The Time

November, 2023

Kim Aera wobbled happily towards the TV on a Sunday afternoon. The only 2 years old baby girl knew the schedule of her favorite TV show, but not by the actual time, of course. She knew it airs after her afternoon snacks.

“Eomma…” she called sweetly. “Yes, darling?”

“Appa?” she pointed to the TV. Jihyo chuckled. “Aera-ya, why don’t you go wake appa so you can watch TV together with him?”

Aera understood the mission as she made her way to the master bedroom where Jongkook is taking a nap. He took the nap after lunch, catching on the sleep he lost during the night time because of his fussy 6 months old Kim Daeja. Their son is fussier than the calm Aera—a perfect miniature of Jihyo that everyone can clearly see.

“Appa!” Aera climbed into the bed and engulfed one of Jongkook’s arms in a hug. She’s getting bigger everyday but still struggles to wrap her tiny figure around her father’s muscly arm. Watching from the door, Jihyo smiled when Jongkook stirred in his sleep.

“Appa…” Aera called. “Hmm…” Jongkook hummed.

“TV, TV!” she excitedly bounced on the bed, Jongkook eyes fluttered open to see his eldest daughter smiling brightly at him. “You want to watch Running Man with appa, Aera-ya?” Jongkook asked, matching her smile.

“Ne!” Aera responded cutely.

“Arasseo, give appa a second, baby.” He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. He didn’t look as tired as he was before. Scooping Aera up, he planned to carry her to the living room where the big TV was. Jongkook saw Jihyo watching them from the door and chuckled.

“Sorry oppa, I need to feed Daeja soon so I need you to accompany Aera watching TV.” Jihyo smiled apologetically. “It’s fine, yeobo.” He returned the smile. Stealing a peck from his wife on his way out of the bedroom, he arrived just in time Running Man started.

“Yay! Running Man!” Aera wanted to climb down from the sofa but Jongkook easily scooped her, not letting the 2 years old go. “Aera-ya, sit nicely here baby. You know the rule.”

The TV is big enough to enjoy from the sofa. Jongkook explained the rule to Aera once again, reminding his daughter that she has to stay seated if she wanted to watch TV. Without much of a complain, Aera sit back down on the sofa. She looks tiny compared to her appa.

Walking quietly into the nursery, Jihyo found Daeja wide awake on his crib. Upon seeing his eomma, Daeja started wailing. “Aigoo, Daeja-ya. Are you hungry?”

Carrying the still crying Daeja, Jihyo took a seat at the sofa to feed Daeja.

When Jihyo found out that she’s pregnant with Daeja, she didn’t expect to be pregnant when Aera was only 20 months old. She was scared but excited at the same time. Their friends had a lot of fun teasing her husband because he just couldn’t wait to have more baby.

October, 2022

“Hyeong, was it so hard to just tell us that Jihyo is pregnant for the second time?” Donghoon complained, voicing the exact thought from the remaining members of Running Man. “I met you like 3 times in a week, hyeong. But I have to find the wonderful news from an article, again!”

“Kookjong-a, I thought you’d stop at the wedding news. We were surprised that his mistake also affecting all of us. But pregnant news too?” Jaesuk had a smile on his face but also shaking his head in disappointment. Jongkook let out a chuckle.

“I admit that the first time we found out about Aera, Jihyo and I really planned to surprise everyone through the article. But not this time, hyeong, Donghoon-a.” Jongkook started explaining. “We were just really busy with Aera and