“I hate it.”

Yoogeun hated the idea of living without his real parents. He started fussing and tried to break free from Minho’s arms. “Yoogeun, we’re going to be your appas.” “No.” Yoogeun finally broke free from Minho’s arms. “Umma!”

Naturally, I turned my head when he said “umma” but then I realized he must be talking about his real mother, not me. Taemin helps him onto his feet as Yoogeun looked around for this mother. The poor kid didn’t notice his mother had left a while ago. He went over to the door and tried to open it but to no success. Minho: “Your mom is gone, Yoogeun. She went home.” Yoogeun looked really upset. Taemin: “You okay?” Key opens his arms but Yoogeun just walked away and went behind the cameras.

PD: “Cut!”

We heard Yoogeun calling for his mother as we gather around each other trying to figure out what to do with Yoogeun.

Jonghyun: “What do we do?” Taemin: “I thought Yoogeun and I would be able to communicate but we can’t. I don’t know what to do!” Key: “Now that we’ve actually met, it’s a different outcome from what I was hoping for.” You: “Poor Yoogeun probably didn’t even know he was going to be a part of the show. Since he’s older, he has more of an idea of what is going on around him. He doesn’t like the fact that he’s living without his real parents.” Onew: “I want to help him but I can’t get close to him.” Taemin: “Why, hyung?” Minho: “Because Onew hyung got scared of the baby when he started talking.” Jonghyun: “He ran away when the baby got close!” Onew: “Babies are hard to get along with.” Minho: “We get along just fine, hyung.” Onew: “Yoogeun walked off on us. That’s getting along?” You: “Guys, stop it. How are we going to fix this?” We looked at one another trying to figure out some way to get Yoogeun to like us better.

30 minutes pass and Yoogeun finally calmed down and he was back with us.

Key: “Look, Yoogeun.” He took out a book and Yoogeun sat next to Key while he opened the book. Yoogeun was in awe over the pop-up picture until he closed the page. “Where’d it go?” Yoogeun opens the page and the pop-up appeared. “There it is!” Yoogeun giggles quietly.

Minho: “Yoogeun, do you want to ride on my shoulders?” Minho picks up Yoogeun and tries to put him on his shoulders but it wasn’t going to well and Yoogeun was sitting on Minho’s shoulders backwards. You: “Wrong way!” The members chuckle over the awkward position Yoogeun was sitting in.

Minho: “Do something cute!” Yoogeun pushes his cheeks together and Minho was just awed over how cute he was. So were the rest of us. Minho tries to put Yoogeun down but he refused to come down, he was already having so much fun riding Minho’s shoulders. Eventually, Yoogeun came down and Minho sat down on the floor.

Yoogeun was already running over to Jonghyun and tries climbing onto his shoulders. Jonghyun: “Yah, what are you doing?” You: “He wants to ride your shoulders too.” Jonghyun: “No, he wants to ride my yellow hair.” Jonghyun tries to get Yoogeun on his shoulders. “Key, help me.” Key grabs Yoogeun as Jonghyun kneels down. Yoogeun was settled onto Jonghyun’s shoulders and he stood up, holding Yoogeun’s arms.

Key: “Yoogeun, it’s not that high, is it?” I couldn’t help but burst out in giggles over the inside joke. Poor Jonghyun, he’s always been teased about his height. Even I was taller than him by a centimeter and he can never get over that.

Jonghyun walked over to Key. “Yoogeun, mehrong!” “Mehrong.” I chuckle when he actually stuck his tongue out at Key. He went over to me and Onew. Onew started running away again but I grabbed his arm to make sure he stood in place. “Mehrong to Onew appa and Y/N umma.” He stuck his tongue out at us. “Mehrong.” “Good job, mehrong to the camera!” Jonghyun quickly went over to the camera as Yoogeun stuck his tongue out again. “Mehrong.”

Jonghyun kneels down trying to get Yoogeun off of his shoulders. I helped Yoogeun down and he immediately ran over to Key. Does Yoogeun still not like me or something?

