six

  “Happy birthday, Jeongmin!”

  “Thank you, Auntie Tiffany.”

  Little Jeongmin beamed as a large blue box with a white ribbon was placed in front of him, from a very cheerful Tiffany. Children, as all children are, would naturally be easily satisfied with the size of the box rather than the contents, and most often, that satisfaction would be turned upside down. That was the case for Jeongmin, when he opened the box to find that he did not get the latest Hotwheels model, but rather, a stack of baby clothing put in a box.

  Jessica, however, was elated. “Thank goodness, Fany-ah!” She gave her friend a big hug. “This will save me from a lot, a lot of shopping.”

  “No worries, I just did a lot of shopping for Jinyoung, and I thought it would be the best present for Jeongmin as well.”

  “Aw, thank you, Fany…” Jessica gushed, as she slowly admired each piece of clothing. “It’s just been a few weeks since Jinyoung was born… You are a perfectionist shopper, really.” She nudged her husband. “Aren’t all of these clothes gorgeous?”

  Despite the fact that it was all boys’ clothing, Jonghyun was barely interested. “Yes, yes, sweetheart, it’s pretty…”

  “What’s caught your attention?” Onew chuckled, as he saw the way Jonghyun turned around, looking left and right every few seconds. “…A pretty girl?”

  Jessica whipped her head to look at her husband. “…Kim Jonghyun.”

  “No, no!”Jonghyun quickly reassured his wife. “I’m just checking – you didn’t invite any of the EXO guys?”

  Jessica’s frown deepened. “Well, with Krystal here…” Her gaze shifted to Krystal, who was eating snacks moodily at the kitchen counter. “…It doesn’t make sense to invite Sehun. And if I don’t invite Sehun, I might as well not invite the rest of EXO. I don’t want to make them feel bad, you know… I mean, they’d understand and it would be more fair this way.”

  Tiffany leaned over in curiosity. “Everything’s still in a mess?”

  “Yeah…”

  “Oh well.” Onew shrugged his shoulders. “SHINee’s the closest to Jeongmin, anyway, EXO only love Jun.” His words were casual.

  Jeongmin shot a glance at his mother. “Mommy, does it mean that Uncle Bacon won’t be coming?”

  Jessica raised an eyebrow. “Uncle Bacon?”

  “Baekhyun.” Tiffany reminded her. “The kids all call him ‘Bacon’.”

  Jessica nodded slowly, then shifted her gaze back to Jeongmin. “You want to see Uncle Baekhyun, Jeongmin-ah? Aren’t you happy that Uncle Onew, Uncle Key, Uncle Taemin and Uncle Minho are all here?”

  “Well… Uncle Onew’s horrible with games, Uncle Key tried to tie my hair with Auntie Nicole’s hair band, and Uncle Taemin and Uncle Minho said they are having a private conversation that I can’t hear.” Jeongmin shrugged. “…And Uncle Bacon gives better presents.”

  Jonghyun gave Jessica a dry look. “…He’s definitely your son.”

  Seohyun flicked her phone shut, sighing deeply as she set it on the dining table, but still, was careful not to slam it. She was not furious, or at least, she had told herself not to be. But such anger, it was difficult to distinguish of whether it was the frustrated sort, or the exasperated sort. It had been a total of three days she had felt this way, and nothing had changed.

  “Is something wrong?” Kyuhyun stretched his arms as he walked over to the dining room, pulled a chair and took a seat across his wife. He could see the troubled expression that was laden on her face, and he reached out, taking her hand and gripping it tightly. “…Joohyun, is there something wrong?”

  Seohyun inhaled slowly, closing her eyes for a moment. “…Yoona hasn’t called me yet.”

  “She’s probably busy with the dinner plans – she’s cooking for all twelve of the EXO guys, right?” Kyuhyun said thoughtfully, trying to be comforting. “Don’t worry too much about it, Joohyun, I’m sure it’s nothing.”

  “Kyu, when we stayed in a dorm together, she would always rant her problems aloud. She would always express her feelings and now, when she initiates cold war without even telling me anything, there’s got to be something that’s seriously wrong.” Seohyun enunciated, as she folded her arms.

  “Joohyun, give Yoona some space, it’s probably-“

  “Kyuhyun, you doofus, I have known Yoona for more than fifteen years!” Seohyun flew into a rage, becoming rather impatient with her husband’s replies. “She’s not like this, she was not like this and she never will be like this unless she’s truly mad about something! Stop lecturing me! Why can’t you understand anything?”

  Kyuhyun flinched as he heard her words, recoiling slowly, but then he moved forward once more and reached for her palm. He could understand her frustrations, he could. And despite the fact that he was slightly hurt by her harsh words, he was not especially wounded by it. He knew it was just a point of which she had reached her limit, and she was not really concerned about anything else except the only thing that occupied her mind.

  “…I’m sorry, Kyu.” Seohyun heaved a sigh, settling her palm over his. “…It’s just really frustrating me, it is. I don’t know what’s on her mind and I’m-“

  “-Worried that you did something wrong?” Kyuhyun tried to be optimistic, finishing her sentence for her. “Don’t worry about it, Seo. Maybe there really is something up, or maybe it’s all just a big misunderstanding between you both. Just give it some time – it will solve itself, sooner or later.”

  Seohyun nodded gratefully. “Thanks Kyu… I… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that to you, I was just-“

  “You don’t mean it, I know.” He reassured her with his soft tone.

  Seohyun was thankful – as childish, as frivolous and as fickle as her husband was, he could understand her like no one else could.

  “So…am I still a doofus?”

  “…My doofus.”

  “Mommy!”

  “Jun!” Yoona frowned instinctively as her son totted over to her. “Lu Jun, what are you doing in the kitchen?” She placed her hands on her hips in a rather commanding manner, as she stared down at her son. “You know Mommy has to cook, right? Where are the rest of your uncles?”

  Jun thought for a moment, pausing the