Yoongi stared down at the beautiful baby girl in front of him. He couldn’t stop smiling because he was so smitten by her. “You are so so beautiful.” he cooed.

“Daddy, Yoona is so soft too!” chimed in Yoonsung, reaching out and lightly pat the baby’s head. The boy’s innocent remark made Yoongi laugh, causing the baby in his arm to smile up at him as well.

“Honey?” called out Inhye, grabbing Yoongi’s attention.

Never once when they were married had she ever called him that. It felt almost too weird and too foreign for her to and he didn’t know whether or not if he liked it or not. This whole entire illusion was a whole world of its own so it definitely was something to get used to. Inhye was calling from the kitchen and he didn’t want to take the baby there. So, he placed her back into her crib.

Yoongi responded with a “Yeah?” as he entered the kitchen. The stove was off now and Inhye had pulled out a stand for the small pot. She was standing by the rice cooker, packing rice into two rice bowls. She had also pulled out two side dishes out of the fridge as the containers of parboiled spinach and bean sprouts on the counter.

From the smell of it, Inhye was probably making kimichi stew and his stomach started to growl. He could hardly remember much what her cooking was like except that it was good enough. Although he remembered that her food was decent, there were no hard concrete memories of him eating her food. He was never home when they were married so if he ate her food then it could’ve just been whatever she placed out for him when he came home late. The only time he really remembered eating anything made by her was the samgyetang that she made for him that one time because Yoonsung was pushing for it aside from those late night meals. But, generally, anything that involved Inhye’s cooking was pretty much a blur.

“Since you’re home early today, why don’t we set up the table and eat dinner together?” smiled Inhye, putting the rice into the rice bowls. She was clearly excited and very happy that Yoongi was there with them. He, then, watched as her smile fell and her brows knotted together. “Why are you looking at me like that? Is something wrong?”

He hadn’t realized he was frowning until she said that. He stopped and shook his head. “N-Nothing. There’s nothing wrong.” he said.

Now it was her turn to frown. “Are you sure?” she asked.

“Yeah, of course.” replied Yoongi.

Inhye let out a sigh. “Come here.” she said, motioning him to go to her. He did as she commanded and approached her, hesitantly. “Why are you home so early? Did something bad happen?” Before he could answer, she wrapped her arms around him and stared up at him. He tensed, from the sudden physical contact, and her frown deepened. “So, something bad did happen then.” He supposed long hours at the studio was what Inhye and the kids were used to since Inhye kept mentioning about how early he was home. It was already 7 pm.

“No, it’s not that.” responded Yoongi, looking down at her. He cracked a small smile. “I missed you and the kids a lot. That’s why I came home early.”

Inhye softly returned his smile. She tiptoed and pecked him on the lips. Yoongi assumed it was going to be a quick peck, but before he could pull away, Inhye was already on his bottom lip asking for entrance. Alarmed, he instantly pulled away. He saw the immediate confusion that colored her face.

“W-What if Yoonsung saw?” he lamely explained, gently. “He’s too young to be seeing us kiss like that, S-Sweetie.” He almost couldn’t call her that pet name, but he forced himself to anyways. So, his words and tone were probably unnatural and awkward. He could see the look on Inhye’s face change into a sad one and he didn’t understand why.

“R-Right.” she agreed. “Yoonsung. We wouldn’t want him to see that.”

Yoongi didn’t say anything else as he headed out to their tiny dining table with the stand for the pot and headed back to the kitchen to grab the piping hot stew. He smiled to himself at the sight of Yoonsung’s high chair. Because he was seldomly home, he never fed Yoonsung solid foods after his teeth grew in. He never got the chance to see whether the boy ever played with his food or if he was a diligent eater. Yoongi looked over to his son, who was sitting on the floor and watching the TV show that was on. The child let out a small cough. The boy had been sniffing his nose and coughing quite a bit since Yoongi had gotten home. The man frowned. The child must be sick.

Yoongi gingerly grabbed the pot of stew and immediately salivated. His stomach growled again. Oddly enough, he was really hungry. Inhye eventually came to the table with the rice bowls and plates of the side dishes. She placed them on the table and Yoongi couldn’t help but glance over at her. She was quiet and he wondered if he had accidentally hurt her by pulling away from the kiss.

“Is Yoonsung sick?” asked Yoongi, trying to pipe up a conversation. “He kept coughing.”

This caused Inhye to immediately look up at him. Her brows furrowed, again. “What do you mean?” she asked. “You’re the one that got us all sick. He’s the last one to be recovering from the cold you gave us.” Yoongi stuttered, unable to respond back. He wasn’t sure how to react to that and she narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re acting so strange. Are you OK?” Without hesitation, she reached over and placed the back of her hand on his head.

