. Learn some good manners, seriously.”

Although it was something I had brought up first, it felt different when someone else said it.

“Hmm. But honestly, it’s kind of true. I don’t know, when you were a dad, it was a bit difficult, but now in this state, rather than feeling like a mom, it feels more like a sister with a significant age gap? But a bit immature. Hehe.”

Indeed, these days there was such an atmosphere with Da-young. Probably because I lacked basic female common sense, I always seemed to be in a position asking for help.

After drying my hair, even though I insisted I was fine, Da-young went to get hair essence and applied it to my hair.

“Your hair is nice, Mom, but you have to take care of it when it’s naturally nice.”

“Why are you talking like an old lady?”

“Auntie said that.”

“Oh.”

“This was also given by Aunt Su-yeon.”

As mentioned before, Su-yeon runs a beauty shop. So she has many products like this, and Da-young often brings them back when she visits.

“I should visit Aunt Su-yeon’s place soon. I miss Jin-woo and Jin-seo.”

Noticing young children more lately, probably because she saw Hye-sol recently, Da-young. Earlier, at the pool, the parents of the child who approached her thanked me for playing with their child so well.

“Yeah. And next week, when we go to grandma’s house, we’ll go together. I asked if we wanted to go together, and she said yes. We’ll see them then.”

Before going down to our hometown next week, I asked Su-yeon if she planned to come along, and she said yes. We were thinking of going separately, but Maebu and Sang-gi said they had borrowed a company car, so we agreed to go together.

“Oh, really? Then we’ll all be together after a long time.”

Apart from me and Su-yeon, there are no other siblings in our house, so when our family and Su-yeon’s family gather, it’s like having all the household members together.

“That’s right. It’s been a while since we had something like this, not for a holiday.”

With those words, Da-young finished drying my hair and braided it herself. She quickly divided my hair into three sections, braided it down, and tied it.

“All done.”

“Thank you.”

Come to think of it, we had planned to go to the hot springs again in the evening, and although it seemed like too much effort, we still needed to dress up a bit as we were going to the buffet for dinner.

As before, I briefly led Davin into the shower booth, changed clothes, and then left the room with the kids towards the buffet.

“I’m sorry, but there’s only 20 minutes left in Part 1 operating hours. Would it be okay to guide you to Part 2?”

An unexpected obstacle arose.

“Oh… What time does Part 2 start?”

“An hour from now, at 7:30.”

Checking the time on my phone, it was half past six.

Darn it, I should have left the pool earlier if I had known.

“Oh… Well, I guess there’s no choice. I’ll have to come back later.”

“I’m really sorry.”

Turning around, I headed towards the buffet entrance.

“What should we do now?” I asked, and Davin responded excitedly.

“Shall we go now? To the amusement facilities?”

It seemed like he suggested going to the amusement facilities. An hour seemed just right for that.

“Should we?”

This time, Davin took the lead and guided us to the amusement facilities. As expected of a boy, he seemed very interested in games like these. Perhaps Davin was looking forward to this more than swimming.

“No, actually, I was looking forward to swimming more.”

Why? Given Davin’s personality, I thought he would prefer games.

“Last year and all, it’s been a long time since our family played in the water together, hasn’t it?”

Listening, it seemed like that was the case. Since our last summer vacation as a family was about four years ago.

“Hmm, that doesn’t seem right.”

Doyoung glanced at Davin suspiciously, but this time, Davin didn’t retort and simply turned his head away.

Though his ears seemed a bit red, Davin’s expression brightened as soon as we arrived at the amusement facilities.

“Wow, this place is nice.”

The space prominently featured a design based on Japan’s famous game console brand “S**y PlayStation.” A combination of blue, white, and black. It wasn’t just a casual facility; it felt more proper than expected.

While the arcade games inside were not limited to PlayStation and had a setup closer to an arcade, they still had a similar feel.

“It’s fascinating. I can’t remember the last time I visited an arcade.”

Thinking back, I realized I had been doing so many things due to work that I hadn’t played in a long time. From trips to amusement parks, water play, and now arcades. Even the arcade games in front of me, despite not being a fan of gaming, brought back nostalgic memories of popular games.

Air hockey, basketball games, Bubble Bobble, Tekken, and more.

“Mom, let’s play that air hockey.”

Doyoung pointed to the air hockey table.

“Are you sure about that?”

I challenged Doyoung, and she confidently accepted, leading to our showdown.

-Clang! Clang!

The first to score 11 points wins. We, mother and daughter, engaged fiercely in the game.

And the score was 10-7. Of course, I was the one with 10 points. Due to factors like physique and reflexes, I had the upper hand.

“Where did the confident person go? Bored already?”

Seeing Doyoung blush in response to my challenge made me feel quite triumphant.

“Watch out, Mom!”

With those words, Doyoung, eyes gleaming with determination, initiated another round.

“I used some strength, you know? Did you see that? I went easy on you. Now, Mom, I’m serious!”

I hit the puck with force, leading to an intense battle. The result?

“We’re tied!”

“Set score!”

Doyoung cheered, Davin marveled.

“You’re good. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone easy on you.”

“Hehe, even after losing, you’re still saying you went easy on me. Let’s give it our all in the final round, shall we?”

Dahyeong’s local provocation. Definitely can’t ignore it. I hit the ball with all my might.

– Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

It was a disaster like hell.

“Kiaat! I won!!”

“T-this is unbelievable!”

The ball I hit with all my might towards Dahyeong’s goalpost hit right next to it and without giving me a chance to react, went straight into my goalpost.

“T-this is invalid! Let’s do it again!”

It was unfair. Even if it was the last one, this is too much of an ending. After trying all sorts of provocations, scoring a suicide goal.

How annoying!

“Yeah~ I won. Don’t want to play again. No intention to, go back!”

Dahyeong continues to tease me, imitating a famous juvenile family court judge.

“Shall I let you win?”

Looking at my frustrated self, Davin asks subtly.

“Can you win?”

I may have lost, but I wanted to break that arrogant attitude. If Davin wins when challenged by me, maybe that arrogance will diminish?

“Of course. It’s just a light game.”

So I said, patting Davin on the shoulder.

“Please. Son.”

“Haha, just trust me.”

And a moment later.

“I’ll let you win!”

“T-this isn’t right? It should have gone into the goal in one shot with that angle and force, right?”

Disappointed, Davin and Dahyeong’s score was an astonishing 5:11. The score difference was more than double, not to mention the set score.

“Oh, everyone’s too easy. EZ~”

After defeating Davin as well, Dahyeong launches another provocation, but Davin doesn’t get angry; he just reminisces about the match, shaking his head, and I’m the only one taking damage.

“Let’s play something else!”

Thus began our family’s conquest of basketball games, fighting games, arcade games like Bubble Bobble, and so on. We initially thought of it as childish entertainment, but it turned out to be incredibly fun. It felt like going back to our childhood innocence.

Having thoroughly enjoyed the games, before we knew it, an hour had passed.

“Ah, that was fun.”

“Yeah. Mom also had a lot of fun after a long time.”

“Right? Wasn’t it rewarding?”

Davin seemed very pleased when we evaluated that we had a great time at the arcade thanks to his suggestion.

“Yeah, we had fun thanks to Davin.”

While Dahyeong and I did most of the gaming, he seemed to enjoy himself the most, even though he mostly guided us on how to play or watched over us. Well, since all three of us enjoyed it, it worked out.

“Should we start heading for food now?”

“Yes, let’s go.”

And so, leaving behind pleasant memories, we headed off for a meal.