“Yongjae… Come here, baby. Come to Mommy” I whispered in a singsong voice as I softly clapped my hands.

I was kneeling in the living room as I smiled at my son. Eric was sitting right across me, holding onto Yongjae. Yongkeey was beside me to watch Yongjae and cheer on him. We’ve placed pillows and comforters around us so if Yongjae fell and we weren’t able to catch him, he wouldn’t get hurt. He’s been practicing walking around my apartment in his walker for a while now. Then we usually spend the morning letting him practice on his own feet like what we’re doing now for the last couple of minutes.

I clapped my hands again then reached my arms towards him. He’s already standing on his feet, wobbling and swaying a little bit while Eric held onto his waist. Yongjae waved his arms around and smiled at me, stomping his feet on the mat that Wheein laid down a long time ago in my living room.

“Should I release him? I don’t want to release him anymore. He might fall again” Eric said worriedly, slightly nervous while his eyes bounced all over Yongjae.

“He’ll be fine. This little guy is stronger than you think. He stood up right away”

I shouted so loud earlier when Yongjae fell down as he was walking towards Eric. He fell down on the pillows though so he was safe from scratches or injuries. However, that didn’t lessen how terribly nervous and anxious I was when that happened. I’m still nervous now but I trust my son that he’ll do good. He’s a strong boy now.

“You sound so confident when you were the one who was so scared a second ago,” Eric said, laughing softly at me.

“That was before. It’s different now.” I clapped my hands again as I smiled at Yongjae while I saw Eric shook his head while still laughing at me. “Baby… Come to Mommy”

“Mommy…”

“See! He wants to walk to his Mommy now. Let him Eric. I know he’ll be fine”

“Okay…” He whispered before he sighed heavily. “Please don’t fall down, okay?” he whispered to Yongjae before he kissed the back of his head.

Then he slowly released Yongjae, his hands still near Yongjae to catch Yongjae right away if he falls down. Yongjae was standing on his own while I smiled so wide, feeling so proud of my baby boy. He was swaying a little bit but he was staying up right. His eyes were on the floor and his hands were in front of him, as he tried to balance himself.

“Yongjae… Yongjae…” I whispered as I clapped my hands again, trying to catching his attention.

He smiled so wide when his eyes met mine while I smiled back at him. He slowly walked towards me with a huge smile on his lips and his eyes turned to small slits. His arms were still raised forward as he made his way towards me. His steps were like heavy stomps but because of how small he still is, it didn’t sound heavy.

“That’s it… That’s it…” Eric softly cheered from behind him. His arms were still near Yongjae, ready to catch him right away in case he falls. “You’re doing a good job, Yongjae” Eric said so eagerly, making me chuckle at him. “Go to Mommy, Yongjae”

“Ah!” Eric and I exclaimed at the same time when Yongjae fell forward.

“No, let him. He’s good” I said confidently, stopping Eric’s hurried movements to pick up Yongjae.

Yongjae went out balanced and fell face forward but he was able to lean on his hands. He pushed himself up again and smiled at me like nothing happened.

“That’s a good boy. That’s Mommy’s good boy.” I clapped my hands again and made him walk towards me.

I slowly moved backwards when he was close to me already. He giggled when he noticed me moving away while I giggled with him as well. He started walking faster while I continued to move backwards, letting him walk more. When my back hit the TV stand, I stopped moving while Yongjae jogged towards me. He fell right in my arms.

“Yes!” Eric shouted while I flinched, surprised at him. He stood up and raised his arms up high as he smiled proudly at Yongjae. “Good job, Yongjae! You are amazing!”

I laughed at Eric as I hugged Yongjae in my arms. Then I showered Yongjae’s face with kisses. “Mommy’s proud of you, baby. Please don’t run away from us now that you’re good at walking already” I whispered in between kisses.

I lifted him up in my arms as I stood up. Eric grabbed him from me and lifted him up in the air, making Yongjae giggle even more. They turned around while Yongkeey barked loudly as she ran around with them too.

My phone that was on the couch suddenly rang. I walked towards it and saw Chorong’s name on the caller ID. “They must be here already,” I said to Eric who’s still celebrating Yongjae’s successful walk.

I answered Chorong’s call before I placed my phone on my ear. “Hello”

Eric pulled Yongjae close to him and quieted down his loud cheering when he saw me answering a call. He just settled with placing kisses on Yongjae’s cheek.

