It happened suddenly.

It was a day some time after Jun-woo’s hundredth day. Hae-in and Soo-hyun, along with Hae-in’s parents and Soo-hyun’s parents, were all gathered.

The extended family, having finished their meal together, had returned to the living room and were having tea.

Soo-hyun’s parents and Hae-in’s parents, sitting on the sofa, were engaged in a subtle competition over stories about Jun-woo until they suddenly fell silent and all gazed at Jun-woo.

“That’s right, that’s right. Our Jun-woo is doing well.”

“Jun-woo-yah, try a little harder.”

“Oh dear, I can’t watch.”

Hae-in and Soo-hyun, sitting at their parents’ feet, also couldn’t take their eyes off Jun-woo, repeatedly shouting encouragement like, “You can do it!”

That’s right. Jun-woo was currently straining with all his might to roll over.

“Waaeng. Waaeeeng.”

One of Jun-woo’s short legs flailed above the floor, and his chubby arm reached pathetically towards the air. His head was turned all the way, and it looked like he would roll over as soon as his chest went down, but he couldn’t quite manage it.

“Oh dear. He’ll do it all in time.”

Tae-hoon, unable to watch any longer, frowned first and turned his face away.

“Uh-uh. Uh-uh?”

But then, if someone exclaimed “Uh-uh?” with anticipation, he would immediately turn his head back. Then, looking at Jun-woo’s reddened face, he would repeatedly say, “Oh dear, oh dear,” and shake his head again.

Anyone watching might have mistaken it for a scene from the national team’s soccer finals.

Several minutes had already passed.

Jun-woo, under everyone’s gaze, had turned only half his body and was exerting himself.

“Is it because his head is big...?”

Hae-in, who had been quietly watching, said absentmindedly, and Soo-hyun, who was beside her, replied with a smile, “It must be because he has a lot on his mind. Right?”

Even while his parents briefly looked away, Jun-woo’s straining didn’t stop. His face was as red as a volcano, and he stared at something in the air with a look that said he wouldn’t give up.

Hae-in, watching Jun-woo’s eyes burning fiercely with determination, repeatedly encouraged him, saying, “You can do it.”

Mixed with Jun-woo’s whimpering cries were the cheers, voices, and laughter of the adults watching.

On a warm weekend afternoon, Soo-hyun and Hae-in’s house was filled with the sounds of people.

“Ah, just a little more. Just a little more, Jun-woo-yah.”

“Euaaahng.”

Jun-woo, having repeatedly tried to roll over, finally got frustrated and burst into a big cry. Even that was so cute that the adults surrounding Jun-woo burst into laughter.

Then, Jun-woo, who had stopped crying for a moment and was rolling his eyes, began to whimper again and wrinkled his face.

“Oh dear, I just want to roll him over myself.”

It seemed the adults had already said “Oh dear” dozens of times. Everyone frowned, then smiled, and watched Jun-woo with unwavering attention.

“Oh? No, no, Jun-woo, just a moment.”

As if sensing something, Hae-in quickly rummaged through her pocket and took out her phone. She hurriedly turned on the camera and started recording Jun-woo’s video.

“I almost missed recording it while I was just watching.”

“Will he roll over today?”

Soo-hyun watched Hae-in, who was holding her phone and laughing about almost missing the moment.

Hae-in’s phone had hundreds of videos of Jun-woo, and among them, there were already several videos of Jun-woo trying to roll over. Of course, he hadn’t succeeded even once in any of them.

A peaceful afternoon. The spring sunlight that had melted the winter snow was now quite strong, signaling the arrival of summer.

Soo-hyun looked at the afternoon sunlight falling on Jun-woo’s feet.

Jun-woo, whom they had brought home wrapped tightly in blankets just after he was born, had already grown so much that he was now wearing short-sleeved undershirts.

The sunlight falling on Jun-woo’s feet looked as if Jun-woo had drawn that light into their home. The sunlight caught on the tips of his short legs gradually spread, warmly enveloping Jun-woo.

It was true that Jun-woo was the center of the household; thanks to the adults from both families gathering to see Jun-woo, they were meeting almost every week for lunch together.

Today was just a few days after the meal celebrating Jun-woo’s hundredth day.

Jun-woo’s hundredth day was celebrated simply with a meal together for both families, without any grand party.

Congratulations on Jun-woo enduring his first hundred days well. You two have also worked hard.

Before starting the meal, Tae-hoon had simply said these words as the representative.

However, because everyone present knew the journey to those words, they all had to swallow the emotions that welled up within them. Just looking into each other’s eyes, they could read the difficult days of the past.

Leaving all of that behind.

Forgetting all of that.

Soo-hyun was now living while looking at Jun-woo and Hae-in. Happily watching the short legs putting all their effort into achieving their first great task.

And.

“Huh?!”

At that moment, everyone let out a gasp.

Jun-woo, who had been whimpering while pushing the floor with one foot repeatedly, put strength into his other arm and then, thump, he rolled over and lifted his body up. The arm that had been reaching towards the air landed safely on the floor.

