“I’m going to go out for a morning jog,” announced Seulgi, coming out from their bedroom clad in her black windbreaker and training pants. Long, black hair tied in a neat ponytail, showcasing her slender white neck to the world.

Seungwan responded with a soft hum, currently taking care of their daughter who just woke up from her sleep. “Will it be long?”

“Just for a couple turns,” answered her wife, leaning down to nuzzle the tip of her nose gently onto Ryujin’s fluffy cheek who was still placed snugly inside the arms of Seungwan. “Hey, princess. Have a nice sleep?”

Dark brown orbs of Ryujin who were a perfect copy of Seungwan looked at her with inquisitive inside her gaze. “Umma where go?”

“Umma is going out for a morning jog, sweetheart,” replied Seungwan softly, positioning herself better so Ryujin can see her Umma.

Their daughter blinked her eyes before saying something they didn’t expect at all on that fine and nice morning. “Jinnie too!”

The monolid eyes of Seulgi looked at her daughter with bewilderment, needing some time to finally make all her cells move again like how her brain usually commanded it. “Ryujin wants to have a morning walk too with Umma?”

Ryujin nodded her head enthusiastically as she changed the lane of her gaze to Seungwan with wonders. “Can Jinnie, Mama?”

“Um,” Seungwan’s jaw suddenly got slacked, and didn't know what to answer as she sent an emergency glance to Seulgi who was still standing rigidly beside her. “Can she? Can you?”

Seulgi blinked her eyes several times before managing to coherently reply to Seungwan’s question. “Sure, I guess. As long as we are just walking. Are you fine with it?”

Seungwan was about to let out her worry of letting their two years old daughter have a morning walk with Seulgi when she saw Ryujin’s eyes shining from really wanting to go out with her Umma. She slipped out a small chuckle. “I guess I can’t hold back what Jinnie wants, huh?”

Ryujin cheers happily as she claps her hands excitedly from getting permission to have a morning walk with Umma. She leaned forward to kiss Seungwan’s cheeks giddily. “Love Mama!”

“Love you too, sweetie,” giggled Seungwan as she reciprocates the kiss to Ryujin, kissing her fluffy cheek that she loves the most. “Now, let’s get you changed, okay?”

Her daughter’s head bobbed up and down gleefully as she tightening her hold on Seungwan’s neck, can’t wait to change her pyjama into proper clothes for having a morning walk with Umma.

She barely can contain her joyous feeling of going out in the morning. Constantly jumping up and down when Seungwan was about to put a thick light blue sweater onto her body, making her mom laugh and reminding her to not use up her energy too much before she has a decent walk with Seulgi. Ryujin only giggled from the reminder and stopped jumping around after that, but still can’t wipe her wide grin off from her face.

“Ready, princess?” asked Seulgi once Ryujin is done with changing her clothes. Already preparing a pair of small shoes for her daughter to wear.

Ryujin nodded excitedly as she sat on the floor willingly, letting her mother tuck her feet into the black and white shoes. “Bye bye, Mama! Bye bye, baby!”

Seungwan laughed as her hand automatically put itself on top of her growing belly, rubbing it gently using her thumb as she patted the top of Ryujin’s head with her other hand tenderly. Slightly bent her body so she could level her eyes with her daughter. “Be careful when you are walking with Umma, okay? Listen to your Umma too.”

The smile on Seungwan’s soft features widened when Ryujin answered her with another enthusiast nod. Seungwan straightens her body, only to be met with Seulgi’s arm circling on her waist naturally. Pulling her closer as their lips met in the middle. “We are going to be back soon.”

“Take care of our princess, okay?” pleaded Seungwan as she cupped Seulgi’s face to pull her in for another kiss.

Seulgi nodded after she pulled back from the kiss, putting her hand right on top of Seungwan’s palm which was still located on her swelling belly. “Umma and your sister are going to go out. Take care Mama for Umma, tiny bean.”

Little hand of Ryujin grasped the warm hand of Seulgi perfectly. Her free hand waving in the air, saying goodbye to Mama once again before she goes for her first morning walk with Umma. Ryujin can barely contain her wide smile, and didn't manage to erase it from her face. She is too giddy for her fun walk.

“Shall we go, princess?”

“Let’s go!”

---

Somehow, it’s not really a bad idea to be accompanied by your daughter when you are having your usual morning walk around the complex of your apartment.

