Speranza came running with a pink color bag on her back.
As soon as she came, she felt the unusual atmosphere and looked around with round eyes.
“Ah. Speranza. Are you ready? Did you take everything you needed?”
“Un. But…… Boss uncle looks weird.”
Speranza said firmly, looking at Kaneff.
He had a sulky appearance as if he was still bothered by his earlier mistake.
It was a little fun to see Kaneff who was always full of himself like this.
I smiled a little and said to Speranza.
“Since Speranza will be going on vacation with Papa, Boss uncle feels very lonely.”
Speranza’s eyes got bigger at my words, and she went close to Kaneff.
Speranza patted Kaneff’s leg.
When Kaneff lowered his upper body to face Speranza, she said.
“Boss uncle, are you very lonely without Speranza?”
“Huh? Uh… Yeah.”
Kaneff replied, stuttering slightly, unable to say no.
“Then hang out with Grify and Finny a lot instead. The baby Griffins will also be very lonely without me and Papa.”
Looking at Speranza comforting Kaneff, the rest of the farm members turned their heads and held back their laughter.
Kaneff glared at them for a while, but his power did not revive much in front of Speranza.
In the end, he nodded with a resigned look.
“Okay. I’ll have fun with the baby Griffins while Speranza is away.”
“Promise?”
“Yes, Promise.”
Speranza smiled when Kaneff promised.
A bright smile permeated Kaneff’s sulky face.
He gently patted Speranza’s hair with a faint smile.
The rest of the farm members, who were laughing with me, looked at the two with a pleased expression.
The awkward atmosphere quickly disappeared thanks to Speranza.
Finally, I left the farm building with Speranza, asking everyone to take care of the farm.
Of course, Gyuri and Akum were also together this time.
The place where I was born is often called “the countryside”.
It was a place where you could see cows passing by as easily as cars on the street, and where farming was very normal and routine.
My father lived here almost all his life raising cattle.
He also did small field farming, but the thing that he worked the hardest and put a lot of effort into was raising cows.
If everything stayed as it was, my father might still be raising cows there.
No not might, I’m sure he will be raising cows.
However, due to an unexpected accident, the farm that my father had devoted his life to, got destroyed in an instant.
The shock gave him a huge load of mental stress and he left us.
My mother and I have never been to my father’s grave for years.
There were many reasons like my mother was very sick, and I was busy making a living.
The biggest reason among them was that I and my mother were not confident about facing the painful memories of that time.
But a few days ago.
My mother asked me in a very calm voice.
– Why don’t we visit father this year?
I squeezed the shuddering feeling inside and nodded slowly, acting calmly on the outside.
I pretended to be fine, but I couldn’t sleep properly that night because I was unknowingly disturbed.
Imagining the fun of meeting Uncle and brother Junho, I forced myself to fall asleep.
That night, I had a dream of the days I spent with my father.
“Wow! Is this really Papa’s?”
“Yes, Papa bought it.”
“This is the one that was moving so fast, right popi?”
“Yes.”
– Pow wooooooo…
The kids were excited to see the car I bought.
They circled around the car and sat in the front and back seats one after another.
“Hohoho, the children are so happy.”
“I know, right mom?”
My mother and I looked at the excited children with satisfaction.
With the money I got after selling some of the Demon stones, I bought a car at the recommendation of Ryan.
I didn’t feel the need for a personal vehicle when I was commuting or moving personally, but there were many inconveniences when I thought of going somewhere with my mother and children.
I accepted Ryan’s recommendation because I thought I can’t always borrow someone else’s car.
It was only a while ago that I realized this and purchased the vehicle immediately.
The choice was a spacious SUV.
The things I considered while buying the car were simple.
The top priority was to be able to travel comfortably with mother and children.
Naturally, I chose it based on the comfortable ride, wide space, and various functions.
Ryan insisted on every man’s dream – a sports car, but I pulled myself together thinking about the children.
I already had a driver’s license.
When the family situation was difficult, I had the experience of being a driver, so there was no big problem with driving a car.
“Guys, shall we go now?”
“Come on, hurry up and get in the car. Grandma will help you.”
Mother took the children and sat together in the back seat.
I naturally sat in the driver’s seat.
The smell of the new car was still in the car.
I checked everything and started the car.
– GRRRRR
“Wow… the car just moved.”
– Poo! woo!
“That’s right. Everything is moving, popi!”
The children chattered despite moving a short distance.
I checked my mother and children once in the rearview mirror and slowly started to increase the speed.
The car pulled out of the residential area and started running on the highway.
The children moved about, shaking their bodies, unable to calm themselves.
“Guys, you can’t move like that when you’re in the car. Did you forget what I told you last time?”
