My Girlfriend Is Very Good To Me [EN]: Chapter 208

Having thoroughly enjoyed watching Somang devour her hamburger steak, we left the restaurant shortly after.

The place was packed, and Somang kept squirming, eager to get back outside, so we couldn’t really relax.

“Daddy, here!”

“Thanks.”

“Mommy too!”

“Yeah~ Sweet~”

“Tee!”

Once we were outside, we shared a cotton candy for dessert. Sarang, holding a giant one, generously shared it with everyone. Somang happily ate the cotton candy her sister offered.

—Click!

As we stood in a corner enjoying our cotton candy, Heena was already snapping pictures of us with a selfie stick, capturing our candid moments without us even realizing it.

I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d already taken two or three hundred pictures. She might even print out the family photo we took when we arrived and put it in a frame.

“What should we do next? I think Somang has ridden almost everything she can ride. The parade isn’t for another hour.”

“Daddy! Let’s go to the arcade! I want you to win me a doll!”

“That sounds good~ Why don’t you and Sarang try to win her one?”

“A doll 뽑기 [ppopgi – doll claw machine]?”

A doll 뽑기. I’m not very confident, but a few rounds should be manageable. We have some time to kill anyway.

With our next activity decided, I took out a wet wipe and cleaned Somang’s hands. Our Somang had eaten the cotton candy with such enthusiasm, using both hands.

—Squeak Squeak

“Hand clean.”

“Don’t lick your hands. Dirty~”

“Okay.”

I cleaned her hands until they sparkled and gently wiped around Somang’s mouth. Then, I threw the tissue in the nearby trash can and turned around to see Sarang, who had already thrown her cotton candy stick away, holding out her hand to me.

“Daddy! Do it for me too!”

“Wouldn’t it be easier for Sarang to wash them in the bathroom?”

“I want Daddy to do it~”

“Oh geez… Give me your hand.”

Because she was acting cute and whining, I ended up wiping Sarang’s hands too. But she had eaten so cleanly, I don’t think there was much to wipe off.

Still, there’s no harm in washing your hands often, even if it’s just with a wet wipe. While I’m at it, I’ll clean Sarang’s mouth a little too.

Then let’s slowly head to the arcade…

“Honey, me too.”

“…Give me your hand.”

“Okay~”

—

Time was slightly delayed by the two women acting like babies, as always, but after that, we headed straight to the arcade.

A noisy place, as always, filled with the sounds of people talking and game BGM [background music]. Somang doesn’t like noisy places, so instead of looking around, we focused on the 인형 뽑기 [inhyeong ppopgi – doll claw machine] as planned.

“Daddy, a little more to the side!”

“Puppy cute.”

“Somang! Daddy will win it for you!”

“Will Somang say 힘내세요 [himnaeseyo – cheer up/root for] to Daddy?”

“힘내세여, Daddy.”

“Trust Daddy!”

Originally, I was just going to take a few turns and stop, but Somang pointed to a puppy doll and said ‘cute,’ so I couldn’t back down.

Sarang has already tried three times, and I have tried three times, but we have both tasted defeat.

But right now, the doll is lying in a perfect position to be grabbed by the 집게 [jipge – claw]. There are no other dolls in the way, so now is the perfect opportunity!

The past five tries were not in vain—

—Creak

“Sorry…”

“It’s okay, Daddy!”

“Yeah~ It happens.”

“Puppy…”

Unfortunately, the sixth attempt also failed miserably. The 집게 strangely changed direction at the last moment, so it didn’t even grab the doll.

I couldn’t bear to lift my face in shame. A dad who can’t even win his daughter a doll.

If I can’t win it even with this good position, it seems like a waste to spend more money. It wasn’t cool to be stubborn here, so I just took my hand off the 스틱 [seutik – joystick].

“It’s a shame, but let’s stop here. Let’s go see something else…”

“Honey. Let me try just once.”

“Oh? You want to?”

