“Whoa!”
I was freaking out over the dinosaur I had created with my own hands. Thanks to Yumi’s help, a huge and awesome dinosaur had been born!
“Hana, you did a great job!”
Yumi also ended up making a dinosaur while teaching me. She folded the paper as a demonstration and completed the dinosaur. I glanced at Yumi. She seemed to notice my gaze and asked with a puzzled expression.
“Hana, what’s wrong? Do you have something to say?”
I stared intently at the dinosaur Yumi was holding. One dinosaur wasn’t enough for me. I wanted the one Yumi was holding. Someone might say I could just make another one, but I didn’t have the confidence to do it again. I had made the dinosaur in a trance-like state, so asking me to make another one was nearly impossible.
“Yumi, can I have the dinosaur you made?”
I looked at Yumi with the most pitiful eyes I could muster. Yumi was always weak to this kind of look. Even now, she was hesitating after meeting my gaze. If I pushed a little more, that dinosaur would surely be mine. I smirked inwardly and pressed on.
“I want one more dinosaur!”
I stared at Yumi so intensely that it felt like laser beams were shooting from my eyes. Yumi eventually averted her gaze and handed the dinosaur to me. She looked like an older sister giving in to her younger sibling’s tantrum. I took the dinosaur from Yumi and grinned. Mission accomplished.
“Hana, I don’t need it, so you can have it.”
“Yay!”
After receiving the dinosaur, I happily placed both dinosaurs on the desk. Two dinosaurs—there couldn’t be a better sight than this.
Now that the dinosaurs were complete, it was time to color them. The plain white paper dinosaurs were a bit dull, so it was time to bring them to life with my own colors.
“Since it’s a rabbit, I’ll color it pink!”
Next to me, Jiyu was coloring a rabbit with a pink pencil. A pink rabbit instead of a white or brown one—if I saw that in the wild, I’d be so amazed I’d probably take a picture with my camera. Anyway, I focused and started coloring my dinosaur with the precision of a master craftsman.
I decided on a light brown color for the dinosaur. That’s what dinosaur skin mostly looked like, after all. Of course, I hadn’t seen one in person, so I could be wrong, but it didn’t matter. It was mine, and no one would care anyway.
“Hehe!”
As I diligently colored, the dinosaur began to exude its own majesty. It looked like it could breathe fire, it was so intimidating. I held the dinosaur up and showed it to Jiyu and Yumi. They had to see my awesome dinosaur.
“You did a great job!”
“It suits you, Hana!”
I wasn’t sure what they meant by it suiting me, but maybe they meant I was as majestic as the dinosaur. After all, no one was as majestic as me!
As the paper folding activity was coming to an end, the teacher walked around, admiring and complimenting the children’s creations. Soon, the teacher approached us.
“Jiyu, you made such a cute rabbit! It’s so pretty!”
“Hehe!”
Jiyu smiled shyly. Watching her, I felt like I was about to explode with the desire to show off my amazing dinosaur. The teacher also praised Yumi’s work. Then, it was finally my turn. I proudly showed the teacher my two dinosaurs. The teacher clapped and said,
“Hana, you made such a cool dinosaur! It looks like it could come to life!”
“Right? I knew you’d think so!”
I beamed and showed the dinosaur to the teacher. Receiving such praise made me feel great. I thought I should show this dinosaur to Bora, Maru, and Haru later. They would be seeing such a vivid and cool dinosaur for the first time.
After the glow-in-the-dark dinosaur, now a paper dinosaur—my dinosaur collection was growing. At this rate, I might end up with a huge dinosaur sculpture. Of course, if I wanted, I could already install a giant dinosaur sculpture in front of our company building.
—
Kim Shin-tae was being cautious. He wanted to keep this delicious alcohol all to himself. If it was this good, it was only natural to drink it alone.
