Chapter 7

Heading to Seoul (1)

Thanks to my second daughter, I ended up buying so many clothes that I could barely carry anything else in my hands.

I thought that should be enough.

“You’re not done yet, Dad. We’re only getting started.”

“Still?”

“It’s only been three hours. At this point, it would be embarrassing to even say we’ve been shopping.”

Seonhye had always loved shopping.

Back when we didn’t have much money, I suddenly remembered how happy Seonhye used to be even when she was only window-shopping.

I had once promised her that if Dad ever made a lot of money, I would buy her as many clothes as she wanted.

It ended up being the other way around.

I couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

I hadn’t really done anything for my children.

And yet, I was receiving so much from them.

I wondered if it was really okay.

Just as we were about to head downstairs—

“Oh my!”

A strange sparkle appeared in my second daughter’s eyes.

She had always reacted like this whenever she spotted a new item she liked.

As I watched her immediately head toward the women’s clothing section, I thought, Of course.

She took out a light-pink dress and held it against her body before asking me,

“What do you think? Does it look good on me?”

“No matter what you wear, my daughter is the prettiest.”

“Even prettier than my sister?”

It was practically the same as asking, “Who do you like more, Mom or Dad?”

Whether it was Jinhye, Seonhye, or Mihye, they all looked like angels who had descended from heaven to me.

Still—

Sorry, Jinhye, but I have to indulge your little sister here.

Otherwise, she would probably sulk for three days.

“Yes, you’re the prettiest.”

“Yes! Thanks, Dad.”

“Just don’t tell your sister.”

I’m sorry, Jinhye.

It’s all for your little sister, so please forgive this useless father.

“Dad, what about this one?”

This time, she took out a blue frill skirt.

“I think it would look pretty if I wore this on television.”

Everything was fine.

Everything really was fine, but—

“Don’t you think the skirt is a little too short?”

Maybe I was just old-fashioned.

Or perhaps young women these days really did dress like this. I wasn’t sure.

Then again, maybe it only looked especially short because of the Dad filter.

“Come on, Dad. Everyone dresses like this these days.”

“Still. It looks like everything would be visible if even a little wind blew…”

Wouldn’t that be a huge problem if she wore it on television?

“It’s okay. I wear shorts underneath anyway. Dad, you’ve never seen me dance and sing on stage, have you?”

“You told me you were embarrassed and asked me not to watch, so I didn’t.”

When she first debuted as a singer, my second daughter had been extremely embarrassed about showing me how awkward and unfamiliar she was on stage.

So after that day, I deliberately avoided watching her performances.

I could have watched secretly.

But who knows what would have happened if she caught me doing that.

But now, her attitude had completely changed.

“You can watch me now. No, I want you to watch me. Just knowing that Dad is watching will give me a lot of strength.”

Seeing Seonhye, who had returned with such overflowing confidence, I couldn’t help but feel proud.

While we were looking through Seonhye’s clothes—

“Just a moment. Hello?”

Seonhye briefly spoke to someone on her smartphone.

After ending the call, she said,

“Dad, let’s go home soon.”

Finally!

A wave of relief washed over me at the thought of being freed from this shopping hell.

“The driver said she’ll be here soon. If we go downstairs now, it should be perfect.”

“The driver? You mean that young woman named Miyoung whom you introduced to me yesterday?”

“No. It’s a driver Dad knows very well.”

Only after we went down to the entrance of the department store did I discover who Seonhye was talking about.

A woman stood beside a bright yellow car that had been temporarily parked, watching us with her arms crossed.

“Why did you take so long?”

It was Lee Jinhye.

My eldest daughter was the driver Seonhye had been talking about.

We arrived home in the car Jinhye was driving.

During the entire trip, Jinhye’s nagging session aimed at Seonhye continued.

She scolded her for breaking their promise to come down together and rushing ahead on her own.

Then she nagged her again because Seonhye had taken me shopping for nearly four hours even though my body wasn’t in the best condition.

Of course, my second daughter hadn’t done it intentionally to make me tired.

She simply loved her dad that much.

Since she hadn’t seen me in such a long time, I figured she couldn’t help herself.

So I stepped in and mediated between the two.

Only then did the eldest daughter’s nagging finally decrease.

And, as a bonus, Seonhye whispered her thanks to me.

Anyway, it had been a long time since our family had gathered like this.

Well, not the whole family, but still.

We decided to have a little party.

On her way to pick us up, Jinhye had bought a cake and some wine in advance.

Seonhye stared at the cake for a moment before giving Jinhye a meaningful smile.

“You bought tiramisu? Thanks, Sis.”

“I deliberately went all the way there because I didn’t want to hear you whining like last time.”

“You really are something, Sis.”

They bickered with each other, but seeing them getting along so well still made me relieved.

“I’ll pour some for Dad first.”

“Thanks.”

I happily accepted the glass Seonhye handed me.

In the past, I could never even have imagined sitting like this with my daughters and drinking wine together.

Time really flies.

People sometimes say that the passage of time can be cruel.

But at this moment, I wanted to thank those years for passing so quickly.

Because they had allowed my daughters to grow up and show their father that they were living well.

At the daughters’ recommendation, I was the one who gave the toast.

