Kim Sujin, five months before the wedding

I woke up slowly at 7 and looked at YongGuk peacefully sleeping. I rearranged his hair, running my fingers though his birdnest that served him as hair. I left our bedroom and came to the girls bedroom. Instead of having two separate bedrooms for them we decided to take a bigger room and put both of their beds inside. I came to Taeyang bed and slowly shook her body. "Sweety it's time for school." She woke up instantly and hugged my body. We cuddled for a few minutes and I pointed to Moonah. Taeyang showed me how she woke her sister up. She came next to Moonah face and started to blow on her eyes. Moonah, annoyed by the sensation, instantly woke up. "TAEYANG you evil sister !!!"

We both laughed at this energetic wake up. As they were running around, I came to drag them in the bathroom. "Dad is sleeping, let's keep quiet."

They nodded and took a shower quickly. When we were all clean and clothed, we ate breakfast and walked to school chitchatting about everything and nothing.

Suddenly Taeyang realized something. "Dad is not working today ?"

I shook my head. "No. He took a day off. He promised me that he'll bring us to drinkk bubble tea after school tonight so I'd be quiet at school for today if I were you."

Moonah nodded her head. "So excited for tonight !!"

*

I came back home and realized YongGuk was still sleeping soundly. It was around 9:30. I decided to wake him up, so he could enjoy his free day at home. I entered the bedroom and looked at his body still asleep on the bed, his adorable cheek crushed on the pillow. I didn't have the heart to disturb his sleep.  I decided to close the door and let him sleep. He must have work harder those days to take a few days off. 

I left the room and went to draw a bit. I was colouring some illustrations I did yesterday night when the door was wide open. YongGuk pecked my neck gently and sat on the chair next to mine. "Goodmorning sleepy head."

I looked at my soon-to-be husband, he slept without shirt usually and this morning didn't bother to put one. He must have realized the hour and as the girls were not here for the rest of the day, he was free to walk topless, with only shorts. "Sujin why didn't you wake me up ?"

"You looked so cute sleeping. I didn't have the courage to do so."

He gave me a smirck and pecked my cheek quietly. He went downstairs to heat up some coffee and came back to my side. He brought his computer and turned it on. He gave me a pouty look. "You're busy today ? I wanted to book everything for the honeymoon."

I shrugged. "I just want to finish this but it's not urgent."

YongGuk looked at me draw for a moment, drinking his coffee in silence. Out of the blue, he kissed my shoulder and left to take a shower. He came back, with a loose shirt on and joggings on. He sat back next to me and was quietly typing on his computer. I stopped to draw as YongGuk my thigh to get my attention. He knew better than shaking my hands and making me do random on my drawing.  "What ?"

« Guess where we are going ? I've found a five star little hotel at Bali. »

He showed me dreamy pictures of the hotel on his computer. I was half excited half terrified yet nodded slowly and he clapped in his hands. « Yeahhh Bali with you. » He started to explain to me the landscape, the things to see, the hot sand, delicious food.

I felt suddenly uncomfortable.  «When did you go to Bali ? »

My question make him gasp in surprise. YongGuk looked awfully embarassed now. « Oh actually, hmm ... with Hana we went there for our honeymoon. For 2 weeks. »

I knew his knowledges about Bali were suspicious.

Sometimes I forgot. The fact that YongGuk was married to another woman get out of my mind and each time being reminded of it felt like a slap in the face. The perfect example was the wedding picture in our dressing room.  I kept drawing silently to mask my uneasiness.

« It was a real nightmare. » He said softly.

« Huh ? » I was fairly surprised.

« She hated tanning at that time. It was too hot. Too sunny. She disliked sand. She hated  seafood and  the local food in general. She was a real nightmare, always moody and throwing tantrums. She stayed most of the time in the hotel room, I visited Bali alone. » YongGuk revealed to me with difficulty. Even today, talking about Hana was hard for him.

I nodded.

