Chapter 33
33. Life Shot
Kangwoo pointed to the height marker with a very fair voice.
"You need to be in school to ride it."
At Kangwoo's words, Jiho asked with a sullen face.
"Then what do we ride?"
That sight was so cute that Naeun smiled brightly and pointed to the merry-go-round.
"There's that one. The photos come out so cool."
Then the kids were quickly distracted by the flashy spinning merry-go-round and ran over there.
"But you're not saying I have to ride the merry-go-round too, right? At my age?"
When Kangwoo spoke, Naeun looked at him.
"If you don't want to ride, we'll ride with just the kids. Take photos for us."
Then Kangwoo thought for a moment. It was childish, but riding the merry-go-round together might feel like a real date.
"I'll ride too. It must be hard to take care of two kids alone, right? Five-year-olds seem a bit dangerous to ride by themselves."
"No. They hold on tight when riding the merry-go-round. But you have to firmly warn them not to get off."
So all four of them got on the merry-go-round. Soon music played, and it began to turn.
Kangwoo smiled as he looked at Naeun's face from atop the wooden horse.
"Fun?"
"I'm having fun. What about you, CEO?"
"For me, well, it's okay. But it's worth riding."
Actually, it felt better than he'd expected. There wasn't much thrill; it was just a slowly spinning merry-go-round.
Naeun was laughing beside him. Her face smiling at the kids felt new no matter how long he looked. In a word, he never got tired of it.
"What? Want to ride more?"
Kangwoo had been staring blankly at Naeun without even realizing the merry-go-round had stopped. He was still holding the monkey balloon.
"Look at that person's balloon. It's huge."
People were even taking photos. He really hadn't expected this.
"Do I have to keep holding this?"
"Should I hold it? Give it here."
Naeun extended her hand without hesitation to take it, but when he tried to hand it over, he felt like everyone's gazes would turn to her.
"I'll just hold it. But those kids begged to buy balloons, and now they won't even look at it."
"It's ours now. They're relieved."
"Why are there so many restaurants here? Why bring kimbap? Must've been such a hassle."
Naeun laughed at Kangwoo's words.
"Just have a few snacks. You'll see how delicious homemade kimbap is."
The four of them took out kimbap and fruit from the car and settled at a picnic table. As soon as Kangwoo took a bite, he nodded in agreement with what Naeun had said earlier.
Was homemade kimbap always this tasty? Had he ever eaten kimbap this delicious?
He'd never touched kimbap before. Even at the office, he ordered from upscale restaurants, focusing on protein-heavy meals, so street food kimbap was out of the question.
And no one made it for him at home either.
But Naeun's kimbap was savory and refreshing, indescribably delicious. Since she'd made them small for the kids, Kangwoo popped two at a time into his mouth.
"Tasty, right?"
Minho spoke up first, and Jiho laughed.
"Mom's kimbap is really the best."
"This one's with anchovies, and this one's with beef. Surprisingly, the kids prefer the anchovy ones."
Do people put anchovies in kimbap these days? But it was all delicious.
"If we get hungry later while playing, we'll buy some snacks. Grilled butter squid too."
Watching Naeun rattle off the snacks so familiarly was fascinating.
Do kindergarten teachers all know kids' snacks like this?
In the lively noise of the amusement park, Kangwoo and Naeun were chatting while briefly watching the kids. Naeun lightly covered her forehead with one hand, glanced at Kangwoo, and flashed a playful smile.
"By the way, CEO, are you brave?"
Naeun asked cautiously, covering her mouth as if holding back laughter.
Kangwoo tilted his head with a puzzled expression.
"Why bring up bravery all of a sudden?"
Curiosity filled Kangwoo's eyes. Naeun shrugged slightly and glanced around at the crowd.
"Surprisingly, a lot of guys are scared of the Blue Dragon coaster."
She nodded meaningfully and added,
"The kind who get on all confident but come off more drained than the girls."
Kangwoo widened his eyes in surprise and placed a hand on his chest.
"You think I'd be like that? Me?"
Kangwoo looked incredulous.
"How do you judge people like that? I'm a Marine Corps veteran. Special Forces at that."
He replied proudly, looking at Naeun with a confident expression.
Naeun smiled slyly and nodded.
"That's nothing. I've done parachute jumps."
Kangwoo shrugged as if it were no big deal and tossed a playful smile.
Naeun burst out laughing at his slightly boastful demeanor.
"I see."
Naeun nodded once more with a teasing smile. Kangwoo was dissatisfied with her suspicious reaction. He felt somehow wronged.
Minho, who had been listening from the side, tugged at his hand and asked,
"Uncle, can you ride the Blue Dragon coaster?"
"Of course I can. But I won't."
"Why?"
"I don't like it."
"Why don't you like it?"
How should he explain? That it was pointless energy waste? It seemed useless to say.
"Just don't like it."
Then Naeun laughed.
"You don't like stuff like that?"
"Don't want to waste energy."
Naeun laughed at Kangwoo's words.
"We came to the amusement park to burn energy. We're playing here until the kids are exhausted."
The kids showed no signs of tiring, leaving the adults exhausted first. After playing for a while, as they headed out, Jiho ran toward the photo booth labeled "Life Shot."
"Mom, photos!"
Grabbing Jiho's hand, Naeun turned to Kangwoo.
"You haven't done something like this in ages, right?"
"Obviously. I've never even been to a place like that."
Naeun thought Kangwoo's words were to be expected.
"Let's try it this time."
In front of the photo booth were various props: sunglasses, colorful wigs, headbands.
"Let's match with headbands."
Naeun picked round, cute ones with ears.
"You want me to wear this? You think this headband suits this face?"
But while talking, Naeun quickly placed a headband on Kangwoo's head. It was a mouse-shaped one with perky ears. Looking in the mirror, Naeun said it suited him perfectly.
In the narrow booth, the four had to huddle together to fit in the frame.
"Let's make funny faces?"
At Naeun's words, Jiho stuck out his tongue. Minho scrunched his face. Naeun made a big exaggerated expression, and they took the photo. Then they smiled brightly and took five more in a row, selecting the ones they liked.
The sticker photos came out.
"They turned out better than expected."
Seeing the sticker photo packed with the four small faces made his chest tighten for some reason. Kangwoo didn't know how to describe the emotion.
"The photos came out great. Should we take it home and put it in a little frame?"
"Yes!"
"Why do you need so many props? Do we have to buy a frame too?"
"Of course we have frames."
"Guess I need to visit Naeun's room sometime. Wonder what's in Teacher Han's drawers."
"Just odds and ends. Glue, scissors, colored pencils, markers, adhesive, small frames, ribbons. The kindergarten has even more. I'm best at origami."
Kangwoo nodded at Naeun's words. Just then, as they headed from the amusement park entrance toward the zoo area,
Broadcasting equipment was already lined up along the path from the entrance to the zoo. Large cameras were fixed on tripods, scanning and focusing on the surroundings, while the crew bustled about preparing at their stations. Cables tangled messily across the ground, and lighting equipment gleamed dazzlingly even in the sunlight.
"Looks like they're filming a broadcast."
"Yeah, seems like it."
Kangwoo said nonchalantly.
