M 211

Side Story 3 Episode 14

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“Wow, what’s this?”

“Cards….”

“Cards? Hae-rim made them?”

“Yes….”

“Wow. Thank you.”

Sehwa squatted back down in front of Hae-rim, happily receiving the several cards the small hands offered.

“Little Daddy, wrote, letter… so, me too, Hae-rim too….”

The child’s cheeks, still unable to make eye contact, were flushed. Ah. Was he perhaps embarrassed to be handing over handmade cards? A warm smile spread across Sehwa’s face, who had been quite taken aback by the child’s initial rejection.

“What’s this one?”

“Uh, uhm… This one is, a gun.”

“…A gun?”

“Yes, when Hae-rim becomes a soldier later, he wants to have this….”

Sehwa, momentarily blinking at the child’s unexpected explanation, burst into loud laughter, eventually collapsing onto the hospital floor. What if he got hurt doing that? Ki Tae-jeong, clicking his tongue and reflexively trying to lift Sehwa up, decided not to be strict this time, finding his partner’s happy laughter beautiful and Hae-rim’s excitement at his Little Dad’s smile endearing.

“Big Daddy, Big Daddy too.”

“Can Big Daddy see too?”

“Yes!”

The child’s innocence, believing that his Little Daddy would also like what he liked, and Lee Hae-rim, already displaying extraordinary tastes as if to prove he was Ki Tae-jeong’s son, were almost unbearably adorable. Ki Tae-jeong, who had quietly taken a seat beside them, chuckled and listened to his son’s explanation.

“Wow. Then what’s this one?”

“Uh, this one, when we went to camp, I saw it there.”

Hae-rim pointed here and there, explaining the picture drawn on the front of the card.

“It was so pretty, I wanted to show it to Daddy, uh, Daddies….”

The time he discovered Treasure Island with Apie and his dinosaur friends in a dream, the day he and his Daddies and Grandfather cultivated a small garden plot with their names in General Oh Seon-ran’s garden, the moment he saw dolphins for the first time on a huge ship with his Daddies…. Every moment that remained a special memory for four-year-old Lee Hae-rim was contained within the seven drawings.

Ki Tae-jeong and Lee Sehwa were so grateful that they were included in Hae-rim’s happy memories, that he thought of his Daddies as soon as he saw a beautiful scene. They couldn’t even express their emotions carelessly at the pure love of the child, which shone so brightly that they felt sorry for having wondered what was wrong with him just moments before.

“Thank you, Hae-rim….”

“Did I draw it well? Is it pretty?”

“Of course! It’s so pretty. Hae-rim is the best.”

“Hehe.”

“Oh? What’s this?”

The last card was smaller than the others, and on it, a fighter plane with ‘Ki Tae-jeong’ and ‘Lee Hae-rim’ boldly written on it floated in the clear sky. Except for the giant white-winged flying object, there was no sun, not a single cloud, nothing at all in the bright blue sky. Compared to the charming previous cards, this picture gave a somehow intense impression.

“But Hae-rim, there’s a ‘Ki Tae-jeong’ airplane and a ‘Lee Hae-rim’ airplane, but there’s no ‘Lee Sehwa’ airplane?”

“Uh, can’t do that. Little Daddy has to hide….”

“Hide? Why?”

“Uhm, because, Ttupo is there….”

Hae-rim suddenly brought up the story of the little dinosaur from <Apie’s Great Adventure>. Knowing the child’s habit of blurting out whatever came to mind when he had a lot to say, the two listened quietly to Apie and Ttupo’s tearful epic until Hae-rim calmed down.

“So, if we have wings like this, Little Daddy can hide.”

Hmm…? He was talking about Ttupo, but when did it come back to me…?

“Where does Little Daddy hide…?”

“Uh, that is, Little Daddy… Ttupo went to heaven… to the sky.”

“Ttupo? Apie’s friend? Right, he did… right?”

“But if you go there, they say you can’t meet again… Apie cried a lot too, because he missed Ttupo….”

Tears welled up in Hae-rim’s big eyes.

“So Little Daddy can’t go to heaven either. Because then we can’t meet anymore, so me and Big Daddy… like this, if we have our wings spread out, Little Daddy won’t be seen in heaven. Uh-huh… so Little Daddy, under me and Big Daddy, hide well. Got it?”

“…Yeah, so you put wings on the airplane…. To keep Little Daddy from being seen in heaven.”

“Yes….”

Perhaps Hae-rim had been pondering alone about how sick his Little Daddy was that they couldn’t even meet. Then, worried that his Daddy might go to heaven like Ttupo because he was so sick, that he wouldn’t be able to see him anymore, he drew large wings that would cover the entire sky on the fighter plane in the picture.

It was as if an invisible hand was tearing at his heart, making it tingle. Had his gaunt appearance been frightening, he felt sorry for having been gloomy for a while. While he was having such useless worries, Hae-rim was probably burning inside with worry that his Little Daddy would go to heaven.

Sehwa hugged Hae-rim tightly without a word. So that the child could confirm with his small ears that his heartbeat, the proof that his Little Daddy was alive, was there, filling his arms.

After hesitating for a moment, Hae-rim realized that the Little Daddy who was hugging him, the gentle hand stroking his back, hadn’t changed from before he was hospitalized, and burst into tears. It seemed he was now convinced that his Little Daddy wouldn’t suddenly leave like Ttupo.

“But, but, Little Daddy, you know….”

Before he knew it, Hae-rim was panting as he tried to hold back his tears, and he pulled all the cards he had carefully drawn towards Sehwa.

“I want to be with Big Daddy and Little Daddy every day, always, I like Grandpa too, but, but….”

“…Yeah, I know what you mean, Hae-rim.”

“So, hic, don’t be sick, Daddy.”

Because me and Big Daddy are here, Little Daddy can’t go to heaven alone.