“I thought you said you won’t be coming,” Soojung said as she rested her head on Myungsoo’s shoulder, “Jongin told me.”

He chuckled. “I made him do that,” he said, “I wouldn’t do that. Especially to you. It was your big day. Of course I’ll be there.”

Soojung smiled. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” he kissed the top of her head, “Hey, Soojung.”

“Hmm?”

“Will you marry me?”

She looked up to him and left a chaste kiss on his lips.

“Yes.”

Sehun and Amber ended up attending Soojung’s wedding first in July, instead of Sehun’s in August.
 

+
 

Marriage life is fun. Of course. It’s been five years since he asked her hand in marriage, and entering their fifth year of being husband and wife, they have a beautiful 4 years old daughter, and another one is on the way. Soojung’s getting chubbier, and Myungsoo’s getting happier. What more he could ask exactly?

Being married, they learn, is settling down. They don’t get butterflies anymore since they lived together. Their hearts don’t beat so fast anymore. Legs aren’t always intertwining at night. No. Instead, everything calms down. Living together makes them feel secure in every way possible. Sleeping at night sometimes would be done by facing different directions, but they’d always find themselves scooting backwards until they bump to each other. Their breathings bring them to comfort. It doesn’t feel like roller coaster anymore—it feels like home.

And, there’re lots of PDAs. From the most innocent kind of affection to romantic ones. From holding hands to something more intense. Hugs and kisses are always there—there’s ‘I love you’ kisses, there’s ‘thank you for not burning the kitchen’ kisses, there’s ‘I’m glad it’s you and no one else’ kisses, there’s ‘I’m leaving’ kisses and ‘one more kiss before you go’ kisses. A lot. They make everything seems fun. They fool around between the aisle in the grocery store. They travel. They have many silly pictures together. They dance in the rain. They go for a long walk at least once a week. And even though it’s been five years, the fire they have for each other hasn’t died down. They’re just so excited for each other.

Of course there’re fights, too. Sometimes she’s yes and he’s no, and vice versa. They don’t always agree with each other. There are times when she’s too ego to apologize. There are times when he’s too ego to give in to her. There are times when you just don't get along even though you love each other. But, the good thing is, when they fight, they don’t go straight to screaming at the top of their lungs. Instead, they make spaces for themselves for a moment, and when they’re ready for it, they’ll talk. Sometimes it takes them days to make up, sometimes it’s weeks. Never been into months, and they’re glad they manage to work it out together.

“Hey, Soojung,” he said after they made up one day, “if people who are in love are called ‘love birds’, does that make us ‘angry birds’ a few days ago?”

Soojung laughed at that. “You’re funny, have I told you that?”

“Nope, but I know I’m a man with a complete package.”

“You’re dead if you try to promote your so-called package to anybody else.”

He pulled her nose. “No worries, babe. I’m all yours.”

And when their first daughter, Sena was born, things couldn’t be better. Have you heard the sayings that a child is a blessing to a family? They believe it’s true. After she was born, money keeps coming in. Soojung’s books became a best-seller for almost a year and a half, and Myungsoo opened a new gallery in Seoul. With their money, they moved to a bigger house in the suburb that’s just not too far from the countryside. They also own a small cottage somewhere in the city of Carmel-by-the-Sea and spend most of their summers there. It’s a small European-style village with beautiful soft-sandy beach, charming architectures and delicious eateries. It’s a perfect place to find solace—and a perfect place for them to date, too, even though Sena always get a little jealous when her mom being too clingy with her dad. Myungsoo spoils her way too much that she can’t see her spot being replaced by Soojung.

“Who do you like more?” Myungsoo asked the little girl, “Mommy or Daddy?”

“Daddy!” the girl exclaimed without thinking before she jumped into his arms.

Myungsoo laughed. “Do you hear that, Soojung-ah?!”

“Of course she’d answer that,” Soojung bitterly said while rolling her eyes, “You’ve brainwashed her.”

He laughed again. “Come on. You lost. You owe me a kiss.”

Soojung thinks it’s so stupid to even hope Sena would answer that she likes her mom more compared to her dad. But, it’s okay. She’s happy now, very and really.

And now entering the 7th month of carrying their second child inside her, it also means that Sena’s birthday is coming very soon. In fact, it’s only two days away before she officially turns four. They’re at the cottage now since it’s summer, and with Jongin and Naeun arriving that afternoon, the small cottage becomes merrier. Both of their families are coming later.

“You’re bigger than the last time I saw you!” Jongin says once he sees her in the kitchen.

Soojung frowns. “What do you expect then, Kim Jongin?”

He laughs as he pulls her in for a quick hug. “Aww, pregnant women are always too sensitive!”

That evening, they spend their time baking and decorating the house. The women are in the kitchen while the men in the living room. Soojung and Naeun use the time baking as well as catching up with each other. Naeun smiles softly at the sight of Soojung walking ever so slowly in the kitchen because of her baby bump. There’s a motherly feeling erupts from the deepest part of heart, and she has to wonder for a moment there, would I be able to experience that?

Sena then walks into the kitchen with a small teddy bear Jongin and Naeun bought for her hanging on her hands.

“Mommy, can I ask you a question?” she asks with her tiny voice.

“Of course you can, sweetheart. What is it?”

“Is that my baby brother inside you?” the girl asks curiously as she reaches out to touch Soojung’s covered belly.

“Yes,” Soojung answers, “Why?”

