hyunjin's mom appreciation post

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There were few places Hyunjin enjoyed more than the park. Most days, once he had finished his school work, he would ask his mom to take him to the closest one; it had a playground with swings and a tall, red slide. The amount of people there usually depended on the day. Hyunjin wished there were less people on the weekends - there always seemed to be more people then.

It was a Saturday afternoon, and the warm sun shone down on Hyunjin and his mother as they walked to the park. The seven-year-old watched the sidewalk as he walked, making sure not to step on any lines or cracks. He felt like a spy on a secret mission, and with one false step, he would fail. Once the two reached the park, he abandoned his game in favor of running to the playground.

"Slow down, Hyunjin-ah!" his mother called. Hyunjin stopped running, electing to speed-walk instead.

Once he made it to the playground, he was delighted at the sight of no other visitors. Hyunjin wasn't very fond of sharing, so he was glad that he would have the playground all to himself. Climbing on the equipment, going up and down the slide, and swinging as high as he could; Hyunjin couldn't think of a better way to spend his day. After a while, he felt his stomach grumble. Reluctantly, he ran over to his mother.

"Eomma, I'm hungry." the boy whined.

"Then should we go home?" she asked, looking up from the book she had been reading.

"No! Please, just this once, can we just buy something nearby and come back?" Hyunjin gave his best puppy eyes, a pout on his lips.

His mother let out a small chuckle, "Alright, Hyunjin-ah. You've been doing well in school, so we can buy something for lunch. But next time, we're bringing lunch with us, alright?"

Hyunjin's face brightened up, and he reached to grab his mother's hand, "Thank you!"

After standing up, Hyunjin's mother led him to walk toward a nearby street vendor. They ate tteokbokki, Hyunjin smearing the red sauce all over his face and his mother lightly scolding him for eating so messily. After they had finished their food - and cleaned Hyunjin's face - they made their way back to the park. As they walked, Hyunjin often looked up at the sky, watching for airplanes.

When they reached the park again, Hyunjin pouted at the sight of three children on the playground. His mother noticed the children, as well, and encouraged Hyunjin to go make friends. Reluctantly, Hyunjin made his way over to the playground. Climbing his way to the top of the slide, he noticed a boy around his age speaking with a woman who Hyunjin assumed was his mother. The boy glanced at Hyunjin, gesturing at him a little while he spoke. Hyunjin wondered what they were talking about, especially when the boy's mother laughed, looked up at Hyunjin, and then back to her son. Hyunjin felt a bit embarrassed knowing he was their topic of conversation. When she spoke, the boy seemed very attentive, nodding his head at whatever his mother had been saying.

Hyunjin made it to the top of the slide, sat, and slid down. He reached the bottom of the slide, and found that the boy was no longer talking to his mother. In fact, the boy was making his way toward Hyunjin. Waiting for him, Hyunjin stayed seated on the slide. The boy approached him with a bright smile, and the sight made Hyunjin want to smile back (so he did).

The boy reached Hyunjin, and introduced himself. Well- he tried to introduce himself.

"Hello, I'm Felix! It's nice to meet you." the boy, Felix, had tried to say. It was pretty close, though Hyunjin did give him a funny look at the odd pronunciation.

"It's nice to meet you, too. My name is Hyunjin."

Felix looked a bit confused at the response, his eyebrows scrunched together as he looked away for a minute to think. After a bit, his face brightened up and he smiled at Hyunjin. He held up his index finger, pointing to the woman he had been talking to earlier with his other hand, before walking toward her to have another conversation.