Chapter 41
Joorim, who had been quietly listening to her friend talk about visiting the amusement park, suddenly spoke up.
“Have you never been to an amusement park?”
“Uh… no.”
Well, considering the kids at the orphanage weren’t just a few, there probably wasn’t time to take them out for fun individually.
So it made sense that she couldn’t hide her envy and babbled on.
“What about Guild-jan? Have you been to one?”
“I have.”
“Did you like it?”
Not at all. She couldn’t even remember the last time she went—maybe back in high school?
For Joorim, amusement parks were places full of everything she disliked—loud, chaotic, childish, and crowded with kids… plenty of reasons to hate it, and few reasons to like it. But the thought that a child might enjoy it flickered across her mind immediately.
“Shall we go?”
“Huh?”
Grew’s eyes widened. The uncontainable surprise and excitement made Joorim smile softly.
“Let’s go—to the amusement park.”
The long-awaited weekend had arrived.
Grew bounced out of the dressing room, pulling up her tights (long socks that reached the waist).
She lost her balance hopping on one foot, but Joorim quickly lifted her up and steadied her.
“Ta-da!”
Grew landed like a gymnast with arms spread wide, prompting Joorim to chuckle softly.
“I’m all dressed, Grew!”
“All dressed?”
Joorim looked down at the child, still damp because she hadn’t dried her hair or properly worn her clothes while adjusting the tights.
“Yes!”
Her excitement made her cheeks flush red. Following Joorim’s gaze, Grew looked at herself and quickly pulled the tights all the way up.
“All ready!”
“You didn’t dry your hair and aren’t fully dressed yet—how is that ‘ready’?”
“Well… um… Grew’s… heart!”
A surprisingly clever answer.
Joorim chuckled, lowered the frilly hem caught in the tights, and picked up Grew.
“Let’s eat first.”
“Waaah.”
Even though she didn’t need to, when Grew whined, the lady helping Joorim spoke up.
“Grew, you need to eat first to have energy to play.”
“Okay…”
Joorim gave a small nod to Yeongran to thank her, and she smiled faintly.
Joorim sat Grew beside her and fed her.
Like a baby bird, Grew opened her mouth wide and gobbled up the food.
While chewing carefully, she noticed the lady watching and tilted her head in question.
Recently, Joorim seemed to enjoy feeding Grew herself, and the lady still found it endlessly fascinating.
Why was that?
Munch.
Nom.
Munch.
Nom.
Joorim smiled slightly and leaned forward. Grew watched as his dark hair fell in front of his face—it looked so cinematic, she gawked.
She began to understand why people sometimes stared at Joorim.
When Joorim wiped a bit of rice from his lips, Grew gave a thumbs-up. It meant he looked handsome today too, but Joorim responded with a light tap to the forehead.
“Ehh!”
Yeongran, watching them warmly, asked,
“Grew, where are we going today?”
Grew’s eyes sparkled.
“To the amusement park!”
According to Korea’s largest parenting community, “MamaPapa & Bebe,” there are a few things that drive children under five wild:
Fairy Tini-Ping, 999-level English hunters, mechanics, dinosaurs…
Joorim looked at the amusement park in the middle of a children’s festival.
“Fairy Mechanic Saurus Land.”
It was a place collaborating with various child-oriented brands—whatever kids liked, they had planned it to thrill toddlers.
Boom boom! “Happy Happy Saurus Island~”
Wearing a teddy bear headband, Joorim gazed at the park with a cloudy expression.
The singing pounded in her head, and countless children were running wild as if possessed.
If someone in a dinosaur costume waved once, they could probably steal all the kids in the park.
And the same went for the four-year-old at her side.
“Fairy Saurus!”
The little girl beside her, especially loved hybrids.
Wearing a peach-colored dress and a teddy bear headband, Grew darted around, exclaiming in delight.
It was her first time at an amusement park, and she was too busy looking, reacting, and laughing to stay still.
Joorim stared at her in awe, then raised the corners of his mouth.
‘Not bad at all.’
She had to block out layers of stimuli to make it here, but seeing Grew this happy made it worthwhile.
“Sweetie, that kid is cute. Look there.”
“Wow, really. So pretty.”
“I hope we have a kid like that someday.”
“Yeah. As long as they look like you.”
“Oh~ come on~”
The couple giggled as they passed, and Joorim straightened his lips.
Even with a mask to avoid attention, the adorable hybrid child couldn’t help but attract stares.
Standing out inevitably attracts all kinds of people.
Joorim thought she could hide her skills, but she hadn’t expected how troublesome it would be since the child was so cute.
Parenting was a continuous challenge.
Even more frustrating was that people praising the child didn’t feel entirely bad.
Why did her chest feel warm in a situation that should have been unpleasant?
At that moment, Grew’s eyes sparkled like stars, and she shouted in ecstasy.
“Princess Hunter Saurus!”
What was that hybrid even?
A quick search revealed it was a character from a dinosaur fairy animation.
A dinosaur, a fairy, a hunter? Adult logic couldn’t make sense of it.
The hybrid princess, awakened as a hunter, wore a tutu skirt and waved.
When Grew ran up, her teddy bear headband fell off.
Joorim picked it up and followed slowly.
People were touching Grew’s face because she was “so pretty” and repeatedly asking to take photos—not realizing how annoying it was.
Joorim had to restrain her usual instinct to dismiss or scold them, holding back frustration for the sake of a four-year-old.
What kind of prejudice did Grew have about Joorim that made her constantly nag about manners and greetings? Thanks to it, Joorim was becoming a well-mannered person for the first time in 26 years.
“Photo! Take a photo, please!”
Grew clung to the hybrid’s tutu, shouting, and Joorim leaned in to take a picture.
Click.
“Princess Hunter Saurus, yay! Next time!”
Grew grinned, checking the photo.
“Guild-jan, Grew’s eyes are closed.”
“…Closed looks better.”
“Ehh…”
Grew pouted.
Joorim lifted Grew to redirect her attention.
“Want a snack? Saurus popcorn?”
Shake shake.
“My tummy’s full.”
Even after stuffing herself in the morning, Grew was still full.
“Then where to next?”
Joorim opened a map, and Grew tapped his shoulder.
“I know where I want to go.”
“Where?”
Grew narrowed her eyes and scanned the map carefully.
‘It should be at the castle.’
The place Grew had been waiting for all day was the toy exhibition hall!
The amusement park’s parent company displayed toys collected over a lifetime, with a treasure hunt program for a month.
‘The treasure isn’t the main thing…’
Grew glanced at Joorim. His eyes above the mask looked extra tired today.
‘Must be exhausting…’
Even blogs detailing what to do at the amusement park noted that the treasure hunt at the toy exhibition gave parents a chance to briefly escape the stresses of childcare.
Grew wanted to give Joorim a moment to rest.
