Chapter 18 – Chapter 18

“Geeing!”

“Welcome, how old are you?”
“Two.”
“Ah, then let me guide you to a seat.”
“I’ll ask for the most secluded place.”
“Yes, I understand.”

I tried to go through the automatic door that opened naturally and went to the farthest corner after being guided by the staff, but I had to realize that my side was empty again.

“…”

So, I glanced behind me.

「Ziying, ziying, ziying!」

“Oh, oh oh… !”

A blond-haired girl wearing only a T-shirt and pink slippers catches her eye in front of an automatic door.

‘I know how you feel. What a feeling.’

For a child, the first time they encountered an automatic door could be very mysterious.
However, aside from that.

‘I don’t want to pretend to be one.’

This is the moment when I get a little further away from the thought of whether I will just pretend I don’t know. It’s not even a dog, Miho, who realized like a ghost that I was getting farther away, hurriedly came this way.

“Teolnu, go with me!”
“…”

What is it, really this feeling.
Does everyone feel this way when they see a small animal running around looking for its owner?

“Okay…”
“Kyaaaaang! That’s so amazing!”

Maybe that’s why everyone has a pet.

[Please do not treat children as pets!]

That’s what the analogy is!

“When your order is decided, please ring the bell.”
“Yes.”

It’s morning, so there aren’t many people, and since I’ve even come to the pizza restaurant myself, it’s a little bit like feeding only pizza.

[Menu]
[Pizza S(L) + 1 Pasta + 4 Wings or 1 French Fries Choice – KRW 34,900]

Should I do this?

“Hey.”
“Ok!”
“Which pizza do you like?”

I asked and showed the pictures on the menu. There were pictures of delicious-looking pizzas all over the place.

“I-I…”

I’m?
What kind of respect did he suddenly say…

“… All!”

It dawned on me that some irresponsible bastard must have sent me a locust.

“Okay, just a roughly decent combination pizza.”
“Why did you ask me?”
“… Then, wings and fries. No, which is better, vegetables or meat?”

[That’s definitely a vegetable.]
[I have been quiet, but elves are a race that lives in harmony with nature and is originally called a race of beauty that lives only on fruits and vegetables.]

Oh, is that so?
When I think of the way I inhaled chicken yesterday…

“Meat!”

[… ] … !]

Have you ever been really upset?

“The twine peck!”
“OK.”

「Ding-dong!」

I must have rang the table bell just once.
Then, the bell rings in succession.

“Ding-dong, ding-dong!”

“I’m sorry, sir, but you only need to ring the bell once.”
“Oh, oh, sorry… Do. Baby here… No, sorry. I’d like to order.”

As if I was curious, I grabbed Miho’s hands as she was about to hit the table bell again, and with one hand, I shook them.
It feels like I have realized again the greatness of mothers across the country.
I could see why many mothers sometimes say that children are so angelic cute, but the cutest of them all is when they’re asleep or quietly doing nothing.

“I’m going to do this with Set 1.”
“Yes.”
“Pizza is a combination pizza, the size is…”

I glanced at Miho.

“… Please give me a large.”
“Yes.”
“I’d like pasta with tomato meatball pasta and wings, please.”
“You have to order a drink separately, would that be okay?”
“Oh, then bring me two large Cokes.”
“All right. Let me check your order one more time. You chose Set No. 1, Combination Pizza Large, Tomato Meatball Pasta with Wings, and two large Cokes, right?”
“Yes, yes, that’s right.”
“All right. Then I would appreciate it if you could wait for about 40 minutes. And I’m sorry, sir. It seems that your children are still very young, so I would appreciate it if you pay special attention to them.”
“Yes, sorry…”
“Excuse me.”

In other words, it’s embarrassing.
I know why the No Kids Zone exists and why many parents prefer stores with playrooms when bringing their children.

‘He made the mistake, but I apologize.’

However, I also knew that it was impossible.

“Hey, from now on, I’ll only press this once.”
“One?”
“Okay, once. If you press it once and no one comes, then press it several times. Okay?”
“Many times when you don’t come… Ok! Arseo!”

It was nice to teach Miho another piece of knowledge and wait quietly while looking out the window together.
My mouth was so stuffy.
When I thought about it, I remembered that from yesterday until now, if I tried to smoke a cigarette, Miho would get caught in my eyes and couldn’t smoke it.

‘Should I bloom now?’

But when I left here, there was no one to look after Miho.
That was a bit unsettling.

I’d rather wake up after the pizza came. If there is something to eat in front of my eyes, I will calmly focus only on it.

‘But it can’t happen as soon as the pizza arrives.’

The freshly made pizza was quite hot, as was the stick and spaghetti.
If he was a glutton, he could have burned or injured the roof of his mouth trying to eat everything in a hurry, so he should have helped him eat to some extent.

‘Did I come to the pizza shop for no reason?’

Still, when I was little, I also went to the pizza parlor with her mom a few times.
Recalling that memory, I had to come back.
Back then, if you brought an empty Coke cup, the store would refill it for you.

[Refill is possible only once.]

Oh, they still do it these days.

“Tongue.”
“Ok?”
“What about pizza?”
“… Wait a bit, it will be out soon.”