The familiar feel of her hand against his face caused his heart race. The only time he really remembered Inhye doing that was when she was nursing him back to health because of a horrible flu Yoonsung gave him. It was years ago, but there were times Yoongi could still remember that moment like it was yesterday. He could still remember the coolness of the back of her then weathered hand and how comforted he had felt at that time.

“Baby, you’re kind of hot. I think you’re running a light fever. Maybe that’s why you’re so weird tonight. ” she frowned. “Remember to take some fever reducer after dinner, OK?”

Well, how did he usually act? Yoongi swallowed thickly, unsure of the answer himself. Did the Yoongi from this alternative universe come home insanely late and passionately kiss Inhye all the time? His stomach churned, uncomfortably at the thought of him doing either of those. He loved his kids and he just couldn’t fathom why he wouldn’t be home earlier to be with them. Maybe the him in this alternative universe didn’t have a choice though. Maybe his work, whatever that may be, required too much of his time. In addition, he had two small children that he needed to provide food on the table for and put a roof over their heads. Maybe the Yoongi in this world did want to spend time with his children, but he couldn’t because his work was too demanding.

With Inhye, well, that was another thing. He obviously had to be in love with her to some degree for them to have Yoona. There was no way he’d bring in another life into this world just because he wasn’t at least romantically involved with her. Right? He stared at her for a moment too long and lamely looked away when she caught him staring at her. She didn’t make any comment about it though and went back into the kitchen.

“Baby, get Yoonsung into his high chair.” she requested.

“OK!” responded Yoongi, heading straight to his son. “Yoonsung-ah, time for dinner. Mommy’s going to be mad if you’re not in your high chair.”

The little boy didn’t even fight against him. He simply raised his arms up for Yoongi to carry him and the father did. Inhye came back to the dining table with eating utensils and a small bowl of juk with a baby spoon in it. Yoongi noticed how she had a bib resting on one of her shoulders as well. After the man placed Yoonsung in the high chair, she quickly handed the bib to their son and the child quickly put it on himself. Yoongi stared in awe. Their child was a fairly self-sufficient one and he honestly needed to thank Inhye later for raising their son to be that way.

“Honey, go ahead and eat dinner first. Yoonsung’s been fussy with food lately and won’t eat as much so I’m going to have to feed him first.” she said.

Yoongi frowned. “It’s OK. You eat first. I’ll feed him.” he said.

“No, it’s OK. You’ve been working all day.” refuted Inhye. “You’re probably really hungry now.”

“No, let me do it.” continued Yoongi, not willing to give up. Sure, he was hungry but he’d much rather be the one to do it anyways. “You’ve been with the kids and taking care of them all day. You can relax now. I’m home. I’ll help take care of them. Besides, I want to do it because I want to look back on this moment one day and think about how small our kids used to be when they’re all grown up.”

Inhye snorted. “That’s so corny. What is up with you tonight? At this point, I really doubt it’s the mild fever you have that’s making you behave this way.” she stated, shaking her head. She was wearing a huge smile, obviously amused.

“So, I’m feeding Yoonsung then?” clarified Yoongi.

“By all means, Daddy, go for it.” laughed Inhye.

Yoongi smiled at Inhye, bloated with ego. She called him ‘Daddy’ and a dad he was. He pulled Yoonsung’s high chair towards him. Yoongi slowly stirred the bowl of juk in front of him as he blew air into it to cool it down. It wasn’t hot, but he didn’t want to burn Yoonsung’s tongue so he wanted to be extra careful.

“Daddy, I missed you so much.” pouted Yoonsung. He let out a small cough.

“Really?” asked Yoongi, as he started to feed the boy. The child nodded his head as he opened his mouth for the food.

“I did! I cried to Mommy about it. I wanted to call you, but Mommy said not to because I’ll be bothering you at work.” babbled Yoonsung, after eating a spoonful.

Yoongi smiled. Yoonsung was no different in real life or in this fantasy. He always missed Yoongi no matter what and that made the father’s heart warm. He, too, missed his son all the time as well.

“Yoonsung, tell your daddy what you did today.” said Inhye, as she took a sip of the stew she made. Then, she made a comment to herself. “Wow, the fermented kimchi I made turned out better than the usual.”

She got a spoonful and blew on it then leaned across the way, feeding it to Yoongi. He graciously opened his mouth to take in the spoonful of food when noticed how he was staring straight down Inhye’s chest through the v neck tshirt she was wearing. He hadn’t realized it earlier, but her s were much bigger than the usual. She probably opt to feed again since her s were just as big when she was feeding Yoonsung.

“Wow, that is good.” he agreed, the excess stew on his lips off.

He couldn’t help but ogle at Inhye’s chest. She shifted in her seat a bit and this simple movement caused her s to jiggle, causing his to twitch. He quickly tore his gaze away from her as he bit on his bottom lip. He was absolutely disgusting. He was supposed to be feeding his son, but was gawking at Inhye’s ample s instead. Those are the very same s that fed their baby as well so he needed to calm the hell down. Because he was so preoccupied by Inhye, he didn’t even hear what his son had to said to him.

