Warnings: swearing, , explicit mature content, angst (do not read if you are under 18)      Enjoy!

The house was silent.

Everyone was asleep.

Besides you.

And a certain puppy.

You could hear the little pal moving around in the house, whimpering, since he had been left alone for the night. His paws were tiny but you could still hear the way his claws scratched against the hardwood floor.

You sighed as you brought your hand up to your forehead, thinking. At least neither of the kids, nor your husband, had gone against your word. You had said it was bedtime and thanks to your strict mood, neither one of the triplets, even the wildest ones, dared to oppose.

Without looking at your husband, you finally decided to leave the suffocating bedroom. Mongryong’s pacing stopped for a second before you heard the puppy pant with excitement as he rushed towards where the sound came from.

You walked out of the corridor and he met you half-way, instantly sitting down and looking up at you with his tongue sticking out sideways. You frowned at him. Was the dog smiling at you?

How dare he-

A loud, high-pitched bark left his mouth as he urged you to do something for he was very excited to see you.

Your heart skipped a beat and without thinking, you crouched down, not even wincing at the way the bones in your ankles cracked, and shushed him to be quiet.

“Pssst, don’t bark,” you whisper-shouted at him but Mongryong didn’t care as he was fast to make the most out of your outstretched hand. He pushed the top of his head into your palm, whimpering needingly.

“You little rascal,” you told him as you watched him throw himself down on the floor, his tummy awaiting. With another sigh, you caressed the rough fur. When he whimpered cutely at you, you bit your lip, refusing to give in just yet. He was just trying to bring you to his side.

“I’m gonna head to bed now, you try to sleep too. Don’t misbehave here. You need to be a very, very good pup if you want to stay here, hm?” you said, unintentionally using Baekhyun’s strict voice. It always worked with your kids, so it should work with the pup too, right?

Mongryong clumsily scrambled to his feet when he saw you standing up. He tried to sit up but managed to fall to the side, still unsure how to use his small yet wild limbs.

You giggled into your palm at the sight and he looked pleased as he whimpered again, tapping over to your feet and looking up at you. “You’re so cute,” you told him finally and crouched down again. He fell on his back and managed to prevent a hit in his head before he was pushing it in your palm eagerly. 

You ruffled the top of his head, enjoying the way his tiny ears moved along. “You look like Harry Potter, do you know?” you told him quietly as you stared into his eyes. His fur was funnily coloured; darker colored fur outlined his eyes, creating a notion of glasses.

“Why did they name you Mongryong,” you wondered out loud. “Though I like it. It sounds just like something that would come out of oppa’s mouth, huh.”

You decided to stay with the pup a little longer when you noticed he was getting tired from so much excitement over your unexpected visit. His head was falling and soon enough he was splayed on his back, legs widely sticking into the air as he knocked off, breathing loudly.

Once again you had to bite back a laugh. How could he be like this? He made it so hard to stay mad at even though the puppy wasn’t even at fault.

At least you could use him to threaten your kids and husband into submission, you thought sneakily.

Deciding it would be too mean to leave the lonesome pup like that on the hardwood floor, you moved him to his small bed Baekhyun got him.

He told you this pup was adopted so at least that wasn’t something you could throw into his face. Puppies in the stores were ridiculously expensive and you couldn’t get the guarantee that they weren’t mistreated.

If your little family saved the puppy from a bad situation, then you couldn’t stay mad for too long, right?

3

It was seven in the morning when three kids burst in through the bedroom door, poor Mongryong stuck in Junhee’s tight grip.

“Mummy, daddy!” laughed breathily Juna as she climbed up and shimmied herself between you and Baekhyun. “We brought Mongie tooooo!”

Baekhyun groaned as he was still sleeping before they disturbed the peace. He was surprised when he realized it was already so late when both of you were usually up at that hour.

It was Saturday, a new day with a new member of the family; the first morning with the little puppy.

“No, he doesn’t come up on the bed,” you told them strictly, sitting up before they could put him on the freshly washed comforter you shared. “The dog doesn’t touch any beds in this household.”

Junhee froze before she could let the poor dog go while Jun and Juna looked at you with big, pleading eyes.

“No, don’t do those eyes,” you warned, pointing your finger at them. At that Baekhyun managed to snap his eyes open, squinting at the triplets and then spotting the squirming Mongryong.

“Junhee, oh my god, let go of him, otherwise he’ll suffocate,” he muttered with a throaty voice as he reached for the pup to save him.

