When I went down with Saet-byeol, Shi-hyun was waiting with the camper. Shi-hyun glanced at Saet-byeol in my arms and then avoided eye contact. Saet-byeol similarly couldn't look at Shi-hyun and averted her gaze.
,"Don't get angry."
Honestly, Saet-byeol was in the wrong this time, so it was hard to stop Shi-hyun.
,"Ha, I know, so get in quickly, we'll be late."
,"Okay."
I got in the car in a direction where Saet-byeol couldn't see Shi-hyun and went straight to the bedroom. Jae-won, who had arrived earlier, was in the bedroom.
,"Okay, Saet-byeol, stay with your younger sibling."
Saet-byeol was silent. I tried to sit her on the bed, but she didn't want to leave me.
,"Saet-byeol-ah."
Then Shi-u stepped in and hugged Saet-byeol, and Saet-byeol fell out of my arms.
,"Shi-u-ya, I'm counting on you."
,"Yes, leave it to me."
I left the younger siblings with Shi-u for now and headed to the front. Shi-hyun was sitting in the driver's seat, getting ready to leave, but he looked angry.
,"Shi-hyun-ah, calm down."
,"Sit down, we're leaving."
A slightly rough answer came back. Was he that angry? Saet-byeol suddenly became capricious, but was that something to be angry about? No, it was right to be angry. We had all agreed to go out together last time, but she threw a tantrum.
,"Calm down."
,"I'm not angry."
,"Then at least relax your expression."
Shi-hyun sighed deeply.
,"Where's Saet-byeol?"
,"I left her with Shi-u for now."
An awkward silence hung in the air. It couldn't be helped. How could I sugarcoat Saet-byeol's fickleness?
,"Saet-byeol is probably regretting it too."
Shi-hyun didn't answer and started driving the car.
,"Saet-byeol probably knows she did wrong."
,"And you're covering for her?"
,"I was trying to persuade her gently."
,"That's being too lenient."
,"I know, I know, but I have to make her understand, I can't just yell at her."
We couldn't narrow our differences. Shi-hyun was on the side of properly scolding Saet-byeol for not listening, and I was on the side of making her understand.
,"Saet-byeol will understand like Shi-u."
,"Shi-u is a special case. Rather, he understands too well, which is strange. Don't use Shi-u as a standard."
I had no choice but to close my mouth at Shi-hyun's words. I knew Shi-u was special, but was he saying it to that extent? Still, they were siblings and came from the same womb, so shouldn't I use Shi-u as a standard?
,"Saet-byeol needs to be scolded and cursed at to be careful with her actions. She was such a mess when we went to the playroom last time."
,"Oh, really?"
Shi-hyun's nagging target started to change from Saet-byeol to me.
,"How else would she act so recklessly usually? She was causing a lot of trouble for the other kids in the playroom."
,"...She did that?"
She didn't do that when I was around?
,"Yeah, she freaked out and refused when a boy approached her."
...? Could it be? No way?
,"Isn't that because she's scared?"
,"What?"
,"The kids cafe incident last time."
Shi-hyun frowned at my words.
,"Since that boy grabbed her hair back then, I think Saet-byeol is scared because of that?"
Shi-hyun was speechless, not having expected that.
,"Let's move on from that, her suddenly throwing a tantrum today is separate."
,"I know."
That was Saet-byeol's fault. But Saet-byeol isn't stupid. She has a good understanding and uses situations well enough to be called cunning. She must have felt bad about something today.
,"Saet-byeol is smarter than you think."
Shi-hyun was quiet, so I continued to speak.
,"If you explain and tell her, she understands and listens. That's why I was going to ask her the reason."
She might be lacking compared to Shi-u, but Saet-byeol was smart enough.
,"And then I was going to explain properly."
The problem was that Shi-hyun was there. Usually, if I explained, Saet-byeol would understand and accept it or say the reason.
,"...Okay, I was wrong."
,"No, I understand why you acted that way, it's not that it's bad."
Yeah, this isn't Shi-hyun's fault either. It's Saet-byeol's fault. The only problem is that he immediately yelled at her.
,"Just, be nice to Saet-byeol."
I finished explaining to Shi-hyun for now. I wanted to hug Shi-hyun, but I couldn't because he was driving.
,"I'm being too lenient, it's not wrong to scold her, I just wanted to resolve it nicely without anyone getting upset on a day we're going out to have fun."
I finished saying that and headed back, but Shi-hyun's expression wasn't good. He seemed to be deep in thought.
When I went to the bedroom, Saet-byeol was clinging to Shi-u.
,"Were you waiting quietly?"
I approached with a bright smile.
,"Mommy...."
Saet-byeol was a little anxious.
,"Mommy told Daddy everything."
,"Reawwy?"
,"Yeah, Saet-byeol did wrong too, so you have to apologize to Daddy, okay?"
Saet-byeol looked at me with an uneasy expression.
,"Daddy doesn't hate Saet-byeol?"
,"Of course, why would Daddy hate Saet-byeol?"
I stroked Saet-byeol's head to reassure her.
,"Then I'll do it."
,"Okay, let's apologize later."
,"Okay."
I gently hugged Saet-byeol. Jae-won, who was watching from the side, also burrowed into me, so I hugged him too.
,"Okay, we're going out to have fun today, so let's enjoy it."
Was it a little comforting? Saet-byeol was smiling slightly. After that, I was busy taking care of Jae-won safely, so I couldn't pay attention to Shi-hyun.
After a little time passed, I felt the car stop.
,"Huh? The car stopped?"
Is there traffic? It's not foliage season yet, so there shouldn't be traffic. I came out of the bedroom and looked out the window to see where we were, and it was a rest stop.
