3. PROMISE MAKER

Gwiboon was the best older sister baby Taemin could have wished for. She pushed Eunsook to share Minho’s bed and put her baby brother to sleep next to her on the middle bed. She bathed him, played with him, rocked him, and sang lullabies to him. Her only complaint with life was that she couldn’t feed him. Minho laughed every time she whined about it.

On their third wedding anniversary, Eunsook and Minho watched as Gwiboon fed eight-month-old Taemin, crooning baby talk about how their parents should get to work on giving them a baby sister. Eunsook hid her red face in Minho’s neck and he hid his in her hair. Gwiboon looked at the embarrassed couple and laughed. Baby Taemin imitated his sister and gurgled along with her.

Minho managed to groan, “Cupcake, don’t you have a boyfriend? It’s high time you stopped teasing us.”

Gwiboon laughed louder, “Dad who has the time to date? And who needs a boyfriend? I already have two great men in my life.” Seeing the shock on her parents’ faces, she clarified, “Stop thinking like nincompoops. I am talking about you, dad, and baby Tae. No one compares to you.”

When Minho became thoughtful, Gwiboon got up with Taemin in her arms and plonked down in their father’s lap, baby and all. “Dad, don’t even think about it. I don’t have any time for an immature boy. Give me a few years to complete my studies and settle in a job, then.”

Minho kissed her cheek and nodded, “Of course Cupcake. Just let me know when you are ready. I think I know just the right man for you.” Eunsook looked at him in surprise and he whispered a ‘later’ in her ear. Gwiboon pouted in curiosity. It was Eunsook’s and Minho’s turn to laugh. Baby Tae joined with loud gurgles of his own.

Baby Taemin’s first birthday was celebrated at the restaurant where Gwiboon worked part time, at her insistence. Eunsook laughed and , “You just want to show him off to your work colleagues and patrons.” Gwiboon poked out her tongue in response and whisked off her brother to the kitchen to meet her co-workers.

As soon as she was out of hearing range, Minho whispered to Eunsook, “I think we should have bought her a new dress too. Though the new shirt suits her well, but I don’t think it’s enough.”

Eunsook put her hand over Minho’s fidgeting ones on the table and kissed his cheek to calm him, “Don’t worry. We want him to like her for who she is, not what she wears.”

Minho frowned, “How can anyone not like her? She is adorable.”

“When is he coming?” Eunsook smiled at her husband, noting again his extreme love for the young girl.

Minho looked at his watch and towards the door of the kitchen where he could see Gwiboon hovering concernedly over her brother as the baby was swung in the air by the head cook. He turned his hand over and laced his fingers with Eunsook’s, observing how well her hand fitted in his. Looking in her smiling eyes, he responded excitedly, “In about 15 minutes. Thankfully he could swap his tonight’s gig with Monday’s singer. She will like him, Sookie. He is so perfect for her. At least I thought so when I first met him a year ago.”

Eunsook nodded and spoke from her heart, “I trust your judgment. And you are right. She is twenty already and will be twenty one in another four months. She needs more in her life than just studies, work and her baby brother.” Minho kissed the back of her hand and grinned at her.

Since their marriage, Minho had worked part time as the cashier in a bar. For the past few months, he had regularly expressed his desire to Eunsook to introduce the bar’s new singer to Gwiboon. But both had refrained, knowing how strong willed their daughter was. Eunsook had visited the bar last week to meet the young man. She had instantly liked his effervescent personality, which she felt, the serious man hid behind. She had nodded to Minho, who then extended an invitation to the young man for Taemin’s birthday dinner.

The couple smiled happily when they saw him enter the restaurant. Coincidentally, Gwiboon brought back Taemin to the table at the same time as he reached it. Minho and Eunsook stood up to welcome him. He bowed ninety degrees in greeting to them. Minho made the introductions.

“Cupcake, meet Kim Jonghyun. Jonghyun, this is my daughter Gwiboon and birthday boy Taemin.”

Gwiboon looked at the smiling young man in front of her and then at her parents’ hopeful faces. It took her only a second to reach the right conclusion. True to the older couple’s assessment, she faced Jonghyun with a tight smile and pulled herself to stand to her full height, displaying her tallness. She inched up her nose in the air and spoke in her chilliest tone, “You are short!”

Jonghyun noted their four-inch height difference and grinned, “And you are beautiful, Princess!” Minho and Eunsook sat down, feeling satisfied with their match making.

