A child who looks like me

Two days ago, Ji-heon received a call from Jae-gwang.

“Yes, Father.”

[How are you doing?]
“Of course.”

[Isn’t it hard raising the baby?]
“If I said it was hard, would you give me parental leave?”

[What kind of leave can a contract worker get?]
Jae-gwang brushed aside Ji-heon’s small wish as a joke and subtly began to introduce the topic.

[By the way, about the day after tomorrow. Do you have some time in the evening?]
“That day is my day off. It’s Yena’s birthday.”

[Right, right, right.]
“Father, did you forget Yena’s birthday?”

[Forget? Why would I forget? I was just checking if you might forget.]
“Why would I forget? Please talk sense.”

After a brief exchange of snappy remarks, both father and son fell silent.

After an awkward pause, Ji-heon spoke again.

“Did you call about this? Is something going on?”

“No, it’s nothing… I’m just planning to visit on Yena’s birthday evening.”

There was something suspicious about Jae-gwang’s answer.

Tilting his head, Ji-heon hung up and reported to Jeong-o that something like this had happened earlier that day. Jeong-o also tilted her head in confusion.

Now that she thought about it… earlier, Yena had subtly pointed out the date of her birthday too.

Although she had never forgotten that Yena’s birthday was approaching, Jeong-o hadn’t brought it up first.

She thought Yena would mention it herself eventually, so she had waited to see when that would be, but she hadn’t expected it to be this quiet. In hindsight, it seemed that Yena had intentionally chosen not to say anything.

Was the little girl holding back from talking about her birthday?

“Do you think there’s something Yena and your father talked about?”

Jeong-o raised her question. Ji-heon immediately contacted Jae-gwang again to pry about what had happened that day. And reluctantly, Jae-gwang revealed the truth.

......

And so, on May 27th,

Jeong-o, Ji-heon, and Guk-soon woke up early to set up a birthday table and decorate the house. They then went to Yena’s room with Ye-jun, who had just woken up. Initially, Yena pretended to be lazy and kept her eyes closed, but at the mention of “birthday,” she sat up straight.

“Dad, does that mean I don’t have to go to school today?”

In Ji-heon’s arms, Yena asked excitedly.

“You can do whatever you want, Yena. What do you want to do?”

“I don’t want to go! No, no, I want to go! I have to do the dictation.”

“Well, what will you do after school?”

“Flying yoga!”

Ji-heon expected her to think about it for a while, but Yena’s response came very quickly.

“I want to learn flying yoga with Mom and Dad!”

Though he had a vague idea of what flying yoga was, Ji-heon had never seen it properly before. He immediately searched for it on his phone.

Images of women performing graceful poses like ballerinas with hammocks hanging from the ceiling filled the screen. Here and there, there were pictures of men as well, though they were few and far between.

With a chuckle, Jeong-o glanced at Ji-heon’s search screen.

“Are you saying our Yena wants to do this with Mom and Dad?”

“Yeah!”

“Even in those tight clothes?”

“Yeah!”

Yena answered loudly at Jeong-o’s question, encouraging Ji-heon.

“Dad, you’ll do it with us, right?”

Answer him. You promised to do anything.

Jeong-o stretched her lips into a long line and looked at Ji-heon. It was amusing to see his eyes darting around.

“Sure. Let’s do it.”

Although it sounded like a sigh mixed with his answer, Ji-heon accepted it readily.

“Wow!” Yena cheered excitedly.

Yena had breakfast at the birthday table that Guk-soon and Ji-heon prepared, took several photos in the living room decorated by her mom, and then went to school. The difference this year was that she no longer wore her birthday princess dress. Graduating from her princess attire and tiara, Yena’s outfit was now simple and convenient.

While Yena was at school, Ji-heon reserved a yoga lesson and found a store to buy yoga clothes. Then, at 5 PM, after Yena finished her classes at the Go and art academies, the three of them—Jeong-o, Ji-heon, and Yena—headed to the yoga studio.

The instructor was surprised to see that the three of them had come prepared for their first flying yoga class. Moreover, with their slim figures and no excess fat, they looked like a family ballet troupe.

“All three of you have physiques suitable for yoga. You’ll have a lot of fun learning!”

The instructor’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as she started the lesson.

“Since it’s all of your first time, let’s learn some basic poses. Hold the hammock with both hands and drape your body underneath. This will turn your body upside down. If you hook your feet in the hammock from this position, you’ll be in the monkey pose.”

In the blink of an eye, the instructor twisted her legs and hung upside down in the hammock. Ji-heon was the first to replicate the pose, having carefully watched her movements. Jeong-o and Yena also hung in the hammock with the instructor’s help.

The instructor returned to her position and demonstrated a connected movement.

“From here, hold onto the hammock again, lift your upper body, and grab your arms behind you. This is called the Tinkerbell pose.”

Tinkerbell! A name Yena knew well! She fell in love with the Tinkerbell pose.

However, as Yena attempted the movements as instructed, she quickly became frustrated. While the instructor’s movements looked effortless, seeing them in action was different from doing them herself. The pose was difficult without sufficient core strength and grip.

Worried about straining her body, Jeong-o had given up early and was swinging in the hammock. While the instructor and Yena focused solely on each other, Ji-heon felt the pressure on his shoulders. He had to master the pose.

Although he was strong, he wasn’t very flexible, so his body moved stiffly. Nevertheless, with commendable stamina, he managed to perform the pose without much difficulty. The thick straps dug into his skin. Though it felt like torture under the guise of exercise, Ji-heon transformed into the male Tinkerbell through the power of love.

