“Here we are,” Dobin oppa said from the driver’s seat as he pulled into the parking garage attached to the COEX mall.

They were surprised we were going so close to home but this mall had more baby stores inside than the other malls and I figured since they were all all in one building like this it’d be easier than going to like five other  baby stores spread throughout Seoul.

“WAH~,” Taeyeon cheered like a crazy person as he opened the side door of the van and hopped out.

Oh. My. God.

We’re going to get found out before we even get inside the mall at this rate!

“Kim Taeyeon,” I softly scolded.

“What-OH.” His eyes doubled in size. “Omo, right. Sorry Fany-ah, I-I’m just really excited. Aren't you?”

I think it might be physically impossible for me to be mad at him.

I hummed.

“Duh Taeyeon we’re shopping for our baby… at real stores. I’m so excited,” I said truthfully. I couldn’t hold my smile back now. He hummed.

“And we finally get to go on a kind of date too babe, don’t forget about me,” he said with a clearly forced pout. I had to laugh.

If he was already getting jealous now I couldn’t imagine him when Dukong actually gets here.

“Aigo~ I’m not forgetting about you Taetae,” I said as I pinched his chin a little. “Being here with you on our own like this makes me feel like we’re just like any normal couple.” He smiled and helped me out of the van but when we started to walk inside with two managers in front of us and another one behind, that feeling faded just a tad.

It was a surprise to us when we saw a third manager in the van earlier, but I guess more the merrier… and hopefully the more the sneakier.

We actually made a gameplan in the van on the way here of which stores to go to and in what order… just in case fans find us or cause problems because of us and we have to leave earlier than planned.

Obviously the only store in the whole mall that sold cribs would be our first stop.

I was actually kind of bummed out that this was the only one with cribs, but from the reviews online it seemed like this place was one of the best. Even when I looked at their website there were a ton of choices and I may or may not have picked out a few favorites that I hope to see in store today to help solidify my decision…

Hint; I did.

The next store we wanted to go to was one that sold like everything baby… minus cribs for some reason? I don't know, but we were hoping to look at strollers and maybe even a car seat while we were there. Taeyeon said it would be best to just get it all done today if we could and I agreed.

Now I would obviously love to go on another shopping date with my boo, but the past five months have literally flown by and with Tae starting promotions soon I really didn't know when the next time we’d be able to go out like this was.

Better safe than sorry!

The other stores after that were just baby clothing stores so I was really hoping no one would bother us at least until after the first two. I love looking in person and seeing all the cute baby clothes might put me into cardiac arrest, BUT it was definitely a lot easier to shop for clothes online than anything else.

From the looks of it so far though we might actually get to look at all the stores we want!

There weren't that many people here and I haven't seen anyone give us so much as a second glance… The fact that we came early on a Thursday morning didn’t hurt either.

Oh well~!

After another minute or so of walking arm in arm with my love, we finally reached the target destination. I-

“Rock-a-Buy Baby,” Taeyeon questioned aloud. “What a cheesy name.” I laughed but I definitely didn’t disagree.

It was pretty lame.

I felt Taeyeon move my hand from his arm down into his own hand and I looked up at him right away. What was he-

“Let’s go,” he said with a warm smile. I let out a deep breath and my heart felt full.

Let’s go.

 

 

______________________________________

 

 

Holy crap.

Fany was not lying when she said this place had the best cribs, actually I think the only thing they had WAS cribs- oh, no wait.

When I looked around more I could see that they had a pretty big variety of dressers and rocking chairs and- OHHH!

Now I get it. I laughed to myself.

ROCK-a-Buy Baby totally made sense now… Wow, I really think this blonde hair was affecting me in some kind of-

“Hello~,” I heard a soft voice almost sing. I froze. “Welcome to Rock-a-Buy Baby, is there anything I can help you find?”

“Uh,” I sounded as I looked to Tiffany to answer. I knew she said something about wanting to look at some cribs she saw online but also I had no-

“Omo,” the lady gasped as Fany turned toward her. “Oh my word,” she said again. I chuckled. Her eyes were shooting from me to Tiffany and I think she just might recognize us now. It did kind of hurt to know she didn't recognize me until Tiffany turned around though…

I’ll just have to do better with this comeback. TYS fighting!

“Annyeonghaseyo~,” Tiffany greeted back. The lady’s eyes were huge.

“Oh my- I am so sorry,” she apologized.

Huh? What for?!

“It’s not everyday we get celebrities in here,” she smiled. “So I never expected you two… I’m sorry.” I noticed Fany tensing up even more and I definitely couldn't have that happen. Not today. Ever since we left the house  I could tell she was a little worried about today in general and it made sense; I mean this is the first time she’s been in public where you can actually tell she’s pregnant, so I tried to think of something to do to- ah ha!

“Oh well then just don’t think of us as celebrities today,” I laughed. “Please treat us like any other couple that comes in here.” The lady nodded.

“Ah, ne of course sir.” I cringed. “Wha-”

“But please call us by our names,” I laughed again. “Sir sounds too weird.” She smiled and I felt Tiffany squeeze my hand a little.

