Side Story Chapter 62 – The Story of Little Things (7)

It was amazing.

The darkness in front of me cleared away, but there was no sound.

Just the slow thud of debris falling.

Moreover, looking around, my wonder grew.

The building that had been there until a moment ago, incomplete but large.

It was a size that could easily rival any regular amusement facility.

Yet, most of that building had disappeared.

Of course, if moms got involved, turning such a structure to dust would be quick.

But to leave absolutely no trace like this was, surely, impossible.

It felt as if the silence had carved out this space.

What I saw was far beyond the realm of Yumi’s common sense.

And the sky I saw again was so astonishing.

I hadn’t spent long in that building.

The sky was bizarrely blue, almost too much to believe.

As if someone had scratched it with a fingernail.

The clouds were slightly torn here and there.

But above all, seeing Dad in front of me was the most astonishing.

“D…Dad…?”

“Is it really…Dad…?”

It seemed Yeonwoo shared the same disbelief as he muttered in astonishment.

Dad clearly didn’t look well.

I thought he’d be happily playing around somewhere.

Had he been frantically searching for Yumi and Yeonwoo?

He was soaked in sweat, struggling to catch his breath.

His eyes were bloodshot, and tears had gathered in the corners.

His clothes looked wrinkled as if he had thrown them on in a hurry.

Seeing that Dad, I felt a mix of guilt and fear.

He must have been wandering like that worried for Yumi and Yeonwoo.

The place where he found them was incredibly dangerous.

Normally, Dad would never compromise on safety.

Despite being rare, whenever there was even a hint of danger,

Dad had always turned serious.

That memory was vivid in Yumi’s mind, and it made her afraid now.

Having barely escaped an incident,

to reunite at another moment of danger was alarming.

I trembled at the thought that this time, I’d get a harsh scolding.

“Yumi, Yeonwoo. Are you hurt?”

But contrary to Yumi’s expectations, Dad didn’t react that way.

He wasn’t scolding or glaring at them at all.

He merely wore a smile full of apology.

“Yeah……”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“That’s a relief.”

That smile was very familiar to Yumi.

Dad had never shown it before.

But it overlapped with the smile I’d just seen.

The smile the boy made when he petted Yumi’s head.

At that moment, Yumi’s heart began to flutter again.

But this time, it was impossible to understand.

I was just seeing Dad, not the boy. Why was I feeling this way?

Of course, Dad and the boy looked almost identical.

Still, it felt like a coincidence that they simply resembled each other.

It was strange.

Do growing pains really break a person?

Had red mom already broken and been free of growing pains?

But other moms must have gone through growing pains too.

Hadn’t they all fallen apart more than red mom?

As Yumi pondered such serious thoughts in her mind,

“Yumi, Yeonwoo.”

“What…?”

“What’s going on?”

“I’m sorry.”

Suddenly, Dad apologized to Yumi and Yeonwoo.

He tried to hug them, but noticing his sweaty body,

he hesitated, instead gently stroking their heads.

Despite it being their first interaction today, it felt like the second.

“I came too late… I should’ve found you sooner… I’m sorry…”

At that moment, Yumi and Yeonwoo locked eyes.

They nodded quietly, then immediately hugged Dad tightly.

Did he not expect them to act this way?

Or did he think his sweaty clothes were off-putting?

Dad panicked, trying to pull Yumi and Yeonwoo away.

“It’s okay. You came back well, Dad.”

“…Thanks for rescuing us… Dad…”

“Yeah…”

After hearing their words, Dad gently embraced Yumi and Yeonwoo.

They began to move away from the spot that was once a building.

They had entered as just two, but now they were three together.

“Shall we get going, kids?”

“Yeah!”

“Let’s hurry.”

Just then, in the distance, the sight of the moms came into view.

Everyone had desperate faces, shedding tears,

but they brightened up the moment they saw Yumi and Yeonwoo.

Even though they had sent texts, the worry still lingered among the moms.

Soon, the moms rushed over to Yumi and Yeonwoo,

scooping them up before they could say a word.

Thanks to that, both made the same slight grimace.

“Yumi! Yeonwoo! Are you okay?”

“Mom… I’m hurt…”

“Me too… I’m a little… hurt…”

“Where? Are you hurt anywhere?”

It hurt more than they expected.

“I bumped into Mom’s chest and it hurt.”

“It’s hard.”

“……”

Red mom’s hard chest.

Anyway, everyone had gathered back here.

Yumi immediately looked at the moms and confessed.

