Neon

(look at them T.T I love them so much)

Life rarely worked out the way one plans it and Kina thinks she can be a living example of that. Originally, her plan was to marry at 40 and have no kids but focus on what she can do to help her country and her society but now at 23, she was not just married but even pregnant!

She smiles widely at the photos her friends have sent her at the graduation she had skipped feeling a little bitter.

Had it not being her pregnancy and her check-up, she would have been there with her friends throwing her cap like them.

And yet as she watched her husband slumbering on her lap and her protruding belly… she thinks she has the best of the best and even if she was sent back in time… she would still choose this over graduation.

Her friends had come over to ‘party’ for the last time as college kids in her home… booze-free of course, but not fun-free apparently and they had a blast. Unlike how they usually partied though, this time their party was the four of them sitting in their living room and discussing what was coming next in their lives.

It was a wholesome talk where they shared what they wanted in their lives.

Perhaps the saddest thing was that they probably wouldn’t be able to gather like this for a long while… with Soomi going to China and Jimin going to the other side of town for internship and Kyungsoo trying out his hand on business along with his aunt who sold chicken. Things were going to be different and it was going to be hard.

She also had a long talk with Junmyeon and bid her farewells knowing well that keeping in touch will be a hard thing from now on and of course… she also talked with Baekhyun.

The kid was faring well, much better than how he had been for a while. He seemed to have found out what he wanted and was going ahead with it seemingly pleased.

“I may have sorted out my relationship with my older brother…” He told her as they talked, “He works in an office but has a side business which is actually going great. He wants me to take care of it… with consulting and taking care of the bank details. He literally pushed to me all the boring stuff… But I think I like it… I hope I can find myself enjoying it more as I go along with it.”

It felt like the old times when they were good friends sharing everything and nothing. Kina was happy for him… Really.

When Sehun returned home and was done with all of his extra greetings to her and their baby, she had narrated all that had happened today.

“My wife’s officially out of college…” Sehun said fondly as they ate dinner looking at her with those endearing eyes and her waterworks obviously begun. Drat, mood swings. And right now, as Sehun dozes off in her lap trying to listen to their baby and talk with it, Kina was scrolling at the photos that her friends had taken today. All of them looked happy and cheerful but she was glad it was over.

It was over.

Sehun being over the top husband that he was, organized a graduation ceremony at home where he forced Jongin and Hyorin as well as Chanyeol and Sofia to attend. But thankfully they were all good sport and despite being super busy, they had a good time.

“Are you really not going to tell your wonderful uncle the baby’s gender? Really?” Chanyeol pouts at her dramatically, “I thought you two will have a graduation gender reveal party.”

He huffs when Kina stubbornly shakes her head at him. Sehun and she had decided that they were going to keep the gender a secret much to Chanyeol’s chagrin not knowing that he was one of the main reasons why they were doing so. The moment he finds out, he was obviously going to start buying everything for them and deprive them of the pleasure of shopping for their baby.

Hyorin Unnie on the other hand threw a fit the entire day and Kina only laughed at Jongin who had prominent dark circles under his eyes. Hyorin was literally swelling and she was uncomfortable.

“I swear I am bearing not a child but an elephant!” She shouts when she knocked down a vase. Her delivery was coming up soon and they were all giddy with excitement. They all giggled at her comment to which she starts laughing too. Also, she was having quite literally the most terrible mood swings.

“She doesn’t crave much…” Jongin tells them when Hyorin had gone in for an afternoon nap, “But she is eating so much! She eats and eats and eats… It’s like we’ll probably have a black hole for a kid.”

Sehun turns to look at her with one of his eyebrows raised and of course, an amused glint in his eyes. “Kina on the other hand only has cravings. She doesn’t even bother eating any other food. I am going a little crazy driving all throughout the city to find food of her liking.”

Everyone snorts at that nodding their heads believing every single word from Sehun. Kina throws him a mean look which he returns with a wink.

However, that night as she bids them all goodbyes she wonders if they’ll ever have such a meeting anymore considering everything was going to change soon. Sehun and she will have a kid and they’ll be busy and Jongin and Hyorin were also having theirs. Chanyeol and his wife were expanding their company to Germany and that guarantees a terrible amount of workload on their backs…

“What if I become like my parents?” She tells Sehun as he worked on his laptop and she does nothing, just sleeping on her back. “What if I can’t give time to our baby?”

She figured it was always easier to let out her thoughts than to overthink them. It took her a long time, but at least she figured it out and thanks to that, she was doing a lot better.

“Sweetheart,” Sehun gives a loud tap on his keyboard, probably pressing enter. “I am sure you and I will always take out our time out for important things… be it for each other or for our baby. No one is perfect and that’s why we learn something from someone… be it their good or their bad.”

Kina gives a loving gaze at her husband at that her belly. Having a kid on the stomach was not really fun but it has its perks.