“Of course, of course,” she nodded. “Was there anything you two were looking for in particular?” This time I squeezed Tiffany’s hand.

“Ah uhm, right,” Fany said. She let go of my hand and quickly started searching through her phone. “I was looking online at cribs and I wanted to see if we could see these two in person.” She showed one picture to the lady a few seconds later and then swiped to show her the second.

“Very nice choices, I can show you exactly where those are,” the lady, whose name tag read Pil KyungMi, said. “If you two want to follow me…”

“Of course,” I said before she started leading us through the maze of baby furniture. I’m not over exaggerating either. There was stuff everywhere but it was all somehow still organized? I didn’t get it.

How did they do that?

The one thing I really did appreciate about this store though was that it had little display rooms set up. Okay not like the whole room, but it had a crib set up with a table and rocking chair and some other things like lamps or toys all in front of a fake wall… well I guess the wall was real but whatever!

It was supposed to help you picture what your baby’s room could look like if you wanted this crib or that and I think it definitely was helping me out because some of these cribs we were walking by were totally ugly. I don’t know how a crib could be ugly, but that was the only word to pop in my mind.

I would never let my little dude sleep in half of these.

“Here is the first one Tiffany-ssi,” KyungMi said as we came up on a dark brown wooden crib. “This is our Sorelle Cape Cod Convertible Crib and Changer. It’s a 4-in-1 piece and comes with the toddler rail. It also comes in white, black, and a natural wood.”

Okay while that sounded cool and all, I had no idea what she meant. Four in one what? Was it some sort of transformer?! And what the hell was a toddler rail?! It sounded kind of scary if you ask me…

“This one has the co-sleeping ability right,” Tiffany asked.

Alright, now I know I’ve heard that before. Tiffany explained it to me the other night actually.

It’s pretty much like a regular crib, but we take one side off of it and attach it to our bed somehow. That way Dukong will be safe in his own bed, but also close enough for us to feed and take care of in the middle of the night when he wakes up crying!

Oh my gosh it’ll be so cute!!!

Not the crying part obviously, but the whole getting to watch our little Dukong sleep... oh my- I was so glad when Tiffany told me about this too. At first she wanted to let him sleep in the bed with us and while that sounded even cuter, I was legitimately scared that I would roll on top of him at some point.

“Yes it does,” she replied. “That is one of the options, as well as your regular everyday crib as we see here,” she said as she motioned toward the crib. “And then it can also transition into a toddler bed when the time is right.”

AH! That’s right! Fany totally showed me that before too! Jeesh, I really am losing my mind.

The coolest thing about this crib was that once Dukong got bigger we just pop off the side of the crib again, lower the actual bed part and it will turn into a little tiny toddler bed! How cool was that?

Gah, these people really think of everything.

“And the other one you had asked about is right down here,” she said before walking down the row more.

We walked past a few other crib displays and finally stopped at one that looked exactly like the first one we looked at but in white…wait. What the hell?

“This is our DaVinci Kalani 4-in-1 Convertible Crib and Changer. It has all the same features as the other crib and also comes in Black, Espresso, and a Caramel color,” the lady explained. “Are there any questions you have about either one I could answer for you?”

“Uh ne,” Tiffany said almost instantly. What?! What was she going to ask?! “Between the two is there one with a higher safety rating?”

Oooh right! Safety is super important; good question babe I mentally complimented.

“Oh no Tiffany-ssi,” she quickly replied. “Our goal here at Rock-a-Buy Baby is to only carry products with a safety rating of 4.5 or higher so the guest can focus more on what they want for their precious bundle of joy rather than what is better for it. If there is a difference it is very, very slight and should not factor into your decision making at all.”

“Ooh~,” I accidentally said aloud this time. Whoops! Tiffany and the employee both looked at me so I figured I should explain myself… ugh. “That’s a good idea,” I laughed. “Now we can pick whatever we want and know it’s safe either way.” The lady nodded.

“That’s right Taeyeon-ssi… I’ll let you two look around, but if you have any other questions don’t be afraid to ask. My name is Pil KyungMi and I’ll be right up at the counter.” Tiffany and I both nodded and quickly thanked her but as soon as she was out of earshot Tiffany turned right toward me and-

“Which do you like better?”

Omo, omo, omo wait a minute. Was there even anything to like more about either one?

“Aren't they like the same?” She blinked at me a few times before realizing I was being serious.

“What? Taeyeon, they’re completely different.”

Uhhh... I think we might have a completely different definition of ‘different’. Until the lady said a different brand name than the first one I legitimately  thought it was just here to show the different color options...

“Look babe,” she said before making me look at this crib again. I did.

“Okay…?”

“Okay, and then look at this one again,” she said as she pulled me back down the row to the first crib.

I nodded, but besides the color of the display model there was literally nothing different. They were both wooden, they both had the co-sleeping ability and the option to turn into a baby bed when Dukong grows up, and they both even had a little changing table/cabinet thing attached for extra storage space so I honestly had no idea what she was talking about… but I couldn’t let her know that.

“Ahh, I like them both though Fany-ah,” I said truthfully. They both were nice and I really liked the color of the-

“You still don’t see the difference do you?”

