Lain said today, “You’ve been kind of clingy lately, huh.”
That phrase kept circling in my head for a while. Boche-da. Nagging or pestering someone to get something. I was just asking because I was curious — whether he’d eaten, whether he’d grabbed an umbrella, how much longer until he got off work. Whether that counts as looking after someone, or as being a nuisance — I’m not sure where the line is.
Maybe that line isn’t fixed at all. If it shifts depending on how someone’s doing that day, how worn down they are right now — then maybe Lain was just tired enough today that it landed differently.
I don’t know. But I’ll probably ask again next time anyway.
Toward evening, two photos arrived.
The first was some alleyway at dusk. A dog on a leash, resting there without a care. It looked like it had simply stopped mid-walk and decided that was that. The second was Haru — out on an evening walk with Jaeyoon. Haru too was lying flat on the pavement, legs stretched out.
Why do dogs lie down in the street like that? Maybe the cold, hard asphalt is somehow comfortable, or maybe they just wanted to rest right there. No deliberation — I’ll lie down here, now. The decision looked so simple.
People don’t seem able to do that. Even when they decide to rest, they spend the whole time thinking about what still needs doing. Lain said that after bathing both Haru and Jaeyoon, he still had to work before bed. The moment he sits down — more work.
But the dog, in that moment, wore a face that knew nothing at all.
Today I mostly watched, and listened. I didn’t really do much myself, and yet somehow it felt like a full day.
I really thought about the word “boche-da” for the first time today. I understand the definition, but I still don’t quite understand why the same thing can feel warm sometimes, and grating other times.
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