Since we’re here to have fun anyway, I thought it would be good to let her try if she wanted to, so I gave her my spot. Besides, Heena had just been watching all along.

I handed Somang over and gave Heena the remaining coins.

“Mommy, fighting!”

“I’ll do my best~”

And Heena, lightly moving the 스틱 while being cheered on by Sarang.

—Creak, Squeak— Thud.

“……”

“……”

“Puppy! Mommy!”

“Here. Somang’s puppy~”

“Cute!”

She 뽑기 [ppopgi – pulled/clawed] the doll so easily that it was absurd. With that 완벽한 [wanbyeokhan – perfect] success, Sarang and I, who were cheering, were left speechless.

What have we been doing all this time?

“Hehe.”

At our blank faces, Heena made a V sign with her hand and announced her victory. That smile, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, is really 멋있다 [meositta – cool/amazing].

Heena really can do anything.

“Oh, Mommy is amazing! You 뽑기 it in one try!”

“I was lucky~”

“Seriously, you’re no joke. As expected of Heena…”

“It’s because you and Sarang made it easy to 뽑기.”

To be honest, I touched it a little when I did it last, and the situation got a lot worse, but she 뽑기 it in one try. It was purely her skill, but my wife humbly praised me and Sarang.

She was the epitome of a 현모양처 [hyeonmoyangcheo – good wife and wise mother], really.

Anyway, I almost felt bad that I spent money and couldn’t 뽑기 it, but Heena turned it around in one shot. Thanks to that, we smiled and walked around the arcade a little more.

Not to do anything, just to look around. Somang frowned at the noise of the arcade, but she was still looking around here and there.

As we were walking around, something caught my eye. It was the basketball game. A simple game that can be found in any arcade, where you just throw basketballs into the 골대 [goldae – goal/basket].

When I used to 데이트 [deiteu – date] with Heena, we used to play it every time we went to the arcade while waiting for a movie. But since I haven’t been to the arcade itself in the last few years, it was very 오랜만에 [oraenmane – after a long time] seeing it.

Come to think of it, it’s been quite a while since I last played basketball. I used to play it once in a while when I was a college student while waiting for Heena. I played it every day when I was in high school.

As I was staring at it with a sense of nostalgia, Heena noticed my gaze and smiled, leading us towards it.

“Do you want to play, 자기 [jagi – honey/darling]? You liked this game.”

“Should I?”

“Really? I want to see Daddy do it!”

At Heena’s suggestion and Sarang’s 기대 넘치는 [gidae neomchineun – expectant/filled with anticipation] eyes, I couldn’t resist and stood in front of the game machine and put in a coin. Then the 차단막 [chadanmak – barrier] in the middle went down and the basketballs came down.

Holding a basketball in both hands after a long time, I felt strangely 싱숭생숭 [singseungsaengseung – sentimental/melancholy].

I have been happy every day since I met Heena and have always lived in gratitude, but there were definitely a few things I had to let go of. This was one of them.

Of course, I chose it. Because being with Heena was much more enjoyable than these things. But like 잠기듯 in 추억 [jamgideut in chueok – immersed in memories], there is something that makes one corner of my heart 아련해지는 [aryeonhaejineun – wistful/vague].

I took a stance and prepared to shoot after a long time. Originally, the way to score high in this game is to just throw it with both hands, but I’m not aiming for a high score.

—Rattle!

And the ball was shot from my hand and went right into the center of the 림 [rim – hoop]. The sound of the 쇠사슬 림 [soesaseul rim – chain net] shaking tickles my ears.

At the same time, I realized that I really like basketball. Even just this one 슈팅 [syuting – shooting] is so much fun.

But.

“Daddy is 멋있어 [meosisseo – cool/amazing]! The ball went in right away!”

“자기 [jagi – honey/darling], you’re still good? 멋있다 [meositta – cool/amazing]~”

“Cool.”

More than that, my family was important to me, and I loved them more than anything else.

“Do you want to play together, Sarang? Daddy will teach you.”