Was I just as impatient as he was when I was younger?
Oh, I guess so.

“Mom! Then me and hyung will go to the arcade for a while until the pizza comes out!”

‘No, I think I did more than Miho…’

When I think of myself as a child, I can understand Miho’s actions his.
After all, children are all the same.
Thoughts are short, innocent, and even if you look fine on the outside, you need an adult to be by your side no matter what…

“The pizza, pasta, and wings you ordered came out. The sauce is here, and for pickles, please use the self-service bar.”
“Yes.”

A moment later, a combination pizza steaming on a wooden disc and tomato meatball pasta on a large glass plate.
Then, four wings on a small wooden square board and two glasses of Coke in a huge cup were placed on the table.

“…”

Are there more than you thought?

‘Shouldn’t have just ordered the smaller size.’

If you can’t eat anything, just leave it.

“For now, wait.”
“Ok… Chug.”

Anyone who saw it would think they were training mutts, but Miho was an elf with a clear intellect. I raised my knife and fork as I watched Miho drool in front of the pizza.
Picking up and eating pizza with your hands is also my taste, but in fact, there were many cases where I used a knife and fork when I came to the store.
This wasn’t bad either.

“Sure, squeak.”

After cutting it neatly into bite-sized pieces, he held the bowl in front of Miho.

“It might be hot, so blow on it and eat it.”
“Ok!”
“And before eating, don’t forget to say, I’ll eat well.”
“… Say hello before eating?”

At my words, Miho flinched for a moment, then put her hands together in a slightly different mood and prayed a little.

“Today, too, I give thanks to nature’s blessings…”
“…”

At the unexpected prayer, I looked at Miho with a blank face for a moment.
I was a little surprised, and a little… It felt like that.

‘Right. Because he is a child with a real father and mother.’

There must be some circumstances, but in the end, I wasn’t the real parent of this child.
It’s natural.
However, the obvious fact makes my appetite bitter.

“Pick it up with a fork and hold it like this. And you eat pasta with a fork. If the wings cool down a little longer, it would be better to just eat them with your hands.”
“Ok!”
“And if you feel choked up, drink some Coke here.”
“Cora?”

As the carbonated black liquid was poured into the glass, Miho flinched, but then continued to suck on the straw.

“Uuuuu!”

At that moment, Miho’s body jumped up and down as if she was surprised by the taste of cola.
An exclamation of admiration escaped from his mouth.

“Food.”

I laughed a little while watching that, took a cigarette from my chest, put it in my mouth, and stood up quietly. I cut almost four slices of pizza, and I also have pasta.

It was not easy to resist the urge to smoke any longer.

“I’ll be right back, so stay calm here.”
“… Uh, yes!”

Are you okay?
I glanced back and saw Miho, who was sitting quietly eating pasta, and quickly moved on.

“Where is the smoking room?”
“Go out through the entrance over there and go to the right, and it’s across from the bathroom.”
“Yes.”

The steps to the smoking room are hurried.
It’s not easy to smoke a cigarette when you have a child. It would have been better if there was a smoking room indoors. The trend these days is to have a smoking room outside the store or a separate smoking area.

「Chick, Chiik!」

He lit a cigarette and sucked hard at the cigarette in his mouth.

“Puch!”

Now that the nicotine fills my body, I feel like I’m going to live a little longer.
Tuk-tuk, I opened my mouth as I roughly brushed off the cigarette ash that had burned in an instant.

“Hey, are Miho’s parents still around? No, can’t you tell me why he came to me in the first place?”

No answer came back at all.

[I’m sorry, but I have to hear things about him through Miho’s mouth. If you become much closer than you are now, that child will tell you everything himself.]

“Let the child speak for himself? That alone will already shock you.”

[Still, I can’t help it.]
[All I can tell you is that you are a poor child.]

“Know.”

[… ] …]

“I think I know a little bit now.”

Just one day
No, after all, we only spent less than a day together.
I know that much.

[You are doing much better than I expected.]

“It sucks.”

Tuk-tuk, I put out the cigarette.

“I am not at all happy to hear such compliments from you.”

By the way, when I go back, I don’t think I’ll be able to smoke again for a long time. Shall we just smoke one more?
Swoop.
They said that the body is faster than the mind, and my hand was already pulling out another cigarette.
Then, with a tut, he put the cigarette he had taken out into the cigarette pack again and grabbed the doorknob of the smoking room.

[… ] …]

“Because if you smoke one more cigarette, something might happen.”

Considering Miho’s behavior today, it was quite possible, so I went back to the store right away.
And when I saw several women gathered in our seats, my heart sank.

“Wow, cute.”
“Really cute. Boy, what is it foreigner? Where are your parents?”
“…”

“Suddenly… 」

Miho’s complexion turned so blue that I wondered if he was the same person as the cheeky yet energetic kid in front of me.
He was just groping with his palms on the table, full of fear.

If you press it once, it won’t come, so press it several times.
I must have said that.

“Hey, what’s your name? Oh, should I do it in English? What’s your…”
“Move.”
“Okay, that’s a surprise. What is it all of a sudden?”

As I approached from behind, the startled women became angry in reverse, and I spoke even more furiously.

“Hey, can’t you see I’m scared? Get out!”