But since he had to honor his friend’s request, Kim Shin-tae carefully packed the makgeolli and put it in the fridge. There was a company dinner scheduled for next Friday, and he planned to let his coworkers taste the makgeolli then.
After spending the weekend like that, he returned to the grind of work.
Before I knew it, Friday had arrived. As always, I felt like time was flying by like an arrow since I started working. The saying that your sense of time dulls as you age was spot on.
When I was a student, time didn’t seem to pass so quickly, but as an adult, I found myself wanting to hold onto it. I only wanted to age quickly until I was 20; after that, there was no reason to keep getting older once the adult restrictions were lifted.
Anyway, Kim Shin-tae, who had arranged a decent meat restaurant, asked the owner for permission and brought Makgeolli inside. Having already tasted the Makgeolli, it was obvious that one bottle wouldn’t be enough. He called his friend Jae-chang and brought over a whole box of Makgeolli.
Since they lived in the same area, he drove over with his car instead of using delivery. Of course, he got a bit of a discount on the price. It would’ve been a waste to buy it at full price. That was one of the perks of living in the countryside. If it were Seoul, he wouldn’t have been able to find such a small brewery.
“Shin-tae, why are you running around like that?”
Seeing Shin-tae enter the gathering with a box of Makgeolli, the team leader spoke up. But when the team leader saw the box Kim Shin-tae was carrying, his face lit up.
“Is that the Makgeolli you were talking about?”
“Yes! It’s the kind of Makgeolli where even if two people drink it and one dies, you wouldn’t notice!”
Kim Shin-tae set the box down on the floor. It made a heavy thud, probably because it was packed full of Makgeolli.
“Ooh…!”
The other employees were also looking at the Makgeolli with great interest. It didn’t have a specific name. If an employee from Starlight Food saw it, they might name it Starlight Makgeolli, but that was just a common naming convention.
“Originally, there was only one bottle, but I knew one wouldn’t be enough, so I brought a whole bunch! Once you try it, you won’t regret it!”
As Kim Shin-tae spoke, he started taking out the Makgeolli. One by one, he placed them on the table, and the employees started distributing them themselves. By the time half the box was gone, the table was fully stocked with Makgeolli.
They didn’t even order any other drinks because they were planning to drink Makgeolli. Of course, they told the restaurant owner they’d order more drinks if they finished the Makgeolli. It felt a bit awkward bringing outside drinks to someone else’s restaurant. Plus, they paid extra.
“Smells great!”
The team leader started pouring the Makgeolli into glasses first. The fragrant aroma of the Makgeolli filled the room. Even the new civil servant sitting relatively far away could smell it.
Soon, all the employees’ glasses were filled with Makgeolli. The aroma was intense. Even those who didn’t usually drink Makgeolli were swallowing their saliva as they looked at it.
“Let’s toast!”
As the team leader raised his glass and shouted, the other employees also raised their glasses and cheered.
“Cheers!”
The sound of glasses clinking filled the room, followed by the sound of everyone drinking the Makgeolli. Everyone was eager to taste it.
“Wow!”
“Is this what Makgeolli tastes like?”
“Senior! Where can we get this Makgeolli? It’s heavenly!”
Without exception, all the employees were amazed and left glowing reviews of the Makgeolli. Kim Shin-tae nodded, expecting this reaction.
“This is from a brewery run by a close friend of mine. It costs over 40,000 won per bottle!”
“No way!”
A female employee clapped her hands in surprise. The Makgeolli was unexpectedly expensive. But some thought it was worth it for the taste. Just being able to drink such delicious Makgeolli was enough to relieve all the stress from work.
“Since Shin-tae brought such good Makgeolli today, let’s drink until we drop!”
The team leader, who usually loved alcohol, smiled brightly and told the employees. Since they were off the next day, they could drink without worry. A hangover would be painful, but it was better than going to work the next day.
The Makgeolli ran out quickly. No one touched the beer or soju; they only drank the Makgeolli Kim Shin-tae had brought.
