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I unstrapped my safety belt, trying to be as gentle as I could in order to not wake MinKyeong up. Carefully, I pulled the shawl she had over her body up to her neck and as quietly as I could manage, hopped off the car. We had just been to the doctor’s and she had an intense round of tests and routine exercises done and could no longer hold out the entire car ride without falling asleep… until I attempted to close the door of the car. Through the window, I noticed her jumping slightly in the seat as she turned her head towards my direction and shot me a confused look after I slammed the door shut but the expression quickly disappeared and her face creased into a slight smile. I grinned apologetically at her as I rubbed my hands together hoping she gets the message. Pointing towards the school, I signalled to her that I would be right back and she gave me a nod.

I stuffed both my hands into my pocket, two tiny coats hanging off my arm and headed for the school. The weather was exceptionally cold today for some reason and thankfully, I decided to bring along an extra coat for the kids. I stood by the gate, shivering slightly in the cold winter wind along with the other mothers waiting eagerly for their children. A few shot me a questioning look before smiling at me, “Ah! Aren’t you JunHyun and MiEun’s appa?” I smiled back at them as a form of acknowledgment and greeted. Well I did not blame them for barely recognizing me at first although I have been the one picking my kids up after school almost every day for the past year or so ever since MinKyeong fell very sick. Truth be told, it was one of those few times I actually arrived at the school 5 minutes earlier to pick them. Other times, I was always late and by then, most of the children would have left with their parents already. “How is JunHyun’s eomma? Is her condition improving? How is the family coping?” I looked at them quizzically, slightly shocked that they knew about her condition before remembering that she came to the school after she fell sick for that meeting on JunHyun’s conduct, and most of the mothers would have already seen her that way.

“Well…” I started, reluctant to admit at first but still did so anyways, “She isn’t getting any better, but I guess we’re doing well and we are working on trying to slow down her progression. Thanks for your concern.” I answered to a bunch of curious mothers. They gave me an awkward smile upon that, possibly noticing that they have touched on a sensitive family topic. In response, I too flashed a smile at them, wondering what I should do next.

I was never a natural when it came to conversing with my children schoolmates’ mothers. I never knew what to say, what to ask, or how to keep conversations about household matters alive. Instead, MinKyeong was always the one handling such relations whenever we visited the schools and met up with other parents there. Silently, I wished that MinKyeong would be here with me now to save me from this awkward situation. But thankfully for me this time, the children spilled out from the various classes with their bags on their backs and coats neatly buttoned before another response was needed of me to make things less awkward.

I stretched my neck slightly as I looked for my children amidst the mass of children, suddenly grateful for my height. From afar, I noticed some children waving to their mothers standing beside me and dashed towards the gate, and amidst them, I noticed my JunHyun looking slightly lost. Puzzled, I waved to attract his attention but he did not noticed me. Instead, he stood outside in the field as other children ran along to their parents, his hands stuffed into his pockets and jumping slightly to warm up his body. His usual bored expression was replaced with a smile as MiEun dashed out of her class and ran towards him, slipping her hand into his.

JunHyun was only 6, but since his mother fell sick, he displayed a sense of maturity that not many children his age has. He never requested for the latest toys, and always took care of MiEun when we weren’t around.

Sure, he does have that side of him over-flowing with a child’s innocence and quirks, like he would sometimes ask for me to carry him when I carried MiEun, clambering into our bed in the middle of the night because he had a nightmare, or crying his eyes out when he injures himself.  But, when time calls for it, he still assumes the responsibility of an older brother and son and shows care for us in his own little way.

At that sight I smiled.

Calling out to them, I once again waved my hands frantically in the air, as though excited to see my children for the first time in years, and flashed a huge smile in their direction. This time they saw me. Excited, JunHyun ran towards me, dragging MiEun behind as she tried to keep up with her brother, and one after another, crashed their tiny bodies onto mine.

“Appa! You are not late today!” JunHyun exclaimed, making me slightly embarrassed by my usual tardiness.

Jokingly, I saluted, “Yes Officer JunHyun and Princess MiEun. I have changed!”, causing them to laugh.

Jokes aside, I squatted down to their eye level and hurriedly draped the coat over them and rushed them back to the car where it was warmer.

One by one, I lifted them both into the car and buckled their seat belts before jumping into the car myself. Rubbing my hands together, I complained childishly about how cold it was outside and how long the children made me wait, and the children protested immediately saying it was my fault for not bringing an extra coat for myself and how they always had to wait for me, causing MinKyeong to laugh. I did not mean it, obviously, and she knew that, but nonetheless, such antics never failed to make her laugh.

And with that, we headed home.

The snow started to become heavier outside. Satisfied that we were home safe and warm, I smiled at the sight of my children and MinKyeong sitting leisurely on the couch watching one of the kids’ favourite cartoons. Stacking the cutlery one over another into two stacks, I balanced them on each of my hands with ease and placed it onto the shelves above. Wiping my hands on my pants, I headed for the living room as well to join my family. Laughter filled the house as the kids explained the plot of the show to their mother causing them all to laugh at how amusing it is.  

I squeezed in between my children and Minkyeong, careful not to touch the area on her hand where it was frequently injected and smiled at them sheepishly. “Yah appa!” MiEun whined, “We want to sit with eomma too!” shaking my head I placed an arm over MinKyeong’s shoulder.

“You’ve had her long enough now it’s my turn.” And with that, I pecked MinKyeong on the cheek causing her to blush while my children covered their eyes and screamed.

“APPA!!!!!!!!!”

I laughed at that sight. They were still so young and innocent that they make a big fuss out of a simple peck on the cheek, but despite their age, I knew they understood that it was a token of love. And I felt that it was important to let my children know that despite all that we were going through, I still loved their mother and them as much as I did before. I needed to know that no matter what happens, I love them, and they will always have me. So much had happened over the past 10 years. So much had changed, people come and go. But I look at my children and knew they were here to stay and they would never leave me by choice. As we face a critical period together as a family, I know it is hard for the children as well, so I need them to know that I, the person whom the responsibility of the entire family instantly fell onto my shoulders over night with a sick wife and two young children, would always be here for them, through rain and shine.

And that I was a dad that they could rely on and trust, no matter what our future has in store for our family. 

Hi Everyone, this is Yoomin here. I hope you enjoy this new chapter. This chapter was actually completed some weeks ago but we did not upload it because i thought it would be nice if I could upload it with Geummin around. 

Geummin got into a very serious car accident on september 8th. we were in the same accident but thanks to her, our friends and i were not badly injured. However since then, she has not woken up yet and is still in the hopital till now. I wish more than anything for her to wake up but she hasnt.  We are twins and i am the older one but till now i never once felt like I had taken on the responsibility of the older sister. Instead, she has always been the one protecting me. Reason why i decided to upload this on my own was because i know how hard we both worked on this and it meant so much to Geummin, so after all these, this is the only thing i could do for her at the moment. I can't wake her up, I can't do anything to save her life further.  

So right now, I hope everyone will enjoy this chapter, comment, subscribe and please, pray for Geummin if you can. I can't do without her. 

Thank you.  Please be patient with us.

Our new subscribers: Len90100 , Spring_Roll , kwangkwangjo , Mariieyaa

Love, 

Geummin and Yoomin.