“Y-Yoonsung, what did you do again today?” asked Yoongi. “Sorry, Daddy wasn’t listening to you.”

“Mommy helped me build a fort out of pillows, Daddy!” explained the child again, excitedly. “I was the prince! Yoona was the beautiful princess! AND, AND! Mommy was the dragon that wanted to steal Yoona so I had to fight Mommy off and save Yoona. I used magic and a sword to fight Mommy because she’s so big and powerful.”

Yoongi laughed, as he glanced into the living room. The fort that was possibly built out of pillows was no longer there. “Did Mommy ask you to take down the fort?” he asked, feeding his child.

“Yeah.” replied Yoonsung, defeatedly before he started to eat again.

“I told him that we can only build the fort if we clean it up before dinner or we’ll never do it again.” butted in Inhye.

“You gave him an ultimatum?” smiled Yoongi, turning to her.

“Well, of course. If I didn’t, then he’s not going to behave himself.” explained Inhye.

In a lot of ways it reminded Yoongi of Inhye’s ultimatum when he asked to be a part of Yoonsung’s life again. She probably did give him that ultimatum so then he’d “behave” as well, knowing how she is and all. Yoongi couldn’t help but smile to himself as he nodded.

“There needs to be consequences to his actions.” he agreed, softly.

Inhye let out a laugh. “You sound so serious.” she said.

“Well,” chuckled Yoongi, with a shrug. “It’s the truth.”

Inhye hummed, agreeing. She said nothing else and Yoongi wondered what she was thinking. The boy eventually tried to push the food away, but Yoongi was insistent so he eventually finished all the juk in the bowl soon enough. After he was done, Yoongi got him out of his high chair and let him go play and watch whatever TV show that was on now.

“I’m so happy you’re home early today.” mentioned Inhye, as Yoongi started to eat his dinner. He glanced at her as he ate the delicious stew she made. “The kids missed you so much. They never get to see you anymore, except for weekends. Even then, you’re sleeping most of the time because you’ve been staying up all night. You’re only home when it’s past their bedtime and you leave before they’re even awake. I guess that’s just to be expected when you’re a temp.”

Yoongi paused. Oh, so he was a temp at some company? But, what kind of temp though? Are they still in Daegu? He was so confused, but he couldn’t ask anything out loud. It would only freak Inhye out even more. So, he kept his questions to himself for the meantime. Hopefully, he’d be able to find out about these bits of information by prying around.

“What about you?” he heard himself asking. “Do you miss me too?”

He watched as Inhye started to blush as a flustered smile touched her lips. The real Inhye had never smiled at him like this before. Her mood almost indefinitely soured whenever she saw him in real life and he was sure that the real Inhye actually hated him. Considering all that he had done to her, he couldn’t blame her for hating him to be honest. To see Inhye smile and laugh so much with him like this made his heart warm though. But, despite how soft he was, he couldn’t deny the pang of sadness that sat in the depths of his heart. If only the real Inhye could look at him in the eyes and be this happy as well.

“What kind of wife doesn’t miss her husband?” she asked. “Of course I miss you, Yoongi. I always miss you.”

He felt his heart fluttered, as he stared across the way to the woman that sat there. By legal marriage documents and under the law, she was still his wife in this illusion after all. It was so strange to even think of Inhye as his “wife” when they had lived so many years apart and she was nothing more than just a thing in the past. Barely over a year and a half ago, she was merely someone he had referred to as “that person” because even saying her name made his blood boil to no limits. For years, he had forgotten about her and their son as if they barely existed in his life all together because he hated them that much. Regardless, he had grown to love Yoonsung and was still trying to come to good terms with Inhye, but nothing would ever rock his feelings and whack his brain as much as this stupid illusion.

Death had claimed that this was the life he was supposed to have with Inhye, but how? Where did his undying hatred for her and their child go? What could’ve possibly happened for them to come to something like this and with a second child? What about his parents and brother? How did they react to Yoona? They were never happy about Yoongi’s marriage to Inhye. Did they see things differently in this illusion as well? Despite all the questions swimming in Yoongi’s mind, they were obviously living alone and seemed to be struggling a lot, judging by this tiny and dingy apartment. But, they seemed happy. Even if the Yoongi in this alternative universe was working his off, he seemed like a hard working father and husband and loved his children and wife to no avail. Yoongi wasn’t going to lie. He was envious.

“I’m going to give the kids a quick bath. Looks like Yoonsung’s extra tired tonight and sounds like Yoona’s becoming a bit fussy.” announced Inhye, pulling Yoongi from his thoughts. He could hear the angry coos of his baby girl and, when he glanced over at his son, the boy was tiredly sitting in front of the TV.