“We’re here” Chorong and Irene said at the same time.

“Okay… I’m going down now”

“Bring Yongjae with you. We want to see his cute face. Bye!” Chorong said before she ended the call right away.

I pulled my phone away from my ear to see if they really did end the call. I narrowed my eyes and frowned at my phone screen when they actually did, hoping that they could see my face right now. My friends just wanted to see my son more than me now.

“I have to go now,” I said to Eric. “They wanted to see Yongjae so you have to go down with me”

“Okay.” He faced Yongjae and whispered, “We’re going out Yongjae. We’re seeing Auntie Chorong and Auntie Irene, baby. Mommy had to go too”

I smiled at them as I grabbed my purse on the couch and placed my phone inside it. Eric grabbed my purse and carried it for me while I lifted Yongjae from his arms. I put shoes on him before I said goodbye to Yongkeey then all three of us went out of my apartment.

Irene, Chorong and I would be meeting with the wedding planner. We’d be spending the day tasting cakes, tasting food, picking flowers, designs and more. I’d be picking my gown for today and for the bridesmaids. I would be the one picking Eric’s suit as well so he would match with the theme. I am doing this with my friends because my friends forced me to let them. Eric agreed because he’s okay with whatever I’d be picking. He said that what’s important is that he’d be finally calling me his wife that day.

I placed Yongjae down on the floor again since he wanted to walk more. I held one of his hands and guided him towards the elevator, half my attention was to where I’m going and half on Yongjae. “You walking, little guy? You going somewhere?” I cooed at him and immediately stopped walking when he was bouncing on his knees.

“Someone’s excited,” Eric said on Yongjae’s other side while we watched Yongjae.

“Chorong and Irene would be so mad at me for making them wait in the lobby”

“But they won’t get mad at you for bringing Yongjae with you”

“Good point. They’ll probably just ignore me.” I squeezed Yongjae’s tiny hand and said, “Let’s go, Yongjae. Let’s not make the aunties wait”

I took a step forward and softly tugged on his arm, smiling when he started walking again. It was such a long walk towards the elevator since all our steps were matching Yongjae’s tiny angry stomps.

“I noticed you used your family name on Yongjae’s birth certificate,” Eric suddenly said. I glanced at him and saw him staring at Yongjae before he lifted his gaze to me. He gave me a small smile and asked, “Will it be okay to change his family name to mine once we get married already?”

“Yeah…” I said, agreeing right away.

“Really?”

“I only used mine since you weren’t there that time. I didn’t expect things to change. I’ll be carrying your family name after we get married. There’s no point in leaving Yongjae out”

“Thank you,” he said, sounding so relieved.

I smiled and nodded at him. “You don’t have to thank me for that.” I stopped walking and glanced at Yongjae when he stopped moving forward. “What’s wrong?” I asked my son.

He faced me and raised his other arm up. “Up, up” he mumbled, making me smile at him.

Eric chuckled as he ruffled Yongjae’s hair. “He got tired already”

I lifted Yongjae and showered kisses on his cheek. He placed his tiny arms around my shoulders and sighed heavily like he walked ten thousand miles for days already. I rubbed my nose with his little nose as I giggled at him. I pressed our cheeks together before we resumed walking towards the elevator.

We were inside the elevator already when we saw Wheein coming towards the end of the hallway, which is where the elevator and the stairs are located. She was about to take the stairs when Yongjae called for her.

“Whee… Whee…” he mumbled while Wheein looked confused whether she should go to the stairs or go to Yongjae.

By now, I think Eric figured out that every time Yongjae says Whee that just means that Yongjae is calling or looking for Wheein.

Wheein became even more conflicted when Yongjae started whimpering and leaning forward as he reached a hand towards her, making me step forward. Her eyes nervously bounced between Yongjae, Eric and me as she gulped hard.

“Whee!” Yongjae called, loudly this time.

Eric pressed the button to hold the elevator doors open and motioned for Wheein to come in. “I’m sorry but I think he really wants to see you,” Eric said to Wheein.

Wheein bent her head down and slowly walked towards the elevator. She stood beside me and held Yongjae right away when Yongjae moved towards her. Then she lifted him off from my arms and hugged Yongjae close to her.