« Thinking about this, she must have felt so stuffy. » He sighed. « You know I was dumb. Someone else would have notice things way before I did. I thought it was normal to take care of her like I did. »

I bite my lips. « I'm sorry I'm way too curious.I'm sorry that those memories came back to you and- »

He shook his head with a smile. « I'm fine Sujin. I know our honeymoon will be completely different. " I came to wrap my arms around his shoulders and he pouted. "I guess you don't want to go to Bali anymore ? »

I blushed. « Actually YongGuk … I have a dream travel. »

« Yeah ? » YongGuk wrapped his arms around my waist and brought me closer to his body.

« I always wanted to visit France, and go to Le Louvres Museum. » I revealed to him. I was always fascinated by the city and visit Paris was my ultimate dream travel.

He giggled and simply kissed my lips. « Okay. We'll go to Paris. »

« Really ? » I said. He nodded. « I'm spoiling you. »

I became shy. «Yeah I mean I'm being capricious !  Bali is already a nice place an- »

He covered my mouth with his hand. « But it feels nice. To spoil you. I know you never traveled outside of Korea and if I can make this wish of yours complete, I'll be an happy man. »

YongGuk eager to search for hotels in Paris closed all his tabs about Bali and typed hotel in Paris on Google.  I stared at him and sighed.  «I think it was the only option. Love women. Or else I don't see how a woman in her situation would react like that. »

He laughed. « That's nice of you. »

« What ? You're charming and handsome .. and intelligent. And caring.  And generous and well ... it's not difficult to fall for you. » I said, annoyed by his lack of confidence. He had no idea how good looking he was right now.

He smircked at me. « After seeing the man you went out with, I'm relieved. »

I almost choked. « YongGuk. »

He laughed as he handed me his coffee mug, I drank some with crimson cheeks. « What he's handsome too. I don't have any gold eyes. » He justified himself.

I rolled my eyes. « Well, he only has this  as a point for him. You are the real package anyways. »

*

Bang YongGuk

We had a pretty nice planning already of what to do in Paris for our honeymoon. We spend all morning searching up online what to visit and ended up eating delivery pizza and fried chicken for lunch. We went on the bed to cuddle together after we ate.  As I got a call from work, I kissed her forehead and went back in my office to give some answers to Himchan.

« You have no perception of a day off  with a lover looks like right ? » I snapped at him.

Himchan gasped, suddenly shy. « You were in the middle of- »

« Napping with Sujin. Just that. I'll send you the file and get back to her okay ? » I was mildly annoyed. Sujin and I, it was complicated to see each other alone, of course we loved to spend time with our kids. But today was a day off, Himchan could at least refrain himself to call me. 

Himchan cleared his throat. « Sorry, bro. I was just working and. »

« It's okay." As I searched in my drawers on my computer for what he needed, I suddenly laughed. "Himchan get yourself a girlfriend. » I told him as a joke.

He sighed longly. « You think it's really easy to find one ?»

« Stop clubbing and start search in a more proper area. Oh I found the file. Do you want me to set a blind date for you ? » I suggested to him while sending the file to Himchan.

« I'm not desperate. » He answered with a bitter voice. I giggled. I don't know how many times Himchan asked me this question before I met Sujin.  «Then forget it. I'm done sending it to you, bye ! »

I closed my computer and looked at Sujin asleep on the bed. I sat next to her and closed her magazines about weddings. She looked peaceful while sleeping, I made a magazine of her fall on the floor and she opened her eyes. « Oh, I dozzed off. »

I smiled. « Sorry I made noises. »

Sujin shook her head and her hands reached for my cheeks. « It only means I can spend more time with you. » My smile reached my ears and I kissed Sujin cheek and wished her a good sleep. I spooned her really close to me, her bergamot scent deliciously tickling my senses.

Bang YongGuk, 24th of february

Sujin looked at me with curious eyes as we had a serious talk the next morning during breakfast. We were going to drop our girls to school in a few minutes. « I want us to have a common account. So you can use it whenever you want. I'll have around half of my paycheck on here. »

« Okay I can have half of my paycheck.»