“O-OK.” the man agreed. “I’ll wash the dishes then.”

Before she got up to leave the table, she quickly pulled a thick, juicy piece of pork belly out of the stew with her chopsticks and placed on his rice bowl. Yoongi seldomly ate meals with his family after marrying Inhye and, in the few times that he did, he couldn’t remember if she had ever done this. It was a physical act of endearment and he couldn’t help but be washed over with waves of many emotions.

It wasn’t until she ushered Yoonsung to the bathroom to be bathed that Yoongi started to eat again. It also wasn’t until then that he realized that Inhye had left the majority of the stew for him to eat and she had only eaten most of the parboiled spinach and bean sprouts she pulled out as side dishes. Yoongi frowned. He knew that she probably didn’t eat most of it because she wanted Yoongi to be well fed, but she needed to have balanced meals for the milk she lactated for their daughter. Although Yoongi was hungry earlier, he was no longer as hungry as he was originally. He ate a bit, just enough to satisfy his stomach, and packed the dishes away. He hoped Inhye would eat the leftovers tomorrow and have the good and balanced meal she needed.

After washing the dishes, he walked into their one and only bedroom. They didn’t have a bed, only a family sized futon. It was something Yoongi couldn’t help but frown at. Were they really that poor? Maybe that was why he was working so hard. It was so then he would be able to provide more for his growing family.

Yoongi hung up the long, thick coat he was wearing earlier. It was a fairly new and nice one too, but it wasn’t branded. He wondered if Inhye and the kids had things this nice for the winter too. He started to strip off his street clothes and changed into more comfortable, lounging clothes. It wasn’t long before Yoonsung soon came running in, with a big towel wrapped around him, all washed and dried. He went straight to one of the drawers that lined the wall of the small room and tried to pry it open with his tiny hands.

“Daddy, Mommy said that you’re going to dress me up.” he explained, trying desperately to open the drawer. Yoongi didn’t say anything except approach the boy and pull the drawer open to reveal his nicely folded clothes within. The father watched as the little boy grabbed one of his little underwear and put it on. It seemed like the boy was already well potty trained, especially if he wasn’t wearing diapers to sleep.

“Yoongi, put Yoonsung in some warm clothes and then give him his medication!” Inhye yelled from the bathroom.

The man could hear water splashing from the bathroom and the mother cooing at her baby daughter. He smiled to himself and turned back to glance at Yoonsung. “Which shirt did you want to wear?” he asked. He liked the idea of giving the boy an option. He turned back to the drawer of the little boy’s clothes and his smile flattered. His son’s clothes looked like they were fairly worn and a bit too small for the growing boy. Was Yoongi the only one with fresh, new clothes?

“Yoongi!” interrupted Inhye, before Yoonsung even had a chance to say anything. “Yoonsung better be wearing warm clothes or the both of you are going to hear a mouthful when I get out.”

He let out a laugh. “OK!” he responded back. He patted his son’s head, who was pouting. “Sorry, Yoonsung. Mommy says that I have to be the one to pick or she’ll angry at us. Do you want Mommy to be angry at us?”

“No.” muttered the boy, with his cutest pout. “Mommy’s scary when she’s angry.”

The comment only caused Yoongi to howl in laughter as he grabbed a plain black long sleeve with matching sweat pants for Yoonsung. The shirt was a tad small for the child and Yoongi did his best to continue smiling. “Don’t say that out loud.” Yoongi whispered, softly. “She’ll be angry if she hears you.”

This made Yoonsung giggled and he leaned in to peck Yoongi on the cheek. The father quickly put the tiny pair of sweat pants he found on his son. He immediately started looking for the medication Inhye had talked about in their bed room and couldn’t find it, unfortunately. He scratched the back of his head, wondering where the medication could be. These types of small apartments don’t usually have medicine cabinets so he doubt there would be one in the bathroom.

Yoonsung suddenly came walking in, with a picture book. “Daddy, will you read me this book? Mommy took me to the library yesterday and we got a lot of books!”

“A book? Sure.” responded Yoongi. “But, before we do that, where does Mommy keep your medication?” The smart boy looked up at his dad, not answering. “Yoonsung, where does your Mommy keep your medication? If you don’t tell me, then I won’t read the book to you.”

The boy caved in with a pout. “OK.”

Yoonsung quickly ran out of the bedroom to the living room with his book and Yoongi followed suit. Yoongi stopped by the bathroom to peer in. Inhye was washing their daughter’s hair with some baby shampoo as the infant laid in a baby bathtub. She was smiling up at Inhye with bright eyes and Yoongi couldn’t help but smile brightly at them.

“Daddy! Daddy!” called out Yoonsung, grabbing both of his parents’ attention. He came up to Yoongi with a small baby for