Overprotective Parents

"Hyung. I swear. She's prettier now!" Seungri, Jiyong's friend who was two years his junior, sat beside him on the breakfast table.
"Ah, really?" The other nonchalantly replied as he took a sip of his coffee.
"Yeah! You still love her, right? Then go get her! Do you want her number? Zero, zero, nine, five-"
Jiyong raised his brow: annoyance traced across his face, "I don't want her number. What made you think I still love her and want her back?"
Seungri chuckled and held onto his shoulder, "I think I have enough experience to proclaim myself as an expert when it comes to these matters. I can see right through you. You're still not over her. Those eyes are still longing for her after four excruciating years."
"What a bunch of crap, Ri. She has moved on. I have moved on. Get out of my house. You're ruining my day so early in the morning" he gulped down the remaining of his coffee and stood up.
"You're the one who asked me to come here though. You don't need a babysitter? Fine. That's perfect! I have my weekend for myself. See you when I see you hyung-nim" Seungri went for the door.
Jiyong stopped him, "Oh yeah. No! Don't leave. Just go take care of Chaeyoung and stop pestering me with all these...stuff."
Seungri turned around and grinned cockily, "Ah, so you need me after all. Don't be too sensitive hyung. I just thought maybe you want to see her. It's been years-"
Jiyong cut him with a deathly glare.
"...or maybe not! Okay. Just tell me what I need to do today your Highness."
Jiyong pointed at the fridge, "I've stacked some food in there. I left some money on the work top in case there's an emergency. And when something goes wrong, even the tiniest thing, call me straight away. Chaeyoung has a cold right now so make sure you give her her medicine every four hours. Make sure you don't skip her antibiotics too. Here's a list of food she's allowed and not allowed to eat. Don't screw this up, Ri. I called you because I trust you"
"I feel more burdened than honoured by the fact you trust me. At work, I only sit around and I get paid. And for you, I do all this labour for free? Why don't you hire a nanny instead? You're loaded. You can totally afford hiring one!" Seungri suggested.
"I can’t. Chaeyoung doesn't like being with strangers. Just stop complaining and look after her. I'll be back by six. It will be over before you know it"
"Six? What is left of my Saturday?!" Seungri whined. “Now I want to kick myself for agreeing to this”
Jiyong ignored his complaint and called for his daughter, "Chaeyoung-ah! I'm going! Give appa a kiss!"
Entered the kitchen was a girl of about seven years of age. She ran to Jiyong and did what he ordered her to do, "Bye appa." She gave him a peck on the cheek.
He pat her head, "Be good to uncle Seungri okay? I'll see you two later"
Seungri crossed his arms, "I don't even get a ‘thank you’ for all this trouble? I guess I have to face the fact that I will always be the abused one."
Jiyong went to him and placed his arms around his shoulder, "Thank you Seungri-ah. You know I'm really thankful right? Sorry I was a bit moody a while ago. You're just a bit annoying. But, thank you so much. Do you want a kiss too?" He chuckled. 
"Eh, no thanks. I'll pass. Maybe if you get back with her you can give her that goodbye kiss of yours"
"Ri, don't ruin my mood again." 
The younger of the two men raised his hands, "Okay. I'm shutting up. I'm shutting up."
"Alright. I’m off! See you two later." Jiyong grabbed his bag.
"Yeah, hyung!" "Bye appa!"