I was going to protest when she laughed. « You said common account. » She reminded me.

«I know. I just … You're not forced to put anything. I can support us. »

Sujin shook her head. « Half of my little paycheck. »

Moonah looked at us with distress. "Mom I'll put half of my paycheck too." Sujin giggled. "Who is exploiting my daughter ?"

Her daughter smiled and put her piece of apple  on the table to talk vigourously with her hands moving around her head.. "Grandpa. He gives me coins when I help him with the animals. And even candies. But I already ate them. I'll give you at least the coins."

I looked at her with endearing eyes. " Keep them, just make sure you're a nice little girl. That goes for you too Taeyang."

Taeyang looked at me and winked. Her sister smiled to me and kept eating her apple. We ate breafast longly before realizing we were running late. I drove them to  school with Sujin instead of our usual walk and headed to the bank just after. We were received by my banker, he settled down the common account for us. As we explained we were getting married, he clapped in his hands.

« Gosh you're the one that did that wonderful painting in YongGuk office ? I've been begging him to sell it to me. »

Sujin gasped and turned to me to give me a funny look. I sighed trying to be calm. « I explained to you already. I can't sell it to you. It's a gift from my fiancée it counts a lot for me. »

YongJae stood up.« I already pictured it in front of my desk. Right here you see. I can give you a huge amount if you give me that. »

« YoungJae, stop that !! I'm not selling that painting to you ! Stop being that desperate. » I said, not patient anymore with him.

*

Kim Sujin

I looked at YongGuk get annoyed by his friend and laughed. He cherished this painting so much. Usually calm, here he was getting angry as YoungJae was now thinking of robbing it. I had to step up.  « I can paint something else for you if you want. I mean if YongGuk agrees. »

YongGuk looked surprised yet calmed himself. « I'm fine with this. As long as my gift stays in my office. »

Youngjae gave me some instructions and I took some notes. YongGuk finally found back some peace. As we setted up another visit to get back the new card, we soon left the bank.

« You really going to paint for him ? » My fiancé asked me, his tone grumpy. He was being jealous.

« Yeah. He'll leave you alone after that. » I reminded him.

YongGuk slowly nodded. « You know I specialize in intellectual property law so my clients have a sense of art. They always want to buy my painting. »

« Never thought of selling it ? » I , elbowing him.

He pursed his lips and stopped to walk. « Kim Sujin.»

I laughed and grabbed his arm to make him take some steps. «Just kiddin', relax. »

Suddenly he smircked. « You feel pleased to hear about how I love that painting ? »

I nodded. « Of course. It's flattering.» He looked satisfied over my answer and pecked softly my lips.

We headed to mine to transfer my accounts. As the worker received us, he suddenly looked at me. « So you want to do a automatic transfer of money over your common account ? You only keep savings here ? »

I looked at YongGuk strongly nodding and finally answered. « Yeah, I guess my personnal savings can stay here. »

As we left I looked at my savings account receipt with attention. «You had a saving account ? » He asked, curious.

I hummed. « For emergency cases. And for Moonah university fees. »

He looked surprised at me. « How did you save up so much ? »

I laughed. « You saw my tiny appartement ? I could afford something bigger but decided to stay in there to save up. I'm not a money freak for nothing. »

YongGuk massaged my hands. « I know. But you 'll be married soon. You can rely on me emotionally and financially. If you wanted to, you could stay home and let me pamper you. »

I laughed at such silly reasonning and kissed his cheeks. « When I'll be old and wrinkly, I expect you to pamper me the best you could. But the way I see it, you being the oldest,  I am the one who is going to pamper you. »

He shook his head lightly. « I'm only two years older. It's nothing. »

« You said that now but when you'll be a old and wrinkly 70, I'll be a pretty and young 68 years old. » I .

I suceeded into making him laugh with all his body, his head resting on my shoulder to laugh. My lips kissed his cheek gently.

