…Hot summer, a hot hot summer… hot summer… a hot hot summer!...  2PM sang along to the song playing on the bus, making the girls of f(x) laugh. The two groups, along with Nickhun, Victoria and KiTeok were on the way to the lodge they were staying at for Hello Baby’s “Summer Vacation” filming. It was only 6:30 in the morning but 2PM was some how already energetic and hyper, in attempt to impress the girls of f(x). Even though they’ve met a couple times for work, the boys wished they’d know girls better, now that their members are officially dating. It was always different interacting with other idols in front of cameras, having to be careful of starting national scandals.

“Guys, it takes 3 hours to get to the resort, so we’ll film a little bit and then I’ll let you guys rest till we get there.” The PD announced.

            After a short bit of filming and introduction of the trip, the PD turned off the cameras and let the idols catch up on their sleep. The beauty of this program was that when baby KiTeok was asleep, filming stopped, so the hours were far less torturous compared to filming with only idols. Nichkhun got up from his seat and pulled out a blanket from his duffle bag, laying it on Victoria’s knees. Now that it was Summer, the girls all had shorts and skirts on and although none of the boys were complaining, Nichkhun didn’t want the camera to see so much of Victoria when he could control it.

            “Aiiish, hyung, my knees are cold too!” Wooyoung joked, pretending to shiver from the air-conditioned bus.

            “Us too, appa!” the girls piped, making Nichkhun blush.

            He took sleeping KiTeok from Victoria’s arms as she placed a part of her blanket on him, wiping the beads of sweat from her sleeping baby. Victoria put her head on Nichkhun’s shoulders. She spent the entire night packing for KiTeok to make sure they had everything he needed, letting Nichkhun catch up on his sleep. The entire bus was quiet and peaceful as the idols prepared for the loud vacation ahead of them.

-

            A giant lodge with two floors greeted the idols when they got off the bus. f(x) ran off excitedly, opening the door and letting out cheers. Nichkhun and Victoria ran behind 2PM as they all looked around the house excitedly. The first floor of the lodge had an open living area and kitchen, with a giant glass wall looking out to the lake. The upper level had 5 bedrooms, where f(x) and 2PM happily chose one each.

            “Hyung, you and sister-in-law and your baby can stay in this one.” Wooyoung appointed, leading the three of them into the room. “Make lots of memories here tonight!” he joked, earning a punch from Nichkhun.

            The crew set up cameras around the house and followed the idols around, capturing the candid moments of these embarrassingly excited idols.

            KiTeok watched in amusement as his “uncles” and “aunts” ran around excitedly. His favorite part of the house was the stairs, holding Taecyeon’s hand excitedly as he guided him up and down the stairs by jumping.

            “Let’s go get our stuff!” The girls cheered, heading towards the door.

            “Ani ani ani, we’ll go get the stuff.” JunK. offered, blocking the door.

            “Ya hyung, since when did you become such a gentleman?” Junho laughed, heading out the door.

            “Since always, what are you talking about?” JunK. defended, making the girls laugh.

            After multiple trips, all the suitcases and food were brought into the house. The girls set up the food in the kitchen as the boys brought their stuff upstairs. Nichkhun and Victoria proceeded to set up KiTeok’s sleeping area and their room, happily sharing their responsibilities and both admiring the parenting abilities of each other. Nichkhun made a mental note of going on lots of vacation with Victoria and their future babies, considering they were such an “international” couple.

            After everything was set up and everyone got changed, they all headed out towards the lake to take pictures. It was breezy for a summer day, despite being disgustingly hot. Victoria kept wiping KiTeok and Nichkhun’s sweat, making the other boys jealous. As per always, Taecyeon’s MC instincts kicked in as the PD handed them a mission card.

            Taecyeon: Everyone! Today’s mission is to make memories with our cute KiTeok, but more importantly, to educate this little man. We have to teach him words, but to make it interesting, I think we should pair up with someone in the other group. Any objections?

            Before anyone could answer, he continued.

            Taecyeon: No objections? Good! So lets decide on a game to pick couples! I mean, obviously Khun hyung is going to be with sister-in-law. So the rest of us will show ourselves off and f(x) can pick which one of us they like. JunK-ssi, since you are the oldest, please start!

            JunK: Alright. Let me charm these ladies.

            He begins to sing “Hot” as he bobs his head to the beat. Taecyeon beatboxes for him in the back but it’s not nearly enough to cover for the awkwardness of his acapella dancing. He sends each member winks before finishing the chorus, making the girls blush.

