A Twenty-Year-Old’s Prayer for Love
“It’s my aunt’s usual over-the-top comment, but… about Jiseo. With that face, shouldn’t he just become an entertainer without even thinking twice?”
“You’ve been saying that consistently since Jiseo was little.”
“No, think about it. With looks like that, it’d be a waste. My son is so tall and handsome that when he grows up, there’ll be plenty of people lining up for him.”
Just as the embarrassing praise in front of the person in question was reaching its peak, small footsteps came toddling straight toward Jiseo. The face that had been busy fiddling with his phone immediately turned toward the one who had instantly captured his attention.
“What do you want to play?”
At the gentle question, Yeongwon grabbed and released the large hand, then suddenly began lining up toys one by one behind himself.
A bear doll brought from somewhere, dinosaur figures scattered on the floor, block people figurines, and even Jiseo’s mother and his own mother who had been sitting quietly having a conversation.
After suddenly lining them all up in a long row in front of Jiseo, Yeongwon firmly grasped his hand again.
Even the mothers who had been led out by tiny Yeongwon’s hand seemed clueless about what was happening.
Is he playing supermarket or something?
Jiseo, who similarly couldn’t read the exact meaning in those gentle yet resolute eyes, opened his mouth with a soft laugh.
“What can I get you, customer?”
“Jiseo always plays so well with his little brother like this.”
“We moms don’t have anything to buy, so we should get going. Feel free to pick out items and check out, Yeongwon. Got it?”
The adults, appropriately playing along so Yeongwon’s feelings wouldn’t be hurt, quietly cheered for Jiseo as they left the line. Nevertheless, the child who didn’t mind kept his gaze fixed on Jiseo the whole time.
“Customer. You need to come pick out your items.”
“……”
“Did you just rush over as soon as the mart opened without a plan?”
It seemed like he wanted to play, but Jiseo, who had been entertaining Yeongwon who just stood there blankly, gently shook the tiny hand he was holding.
“What would you like to get?”
At the playful whisper that kept indulging him, the ridiculously soft and squishy lips parted without hesitation.
“Hyung.”
“……”
“Hyung only plays with me, right? Even if there are this many other kids waiting, I’m first, right?”
“……”
“I want hyung. Since I came first, hyung is mine, right?”
By “other kids,” he seemed to mean the dolls lined up behind him. It wasn’t about playing together with everyone, but rather about doing something more special with just himself.
Or maybe he wanted to leave all the toys behind and go out to play.
“Let’s see. Yeongwon doesn’t want to play supermarket—it seems like you want to go to an actual mart?”
Seeing how he wasn’t actively continuing the role-play as usual, Jiseo was convinced he wanted something different.
The tiny hand kept tugging hard at the hem of his t-shirt. It seemed he wanted Jiseo to stand up.
Why did he want to go outside? It was just his guess, but Jiseo slowly tried to figure out the reason.
Normally he would take him to a nearby stationery store to buy toys, but for some reason today, the belly that had been bulging looked flat. He seemed to be hungry.
Since Yeongwon was now five years old, permission to take him out alone and occasionally buy him snacks had long been granted. From the looks of it, he seemed to want to eat treats.
Come to think of it, he had been whining earlier about wanting snacks.
“Yeongwon, did you have a snack today?”
At the small whisper that wouldn’t reach the adults, Yeongwon shook his head vigorously. Immediately, Jiseo lightly picked up Yeongwon, then opened his mouth toward the adults who had fallen back into an interesting conversation.
“I’m going to take Yeongwon out front for a bit and come back.”
“Okay. Be careful of cars.”
Since this wasn’t the first or second time he’d taken him out, permission was readily granted.
After quietly checking that his wallet was secure in his pocket, Jiseo put shoes on those adorable little feet. Even after putting on the shoes, Jiseo left the entrance still lightly carrying Yeongwon in his arms.
The busy steps hurried toward a store with colorful snacks, ice cream, and chocolates filling the display shelves.