*

We were cooking in the kitchen at night, me and YongGuk. He was staring now at the oven. « It's like watching a plant grow but in better, because it's quick and you can eat it. »

I shook my head and went to wash the dishes. « It's crazy that fascination for cake in the oven. Moonah can stare at the oven for half an hour. »

He laughed, suddenly embarassed. « I come from a working family. We ate outside almost everyday. Even for breakfast. Mom can't do anything in a kitchen. Sometimes she attempted to cook on sunday but neither we like it or she liked doing it.»

« Oh. She was a lawyer, right ? » I asked to make sure. My man was now wiping clean and dry the dishes, helping me. I smiled, he was still eyeing the cake in the oven from time to time.

YongGuk smiled. « A prosecutor. My dad was a lawyer. You know, they have been together for so long and still love each other after all these years. I wanted a love like this.»

I frowned and throw some water at him. « What about me ? » He laughed and landed a kiss on my cheek. He took his hand to wipe his face.  « You're different. I'm quite happy you're not a prosecutor or a lawyer. Or else when do we see each other ? On sunday exclusively ?? No way. I need my daily dose of you. I always felt envious of how in love they were. But not anymore. I have my very own love story with you. »

I must have had a victorious face because YongGuk laughed. « You're happy to hear this ? »

I nodded and we kissed for a long amount of time. Lost in the sensations. I pulled back to breath and gave a look to the oven. « Oh it's ready, go and call our girls. »

YongGuk grinned. « I'll give you time to find back your composure after this kiss. »

I rolled my eyes. « So full minded. »

*

Bang YongGuk

I opened the door of the Taeyang and Moonah room and noticed it was empty. I scrolled to the our bedroom and frowned. Our offices were also empty. I suddenly heard giggles.

« Blush is very important. It makes you lively and rosy. »

I got closer to the bathroom and opened the door. I found a whole scene. Taeyang had makeup all over her face, Moonah applying blush on with a big fluffy brush. I looked at the lipstick shattered on the floor, the eyeshadow all over them and felt anger rose in me.

« Taeyang !! Moonah !! It's not nice to go though your Mom thing. » I started, angry that they did that. I snapped the brush from Moonah. « Stop playing with makeup this way and let wash up. »

Moonah looked at me with big eyes and started to sobb. Sujin climbed up the stairs and looked at the mess around her. Our clean bathroom shattered with her makeup. I was going to say something when Sujin rested a hand on my shoulder. « Don't be angry it's nothing important. I don't want Moonah  to cry. »

I looked at the sad face of Moonah and how Taeyang looked terrorized I nagged her. Sujin came to their side and sat up. « You played with my makeup ? Girls, I've told you it's bad for little girls. You're only allowed to wear some blush. No lipstick. No eyeshadow or anything else. Let's wash up okay ? »

Moonah and Taeyang nodded. Sujin took her makeup remover and gave me a cotton wipe soaked with it. « Take care of Moonah. »

Moonah came my way and sat on my lap. As I wiped down the makeup, she looked at me a bit afraid, the tears make the unblended eyeshadow on her eyes to roll down her cheeks. « You look like a clown, litte buddy. » I told her softly.

« All our friends wear makeup. Why aren't we allower to do so ? » Moonah asked, grumpy.

« Because you're not even 10 years old. Makeup it's full of chemicals. It shouldn't be something you put daily. I don't want you to look at yourself and think you need makeup to look beautiful okay ?» I explained gently to Moonah.