“To the health and peace of our family. Cheers!”

At my toast, my second daughter immediately objected.

“Dad, that’s so old-fashioned!”

But what could I do?

I was an old man, after all.

Along with various side dishes, including the saury stew I had made the previous day, we enjoyed dinner and drinks together.

As the night grew deeper, my eldest daughter asked me,

“Dad. When are you coming up to Seoul?”

“I have to finish up my apartment security job first, so I’ll probably have to stay until at least next month… I suppose I’ll deal with the move after that.”

“I’ll make a reservation with a moving company so that you can come up as soon as everything is sorted out. But before you move, why don’t you come up to Seoul once first?”

I had already been thinking about doing that.

“I should go up. I want to see my youngest daughter’s face, too.”

I also wanted to see with my own eyes what kind of work my youngest daughter was doing.

“Then come on a day when all of us are there. I have fixed days off on the weekends, but if Dad is coming up for a short visit, I can take a day off. Mihye is home all the time, so I don’t think she’ll be a problem. Seonhye is the problem.”

Since she was an entertainer, she didn’t have regular days off like Jinhye did.

“Seonhye. What does your schedule look like?”

“Mine? I’ll have to check my schedule. I’ll contact Miyoung in a little while.”

“Okay. Then check Seonhye’s schedule, and once you figure it out, come up, Dad.”

Thanks to my eldest daughter organizing everything, coordinating the date was easy.

Just as the conversation was winding down, my second daughter gave me a sly smile.

“Dad, do you have a girlfriend?”

“There’s no way I do.”

A forty-five-year-old single man who had spent his entire life alone had never had much luck with women.

“Then when you come up to Seoul, I’ll introduce you to a few women.”

“Introduce me?”

“Yes. There are a lot of really beautiful senior actresses among the actresses I work with. They’re all going crazy these days because they want to date someone. For someone like Dad, with a decent face and a tall height, you’re exactly the type they’d like. What do you think?”

To think I would actually receive an offer to be introduced to actresses.

Life really was full of surprises.

Still, actresses had always seemed like something different to me.

People I admired? People far beyond my reach?

That sort of image was deeply ingrained in my mind.

I had seen so many actresses in their thirties and forties who looked so young that it was hard to believe their actual ages, which probably made that impression even stronger.

“I’ll think about it.”

Romance could come later.

For now, I wanted to focus on living together with my daughters again.

“Make sure you tell me when you’ve made up your mind, Dad. I’ll make sure to show lots of affection to the person who becomes my stepmother.”

“Okay. Got it.”

To think I had gotten an opportunity like this thanks to my second daughter.

It was simply amazing.

It was getting close to bedtime.

I intended to give my bed to my eldest and second daughters.

But suddenly, my second daughter made a suggestion.

“Let’s all sleep in the living room together.”

“All together? Why leave the bed empty?”

“It reminded me of the old days. Back then, Sis, Mihye, you, and I all used to sleep together in the living room, remember?”

That was true.

Our current home wasn’t exactly luxurious either, but it was still larger than the semi-basement apartment we had lived in before, so there was no real need for all of us to sleep together.

After my second daughter, my eldest also agreed, saying it was a good idea.

Two out of the three had already voted in favor.

Even if I objected, there was no way I could overturn the result.

“Fine. Let’s sleep together.”

We brought out mats, blankets, and pillows and laid everything out.

Finally, I turned off the lights and lay down.

My eldest daughter settled down on my left.

My second daughter took the spot on my right.

“Good night, Dad.”

“Sleep well. And dream about us.”

“You two have good dreams, too.”

Lying there and staring at the same ceiling with my daughters after such a long time, just as Seonhye had said, old memories slowly came flooding back.

Back then, during those freezing days, we would all gather in the living room, put on several layers of clothes and socks, hug each other tightly, and sleep like that.

Those days are all memories now.

Still, thanks to my daughters, perhaps tonight, at least, I could escape the nightmare of the fire that had haunted me for so long.

With that hope in my heart—

I slowly took one step toward dreamland.

After seeing my daughters off around lunchtime, I went back to work at the apartment.

“Hyung-nim. Here, this is for you.”

It was a red ginseng gift set.

The moment he saw the gift I had given him, my senior colleague’s eyes widened.

“What? Why did you buy something like this?”

“My eldest said she owed you a lot and asked me to give it to you.”

“Really? Haha! You really have good daughters, Dongsaeng. Tell her I said thank you.”

Thanks to Hyung-nim, I had been able to enjoy spending time with my daughters more often.

This was my way of repaying him.

“By the way, Dongsaeng, didn’t you say your daughters wanted you to come up to Seoul?”

“Yes. They did.”

“Have you decided to go?”

At his question, I slowly nodded.

The moment he saw my response, Hyung-nim burst out laughing and patted me on the back.

“Dongsaeng, you’ve made it big!”

I had, indeed.

Thanks to my daughters.

“Then what about the move?”

“I think I’ll do it after about two months. Before that, I’m planning to go up to Seoul once.”

I intended to go see my youngest daughter’s face, too.

“Really? When are you going up?”

I answered his question.

“Tomorrow. I’m going up tomorrow.”