Take Me Home

 It has almost been a month since Kiseop had learned of his daughter, Mi Jeong.  She had been getting stronger and that made Kiseop happy. Min Jung still hadn’t woken up and Kiseop doesn’t know if she will. Kevin had been with him, helping him get closer to the baby and by Min Jung’s bed side. Kiseop never wanted to leave her side, but because of his piling schedule, he may have too, but there is more to it now. He may have to tell of Min Jung and Mi Jeong.

Kiseop and Kevin where on their way to the nursery where Mi Jeong had been moved since she was healthy enough to get out of the NICU. She’d been there almost three days but had to be sent back into the NICU for the mild seizures she had. Today Kiseop was going to try to feed her for the first time and hopefully she’d swallow it, since that was the most trouble she was having.

               “Kiseop hyung?” Kevin asked as they turned the corner.

               “Yeah?”

               “What are you going to do when you have to take Mi Jeong home?”

               “What do you mean?”

               “You have to take her home sooner or later, she’s getting bigger and healthier and she can’t stay here in the hospital.”

               “Shit, I didn’t think about that.”

               “You’ll have to tell Soohyun, Hoon, AJ, Eli, Dongho, and the manger soon.”

               “Kevin—I don’t know how to take care of a baby!”

               “Neither do I—but—but I learned a little from my Umma while she was taking care of my sister.”

               “And how long ago was that?”

               “A few years...”

               “Ugh.” They made their way into the nursery Kiseop looked around and saw all the other parents with their children, surrounded by their family and friends, wives and husbands united by the birth of their new child. Kiseop looked down at the ground; Kevin patted his shoulder and smiled at him. Kiseop smiled back, he probably knew how he was feeling. Kevin found the nurse that had been helping them out with Mi Jeong for the past month and she had her in her arms waiting. “Annyeong haseyo,”

               “Annyeong haseyo,”  She said. Kevin bowed with respect. “Are you ready to try and feed Mi Jeong?” She asked.

               “Ne,” Kiseop said. She nodded and made him sit down in the chair as the other nurse prepared him and the baby.

               “Say, how did you come up with the name Mi Jeong? That’s kind of unusual.”

               “I guess so. I took my name, Kiseop, and Min Jung’s name and put them on a piece of paper. I replaced the Ki in my name with Mi and spaced it it out. I took Jung and took the vowls of my name and the first and last consonant of Min Jung’s to get Mi Jeong. It’s kind of confusing.” He said blushing.

               “No, It’s really sweet of you to do that. Besides, Mi Jeong is a pretty name. Ready?”

               “Ne,”

Kiseop held out his arms in a cradling position to hold Mi Jeong safely around his arms. She was roughly smaller than the other babies but that was because she was born a month earlier. She had an air tube in her nose so she could breathe better, but other than that, the only problem she had was eating. The other nurse handed him the bottle, it was small since she didn’t eat a lot. He didn’t try to force her to open her mouth, but she was resistant. When she finally opened her mouth it took her a couple minutes to realize what to do with it. Kiseop smiled as she began drinking all of the milk that was in the bottle. That was a good sign.

               “She drank it all,” he said with a smile.

               “That’s great!” Kevin said.

               “It really is, that means probably in a few days she’ll be ready to go home.” The nurse said while taking Mi Jeong and putting her back into the nursery, while she left Kiseop and Kevin looked at each other.

               “I have to tell…” Kiseop said putting his head in his hands.

               “Yeah, but—but I’m sure it’ll be alright!” Kevin exclaimed.

               “What if I lose my job?” He asked. Kevin couldn’t say anything. “Min Jung...it’s almost been a month and she still hadn’t woken up.”

               “But there are signs of improvement! Just give her a while.” Kevin looked at the clock. “We have to get back to the dorm in a couple of minutes.”

               “Yeah, but I want to see Min Jung before I leave.” He said.

They said goodbye to Mi Jeong and the nurse as they made their way to the ICU where Min Jung was staying. Her black eyes where gone and her casts. She still had a breathing tube, she looked like she was sleeping, but she still laid there lifeless. Kiseop walked to her bedside and held her hand, it was cold and limp, but it was still her hand.

