Thanks to the magic word “library,” Jiyu managed to suppress some of her fear of Hunter and allowed Rosa to lead her into the playroom. Her eyes widened in amazement.
The playroom was as large as four of Jiyu’s rooms put together. It looked more like an indoor playground, complete with monkey bars, a slide, swings, and even a zip line. It had everything.
But none of those things captured Jiyu’s attention.
Enormous bookshelves stood along the far wall, framing the windows and stretching all the way from floor to ceiling. Every shelf was packed with books. Just like a library in a movie, there was even a wheeled ladder resting against them at an angle, allowing access to the highest rows.
“Wow.”
A small gasp escaped Jiyu’s lips.
In front of the bookshelves sat a round beanbag chair large enough for three adults to lie on.
For the first time since the playdate with Hunter began, a faint smile appeared on Jiyu’s face.
Hunter leaped onto the round seat suspended from the zip line and shot across the room. To keep out of his way, Jiyu flattened herself against the wall and crept slowly toward the windows.
While Hunter scrambled over the play equipment like a flying squirrel, Jiyu sank deep into the beanbag chair and buried her nose in a book.
They were merely sharing the same space while playing separately, and peace settled over her heart. She even forgot that she was in Hunter’s playroom and became completely absorbed in the book.
How much time had passed?
“Can you talk?”
Startled by the sudden voice, Jiyu jerked her head up. The moment she met his bright blue eyes, she hurriedly lowered her gaze and nodded.
“…Yes.”
That was the end of the conversation.
Apparently losing interest in her again, Hunter ran back toward the monkey bars. Jiyu let out a quiet sigh of relief and returned her eyes to the letters. She did not look up again until a dull thud was followed by a groan.
Hunter lay sprawled on the floor beneath the monkey bars. They looked quite high. He must have fallen from them.
As Jiyu stared at him in alarm, he sprang to his feet and climbed onto the monkey bars again.
The handles hanging from the long overhead rail were spaced at uneven intervals. There was even a rotating handle in the middle, making the course look especially difficult.
With his long arms, Hunter swung effortlessly toward the rotating handle and caught it. Drawing his legs together, he swung back and forth while the handle creaked and turned halfway around.
Still gripping it, he stretched one arm as far as he could. The next handle was at least five inches beyond his fingertips. He grabbed the rotating handle with both hands again, swung his body back and forth, and then boldly launched himself forward.
Watching him, Jiyu involuntarily cried out,
“Ah!”
Sure enough, his fingertips merely grazed the next handle before he crashed to the floor with another dull thud.
“Ugh.”
After the brief groan, the playroom fell silent.
Hunter lay flat on his back and punched the thick padded mat with his fist. Then, grinding his teeth, he abruptly sat up.
The moment their eyes met, Jiyu immediately lowered her head. Peeking at him from the corner of her eye, she watched him brush off his clothes, stand, and climb back onto the monkey bars.
Thud. Grumble. Crash. Groan. Thump, thump. Grumble.
As the same sounds repeated over and over, Jiyu could no longer suppress her curiosity and lifted her head again.
Doesn’t it hurt?
She wondered how long it would take Hunter to give up.
When he realized she was watching, he shouted in frustration,
“I can do it!”
Startled, Jiyu nodded and echoed his words like a parrot.
“Yes. You can do it.”
Only then did Hunter, swaying slightly on his feet, climb back onto the monkey bars. He pointed at Jiyu and ordered,
“You. Watch me carefully. Stop reading your book.”
“…Okay.”
She answered in a tiny voice.
With Jiyu watching, Hunter reached the rotating handle once again. Gripping it tightly, he tucked up his legs and swung back and forth as though he were on a swing, slicing through the air with sharp whooshing sounds. Then he fully extended his arms and leaped.
CLANG!
His palms struck the metal, and Hunter barely managed to catch the next handle. He let out an animal-like roar.
“Yes!”
“Wow.”
A genuine exclamation of admiration escaped Jiyu’s lips.