As soon as the front door closed, Seungri faced and smiled at the little girl who looked like an exact replica of her mother, "Chaeyoung-ah, do you want to go somewhere? Do you want to go to Lotte World? I'll take you. No offense but your house is quite boring"
"Appa said I'm not allowed to go out 'cause I got the sniffles." She bit her lower lip.
He placed his index finger over his lips, "I won't tell hyung. Uncle Seungri will keep this a secret. And it's just a cold. Just wear a thick jacket! Come on, tell me where you want to go. We can go anywhere!"
"Anywhere?" She tilted her head to the side.
"Anywhere!"
"Then...I want to go to omma. She was the one you were talking about a while ago, right? I want to see her" she requested.
He raised his brow in surprise, "You still remember her?"
"A bit...I know her name's Chaerin. I want to see what she looks like now. So please take me uncle Ri." She tugged on his shirt.
He shook his head rejecting her request, "No chance, sweetheart! Hyung will kill me."
"I won't tell him. I swear! You told me we can go anywhere!"
"But this is different!"
"Please?" She hugged him.
"You know what, this is so awkward. It's like a mini-Chaerin is hugging me. I usually get jabs and punches from her back then" He muttered. 
"Pleeeease" she hugged him tighter.
"Sorry Chaeyoung. As much as I want to be the best uncle and give you what you're asking, I can't grant your wish. I can't secretly bring you to your mummy without your dad's knowledge."
"Call her. You know her number right? I want to hear her. I want to ask her to come back to appa and I want to see my little brother and I want to hug her...and I want...I want an omma..." She burst into tears. 
"Omo! Baby! Don't cry!" He panicked as he reached for the list Jiyong gave him. "Hyung didn't tell me how to stop you from crying. Is that on this list?"
The bawling only amplified.
"Chaeyoung-ah. Please don't cry. If you cry, uncle Ri's gonna cry too. Do you want me to cry?" He pleaded.
He was responded with a more violent cry, "Omma! I want my omma!"
"Do you want me to buy you a dress?"
"No. I want my mommy!"
"How about a bag? I'll buy you a bag!" he coaxed.
"I don't want a bag!"
"Do you want me to sing you a song? This one's a good one. It's by my favourite singer, VI. Listen," He cleared his throat, "Hey y. Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!"
"Waaaaah!" She wailed.
"Aigoooo! What am I gonna do? Please don't cry!!!" he pleaded with his hands together.
"I want... my omma. Call... her. Tell her I want... to see her" she uttered between sobs.
"If I told her that, it will be complicated. This takes more than simply asking her to see you. If you do that, she will ask you to stay with her."
"Then that's...great! I want to stay with her!"
"What about your Jiyong-appa? He only has you. Do you want him to be alone?"

"No I don't. Me, appa, omma and my little brother can stay together. Here." 
"You think your mom and dad want to stay together?"
Although she never really understood why they fell apart, she just shook her head. "I don't think they want to stay together."
"Yup and do you know why?"
"Appa said, they don't feel the same way as they did before..."
"See? You knew why after all. So why are you still insisting?"
"I think appa still loves omma. You know too, right? I want them back together. Call my omma. Please uncle Ri!"
"I was just taking the mickey out of your appa a while ago. But what does a seven year old child like you know about love? We know nothing of your appa's feelings. Aigoo! Let's just play video games okay?" Seungri held her hand to take her to the lounger but she didn’t budge.
"I...I just want to hear my omma's voice." She pouted.
Seungri stomped his foot, "Ah, this girl! You really know how to use your cute charms to soften up my heart." He held on to her shoulders. "Let's make a deal. I won't call Chaerin myself but I'll give you her number. You call her. And don't tell hyung I gave you. When you get caught, tell him you just saw it from my phone while I was in the toilets. Deal?"
"You'll really give me her number?"
"Yeah. But don't cry. And don't tell hyung I gave you! Promise?"
"I promise!"
"And just listen to her voice, okay? Then once you heard her, drop the call. Don't make a conversation. Don’t go asking her to come back. Hyung will seriously-"
"Kill you. Okay okay. I won’t uncle!"
"I'm telling a child to lie...this is beyond unforgivable" he muffled as he reached for his phone.

---
The second time Chaeyoung called her brother, she was sat down on the couch in her Auntie Dami's living room. It was her auntie’s turn to look after her. 
"Is omma asleep?" She asked Jiwoon.
Jiwoon nodded as if his noona could see him, "She's usually asleep at this time. Aren't people supposed to sleep at night? Omma is weird"
"Appa usually sleeps until the afternoon. He's weird too!"
"I want to ask you somefing..." he trailed off.
"What is it?"
"What is the difference between fake appa and real appa? Aren't they both fathers? So they're the same?"
"No. They're not. Real appa helped make you. Fake appa didn't." she explained.
"Helped make me?"
"Yeah! How do you think you were made?”
He paused for a while, “Uhm…..Omma made me. I came from her tummy.”
“Do you think omma made you alone? Appa helped her! It takes two to make a baby!” she said in a matter-of-factly tone.
“Really? How?”
“My classmate said they go to bed and sleep beside each other and then cover themselves up with a blanket”
"A blanket? Why do they need a blanket?"
"You know when a magician makes something appear he uses a blanket? It's like that. They make a baby appear when they cover themselves up with a blanket! When they wake up the next day, the baby is already in the mother's tummy"
“Is that how babies are made?”
“Of course!”
“So where's real appa? Can I talk to him?”
“He hasn't picked me up from auntie yet. And did you not understand the plan? This is a surprise! You're not allowed to talk to him yet. I bet you already told omma”
"No I haven't! But how are we gonna see you?”
"Last night, I thought about this. Do you like Lotte World?"
"Lotte World?! I want to go there! I want to go there!" he excitedly squealed.
"We'll meet there. We have to find a time when both our parents are free." 
The front door of her auntie’s house opened, “Chaeyoung-ah. Appa's here. Where are you?”
"Is that real appa?" Jiwoon excitedly asked.
Chaeyoung hastily answered, "Yes. So I have to go. I’ll call you later Jiwoon. Don’t tell omma or anyone about this okay? I’ll call you as soon as possible to talk about my plan so make sure you pick up the phone! YOU. Not omma. YOU. Bye!” she quickly hung up.
"W-wait! N-noona. I didn’t understand. Not too fa-"