“Mom…… I’m sorry… It’s my fault….. I’m sorry…”

Did they not expect an apology at all?

The moms exchanged slightly surprised glances.

They all gently smiled and forgave Yumi.

“It’s okay, Yumi. Mom was wrong too. I’m sorry.”

“To be honest, as long as the girls are safe that’s all that matters! So just stop!”

“I should’ve been more careful today… It was my mistake.”

“It’s my fault… Just delaying the construction for a few days would’ve sufficed… I’m sorry…”

I was happy.

Despite all sorts of incidents and accidents,

it had been a truly eventful day.

Still, we were all gathered once again.

At that moment, Yeonwoo’s voice suddenly rang in Yumi’s ear.

“By the way, Mom, did you see any boy here?”

“What kind of strange question is that, Yeonwoo?”

“No, I’m sure I didn’t. There was none, for sure.”

That’s when Yumi recalled the boy.

Yumi and Yeonwoo hadn’t been in the building for long.

The boy must not have gone far due to not being well.

Where could he have gone? He just seemed to vanish.

“Strange. He was definitely around our age…”

“Among today’s visitors, there weren’t any kids the same age as Yeonwoo or similar.”

“……What…?”

“Really. If you want, you can verify.”

It was the white mom’s statement who said he had never even entered.

“Dad, did you happen to see any boy? He was about my age!”

“…I don’t know… I didn’t see one when I got here…?”

Even Dad, who arrived first, claimed he hadn’t seen the boy.

Could it be that the boy was a spirit with no substance?

But he wasn’t fuzzy enough to classify as a ghost.

We had played together, and he even bought a necklace as a souvenir.

He had to be a real person.

Amidst the confusion, Yumi’s head started spinning.

Suddenly, a feeling towards the boy emerged.

I felt sorry.

I had been so harsh to him till the end.

Yet I couldn’t even properly apologize once.

And now, I would never get the chance to say sorry again.

My heart, which had been quiet, began to ache.

This time, it wasn’t growing pains, but sadness.

So painful that I clutched my heart with my hand.

As Yumi quietly suppressed her grief inside,

something suddenly caught her eye.

It wasn’t everything, but merely a fragment.

Yet it was very clearly etched in her sight,

a necklace just like the one hanging on Yumi and Yeonwoo’s neck.

It peeked out from Dad’s pants pocket.

It appeared for just a moment.

Immediately, Yumi’s heart began to flutter.

But this time, she didn’t clutch her chest.

She simply smiled quietly.

That’s when Yumi realized.

The reason the boy had been so kind to Yumi and Yeonwoo.

How he had gotten to know their tastes.

And then, how he had vanished like a mirage in the desert.

The true identity of that very mature and mysterious boy.

Lastly, the source of the gentle pain she felt in her heart.

Just then, Yeonwoo, glancing around, quietly approached Yumi and began to whisper.

With a slightly worried expression that wasn’t very childlike.

“Yumi.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Do you still hate Dad?”

At that moment, the necklace around Yumi’s neck jingled.

It was just a souvenir.

Something anyone could buy if they had enough money.

Yet for Yumi, it was the only one in this world.

“No!”

“Then?”

It was a precious treasure full of memories.

Holding it tightly in her hands, Yumi beamed with joy.

A smile bursting with happiness surpassing anything she had ever shown.

“I love it the most in the world!”

Sadness is usually contagious.

That’s a fundamental trait of human emotions.

It stems from the inherently natural tendency of people to imitate each other.

“Yumi, Yeonwoo. Would you like to go to the outdoor swimming pool with Dad now?”

“No, it’s okay! I already had fun!”

“Me too. Let’s just go home together today.”

“Shall we go then, my princesses?”

But happiness works the same way.

Compared to negative emotions, its contagiousness might be weaker.

But within a family, it’s stronger than negative feelings.

When someone in the family feels happiness,

“Dad, I’m not really a princess…”

“Why? Is that already your age?”

It is the only group where happiness can be shared without belittling it.

“That wouldn’t be very revolutionary…”

“……So age wasn’t the problem…”

And now, the happiness that started from Yumi spreads outwards.

To Yeonwoo.

To Dad.

To the moms.

Thanks to that, the entire family finally smiles in joy.

“Yumi, that’s an abbreviation for communism.”

“Yeonwoo, really? Then I want to be a princess!!!”

“……Okay… Anyway, let’s go, Princesses…”

Yet, Dad couldn’t manage to smile in that final moment.

---