You sighed, looking at the way Baekhyun cradled the poor dog in his arms. He was quickly rewarded for the hero-worthy save as Mongrong the underside of his chin, making your husband chuckle throatily.

“You need to be careful around him. And, you need to teach him not to climb on the bed too.”

“But mummy, he is just a puppy!” reasoned Jun as he threw his hands around. “He can’t jump yet! He is a baby like us!”

“Oh, don’t you be smart with mummy,” you told him in a funny manner, not wanting him to take the hurt but still wanting to voice your dissatisfaction.

Juna and Junhee giggled at your high-pitched voice and Baekhyun cracked a smile as he caressed  the top of Mongryong’s head.

“So where is the morning kiss,” muttered Baekhyun eventually and in that instant all the three kids squealed as they threw themselves at you, making the both of you grunt from the impact. Baekhyun got startled and had accidentally let go of Mongryong who was fast to run around the bed in excitement at the sudden family bonding time.

Before you could scold him, you felt at least three pairs of lips continuously pressing to your face, eyes and forehead, triplets clumsily aiming everywhere they could reach in repeated, moist kisses. One particular set of lips landed close to your lips and you saw cheeky Baekhyun hovering over you and the triplets. He hugged them to himself while pressing them into you so he could reach your face with a laugh.

Loud squeals and laughter erupted in the bedroom followed by weak puppy barks. 

What a glorious morning.

<3

“I’m still not okay with the dog,” you reminded the family when you all finally managed to sit down properly at the table to eat breakfast.

Triplets instantly pouted while Baekhyun looked at you, troubled. He didn’t manage to talk to you after the small fight and he desperately wanted a little alone time so the both of you could let out everything that had to be said. If it weren’t for him stopping the argument the day before, you’d end up having a bad fight for sure.

He was still quite upset that you had to leave so far and he couldn’t be there to follow you. It was that and also the fact that for once he wanted to support you, watch you at the convention giving a speech and he could proudly clap and tell everyone around him that you were his wife (even though they would know since he appeared countless of times in your videos).

Since he didn’t see any sort of initiative from your side, he eventually said: “Babies, today exceptionally, you can watch TV while eating breakfast.”

Triplets perked up, Junhee even heaving a gasp.

“But you need to eat carefully and do not feed Mongryong,” he added strictly as he shot them a look. He could sense your own surprised stare.

You watched Baekhyun stand up, dutifully followed by his kids as he set up the coffee table for them and started the TV, swiftly pressing a few buttons until he found the kids channel. When he adjusted the sound, he put the controller to its place and turned to look at the toothy smiles of his precious munchkins. He smiled softly when he saw the way their backs were straight and eyes already glued to the cartoon as they chewed on their fruit and porridge.

“Make no mess,” he added but only received wordless nods.

He took that as his queue to leave, making sure not to accidentally kick the wandering puppy who sniffed his way to the kids and the food.

“You know we don’t let them eat and watch TV,” you told him coolly when he sat down next to you. He brought over his mug and plate from his original place from across the table as he tried to ignore the hurt he felt at your tone.

“Can we just talk?” he asked you, exasperated.

You pursed your lips and you brought your tea cup to your lips. “What do you want to talk about? It’s late for that,” you murmured and took a sip of the hot liquid. It melted your insides right away, the green tea always rewarding you with its flavourful taste.

Next to you, Baekhyun sighed. “I’m sorry. I wanted to surprise you and it didn’t work, okay?”

You shot him a glare and put down your cup. “Baekhyun, we talked only once about having a dog. I thought we were just talking, not planning. It’s so tiring to keep the whole household clean for you to come home, to take care of the kids until you’d finally come home. Everything is about me doing stuff until you come home.”

“So what is this really about then, hm?” asked Baekhyun, narrowing his eyes at you. “About me having a job or about us having a dog?”

You were so irked you had to bite your lip in order not to respond without thinking. After yesterday, you felt guilty for saying that sentence about raising triplets and you hated the way you caused Baekhyun pain. It was obvious in his eyes yet he gave up the fight to save yourselves more hurting. He was smarter than you and didn’t fuel the bad mood.

You had to try keeping yourself at bay this time.

“Tell me, honestly,” muttered Baekhyun with a frown. “If there is some underlying issue that is deeper than us owning a dog then I’d love for you to talk.”

“Stop being sarcastic.”

“Well, what else should I say to tell you to speak to me? Your constant, goddamned secrecy!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands up.

Your eyes widened. “What the hell are you talking about? I told you right on time about me going to Busan.”