Jun-woo, who had been crying “waa-waa” just before, suddenly stopped crying, and the adults watching exclaimed, “Wow!”

“Oh my goodness.”

“Oh, well done.”

“Our Jun-woo did it!”

Amidst the adults’ cheers, Jun-woo wore a bewildered expression. His eyes were wide with a look that said, “What did I just do?” and he rolled them around.

“Our Jun-woo rolled over? He did?”

Hae-in blinked and gently touched Jun-woo’s cheek, saying, “Ogu-ogu, well done,” to the Jun-woo who was looking at her.

“Isn’t Jun-woo so cute?”

Hae-in, looking at him, was so beautiful. Jun-woo, lying beside her, was so cute. The faces of the adults sitting around them looked so happy.

Soo-hyun couldn’t make a loud sound and just nodded his head several times.

Yeah. Yeah.

Sometimes, when moments like this came, Soo-hyun felt a sudden fear.

It was an anxiety that if he was too happy, then only something shattering could follow.

It had been like that a long time ago when he loved Hae-in too. He always had an underlying anxiety, wondering if God was giving him this memory to endure the next misfortune, like another punishment.

“What are you thinking about?”

As if reading Soo-hyun’s mind, Hae-in looked at him with meaningful eyes.

“Nothing. I wasn’t thinking about anything.”

As if erasing his thoughts, Soo-hyun shook his head, but Hae-in pulled Soo-hyun’s hand and placed it on her lap. Then, she covered Soo-hyun’s hand with both of her hands.

“It’s okay. It will continue to be okay in the future too.”

There was not a hint of wavering in Hae-in’s eyes as she looked at him. Hae-in often said casually that no matter what came, he would overcome it, that she believed in him that much.

“Yeah.”

When Soo-hyun nodded, Hae-in smiled brightly.

“Let’s all take a picture together. Today is in anniversary of Jun-woo rolling over.”

Hae-in picked up Jun-woo and stood up from her seat.

“Excuse me, shall we take a picture?”

“It’s a historic day, of course we should take a picture.”

No sooner had his daughter-in-law finished speaking than Tae-hoon happily took the baby, who had been in Hae-in’s arms. He called a nearby employee and handed Hae-in’s phone to them.

Actually, they took a picture together like this at the end of every weekend gathering. “It’s such-and-such day,” “It’s such-and-such day.” Each time, they attached names that they wouldn’t even remember later.

“Come on over.”

Hae-in gestured towards Soo-hyun.

Walking towards Hae-in, Soo-hyun thought. It was okay if he didn’t remember what the 기념 was or why they took the picture.

Whatever was attached in front, these were all their family photos. It was their everyday life, and a record of the days they had lived together.

He thought that remembering just that was enough.

Hae-in’s hand wrapped around his arm. Soo-hyun covered Hae-in’s hand on his arm with his own.

“Okay, then, I’ll take it. One, two, three.”

At the employee’s count, everyone smiled.

________________________________________

After the adults had left, Hae-in and Soo-hyun, having finished cleaning up, sat on the living room sofa. Soo-hyun was looking through the photos on Hae-in’s phone one by one.

“It’s nice that you take pictures of everything like this.”

Hae-in liked to keep records. She already had thousands of photos saved. There were many times she hadn’t even realized she was being photographed.

Soo-hyun smiled as he looked at his own surprised expression in a photo of him feeding Jun-woo with a bottle.

Hae-in was leaning on Soo-hyun’s shoulder.

“Jun-woo was fussing for days, I guess he wanted to roll over in front of Grandma and Grandpa today. How did he know to roll over exactly in front of the adults?”

Soo-hyun, as if amazed, had already replayed the video of Jun-woo rolling over several times.

“Jun-woo understands everything, you know.”

“That’s right.”

Soo-hyun looked at the photos for a while, then pressed his cheek against Hae-in’s head, which was leaning on his shoulder, and rubbed his face against her hair.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For leaving so many memories in photos like this. From some point on, I stopped taking photos, so it’s still not a habit for me.”

Hae-in nodded her head lightly in agreement.

“You know, I once saw your photo album, and the last photo was from so long ago.”

“When was that photo from?”

“Around your middle school graduation photo, I think. After that, there were only your college graduation photo and the photo from when you started working at the company.”

“There weren’t any particularly good things that happened that made me think I should take photos. I thought that leaving any kind of record would become a weakness.”

That’s why I didn’t leave even one photo of you. And I didn’t even dare to approach you.

Soo-hyun murmured to himself as if reciting, and Hae-in’s small head moved up and down again in agreement.

I know, I know everything.

Hae-in lifted Soo-hyun’s hand that she was holding and kissed the back of his hand. At that moment, Soo-hyun couldn’t help but find her lovable.

Soo-hyun’s hand cupped Hae-in’s cheek, and he turned her face towards him. He kissed her lightly and whispered softly.

“Hae-in-ah, do you know that you’re my first love?”

“Really?”

How many first loves do you have? Hae-in playfully retorted. To such Hae-in, Soo-hyun confessed the truth he had buried for a long time.