Hye-jae: Book 4

Seoul Vibe Part 38

After a wonderful family day with the children - where they had taken a boat and enjoyed the pleasures of Nami Island - a little dot of green in the Han River that got bigger and more beautiful as they approached, a precious gem of open nature, in an urban environment  - everyone had just enough energy for a walk along the Han River on their last night in Seoul.  Hye-jae held her Daddy's hand and chattered to him about all the fun things they had done since coming to Seoul, her clear favourite being the time spent with In-seo and Ji-soo's teenage children and their pets.  Seon-won ran forwards and backwards between his dad and his mom - like the excitable puppies that the children had fallen in love with - and made a determined case for why they needed to get pets when they got back to the states.  Hye-won made a pretence of being un-inclined to the idea but in reality, she was considering it carefully, knowing that the children had doted on the 2 pups and caring for pets was good for children's emotional growth.  She also could hear the conversation between Seon-jae and their little girl and more than once, she heard the names of the puppies mentioned.  She made a mental note to chat to Seon-jae about this and brought it up later that night after they had packed and the kiddies were asleep and they were both curled up together in bed, Hye-won feeling the waves of sleep run over her, after the long day in the outdoors and knowing that she was going to be away to dreamland soon.  Her voice was thick with sleep, from where her head was propped on Seon-jae's chest: 'sweetheart, I'm so sleepy, I'm going to be snoring in seconds but 2 things to mention before I do, ok?'

He gave a little huff at her cuteness.  Sometimes, she is as cute as the little ones.

'Yes, cutie, what are the 2 things?'

'Well, first, did you and your Eomma ever have pets, when you were small?'

A short pause before his answer: 'no, she always worried about what landlords would say about that but actually, I'd have loved a pet.  How about you?'

She also considered before she answered: 'no, we didn't either - my mother was definitely not a fan of animals - she always said that children made enough mess on their own without adding animals into the mixture - but my aunt - yes, that aunt that you met - my favourite - she always seemed to have lots of pets at her house and I really loved an old bull-dog called Pongo, that she had for years and years...I think we should...'

Seon-jae could hear in her trailing tone that she was already half-asleep and he grinned above her in the dim light.  Super cute, my love.  He kissed the top of her head and cradled her closer to him, before closing his own eyes, then remembered and murmured sleepily: 'oh, what was the second thing, sweetie?' but his sweetie was completely asleep now.  Well, maybe you are right.  I'm exhausted too and we have a long flight tomorrow.  And as he began to slip into a delicious sleep, his darling's warm body draped across him - the way the children always draped their favourite, cuddly friends across them at night - Seon-jae smiled inwardly that this trip with the children - organised so quickly and for a sad reason - had been so much fun.  

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