Soojung gasps when Sena starts to cry that she has to wash her hands and picks her up into her arms. When she tries to wipe away her tears, the girl cries even louder. She pats her back gently and when the girl has stopped crying and only sobbing, she asks, “what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

“Daddy said that you—“ she sobs and hiccups at the same time, “daddy said that you a-ate my brother. Don’t you love him, mommy? Don’t you love me and daddy? Why did you eat him?”

Soojung’s jaw drops, her eyes wide in disbelief. She tries to speak but no words come out. Trying to ease out the situation, Naeun butts in, “Daddy told you that, Sena?”

The little girl nods while Soojung bites her lips.
“Uncle Jongin also said that mommy is a bad person for eating my brother alive,” she explains as she wipes her tears with her tiny hands, “he said mommy is a monster.”

Soojung breathes deeply. “Sena, what else did they—“

“How’s the baking going?” Jongin suddenly says as he enters the kitchen with Myungsoo trails closely behind him. Naeun shoots Jongin a dagger while Soojung tries so hard not to breakdown.

“...what’s going on?” Jongin carefully asks.

Naeun is about to answer when Soojung yells.
“How could you say I’m a monster?!” Soojung then averts her gaze to Myungsoo who seems really lost. “And you, this is your child I’m carrying. How could you say that? Can’t you at least say something nice about me?”

Myungsoo seems to be taken aback when a tear finally rolls down on her milky skin. “Soojung, honey, what are you—“

“Sena told me that you said that I ate her brother,” she begins sobbing while Sena finally jumps out from her arms and runs to Myungsoo, afraid at her mommy’s sudden outburst. “Why would you say that?”

“What?” oh, he finally gets it, “it was just a joke—“

“Oh, save it for yourself,” Soojung cuts him off as she storms out of the kitchen, pushing the men as they block the door. “You sleep on the sofa tonight. And don’t even try to talk to me.”

“Okay,” Jongin breaks the silence when Soojung disappears into the room, “Do pregnant women are always that sensitive? Now what are you going to do?”

Naeun could only sigh as she stares at the two hopelessly.

Myungsoo shoots Jongin a look. “Jongin, it was your idea to tell Sena that!”

Jongin returns the look. “It was my idea, yes, but I didn’t say you should take it into action!” Jongin defends himself before he looks to Sena before he looks back to Myungsoo. “Besides, I never thought she’d tell that to Soojung.”

“You said it’s going to be funny!”

“Oh come on! You laughed when I came up with the idea!”

“Seriously,” Naeun says, “what should I do with you two? Boys will always be boys, huh?” She then also walks out from the kitchen to check on Soojung, leaving the two boys behind as they send killer glare to each other.
 

+
 

“Soojung,” Naeun calls softly as she slowly enters the room without waiting for her answer, “you okay?” she then closes the door behind her and walks to the other girl who’s sitting on the couch at far end of the room. Naeun then chuckles when Soojung flashes a dorky smile.

“Are you really okay?” Naeun asks, taking a seat beside her.

“I’m okay,” Soojung answers.

“You weren’t back there,”

Soojung laughs. “True, but I’m okay now,”

That makes Naeun laugh. “Being pregnant really confuses me,” and then she sighs, “I’m so jealous, Soojung-ah. Myungsoo looked very worried about you, even though I could say he’s pretty well deserved it. Seriously, what kind of joke was that?”

Soojung laughs again. “You know what, now that I think about it, I think it’s kind of funny. My emotions have been unstable lately,” she then breathes as she softly rubs her baby bump, “It makes me feel bad, you know? It feels like whatever I feel, I let it out on him—whether it’s good or bad. I’ve been so unstable lately but never he says he’s tired of me. He doesn’t complain. He never gets angry too. Sometimes I feel like I take him on granted.”

“He waited for you for so many years, Soojung-ah. I don’t think he’ll get tired just because you tend to switch your emotions just like that—what more when you’re carrying your second child. Myungsoo, if there’s a thing that I really know about him, is that he’s very understanding. And when you left just now, he looked very worried, you know? He didn’t mean it that way, I believe. It’s just that, you couldn’t help fooling around when you’re with your bestfriends, even though I wish they’d try to lessen it because you wouldn’t know if you’d hit someone’s nerve.”

“You know what, I think if Jongin doesn’t make a move on you very, very soon, he’d totally become the biggest idiot in history,” Soojung says, “I’ve been telling him to like, you know, propose you or something, and he’s always like, ‘this isn’t the right time’. If every time isn’t the right time, when will it ever be the right time?”

Naeun gives Soojung a sad smile. “Should I be the one who does the proposal instead?” she then shakes her head, “I do believe in him, you know? I believe that eventually he’ll ask me to marry him, because let’s be real, he can’t even probably wear his tie if it isn’t for me. That’s why I’m here. Whenever I look at him, I just have the urge to like, I don’t know, take a good care of him.”

“Maybe you should consider doing the proposal,” Soojung nods. Because come on, Jongin and Naeun have known each other for 10 years now, if her counting is right, and when they’re together, she believes they’ve seen the bigger picture. If it isn’t often, then probably for a few times. “Because Jongin could be so—“

“Soojung, are you—“ as she turns her head to the door, he catches Myungsoo’s head poking by it and probably realizing that he’s interrupting something, he quickly adds, “I’ll be right—“

“Wait,” Soojung gives Naeun’s hand a squeeze before she stands u