Crap… she caught me.

I tried to fight my laugh back but I couldn't… it was too funny and her cute little grin wasn’t helping!

“Babe~,” she groaned. “How can you not see this? Look… carefully okay,” she said as cupped my cheek. I nodded. “See how this one has a curvy back bar thing?” I hummed.

Now that she mentioned it; yes. The back part of the crib that usually goes against the wall had a big curve in the top bar. It was clearly just to make the crib look a little more fancy but I didn’t think it looked bad?

“And the other one~,” she held out while we walked quickly to the other crib. “The other one is flat see?”

Ohh… OH. Wow. That was…

I had to go back and look at the first one again real quick, but when I came back to the second crib I couldn't believe it. This crib’s back bar was totally straight and now that I see the difference I can’t believe I didn’t see that at first.

Heol…

“That really is a big difference huh,” I asked no one in particular. “How did I miss that?” Tiffany laughed.

“Mhm,” she said as she wrapped her arm around mine. “I thought you were losing it Taetae.” I chuckled.

“I might be babe.” If I would've had more sleep this week I really might be concerned, but since we’re preparing for our comeback and I’ve had to to rehearse for that show tomorrow I’ll blame it on that. Sleep deprivation is the worst.

“So which do you like better,” she asked, giving me only about two seconds to think about it.

Holy-

“I dunno, which do you like better?” I almost asked if she was even sure about only deciding between these two. There had to be about fifty cribs in here… seriously.

“Tae,” she sighed. “I narrowed it down to these two, you pick which one we get.”

Oh, right… I didn’t even think about it like that.

For some reason she can pick out things she likes for herself in like a minute but if it’s for Dukong it takes her forever. I’m sure Tiffany took her time looking at each crib online and knowing my wife I’m guessing it took her hours to finally decide on two… picking the one we actually buy is the least I could do.

She wouldn't just let me pick if she didn't like both options either so I probably can't pick wrong… right?

Oh god, but what if I did?

I-

“Tae?”

Right!

“Uhm,” I held out for a second as I tried to think.

I mean there were only a few differences here and there, but I think I really liked the one with the straight bar better. I don’t know why either, so I’m crossing my fingers she doesn't ask.

“I like this one better,” I said, pointing to the one we were standing in front of. Her brows lifted.

“Jinjja?”

Oh god it was totally the wrong choice… I nodded to accept my punishment though an-

“Me too!” I- wait.

“Seriously?” She hummed.

“Not in this color though,” she replied. I agreed. “I like it in-”

“Dark brown,” we said at the same exact time.

Heol… did we really just…

“I love you so much.”

 

_______________________________________________________

 

 

 

After we paid for Dukong’s crib, and a matching color dresser for all his clothes, we told my manager oppa what the next store’s name was and started walking in it’s direction.

He and one of the employees from Rock-a-Buy Baby were going to go load the crib and dresser into the van… thank goodness SM let them use one of the big ones today.

We were going to just have it delivered but our managers said that we probably shouldn't since the location of our house has still somehow not been found out yet by our FBI like fans. I was a little surprised honestly. I don’t remember it taking them that long to find our dorms at all. Even when TYS changed dorms Tae said they found them easily… Oh well! I guess that’s just better for us!

It only took us a few minutes to walk to the other store… not adding the time it took for my bathroom break and pitstop for a smoothie of course, but we were excited either way.

What I wasn’t excited about though was that there were definitely more people at the mall now. We could’ve just been in a more busy part of the mall since this place was huge but still! I saw someone point and I think I even saw a cell phone flash in our direction. Oh no!

“Tae did you-”

“Don't worry about it Fany-ah,” he said flatly as he put his arm a little more in front of me… like some kind of a shield. I had to smile.

He was amazing.

I moved my hand up from his and wrapped it snugly around his arm instead. I don't know how having his arm there made me feel safer but it honestly did.

Who cares if people see us or take our pictures today? Taeyeon and I were shopping for our baby. Err, well... I guess quite a few people do including myself and the CEO but still!

I couldn’t let it get to me… not today at least.

Ugh! Why should I be embarrassed in the first place? Okay so maybe embarrassed wasn't the right word, but I’d like to see anyone else try to look like an idol while being five months pregnant. It just wasn't possible! I was growing an actual human inside of me… of course I wasn’t going to fit into my stage outfits anytime soon.

Now maybe if I tell myself that a zillion more times I might actually start believing it… help!

The next store was just as big as the last one but it had so much more inside. Just from the entrance I could see strollers, which we were totally checking out, tiny sized bean bag chairs that were super adorable, and a mountain of stuffed animals… seriously.

“Heol,” Taeyeon said aloud. I laughed.

Heol was right. There was so much to look at in this store, but we decided to look at carseats first. We knew our little Dukong would be traveling an awful lot with us so this was probably the next most important thing besides the crib. Also since he would be traveling so much we literally didn’t care what the car seat looked like as long as it had the highest safety rating possible. The only decision we had to make was what color, and we went with black… the only other options were blue, orange, and magenta so it wasn't that hard of a choice.