“This isn’t only about Busan.”

Confusion scrunched up your face but you quickly masked it with a scoff. “Right. Then how about you speak your mind now, huh, mister?”

When you finished talking you could see Baekhyun gritting his teeth. He never liked you being a smart mouth without a reason. But you wanted reasons and he would tell you.

“If you have such an issue with me earning us money, then you shouldn’t have agreed behind my back to my promotion. You, once again, didn’t tell me ,” he growled as quietly as he could.

This time, you were genuinely shocked. “Baekhyun, what are you talking about?” You shook your head, your eyes wandering around the room as you tried to connect his words. They didn’t. “What promotion? I don’t understand.”

He sighed and sat back in his chair as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He opened his eyes that he closed for a moment and stared at you with something you could only call as comprehension.

“Baek,” you tried, softer. If he was this mad at you, then what were you even arguing about?

“When did you talk to Jaina about my promotion to become the dean of my department?” he finally asked in a low tone. He didn’t blink once as he observed your face morphing between confusion and shock.

“What-“

“Just say when. I already know you talked.”

You stared at your husband, perplexed as ever. “Baekhyun, you know full well that the first and the last time I met her was at your graduation ceremony four years ago.” 

When you saw he wasn’t going to say more, you quickly added: “She stopped me when she saw me there with Junhee and she just weirdly knew who I was. She told me she is planning to make you the dean after coming back from your business trip in Japan if I remember correctly. You never mentioned it however and I just thought it wasn’t brought up to you at the time.” You took a deep breath. “I told her it’s too early for you to be the dean. And,” you emphasized, but spoke in a quiet voice. “It would steal you from us even more.”

At this, Baekhyun dropped his gaze on the unfinished food. He knew that. Of course he did, hence the reluctance to agree to the whole charade with international scholars.

His department was making him care for some strangers while he had his own kids to raise and take care of and a wife to keep loved.

“Won’t you say something?” you asked softly as you observed him.

Baekhyun bit his lip and raised his troubled orbs up to reciprocate the eye contact. “I… received a car. I got it from our department as a gift for us, for our family.”

“What! A car?” you asked loudly, making Jun, who was ever so observant, turn his head. You caught his down turned eyes and a pout but you only smiled at him reassuringly.

Baekhyun followed your gaze and also smiled warmly at his son who turned back to the screen, feeling suddenly shy from the attention of his parents.

“Yeah,” murmured Baekhyun who now leaned in, resting his elbows on the table, his face becoming suddenly close. You didn’t move away. “So we are now the owners of a Kia SUV.”

Your mouth fell open and Baekhyun would have laughed at your expression were you not in a discussion. “When did you find out about this? And they’re giving it to you just like that?”

He sighed. “I found out yesterday, just like you found out about your trip to Busan.”

“And?” you prodded, awaiting him to answer the important question. “What’s in it for them?”

He sighed again. “Jaina wants me to become the dean.”

“And you said yes?”

“No, I said I will think it through.”

“So you accepted the car that she bribed you with?”

“She didn’t bribe me, sweetheart, I have to tell her until the end of June-“

“So you are thinking it over,” you whispered in disbelief.

This time Baekhyun snapped. “I don’t like you cutting me off when I’m trying to speak,” he told you loudly. “I said I’m going to think it through! Then she said you already know about this and happened to agree!”

“Wha- Me? Agree? To not having the father of my children home at all? Sure! I was over the moon to agree!”

“Stop the ing sarcasm,” Baekhyun growled in warning, his glare on full display. “You didn’t bother even telling me you talked to Jaina about me becoming the dean.”

Feeling tears threatening to spill, you asked in a shaky voice. “What else did you agree to? I doubt just a car would do the magic. In fact, I think this is all so ing ridiculous. She gives a car in advance even though you told her you’d think about it?!”

Baekhyun knew you were very upset since you were swearing now too. He dreaded his next words. “I’ll be taking care of international scholars from next semester. I was assigned this. That’s the way it is.”

“Aha. So you not only got a car, she gave you more work before you would be officially employed 24/7.”

“No, I won’t accept the position-“

“Who are we kidding,” you told him and let the tears fall. “We both know you are held by your neck. They will make you the dean even if you decline!”

“Whatever makes you say that.”

“Will you give back the car? Will you not be representing your department for those scholars?! You’re the youngest there so they put all the work on you. That’s how it works, Baekhyun!”

Your husband huffed in annoyance. “And you would know that right?! Because you worked so ing much!”