Key: “Yoogeun, let’s have a race. Let’s see who goes to Taemin faster.” Taemin held his arms out, hoping to hold Yoogeun. “Ready, set, go!” Yoogeun ran past Taemin and right into Minho’s arms. You: “Yoogeun ran to the person who looks just like him.” Taemin just stood there with a pout on his face. Jonghyun suddenly proposes another race. “To see who he likes the best.” I cringe slightly at the idea. We sat back against the wall as Yoogeun waited on the other side. “Ready, go!”

We started calling for Yoogeun and he immediately ran into Key’s arms. Key jumps up in excitement as he went over to the other side. “Okay, Yoogeun. Run to the next person you like.” Yoogeun ran to Minho. “Minho!” Key (in English): “You’re second.” Minho scoffs as he went over to the other side. Key: “Okay, next person. Go!”

To our surprise, Yoogeun ran to Onew. Onew nervously opens his arms but they’re shaking as he attempted to hug Yoogeun. You: “Onew oppa, hug him!” Yoogeun ran back to Key and Minho before he even got the chance. Onew sighs as he went over to the other side. Key: “3 down, 3 to go.”

You: “Yoogeun, umma!” Yoogeun looked at me again as I open my arms. No weird look this time so something between us is improving, it seems. Key: “Ready, set, go!” Yoogeun ran to Jonghyun but he stops in front of him. Jonghyun opens his arms. “Hug me!” Yoogeun actually hugs him and he ran over to the other side in happiness. Taemin and I scooted over to each other. Jonghyun: “Now it’s the maknae vs the noona.”

I turned to Taemin. “Yoogeun is probably going to choose you over me.” Taemin chuckles as they ready for Yoogeun’s final favorite choice. Key: “Ready, go Yoogeun!”

Yoogeun ran and I was surprised when he actually ran to me and climbed into my lap. I hugged him tightly but not so tightly as I didn’t want to accidently harm him. “Yoogeun likes me!” I went over to the appas leaving a slumping last-place Taemin behind. Jonghyun took Yoogeun out of my arms and went over to Taemin. “Yoogeun, mehrong!” “Mehrong.” The members laughed as I went over to Taemin and hugged him. “Aw, don’t worry, Taemin. You know I still love you even though you’re in last place.” Taemin laughs. “Gombawo, noona.”

As Jonghyun puts Yoogeun down, he immediately ran over to Taemin and hugs him. You: “Aww, see? He likes you too!” Taemin’s smile was able to make his previous pouting disappear.

Yoogeun was running around, jumping and shouting so happily. Minho: “Aigoo, you’re so happy now.” I smile as Minho picks up Yoogeun. Just an hour ago, Yoogeun was whining for his mother and now, he was extremely comfortable with us as if he’d known us for a long time. “Yoogeun, do you like your appas and umma now?” “Mm.” “How much?” Yoogeun spreads his arms wide. “This much!” We were all in awe over how quickly Yoogeun came to like us. Key: “Do something cute!” Yoogeun pushes his cheeks together like he did before.

Looks like SHINee’s Hello Baby was going to be a fun adventure now that our rough beginning was over with.

The next day:

SHINee was at KBS studios because they had a performance to record.

I was sitting in the van with Yoogeun and his mother and we were on the way to the studios. His mother didn’t talk to me and Yoogeun was busy playing with his Power Ranger toy.

I tried to initiate the best conversation I could with my bad Korean speaking. “Um…Did Yoogeun…talk about us?” Yoogeun’s mother: “Yes, he said his appas are very fun people. He said Minho was his favorite.” I chuckle because last night, Key was chosen over Minho. “Did he say…something about…umma?” Yoogeun’s mother chuckles awkwardly. “He just said…Y/N umma is a funny foreigner.” I hide my face, laughing in embarrassment. “Aigoo, Yoogeun!”

Eventually, we reach the studios and I offered my hand for Yoogeun to hold. “Yoogeun-ah…” I bent down to his eye level, trying to speak my best Korean to him. “You and me…going…to see appas.” “Appa?” “SHINee appa.” Yoogeun started jumping in excitement. “Let’s go!”

Yoogeun and I walked into KBS studios with his mother following us. After showing the security guard my all access backstage pass, he let us and the camera crew in. I went into a hallway trying to find SHINee’s dressing room. “Nope…Ah, SHINee!” I knocked on the door and opened it for Yoogeun. Yoogeun walked into the dressing room and I could hear little shouts of excitement from the SHINee members about Yoogeun’s studio visit. Minho: “Yoogeun, did you come by yourself?”