She pouted. « I hate having to remove makeup. »

« So it means you're not responsible enough to have the right to put it on. » Her mom stated in a neutral tone, while gently removing makeup from Taeyang face.  Moonah opened and closed it immediately. «Not nice. »

When our daughters were makeup free, I looked at the distressed eyes of Sujin. Her makeup collection all opened on the floor of the bathroom. She looked like she tried not to look sad about it. As she took the brush next to me, she smiled. « Who wants some brush then ? »

I looked at Sujin apply blush with her silly ways. Not collecting much of the product and sweeping the brush on the nose so it tickled the face. She applied blush on her daughters with a smile. As I came closer I looked at her close the pan. I whined.  « Hey I want some too.. »

All three of them looked at me with confused eyes. Sujin re opened the pan and swiped the blush on my cheeks. It was a pink shade. She pouted.. « Orange would looks better on your honey skin but I don't have that.  Here you are. »

I looked in the mirror and sighed as the sight of my rosy cheeks. « I look drunk. »

« Yeah. It's not unpleasing. » She said, concentrated to making her cheek rosy. Taeyang looked at me and laughed. « You look cute. »

I smiled. Moonah came to my side and touched my cheek. «It looks like you went outside and it was really cold and snowy. »

« Let's all eat cookies now we're all pretty. » I said clapping in my hands.

*

The next day I went in the first makeup store I saw and asked for a palette.It bothered me that Sujin makeup was not usable anymore. The sales woman explained to me the colors and stuffs. « You can't really go wrong with this palette. It's really hot right now !! »

I nodded to her and asked her for a few more products. As I exited the shop with a full bag of makeup, I saw girls the age of Taeyang and Moonah get in a makeup store. All pink and all cute. Out of instinct, I followed them. Girls of their age really put on makeup ? I looked at them try on lipsticks and gloss and other stuffs. I suddenly felt so strict as a parent. Sujin was way more comprehensive. As they left, I approached the lipstick session and found the pink gloss. The saleswoman came to meet me.  « You need help ? »

« Yeah hmm ? My daughters are around ten years old. What would be appropriate for their age ? »

She showed me a lot of things and I frowned. « No I meant just minimal. Something for the lips and cheeks. »

« Ah. Lip gloss maybe ? » I chose a discret color and a pink blush just like Sujin one. The saleswoman looked amused of my presence in the shop. « You can give them a coral lip tint and they can put on top some lip gloss. »

She showed me the combinaison on her skin and I nodded, concentrated. « Nail polish, do you have it ? »

She showedme what girls their age liked. I took two light pink for them and got to the cashier. « Your daughters will be delighted. »

« I hope so. They played with their Mom makeup yesterday and ruined it. » I gently explained.

She took my card and laughed. « Who knew such a young man had two ten years old daughters ? »

I smiled to me and remembered of something. « Could you wrap it up ? As a gift ? »

« Of course. Give me a minute. » I looked at her  wrap their little gift and noticed another group of middle school students get in the shop. She handed me my shopping bag and laughed seeing the huge bag of makeup I bought for my wife. « Went on a makeup shopping I see. »

«My fiancée looked sad over her makeup so I went to buy some too. » I went into the luxyry department store makeup space to buy hers. For the girls it wasn't the same. All their stuffs had to look princessy and cute. I still made sure it wasn't hurtful for them.

The saleswoman smiled, apparently moved by my story and  I greeted her goodbye, thanking her for her helpful advices.

As I arrived home, Sujin were in the kitchen cooking and the girls were in the living room watching TV. I gave the big bag to Sujin and she gasped. « You went to buy makeup for me ? »

« I saw despair in your eyes yesterday when cleaning up. » I quickly explained. She took the few items I bought and seemed really excited. « Thanks, that's really nice of you. »

I got in the living room and sat in between my two daughters, they greeted me coldly and I handed then their gift. « I'm sorry for yesterday. You're becoming yound ladies and it's silly to protect you from that. »

They opened their gift at the same time.  « Lip tint !! gloss !! and blush !! Oh nail polish. Dad thanks you you're so cool !! »

I looked at them try their new makeup with a smile on. They looked excited. Sujin came with us and kissed my lips.  I clapped in my hands. "So who's applying blush on me today ?"

My daughters were ready to do so when Sujin stopped them. "YongGuk gave me a coral blush that would suit him so I am the one applying blush on him tonight."

Taeyang and Moonag frowned. "It's always you." Moonah complained. Sujin showed them her tongue. "It would be your turn next time."

A cute chapter for you today. I hope you had a nice christmas =)