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An Alpine Black Swallowtail butterfly landed on the stem of a flower, barely moving the flower as it rested its wings. Jeongyeon had just sat down in the park and looked over to the butterfly, wondering how long it had been traveling and how long it would rest.
"I'm sorry I didn't visit yesterday. It's been busy with work and all of Yebin's things. She’s only three and a half years old, but she’s already involved in so many things."
Jeongyeon leaned back against the bench and stretched her legs out. It was cold and the wind started to pick up just as she had parked in the lot. She tried to go to the park near their house every day, but sometimes life got in the way.
"Yebin's been doing well at her piano lessons. Dahyun says that even though she’s young, she's doing well. Sometimes I think she likes Dahyun more than me." A small chuckle left Jeongyeon as she tilted her head up, trying to get some reprieve from the cold.
She wished she brought Yebin with her, but it was too cold for the baby. At least, Nayeon thought so. Jeongyeon always knew that Yebin enjoyed the cold. She loved seeing her daughter's rosy cheeks whenever she had come in from playing outside for too long.
"Did mama let you play outside without a scarf again, sweet pea?" Nayeon bent down and shook her head. She let out a small sigh and kissed her daughter's pink cheeks before leading her to the living room.
Nayeon picked her daughter up and gently sat her down on the couch. She wrapped a fleece blanket around Yebin's body, only leaving room for her eyes and nose to peek out. "There we go. Now you can get warm while mommy makes you a snack."
Jeongyeon was right, though. Yebin did like the cold. She loved the way the frigid air felt filtering through her lungs as she ran outside. She loved the slight sting she felt whenever she took a deep breath in.
It was quiet out apart from quiet birdsong and the steady heartbeat in Jeongyeon’s ears. She used to hate quiet moments like this, but now that they had been raising Yebin for almost four years, she took every quiet moment she could get.
Quiet moments like this always gave Jeongyeon time to think. It gave her a chance to slow down and take everything in that she didn’t always make time for. Work had been beyond busy and between getting Yebin to and from daycare, her piano lessons, playdates with friends, and making sure she was fed, there wasn’t much time left in her day to just sit and think.
“Yebin told me yesterday that she thinks I work too much. She said that you’d agree, and that mommy and Yebin are always right.” A soft chuckle sounded through the nearly empty park, echoing across the pond.
“I don’t think that you’re always right, but you’re definitely right most of the time.”
It was quiet again for a few more minutes. Jeongyeon shifted and crossed her legs as she looked around. It was late enough that only two runners were out and a dad pushing his baby in a stroller.
Despite the cold, Jeongyeon wished that more people would come to the park. Just because it was cold, it didn’t mean that the park was uninhabitable. She honestly thought that the cold made it better.
“You didn’t miss much yesterday,” Jeongyeon started with a light yawn, “but I wish you would have been able to see the mess I made in the kitchen. It was almost like you were trying to make dinner with me.”
Another laugh echoed across the pond.
“I wanted to make Yebin her favorite, but I forgot that I had the stove on high while I was searing the salmon. The salmon ended up burning and we had pizza for dinner. Even though she was a little bummed out about it, I don’t think that Yebin minded once I let her get extra cheese on her pizza.”
The butterfly flapped its wings once, almost as it was giving a warning that it was going to soon continue its journey.
Jeongyeon looked back down and nodded. She watched the butterfly groom itself, its turquoise blue wings practically glowing in the sunlight.
“I know. I know. I need to get back and make sure that Yebin’s picked up from daycare in time. We’re trying the salmon again tonight, so wish me luck.”
The silence once Jeongyeon stopped speaking again grew this time. It hung in the air as the butterfly stopped its grooming, getting ready to take flight again.
“I promise I’ll bring Yebin back tomorrow. She’ll be excited to say hello. You know she always has lots to talk about after daycare.”
The butterfly climbed up the stem of the flower. Its wings flapped a few times before it started to fly. It flew around Jeongyeon’s head once before disappearing through the trees. “I love you, bunny.”
Jeongyeon waved to the butterfly until it was out of her sight. She hoisted herself off the bench with a light grunt and started the short walk back to her car.
As Jeongyeon drove to pick Yebin up from her daycare center, the small tree Jeongyeon sat in front of every time she visited the park remained rooted in the ground. The small plaque underneath the foot of the tree had only dulled slightly since the past year it was installed in the ground.
“Although you may get exhausted sometimes, you can still get over it if you have people around you who give you warm words.” – Im Nayeon (1993 – 2025)