I pushed the door open a little more and the members saw me, Minho was already holding Yoogeun in his arms. “Y/N!” “Hey guys.” I bowed at the hair and makeup people. “Anniyahaseo.” Onew waves at me from his chair since he was in the middle of getting his hair done.

Jonghyun: “Yoogeun, look at me!” Yoogeun was ignoring Jonghyun. Instead, he was looking around at all the people in the dressing room. You (in Korean): “Lots of…people, Yoogeun-ah?” “Mm.” I held his hand, he was probably scared of them. “Kenchana.”

Taemin: “Minho hyung, do a free drop.” Minho puts Yoogeun down. “Yoogeun, we’re going to go up and down. 1, 2, 3.” Minho picks up Yoogeun as high as he could and brings him back down. I saw a smile on his face. You: “Do it again, he likes it!” Minho picks up Yoogeun and brings him back down again. Yoogeun was giggling and we all awed over him.

Key picks up Yoogeun. “Y/N, come with me.” Minho: “Yah, where are you taking him?” Key and I walked out of the dressing room. “Oppa, where are we going?” “I want to show Yoogeun something really cool. Hey, it’s K.Will ajusshi.”

K.Will walked by, greeting us with a wave. “Anniyo!” As Key and I continued walking, K.Will shouts “Who’s an ajusshi?!” Key started laughing. “He calls me ajusshi too!”

We walked through some doors and ended up on the side of the performance stage. There were several people in the audience already and they started squealing in surprise when they saw Key and Yoogeun. Key calls over one of the staff members holding a microphone. “Can I borrow that for a second?” The staff member turns the microphone on so Key could talk to them. “This is my son.” The audience squealed in happiness over Key and Yoogeun.

You (in Korean): “Yoogeun, wave at noonas.” Yoogeun did what I asked him and I’m pretty sure they were all dying from Yoogeun’s cuteness. The stage manager approached us. “Key, it’s time for rehearsal.” Key nods. “Yoogeun-ah, go with Y/N umma, okay?” Key passes Yoogeun into my arms. You (in Korean): “We…watch Key appa…sing, arasso?” “Mm.”

I made my way into the audience seating and was later joined by Minho and Taemin. “Yoogeun, appas!” Yoogeun was shaking his tube of candy with joy as Minho held out his arms so that Yoogeun would go into his arms. You: “Let’s sit down.” We sat down in the last row, Yoogeun sitting on Minho’s lap. I glanced over at the audience members and they were all staring at us. Wait, us or Yoogeun?

The rehearsal began and we were all watching Key and IU sing their duet. I looked at Yoogeun and he seemed to be very fascinated by his appa’s singing. Taemin picks up Yoogeun and stood up so Yoogeun would get a better view. “Key oppa! I mean—Key appa!” I gave Taemin a light backhand smack. “Hey, only I can call him that.” “Mianhe, noona.” I glanced over at the audience again and half of them had their attention to Yoogeun.

Once Key and IU’s rehearsal was over, we went backstage and encountered the T-ara members.

“Anniyo! Whose baby is this?” Taemin: “It’s our baby, we’re taking care of him.” “Really? I thought he was Minho’s son! What’s his name?” You: “Yoogeun.” The T-ara members all greeted him in awe. Yoogeun didn’t respond except for shaking his candy. Taemin: “Yoogeun, give some candy to the noona you like.” Yoogeun took out one piece of candy as the T-ara members held out their hands. Yoogeun hands the candy to Eunjung and she started jumping in joy. “We have to go now for our rehearsal.” Minho: “Yoogeun, say bye to the noonas.” The T-ara members waved to Yoogeun as they headed for the stage.

I jumped in fright when a pair of hands slammed onto my shoulders. “Oppa, don’t scare me like that!” Key was laughing as he gave me a back hug. Key (in English): “But it’s really funny!” Yoogeun: “Key appa!” Key went over to Yoogeun to carry him and we all went back into the dressing room.

Key: “Look, IU noona.” IU was talking with Jonghyun when she saw us coming in. “Anniyo.” I looked over at Yoogeun and he wasn’t really paying attention to IU. “What’s his name?” Minho: “Jung Yoogeun.” “Yoogeun, anniyo.” Yoogeun still wasn’t looking at IU. “I don’t think he likes me.”

