27. Danger

“Shhh… it’s all right Euna, you’re going to wake appa. Come here, let’s get that bottle…”

Yonghwa opened his eyes slowly just in time to feel the bed move when she left with Euna. The pillows, the baby blanket, most importantly, their smell lingered in their wake. He took a deep breath as if taking in those scents.

And he settled deeper on his pillow, savoring the moment he was on his own bed, and soaking in the thought that he had fallen asleep with them.

He could get used to this.

This wasn’t too bad.

In fact, he was starting to like this very much.

Then, he heard her laugh softly followed by this incomprehensible words she was telling Euna. Yonghwa wished she would speak a little louder so he could hear. And then he got reminded of that danger his mind warned him about just before consciousness left him. He could tell that she was a good person. Seohyun was this kind of woman he didn’t want to mess with despite this growing attraction that consumed him. She was the kind of woman he didn’t want to be added to the ones who got caught in his web.

From the very beginning of what his aunt dubbed as his around, Yonghwa avoided Seohyun’s type who deserve the truest form of affection he often neglect to offer the women he surrounded himself with. Women like her deserve permanency and loyalty. They deserve the kind of man he wasn’t. Her kind of woman is the one he would purposely ignore because he knew he couldn’t be that man for her.

He couldn’t.

And now, with Seohyun— now that he was seeing what he had been missing from those women he met.

Now…

It was the danger. He was dangerous for her.

He might break her.

He found himself punching his pillow as if in defiance of his own thoughts.

The need to stay in this bed was so strong.

The need to wake up here the next day was magnetic.

Yonghwa got up and quietly left the room.

~~~

The very next day he still hated himself and the danger he was in. He didn’t want to get back in the master bedroom but he needed to since his clothes were still there and he had no plans on moving them. Lucky for him, Seohyun was in the nursery and he could hear the faint sound of her singing a lullaby to Euna. The signs on the bed told him she took Euna back with her there and they just got up again for the baby’s scheduled feeding.

Somehow, it made him feel relieved to know that she didn’t spend the night in the nursery’s couch looking after Euna.

It was too early but the thoughts he woke up in would be the reason that could possibly stop him from going back to sleep so he decided to go for a run. Quietly and quickly, he took a shower and left the room before Seohyun could even notice he came in.

The sky was still dark and the streetlights were still lit when he got out of the house. The cool breeze kept him company as he maintained an even pace. Times like this he used for attaining artistic inspiration but right that moment, his mind was clouded with confusion. His speed increased gradually. Yonghwa ran faster until his mind was consumed with physical strain.

He needed it.

He ran until it hurt. He ran until the sun lit the darkest nook around him.

He ran until he had enough and decided to face reality.

The house was quiet when he got back. Maybe they were still in the bedroom so he headed straight in there. But it was quiet— too quiet. Yonghwa checked the guest room, the decks, the patio by the lake— everywhere. He cursed to himself worried sick that something might have happened while he was away. He took his phone and dialed the number she used to call him the other day.

It was ringing. He took a deep breath but held it in when the call went to voicemail.

Seohyun wasn’t picking up no matter how many times he tried.

The tightness in his chest was intensifying until he heard that faintly distinct cry coming from the living room. Yonghwa rushed down and saw her looked up to him as he descended from the stairs. “Where have you been?”

Seohyun almost laughed at the frown he was wearing and took Euna from her stroller then replied without looking at him, “We went for a walk.”

He was so relieved. He was so relieved that he was upset when she replied so casually, “I was calling you…”

“Oh, you did?” She simply replied while patting her baby’s back, “I forgot to bring my phone.”

Yonghwa put his hands on his hips and countered, her relaxed expression was pissing him off some more, “Bring it everywhere you go from now on…”

“Even in the shower?” Seohyun asked with a glint of amusement in her eyes.

“Even in the shower,” he replied pointedly.

“Why are you so serious?” She asked laughing softly then walked towards the kitchen.

Yonghwa followed closely behind then stopped dead when she suddenly turned and shoved, albeit gently, the whiny baby in his arms. He frowned when she shrugged.

“The two of you should deal with your bad moods together,” she spoke lightly as she took one of the feeding bottles and started preparing her daughter’s milk.

He groaned when Euna started crying a little louder.

“I should be the one upset since you told me last night we would go to the farmer’s market this morning,” Seohyun retorted calmly as she shook the bottle then put a few drops on her hand to test the temperature. When she was done, she walked to where he remained standing and smiled at him, “Did you had any coffee yet?”

Yonghwa frowned some more by the suddenness of the query but he found himself shaking his head like he was under a bad spell.

Seohyun laughed taking Euna back, “I knew it. Go get that coffee first and stop frowning at me like that.”

He watched her disappear into the house.

He sighed to himself.

Like every lowly man in this planet— he was whipped.

~~~

After the crazy one that she had the other day, Seohyun just want to be happy and set aside all her reservations. Her baby appeared to be back in her normal baby routines minus the colic. As usual, she would cry when she was hungry, dirty, upset, uncomfortable and everything else that an almost two week old baby go through every day. Thankfully, she didn’t cry t