The door creaked open as little footsteps carefully sneaked inside the bedroom. The room was still dark, without any trace nor hint of sunlight slipping through the windows.

One. Two. Three. The little girl carrying her tiger stuffed animal slowly approached the left side of the bed on her toes. She gently lifted the covers of the bed and peeked at her omma who was currently in deep sleep.

She leaned closer to her omma’s cheek and touched it with her index finger.

“Omma, are you awake?” she whispered. Her omma let out a silent moan and stayed in her slumber state.

The little girl was a bit disappointed but tried to call for her attention once more by tapping her omma’s arm. “Omma,” she said a bit louder.

To no avail, her omma just stirred and shifted her face away from her and snuggled closer to her appa. Seeing that her omma wouldn’t wake up, she made her way to the other side of the bed in an attempt to wake her appa instead.

“Appa,” she whispered in his ear. His appa silently grumbled and she grinned brightly knowing that she has succeeded her mission in waking him up.

With his eyes still closed he reached for her head and carressed it, “Sweetheart, why are you up so early?”

She excitedly smiled at her appa’s response and leaned closer to his face, “Appa, you and omma are coming with me to school today!!”

Jong Kook chuckled at his daughter’s enthusiastic voice and opened his eyes. He was suddenly reminded that it was his daughter’s first field day as an elementary student. Last night, he and Ji Hyo had a hard time soothing her to sleep because she wouldn’t stop talking about the games she and her friends would play.

“Arraso. Give me 5 minutes and we’ll get ready, okay?” He looked at her.

“But appa, 5 minutes is way too looooong,” she pouted.

He couldn’t help but groan and feel amused at the same time with his daughter’s response. There was no way he was going to win this, especially when she looks exactly like Ji Hyo when she does that. They really do have their way of wrapping him around their fingers.

“Okay, okay. Why don’t you go to the kitchen first and choose what you want for breakfast? I’ll follow.”

Jin-ae squinted her eyes and stuck her pinky finger out to her appa, “Promise?”

“Promise,” Jong Kook playfully hooked his pinky with hers and gave it a quick kiss. “Go on, I’ll be out in a bit.”

Jin-ae giggled and hugged her tiger stuffed animal close to her chest and swiftly ran towards the kitchen.

Jong Kook let out a yawn and stretched out his arms and legs before sitting up. Glancing over his left shoulder, he found his wife completely undisturbed by their daughter’s wake up call. He pulled up the sheets of the bed to cover her shoulders and kissed her forehead before proceeding to the kitchen.

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When Jong Kook entered the kitchen, Jin-ae was already seated at the dining table animatedly talking to her stuffed toy, Kookie. Kookie is a present that Ji Hyo received from her fans when they announced the birth of Jin-ae. They’ve originally kept Kookie as a decor on her nursery’s bookshelf until she turned 9 months old when they discovered that she would often fix her gaze at the stuffed animal in long periods of time. The moment she raised her hands to reach for Kookie, Jong Kook handed it over to her and she squealed so loud in glee. They became inseparable ever since. From that time on, his SNS followers had the privilege of seeing various photos and clips of Jin-ae playing and obsessing over Kookie through the years.

Entertained by the gestures his daughter was making, he ruffled her hair and stood next to her.

“What does our Jin-ae want for breakfast?”

“Pancakes!!” she exclaimed.

“Okay, pancakes coming right up! Let’s use our indoor voice, okay? Omma’s still sleeping.”

She stood up on the chair and cupped her hand to whisper in her appa’s ear, “Kookie and I promise to be reeaaally quiet”

Jong Kook grinned at her suspiciously, wondering how long she could keep the silence up. He winked at her and whispered back, “Okay, I’m counting on you” before heading straight to the cupboard to gather the ingredients. As he was whisking the flour, milk, egg yolk, sugar, and melted butter together, he could hear Jin-ae’s voice softly singing a nursery rhyme. From the corner of his eye, he saw her manipulating Kookie’s chubby arms to dance out the movements of the song she learned at school.