You (in Korean): “Yoogeun-ah, give candy…IU noona.” Yoogeun took out some candy and IU held out her hand so he could give them to her. Instead, Yoogeun just ate the candy and we all laughed. Key: “You tricked IU noona, Yoogeun-ah.” Yoogeun: “Merong.” That was a little rude but Yoogeun was very cute so I don’t think IU was offended. Key: “IU noona has to go now. Say bye.” Yoogeun and IU wave and she left the dressing room.

Onew and Key were getting their hair and makeup retouched and Jonghyun was goofing around with his sister. I sat on the couch watching Yoogeun feeding candy to Minho one by one. One by one too many pieces of candy. “Minho oppa, he’s going to make your teeth rot.” Taemin started laughing. Key sat next to me on the couch and called over Yoogeun. He came over to Key, sitting on his lap and I held his hand. “Yoogeun-ah…” Yoogeun took out a piece of candy and fed it to me. “Aww. Gombawo, Yoogeun.” Key (in English): “I think he has a crush on you.” I lightly punch his shoulder. “Very funny, oppa. At least he’s liking me.”

Taemin: “Yoogeun, look at me.” Yoogeun ignored Taemin. “I think I might cry.” Minho: “I have an idea. Go by the door.” Taemin went over by the door and Onew sat against the wall. “Yoogeun, let’s find Taemin appa. Go.” Yoogeun went over to Taemin’s open arms and he picked him up, cheering to himself in happiness. “Yoogeun knows me!”

Minho: “Yoogeun, where’s Jonghyun appa?” Taemin puts down Yoogeun so he could go to Jonghyun who was sitting in the chair. Yoogeun walks past Jonghyun and circles back over to us, not once looking at Jonghyun. He looked disappointed that Yoogeun didn’t acknowledge him. You: “Jonghyun oppa, don’t feel bad.”

Taemin was checking his phone and Yoogeun went over to look. Taemin: “Yoogeun, want to see something cool?” He opened his camera app and Yoogeun takes the phone from his hands. He takes a picture of Taemin. Taemin: “Hey, you forgot to count!” I glanced over at the picture Yoogeun took. “Oh, it’s actually not that bad.”

Taemin: “Take a picture of Jonghyun appa.” Jonghyun poses with a peace sign and Yoogeun took his picture. Minho: “Yoogeun, Minho appa.” Yoogeun turns around and Minho poses with a thumbs-up for his picture.

Key was in the middle of opening the fans’ gifts when he called over Yoogeun. “Yoogeun-ah, take our picture.” Yoogeun came over to me and Key. You: “Let’s do a funny picture.” Key (in English): “Kissy face?” I laugh and nodded. Key and I pose with our silly kissy faces and Yoogeun takes our picture.

Key opens another gift and took out a Power Rangers shirt. You: “Yoogeun-ah, Power Ranger.” Yoogeun takes a picture of Key’s Power Ranger shirt. We all laughed in awe when Yoogeun changed the camera angles and took a selca. Taemin: “Yoogeun’s really good at taking pictures.” Minho: “He should take pictures for our next album.”

I checked the time and it was almost 12pm which meant SHINee would be recording their performance soon. The members sat on the couch to play with Yoogeun some more. I looked to my right and saw Onew sitting in the chair all the way on the other side of the dressing room. We were so intrigued in Yoogeun’s photography that I completely forgot about him.

I sigh and walk over to him, tugging his arm. “Come on, oppa.” Onew hesitantly gets up and we sat on the couch. He sat next to Jonghyun who took Yoogeun into his arms. It hasn’t even been 10 seconds and he was already running away from Yoogeun, again. “Oppa!” I went after him and tried to get him to come back to us but he wouldn’t move. Jonghyun brought over Yoogeun. “Yoogeun, Onew appa.” As they get closer to us, Onew hid behind me. “Oppa, stop being afraid.” Onew flinched when Jonghyun took a step closer to us with Yoogeun. I grabbed Onew’s hand and took him out of the dressing room.

