“Wheein…” Yongsun whispered from behind me.

I grunted and whined when she hugged me tightly while she giggled at me, her giggles right beside my ear. She pushed her face on the crook of my neck and placed one of her legs over me before she squeezed me in her arms.

“Wheein… You're so squishy. You’re like a fluffy teddy bear” she whispered in between giggles.

My shoulders tensed while I patted her arms and wiggled my way out of her hold. She just held me tightly and pushed her face further on my neck.

“Can’t breathe” I grunted. “Yongsun…”

She slowly loosened her hold on me and laid her leg back on the bed again, freeing me from her binds. She snuggled her nose on the back of my head while I breathed deeply before I stretched my body on the bed.

“Good morning,” she whispered.

I took my time stretching on bed while yawning so loudly. I rubbed my hands on my face to get rid of sleep and my drool, if there’s some. Yongsun was just watching me closely, her arms still around me. Then I sighed heavily once I’m done before I finally faced her and saw the small smile on her face.

“Good morning.” I pouted at her and whispered, “You almost killed me”

She chuckled and snuggled her face on my neck. “You were so squishy. I get now why Yongjae loves to squeeze your cheeks”

“At least Yongjae doesn’t have the intention to kill me unlike his Mommy”

She chuckled at me, her breath warming my neck. I slightly turned my body to her and placed my hand on her head, closing my eyes as I played with her hair.

The first time I slept in Yongsun’s bed was an accident. I still have no recollection how I ended up lying down on her bed and sleeping while snoring so loudly. I remembered her telling me to take a shower in her bathroom then she passed me the clothes she borrowed before. After that, I took a shower.

That’s it. That’s all I can remember.

Of course, I thought that it was just a one time thing. I didn’t expect for it to happen again, so the night after that, I said goodbye to them before I headed out of her apartment only to be stopped when Yongsun asked me to just stay for the night. She didn’t just ask. She insisted for me to stay, saying that it’s already late and that I’m tired already. I didn’t even do a lot that day since she was off from work and watched over Yongjae most of the time but she insisted.

That kept on repeating until she got tired of asking for me to just stay in her apartment. She’d just hold my hand or arm and dragged me to her bedroom. She’d sometimes push me towards the direction of her bedroom as well.

Before, I’d only use my apartment when I take a shower or sleep. Right now, I’ve been using it as a storage or spare room. I’ve been sleeping, showering and eating in Yongsun’s apartment. My toiletries and some of my clothes and shoes are even here now. I’ve been staying here for months already because she’d insisted for me to stay.

We sleep with her either hugging me or spooning me. We’d wake up to Yongjae crying in his crib in the middle of the night. Either one of us can’t go back to sleep if Yongjae decided to stay up all night. We sometimes have mornings like this where Yongjae decides to go back to sleep if he wakes up in the middle of the night.

“You don’t have work today, right?” I whispered to Yongsun.

“No…”

“Do you have somewhere to go today?”

She sighed heavily as she pulled away from my neck, making me drop my hand from her head to her arm. “I do. I’ll be bringing Yongjae with me too. Why?”

“Oh… Okay” I whispered, trying not to let my disappointment show.

“Why? Do you want to go somewhere?”

I shook my head and smiled at her. “I was just hoping to spend the day with you both” I said before I nervously chuckled when she suddenly pouted at me, obviously not convinced with my answer. “I really am telling the truth. Don’t worry”

“My older sister is coming back home today from studying abroad. She wanted to see me and her nephew. I’m sorry I forgot to tell you. I didn’t know you have plans”

“I don’t have plans. I just wanted to spend the day with you two”

“Don’t you have work today?”

“I have”

I didn’t. I told Hyejin and Byul that there won’t be work today since I wanted to spend the day with Yongjae and Yongsun. I’ll just text them that I changed my plans. We can still open the café late in the morning. They won’t like it but they can’t get mad at me today.

“Do you want me to drive you two?”

“It’s okay. I can handle it”

“Hmm… I’ll drive you two. What time will you meet your sister?”

