Chapter 103 (1) - The Mysterious Art Museum
Although we couldn't understand each other's language, it was enjoyable.
I've never been particularly fond of children. To be more precise, it's not that I disliked them; I simply had no experience dealing with them, having neither children of my own nor any nieces or nephews. I didn't have many friends around, and even if I did, few of them were married. These days, people tend to marry later in life.
However, during the time I spent with Lea, I discovered something about myself that I hadn't known before.
'I guess I do like children.'
Was it because she was as cute and pretty as a doll?
I held a white stone and drew Lea's house for her.
At first, Lea didn't understand what I was drawing, blinking her eyes in wonder. But once I finished and pointed at the house, she alternated her gaze between the drawing and the house, then raised her hands to clap and laughed gleefully. How could she be so adorable?
What should I draw for her next? I hope she likes this next drawing too.
"Have you made a friend already, Ban?"
The beautiful voice interrupted my time with the child. Monica had arrived.
"Ah, Monica."
Lea, squatting down, just raised her head to look at Monica. Maybe because they were from the same country or because I was a man, Lea didn't seem as wary of Monica as she had been of me when we first met.
Monica waved at Lea.
"Hello?"
Lea waved back, slightly shyly. Monica smiled brightly and said,
"Ban, I need to leave for work. I'll be back by evening, so take it easy today. It's hard when the travel fatigue accumulates."
As if she hadn't come with me from Korea. Perhaps it was her work? Monica really has an iron constitution.
"Okay, take care."
Monica started to leave, then paused and looked at Lea for a while before squatting down in front of her and asking,
"Are you by chance, Sophia's daughter?"
Lea's eyes widened, and she nodded. Monica clapped her hands joyfully.
"Oh my! Sophia got married! And she already has a child? Wow!"
Well, it's been 10 years since she returned, so it's possible she wouldn't know the child. In a small village, most people would know each other.
I chimed in.
"I saw earlier that Lea has an older brother. It looked like their father was taking him to school."
"Oh my, oh my!"
Monica abruptly stood up and ran into Lea's house. She knew where it was without being told, so they must really know each other.
Soon after, Monica came out, arm in arm with Lea's mother, Sophia. She was rattling on, and I had thought only Mr. Augusto talked like that, but maybe it's just the way Italians speak.
Sophia looked very happy to see Monica, which suggests that Monica is well-regarded in this village.
Monica spoke something to Sophia in Italian, and then Sophia looked at me, smiled, and waved.
'Ah, she must have introduced me.'
Yes, if a child is playing with a stranger, a mother would naturally be anxious. But if a trustworthy person introduces them, she might be more at ease. Of course, mothers in the city might be more cautious, but this is a simple, warm-hearted rural village.
Sophia said something to Lea, who then stood up with a big smile and extended her small hand to me, as if asking me to hold it. Somewhat taken aback, I took Lea's hand, and Monica explained,
"Lea is going to show you around the village."
".?"
She didn't look more than five years old.
Young as she was, being a child who roamed around this small village, she could probably introduce me to the place without any problem. But was it really okay for them to entrust their child to a stranger they had just met today? Rural villages truly overflow with kindness.
Monica went back inside the house with Sophia.
She said she was leaving for work, but it seems gossip is more appealing.
Lea grabbed my hand and pulled, indicating that we should go in that direction.
Lea grabs my hand and toddles around the village, making a large circle. She says something in the middle, but I can't understand her at all. I just nod my head or smile back, and Lea seems happy with that.
As the little angel in red pants toddles around, the restaurant owner Mr. Augusto and the neighborhood ladies all smile and wave at us. It feels very different from when I was alone.
Thanks to Lea, I even got to see the inside of the church.
The very old church was pretty, featuring stained glass works whose creator was unknown. While it wasn't as grand as the famous Duomo in Florence, Italy, the church was quite large for the size of the village.
Lea, who had been wandering around every corner of the village, suddenly looks at my face and puts her index finger on her lips.
"What? Is it a secret?"
What could be the secret?
Lea grabs my hand and heads towards the outskirts of the village.
Passing a small stream and heading towards the forest with Lea.
Hey, is this really okay? If I did this in Seoul with a child, Id be caught by the police.
"Hey, Lea. That looks dangerous."
When I speak, Lea looks at my face but doesn't understand and continues to pull my hand. It seems she wants to show me something. Fortunately, it doesn't seem like she plans to go deep into the forest, as she walks around the big mountain.
"Where are we going exactly?"
Then, as if by a miracle, a building appears before my eyes.
A small building that looks like a Greek temple.
The building, set alone on a path overgrown with wooden vines, seems to be Lea's secret hideout.
"At this age, it's normal to have your own secret hideout."
My brother and I were the same.
When we lived in the countryside, there was an abandoned house in the village that everyone said was haunted. But my brother and I took toys there and even stole agricultural tarps from around the neighborhood to make a tent.
We made our secret hideout, keeping it a space only known to us, even from our mother. It was really fun back then.
It seems Lea is the same.
"Are you introducing your secret hideout to me? Do you consider me a friend?"
Ive only drawn her a picture, but shes opened her heart to me. Im grateful.
As I straighten my back from bending down to meet Lea's eyes, I look at the building in the distance and tilt my head in curiosity.
"But why is there such a building here out of the blue? What is it for?"
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