He leans against the wall, letting out a deep sigh. “Oppa, why are you so afraid of him? It’s not like he’ll bite you or anything.” “I just don’t know what to do to get closer to him.” “Talk to him, play with him. Do something. If you keep running away, he won’t get to like you.” I held his hand. “Come on, just try. Don’t run away anymore. Arasso?” Onew (in English): “Okay.”

The other members came out of the dressing room. Minho was trying to get Yoogeun to give him a kiss. “Poppo. Poppo.” Jonghyun moved closer to Yoogeun and he actually kissed him. “He kissed me! Get this on camera!” Jonghyun tried to get another kiss from Yoogeun but he turns away when he saw the camera. “Hey, you kissed me! Is it because of the camera?” Yoogeun looks at Minho and he gave him a kiss. You: “Aww!” Jonghyun: “Hey, he kissed me first!” Minho: “At least I got filmed!” Jonghyun shook his head in disappointment.

Key went over to me. “Is everything okay?” “I just wish Onew would stop running away from Yoogeun.” “Give it some time.” He gave me a soft side hug as the stage manager approached us. “It’s time to record.” The members nod and Yoogeun’s mother returned to us.

Minho: “Yoogeun, we have to do our recording. You have to go with Y/N umma, okay?” Yoogeun turned away when I held out my arms to hold him. “I don’t think he wants to leave you guys.” Minho: “Yoogeun, go with Y/N umma, okay?” Yoogeun refused to go with me and he even refused to go with his real mother. Yoogeun’s mother: “Minho’s really become an appa.” You: “Jinja…Yoogeun-ah.” Yoogeun turns around and I held my arms out as Minho tried to pass him over to me but he refused to let go of Minho. Yoogeun’s mother eventually gets Yoogeun out of Minho’s arms.

Minho: “Yoogeun, we’ll see you later. Y/N umma is going to be with you. Poppo!” Yoogeun turns away. You: “He’s mad at his Minho appa.” Minho attempts another kiss with Yoogeun and it was successful this time. Yoogeun: “Bye-bye!” “Bye-bye!” The members waved bye-bye and blew kisses to Yoogeun as his mother took him out of the room to go sit in the audience.

You: “I have an idea.” I go back into the dressing room and returned with a SHINee balloon, blowing it up and tying it. “Yoogeun will like waving this while watching his appas perform.” Taemin: “Good idea, noona. That way, it will be easier to find Yoogeun.” You: “Well, I’m off. Good luck, SHINee. Fighting!” “Fighting!”

I went out into the audience seats and looked around for Yoogeun and his mother. I spotted them in the back row and went over to them, sitting down. “Yoogeun-ah…” I handed him the balloon and he started waving it. “Aigoo, Yoogeun-ah. Cute!” The lights dimmed and cameras started moving towards the stage. The audience started screaming and waving their balloons as SHINee came onto the stage and started performing JoJo. Yoogeun waved his balloon throughout the whole performance.

That afternoon:

Yoogeun was napping at home after his long and exciting visit to KBS studios. The other SHINee members were also napping because we had a long afternoon ahead of us. We were going to be preparing Yoogeun’s bedroom today. Everybody else already got their stuff for Yoogeun’s bedroom except for me and Onew so we went together to the nearby shopping center to find something to put in Yoogeun’s bedroom.

“Oppa, look!” I pointed to the sign that said Kids World. “Why don’t we look in there?” Onew (in English): “Okay.” We entered the store and a sales associate approached us. “Anniyahaseo.” We bowed and greeted her respectively. Onew: “Can you show me where you sell kids bedroom stuff?” The sales associate led us to the back of the store where they had a lot of small furniture. “Are you buying for a boy or girl?” Onew: “A boy. I’m looking for a bed.” The sales associate showed us where the boys’ beds were and we looked around.

Onew: “Ah, I like this one!” He pointed to the bed that looked like a car. You: “It’s cute!” Onew: “Excuse me, I want to buy this one!” The sales associate rang him up for the car bed. “Thank you very much, we will deliver it to your house very soon.” “Kamsahamnida. Have a good day.” We left the store. “I hope Yoogeun will like his bed.” “I’m sure he will.”