            Taecyeon: Alright, now that the scary ajusshi is done, we have our Ssanti (Cheap) representative, Wooyoun-shi!

            Wooyoung: My talent is obviously being funny.

            He tells a bad joke, to which all of f(x) laughs out of embarrassment for his awkwardness and silence that followed the end of his joke. 2PM laughed at him even harder, as they thanked him for making the competition easier. Junho and Chansung each break dance to Taec’s beat boxing, earning applause from everyone.

            Sulli: Whispering to Krystal. Omo, Chansung is so cool.

            Krystal: Sulli has something to say! Pointing to Sulli.

            Sulli: Yah, onni! Ani, I don’t have anything to say. Blushing.

            Nichkhun: I heard it! She said she thinks our Chansung is so cool! He imitates her voice, making everyone laugh.

            Chansung immediately blushed after hearing the compliment; happy that he managed to impress the girl he called dibs on before.

            As per always, Taecyeon the cheater found an effortless way of impressing the ladies. He took KiTeok’s hand, whispering something into his ear and pointing in the direction of Krystal. KiTeok then walked over to Krystal, holding her hand and saying in his baby language “Pick Uncle Taec! Pick him!”, making Krystal laugh. The girls shyly walked over to the ducked heads of 2PM lined up in front of them. Taecyon was picked by Krsytal, Wooyoung by Amber and Chansung by Sulli, leaving JunK and Junho with their heads ducked. Nichkhun walked over and held JunK’s hand, making JunK cheer and laugh at Junho. When he came to realize what had happened, he immediately demanded a rematch, to which was ignored as Junho walked to the other side to join the couples with Luna.

            JunK: Yah, you guys can’t keep doing this to me! I’m going to have a heart attack one day, thinking someone actually wants to be my partner!

            Junho: Well, moving on from the complaints of this ajusshi, who will be working alone, each couple except for Khuntoria has gotten a list of three words. We each have half an hour to teach KiTeok the three words, and then he will say them to Khuntoria, who will try to guess what he’s saying. Whichever couple teaches the most words successfully will be out of dinner duty tonight! The two losing couples will have to make dinner and do the dishes while the other pairs rest!

            Nichkhun: Wait, so no matter what, we get to rest? Points back and forth from him and Victoria, who is now carrying KiTeok in her arms.

            Wooyoung: Of course! You guys are responsible for the baby. And plus, sister-in-law always takes care of us, it’s time we treat her back!

            Victoria blushed as she realized how much 2PM truly appreciated her. She loved how they all treated her so well even though she was only dating Nichkhun.

            Each of the couples took turn taking KiTeok around the lake while the others stay put by a little white gazebo, just talking to each other and strategizing a winning method. Nichkhun and Victoria proceeded to prepare lunch for the members with the groceries they hauled from Seoul. Even though it was just the two of then Nichkhun couldn’t act couply with the cameras pointed at them. He was very tempted to ask them to leave, considering this wasn’t interesting footage they’d edit into the show anyway, but being the polite idol he was, he simply helped along side Victoria. The pairs and JunK finished teaching their words as Victoria and Nichkhun brought out food and table settings to the gazebo.

            Fried rice, cold noodles and a grill with meat were placed in the middle of the table as the idols sat around, ready to dig in.

            “Sister-in-law’s cooking never fails us!” Chansung complimented, shoving a heap of fried rice in his mouth.

            “Ahh.” Nichkhun said to Victoria, feeding her a piece of meat from the grill. “Careful, it’s hot!” he said hurriedly.

            Victoria had KiTeok in her lap, feeding him bits of rice as carefully as possible, avoiding a mess. The three were wearing family t-shirts and she didn’t want to get it dirty. Her’s was red, with a momma bear in an apron printed in the front. Nichkhun’s was blue, with a papa bear holding a briefcase, while KiTeok’s was mint green, with a baby bear surrounded by toys. It was a little tacky, but it sure was cute to see such a happy family sitting together.

            “Sister-in-law, here!” Wooyoung, who was sitting beside her, offered her a spoonful of rice from his spoon, only to get smacked by Nichkhun’s chopsticks.

            “Yah yah yah, do you want to fight?” Nichkhun threatened jokingly.