“Wheein…”

I just smiled at her while she pressed a finger on my dimple and shook her head. She sighed heavily and closed her eyes again as I chuckled at her. No one could resist the dimple. Not even Yongsun even when she’s slightly glaring at me. It works every single time.

Our heads turned towards the crib when we heard Yongjae whimpering. We saw him lying on his front already while he kicked his legs and waved his arms, trying to catch our attention.

Yongsun and I moved together at the same time. I climbed out of the bed to get Yongjae while she sat up and ed her pajama top right away. 

I walked towards the crib and frowned when his crying intensified. “Yongjae… I’m coming already, little guy. Stop crying already” I whispered as I hurriedly moved to him. I brushed back his hair and patted his back to check if he’s sweating before I lifted him off the crib. “You’re so good at turning over, little guy” I whispered to him before I kissed his cheek repeatedly.

I walked back to the bed and smiled when I saw his two lower front teeth. I wiped the tears on his cheeks while his crying slowed down. He suddenly cupped my cheeks and squeezed them while he mumbled something I couldn’t understand.

“Ow… Yum yum? You want… Ow… Yongjae…” I whispered, softly groaning from his squeezes while I could hear Yongsun laughing at us. “We’ll give you milk yum yum. Stop… Oww…”

I gently pried his tiny hands from my cheeks before I passed him to Yongsun, sighing in relief when he couldn’t reach to squeeze my cheeks again. I grabbed the pillows on the bed and placed them behind Yongsun while she positioned Yongjae in her arms before feeding him.

I glanced at Yongsun when I heard her hiss and saw her nose was scrunched up. I buried my fingers in her hair and massaged her scalp while I rubbed my hand on her arm, diverting her attention from the pain.

“Does it still hurt?” I asked her.

“In the first few seconds. I’m slowly getting used to his bites. He sometimes couldn’t control his strength that he’d bite my so hard” she whispered before she slowly relaxed and leaned back on the pillows I arranged behind her.

On the night that we discovered Yongjae was teething, we panicked. He was easily irritated. He cried so much. His eating and sleeping time changed. He was really warm, like he had a fever.

I called my aunt in the middle of the night but she wouldn’t respond, so we drove to her house. Yongsun told me that time not to disturb her and we’ll just deal with Yongjae ourselves. I don’t want to do that because he might be experiencing more than just a simple irritation or fever. Then she told me we’ll just call my aunt first thing in the morning, but I insisted we go to her house.

We didn’t argue. We’re just both nervous.

By the time we reached my aunt’s house, I knocked on her door and rang her doorbell. I called her several times while still knocking on her door and ringing her doorbell. When she didn’t respond, I was one second away from breaking into her house. I was even heading back to my car to see if I had a crowbar or something metal that would help me break the door. I was really that desperate. Luckily, my aunt opened the door before I could even walk away.

I was pouting and whining at my aunt. Yongsun was repeatedly apologizing to her. Yongjae kept on crying in Yongsun’s arms. My aunt invited us in and calmly offered us coffee. It was so messy and my aunt only laughed at me, making me even more whiny and pouty.

My aunt ignored us as she made us coffee and told us to sit down in her kitchen. I glared at her while she was making the coffee. Yongsun repeatedly apologized to her again and thanked her for inviting us in. Yongjae’s cries slowly turned to soft whimpers while he chewed on his rubber elephant since his giraffe had retired already.

When my aunt was done making us coffees, she checked on Yongjae quickly before she sat down and proceeded to discuss to us about Yongjae’s teething. She expected for me to wreak havoc for this one but she didn’t expect that I would wreak havoc in the middle of the night.

Now that he’s around eight months old, Yongjae has two small teeth already. He had killed a couple of rubber animals and destroyed some of his bottles’ s. We’re slowly introducing to him soft foods and sippy cups. We’ve been giving him cold water to help him with his teething while Yongsun is still feeding him. My aunt advised her to continue feeding until it’s not available anymore.

I continued to massage Yongsun’s scalp and rubbed her arm. I discovered that this helps soothe the pain from Yongjae’s bites. I’ve been doing this to her since then.

After a few minutes, I stopped massaging and sat down on the edge of the bed when Yongjae was done drinking his milk. Yongsun sat him on her lap and didn’t bother to button her pajama top again.