,"It's a rest stop?"
Shi-hyun had already left the car and wasn't there.
,"Where did he go in such a hurry?"
He's not in the bathroom, does he have something to do at the rest stop?
,"Kids, let's take a break."
The children in the bedroom came out in droves. Only Jae-won was flustered on the bed, so I hugged him. I took out water from the refrigerator, prepared easy-to-eat fruits, and helped them use the bathroom, and then Shi-hyun came into the car.
,"Huh?"
Shi-hyun had various rest stop foods in his hands.
,"Here."
Shi-hyun couldn't look straight at Saet-byeol and put the food on the table.
,"Ahem, Saet-byeol likes this, right?"
What Shi-hyun bought was a long sausage.
,"Daddy?"
,"It's a snack, eat it."
Shi-hyun coughed awkwardly, as if he was embarrassed, and tried to head to the driver's seat. Then Saet-byeol quickly grabbed Shi-hyun's sleeve.
,"E-eat together."
Shi-hyun stopped for a moment and turned around to sit in the chair. It was funny because Saet-byeol and Shi-hyun couldn't make eye contact with each other.
I spread out the food that Shi-hyun bought so it would be easy to eat.
,"You bought a lot."
It wasn't snack time and it hadn't been long since we ate, but he bought this much, it was an unlike Shi-hyun action. Was he that sorry to Saet-byeol? Anyway, the atmosphere was easing.
,"Ah, Daddy, I'm sorry."
It was a sudden apology, but Saet-byeol took courage.
,"Okay, don't do that next time."
Only then did Saet-byeol smile, relieved, and start eating the food in front of her diligently.
,"Good job."
I nudged Shi-hyun and said.
,"What would you do fighting with a kid."
After eating snacks deliciously, we headed back to our destination. Was it because the atmosphere had eased? Saet-byeol and Shi-u freely roamed around the inside of the camper and played.
It was dangerous for Jae-won, so I kept him with me, but he kept trying to get away, as if he was frustrated.
*
The autumn flower expo venue we arrived at wasn't that crowded. Is it because it's a more relaxed period? Thanks to that, we were able to enter comfortably.
,"Heehee, flowers! Flowers!"
Saet-byeol had forgotten everything that happened in the morning and was holding Shi-hyun's hand tightly as she walked around. Shi-hyun didn't say anything and followed Saet-byeol.
,"That's a relief."
,"Indeed."
Shi-u, who was next to me, was also watching the two of them.
,"Were you worried too, Shi-u?"
,"Of course, Saet-byeol acting like that wasn't a one- or two-day thing."
,"Oh, really?"
How bad was it for Shi-u to say that? I became awkward and embarrassed. I must have been too protective of Saet-byeol. Even Shi-u is saying that, not just Shi-hyun.
Then Jae-won in my arms started to struggle.
,"What's wrong?"
,"Me, me!"
Does he want to walk? When I put Jae-won down on the ground, he stood up straight and walked slowly. He seemed curious about the colorful flowers and tried to get close to see or touch them. I helped him as much as possible.
Shi-u was busy, staying here alone and going to where Saet-byeol and Shi-hyun were.
,"Jae-won-ah, do you like it?"
,"Eungya!"
Originally, he wouldn't have been able to touch the flowers, but there were some flowers that had fallen on the ground, so he had a chance to touch them.
Jae-won was walking hard by himself, as if he liked the new experience. He looked precarious, so I was ready to catch him at any time, but he walked better than I thought.
,"Jae-won-ah, don't put it in your mouth, it's dirty, dirty."
,"Dirty?"
,"Yeah, it's dirty, so you can't eat it."
,"Dirty!"
Jae-won listened well and threw the flower in his hand on the ground.
,"Yeah, dirty."
,"Dirrty!"
Jae-won looked around and then scurried away. There, Saet-byeol and Shi-hyun were playing together in a slightly awkward atmosphere. They fought in the morning, but it's good that they're doing well.
,"Ppaa! Nuna!"
When Jae-won called his dad and older sister loudly and approached, they were startled and looked back.
,"Is your younger sibling enjoying the sightseeing too?"
Jae-won hugged Saet-byeol tightly and giggled. Our charmer is blowing away the awkward atmosphere.
,"Were you two doing well?"
,"Yeah, were you worried?"
,"A little? I wasn't worried about you, I was worried about Saet-byeol."
I would have been really embarrassed if she had avoided me because she was scared, but thankfully, she didn't.
,"Jae-won seems to be enjoying it too."
,"How was Saet-byeol?"
,"She was walking around diligently."
Shi-hyun smiled bitterly.
,"Shall we take pictures now?"
,"We should."
Shi-hyun's mood seemed to have eased, and I called Shi-u and took pictures together. Everyone took pictures diligently without being embarrassed. Since there were few people, we got help from an employee to take a picture of the five of us. We went to the place with the printing shop and asked that person to take pictures again. I was embarrassed because that person smiled at seeing the increased family again. He patted Shi-hyun on the back, saying that having three children in this day and age made him a patriot, and Shi-hyun seemed a little embarrassed by those words, as his face turned red.
After looking around a lot and taking pictures, we took a seat in a place with a good view and ate lunch boxes. Of course, the children liked seeing the various foods made into characters.
Saet-byeol especially liked it a lot. I couldn't believe this was the child who threw a fit this morning saying she didn't want to go, she was enjoying it so much.
,"Saet-byeol-ah, aren't you glad you came out?"
,"Yeah!"
It seems she's already forgotten what happened in the morning. Still, I was pleased to see the children eating well and playing well.