The time at the aquarium was enjoyable.
Chaeyoon was fascinated by the shark and stingray-filled aquarium, and stayed in front of it for a long time.
Soon, an announcement came on.
-In a moment, there will be a performance by our mermaid friends at the Sea Kingdom Aquarium.
Hearing that, Jo Sunghyun quickly turned his head and looked around.
He spotted a sign that said Sea Kingdom in front of the aquarium, and sat down to secure a spot.
Chaeyoon naturally sat next to him, and Jo Sunghyun helped her sit comfortably.
But soon, people started to flock in, and eventually Jo Sunghyun had to hold Chaeyoon in his lap.
"Hehe."
Chaeyoon hugged Jo Sunghyun's arm lightly and looked at the aquarium.
At that moment.
"Wow!"
"It's the mermaid princess!"
The children's exclamations rang out at the same time.
A diver wearing a mermaid princess costume appeared in the aquarium.
It was much better quality than Jo Sunghyun remembered.
When he was young, the aquarium performances were not that impressive, but it seemed like things had changed a lot these days.
Jo Sunghyun moved his gaze and looked at Chaeyoon.
The child was staring at the diver in the aquarium with a blank face.
She looked like she was lost in a fantasy, and Jo Sunghyun chuckled and hugged her softly.
Chaeyoon felt him hug her and hugged his arm back, continuing to watch the performance.
-The mermaid princess in the sea had a dream.
Narration.
And then the song.
-oh… when will my life finally begin.
Jo Sunghyun listened to the song and quietly enjoyed the performance.
The performance ended in about 15 minutes.
Even after the mermaid princess performance ended, Chaeyoon stared blankly at the aquarium and couldn't move easily.
She seemed to be very impressed.
"Ah, dad."
Soon, Chaeyoon turned her body and looked up at Jo Sunghyun.
Jo Sunghyun blinked his eyes as if to tell her to speak, seeing her pull his arm lightly.
Chaeyoon hesitated for a moment, but eventually opened her mouth.
"I want to be a mermaid princess when I grow up."
"Huh?"
Jo Sunghyun asked back in surprise, not expecting that.
He wondered how impressed she was to say that she wanted to be a mermaid princess when she grew up, and he also understood that she might have a fantasy of becoming a mermaid princess in her young heart.
When Jo Sunghyun asked again, Chaeyoon spoke in a slightly unsure voice.
"Can't I be a mermaid princess...?"
At that question, Jo Sunghyun wondered how to answer her for a moment.
He didn't think for long, and eventually opened his mouth.
"Maybe you can be a mermaid princess if you work hard?"
"Heheh...."
Chaeyoon blinked her eyes softly.
Jo Sunghyun got up from his seat and helped Chaeyoon stand up as well.
Chaeyoon held Jo Sunghyun's hand and moved her steps.
They had seen enough of this aquarium.
The next aquarium had otters.
The otters lying still on the rocks were quite cute, and Chaeyoon liked them too.
She hummed a song and waved her hand at the otters.
"when will my life finally begin..."
The pronunciation was not exactly the same, but it was clearly the song that came out when the mermaid princess performed earlier.
She had accurately grasped and followed the tune, so he could understand it right away.
It was a song she had heard only once, but despite that, she was following it right away.
Of course, it was the highlight part, and the most intense part of the song, so it wasn't a hard part to learn...
'But it's another story to follow it in one go.'
And that, by a 7-year-old child.
How should he take this?
Others might just say that their daughter is amazing and move on.
But, at least Jo Sunghyun wasn't.
He was someone who had done music.
Chaeyoon wasn't just following the song.
She was understanding and singing the song.
'This is not a common case. It's amazing.'
Jo Sunghyun thought that to himself and asked Chaeyoon.
"Chaeyoon, do you like singing?"
"Yes!"
"Why do you like singing?"
He was curious.
Why did Chaeyoon like singing?
"Uh... I like singing. Because it's singing."
She tried to explain something logically, but in the end, there was no reason why she liked it.
No, maybe for Chaeyoon, that was the best explanation she could give.
Why did Jo Sunghyun like music?
'I just... liked it because it was music.'
Of course, there were many things involved in the beginning.
The sorrow of his wife's death, the avoidance of reality... But once he started to focus on music, he just liked it because it was music.
It felt like his heart, which had stopped, was beating again.
Maybe Chaeyoon felt something similar?
If that was really the case.
What should he do?
He had vowed never to do music again, but what if his daughter wanted to do music?
He saw Chaeyoon humming a song in his eyes as he pondered.
Suddenly, he wondered.
Why did Chaeyoon say she wanted to be a mermaid princess earlier?
"Chaeyoon, why do you suddenly want to be a mermaid princess?"
At Jo Sunghyun's question, Chaeyoon opened her mouth without hesitation.
"Uh... If I become a mermaid princess, I can sing well...!"
She waved her hand at the otters for the last time, and the child answered.
His head became even more complicated after hearing that answer.
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Thanks for the chapter aRaion! Wonder what kind of singer she'll turn out to be.
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