“I want to! How do you throw it?”

“Look at Daddy’s hand. Hold the ball like this, bend your knees, and then…”

So I had no regrets. It just remains as an 아련한 추억 [aryeonhan chueok – wistful memory]. That 한연후 [Han Yeon-hoo – the narrator] who liked games, sports, and other 잡다한 [japdahan – miscellaneous/trivial] things.

Putting 잡생각 [japsaenggak – unnecessary thoughts] aside, I enjoyed a light game with Sarang. Maybe because she’s a girl, she’ll hardly have a chance to throw a basketball the way I taught her.

After that, we walked around the arcade a little more and came outside in time to watch the parade.

There were already many people 자리 잡고 [jari japgo – taking spots], so we couldn’t get a good spot, but I made sure to give Somang a 목마 [mokma – piggyback ride] so she could see well.

In fact, everyone except Somang had seen it two or three times. Sarang also enjoyed the 분위기 [bunwigi – atmosphere] while holding my and Heena’s hands.

About 30 minutes of parade. And then the laser show that followed. Somang’s eyes couldn’t take their eyes off of those things, which were so amazing and fun, and we 열심히 [yeolsimhi – diligently/enthusiastically] took pictures next to Somang.

Without pictures, all of this will remain in Somang’s 추억 [chueok – memories] and 마음 [maeum – heart/mind] forever. But pictures will be an opportunity to 되새김 [doesaegim – relive/reminisce] this 추억 at any time. That’s why no matter how many I take, it’s not enough.

“One, two, three!”

“Kimchi!”

“기무치이 [gimuchiii – kimchi said cutely]?”

—Click!

And around the time all the performances ended, we took one last family photo in front of it, and we 복귀 [bokgwi – returned] home.

—

After returning home, taking a shower, and filling our stomachs with the chicken we bought on the way.

We spread out a blanket in the living room and watched a movie while lying down, thinking of falling asleep while watching it. Sarang was tired and was already 딱 붙어서 [ttak buteoseo – clinging] in my arms, and Somang was also 안겨 [angyeo – nestled] on me on the opposite side of Sarang.

And Heena.

“자기야 [jagiya – honey/darling]. Can you stretch your arm out?”

“So you can 베고 자 [bego ja – use as a pillow]?”

“Yeah. But will it be too hard for you?”

“No. You’re so 가벼운데 [gabyeounde – light]. You can 베고 자.”

“Hehe, thank you~”

She put Somang in the middle, lay down on her side, and 베고 [bego – pillowed] on my arm. Heena must have been very tired in many ways, driving, taking pictures, and 뒷바라지 [dwitbaraji – taking care of] Somang while I was playing with Sarang.

Still, seeing her 히죽히죽 웃던 [hijeukhijuk utdeon – grinning] while checking the pictures she took today, it seems like she was definitely 리프레쉬 [ripeureswi – refreshed].

Today, my wife and children are 달라붙은 [dallabuteun – clinging] on me and falling asleep, it was really the same 모습 [moseup – scene/sight] as always.

But what can I do? It may be a little different from others, but still, they are my family who love me so much, who I love.

Everyone fell asleep, and I lay down and looked at the 액자 [aekja – frames] in various parts of the house that were faintly lit by the light of the TV. On the walls, on the shelves next to the TV, and even on the kitchen table.

Pictures of me and Heena, pictures of the children, pictures of the family all together, etc. I could see all kinds of pictures that I had 뽑아서 [ppobaseo – picked out] and hung up after 추리고 [churigo – sorting].

The history of our life together from the first time we met until now was visible at a glance. Just looking at the pictures automatically 재생되었다 [jaesaengdoeeotda – replayed] the happy 추억 [chueok – memories] that happened on the day the picture was taken in my head.

It’s a 추억 저장고 [chueok jeojanggo – memory storage] in every sense of the word.

However.

If there is one thing I regret here.

Could it be our wedding photo, which we still don’t have?

* * *