“Hey, little guy” she whispered to Yongjae, smiling at him while Yongjae giggled softly.

“Whee… Whee…” Yongjae mumbled while Wheein softly groaned when my son placed his hands on Wheein’s cheeks.

“Please don’t…” she whispered as she pouted at Yongjae, making Yongjae giggle even louder. “Ow… Why do you.. Ow…” She gave up on talking as she closed her eyes and just let Yongjae squeeze her cheeks so tightly.

“Yongjae… Don’t hurt her” Eric said from my other side.

“No. It’s okay. He does… Ow... this all the time”

“Does it hurt? I’m sorry…”

“It does. It’s okay. He likes it”

Eric chuckled and saw him nodding his head in agreement. “He does”

Yongjae loves it. He does it all the time because he loves it. He loves playing catch with Wheein and Yongkeey and them only. Whenever Eric plays catch with Yongkeey, Yongjae wouldn’t allow him by crying and whimpering his complaints. Yongkeey wouldn’t cooperate as well. Although Yongkeey was already civil around Eric, she still doesn’t allow Eric to play with her and let him walk her. I don’t know why.

I just listened to the two of them talking and watched them interact through our reflection on the elevator doors. Eric knows that Wheein and I are not on speaking terms anymore. I promised not to bother Wheein anymore so I stopped. I stopped talking and interacting with her. I stopped texting and calling her. I stopped going to the basement parking lot and her café. It was hard but I stopped.

The dreams never stopped though. The feeling of missing her didn’t stop as well. It just grows.

Eric walked towards Wheein and reached both of his hands to Yongjae. “Come here, Yongjae. Let’s not bother Wheein.” He lifted Yongjae away from Wheein but Yongjae complained and wanted to stay in Wheein’s arms. Eric sighed heavily before he said to Wheein, “I’m sorry if he’s bothering you. Do you have somewhere to go?”

“It’s okay. I’m just going to the café”

I walked ahead of them when we reached the main lobby. Chorong and Irene were waiting by the main lobby for me, looking slightly irritated for making them wait for me. They turned their heads towards me and glared at me but it immediately changed to surprise when they saw the three people behind me.

“I thought you’re not talking anymore” Irene whispered as I moved to hug her.

“We’re not.” I hugged Chorong next and whispered, “Yongjae wanted to be carried by her when we saw her about to walk down the stairs”

I stepped aside right away and watched my friends greet Eric and Wheein before they played with Yongjae. Wheein was just awkwardly standing in front of Chorong and Irene. She was just holding Yongjae since Yongjae didn’t want to let go of her.

Eric walked beside me and placed his arm around my waist. He pulled me to him and kissed my cheek. “Don’t be gone for too long. I don’t think I could survive a day with just Yongjae and Yongkeey later”

I chuckled as I patted his chest and said, “You’ll be fine. It would be exhausting but you’ll be fine”

He stared at Yongjae who was hugging Wheein tightly, looking so worried about later. I leaned towards him and kissed his cheek to reassure him.

“We’ll be back right away. Don’t worry” I said before he glanced at me, looking even more nervous. “We should probably go now. We might be late for our meeting”

He pulled me in a hug and kissed my cheek again. “Come back right away. I love you”

“I love you too”

Once we broke the hug, I moved towards my friends and told them that we should go already. I stood in front of Wheein but my eyes and smile were all directed to Yongjae. I reached for him but he laid his head on Wheein’s chest, making me pout at him.

“Mommy has to go now. Aren’t you going to say goodbye to Mommy?” I cooed at him while he just smiled at me. “Cheeky little guy” I whispered before I leaned forward, hearing Wheein gulp hard in front of me. I kissed Yongjae’s cheek and his head before I waved at him. “Bye… Mommy has to go already”

“Let’s go, Yongjae…” Eric said, approaching Yongjae while motioning for Yongjae to go to him. “Wheein has to go to work already”

Yongjae shook his head and moved closer to Wheein, making Eric sigh heavily. Yongjae pointed outside as he glanced at Wheein. “Jinie… Jinie…” he mumbled to Wheein while Wheein furrowed her eyebrows from confusion.

I turned to Eric and said, “He wants to see Hyejin and probably also Byul in the café across us. Can you keep him company and make sure he wouldn’t disturb their work