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10 minutes have passed and Jin-ae’s patience have started to slip away. Little did Jong Kook notice that his little girl had started crawling back into their bedroom. Jin-ae climbed up the bed and cuddled next to her omma.

“Omma,” she embraced Ji Hyo’s neck and clung on to her tight.

Baffled by the sudden motion, Ji Hyo’s eyes shot open and was surprised to find her daughter’s cheek pressed against hers.

“Oh, Jin-ae ah. You’re already up?” she asked and scanned the room to look for her husband.

“Omma, you’re funny! We’re all going to school today and Appa’s making Kookie and I pancakes for breakfast!!” she proudly informed her.

Ji Hyo took a moment before getting up and scooped her daughter in her arms to see how Jong Kook was doing.

Jin-ae knew that her omma was usually quiet in the mornings as her Kwangsoo samchon would always say that she had a little too much grown-up drinks in the evenings. She finds this very funny cause not only does her samchon look hilarious while telling her stories about it but it’s even more ridiculous to see him yelping in pain once her omma kicks him.

However, these past few weeks Jin-ae has noticed how her omma has become quieter than usual. She has been sleeping longer and she felt weak at times. One time she felt sad about it cause she thought her omma had totally forgotten about her and had cried over breakfast before going to school. Her appa assured her that her omma loves her so much and explained that it was normal since her dongsaeng was growing inside omma’s tummy. She and her appa both swore that they would be more understanding and take good care of omma and dongsaeng.

Ji Hyo tightened her grip around Jin-ae as she carried her to the kitchen. She smiled at the sight of her husband who was struggling to figure out the disney pancake molders she recently ordered online. As he flipped the Mickey Mouse-shaped pancake, the molder flew upwards and ruined the edges of the ears.

“Aish,” Jong Kook muttered and tried to shape Mickey's ears to look more presentable and edible. Fits of laughter burst from the dining area and spotted his wife and daughter amused by what just happened.

Jong Kook turned off the stove and dropped the spatula to greet his wife good morning. As he came nearer, his tongue clicked, “Aigoo, Jin-ae. We shouldn’t let omma carry you anymore. You’re getting heavy for her.” He took their daughter out of Ji Hyo’s grasp and carried her and Ji Hyo’s cheek.

“How are you feeling yeobo?” he asked her nicely.

“Sleepy,” she responded and glanced over his shoulder, “Need help with those pancakes?”

“Please do,” he kissed her cheek and accompanied her by the stove with Jin-ae still in his arms. The father and daughter duo observed Ji Hyo as she finished flipping the remaining pancakes.

“Omma, don’t forget to add lots of bananas and chocolate syrup! That’s Kookie’s favorite!” Jin-ae exclaimed.

“Jinja? You sure that’s Kookie’s favorite?” Jong Kook asked her and she firmly nodded.

“Arasso. Since it’s Kookie’s favorite, don’t get anything from his plate,” Ji Hyo smirked, knowing that her daughter was just trying to trap her into giving more sweets than she’s allowed to.

Jin-ae froze and stared blankly at her omma, who also stared back at her. Jong Kook laughed at the scene before his eyes. “O-K, Round 1 of Mongji vs Mongjin has begun!” he announced eyeing at his two girls closely for having the same expression on their faces.

“Wae, Mongjin? Are you breaking into a smile?” he teased his daughter whose mouth was slowly turning upwards. “Awww, Appa!!! You were teasing me” she hugged Jong Kook and leaned her head on his chest.

Ji Hyo also enveloped her arms beside Jong Kook to hug her husband and comfort Jin-ae, hoping she wasn’t too upset.

She tucked some strands of Jin-ae’s hair underneath her ears, “Omma’s allowing you to have extra bananas and chocolate syrup on your pancake cause it’ll be a fun day at school, isn’t it Appa?”