We walked around a bit more and we entered a pet store. I had decided to get Yoogeun a small pet. “Anniyahaseo. How can I help you?” I tried my best to answer back in Korean. “Um…I want…pet fish.” The employee led me to the part of the store where they sold the fish. He said something I didn’t understand so I turned to Onew for translation. Onew (in English): “Choose.” I pointed to the tank full of goldfish. “Set.” The employee scooped out 3 goldfish into a plastic baggie and I picked out a little decorative tank for Yoogeun’s new pets. After paying, Onew and I went back home.

One hour later:

We all put on our shoes and stepped outside. Onew: “It’s here!” Key: “Onew hyung, what did you get?” Onew cheered in happiness as he ran over to the car bed that he bought earlier. Taemin: “Did you buy this for me?” Jonghyun: “Since nothing is working for you, are you trying to buy Yoogeun’s love?”

Onew: “Since I can’t get close to him, maybe he will like my car bed.” Key examines the bed. “There’s no blanket.” Onew: “No blanket?” Onew checks the bed and looks at me. “Y/N, there’s no blanket!” “Didn’t you check before you bought it?” “Uhh…” I laughed. “Oppa, how could you not check?” “I thought it already came with it.”

Minho: “We have to move this inside, don’t we?” Jonghyun: “Onew hyung, good luck.” The members started walking away. You: “Yah! We can’t move this ourselves! Get back here!” The members return and we each grab an end of the bed. Onew: “1, 2, 3, lift!” We lifted the bed which was much heavier than we thought. “Be careful!” Jonghyun: “This is really heavy!” You: “Watch out for the roof!”

Jonghyun: “Is this the reality you wanted?!” We managed to get half of the bed by the bedroom doorway. Onew is pushing the other end and Jonghyun shouts in pain. You: “Jonghyun oppa, what happened?” “Onew hyung stepped on my foot!” Onew: “Mianhe!” We turned the bed so it was facing the doorway. “Okay, bring it inside!” We lifted the bed again and tried to get it inside but it wouldn’t fit.

You: “Onew oppa, it’s too big. How are we going to get it inside the room?” The members looked around to find a way to get the bed inside. Minho: “Okay, push it out a little and then turn it to the side.” We grab the bed and turn it a little, pushing it into the room. Key: “It’s working!” Onew: “Be careful!” We sat the bed down and I clap my hands. “We did it!”

Taemin climbs into the bed. “Oh, it’s comfortable.” You: “Get off Taemin, this bed is Yoogeun’s.” Taemin pouted at me before climbing down. Onew and Jonghyun head to the doors and looked at the cameras. Jonghyun: “Come back later. We’re going to set up the room very nicely.” They shut the doors. Key: “I always wanted a bed like this when I was young.”

One hour later:

We faced the cameras, preparing for the big reveal of Yoogeun’s bedroom that we worked so hard to decorate. Key: “And now, we shall reveal the room Yoogeun will be living in with us!” “Ta-da!” We stepped aside to show the room. There was Onew’s car bed, Key’s easel, Jonghyun’s desk, Taemin’s toys Minho’s bookshelf and on top of the bookshelf was the tank with Yoogeun’s new pet goldfishes that I got.

Jonghyun: “The highlight of Yoogeun’s room is Onew hyung’s car bed. Onew (in English): “Yeah!” “The car bed with 3 pillows and no blanket!” “Yah!” “Anyway, my present is the desk and the chair. Since Yoogeun is too active, this will get him to stay still.”

Taemin: “I bought him cool toys like this.” He pointed to his car toy on the desk. “Look at this.” He picks up the toy and opens it up. It was a toy car laptop. “Oh!” “That way, Yoogeun can learn things like letters and numbers.”

Key: “I got him the easel so Yoogeun can express his creativity. He can draw with paint, pastels or crayons.” He picks up a crayon and writes Yoogeun’s name in Korean. Onew: “Yoogeun, moogeun.”

Minho and I move over to his bookshelf. Minho: “I got Yoogeun a bookshelf. Yoogeun really enjoyed Key’s book on our first day so I’m determined to fill this whole shelf with books for Yoogeun.” Jonghyun: “Then you’re going to have to buy books every day!”

Minho: “I guess I will. Y/N, what’s your present?” “I got pets for Yoogeun so he has some friends closer to his size.” We all laughed over my reason behind Yoogeun’s present. “Honestly, my first pet was a goldfish and they made me happy so I hope Yoogeun will like his pets.”

