He was yet completely forgiven. Joonie has been becoming more silent than before. The boy has changed, or maybe was it only Seungri's feeling? 

The change of behavior started after Joonie cried in front of Seungri, begging him not to go and confessing that he was afraid Seungri would do it the second time. Children tended to continue a behavior when it was rewarded and stop when it was ignored. Joonie must’ve thought that being spoiled and bubbly also demanding attention from his mother made Seungri leave him behind, so he changed. He shut off his feelings, kept away his discomfort only for him to notice alone. Joonie must’ve thought that being sad all the time would only make his father missing his mother more that time, so he chose to be a good kid for his dada. However, when Jiyong brought his momma back, Joonie was confused about what he should do. Deep inside he was happy, but he forgot how to express his feelings again.

“Are you going out today? I can take care of Joonie if you're busy.” Jiyong appeared from their bedroom while finished dressing up and wearing his watch as he saw Joonie quickly climbed down from the stool he was sitting at, silently, and hugged Seungri's leg. 

The mother in this family crouched down and smiled nicely to the boy. “I'm staying home, hyung.”

Joonie was too clingy to Seungri, more than before, but he refused to say a word for every of his action toward Seungri. Jiyong was scared when he looked at Joonie, his son was becoming more like him, cold and distance, but at the same time still needed Seungri for support. They had consulted the matter with a specialist, she suggested them to take a baby step as Joonie was once again trying to adapt with his feelings, fighting the urge of hating his mother like before, but there’s something that made them very happy, Joonie showed them that he didn’t want to be away from Seungri, that he loved Seungri despite how mad he was at his mother for selfishly abandoning him.

“Are you sure you'll be okay?” Jiyong asked as he kissed Seungri on the lips and Joonie's forehead. Joonie was now in Seungri's arms.

“Yes. I have an appointment with mom and omma though. We're going to plan for Joonie's birthday party next month.” Seungri answered happily.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about the meeting. Let's go somewhere after that, hm? I'll go home as soon as I finish the business with Hyunsuk hyung.” Seungri nooded at Jiyong's proposal.

“Where?”

“I don’t know. Jeju?”

“That’s not just somewhere.”

Both parents chuckled. Joonie remained silent, listening to his parents’ ramble.

“I need to finish the decoration for my café. Maybe we can use the place for Joonie's party?” Jiyong said.

“Aw, dada is sweet. Did you hear that, honey? Dada is finishing up his café for Joonie.” Seungri baby-talked the boy. He didn’t respond. Both Jiyong and Seungri smiled sadly at the boy. 

“Hey, big boy. Dada needs to go now. Play with momma and grandmothers while waiting for dada, neh? I take you on vacation this afternoon. What do you say?” Jiyong ruffled Joonie's hair.

“Neh.” The only word Joonie knew now as he only responded with neh or no.

“Good boy.”

“Take care, dada.” Seungri pulled Joonie's hand with him as they waved their goodbyes to Jiyong.

“Say hello to both moms for me, jagi.”

“Neh.” Seungri answered enthusiastically. Seungri turned back at Joonie who played with his shirt band, “Do you want waffle, Joonie?”

The boy looked up and stared at his mother confusedly. He opened his mouth, trying to say something, but decided to hold it back. As if understanding what the boy meant, Seungri explained about the food.

“Aah, I forgot Joonie hadn’t ever tasted the food.” Seungri grinned cutely at the blank boy. “It's crispy batter cake baked in patterned iron. Joonie can add butter or syrup when Joonie's eating them. Wait, let me show you how it looks like.” Seungri pulled out his phone from his pants and quickly searched through his gallery for Belgian waffle from And Here's picture. “Here, here. Look delicious, right? Joonie wants?” Seungri asked as he shoved his phone toward Joonie.

Joonie looked hesitated as he bit his thumbnail. Seconds later he nodded which brought a smile in Seungri's face.

“Then let's ask grandma to bake one for Joonie, neh?”
Joonie nodded. He stared long at Seungri before blushed hard. “Can Joonie have two?”

Seungri was surprised because this was the first time Joonie said a full sentence again after his breakdown in front of Seungri. Looking at his momma's weird expression, Joonie pouted.

“Is okay Joonie eats one then.” Joonie was mumbling. Realized that he made Joonie sad, Seungri quickly apologized.

“No, no, honey. Momma is just surprised. Of course Joonie can have as many as he wants.” Seungri said. He saw a glimpse of happiness in the boy's eyes. Maybe, his Joonie would be back again soon as energetic as before. He still loved Joonie no matter what though, including his behavior now, he wasn’t hating on it a single bit. Joonie became calmer and more polite. However, the coldness, Seungri couldn’t bear it. No child should be like this, they should enjoy the world with laughter and rainbow, but then who could Seungri blame beside himself? Seungri brought the same pain as what Joonie's biological mother did in the past.

“Thank you … m-momma.” Joonie whispered but Seungri could still hear it. He couldn’t help tearing up at the response. He kissed both Joonie's cheeks before embraced him tight, super tight as if he was afraid Joonie would leave when he let go. He should tell Jiyong later about their son's progress. He grabbed his key and drove them to And Here for their meeting with grandmothers.

x

“Oh, look who's here!” Mrs Lee squealed hard as she pulled