The two of them were taking parenting classes these days, once a week, and reading excessively on raising kids and what they need and such.  They were also going for regular check-ups and spending hours sitting and feeling the baby kick. With the passing time, their anticipation for the baby’s arrival was going out of hand. It seemed as though every single day there is a delivery for baby materials at home either from their online orders or from Chanyeol or the parents.

Sehun’s mother as well as her mother were also constantly moving in and out making sure everything was okay and frankly, Kina was getting quite used to it. Perhaps the most surprising thing was the fathers who would idly come by and move around drinking some wine and go back without even saying anything. It baffles the two of them, quite often resulting in laughs but Kina could also sense their anticipation. It was almost as though they were all b with joy... except maybe Jason who only sulks when he comes over.

“Ugh!” Kina groans when a sudden sense of boredom hits her. It was almost as though something has hit her and made her realize that these days all she does is watch Sehun work while she does nothing. “I feel extra unemployed today. Hun! Give me something to do…”

Sehun stops his work and turns around in his chair with a small smile. “We had a long day… You should rest.”

Kina pouts at that feeling super deprived. “I did nothing though… all I did was sit and eat. You did all the work. It should be me working and you resting! Come on… I just spend 4 years of my life trying to get a degree so that I could work and now that I have it… I don’t have anything to do. Ugh! This is the worst.”

Kina knew quite well that she was exaggerating. Drat, the mood swings again but she also knows that her brain was sending her signals. It has been a month since she finished with her final submission of all her assignments and written her exams. Just after finishing that, she had been busy with Sehun decorating the baby’s room, officially as well as joining all those classes… but now they had already finished decorating the room and she was in tune with the parenting classes and it was not like she had any assignments to do regarding the classes… so she was quite… bored.

Sehun however, chuckles at her and closes his laptop. “What do you want to do then? Shall I take out some board games we can play or set up some gaming consoles?”

Kina mules a little at that but shakes her head. That sounded tempting but there was something she wanted to do.

“I want to eat something spicy. Let’s go eat tteokbokki in G Street. The last time I ate with my friends… they were delicious.”

Sehun blinks at that looking a little conflicted. “Um… How about you rest… while I go and bring you the tteokbokki? Hmm?”

Kina sighs and turns to look at the clock. It was just 8:30.

“No…” She whined, “I want to go out! It has been months!”

“But we went out this week as well… for classes, you know.” Sehun tries to reason with her as he climbs up the bed to where she was.

“But that was for class… I want to go out ‘out’.”

Sehun looked worried and even more conflicted at that. “But if you get hurt? It is late… plus I heard the G Street has a lot of people at this time of the night.”

“But… But I want to go…” Kina says feeling absolutely crushed that Sehun wouldn’t do that for her. She could already feel the tears coming. She pries her husband’s hands away and curls up in a corner ready to cry out her lungs.

Was she such a nuisance to him? After all, he had been working… and now she was disturbing him with what she wanted.

But then, she sniffles loudly and tries her best not to sob out loudly… she really wants to go out. Except for the parenting classes, she’s been confined at home. Was her life really going to be like this?

“Alright, alright…” Sehun comes to her and spoons her. “Let’s go get that tteokbokki of yours. Please don’t cry.”

Drat. Now she was already comfortable… and Sehun was spooning her. But she also wanted to go out and eat that food.

She gives in to her cravings and they get ready to go with Sehun wrapping her up so much she felt like she couldn’t breathe anymore. The drive there was peaceful save for her excitement and Sehun laughing at her.

His laughter was short-lived though as frowns decorated his face as they stood in front of the stall of the tteokbokki she wanted to eat.

“A stall? That too out in such open air?” He worriedly whispers into her ears as her excitement only grew looking at the array of food displayed in there. “Aren’t there any proper restaurant here that sells tteokbokki?”

Kina ignores him and orders her least-spicy version of tteokbokki as well as a spicy one for Sehun. Unlike Kina, Sehun wasn’t having the time of his life. He was barely eating one when Kina finishes hers and orders another plate making Sehun worry as he began to nag her about the unhealthy contents of such street food. She eats another plate and then moved on to some other fried food making Sehun give up and instead just watch her eat.

He was adamant about not eating else and Kina was too busy to force him to eat. He was clearly uncomfortable but did not fail to be with her at every second they were there making sure that she wouldn’t bump into anything or other people wouldn’t bump into her.

They drove home and she obviously dozes off feeling all happy and warm not noticing the soft gaze and smile her husband was giving her.

Ah… Life never goes as planned but really… even when it doesn’t go as planned, we could always make the best use of it… Right?

* * *

Jongin held his big baby girl in his arms for the first time and cried out ignoring the people there. She was the most beautiful baby he had ever laid his eyes on.

Sehun helped him rub his tears and snots with a tissue as Jongin continued crying looking at his new darling. Goodness… it was impossible to love someone this much and they only just met!

“I think I am falling in love all over again…” He chokes making Sehun sigh. “Daddy’s going to feed you with a lot of good food okay… I will love you and protect you. You’re going to be so loved.”

Jongin laughed again looking at the baby i