Onew: “I think my present is the best.” Jonghyun: “There’s no blanket!” “He can use the pillowcases for the blanket.” Minho: “I think Yoogeun will like Taemin’s presents since babies like toys.” Onew: “I still think he will like my bed.”

Key: “Let’s surprise him.” Minho: “Then you go get him.” Key nods as he left the room. “I’m going to cover his face and put a mask on him.” You: “Wait, cover his face and put a mask on?” The members and I started laughing. Minho: “Kibum, what are you saying?”

A couple of minutes later, we heard Key and Yoogeun outside the doors. Minho and Jonghyun opened the doors. “Ta-da!” Key: “This is your bedroom, Yoogeun.” He puts Yoogeun down and he immediately went over to the easel. Key went over to Yoogeun and he picked up a paintbrush. “Appa is going to show you something cool.”

Suddenly, he is whisked away by Jonghyun. “Yah, Jonghyun hyung!” Jonghyun sits Yoogeun down in his chair and he immediately grabs Taemin’s toy laptop. Jonghyun laughs. “He doesn’t like my desk!” Minho went over to the desk and opened up the toy laptop. “Ta-da!” Yoogeun turns the toy on and started touching the screen. “It’s not a touch screen, Yoogeun.”

I grabbed Taemin’s little basketball toy and hung the hoop off the chair. “Yoogeun-ah…” I passed him the little basketball. Minho: “Yoogeun-ah, shoot!” Yoogeun throws the basketball into the hoop. “Wow!” Jonghyun: “Look how useful my chair is! I told you guys that my chair is useful, Yoogeun definitely needed a desk and chair…” I looked up at him when I noticed none of them were paying attention. “Oppa, who are you talking to?” Jonghyun laughs in embarrassment.

Taemin held the hoop up and Yoogeun throws the basketball and got it in. “Oh!” You: “Yoogeun-ah, that was a good job!” Yoogeun looked at me weirdly. “Ah, oops.” I spoke in English so Yoogeun didn’t understand what I said. You (in Korean): “Nice…job, Yoogeun-ah.” He let out a cute shout as he continued playing basketball. Minho picks up Yoogeun. “Slam dunk like Michael Jordan.” Yoogeun throws the basketball into the hoop. “Wow!”

Yoogeun spun around as Key grabs the picnic toys and play tea set. “Yoogeun-ah, let’s have a picnic.” I turned around and noticed Onew hiding behind the bookshelf, watching over the picnic play. I got up and went over to him. “Oppa, please…” Onew crawled underneath the bed and stayed behind the ladder. I sighed as I sat back down, watching Yoogeun cutting his play food. Key: “Look at this.” He picked up a half of a banana and a half of a carrot, putting them together. “Banan-geun.” Jonghyun copied Key with a cucumber and carrot. “Oh-geun! Wait, I got another one.” This time, he put together a watermelon and carrot. “Soo-geun!” You: “Yum?”

I turned around looking at Onew still hiding under his bed. You: “Yoogeun-ah…” Yoogeun looked at me. You (in Korean): “You…like…bed?” Onew quickly jumped into the bed. “Oppa, what are you doing?” Minho: “Yoogeun, do you want to climb into the bed?” “Mm.” Yoogeun went over to the bed as Onew quickly jumped off, hiding behind the bookshelf again. Minho helps Yoogeun climb the ladder into the bed and Onew grabbed the pillows, hiding behind them.

Yoogeun shouts in excitement over his new bed. You: “Yoogeun, Onew appa!” Yoogeun crawled over closer to Onew. Onew shows a nervous smile. The other members come around the bed. Taemin: “Onew hyung, sing a lullaby for him.” Key climbed into the bed. Onew bent down to further hide. Yoogeun started babbling to Minho. “What?” He pointed to the floor. Jonghyun: “He wants to come down.” Jonghyun picked up Yoogeun. “Come down!” We all started laughing when he told Key to get off of his bed.