“Who are you talking to?” Jiyong asked as he gave his daughter a hug.
“Uhm. Just Dayoung. We were talking about this guy in our class,” she blurted out.
“Guy? You're just seven and you're talking about a guy?! What does he do for a living?"
"Appa...he's seven too..."
"Exactly! So don't talk to him until he's already at the age when he's doing something for his keep."

Dami entered the living room, “Jiyong-ah. I can hear you all the way from the kitchen! Be easy on your daughter! You yourself were a player when you were little!” she chuckled.
“But that was when I was thirteen. Seven, noona. She's seven"
"Thirteen my . What about Jinah? When you were FIVE?"
"Noona. I'm trying to discipline my child here" he muffled.
Chaeyoung reassured, "Appa, we were just talking about him. I don’t like him. Don't worry"
"You're overdoing the whole parenting thing Ji. Take it easy." Dami snickered.
"Just don't talk about boys again Chaeyoung-ah. Studies first." Jiyong patted Chaeyoung's head.
"Alright, appa" she beamed.
Jiyong turned to his older sister, "And noona, thanks for looking after Chaeyoung. Did this little brat behave well?”
“She was very well-behaved. She was just reading her books the whole day. She even read a story to Ee Jung!” Dami proudly informed him.
“Wow, really? Well done Chae. Because you didn’t cause Auntie any trouble today, you deserve a reward. What do you want?”
“I’m hungry” his daughter pouted.
“Do you want to join us for dinner? I just made chicken.” Dami offered.
Jiyong refused, “Nah, we're good. We’re just going to have dinner at home. What do you want to eat tonight, baby?”
“Are we going to have take-away again? I don’t want take-away. My teacher said it’s not very healthy! I want home cooked meals!”
“We can’t have dinner here. We’re already a bother to Auntie Dami.”
Dami interrupted, “Jiyong-ah, I made quite a lot. It’s okay. If little Chaeyoung wants homecooked meals then join us. My husband will be home soon. So just wait for a bit."
"Alright. I guess we can stay for a bit. Are you happy now, Chae?"
Chaeyoung smiled and nodded.
"Jiyong-ah, you know what? You should get a wife. A wife who can take care of Chaeyoung while you're away, and also someone who can cook so she won't have to eat take-aways anymore" Dami suggested.
"Noona. Not you too. I don't want a wife. They're just a pain. I can take care of my daughter myself" he stated sternly.

---
Meanwhile…
"Jiwoon. Who were you talking to on the phone just now?" Chaerin who just woke up from her slumber asked groggily as she lifted up her son and sat him on her lap.
"Omma, I learned something today. I now know how babies are made!" the toddler proudly said.
"W-what?" She coughed out.
"I now know how babies are made. First you go to bed and then-"
Chaerin's eyes widened in shock, "WHO WE'RE YOU SPEAKING TO ON THE PHONE?"
"Omma. D-don't shout. You're scary." he covered his ears.
"Oh! Jiwoon...I'm so sorry. Omma didn't mean to yell at you. I'm not angry at you. I was angry at the one who called you. Was it a prank caller?" She scrolled down her phone and found the number of the culprit. She angrily pressed the call button.
After a few rings, "Hello?" The greeting sounded as if it was from a little girl leaving Chaerin confused. A little girl knew of those things? 
"Ya! What have you been telling my child? How to make babies? My son's only four!"
"..."
"How old are you? How do you know such things?!"
"I'm sorry omma..."