Gwiboon’s jaw dropped in surprise and she stared at the young man in front of her. Taemin decided to inspect the man for himself, reaching out his arms towards Jonghyun. He leaned so far out of Gwiboon’s arms that Jonghyun immediately moved a step forward to accept baby Taemin’s plea and took him from the motionless girl. Taemin started poking Jonghyun’s cheek and showing off his four tiny baby teeth. Jonghyun rubbed noses with the baby and grinned at him, “Happy Birthday baby! Aren’t you one cute little fellow? But, not as cute as your princess sister.”

Taemin laughed and bit Jonghyun’s nose. Jonghyun laughed with him and rubbed his nose on Taemin’s cheek, “Do you think your sister also likes to bite? How about you tell her how delicious I taste?”

At Jonghyun’s teasing, Gwiboon regained her senses and kicked his leg, “Cool down you overgrown puppy. Don’t get super excited. I can see your tail wagging.”

“Do you like that, Princess? Let me remind you how faithful puppies are. I am going to follow you everywhere,” Jonghyun waggled his brows at her and shook his pelvis as if shaking his non-existent tail.

Taemin laughed again and repeated, “Puppy.” He sank his teeth in Jonghyun’s chin and nibbled.

Jonghyun looked at the couple sitting down and smiled at them, “I think we have one very hungry baby on our hands. We better feed him or there won’t be any of me left for your daughter.”

Eunsook laughed at his boldness and Gwiboon blushed. The young girl tried to take Taemin from Jonghyun but the baby wanted to stay with his new treat. She took one of the two available chairs and sighed inwardly at the thought of sitting so close to Jonghyun. She looked up at him, her eyes blazing with challenge, “You are far too audacious for someone who just met me.”

Jonghyun winked at her, making her cheeks pinken again. He sat down with Taemin in his lap and turned to face her, “Princess, it’s a matter of perspective. You are the girl who walks through my dreams every night. You are the one that I have written all my songs for. Now that I have met you, I don’t think I will ever be able to sleep again. Your face, behind my closed eyes, will keep me awake for eternity. Marry me, Princess.” Gwiboon gaped at Jonghyun with unblinking eyes.

When Minho made to intervene, Eunsook pressed a hand to his thigh to silence his protests before he could utter them. He frowned at her but she shook her head and smiled to let him know that they had to let matters unfold on their own. Minho again laced their fingers together, out of sight of the younger duo sitting across from them. They watched Gwiboon gather herself and punch Jonghyun’s shoulder.

“How dare you? My name is Gwiboon,” the young girl minced out each word through clenched teeth. “And I am not your princess. Go wag your tail at someone else. But, give my brother back to me first. You have no right to hold him as if he belongs to you. He is mine.” She forcibly picked up Taemin to settle him in her lap. When baby Tae wailed in protest, she took a piece of sweet and sour, pickled lotus stem and handed it to the hungry baby to chew on. She scowled harder when Jonghyun laughed at her possessiveness.

Two months later, Gwiboon whined at Minho when her phone pinged during Sunday breakfast and she read the incoming message, “Dad, do something about that stupid nuisance. He keeps messaging me cheesy verses all the time, claiming to have written them for me.”

Minho was puzzled for a moment, “Who are you talking about, Cupcake?”

“Who else but that idiot shorty? Jonghyun, dad. How could you do this to your own daughter? I told you I don’t need a boyfriend,” Gwiboon pouted at her father’s denseness. She adjusted the bib around Taemin’s neck and fed him a spoonful of scrambled eggs as he played with his toy car.

“He is a nice boy Gwiboonie,” Eunsook spoke in defense of Minho. “We just want you to have some outside interest. You are becoming too serious and your life is limited only to studies, work and family. We don’t want you to miss out on all the fun you should be having at your age.” Minho nodded in agreement.

“But, mom, I like my life as it is. I am happy,” Gwiboon faced Eunsook and whined at her. “I don’t like him. He is too cocky. And he talks too much. And when he is with us, baby Tae ignores me.” The young girl sulked at the memory of past Sunday when Jonghyun was invited to their home for lunch.

Minho smiled at her words, “He is just perfect for you, Cupcake. Don’t be fooled by his demeanor. He is an orphan who is funding his music studies by singing at the bar. He aspires to be a music teacher. I have not seen him flirt with any girl before. I can’t claim to know why he is so flirtatious with you, but since meeting you all he talks about at work is you. You should listen to his recent songs. He dedicates each one to ‘My Princess’ before singing beautiful love ballads. The bar patronage has increased in the past month.”

“What?” Gwiboon exploded without actually raising her voice. “You are my father. You should side with me and shoot anyone who shows the slightest interest in me. You are not supposed to sing their praises in front of me.” When Minho just smiled at her, she turned to Eunsook, “Mom, talk some sense into your husband. Why, why, why? Why me? Why does dad want to complicate my happy life?”