Small smile constantly plastered on Seulgi’s face ever since the start of their morning walk. Ryujin’s excited steps on the stone pavement entertain her more than she had expected earlier. Releasing the little hand to let her explore the world on her own, Seulgi decided to act as the protector from her behind.

“Umma, look!” pointed Ryujin towards a fresh bloomed flower in between the sea of grass.

Seulgi crouched herself beside Ryujin, also putting her attention towards the small flower. “What do you think the colour of the flower is, Ryujin?”

Ryujin scrunched her face, trying to think of the name of the colour that the flower uses for its petals. “Yellow!” answered her loudly the moment her mind found her the answer.

“That’s my smart girl,” praised Seulgi whilst patting the top of Ryujin’s head softly, eliciting an excited giggle to slip off from her daughter.

“Can Jinnie take flowers, Umma?”

She shook her head softly with a smile plastered on her face, while her daughter responded to her answer with a pout. “Flowers are a living thing. If Jinnie plucks it out, then what happens to the flower?”

Her adorable eyes blinked for a while, before answering her question innocently. “Flowers die.”

“Exactly. Then what happens if it dies?”

The pout on her face deepens, but this time it’s from a different type of sadness. It’s the sorry type of sadness. “The grass sad.”

Seulgi smiled from her answer. “That’s why we need to let it live together with the grass, so the grass won’t be sad.”

Ryujin’s hand being grabbed by Seulgi once again as they leave the flower. Her daughter still manages to bid the beautiful plant a goodbye with hand waves and words. “Goodbye, flower! Be happy with grass! See you soon!”

Her smile widens from her daughter’s cute action towards the flower. The little hand gripped her finger tightly as they walked along the quite long stone pavement. Enjoying the cool morning breeze of a wind that feels refreshing and quite powerful enough to wake a sleepy someone just by a blow.

“Umma, park!”

One of her eyebrows suddenly raised by themselves because of the sudden statement. “Ryujin wants to go to the park?”

Her daughter nodded her head energetically. Her mind is filled with imaginary fun activities that she will be able to do if her mom allows her to go to the park in the morning.

“I don’t know if the park is open in the morning, though,” hummed Seulgi softly, unaware of the sad expression that started to wash over Ryujin’s excited face. “But we can check it together. And if the park is open, Ryujin can play there for a while. What about that?”

“Okay! Let’s go to the park, Umma!”

Ryujin jumps as she walks, feeling too worked up with the thought of being able to play in the park. Seulgi needs to hold her hand tighter in the process, afraid if the little girl will trip because of her excessive movement in walking.

Thankfully, the pavement is not filled with too many people in the morning. Usually, especially on the weekend, there will be so many people who jog on the stone pavement that they are currently walking at right now. Like Seulgi’s original idea of having a nice, morning jog.

But this morning, the pavement was only filled with several people who just did a leisure walk like her and her daughter. Just enjoying the feeling of a nice morning without the need to rush things from inside.

“Umma, why park so far?”

“Because we took a longer route than usual,” answered Seulgi easily, watching her daughter who wore a blank expression on her face. “Why? Ryujin feels tired?”

Her small head immediately moved from side to side. “No! Jinnie wants play at park! Jinnie not tired!”

Seulgi just let out a soft chuckle. “Okay, princess. Whatever you say.”

“Oh? Little girl, are you taking a walk together with your mother now?”

Both of their steps got halted from the question, founding a smiling old woman currently smiling towards them. Much more to Ryujin’s lane of gaze, seeing as how the old woman slightly bent herself forward so she could look closer towards her daughter.

Ryujin immediately hid herself behind the slender legs of Seulgi, carefully peeking her head slightly to look into the grandma’s face easily. But she doesn’t want to interact with the old woman. Mama said once that Ryujin needs to be careful if she is talking with a stranger.

“Hello,” greeted Seulgi politely as she slightly bent her body forward towards the old woman in front of her, lips formed into a small smile. She rubbed the top of her daughter’s head gently. “Ryujin, say hi to the grandma.”

“Hi,” greeted Ryujin timidly with a small voice, still hiding behind Seulgi’s legs.

Seulgi let out a soft chuckle. “She can be pretty shy with people she just met.”

The old woman laughed softly as she waved her hand in the air. “It’s okay. For her to greet me is already making me happy. Hi Ryujin, following Umma having her morning walk?”