            Victoria laughed at Wooyoung moved the spoon towards KiTeok. “Hyung, you didn’t let me finish, I was going to feed it to KiTeok!” he lied, making the table laugh.

            Everyone ate happily and cleared off the table as Nichkhun and Victoria brought KiTeok in for his nap. The cameras continued to film as the two groups played games to get to know each other better. The infamous love-Jenga made an appearance as the pairs did the instructions given by the blocks. Everyone stopped what they were doing and froze on spot as they heard a crying KiTeok from upstairs. Nichkhun and Victoria who were used to handling crying KiTeok immediately ran upstairs. The couples remained stunned, as they thought about how lucky it was that KiTeok didn’t cry when they were teaching him the words. KiTeok was brought downstairs shortly after, happy to wake up from his nap.

            MC Taec took over again, introducing the dinner penalty to the audience and making Chansung and Sulli, the maknae group present their teaching first. Nichkhun and Victoria sat with their eyes closed, using only their ears to determine what word their baby could repeat.

            Chansung: KiTeok, what is this? Pointing to his eyes.

            KiTeok: mumbles mumbles… pointing to Chansung’s eyes.

            Sulli: ani ani, KiTeok, what do we call this? What is this? She was frantic.

            KiTeok: ani ani! Repeating what Sulli had said.

            Taec: deng! Word one failed! Word two please!

            Chansung: Ok ok, KiTeok, what is this? Pointing to his nose.

            KiTeok: barely understandable… nose nose nose nose!

            MC Taec: Khuntoria-ssi. Guesses?

            Nichkhun: … um…

            Junho: Yah, they’re both foreign. Their Korean is bad enough as it is, how are they supposed to guess this? We should have taught the kid English… or Thai… or Chinese!

            Victoria:… he said… nose?

            MC Taec: deng! Correct!

            Nichkhun and Victoria blindly tried to high five each other.

            Chansung: Last one. Last one!

            Sulli: KiTeok ah, what is this? Pointing to .

            KiTeok: mouth! Sticking his finger into his own mouth.

            Nichkhun: Oh! Oh! I know this one! He said mouth!

            MC Taec: deng! Correct! That’s two points! Next we have Auntie Luna and Uncle Junho!

            Junho: High fives Luna. Don’t worry, we’ll win!

            Luna: Blushing Hwaiting!

            Junho: KiTeok ah, what is this? Holds up flash-card.

            KiTeok: Yummy! This is yummy!

            Junho: We know it’s yummy, but what is it called?

            KiTeok: I like this!

            MC Taec: Ok, time to guess!

            Nichkhun and Victoria smiled in unison, understanding their baby.

            “Ice cream!” They said in unison.

            JunK: “Yah, how did you get ice cream from “yummy”? Waving his hand in front of their blindfold to make sure they weren’t cheating.

            Wooyoung: this doesn’t count, it’s cheating!

            MC Taec: deng! Ice cream is correct! They get the point for knowing their baby so well! Next!

            Luna: KiTeok ah, what is this? Holds up flash card and pretends to eat it.

            KiTeok: Apple! Apple! Apple!

            Nichkhun: ah, this one is easy, he said apple!

            MC Taec: deng! Two points! Last one please, Uncle Junho.

            Junho: What about this one, KiTeok? This one that you don’t like! Hinting at Victoria and Nichkhun, who seem to know their baby so well.

            KiTeok: I don’t like this one! He repeated Junho’s sentence, turning his head away as if they were feeding him this yucky food.

            Luna: What do you not like?

            KiTeok points to picture on flashcard silently before walking over to his blindfolded parents and sitting on Victoria’s lap.

            MC Taec: deng! That’s two points final score. So far we have a tie! Grandpa JunK, please.

            JunK: Yah, you guys just watch me win this. Prepare to make me a yummy dinner! KiTeok ah, what is this? Holds up one finger.

            KiTeok: One!

            JunK: and this? Holds two fingers up.

            KiTeok: Two!

            JunK: last one! This one? Holds up three fingers.

            KiTeok: Three!

            Victoria laughed as she repeated “One, two, three.”

            Wooyoung: Yah, this show is a conspiracy! (Quoting Jaebeom). How come grandpa JunK’s was so easy?!

            MC Taec: You picked the cards yourself, it’s too late to complain now! So far, grandpa is in the lead! Next, Wooyoung-ssi.