With wide eyes, Yeongwon filled it with only what he wanted, and Jiseo poured a waterfall of chocolate over a small ice cream cake.
“Chocolate is delicious, isn’t it?”
With a blissful expression, Yeongwon stepped up on the chair and diligently scooped up cake with a small spoon, stuffing it into his mouth.
Even so, it was only about the size of Jiseo’s pinky fingernail, so laughter that said “how cute” filled one corner of the store. Whether Jiseo laughed while looking at him or not, Yeongwon was so excited he didn’t know what to do with himself and stamped his feet.
“Hyung, this, this……”
“……”
“Do you only buy things like this for Yeongwon?”
The eyes that had grown so large with how dizzyingly happy the ice cream cake tasted showed no signs of getting smaller.
Seeing that made him understand why adults sometimes committed transgressions that seemed like they’d get in trouble for.
“They say memories like this last a long time when you grow up.”
“……”
“Hyung also has a real younger sibling—no, that’s not right. Even if it’s just a younger sibling I know, you’re my only younger sibling, so this is my first time doing something like this. You grew up too late for me to do it earlier.”
“……”
“Probably for other things, you’ll need to get bigger. For example……”
Moving in a wider radius than near home would probably require permission only after Yeongwon entered elementary school.
For now, just hoping he’d feel satisfied, Jiseo personally scooped up a full spoonful of ice cream and stuffed it into Yeongwon’s mouth.
An ecstatic and thrilling experience like this was probably a first in his life. His face was so delighted, trembling with joy as if he’d jump up and down, that it was so cute Jiseo kept bursting into laughter.
As Jiseo laughed out loud telling him to enjoy to his heart’s content, he grabbed those adorable little fingers covered in chocolate and continued.
“When hyung grows up and makes lots of money, I’ll buy you even better things. Got it?”
When the whisper flowed out saying he couldn’t help but do this in front of his cute younger sibling, Yeongwon nodded his head with all his might.
The lips that kept chewing swallowed the snacks without rest, yet occasionally moved as if trying to say something.
It was right after arriving home that he encountered Yeongwon’s whisper that had been absolutely impossible to hear inside the store. The tiny hands suddenly embraced Jiseo, who had bent his knees to match the small height to hand over the remaining cake.
“Does that mean hyung, um, said that to me?”
“Said what?”
“That you like Yeongwon.”
“Hm?”
“Not this… To do other things, do I have to get really big like hyung?”
At the incomprehensible flow of conversation, Jiseo asked back while making eye contact with Yeongwon who was hugging him.
“What do you mean by that?”
“When I grow up, I’m going to marry hyung!”
“……”
“Let’s get married. Actually, I like hyung way more than other friends. Will you do it?”
“You like hyung? Why?”
“Your face is cool and also you’re really tall, and you buy me lots of delicious things, and later, um, even when I’m not a baby anymore, you promised you’d stay with me forever if you make lots of money!”
“……”
“I really loved eating ice cream today.”
“……”
“I want to marry hyung and do lots of things I like. When I grow up, as soon as Yeongwon becomes an adult, let’s get married.”
“……”
“Hyung likes Yeongwon too. Right? It’s even better when you like good things together.”
Though sudden, at this bold yet cheeky confession that wasn’t quite a confession, endless laughter flowed from Jiseo’s mouth.
Where did he learn that it’s better when you share good things together? Was it something he said instinctively? He thought he’d like the surprise outing, but to like it this much.
Just as Jiseo was caught up in such trivial thoughts, Yeongwon made a cute expression and suddenly held out his pinky finger.
“If you promise to marry me, um, I’ll become a cool adult. And since hyung is an alpha, I’m… I don’t know if I’ll be an omega, but it doesn’t matter! It would be better if I’m the opposite of hyung, but for now I like hyung anyway.”
“You can even say things like that. I think your vocabulary has grown recently.”
“If hyung marries me, I’ll study harder with my kindergarten teacher.”
“……”
“I’ll promise hyung with even cooler words. Let’s live happily forever with Yeongwon.”
“Oh my. Even making a play on your name.”