“Sure is. Come on, sweetheart. Don’t be upset. It’s a good day!” His appa slightly bounced her, moving from side to side to cheer her up. Jin-ae’s face finally broke into a real smile and nodded.

“That’s our girl. Saranghae, our Jin-ae,” Ji Hyo kissed her cheek.

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After breakfast, the Kim family got ready for Jin-ae’s first field day. Jong Kook took care of the dishes as Ji Hyo helped a very enthusiastic Jin-ae shower and dress up for school. Although Jin-ae has been thrilled about today there was also one person who couldn’t contain his excitement, Jong Kook.

A couple of days ago he had initiated a new form of father and daughter bonding, jogging. He reasoned that it would be a good way to spend time with his first born before their new member arrives. As soon as Jin-ae gets home from school, he would invite her to exercise around the neighborhood. Jin-ae seemed to have been enjoying their time and has not noticed Jong Kook’s secret agenda. Of course, Ji Hyo saw right through her husband. She called him out one evening and told him not to pressure their daughter with his “training” and to let go of his competitive side. He simply shrugged off her scolding and kissed her to shut her up.

Eventually, Ji Hyo gave up on telling him off as their daughter’s competitive spirit has risen to a whole new level. Jin-ae would come home so pumped after jogging and wouldn’t stop talking about how good she is and how she’ll aim for first place. Ji Hyo did, however, give him a warning look that if by any chance Jin-ae would lose the relay race, he’d be the parent-in-charge to console her.

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Several elementary students and parents have begun to gather around the school field by 7:30am, including the Kim family. Jong Kook, who was now more excited than his daughter, had insisted that they come early. Ji Hyo complained about his eagerness, stating that the event wouldn’t start till 9am. Trying to get on her good side, he explained that it might be difficult to get a parking slot if they arrive a bit later in which he still received Ji Hyo’s questioning look. Jin-ae couldn’t care less as she happily skipped through the field searching for her friends.

To appease his wife, Jong Kook held her hand as their family walked through the sidelines observing the booths being set-up by parent volunteers, teachers and food stall vendors and hoping to find a good place to rest before the official program begins. They luckily found a spot at the bleachers where there’s enough shade for Ji Hyo to rest and some space for Jin-ae to play freely.

Once they sat Ji Hyo closed her eyes and rested her head on Jong Kook’s shoulder, a gesture she often did in her second pregnancy whenever she feels tired or sleepy. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and gently rubbed her arm.

“Mianhe, I shouldn’t have insisted on being here early,” he planted a kiss on her head.

“Gwenchana, it’s okay It’s just that...I actually feel more tired this time around compared to my pregnancy with Jin-ae,” she sighed.

“Mianhe…,” he repeated once more and pulled her closer to him. “Do you need anything right now?”

“This is fine. Don’t worry, oppa.”

“Appa! Omma!” Jong Kook and Ji Hyo’s heads instantly searched for Jin-ae’s voice and were surprised to find Dong Hoon carrying their daughter towards them.

“Oh— you’re here!” Jong Kook said.

Dong Hoon approached them and greeted his hyung and sister-in-law. “I thought Song didn’t want you here. How did you manage to step foot in this place?” Ji Hyo .

“Yah, Song Ji Hyo, wait till this little princess of yours turns 10. Let’s see if you guys are still her favorite people around. I’m telling you, now that it’s Song’s last year in elementary school, I’m just grabbing all the opportunities and excuse I could get to spend time with her before she realizes how much more fun it is to be independent in middle school. Makes me really miss my kids when they were still babies,” Haha murmured and turned his attention to Jin-ae.

”Jin-ae ah, be our baby forever arasso? You can even visit me and Go Eun imo for a play date,” he cooed in his playful Haroro tone.

“Andeyo,” Jin-ae laughed and placed her little hands on her samchon’s cheeks, “Samchon, I can’t be a baby forever”

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