The Age Of Love

Thirty One - Whole

"What's this?" he heard Se Ri's mumbled voice call from inside the walk-in closet of which the master bedroom had two. He'd been using the space for storage. Jeong Hyeok made his way out of the master bath where he was currently consolidating his things to make room for Se Ri's. He peeked his head into the closet to see what she was talking about.

"That would be a guitar." He'd have thought that was obvious.

"It's pink... and sparkly... and tiny," she pointed out from her seat on the floor where she was moving things around to make room for her shoes.

"Yes, well, I guess technically it's a ukulele. Or is it a miniature guitar? Is a ukulele just a miniature guitar?" he pondered. "Or is there something else that differentiates the two?"

"Jeong Hyeok," Se Ri said sternly, breaking him from his musings. "Why do you have this?"

He shrugged. "It's for Eun Jung."

"She is six months. She won't be able to hold a guitar, even a miniature one, for at least a year or two. Not to mention the fine motor skills needed to actually play it."

"Okay, but one day she'll have the hand size and finger motility and when that day comes, she might want to learn to play the guitar."

"Yes, exactly! She might! Which also means she might have absolutely no interest in the guitar whatsoever."

"Okay, well, if she's not interested, she's not interested." He didn't get what the big deal was. If Eun Jung didn't want it, she didn't have to use it. No harm, no foul.

Se Ri sighed dramatically, burying her head in her hands for a moment. Once she'd exposed her face again, she grabbed something else next to her. "And this?" she asked, holding the item up.

"It's a riding helmet. Eun Jung gets excited whenever she sees a horse on TV. I thought she might want to ride when she gets a little older."

"A riding helmet?" Se Ri repeated. Jeong Hyeok nodded, still not understanding what the big deal was. "And a ski helmet?" Se Ri added, holding up another tiny, purple hardhat.

"Well, I'd definitely like to take her skiing someday."

Se Ri huffed, pushing herself up off the floor and walking across the spacious closet to where he stood by the door. "Jeong Hyeok," she said, reaching up to cradle his face. "I love that you see and think of our daughter," she told him.

"Of course I do."

"Right," she acknowledged. "But you can't just buy every single thing you see and then stuff it in a closet for years on the off chance that someday she might want it."

Jeong Hyeok shrugged. "Why not?" He had the money, he had the space, he wanted to buy stuff for his daughter. He didn't see what the problem was.

Se Ri shook her head, a smile that was half-amused, half exasperated on her face. "Umm, well, for starters it's wasteful. And materialistic. And most importantly," she turned in a circle, gesturing to the myriad of random stuff in the closet. "It's more work for me when we get a house and we have to pack all this crap up and move it."

"Don't worry about that," he shook his head dismissively.

"Oh really?" Se Ri raised her eyebrows sceptically.

"Of course," he assured her. "We'll have movers to do that."

"Oh really?" She rolled her eyes. He'd wanted to get her movers to help her with this move, but Se Ri had adamantly declined. She insisted she wasn't bringing that much stuff, and besides, the movers wouldn't know what was staying and what was going. But she was insane if she thought they were going to supplant an entire household without help.