“Good morning, little guy” I whispered to Yongjae before I kissed his forehead. “How’s your sleep?” I asked him and smiled as I nodded my head like I could understand his mumbles. “I don’t know what you mean but good job, Yongjae” I said, hearing Yongsun laugh at me.

“Yongjae… I got you a new toy”

I glanced at Yongsun and raised my eyebrows at her, surprised at this. We usually consult each other about the things we buy for Yongjae, especially with toys. My eyebrows furrowed instantly before I narrowed my eyes at her when I saw her looking at me with an amused glint in her eyes.

She glanced at Yongjae and said, “You want to see your new toy, baby?”

I slowly sat up straight, having a feeling where this is going already. I shook my head at her when she glanced at me again, making her smile so wide before she winked at me.

She suddenly held my arm before she excitedly said, “I got you a squishy teddy bear, baby!”

“No…” I whispered and shook my head in disbelief.

“Let’s use your teddy bear, Yongjae”

She lifted Yongjae and moved closer to me. She passed Yongjae to me and my arms automatically went around him to hold him to me. She sat beside me and wrapped her arms around my waist while Yongjae giggled when he heard his Mommy's giggles and placed his tiny hands on my cheeks.

“No…”

I could only groan and close my eyes before Yongjae squeezed my cheeks and Yongsun squished me in her arms.

There’s an adorable giggle in front of me and an equally adorable giggle beside me. I’m having a hard time dealing with Yongjae’s squeezes and now his slaps, as well as Yongsun's bind on me. But hearing their laughter surrounding me right now, I’m having the best time of my life right at this moment.

Yongjae suddenly stopped giggling and squeezing my cheeks. Yongsun’s hold on me loosened as we watched Yongjae in front of us. I held his waist and made him stand on my lap while he fisted his small hands. He held his breath before he breathed deeply and held his breath again.

“Someone’s pooping,” I whispered to Yongsun beside me.

She leaned her chin on my shoulder and continued watching Yongjae whose eyes were bouncing between me and his Mommy. “You’re saved by the poop”

“The poop is my only companion here. Yongkeey is loyal but I feel like she always has the urge to pee on me again after I cheated on her in the game. She still can’t move on from it and that was months ago already”

“She has already. You’re just panicky around her, that’s why you think she’d still pee on you”

“You don’t know what trauma is until you experienced it yourself” I glanced at Yongsun and narrowed my eyes at her while she raised her eyebrows at me, a smile slowly forming on her lips. I pouted at her while she shook her head and softly laughed at me.

I smiled at her before we faced Yongjae again. He was fidgeting with his nose and kicking his legs wildly. He glanced at me and Yongsun before he scrunched up his nose, making us laugh at him. We both leaned forward at the same time and kissed him; I kissed his forehead while Yongsun kissed his cheek.

“It’s bath time already!” Yongsun said while I lifted Yongjae in my arms before we both climbed out of the bed.

Yongjae was sitting on the couch while I was kneeling down in front of him, hiding my face behind his pair of tiny shoes. Yongsun was busy packing his clothes and the usual things he needed in a baby bag while I was dressing up Yongjae. I was done with everything else. I only need to put his shoes on him so I decided to play while I still have time.

“Peek-a-boo” I whispered as I uncovered my face while he giggled loudly. He seemed to love this so we’ve been stuck doing this for a few minutes now. “Peek-a-boo!” I exclaimed, smiling so wide when he laughed louder.

“Yongjae… Are you excited to meet Auntie Yonghee?” Yongsun asked, emerging from the hallway with the baby bag on her shoulder.

“Your sister’s name is Yonghee?” I asked as I proceeded to wear the shoes on Yongjae.

“Yes. Why? You know her?”

I shook my head while I struggled to put the shoes on Yongjae because he still wanted to play with me more. Since we’re done playing peek-a-boo, he decided to play with my hair. Yongsun rescued me by passing Yongjae’s elephant to him, effectively diverting his gaze to his elephant.

“It’s just that all of you are Yong. You know anyone else who’s also a Yong?”

