Chapter 59. Home

“You should have your phone ready,” Seohyun said with a grin as she lifted the baby bowl and he scampered from his seat to get his phone. She laughed as she sat beside Euna, “Your appa is so silly…”

Their little one looked towards where her appa disappeared to, obviously curious why he was running.

When he returned, he sat across them and told her that he was ready as he set his phone. “Alright, Euna… are you ready for your very first breakfast?”

Euna was more curious of the phone that her appa was holding close to her face that she reached for it and even fussing softly. Her umma took her arm and gently offered the spoon with her baby food on it.

“What is she having, umma?” Yonghwa asked seeing the yellow puree on the bowl.

“Pureed sweet potato,” she replied and smiled when Euna automatically opened when the spoon neared her lips, “Big ahh, Euna…”

The very first touch of the food on her lips made the baby shiver, her eyes scrunching shut then opened them wide like she was astounded. But Euna opened again that her umma put the spoon in and her lips puckered but her tongue pushed the food out. Seohyun laughed as she scraped the sweet potato from her lips and put it back in .

“She doesn’t like it?” Yonghwa murmured watching his baby’s reaction and the way the two of them seemed to have this tug-of-war on the food.

Seohyun chuckled, “No, it’s just that she still doesn’t get the whole idea of keeping it in .”

And she was right, but in time Euna seemed to instinctively on the spoon and swallow. In the end, she was screaming at her umma to feed her a little faster, her eyes growing wide every time the spoon would leave .

“As expected,” Yonghwa chuckled, bringing his phone to rest and putting it aside, “Euna’s fifth month birthday on Friday.”

“Wow, you’re counting?” She asked over her shoulder and laughed when he frowned at her so she asked instead, “Any plans?”

“You?” He asked back as he stood and dropped a kiss on Euna’s forehead.

“Since you have work, maybe we can have a picnic at the park— just the three of us, if you can come home earlier,” she replied wiping her baby’s lips, “Then at your parents on Saturday? What do you think?”

He nodded thinking for a second and grinned as he noted the casual way she suggested one in his parents’ house. Shrugging, he turned to the sink, “You decide, just let them know. And, Seohyun-ssi, tell them nothing fancy.”

“You’re reading my thoughts,” she smiled following him and patting his shoulder. When he turned to her though, her brows pulled together seeing that smirk.

And she knew exactly what he had in mind as his lips moved to hers.

 ~~~~

The week passed them by and Yonghwa realized that what happened that weird night where all the confusions enveloped him, was seemed to have been set aside by both of them. He liked it— mainly because he didn’t want to deal with any emotional baggage this time.

Not this time when he could easily hold Seohyun and kiss her.

Yonghwa liked it a lot— having to have her so close most especially now.

He grinned feeling the press of her body on his as she stretched awake. A few days ago, he had a few men in the house to work on the next room beside the master bedroom. He decided it to be Euna’s bedroom much to the chagrin of Seohyun. She didn’t have to say it, both of them didn’t, but he knew the reason.

And that reason was better left off answered by time.

To appease her, he just had the room painted and floors installed with colorful foam mats. Furniture and other appliance could follow any time. He also managed to have his king bed pushed towards the wall so that Seohyun would finally sleep beside him.

And he waking every morning beside her was wonderful.

Yonghwa’s eyes remained close as he felt her sat up then slipped off the bed. He stretched and mumbled, “What time is it?”

“Too early for you to be up,” Seohyun replied and disappeared in the bathroom.

He laughed softly and turned to the sleeping baby. Her body was stretched as she laid on her side, one arm tucked by her neck and another extended in front of her. She was dressed in her bright yellow pajamas and the way her lips puckered made her look like a baby ducky.

Every time his mother would see Euna, which was basically once a week, she would comment how big she had been since the last time. Part of him didn’t really feel that obviously because he sees her every day. But it was really one of life’s sad fact— his baby was growing so fast before his eyes. Five months, exactly late tonight, Euna would be five months old.

It was also the night he met Seohyun— both of them coming to his life and turning it upside down.

Suddenly, her forehead creased, her lips twitched and she grumbled in her sleep. Yonghwa smiled eagerly waiting for her to wake up but she rubbed her fist on her nose, flipped on her back then took a deep breath before falling back in her sleep.

Yonghwa sighed and moved to kiss her forehead.

Maybe he could play with Seohyun instead.

But it was only his wish since when he tried to take a pass on her, she swatted his hands away and literally ran downstairs. Yonghwa only managed a soft laugh and stayed in bed until Euna woke up grumpy a few minutes later.

The house was a little chaotic after that since their little one seemed to be having a bad day already. She rejected her food and only took her milk and didn’t want to be carried by her appa. In the end, Yonghwa promised to be home before lunch so he could help out and also so that he could spend longer time with them.

By afternoon, Euna was still in a gloomy mood but thankfully she stopped crying. The only time she squeal in delight was when her appa played peek-a-boo with her as he strapped her in the car seat for their picnic party to celebrate her fifth month birthday.

As expected, going to the park was a good distraction to their birthday girl since she got livelier seeing the other children playing around. Seohyun brought some fruits and kimbap for the two of them and a bottle of milk for their baby. They laid a mat under a tree close to the playground where Euna could watch the children play while the two of them talk. Yonghwa brought his camera and made sure that he had enough picture of the three of them to add in the scrapbook Seohyun was making for Euna.

When she told him about that, he secretly decided to make sure he had enough of his face in there.

After a while, Euna fell asleep in the mat and the two quietly talked about the plans for the next day and other things that suddenly came to mind.

“I wonder why she’s so cranky today.”

He laughed, “That reminds me of my mother when her birthday is looming. She also gets cranky.”

Seohyun laughed at that and playfully hit him by the arm but he caught her wrist and kissed her palm and so she warned, “Oppa, not here…”

He chuckled but kept holding her hand and when she tried to pull away, he entwined their fingers together and drawled playfully, “Stay still, Seohyun-ssi. There’s nowhere else for you to go.”

She made an exaggerated sigh and he laughed softly. And she knew he was right, she was stuck with him. Instead of fighting him off, she just ignored when he leaned closer to her, “Ajumma said she wants her husband to retire already.”

He nodded, “She mentioned that to me too. But I don’t think he really agrees to that.”

“He’s not that old,” Seohyun pushed away the strands of hair that fell on her face once the wind picked up then fixed Euna’s blanket up to her chin to keep her warm. But when she straightened and let her gaze casually lifted, her heart dropped seeing something at a distant.

The moment she caught sight of the car— particularly the woman looking straight at them, she swallowed feeling the heavy beats in her chest as the tinted window rolled up close.

“I asked ajumma what she—” Yonghwa                stopped abruptly once he noticed that she suddenly look pale, “Seohyun? Are you okay?”

“I think I saw my mother…” she replied without giving it a second thought.

Yonghwa turned to the direction where she was looking as a black Mercedes drove away.

“Your mother is in that car?”

She nodded, her heart beating fast as she looked at him, “I want to go home.” Something flashed in his eyes after what she said and whatever it was, Seohyun found herself shaking her head and confirming, “To the lake house.”

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