“Could it be because he found this one perfect person for you?” Eunsook got up to serve tea to Minho and patted Gwiboon’s head before sitting down. “Give Jonghyun a chance. You don’t have to make him your boyfriend, if you don’t want to. How about simply a friend? How about just having some fun times with him? How about giving him a chance and seeing where it takes you?”

Minho smiled softly at Gwiboon who grew serious at her mother’s words. He patted her shoulder to gain her attention, “Cupcake, at the moment, you are saying no before even testing the waters first. We are not asking you to dive into love with your eyes closed. We know you will not. And should not. But what’s the harm in testing the waters before making your final decision? I have worked in the same place with Jonghyun every night for over a year. He seemed right for you. You are very precious to me, my sweet Cupcake. Jonghyun is my ‘thank you’ gift to you.” Eunsook smiled at her husband’s choice of words.

“Thank you gift?” Gwiboon was stubborn to the core. “Does this menace named Jonghyun know about it?” She looked at her parents smiling placidly at her. “You both are hopeless. Just because you love each other does not mean I should also fall in love. Dad, this is so unfair. At least you could have made certain that your gift to me was taller than me.” Her whining was interrupted as her phone pinged an incoming message. She sent a short response to it and continued with her whining.

“He is not only short, but writes sappy songs. He thinks I am a princess. He steals baby Tae from me. He asks me to marry him at least three times a day. What is he going to feed me after marriage – his syrupy lyrics? He lives with a roommate. We cannot fit in another full grown person in our home. What kind of parents are you? Why do you want your only daughter to be miserable with a tail-wagging puppy?”  Gwiboon’s litany continued non-stop as she brushed her hair and applied lip gloss. She did not pause as she changed Taemin’s clothes and dressed him in a denim shirt and overalls. She complained even while searching for her purse.

Minho and Eunsook watched her scurry around getting ready to go out. They heard her list everything she found wrong with Jonghyun. They stifled their laughter when she spoke of giving them gnomes as grandchildren. They lost the battle with their laughter when she threatened baby Taemin.

“Tae if you become a traitor again and play only with that schmaltzy singer, I will give away your bed to him. Just think how you will be squished to death when you sleep with mom and dad. Let me tell you baby bro, not even air can pass between them at night. You have zero chances of survival when sleeping with them. I think it will serve you right, you traitor, if I do accept that dumb dino’s proposal. You will have to sleep in a dresser drawer at night. And it will also serve that mushy promise maker right. I think he will keel over and die of shock. Hmmm, maybe I should do just that and be rid of him forever.”

She stopped when the doorbell rang. She smiled sweetly at Minho and Eunsook and picked up Taemin in her arms before opening the door. Jonghyun stepped in and bowed to the older couple, before greeting Gwiboon, “Ready Princess? Oh, baby Tae is coming with us. Goody, we are going to have a family outing. Come to daddy, Tae.” He held out his arms for Taemin who was equally eager and began wriggling in his sister’s arms.

Minho and Eunsook watched the new arrival with their mouths hanging open. They didn’t know that Gwiboon was getting ready to go out with Jonghyun. They were even more shocked when Taemin stretched his arms towards Jonghyun and wailed, “Daddy!”

Jonghyun crooned to the baby and winked at Gwiboon, “Tae you have a very possessive mommy. No problem. We will teach her to share with your daddy. Won’t we baby?”

Gwiboon kicked Jonghyun and handed over Taemin, even if was only to keep him from falling out of her arms. As soon as Jonghyun had Taemin in his arms and began cooing to him, Gwiboon wagged her finger at her brother, “Traitor, you deserve the dresser drawer.” She then kicked Jonghyun again but he agilely hopped out of her range. “Just you wait, baby stealer. I will poison your food. I will put ants in your hair. Don’t you teach wrong things to my baby! You are not his daddy. You are a pest.”

Jonghyun grinned at her and gave her a heart-shaped lollipop. When Taemin made to grab it, Jonghyun quickly handed him another one. Gwiboon put the sweet treat in and turned her wagging finger towards Minho and Eunsook, “Put my today’s sacrifice to good use. I want a baby sister this time. If I can keep this pain-in-the-you-know-where busy taking care of babies, he will let me be in peace.”

Shocked, rather stunned, Minho and Eunsook watched wide-eyed as the door closed behind the three. They heard Jonghyun respond cheekily, “I love you, Princess. What a wonderful idea. How many babies do you think we should have? I want at least two baby princesses. Don’t worry Tae, you will still be our first baby.”

Minho dazedly looked around their single-room home and whispered to Eunsook, “We can make it work, if we go out alternate Sundays."