Childhood Friend Who Sees the Future Utters Nonsense - Chapter 184
184 – Side Story – Entrance Ceremony (1)
Today is the day I’ve been waiting and waiting for. It’s none other than my twin’s elementary school entrance ceremony.
Actually, at first, the idea of an entrance ceremony didn’t really hit home for me. Isn’t it similar to sending your child to kindergarten? That’s because the thought suddenly occurred to me in the back of my head.
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“Will our children do well in school?”
But when the entrance ceremony actually came, worries about my precious son and daughter began to well up. This was probably the first time I showed myself so anxious in front of Yuna.
“Honey, you’ve been worrying about that all day since yesterday? You know how well our kids are doing outside.”
“That’s true, but… School and kindergarten are definitely different.”
My wife tried to reassure me by smiling at me as if she couldn’t stop me, but I still had a hard time putting my mind at ease.
Unlike kindergarten students who are always protected by the fence of their teachers, elementary school is a time when their own society is more firmly established and groups begin to form in earnest.
I started to feel anxious that my kids might learn something strange and that they might catch the eye of bad kids for no reason.
“Don’t worry about anything and just go out, sir. The kids are waiting outside with bated breath.”
“That’s right… That’s right.”
Suddenly.
I went out of the house as if I was fascinated by Yuna’s actions of pushing my back.
“Cheese, Mom and Dad are going out.”
“Meow.”
As we walked away, even seeing Cheese off, we saw the children waiting in the yard, playing with Maru.
Because Maru has grown so much in size, at first glance it looks like Maru is playing with the children rather than the children playing with Maru.
I could feel from his every action that he was aware of this, as if he was trying his best to prevent the children from getting hurt. In any case, he was a smart kid.
“Maruya! Are we going to school today?”
“bruise!”
“You’ll make a lot of friends, right? Oh, right! Jiho, who you used to hang out with, is from the same school as you!”
“Woof woof!”
I don’t know if we could communicate or not, but seeing Seol-ha chatting happily with Maru made me feel like all my worries were foolish.
Well, as Yuna said, our kids aren’t so weak that they’d get bullied or anything. They seem to be good at choosing their friends, whether they know it or not, so maybe it’s too early to worry about this.
Should parents not trust their children in the first place?
My father once answered my question about how to raise children in the same way. He said, ‘Trust your children. Raising children is an act that comes from trust.’
“Dad! When are we going to school?”
While I was watching the children with mixed emotions, Seol-ah came to me as usual and asked me a question.
Only then did I check the time. I forced a smile and patted my daughter’s head, thinking that if we didn’t leave now, we might be late.
Yeah, the kids are expecting this much, so today, as their father, I have to show them a bright side.
“I guess I should go soon. Do you want to go and bring your brother too?”
“huh!”
Seol-ah ran straight to Seol-ha, who was playing with Maru, and grabbed her arm with all her might, shouting, “Brother! We have to go to school!”
Seol-ha, who only then noticed that we were out, briefly left Maru alone, and then, with a familiar movement of her hands, put the leash on him and came over to us. In the meantime, Maru was just quietly watching the leash being put on, which was amazing.
“Dad! Are you leaving now?”
“Okay, let’s go. Let’s make new friends for our son and daughter.”
At some point, Seol-ha, who had learned the policy of ‘you must use polite language with adults’, approached me using the now familiar polite language, and I patted her head and spoke to her in return.
I wondered if maybe my father felt this way when he first sent me to school.
It’s a feeling that’s both happy and lonely, and hopeful and anxious.
***
As expected for an entrance ceremony, cars were lined up outside the school gate. Parents who got out of their cars were all dressed up in fancy dress and were busy heading toward the school building, leading their children in front.
“No one is prettier than Mom. Right, Seol-ah?”
“Yeah. After all, my mom is the prettiest.”
As I was parking my car in the parking lot and taking in the view for a moment, out of nowhere, Seol-ha and Seol-ah’s candy-coating began.
Actually, Seol-ah rarely comes forward and says things like that, but when she goes to a place with a lot of people, she always does that. At first, I thought she was just trying to score points with her mom, but according to her, she’s sincere.