Ryujin hid herself more. She doesn’t understand why Umma can comfortably speak with this grandma. She never met her, that’s making Umma also never speak to this grandma, right? Mama said to be careful while talking with strangers, so why Umma didn’t be careful while talking to grandma?

“It’s her first time, right?”

“Yeah. I honestly took aback when she said she wants to follow me doing a morning walk. I guess I need to expect that to happen a lot from now on.”

The old woman smiling brightly once again, still looking at Ryujin in a comfortable distance between the both of them. “I believe she looks more like her other mother.”

Seulgi chuckled from that statement. “Other people said that too. I guess I need to accept this fact now.”

The little girl only looked at the conversation between the adults with confusion in her eyes. Why does it feel like her Umma knows this grandma so well? They are conversing pretty comfortably when her mother is the type of person who will be awkward around new people. Her little hand that was grasping her pants pulled it a bit, gaining the attention of her mother. “Umma, park.”

“Oh? I think I already hold back both of you for pretty long now.”

“Ah, it’s okay,” laughed Seulgi as she naturally grabbed Ryujin’s small hand into her own. “My daughter just really wants to play in the park now.”

“I guess I can’t hold back what the little girl wants much longer, am I?” enunciated the old woman, still flashing her warm smile towards Ryujin. “See you again soon, Ryujin. Play well with your mother, okay?”

Ryujin just nodded her head timidly as her mother tugged her gently to start walking towards the park, after bidding a goodbye towards the warm grandma who was walking towards the opposite direction.

Their walk got lingered with silence. Ryujin’s mind is too occupied with the grandma that she met earlier for her to talk about something. Seulgi, who watches how her daughter suddenly turned into her silent self when she was being so excited the whole walk, got confused as her eyebrows turned into a frown.

The little girl was about to ask more about the old woman when her eyes caught the place where she really wanted to go the most. “Umma! The park!”

She let go of her holding on her mother’s hand and running towards the park excitedly.

“Ryujin, be careful!” reminded Seulgi, trying to catch up to her daughter.

But her reminder is a tad bit too late when her eyes watch how Ryujin’s little feet got tripped at the stone pavement, making her daughter fall on her knees. Seulgi let out a sigh, slightly jogged towards her daughter in case she was about to cry.

“Umma,” sobbed Ryujin softly, showing Seulgi her scraped knee. It’s a bit bleeding and dirt covered the wounded area. “It hurt.”

Seulgi moved her golden brown orbs around, trying to find something to help her cure her daughter’s injury when her eyes spotted a 24 hours minimarket. “Come here. Let’s take care of your wound, okay?”

Ryujin nodded while biting her bottom lip, trying to contain the painful feelings from the wound as her mother picked her up in her arms. Walking towards the quiet minimarket near the park.

“Wait here for a while, okay? Umma is going to buy something first before taking care of your wound,” instructed Seulgi as she put Ryujin down to the wooden bench in front of the minimarket.

The little girl just gave her a slight nod as her answer. Her eyes still locked to her painful wound who looked like a horrible sight for a two years old girl. Seulgi smiled softly as she leaned down to kiss her forehead, trying to calm her down before buying medical necessities to take care of her wound.

Five minutes later, Seulgi comes out with a bottle of water, iodine, tissue, and wound plaster. “Umma will take off your shoe, princess.”

Ryujin bobbed her head, letting her mother take off her shoe and her cute, white sock off from her foot. She put aside the little shoe and sock beside her daughter and opened the bottle cap easily. “Umma going to clean your wound now. It’s going to hurt a little bit, okay?”

She saw how her daughter gave her permission as she nodded her head once again. Seulgi immediately poured the water right on top of the wound, clearing out the dirt with the help of the transparent liquid. After the wound is clean, she dried the wet surface with the help of tissue. Slightly tapping the wounded area gently.

It’s quite baffles Seulgi how Ryujin still not crying after all of that. She just bit her poor bottom lip who already changed into white because how strong she bites it.

“Jinnie is not crying?” asked Seulgi, dropping some iodine to the wound after she cleaned it thoroughly.

Ryujin shook her head strongly. “No. Jinnie can’t cry.”

Seulgi raised her eyebrow. “Why?”

“Mama said Jinnie is going to be a big girl now. And big girls don’t cry.”

The older woman blinked from her answer. So Seungwan already taught her about the big girl things, something they already talk about because they are going to have their second child soon. Seulgi let out a sigh as she took the plaster, preparing it to be put on her wound.