She fixed my hair for me while I put on Yongjae’s second shoe. “Nope. Only four of us”

I sighed heavily before I stood up when I was done putting on his shoes. I lifted him off the couch before we headed to the front door. I inserted my feet in my shoes before I grabbed one of Yongjae’s hand and turned around to face Yongkeey. I waved his hand at Yongkeey while I smiled at Yongkeey.

“Bye…” I faced Yongjae and whispered, “Say goodbye to Yongkeey. Bye, Yongkeey… Go on.” I smiled and chuckled softly when he just mumbled incoherently. I kissed his cheek before I waved at Yongkeey myself. “Bye, Yongkeey. I’ll come back later, okay?” I said while she barked in response.

Yongsun blew kisses to her dog and said goodbye to her as well before we headed out of her apartment.

Yongjae will be meeting her auntie for the first time. Yongsun said that they’ll be meeting her older sister and mother at their old house. Irene and Chorong would be there too as well as her older sister’s friends. She told me that I could come along but I declined and told her that I’ll be working today. I wasn’t supposed to but I was able to drag a grumpy Hyejin and Byul to work when I called them a while ago.

Yongsun strapped Yongjae in the car seat while I headed to the driver seat and proceeded to do my ritual of breathing heavily and calming myself down before moving the car. This doesn’t get any easier. As long as the car seat is still present, I will be forever nervous driving Yongjae around.

When I was able to get a hold of myself, I slowly pulled the car out of the basement parking lot. I followed the address Yongsun keyed in in my navigational panel while I constantly glanced at Yongjae on the backseat.

“Vroom vroom…” Yongsun whispered to him while I smiled at them. “Vroom vroom, Yongjae”

I saw him puckered his lips and tried to imitate Yongsun but only spit would come out of his lips, making us laugh at him. He attempted to do it several times and Yongsun kept encouraging him, only to laugh when her son failed to produce a sound.

“You’re doing great, Yongjae. Don’t give up, little guy” I cheered from the driver seat.

I saw Yongsun kissing her son’s head before she said, “He’s so cute… My older sister might bring him with her and packed him in her suitcase before she’ll fly back to Europe again”

“Anyone would be tempted to steal that little guy. I heard Chorong and Irene one time planning to steal him behind your back. Be careful later” I said teasingly before I glanced at the rear view mirror and saw her hugging Yongjae like someone is already stealing him from her.

A ringing suddenly surrounded us in the car, making me slightly jump on my seat when I got startled from it. Then I saw that my Mom was calling me. I forgot that my phone was connected to the car’s system. I declined her call right away before I focused on driving. She’ll know that I am driving at this moment. I’ll just call her later.

“Three…  two… one…”

My eyebrows furrowed, confused when I heard someone whispering a countdown.

“Happy birthday, Wheein!” Mom and Dad’s excited voices could be heard all over the car.

I glanced at the navigation panel and saw that I ended up answering my Mom’s call instead of declining it. “Mom! Dad! You scared me” I whined, pouting at the panel even when they couldn’t see me.

“You know that was coming the moment you answered the call. Why are you mad at us?” Mom asked, hearing my Dad’s laugh over Mom’s voice.

“I’m driving. I thought I ended the call, that’s why I was surprised when I suddenly heard your voices”

“It’s okay, sweetie. Should we call you again?” Dad asked.

“No. It’s okay. I think I can handle it. I have you on loudspeaker so don’t worry about it.” I smiled as I glanced at the panel and said, “Thank you for calling to greet me”

“Wait… Are you going somewhere? Why are you driving?”

“I’m not. I’m just dropping a friend before I head to work” I said, remembering that Yongsun could clearly hear this conversation right now.

I gulped hard and glanced at the rear view mirror only to glance at the road ahead again when Yongsun was already staring at me intently. I could hear Yongjae’s chewing sounds on the back. I hope Mom and Dad won't point that out.

“You’re heading for work later? Hyejin said there’s no work today because it’s your birthday” Dad said.

I gulped hard and shook my head, forgetting again that they couldn’t see me. I turned the car first before I answered them and said, “She must’ve thought wrong”

“No. She confirmed yesterday that you told them that there’s no work today. Did you change your mind?”