I was surprised to hear those words and wonder if the kids saw things the same way. In my eyes, she was always a pretty wife, but I guess it was stupid to think that other people might see her differently.
“Seol-ha, didn’t your father tell you before? There’s no one in the world prettier than your mother.”
“That’s right! There’s no one prettier than Mom!”
“Hey, what did you say in front of the kids…!?”
When I was about to make a proper comment, my wife, who was sitting in the passenger seat, hit me on the arm and scolded me.
But judging from the fact that she doesn’t feel any particular pain in her arm, she seems to be secretly happy. It seems that her mother’s words, that women are happy to be told that they are pretty even when they become grandmothers, were right.
As the crowd began to thin out, we decided to unbuckle our seatbelts and get off the bus to head to our destination, the classroom.
“Okay, shall we get off then? A car might come in, so be careful getting off with Seol-ha and her younger sibling.”
“yes!”
Seol-ha, who must have heard what I said, looked left and right through the window to see if a car was coming or not, then quickly picked Seol-ah up and got out of the car.
Whenever I see it, it’s a maturity that doesn’t match my age. Yuna and my mother-in-law said I look just like them, but was I really that mature at that age?
“Should I go to class first?”
“Yeah, I’ll hear from the teacher in charge there, do some other things, and then go to the gym.”
“The classroom will be bustling.”
I feel dizzy just thinking about not only the kids but also the parents standing in the classroom, but what can I do? I have to go anyway.
So, I tried to go to the second floor where the first grade classrooms are located through the central entrance.
“Huh? Seolha!”
“Jiho!”
I turned my head when I heard a voice calling my son from somewhere, and saw a boy with a round face.
His name is Yoon Ji-ho. He is a child who often came to our house to play when he was in kindergarten and became Seol-ha’s best friend, as recognized by everyone. So I’ve seen him a few times, and I remember him as a very polite and kind child.
By the way, Seol-ha said earlier that Ji-ho also goes to this school. We’re meeting again soon.
“Hello. Are you Jiho’s parents?”
That means, the person standing behind me is likely to be Jiho’s parents, so I decided to approach them first and say hello.
I could clearly see that the other side didn’t know Seol-ha’s face very well, and was standing there slightly awkwardly.
“Oh my… . Oh, hello. Over there… .”
“I’m Park Si-yoon, the father of Seol-ha and Seol-ah. Ji-ho plays with our child often, so I wanted to meet him at least once, and now I have the chance.”
“Ah! So you’re Seol Ha-ne’s parents. I’ve heard a lot from you.”
At times like this, it felt like we had had our children early, because most of the parents around us seemed older than us.
At least Jiho’s parents looked similar to us.
“Um, but have we met before? I don’t know why, but I feel familiar with you…”
“Ah, that’s… . Ahahaha… .”
After shaking hands, Jiho’s mother tilted her head and stared at me.
Sometimes when I went out, I resembled the repertoire of women who often approached me to get my number or something without knowing that I was married, but now I could be sure that that was not the case.
That would be the case,
“Hello. My name is Han Yu-na, Seol-ha and Seol-ah’s mother.”
“Yes, I’ve heard a lot about it… Huh!?”
When Yuna greeted her politely, Jiho’s mother’s eyes widened.
That’s the look in the eyes of those who recognized Yuna, whom I’ve seen countless times up until now. And if they recognized Yuna, it means that they’ve probably seen my face somewhere too.
“Honey, why are you yelling all of a sudden? Excuse me.”
On the other hand, the husband seemed not to recognize Yuna and grabbed his wife’s shoulder with an indifferent expression.
“You, are you Yuna? You were active in Armour!”
Regardless, the wife immediately grabbed Yuna’s hand, closed the distance between them, and opened her mouth in an excited tone with her eyes sparkling as if she had met a star.
No, it’s not a metaphor, it was a star in the first place.
“What? Who are you?”
“Who’s here?”
“What is Armora?”
“If it’s Armo, then that Armo?”
Yuna and I made eye contact with each other and smiled bitterly as the surrounding air suddenly became noisy.
Oh no, I let my guard down.