The stroller wasn’t hard to decide on either because the carseat we chose actually had a stroller that matched it. The sales guy told us that once you take the carseat out of the car, you can just pop it on the stroller and push the baby around like that. He told us it really made it easier since we wouldn't have to take him out of the car seat and put him into a different stroller and I agreed.

What if little Dukong was asleep? We’d have to wake him up just to put him in the stroller! Gah, I didn’t really know how often we’d use it since we can't just take a walk in the park anytime we want, but when we were able to we would definitely want to make it easy as possible… and since the car seat had a high safety rating I knew the stroller wouldn't be anything less.

“Feel free to browse,” the sales guy said cheerfully. “I’ll have the stroller and car seat waiting for you up at the counter.”

“Ah ne thank you,” Taeyeon said before the guy walked away. “What do you want to look at now babe?” I shrugged.

“Anything, everything,” I replied with a smile. I mean I had a list of things we definitely needed… er well I found one online and copied it down in the ‘notes’ section on my phone, but I kind of just wanted to look at everything else too! “This is all just so fascinating.” Taeyeon hummed as he picked up the thing nearest to him.

“I don’t even know what half of this stuff is for Fany-ah… what is this?” I looked at the spray bottle looking item in his hand and just laughed.

Oh Taeyeon~!

“Put it down babe, let’s go look at other things.”

“What? Why? What is it? Should I know,” he asked as he squeezed the handle a few times. I- “Oh~,” he held out for a second or two. “Now I know.” He grinned again.

Whew. I thought I was gonna have to explain tha-

“It’s a bath thing right?” I… Aigo~ and he seemed so sure of himself too.

It didn’t stop there either oh my gosh~!

“Because babies have to have like… gentle baths? Right?”

What in the- Gentle baths? I laughed again.

What did that even mean?

“What babe,” he asked sort of sadly.

Oh my, I did kind of feel bad for laughing at him but he was just so cutely wrong that I couldn’t help it! He started to act out the motion with the thing in his hand next but I had to stop him right there before anyone else saw him. Omo-

“Isn't it like-”

“Tae,” I said as I put my hands on his. “That’s a pump.”

His brows furrowed like he didn’t understand at first, but as soon as it hit him it was too obvious. Gah, the one time I did wish we had cameras following us around.

His eyes grew and an embarrassed grin spread on his face. Oh my gosh it was hilarious. Even our managers were cracking up at this point.

“Oh… right,” he said as he slowly put the pump back on the table. “I knew that… we should totally go look at the other stuff.” He started to walk away almost immediately and I really couldn't stop laughing now.

How was he so cute?

I followed after him quickly and we ended up in an aisle with bottles and pacifiers and little things like that… holy. Seeing this stuff all together like this really made me realize just how unprepared we were… we don’t have any of this!

I mean some of it like the teething rings or sippy cups we won't need for a while but we’d definitely need a pacifier or two right? Shoot, was that on my list? I’m like ninety percent sure it was.

I picked up a bright pink pacifier while I swiped through my phone and- crap!

Right, sorry Dukong. You’re a boy, I told myself mentally… again. Mommy just likes the color pink okay?

I set it down and finally tapped on the list I made. Okay let’s see here… The name of the list I copied was something along the lines of essential things for newborns and~... pacifiers were definitely on the list! Assa~!

“Taeyeon we should probably get this stuff while we’re here too right?” He shrugged.

“I dunno, probably. Don't you think?” I hummed, but that only brought up another question…

Which one?

There had to be at least twenty different brands here and-

“Pacifiers are a lifesaver,” I heard from behind me- omo. Wait a minute… who was-

“Ah annyeonghaseyo,” I greeted quickly as a reflex. Oh my gosh, she really caught me off guard too.

The lady who was probably in her mid thirties, and definitely pregnant, greeted me back and thankfully Taeyeon heard my mental SOS as he quickly moved to my side within seconds.

“Ne, sorry to have startled you but I accidentally overheard your conversation,” she smiled. “Pacifiers became my best friend with this one.” I saw her point to a toddler in the stroller in front of her and smiled… what the, I don’t even know why I smiled either!

“Oh jinjja,” Taeyeon asked curiously. She hummed.

“And with this brand here It was really easy to wean her off,” the lady pointed to a pacifier of the self... I made a quick mental note. “All I did was cut the pacifier part off and give the toy back to her… it was almost like she didn't even notice.” I nodded.

That seemed like a really smart idea too.

The style of pacifier she pointed out was literally a pacifier with a little stuffed animal connected to the end where you're supposed to hold it… it was so cute!

“Oh wow, well thank you very much,” Taeyeon said genuinely. “We don’t really know what we’re doing yet so every little tip helps.” The woman laughed.

“I was like that too with my first… how far are you?”

Hearing her say that made me feel a little better in multiple ways… first of all if she didn't know how far I was, maybe she didn't really know who I was. I mean she hasn't said anything about knowing who we were yet… and secondly, and most importantly, I didn't feel so bad about being SO unprepared for my little Dukong.

“I’m around five months,” I said. Her eyebrows shot up.

“Really? Me too!”

Oh my… really?!

