As soon as Hyunseung received Hyuna’s call, he threw aside his work and rushed home in a hurry.
“Hah, hah…”
He had clearly come by car and taken the elevator up, but strangely, he was still out of breath.
Beep-beep-beep!
After entering the house, Hyunseung immediately passed Hyuna, who was standing in the living room, and headed to his room where the computer was.
Creeeak.
When he opened the door, he saw his father completely absorbed in the game.
Since he had lost his hearing, he usually sensed people’s presence even better, but right now, he seemed completely unaware.
At that moment, Hyuna, who had followed right behind him, let out a small sigh and said.
“Oppa, you try stopping him. He’s been like that for the past few days.”
“When I see someone who never touched alcohol or cigarettes in his whole life, and lived without knowing what addiction was, acting like that, it makes me realize games are really scary.”
Hyuna pushed at his back and urged him on.
“So try stopping him!”
However, Hyunseung stood firmly with his legs planted and silently gazed at his father’s back.
‘Father must have felt like this too.’
As he watched him, that thought suddenly came to mind.
Back in his immature high school days.
Because of their circumstances, he had never even dreamed of college, so he had lived with a wall between himself and studying. That did not mean he had thought about learning a professional skill either.
He simply played games like his life depended on it. He thought there was nothing else he knew how to do.
Moreover, since there was no one to talk to, it only grew worse as the days passed.
Right.
Back then, games were everything in his life.
They were his only window of communication.
And the space where he felt alive.
Like that, the number of days he opened his door and went out gradually decreased.
And the bug called addiction gnawed away at him and grew.
His father had never once scolded him for being like that.
He probably just…
Opened the door, looked at his back, and closed it again.
Tak.
Just like Hyunseung now.
“Oppa!”
Hyunseung pushed Hyuna’s back and left the room.
As if she could not understand his action, Hyuna stamped her feet and scolded him.
“You have to stop him! What if he really gets addicted!”
“He’ll stop after a while.”
“You’ve been like that before too, so you should know!”
“Right. I know because I’ve done it.”
Hyunseung drew a firm line in a resolute tone and added bluntly.
“He’ll stop after a while.”
Right, his father had probably only gone out for a while to find a window of communication because life had grown lonely.
His son was busy with work, and his daughter was busy with school.
He must have been spending time alone in this empty house, in America, a land where he had no connections.
So this time, he too should watch his father’s back and wait for him.
.
.
.
He would quit before long anyway.
Right.
He would stop after a while.
Tap, tap.
However, that was a mistake.
“Father, come out and eat.”
After deliberately coming home early for several days to watch his father.
It seemed certain that it was an addiction after all.
Since he even tried to skip meals, Hyuna often ended up bringing simple food all the way to the computer for him.
“Wait, just a moment.”
Even when Hyunseung suggested they eat, his father only repeated that he should wait and stayed absorbed in the game.
Slide.
Hyunseung stood behind his father and waited while watching him.
It was only natural, but….
His father was not good at games. His reaction speed was slow, and he did not know how to play strategically.
Moreover, he could not communicate with other people while playing, so…
【 You have been defeated. 】
This was an extremely natural result.
Tap, tap.
After confirming the game had ended, Hyunseung urged his father.
“Let’s hurry and go eat.”
Because in the game chat window, curses and insults aimed at his father, who could have been the cause of the loss, were dangerously crossing the line.
Soon, the three family members gathered around the dining table and began eating.
Poke, poke.
Hyuna kept glaring sideways at him and poking him in the side. It was probably a signal telling him to stop their father.
“Ahem, hm.”
Hyunseung coughed awkwardly for no reason, then placed a piece of beef bulgogi on top of his father’s rice bowl.
Slide.
At the same time, his eyes met his father’s as his father lifted his head in surprise.
“Father, is the game a little fun?”
He asked with a calm smile.
“Yes. Time passes quickly, and I think it’s nice that I can do it well enough with just my hands.”
At their father’s answer, Hyunseung and Hyuna let out small sighs at the same time.
In the absence of his children, their father’s time must have passed slowly. Even if he tried to do something, everything must have been difficult for someone with a hearing disability.
So he had no choice but to become even more immersed in games.
They were good for killing time.
Even without hearing through his ears.
They were something he could do.
Hyuna lowered her head deeply and picked at the innocent grains of rice.
Because she had been adapting to her new school life.
Because she had been making new friends.
Because she had been worrying about her oppa, who was busy with work.
With all those excuses, she had been neglecting her father, and she felt so sorry that tears came to her eyes.
‘Good grief.’
Hyunseung glanced sideways at Hyuna, then quietly pulled out a tissue and handed it to her without their father noticing.