From there, the rest was easy. Hunter swung rapidly from one handle to the next and reached the end of the monkey bars in no time. Releasing both hands, he landed on the floor with a solid thud, raised his chin, and grinned triumphantly.
Once he had confirmed that Jiyu had witnessed his success, he issued another command.
“I did it! Clap.”
Jiyu obediently brought her small hands together.
He was more frightening than a midnight ghost or a horned monster, yet when he smiled, his dazzling expression somehow looked almost angelic.
When she saw him swaggering toward the library area, Jiyu quickly lowered her head and raised the book defensively in front of her face.
Hunter stood before the shelves and ran his hand over the spines with a soft swishing sound as he paced back and forth. Jiyu peeked at him over the top of her book.
He stopped near the middle of the shelves, pulled out a chapter book, and walked over to stand in front of her. Then he lightly nudged the beanbag with the toe of his shoe.
“You. Can you really read chapter books?”
“…Yes.”
When Jiyu answered hesitantly, Hunter thrust the book toward her.
“Then read this. Out loud.”
The book he handed her was Magic Tree House. It was the same book she had once begun reading at the library, only to close it after a few chapters because it frightened her.
Compared to Hunter, however, the book was not frightening at all.
Jiyu accepted it and slowly began to read aloud.
Hunter stood in front of her and listened for a moment, then jumped onto the wide windowsill lined with cushions. He sat there swinging his legs as he gazed outside.
The book had frightened her when she read it alone, but strangely, it did not seem scary today. As Jiyu became increasingly absorbed in the adventure unfolding across the pages, the legs dangling from the windowsill gradually stopped moving.
Hunter, who had been quietly listening to her voice, suddenly jumped down onto the beanbag.
“Ah!”
The spot where he landed sank deeply, and Jiyu, who had been sitting peacefully, toppled backward with the book still in her hands. Fortunately, this time she fell onto the soft beanbag chair.
Hunter snatched the book from her and flopped down on his stomach.
“Where did you stop?”
Jiyu struggled upright in the sinking chair and pointed to the middle of the page.
“Here.”
“I’m going to read too.”
Hunter slowly sounded out a few words, stumbling over them. Then he abruptly reached out, grabbed Jiyu, who was sitting awkwardly beside him, and pulled her closer.
“Now you read again.”
“…”
Jiyu hesitated before lying down on her stomach beside Hunter.
“Hurry.”
“Yes.”
She focused on the words again and resumed reading aloud in a soft, steady voice. Hunter tilted his head closer to the book.
Lauren and Aejeong came down to the playroom to check whether the children were playing peacefully, only to stop in surprise at the unexpected sight before them.
The two children lay side by side on their stomachs atop the beanbag, their heads close together as they looked at the book.
Rosa, who had been dozing in a chair near the door, startled awake at the sound of footsteps and tried to stand. Lauren placed a finger to her lips and motioned for her to remain seated.
Lauren had been worried that her headstrong Hunter might torment the quiet, gentle child until she cried. Now, seeing her son lying still and staring intently at a book, she shook her head in disbelief.
Hunter had never shown any interest in books. He had learned the alphabet and phonics at preschool, but he still stumbled when reading, which only made books even less appealing to him.
He was also a child overflowing with energy, incapable of sitting quietly in one place and concentrating. Even when Lauren or the nanny read aloud to him, he quickly lost interest. Yet now he was so engrossed in the book that he had not even noticed anyone enter the playroom.
Lauren silently signaled Aejeong with her eyes that they should leave. Careful not to disturb the children, she tiptoed out of the playroom, led Aejeong into the hallway, and asked,
“Aejeong, does Olivia speak Korean well too?”
“Oh, of course! She understands everything in Korean and speaks it well. I only speak Korean to her, and her nanny is Korean too.”
Aejeong answered with a sweet, ingratiating smile.
Strictly speaking, the woman was only a babysitter who came twice a week, but Aejeong called her a “nanny.” It sounded far more impressive.
“Sigh. I should have done the same. English is more comfortable for me, so it hasn’t been easy to speak Korean with my child.”