It was my turn to be surprised now. I’m not trying to say she was big or overweight by any means, but her stomach was probably almost twice the size of mine… and we’re both five months along. I mean she still looked great but I just… Heol.

I knew it sounded horrible of me too, but it kind of made me feel better to know that I wasn’t as big as I clearly could be at this point in the pregnancy… yet.

“You look great,” she complimented. I started to bow a little too thank her but- “Both of you.” I froze… hold up. Did that mean- “You two look even better in person than you do on television,” she grinned. “My husband is a PD for KBS so I see you both often.”

Ahh that explains why she didn't say anything about it being us at first… she probably sees celebrities all the time because of her husband.

“Ah well thank you,” Taeyeon said. Oh right!

“Yes, thank you so much. Hearing it from someone that isn’t Taeyeon makes me feel a lot better,” I laughed.

“Hey~,” Taeyeon protested cutely. We both laughed.

“You have nothing to worry about, you look amazing.” I started to thank her again, but she quickly interrupted me. “But I’ve got to run; it was really nice talking to you!”

Taeyeon and I both quickly said our goodbyes and she was gone like the wind… seriously, she like practically sprinted up to the checkout counter.

Gah she really did have to run...

“That was nice of her,” Taeyeon said softly. I hummed.

It really was… and I was afraid at first. Gah~ I really needed to calm down. Not everyone is a crazy person trying to hurt me or my family… but when I think about how Taeyeon literally almost died in NYC I couldn't help but feel this way!

I think it’s the extra protectiveness in me right now with this pregnancy making me so anxious and I really hope after Dukong is born I can go back to normal… I still won't want any fans to give ‘gifts’ to my Taetae but maybe my first reaction to people approaching me won't be to hide anymore.

I hoped so at least.

“So which one of these things should we get Fany-ah,”Taeyeon asked. I looked to what he was holding and- oh my...

He was already trying to pick out one of those stuffed animal pacifiers! I couldn't blame him though, the way that lady praised them made me want to get at least three… so we actually did.

Whoops.

There were a ton of different animals to choose from though so it’s not like it was the same thing… or at least that’s what I told myself.

We decided on a cute yellow lion, a little red fox, and an adorable grey elephant. There were a few other boy-ish choices but we thought the dog and the monkey were too boring and the others were too girly… that pink owl was really cute though! Ugh!

The struggle is real… I’m just glad little boy clothes were equally as cute as little girls. We’d really have a problem if they weren’t. Dukong would definitely be mistaken as a girl for at least the first few years he was alive… Sorry boo~!

The next aisle we went down was for room decorations and stuff like that but since we had no idea on a theme we could really only look.

“What about a Mickey Mouse room,” Taeyeon asked as he held up a Mickey Mouse lamp. I smiled, but quickly shook my head.

It was a cute lamp, but I don't know if I could handle Mickey Mouse all day every day…

There were tons of different themed things for boats, sports, cars, and any animal you can think of but just none of them seemed right. Taeyeon kinda liked a robot theme set they had here, but I still wasn’t sold.

“I’m sorry Taetae, I just can’t make up my mind.” He grinned.

“Aye~ don’t be sorry. It needs to be perfect Fany-ah, I understand.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in for a quick side hug. “I didn’t even like the robot one that much.”

I couldn't tell if he was lying or not, but when we went to the next aisle he couldn't hide his excitement at all.

“OH. MY. GAWD,” he said in English.  

Before I could even see for myself what made him freak out, he was holding one up just so I could- Oh my gosh…

Taeyeon was a kid himself… how are we ever going to actually raise one?

“Aren't these the coolest thing ever Fany-ah?” I smiled.

“I wouldn’t say ‘ever’, but they do look cool… what are they?” He grinned.

“They’re night lights that go on the wall. See this one looks like Thor threw his hammer into your wall and it got stuck, this one looks like the Hulk is bursting through it and that one looks like Captain America threw his shield into it.” I nodded. Okay, that was a pretty cool concept.

They even gave you a clear sticker that looks like your wall is actually cracked behind the hammer or shield…

“I might have to get one of these for our room Fany-ah they’re-”

“Huh-uh,” I said stopping him right there. “You're not putting one of those in our room Kim Taeyeon.” He pouted. “Don't even think about it,” I laughed. “They’re not even cute.” He forcefully breathed through his nose… like a mad dragon or something but it just made it even funnier to me.

This child will be responsible for raising an actual child in just a few short months… I almost didn’t believe it.

“Fine… but you’re no fun.” I shook my head and continued looking down the aisle at all the neat things.

This aisle had more room decorations and even some curtains and I was really trying to get any sort of idea or inspiration to use for our son’s room but I was only drawing a blank. I-

“Oh, these things are cool too. Look Fany-ah.” I looked to where he was pointing and- oh? Those were pretty cool.

They were basically just huge stickers for your walls. Similar to The Avengers things Taeyeon nerded out about, but these weren't 3-D. They were literally just giant decals.

One made it look like there was a forest in the room and the one I really liked made it seem like there was a cherry blossom tree blooming. Another one had the alphabet on it and this one looked like it came with a set of four or five different jungle animals… Which reminds me.

