"- so here we are and I'm wearing pinkie! Cuz pinkie is my bestest colour in the whole widest world of worlds!" Byul finished excitedly. "And Mister Kitty! You pinkie too! Ear and tail pinkie! Is pinkie your bestest colour? Oh, and pinkie blankie and pillows!"

"Pinkie is my bestest colour too!" Jin declared, and then proceeded to show Byul how soft the blanket and pillows were.

Smiling, Soo Mi put some ice cream in the freezer and started making lunch. Goodness, Sungmi's kitchen was full of crumbs and spilled milk... she couldn't remember her friend ever leaving the kitchen in such a state. She spotted the list of rules pinned on the fridge with a magnet. The culprit of this mess must be Jin, if he had a rule specifically saying he needed to clean up after himself.

With the background of Byul and Jin's chatter and giggles and the sound of cartoons, Soo Mi made macaroni and cheese, Byul's favorite. Sung Mi had told her to go ahead and bring Byul to visit Jin, and to help herself to lunch and make some for Jin too please.

After lunch, they went to the park, where Byul ran around in circles in the grass and made Jin dizzy, and fed ducks in the pond. It was snack time when Sung Mi came home, and Byul shrieked and went to hug her in greeting.

"Heya, sweetpea! What are you up to?"

"Aunty Sungmi, Aunty Sungmi! Me and Mister Kitty colouring and fed duckies in pond and had macca cheese!" Byul announced, Soo Mi behind her.

"Wow, sounds like you're having so much fun!" Sung Mi gasped, grinning at the beaming child. "Can I see what Artist Byul worked on?"

"Yes, this way!" Byul said importantly, taking her hand and leading her to the living room. Jin was lying on the carpeted floor on his stomach, a cat colouring book before him which he coloured very seriously, tongue stuck out in concentration. He glanced up at Sung Mi, and then resumed his task.

"Brought kitty colouring book because Mister Kitty here and we doing pinkie cuz pinkie our bestest colour," the child explained, taking the colouring book Jin was working on and holding it up proudly. She turned the pages to show a completed sheet, of a cat in a suit sitting on a bench eating a sandwich. The cat's ears and tail were soft baby pink.

"That's so beautiful!" Sung Mi praised. "Our little artist has been hard at work!"

Byul smiled shyly, and turned to another page where a cat wore pyjamas and was in bed, the moon smiling down at it. Again, the cat's ears and tail were soft baby pink, and the blankets and curtains and rug were pink, too.

"This is so beautiful, too!" Sung Mi and Soo Mi praised.

"Mister Kitty do this one!"

"Wow, he is almost as good as Artist Byul!" Sung Mi said, and Jin rolled his eyes.

"Aunty Sungmi, put it on the fridge?" Byul asked hopefully. Putting her drawings and colouring pages on the fridge with a magnet was nearly a ritual now, both for Sung Mi and the couple. Byul always took great pride when her art was put up.

Sung Mi smiled fondly. "Of course we can put our little artsits's work on the fridge!"

The colouring page was torn out very gently – by Soo Mi – and the four went to the kitchen and placed a magnet over the paper among other drawings and colouring sheets, and exclaimed over how all her art brightened up the kitchen. Byul then askd to put Jin's up, too, and he smiled with pride which made Sung Mi roll her eyes. If he took himself as an artist and cluttered the walls with his scrawling she would throw him out!

Jin and Byul went back to the living room to play, and Soo Mi sat at the table as Sung Mi got them both drinks.

"So what happened?" Sung Mi asked. "Why was Byul out of kindergarten so early?"

Soo Mi sighed. "This kid was picking on Byul for a while and today she finally knocked out his tooth – in front of a teacher."

"Damn! Well good for her she stood up for herself, but bad timing I guess. Did she get in trouble?"

"Thankfully not much, because we cleared up with her teacher that it wasn't an unprovoked outburst. Still, she got sent home early."

"Was she upset?" Sung Mi wished she had been there to smack some sense into the kid who dared to pick on her Byul.

"She cried. And you know... she said sorry to us for making us sad."

"Aww she's such a sweetheart," Sung Mi said softly, smiling fondly. "I'm glad she doesn't seem upset now."

"Yeah, me too. Still, I need to talk to her more about what happened later."

"Did you handle it alone or did Namjoon come?"

"He came, thank goodness. Everyone was yelling and crying. He's the only one who kept his cool."

Sung Mi laughed, knowing her calm friend. "Of course."

"How's Jin behaving?" Soo Mi asked, emptying her glass.

"Eh, so-so." Sung Mi shrugged. "I like him when he's catlike. He likes to play with loose ends of things, you know, bats at them with his hand! I should maybe get him some kitty toys because he's awfully bored. He eats and sleeps and makes messes, basically."

"He should have some toys! I'll ask Byul if she would like to give him a present, too."

"Oh, she shouldn't have to give away a toy to him!"

"Please, you know she has too many toys than she can even play with!" Soo Mi retorted. "You spoil her."

"It's literally the aunt's job to spoil the kid!"

Just then, Byul burst into the kitchen, looking very important, followed by Jin. "Mommy! When you gonna give me baby Boombernickles?"

"One day, sweetie," Soo Mi replied, smoothing the child's hair. "What were you and Mister Kitty playing?"

"I know how baby made so why taking so long? It's easy!"

Soo Mi and Sung Mi froze.

"Oh really? Who told you?" Soo Mi asked.

"I did!" Jin beamed. "She asked and I answered!"

****

"Hey, I didn't say you could lower your hands!" Sung Mi cried.

The catboy pouted and raised his arms above his head, grumbling about mean humans.

"This wasn't even me who put you in time-out, it's Soo Mi, so you can go whine to her! I hope you learned your lesson, though."

"But I-"

"You're lucky Soo Mi didn't put you in time out for the rest of your life! If you had told Byul the truth, my gosh..."

"Well I didn't tell the truth so-"

"Hands back up, I see you slacking!" Sung Mi ordered. "It's not good to lie like that to kids."

Jin had apparently told Byul that when mommies and daddies loved each other so much, a baby was formed. So, the little girl had then wondered if her mommy and daddy in fact, did not love each other enough, which gave Soo Mi a heart attack.

"My friend's mommy went away from their house," Byul had continued, with a hint of anxiety in her eyes. "Because she didn't like my friend's daddy anymore. You and Daddy won't leave, right?"

"Byul, sweetie!" Soo Mi had excaimed, shocked that such a thought had even entered her daughter's mind.

"No, Byul, your parents love each other so much," Sung Mi had explained. "No one is going to leave, ok? I promise."

Jin sighed. "Didn't know she would take it like that."

"You can never be sure of how a kid will understand or feel about something!" Sung Mi said. "Byul's imagination is crazy and it doesn't help much if her friends' parents in kindergarten are getting divorced and all that." There was a nasty feeling in the pit of her stomanch – no, seeing her parents divorce was perhaps the worst time of her life. Oh wait, their remarriages were pretty bad too. Regardless, she had faith Soo Mi and Namjoon would never end up separating, and Byul wouldn't have to go through that.

Sung Mi ganced at the clock, ten minutes had passed. "Ok, your time out's over. You can put your arms down."

Jin huffed and plopped himself on the couch, ears drooping and tail flicking, burying himself in his pink blanket. He seemed like an upset kitten that Sungmi couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him – after all, she knew how persistent Byul could be with questions. It's not like he meant for h