“Sometimes it’s okay to just cry,” uttered Seulgi as she put the plaster on her wound, locking her eyes to Ryujin’s after she was done. “If the pain becomes too much, it’s much better to just let it out with a cry. So, if princess feels that the wound is too painful, then Jinnie can cry. It’s okay.”

Ryujin stares at her long, before the dark brown orbs that look exactly like Seungwan to teared up as a sob slipped out from her lips. “Umma,” teared her softly. “Jinnie is sorry.”

Seulgi flashed her a small smile as she wore Ryujin’s shoe and sock back to her foot. “It’s okay. Jinnie is too excited earlier. Next time, walk carefully, okay?”

Her sobs just got louder as she finally broke to let out a loud cry. “Umma, it’s hurt.”

“I know. Umma already healed it, so Jinnie will feel better soon, okay?” assured Seulgi as she picked up her daughter in her arms. Letting Ryujin continue to let her cry out as she walked back towards their apartment.

She was about to close the lift door when the older woman from earlier stepped inside, punching the button to let the door open much longer.

“The morning walk is quite quick,” said the grandma as the lift door finally closed, bringing the three of them to the upper floor.

Seulgi let out a chuckle. “Something happened earlier. My daughter tripped and wounded herself, but it’s alright now.”

“Oh, poor little girl,” uttered the grandma with worry as her eyes locked to the sleeping Ryujin, leaning her head comfortably on her mother’s shoulder. “She must be crying loudly earlier.”

“She is,” nodded Seulgi. “But not until I told her to. She held herself back from crying the whole time I treated her wound because she’s a big girl now.”

“Well, I think I need to give this big girl a reward,” chuckled the grandma as she gave her a transparent small bag. “Eat this with your wife and your daughter. I hope the corn dogs can cheer this little girl up.”

“Eh?” asked Seulgi, feeling confused even though she accepted the food from the grandma. “Are you sure? Let me buy this-“

“No, no, no. It’s okay. It’s a small present for your little girl, no need to pay,” cut the grandma in a light voice.

“Thank you, grandma,” thanked Seulgi as her body made a slight bow. “I will bring my family to your snack shop sometimes.”

The grandma flashed her a wide smile. “I’m going to wait for your little family arrival, then.”

---

“We’re back!”

Seungwan frowned as she stepped out from the kitchen to greet her wife and her daughter, and didn't hear any loud sound from Ryujin since she always announced her arrival with a scream. Her frown goes deeper when she noticed her daughter soundly sleeping inside her mother’s arms with a plaster on her knee. “What happened?” asked Seungwan, following Seulgi who was walking towards Ryujin’s room.

“She’s tripped,” sighed Seulgi, putting the sleeping Ryujin carefully on top of her bed. Tucking her inside the blanket. “She was about to run towards the park when she tripped because of the stone pavement.”

“Oh, princess,” muttered Seungwan in worry, Ryujin’s soft hair that was covering her forehead softly. “Is she crying loud?”

“Yeah, when I told her to cry,” chuckled Seulgi, still feeling proud from her daughter’s action of holding back her tears. “She said you told her that big girls don’t cry, that’s why she held back her tears the whole time I tended to her wound.”

Seungwan smiled softly, leaning down to plant a kiss on Ryujin’s forehead. “You are a big girl already, huh? Mama proud of you,” whispered Seungwan softly, afraid to awaken Ryujin if she spoke loudly even though the said little girl was not easily woken up.

“What’s that?” asked her wife, noticing the bag on Seulgi’s hand.

“Oh, this?” Seulgi gave the bag to Seungwan swiftly. “The grandma who owns the snack shop near the apartment gave it to me. She said it’s a gift for Ryujin because she didn’t cry earlier.”

“Ah, that kind grandma,” chuckled Seungwan as she checked the content inside the bag. “It’s been so long since the last time I ate her snacks.”

“We should go there sometimes,” proposed Seulgi as both of them left their daughter’s room to let her sleep. Bringing along the corndog and keeping two of them for Ryujin to eat it later.

Because it’s a great gift for the big girl who manages to hold back her tears even though she was hurt from the wound.

---

actually didn't really vibe with this chapter since suddenly i lost my touch in the middle of making it jkjdksjkdsjkf but i hope it's good enough and kind of acceptable.

don't forget to stream joy cover today! see you in the next chapter! (hopefully the prequel is already done by the time i released the new chapter)