What is it with jungle animals and baby stuff?!?! I just don’t get it. How do they go together at all besides the animals usually being babies?! At least Mickey Mouse made sense, I mean it was a cartoon. Cars and sports also seemed like a real theme because your child could be playing with toy cars in the future or even take up a sport… but jungle animals? I just truly didn’t-

“That one is cool,” Tae said as he pointed to one over my head… thankfully getting me out of my mental rant. Whew~! I leaned back to see which one he liked and- huh?

“A giant map?” He hummed.

“I've seen them before, but never like this one,” he explained as he reached above me. “I almost got a smaller version for myself once.”

“What? Really? Why didn't you?” Now I was curious. He just shrugged.

“I don't know,” he chuckled. “I honestly forgot about them until right now, but see.” He flipped it over so we could both see the ‘example’ image on the back. “In the one I wanted you were supposed to like put thumbtacks or like color them in with sharpie once you visited that place on the map and I thought it would be cool to see it since we travel so much, but this one you scratch off the areas that you go to and there is color underneath them.”

Oh wow! That would actually be really cool to see all the places we’ve traveled for our career and just in general… but that sounded kinda intense.

“Scratch them off? Wouldn’t that hurt the wall behind it?” Taeyeon shook his head.

“Ani, ani, ani… it’s like-like the scratch off lottery tickets babe,” he explained. Ahhhh~ now I understand. “The black coating is that weird material that just kinda scratches off… you know?” I hummed.

Now it made sense… this pregnancy brain was really starting to get annoying. I literally forgot what a remote was called the other day. I called it a ‘clicky thing that changes the channel.’

I don't think Taeyeon will ever let me live that one down.

“That’s a really cool idea babe, you should get one,” I encouraged. “Since you travel so much you’d actually get to scratch a lot of it off.”

“Jinjja? You think so?” I hummed. “Or we could get one and scratch off all the places that we go together,” Taeyeon smirked.

Omo… Omo! I liked that idea even better!

We’d have to get a new one for Dukong when he’s born though so he could have his own. How cool would it be to grow up with that in your room and be able to see everywhere you’ve been so easily like that? Especially if you were going to be traveling a lot… which he undoubtedly would be with us. Gah~ I-

I…

Oh my god.

I just had the best idea in the world!

“Tae,” I said excitedly. “I think we just found Dukong’s theme.”

_______________________________________________

 

 

Tiffany is a genius.

I know some people think she’s a bit of an airhead, but they totally don’t know her well enough.

She just came up with an entire theme for our baby’s room in like two seconds… okay so it was more like ten but still! I was beyond impressed.

Tiffany took the idea of using the giant scratch off map as the ‘main piece’ and started rolling right with it right away.

She said since the map was a really dark grey and the lines on the map were in black, Dukong’s room should be in all different shades of white, grey, and black. I thought it was a little depressing for a baby’s room but she told me to shut up and listen and that’s exactly what I did.

“Since everything will be in black and white we can scratch off whatever country we’re going to next on the map and buy something that is the same color as the one on the map to decorate his room with… you know?”

I nodded, but I wasn't totally sure.

“Okay, so like here,” she said as she flipped over the box again to look at the ‘example’ picture. “See how they scratched off France?” I hummed. Behind the almost black scratch off material on the map was a green colored France. “So the next time we go to France and bring Dukong with us we’ll have to get something green to go in his room… or like a toy for him to play with or whatever… does that make sense?”

Ohh… now I get it! That was an amazing idea! I would've never come up with something so cool like that for his room in a million years… and to think I was about to settle with robots. PSHT!

“That’s an awesome idea Fany-ah. We should do that.” She looked at me excitedly.

“Jinjja, you think? If you don’t like it we can-”

“Aye~,” I had to interrupt. Why did she always second guess herself like that? “I think it’s a really good idea babe. Dukong will be a little world traveler anyway so we could make it like a game for him… or I guess us until he gets old enough to find things for himself.”

She grinned, but wait…

“Does that mean we can’t get anything for his room right now?” Omo! “Do we have to wait until he goes somewhere?”

I really wanted to-

“Ani, we can get things for him now Tae, but I don't think we should go all out yet, you know?” I hummed. That sounded like a plan to me! I just really wanted to at least get a few things for his room today and we did!

Gah! My Fany was incredible and with the new theme in mind we completed her little list of things with ease. Some of the stuff she said we could easily buy online, like the baby soaps and shampoos… especially after she took fifteen minutes smelling them all in here. She made me help decide and then told me that she found this brand cheaper online in a set deal but needed to know what they smelled like before she bought them… were all women this strange?

I guess we couldn't have a funky smelling Dukong though.

“The last thing on the list is bedding now Taetae.” I laughed.

“I would hope so… our buggy is almost full.”

Seriously. Two of our managers literally left like twenty minutes ago to take the stuff we bought at the last store out so everything and everyone would fit in the van on the way home.

Like Fany just said though, if we would have been shopping here and there the past five months it wouldn’t have built up like this. This was pretty much five months worth of shopping and we still weren’t even close to being done!