               “Min Jung, if you can hear me listen. I know about the baby, I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to be the best damn father out there and I don’t care if I lose my job, my fans, or anything. As long as I have you and Mi Jeong.” He chuckled to himself. “I named her Mi Jeong if that’s an alright name.” he squeezed her hand and held it. “Mi Jeong may be coming home with Kevin and I soon, she’ll see all the guys and hopefully they’ll be nice.” He bent down and kissed her forehead. “Saranghae, Min Jung.” He said. For half a second he felt like her hand squeezed his, he was shocked and didn’t believe it at first, but as her grip grew stronger he knew it was real. Then as quickly the sudden movement came, it was gone. He smiled knowing that that was a sign from Min Jung that everything was going to be alright.

***

               “So…you have a kid?” Hoon asked.

               “And your girlfriend is in a coma after getting hit by a car?” Eli asked.

               “Why didn’t you tell us before, Kiseop?” Their manager asked.

               “Honestly, I didn’t want to cause any trouble.” Kiseop admitted.

               “Well,” their manger sighed and stood up. “This is a lot to take it. I’m not sure what steps to take, but right now, Kiseop, you should’ve told us sooner so we could prepare better.”

               “Ne,” Kiseop looked down at his hands.

               “But we’re not giving up on you. You are a part of U-Kiss and U-Kiss is a family. We’ll gladly accept Min Jung and Mi Jeong into this family. Right guys?”

               “Yeah!” Everyone exclaimed. Kiseop looked at his friends and smiled widely, he couldn’t ask for anything greater.

               “Wait a minute,” Dongho said. Everyone turned to look at him.

               “Yeah?”

               “When is the baby coming home?” He asked with his cute aegyo face. Everyone erupted into laughter but still agreed when Mi Jeong was coming home.

               “To be honest, probably by the end of the week.” He admitted.

               “What?” Soohyun exclaimed. “We’re not prepared! We need to go out and get things, like, now!"

               “So we’re going shopping?” Eli and Dongho’s face lit up.

               “I guess so,” Kiseop said nervously.

               “No, you all stay here. It’d be a scandal if someone saw the U-Kiss members buying baby stuff. What do you need?”

               “Uh..”

               “You’ll need a stroller, a crib, a changing table, a carrier, baby food, that aren’t solids! Clothes, toys and diapers, lots and lots of diapers.” AJ said. Everyone looked at him. “My sister recently had a baby.” He said.

               “Ok then, well, I’ll go get that.”

               “Thank you,” Kiseop said. His manger nodded before grabbing his things and leaving the dorm. “Well, are you guys even comfortable with having a baby here?”

               “Of course! Why wouldn’t we be? It’ll give us a chance to try out our parenting skills.” Dongho said.

               “Dongho you’re only eighteen. You shouldn’t be a parent any time soon.”

               “Can’t hurt to try.” He said while eating a granola bar.

               “Don’t worry hyung, we got your back. Like the manager said, we’re a family.” Soohyun said putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “So, what does the baby look like, more like you or Min Jung?”

               “I don’t know, I haven’t really thought about it.”

               “She looks a lot like Kiseop,” Kevin spoke up from behind the couch.

               “Chincha?” Kiseop said eyes wide.

               “Yeah, she has your hair color, black, instead of Min Jung’s brown hair, your nose, lips, but she as Min Jung’s eyes.” Kiseop felt a warm feeling in his chest as Kevin described the physical traits of his daughter. It made him smile and feel happy to be a father, but it also scared him to know that she’d be coming home with him in a few days. And so little time to prepare. As Kevin continued to describe his daughter Kiseop smiled warmly. His daughter looked like him.

               “So she’s basically perfect?” Dongho said while opening another. “Kiseop was an Ulzzang you know. So she must be a pretty baby.”

               “Prettier than you?” Soohyun joked.

               “Heck no!” Dongho showed of his aegyo to prove his point. Everyone laughed.

               “Don’t be jealous of a baby,” AJ said. “She’ll probably melt all of our hearts.”

               “Ne, she really does.” Kiseop said. As he looked around his group of friends he felt happy to know that even though he lied to them and went behind their backs, they were still a family and they are going to be there for each other no matter what.

               “At least I won’t be the youngest. Maybe then I’ll get some respect.” Dongho said. Eli and Soohyun threw a pillow at him.

               “Shut up,” Eli laughed. Yep, definitely family.