Yoogeun went over to Key’s easel again. Key: “Yoogeun-ah, here.” He passes him a paintbrush and he started painting on the easel. We were all fascinated by what he was painting as he babbled. Minho: “Somebody, we need somebody to be Yoogeun’s translator.” Taemin and Key started painting along with Yoogeun as Jonghyun and Onew were watching from far away. I sighed. “Yoogeun hasn’t even noticed my pets for him.” Minho pats my back. Taemin sat on the desk as the other members and I looked at the completed painting. You: “What is it?” Jonghyun: “An original painting by Yoogeun: Banana tree on fire.” I started giggling. “What?” Jonghyun pointed to several parts of the painting. “Banana. Tree. Fire.” Onew: “It looks more like corn.” You: “Corn tree on fire?”

Minho: “Yoogeun-ah, there’s one more present from your umma.” I stood up as Minho picked up Yoogeun and brought him over to his bookshelf to see his tank of goldfishes. “Wow!” You (in Korean): “You like…fish?” “Mm.” Minho: “Yoogeun, which one’s your favorite?” Yoogeun looks at the 3 goldfish and he pointed to the smallest one. “That’s a baby fish, Yoogeun-ah.” I picked up the container of fish food and poured some into the cap. You (in Korean): “Yoogeun-ah…Feed them.” I passed him the cap and he poured the food into the tank and the goldfish started eating them. Minho: “The fish were hungry.” Yoogeun watched in fascination over his pets eating their food.

Jonghyun: “Yoogeun, which present do you like the most?” Yoogeun looked around at each of our presents. We each stood by our presents as Minho explained to Yoogeun to pick the one he liked most. “Ready. 1, 2, 3.” Yoogeun ran quickly, circling around Taemin, ignoring Minho’s repeating calls and he went over to Onew’s car bed. We all reacted in surprise that he picked Onew’s present. Yoogeun started grabbing Onew’s nervous hands. You: “Oppa, hug him!” “I’m…stuck!” The members started laughing as Onew finally got off the bed and bent down to him.

Minho: “Try hugging him.” Onew’s shaky arms circle around Yoogeun and he froze. Jonghyun approaches Onew and he picked up Yoogeun. “Hyung, stand up so I can show you how to hold him.” Onew stood up as Jonghyun tries to settle Yoogeun in his shaky arms. “Hold his .” Onew’s arms continued shaking as Minho took Yoogeun into his arms. “Like this, you have to hold him like this.” Onew shakes his shoulder embarrassingly. I went over to Onew, patting his arm. “At least you’re trying, oppa.”

The other members were shaking their heads in disbelief as Yoogeun went to play with the toys. Jonghyun: “I can’t believe this. Yoogeun probably picked Onew hyung because he felt sorry for him. Is this the reality you wanted?” You: “No, he just got the better present for Yoogeun.” Key (in English): “You went shopping with him too. Why didn’t you make him get a cool present?” I shrugged my shoulders innocently. “I just went to the store with him. I didn’t pick it.” “Aish, I’m done here.” The members laughed as Onew did a little happy dance for Yoogeun’s 1st place choosing.

The next day:

We were walking down the street. Key told us earlier that he found someplace fun for Yoogeun. Minho and Taemin were holding Yoogeun’s hands as we walked. We were all shaking from the cold weather. You: “It’s so cold!” Jonghyun: “Why is it so cold?” Taemin: “Where exactly are we going?” Key: “It’s a hot place for young parents.” Minho picked up Yoogeun as we continued walking. “Jjanggoo!” Yoogeun pointed to a toy that was displayed in a store window. Jonghyun: “Bbangkku Ddongkuu?” You: “Can we just go? It’s freezing!” Key (in English): “Let’s go! Move it, move it!” Minho: “Where are we going?” “We’re almost there.”

Finally, we entered a building. We sigh at the feeling of the warm air hitting us. Key: “We have to go up the elevator.” Yoogeun: “Appa!” “Ah, Yoogeun-ah, you want to go with Key appa?” Key took Yoogeun into his arms as we aporached the elevator. Taemin pretends to open the doors with strength and we all packed ourselves into the tiny elevator. You: “Oppa, which floor?” “Top.” I pressed the button and the elevator goes up. Yoogeun: “Wow!” Yoogeun was fascinated by the sight outside as we went up.

We got out on the top floor and Key puts Yoogeun down. “Wow!” He ran off into the room as we were taking off our shoes. You: “What is this place?”

The members looked over at Yoogeun as he was running towards the next fascination he encountered.