By the time we left the city and entered the highway, Speranza, who got bored looking outside, suddenly asked a question.
“Papa, where are we going now?”
“…..”
At that moment, I hesitated to answer because I didn’t know what to say.
My mother sitting next to Speranza answered instead with a kind smile.
“Speranza, we are on our way to see your father’s hometown. Have you ever heard of the word hometown?”
“Hometown?”
-Pow wo woooo
Speranza and Akum tilted their heads at the word “hometown.”
“I, me! I’ve heard of it, Popi! I was born in my hometown, popi!”
“Well done. Gyuri knew it. That’s right, we’re on our way to the place where Speranza’s father was born.”
Gyuri guessed exactly what hometown was and put on a triumphant look.
Meanwhile, Speranza continued the question with a curious look on her face.
“Then, why are we going there?”
“There is a family, who we haven’t seen in a long time.”
“Family? Who?”
“We’re going to see Speranza’s grandpa.”
“Grandpa?”
Speranza’s eyes sparkled when she heard that she was going to see her grandfather.
She muttered the word grandpa to herself several times with a look full of expectations.
“I want to meet grandpa, too! I can’t wait to see him. Popi”
Pow woo woooo
My mother gave a slightly sad smile to the children’s response full of expectations.
She was probably thinking about how it would have been if my father met the children when he was alive.
I couldn’t bear to watch the sad smile anymore, so I took my eyes off the rearview mirror.
I drove on the highway for quite a long time and arrived near my destination.
Now, familiar buildings and landscapes started coming into view.
My heart was choked with emotions longing, welcome, and a little upset.
The children enjoyed the snacks I bought at the service station and chatted endlessly.
Now they were in a deep sleep leaning on my mother or in her arms.
The breathing of the children from the back seat seemed to reduce the discomfort for some reason.
“Oh, the Chinese restaurant over there disappeared. It was a store that your father used to love.”
Mother murmured regretfully when she found the store we used to visit disappeared.
The store, which remained in my memory, had turned into a famous hamburger chain.
Was it elementary school graduation?
At that time, the whole family went to that Chinese restaurant to eat and when I entered the store, I smelled oil on the tip of my nose, so I wrinkled my nose without realizing it.
I left the downtown area, which was more crowded than I remember before, and left toward the village where my house was.
Along the paved road that seems to have been recently renovated, a very familiar village unfolded in front of me.
Memories of my dreamy childhood came back to me.
“Ho, Si. Do you remember when you secretly grilled sweet potatoes with your friends in the backyard and set fire to the warehouse? You cried your eyes out with a lot of charcoal on your face.”
“Of course, I remember.”
Fortunately, it didn’t turn into a big fire, but I remembered my father scolding me terribly.
Even now, the dizzying emotions at that time seem to cool my heart.
“Oh, come to think of it, you’ve had a lot of accidents…In comparison, Speranza is so nice and gentle.”
“Hahaha. I know…”
I smiled awkwardly and blurred at the end of the sentence.
When I recall my old memories, Speranza seemed like an angel.
Perhaps because it was a rural village, there have been few changes compared to the city.
My mother and I talked about the old days together while looking at the familiar village scenery.
At one point, my mother and I stopped talking at the same time.
After a while, we began to see a house with a front yard.
I stopped my car on the side of the road for a while.
My mother and I looked at the house silently.
“Still…It’s still there.”
It was the house where we lived when my father was alive.
An unexpected accident occurred and the situation became so difficult that we were forced to give up our house.
There was a bit of a lonely atmosphere around the house since there was no one living there.
There were no traces of the cattle shed nearby.
Now it has turned into a vacant lot and has been piled up with unused agricultural machinery and waste materials.
I felt bitter.
I couldn’t breathe as if something got stuck in my throat.
“Si, let’s go. They’ll be waiting for us.”
“Uh… Yes. I’ll start again.”
I moved the vehicle again.
My mother closed her eyes and leaned on the seat.
The car pulled away from there and stopped in front of another familiar house.
I parked the car and my mother started to wake up the children.
“Guys, we’re here. How about waking up now?”
“Uhh……gran…ma”
“I’m sleepy, popi.”
Pow wo woooo
The children drooled and clung to my mother.
My mother smiled and patted gently on their back.
I thought it would take some time to wake the children up, so I got off the driver’s seat first.
I took a deep breath of clean air from the countryside.
It was a little less compared to the Demon Farm, but I definitely felt a refreshing feeling that was incomparable to when I was in the city.
As I was warming up after a long drive, a hoarse male voice was heard from a distance.
“Hey! Si, are you here?”
A middle-aged man came running to where I was with a face full of joy.
As soon as I checked the man’s face, a smile bloomed on my face and I waved my hand.