You stood up so abruptly the chair fell backwards, now fully earning the kids' attention too. They had confused expressions as they looked at you and Baekhyun warily but neither of you paid them any attention. 

“You know what? Do it. Go. Take care of some strangers. If they are more important than we are.”

With that you walked away, heading for the bedroom when you heard him call after you: “That's not true and you know it too!”

Your response was a slam with the door which you regretted immediately.

Until then you always tried to resolve your issues with Baekhyun as far from the kids as possible. They basically never saw you argue because you simply weren't arguing. There was always mature talk.

Not this time. Both of you said hurtful words. But he, once again, managed to craft a sentence that would specifically hurt you. 

How could you compete with him? You didn’t have any university degree and you were as simple of a woman as you could be. YouTube happened because you had his immense, undying support and you thought you were doing great.

You were doing great.

Maybe it wasn’t simply great enough for your successful husband after all.

3

You separated with little tears in your eyes. Your munchkins seemed to realize you would be leaving - no mummy for a little while, but for four-year-old triplets who were very much dependent on you it felt pretty close to eternity.

Baekhyun was strong though; mentally and physically. He lifted the two crying girls when you were trying to leave the house with your duffel bag that had your formal dress and heels in; plus your pyjamas and skin care and medication. Jun was hiding behind his father’s legs, peeking over with one down-turned eye. He pouted and hid when he caught your smile.

“I will miss all of you, but mummy will be home soon,” you tried to console and Juna’s wails only grew louder. She was red in her face, her cheeks wet and glistening. She reminded you of the times when she was a restless baby that couldn't stay still even during a nappy change.

Baekhyun pressed his lips together, refusing to smile when his kids were going through their first separation from their mother. He didn't want to take the importance of you leaving away from them. Even though they were just little creatures, it didn't mean their emotions were invalid and laugh-worthy.

“It's normal to cry because mummy is leaving,” murmured Baekhyun reassuringly and nodded for you to leave quickly before they could notice it. “Mummy is our best friend, right, babies? She is the best in the world. It’s so hard without her but we will be fine…”

Without even a goodbye kiss from Baekhyun you left the house in haste, the lock beeping when the door shut closed just when the two girls started a complete tantrum.

“MUMMY!!!”

“MUUUUM!!!!”

Quickly blinking the tears away, you rushed to the elevator to get away from the noise. It broke your heart completely.

Not only did you leave on a cold note with Baekhyun, but your munchkins were crying their hearts out because you had to leave them.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” you kept repeating to yourself as you rushed outside to meet with Sukyeong who became your partner for the trip. You knew you needed a little time out and your close friend would provide it, for sure.

3

The day of the convention was absolutely crazy.

Because they had postponed the convention.

So instead of the original day, it would be happening the next day which left you stuck in Busan with an additional twenty-four hours to spend.

Sukyeong was trying to reassure you about the situation; you called Baekhyun and talked to him too. He was understanding but you could hear the disappointment in his voice about you staying an extra night. You video called with your babies as well, each of them diligently answering your questions. Sukyeong also pushed her way in and took enough time to talk until the triplets became tired and Baekhyun had to put them down for a nap.

You talked with him for a little longer, but you hated the lingering unsettledness. He was as sweet as always, begging for you to be careful, and to do well at the convention the next day. But you kept a little distance and you knew that was an indication that you needed some time without him. Even if it means two days only.

And so, you spent your free day in Busan looking around, sight-seeing and taking any free rides you could. Dipping your feet in the sand, you took a walk by the beach and laughed enough to feel light.

The next morning and basically the whole day was a blur. You managed to sleep late which ended up with you scurrying for your stuff, doing the quickest shower ever, before you let Sukyeong do her magic on your face to prepare you. 

The convention itself was busy, bringing many international and local creators together. You almost died out of happiness when many recognized you and stopped to politely talk. You weren’t famous but you already managed to get some experience with strangers stopping you on the street to greet you kindly.

These kinds of conversations - with people interested in women, motherhood and marriage - always left you with so much motivation. It was a proof that you could actually affect other people's lives; and it reminded you of what a special relationship you and Baekhyun shared.

Thanks to talking to various people and even some influencers that you exchanged contacts with, you felt much more relaxed when it was your time to speak for the audience. Your heart was still beating like crazy from anxiety, but, on the other hand, you couldn't wait to share the words you had to speak and to show the special video you had fun editing.