At that moment, as if he had something more to say, their father put down his spoon and continued speaking.
“And I think the friends I met in the game are all kind.”
“Pardon? You made friends too?”
“Yes. They all ask after my parents, ask what I’m doing and how I’m living. Unlike kids these days, they seem like kind kids, like our son.”
“Father, that’s…”
Hyunseung’s vision went yellow as if he were getting dizzy, and he could not finish what he was saying. He lowered his hand helplessly.
‘I mean, they weren’t asking after your parents or asking how you were doing.’
He swallowed the rest of his words along with a sip of cold water, then raised his hands again.
At any rate.
“Should we go out for some fresh air together for the first time in a while?”
He needed to make a new hobby for his father.
For the first time in a while, Hyunseung went outside with only his father.
Perhaps because it was morning, the park walking path was quiet.
Step, step.
Each time they walked, fine sand and gravel were stepped on beneath their feet. The father and son walked that path without saying anything, then kept walking.
The wind blew.
There were people running while sweating, and people riding bicycles.
People walking dogs, and even people who had come out pushing strollers.
Every now and then, all kinds of people brushed past the father and son.
Step, step.
However, he could not easily bring himself to say anything.
Should he tell him not to play games?
His father was probably using games to somehow endure the lonely, silent time he spent alone.
‘Do I have the right to say that?’
He had thought about asking if his father might try making a hobby like going on walks, but…
Flinch.
Whenever someone passed by now and then, his father was startled by the presence of people, so he could not bring himself to say it.
How long had they walked like that?
Suddenly, his father stopped in his tracks and pointed to a bench. It meant they should sit and rest for a moment.
Thump.
When Hyunseung sat on the bench after following his father, his father began speaking with his uniquely gentle face.
“You’re worried because Dad only plays games, right?”
It seemed his father had already known the reason why Hyunseung had suddenly suggested they come out and walk.
Instead of answering, Hyunseung only gave an awkward smile.
“I won’t do it anymore.”
Then his father waved his hands again first and continued speaking.
“As a father, I’m ashamed that I seem to have worried my children too much.”
“No, you can play games.”
Hyunseung shook his head at his father.
“Just not enough to harm your health. Eat on time, and sleep on time too.”
Then he clasped his father’s wrinkled hands and added.
“And sometimes come out to walk with me like this.”
His father looked down at their clasped hands for a moment.
“All right, I will.”
He answered with a smile as warm as the sunlight pouring down.
His father’s face looked quite wonderful. So much so that Hyunseung thought it was too much of a waste for him to live only as someone’s father.
“Father, have you ever thought about remarrying?”
Soon, Hyunseung asked the question he had kept buried for a long time.
It was also a question he had never been able to ask. Because of guilt toward his mother, who had passed before them.
And it was probably not only him. His father must have felt the same.
“I’m fine, so if you come out to places like this sometimes and meet a woman you like, walk with her, have a cup of coffee, and things like that.”
That was why Hyunseung brought it up first. His father would surely never say it himself, even out of guilt toward him.
“My son must have grown up.”
His father seemed quite surprised by his words, but soon stroked the back of his head and said that.
He probably thought Hyunseung was only saying it casually.
Out of concern.
For his father, who only played games all day.
For his father, who only stayed at home.
For his father, who only waited for his children.
“If you can’t remarry because of Mom, who passed away, then how about dating at least?”
But he was sincere. Because it was the children’s selfishness to always want their father to only be their father.
“Other than your mother, there is no one who would understand someone like me.”
But a bitter smile appeared on his father’s face.
It seemed to contain the meaning that his inability to meet someone was not only because of his children, which made Hyunseung’s heart ache even more.
“Father, you never know. Someone who understands and loves you might appear.”
He hated the idea of his father living tied down by his children, but he also hated seeing his father shrink back for a reason like that.
Now that he had returned, he would absolutely not watch that happen.
That was why he had gone to the research lab, and why he was providing a massive investment.
Right.
In case it became like torturing him with false hope, he could not tell his father right now, but.
“And it’s also possible that, like a miracle, your hearing could come back.”
“That would truly be something like a miracle.”
“After living through life, I found that miracles sometimes happen quite suddenly.”
Somewhere, there were people working hard to create miracles.
Hyunseung knew they were working hard to make that miracle come true.
“So sometimes, come out to the park like this and walk, play games too, eat delicious food, and let’s wait for a miracle.”
Though faint, that power was gathering and gradually taking the shape of a miracle.
“It won’t take long.”
Before long…
Just as I was given the gift of the miracle of living again.
I will make sure to give Father a miracle too.
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