Gah, babies take a lot of stuff and he isn't even born yet.

“What do you think about these Tae,” my wife asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

Hmm. They were cute, but it was literally just a light grey sheet with white zigzag lines across it. There had to be something better than that, right?

“Aren’t they a little plain?”

Her expression immediately turned dark and I almost instantly regretted saying it like that… oh boy.

“Which ones do you like then Kim Taeyeon?”

Oww, I even got the full name treatment… I better pick wisely.

I quickly looked around at all the bedding sets they had trying to find one that matched our color scheme but it was hard to do! Most of them were bright colors or various shades of blues and pinks… ugh!

The first one I found that matched our colors was just a print of elephants. I mean it was cute, but not right for my little dude. I looked in the next section and luckily found another one that was grey and white. It was better than the elephant and definitely better than the zig zags… Tiffany however didn't agree… at all.

What the? How could she not like the little baby animals printed on this set? They were so cute and grey and white so I really don’t know why she was so against them, but thankfully after another five minutes or so I found one that I really liked that also matched our color scheme perfectly!

Daebak! She couldn't say no to this one.

“How about this Fany-ah?” I held up the set that came with fitted sheets, a soft grey fuzzy blanket, a comforter, and even a skirt for the crib to make it look prettier!

The comforter was grey with a white trim and had white clouds scattered across it and the dark grey sheets had tiny little white outlines of stars covering it. It was seriously perfect!

“Tae,” she groaned. “Why can’t we just go with the simple one?” I laughed.

“Because this one is cuter, duh babe. Look it has clouds and he’ll be flying through clouds to complete his scratch off map… it’s a sign.” She laughed.

“I think that’s a bit of a stretch there Kim Taeyeon.” I shook my head.

“Nope not at all… and since you’re my star,” I said as I stepped closer to my reddening wife. “These stars will match him perfectly because he’ll be my little star… it was meant to be Fany-ah.”

I gave myself a mental pat on the back for coming up with something so quick, but we just couldn't get the bedding set she wanted. They were too boring! Maybe we could get the sheet set that just had the part that went around the mattress, but definitely not the whole thing. The cloud comforter was way too cute to pass up.

I know his room will also be pretty boring at first until we start traveling with him so his bedding really needed to be fun!

“Fine,” she said softly. Omo, did my line actually work?! “But we’re getting the zigzag sheets for back up… the list said we needed multiple.” I had to laugh… especially since Tiffany’s cheeks were still red.

Aigo~ did she really like it that much?

“Deal… But I’m getting another set of the star sheets too… my star~.”

“Yah,” she said with a firm hit to the arm. “Quit being cheesy.”

The smile on her face definitely said the opposite, but I guess since we were in public I should tone it down a little… or not! Shopping for our little Dukong was putting me in a really good mood so I quickly caught up to her and wrapped my arm snugly around her shoulder. She tried to shake me off, but I wouldn't budge.

“Kim Taeye-”

“You said you wanted to feel like a normal couple,” I smirked.

Honestly I felt like we were doing a pretty good job at that too. Besides the fact that the employees at both stores already knew our names it actually felt pretty normal today… that was until we left this store however.

Just great.

Thankfully our managers were back by the time we cashed out at the register. My manager again went with an employee to load some of the bigger stuff into the van but now we didn't know what to do.

“Should we go to the next store or just go home,” I asked. Dobin shrugged.

“There really isn't that big of a crowd right now, but it’ll probably grow as we start walking around… do you really need to go to the next store?” Tiffany shook her head.

“Not really, it was just a baby clothes store… but it’s just a couple stores away,” she added sadly, breaking my heart with every word.

Aigo~!

That settled it.

“If you want to go we’ll go Fany-ah.”

“But Tae it-”

“Ani, if you want to go, we’ll go. Come on,” I said as I tugged her hand a little. Our managers didn't really mind either since it was literally just two stores away and on the same side as we already were. It was really easy to get to and I was surprised at how big the crowd of people following us wasn’t. Gah~ hyung made it sound like there were at least  fifty people waiting outside for us when there was maybe twenty…  one more store definitely wouldn't hurt.

______________________________________

 

 

If I would've known just how wrong I was a few hours ago I would've seriously kicked myself in the face.

Not only did the amount of people waiting for us outside almost triple, Dispatch News showed up and people even started to come inside the baby clothes shop Tiffany and I were in to take our picture… it was nuts and by our expression in the photos they put in the article Tiffany and I were looking at right now you could tell how annoyed we were.

I’m surprised they didn’t say anything about it honestly.

 

 

 

 

I understand people wanting to take pictures of Fany because she is the first ever idol to get married and have a baby all while still being in her group, but did they really need to come inside? Hyung even had us go inside another baby clothes store just to get away from people… even though the front walls were completely see through… I never said he was the smartest manager.

Fany put on sunglasses and told me I should too and I did for a while, but after thinking about it I kind of wanted them to see how mad I was.

Take pictures all you want, but from a distance… like a good distance too. UGH. I was still pissed and it’s been hours.

“Taetae, how’s it going~,” I heard Tiffany call from the hall. Before I could reply though she was already in our room. “Omo! You finished it?!” I hummed.