“Father! You’re doing great! You really have a talent for this!”

The instructor clapped excitedly. Encouraged by Ji-heon’s success, Yena grabbed the hammock again, with the instructor helping her.

“Bee-boo, bee-boo. Bee-boo, bee-boo.”

“Huh?”

“My legs hurt. Bee-boo, bee-boo. Bee-boo, bee-boo.”

What had been torture for Ji-heon was just as hard for Yena. She couldn’t scream loudly since she had insisted on doing flying yoga with her mom and dad, so she made adorable siren sounds instead. Ji-heon couldn’t help but smile despite the pain.

It was tough, but time passed quickly in their laughter.

“Yena really resembles her dad; she’s doing great!”

The instructor commented proudly.

As the lesson ended, Yena seemed reluctant to leave, as if she were wishing it would continue. Ji-heon asked her, “Yena, do you want to come again?”

“Yeah!”

“Then shall we come every week?”

“Can we do that?”

Seeing Yena’s excited expression as she asked, even though she knew her dad was busy and didn’t want to pressure him, Ji-heon felt a lump in his throat.

“Of course. Absolutely.”

.*. *. *. *. *. *.

When they returned home, it was evening. To celebrate Yena’s birthday, they had invited Jaegwang, Youngmi, and Seung-kyu’s family. It was party time again.

Jeong-o was the first to present a gift.

“Happy birthday, Yena! This is a present from Mom.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a book you love!”

Youngmi’s gift was a crocheted bag that Yena had once asked her to make.

“Here you go. It’s the kangaroo bag our Yena ordered.”

But even holding the lovingly crafted bag, Yena complained.

“Grandma! If it’s a kangaroo bag, it should have a baby kangaroo in this pocket too!”

“I’ll make that for you later. Do you know how hard I worked to crochet this?”

Youngmi sighed, her dark circles under her eyes deep from all the effort she had put in to finish it in time for Yena’s birthday. In truth, Yena had been teasing her for fun, enjoying how flustered her grandma got each time she mentioned it.

Next was Ji-heon’s gift. His was the largest.

“This is a ball-jointed doll that our Yena loves.”

“Wow!”

Yena cheered, thrilled to receive a gift she had wanted for so long.

Seeing this, Jaegwang couldn’t hold back and jumped in.

“Yena! Grandpa has a gold medal snack for you!”

The box from Grandpa was quite impressive. Jaegwang had come up with the idea when Yena won the Go tournament last year.

The snack was packaged to look like a shiny gold medal. The name was “Princess’s Gift,” and it was a product that would soon be sold in supermarkets nationwide by summer.

Yena’s mouth dropped open wide.

“It’s a snack that Grandpa made just for Yena.”

“Wow. Grandpa, you’re the best!”

“See? I’m the best.”

Jaegwang shrugged proudly beside Ji-heon.

In the midst of the family’s noisy gift exchange, which had turned into a bit of a competition, Dobin also presented a small box.

“Yena! I have a gift too!”

“What is it?”

“Slime.”

“Wow! It’s slime!”

Yena couldn’t contain her excitement and jumped up and down. For Yena, who had been unable to play with slime because her mom didn’t allow it, Dobin’s simple gift was the best of all. The expressions of the family members, who had presented flashy gifts, dimmed a bit.

Turning his head with a hint of disappointment, Ji-heon noticed a card that had fallen beside him. He picked it up; it was a card from Dobin.

– Happy birthday, Yena! Let’s get married when we grow up!

This kid, how dare he propose to someone already.

Ji-heon discreetly tucked the card into his pocket, hoping no one would notice. Dobin, realizing the card was missing, looked around Ji-heon.

“Sir, have you seen a card that fell here?”

“No, I haven’t seen it.”

Ji-heon played innocent, pretending not to know anything.

.*. *. *. *. *. *.

After an exciting birthday party, Yena finally lay down to sleep past 10 PM.

Filled with happiness, she burst out excitedly, “Ah! I wish tomorrow were my birthday too!”

Ji-heon, lying next to her, gently brushed Yena’s hair and thought to himself.

I’ll make that happen for you, sweetheart.

Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, and every day, I will cherish and love you as if it were your birthday.

“Dad, today was the best birthday of my life.”

The best birthday in an eight-year-old’s life.

I’m honored too.

I’m honored to share the best birthday in Yena’s life.

A day I couldn’t have imagined last year at this time.

It’s amazing, isn’t it? There was only one person in the world who called me Dad, and because of that one person, my life has changed so much, and I’m so happy. Jeong-o, did you feel that way too?

As moisture gathered in Ji-heon’s throat, Yena’s eyelids gently fluttered down. Perhaps playing had tired her out; she fell asleep quickly.

Moments later, Jeong-o rushed in, having just put Yejun, who had started whining at the same time, to sleep. She wanted to say goodnight to her daughter on her birthday.

“Is Yena asleep?”

“Yes.”

“What did she say before falling asleep?”

“She said it was a wonderful birthday.”

Jeong-o sat down next to Ji-heon, who had gotten up, and looked at the sleeping Yena. Her expression was happy and peaceful.

Just like always, she expected Yena to whine for her mom, but today, Yena fell asleep without fussing. It was as if she had grown up a bit.

Children grow up so fast. You can’t see them growing day by day, but one day you suddenly realize they’ve grown so much.

Today, it felt like the child had grown a lot.

Jeong-o felt thankful and a bit guilty.

She wished time would pass a little more slowly.