“What can I say,” you smiled shyly as you graciously brushed your hair behind your ear. Being all too aware of your voice resounding through the speakers, you forced yourself to stay grounded and present. “A woman’s body is truly amazing. It enabled me and my husband to have three gorgeous and healthy babies. It was tough,” you added, nodding and you let your gaze swiftly run over the curious crowd. You didn’t want to think too much about people’s expressions during your speech as you were worried some might give you a scare. “We grow a whole new organ. Placenta, after all, is one. We gain up to 50% more blood and don’t even get me started on the fact that our bones and organs move in order to accustom a new life under our hearts that also grow in the process.

I was able to do this with three new beating hearts under my own. Sadly, I didn’t document my pregnancy through any vlogs as I started doing them late, but it was the most life-changing experience.

I know, I know,” you held your hands up, “this is a content creators convention, not mothers’. But if there is something I am trying to convey with my work, it’s the motherhood, or, thanks to my wonderful husband, parenthood; how to be a good parent, how it even is like to raise three babies so that you can prepare them for all the good and bad and at the same time make them good people. I am trying to make it as creative as I can and so, here is my compilation video that I prepared for this convention especially. I hope you will like it and appreciate mothers and women more.”

A round of strong applause sounded as the lights dimmed and the screen behind you came alive. You walked to the side to watch it while trying to calm your frantically beating heart. You so wished there would be a certain someone you could hold hands with; who would comfort you within a blink of an eye.

That person came out as the first one on screen.

Baekhyun was sneakily holding up your camera. “She seems like she has unlimited energy, right?” whispered Baekhyun with a soft smile. He made a pause before shaking his head. “Not true.” With that he turned the camera around and, indeed, on your bed your body was splayed, sleeping so deeply you didn’t feel Baekhyun moving around. It wasn’t shown but a kiss resounded and then Baekhyun’s face reappeared, muttering: “See? She doesn’t even react to my kisses.”

The crowd chuckled and there was a cut to you baking. Those were the first videos you uploaded after Kyunghee’s video shot in the countryside went viral. Your face was yet to be revealed along with Baekhyun’s. Until then, both of you were just faceless actors in the scenes, besides the cutest babies.

“Today we are baking some English scones,” you announced, camera zoomed to your workspace. “Babies are taking an afternoon nap so what does a mother do? Yup. She cooks. I already managed to clean up the house a little…” you paused as you gathered the ingredients that you’d be showing to the camera. “I want to welcome my husband with something sweet so I decided to challenge myself today.”

Another cut.

Baekhyun’s distant  coos and giggles could be heard when you zoomed in on his hands and lower body playing with Jun. He babied him while the two girls were splayed on the playmat, soundly sleeping.

You sighed as you remembered those days. They were only eight months old. Still so tiny. Seeing Baekhyun playing with them made you emotional and you realized your vision was blurring as more videos went on.

Play time with triplets and Baekhyun. Chilling in your shared bed with the munchkins, all of you snoozing in the late afternoon hours.

Baekhyun finding you saying bye to the pump you so dutifully used during feeding.

The last time you fed and cried because you didn’t want to say goodbye to something so precious and exceptional. 

Your lazy mornings with your husband.

The face reveal; both of you sitting on the couch in front of the camera, holding hands, sides of the bodies pressed to each other. His gorgeous, supportive smile next to your shy one.

You remembered the comments went crazy after that. It happened to become the number one trending video online and, until this day, it was the most viewed video. Baekhyun became famous instantly for being handsome and charming, teasing his shy, innocent looking wife. The public loved you because you were both very young and so youthful around each other. Love bloomed in every shot, be it where the two of you shared a moment or the babies stealing the spotlight.

There were many excerpts from various weekly blogs; from you managing to go shopping with triplets and struggling to bring the groceries home to cute park dates with munchkins in strollers and your husband next to you. Lots of crying, tantrums and bad moods. Many of them weren’t shown eventually in the final vlogs because you didn’t think they’d appeal to the crowd.

Now as you blinked the tears away while focusing on the crowd, you saw a lot of bated breaths and gazes swallowing each cut.

You knew you could only be proud of yourself and of Baekhyun. Starting from a simple background where money was an instant issue, now the importance lied elsewhere; it lied in  bringing as much emotional richness to your kids’ life as you could only manage to put there.

You let the tears fall eventually when the last part of the video played.

The screen was completely black, only the sound entertaining the crowd. “I love you, my princess,” Baekhyun whispered with a sigh. He was a little far from the camera so his sound was muffled but it was clear nonetheless. There was some shuffling that anyone could int