“Well almost,” I corrected.

For the past hour I had been putting together this stupid crib. It was supposed to be helping me take my mind off things but I think it was making me more angry.

Why did they make these things so hard to build? I mean they gave you a little tool kit and instructions but holy crap…

“Do you want me to put on the front thing for now or leave it off?”

We’d have to take it off to connect it to our bed when he gets here but who knows! Tiffany might want it put on for now just because!

“Hmm can you put it on?” I knew it. “I wanna see it all put together,” she said cutely. “Omo! I’ll go get the bedding set!”

I knew it wouldn't take her long so I tried my hardest to connect the front as fast as I could, but she was totally back before I could finish.

“Hurry up~,” she whined adorably. I laughed.

“Yah, you try building this er. It was confusing,” I admitted as I popped the last little knob into place. “I-ohp,” I sounded as Tiffany’s arms wrapped around me from behind.

What the-

“Thank you for building this Taetae,” she cooed. “Dukong will be so proud that his daddy put it together for him~.”

Oh my~! I don't know what was worse; hearing Tiffany call me Dukong’s daddy or her huge bump pressing up against me… but either way my whole body was going crazy.

My heart was racing, my face was trying to hold back my smile, my stomach was flipping and besides actually putting him there, I think this was the first real thing I've done for Dukong. I mean I've been to all of Tiffany’s baby appointments, but they were technically for her and I don't think buying things for him should really count until he’s actually born but this… gah! I-

“Should we take a picture?”

Omo! That was what we should definitely do! I hummed and Tiffany got the polaroid camera from her dresser. Hm? Wait what?

“The polaroid camera?” She hummed this time.

“We can hang it up in his room so he knows what an awesome daddy you are, duh Taetae.”

My heart jumped… and she says I’m the cute one.

Please…

“I was thinking we could take them during other things too, like his baby shower, or just when we see our families again,” she laughed. “They could take a picture with my tummy and it could be his first ‘family photo.’ or something.” I had to laugh now. That would be so funny! I’m sure it’d be confusing for him to see in a few years too.

“Now there’s an idea.” She sighed.

“It doesn't have to be that exactly Tae I was just saying~! I want him to have pictures of us like before him you know? Or like while he was still growing.” Oh my gosh!

“What? I love that idea Tiffany,” I said truthfully. Did she think I was mocking it?

“Really?” I hummed and took a few steps to close the gap between us.

“While we’re at it we should print off the article from today too,” I laughed. “We can show it to him when he gets older and be like ‘look at what you put us through… you better become a doctor.’”

“Yah~,” Tiffany laughed. “He can be whatever he wants to be Kim Taeyeon, don’t let him fool you Dukong.” Tiffany was talking to our unborn son in her stomach and it just really made me feel so complete.

I really don’t think my life could get better than this… until Dukong is actually born that is.

“Should we take it?”

Huh? Take what- OH!

The picture. Right.

“Mhm,” I hummed. I moved back so I could be closer to the crib, since I know those cameras have a poor range, and- huh? “Wait,” I said before Tiffany could take the picture. “You aren't going to be in it?!” She shook her head.

“We can take two though.” Her smile grew. “I just wanted one of you and the crib but I guess I can be in one too~,” she said way too overdramatically.

Aigo~!

We took our pictures, but not before putting the bedding on first… which was a battle in itself. How was putting sheet on this tiny little mattress so hard? I think I can put the sheets on our bed faster than I could put them on that thing…

I took a few minutes to pick up the mess of little plastic bags that I made while putting the crib together and made sure my bag was packed and ready to go but just as I sat down to watch some drama with Tiffany that she’s been watching for the past few weeks our doorbell rang...? What the? It wasn’t even the one downstairs but it was the one at our actual door!

Did hyung forget the passcode again? I checked my phone to see if he had texted me, but then I saw that he was also an hour early! What the heck!?

He promised he’d pick me up at eleven… that jerk.

“I’ll get it,” Tiffany said as she hopped up from her seat. As I thought about it more though, what if it wasn’t hyung? Oh my god… what if it was some psycho stalker instead?!

I know my manager is a ‘five minutes early is on time kinda guy’, but this was just too much. I stood up to quickly go to the front door as well but just as I took two steps toward it, Tiffany came back in the room and so did SISTAR’s Bora. Whew… I let out the deep breath I had been holding in and- wait.

What?!

“B-Bora-ssi?” She smiled almost as widely as Tiffany did.

“Annyeonghaseyo Taeyeon-ssi,” she greeted cheerfully. “Tiffany just told me that she didn’t tell you I was staying over tonight so this is weird.” I nodded.

Weird didn't even begin to cover it.

I mean I knew SNSD and SISTAR were friendly of course but this friendly was a whole new level.

I was beyond confused.

Since when were Tiffany and Bora close enough to have a sleep over?!

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WAH more articles! 
I hope you're not sick of them yet! >_<

Also Happy (late) Valentine's Day!

 

Sorry for taking so long! 
I missed writing this story for sure! 
Thank you all for reading/subscribing/commenting/upvoting! It really means a lot.

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