            Wooyoung and KiTeok looked at each other in confusion. It would really take a miracle to get KiTeok to say these words. Wooyoung and Amber pointed at regions on a map as the others laughed at their failure. KiTeok couldn’t recall any of the country names, giving them a point of 0. Nichkhun and Victoria, still blindfolded, were equally confused by the lack of words spoken by KiTeok.

            Nichkhun: Yah, Wooyoung, did you even try?!

            Amber: Your baby is just slow, onni!

            Victoria: Yah yah yah, you’re slow! Our KiTeok is so smart! Pets his head as he continues to be confused.

            MC Taec: looks like we know who’s making dinner! Okay, it’s our turn!

            Krystal: KiTeok ah, what is this? Points to a flash card with a big “A” written on it.

            Nichkhun repeats “A” after listening to KiTeok. KiTeok, after such long triva, finally gets bored and ignores Taecyeon and Krystal’s trival, giving them a total of 1 point after the other members cut off their time of trying.

            MC Taec: So, since this show is a conspiracy, I will be making dinner with Uncle Wooyoung, Auntie Amber and Auntie Krystal.

            The others cheered as they sprawled out on the floor, playing with KiTeok.

            -

            For the safety of KiTeok, Victoria assisted them in the kitchen. It was bad enough that they had to suffer their bad culinary abilities, she didn’t want her baby to suffer too. By the time some edible food was made, it looked like aliens attacked the kitchen. The four of them were going to have a horrible time cleaning up. They enjoyed a simple meal of home made dumplings and rice cake soup, talking and laughing as if it were Sunday night dinner of a real family. Nichkhun looked around in amazement how much he loved s and Victoria. It was people like them that kept him from giving up and packing his bags back to Thailand when he was homesick. He was glad that Victoria had him to lean on when she was homesick, thinking again how much he wanted to take her back to China to formally introduce himself to her parents as soon as possible.

            MC Junho: Ye, so our MC Taecyeon has been demoted to kitchen staff, so I will be Hello Baby’s new MC! It’s important that kids get a good stretch each night and work out so they will grow up nice and strong. Flexes for the camera.

            Nichkhun: Our baby already has a 6 pack! Joking, he tickles KiTeok, making him laugh.

            They make KiTeok jump around hula hoops and stretch his legs out, singing the childhood song as the four finish cleaning the dishes. They then all changed in their pajamas in preparation for bedtime. The living room was transformed into one giant bedroom, with blankets lined up for filming. 2PM and f(x) were separated by KiTeok in the middle, who had a bottle of warmed milk in his hand. KiTeok was in matching pajamas with Nichkhun, both with light blue flannel pants and a white sweater with a solid black K printed on it. Victoria had the same sweater on, with V printed on it. The idols each had to tell a bedtime story in hopes to get KiTeok asleep. By the end of their improvised stories, KiTeok was still awake, so Victoria had to rock him until he slept. Cameras stopped rolling as the idols pretended to fall asleep and turned off the lights in the living room. The couple brought KiTeok upstairs so the crew didn’t wake him up.

 “Let’s go stargazing.” Nichkhun suggested when they joined everyone downstairs.

“Hyung, are we invited too? Or were you only asking Victoria?” Junho joked.

“Appa, please take us too!” Sulli played along.

“We should put these kids to sleep too.” Nichkhun joked back, bringing a blanket with him as he headed for the porch.

There were lounge chairs set up around a fire pit outside. The boys attempted to start a bonfire as the girls prepared fruits and hot chocolate. Nichkhun and Victoria sat close to each other, while the other members sprawled out around the circle. They sat around, talking and laughing without the pressure of the cameras on them.

“This isn’t much of a romantic stargazing date is it?” Nichkhun whispered to Victoria.

“It’s romantic if you ignore all of them.” She said, touched that he remembered her want to go stargazing.

“We can go stargazing every night when we run away” he laughed.

“Hyung, if you get any closer, it’s going to turn into a kiss.” Wooyoung pointed out, breaking the romantic moment. “And I don’t think we want to see that.”

“Yeah, no thanks!” Everyone chimed in.

Victoria sat up straight in embarrassment.

“You can cuddle with Amber if you want, we won’t mind.” Taecyeon joked, pushing Wooyoung’s seat closer to Ambers.

 “We really should have more vacations like these.” Junho commented, closing his eyes as he let the summer breeze brush against his face.

The others sat silently, looking up at the sky and thinking about their busy lives. It was nice to finally be out of sight from fans and away from the busyness of Seoul.