Wheein’s POV

I was carrying Yongjae with both of my arms while he held onto Yongkeey’s leash with both of his tiny hands, gripping it tightly. Yongkeey was right beside us, following us obediently while Yongjae was looking at her the whole time. He leaned his body to the side to look at Yongkeey, making it difficult for me to carry him.

I brushed my cheek on his pineapple hair, feeling how soft his hair is before I kissed the back of his head. “Is Yongkeey still following us, Yongjae?” I asked him.

He leaned back to look at me while he was pointing at Yongkeey. “Ki! Ki!”

“Good job, little guy. Watch over Yongkeey carefully”

He smiled at me before he leaned his body forward and trained his eyes on Yongkeey. He kind of figured out now that every time we say good job to him or good boy, it means that we’re complimenting him. He’d smile at us when he heard that. He’d even ask for a kiss sometimes.

I kissed the back of his head again as we reached the café. I turned my body around and used my back to push the door open. I let Yongkeey in first before I moved around and closed the door. I placed Yongjae down on the floor before I walked from behind him.

He was still holding Yongkeey’s leash with both of his hands. I held the middle of the leash so he wouldn’t step on it. Then we started slowly walking towards the bar where Hyejin and Byul were.

Yongjae raised his hands up when he saw Hyejin and Byul. “Jinie! Bow!” he shouted at them, gathering all of the customer’s attention in the café. “Ki! Ki!” he said, proudly saying to them that he was walking Yongkeey and holding her leash while he’s slightly bouncing on his knees.

“Someone’s showing off again,” Hyejin said, smiling so wide at Yongjae as she walked out of the bar. She crouched down while Yongjae and Yongkeey walked towards her. “Are you watching over Yongkeey, Yongjae? Is that what you’re doing?”

“Ki!”

“Good job” Hyejin whispered while Yongjae giggled after hearing the compliment.

Hyejin opened her arms and pouted at Yongjae, asking for a kiss from him. Yongjae walked towards his Auntie Jinie and kissed her pouting lips. Then he ran towards Yongkeey and hugged the dog, suddenly getting shy after kissing his Auntie Jinie.

“Can you watch over him for a while?”

“Of course! You don’t have to ask me that kind of question, Wheeinie. I’m stealing this little guy from you and Yongsun”

“You can’t. He only wants his Mommy and his Mommy Whee” I said proudly, smiling so wide at Hyejin while she rolled her eyes at me.

“I’m one second away from wiping that huge smile on your face. Get that away from me”

Byul came out of the bar to go to Yongjae as well, laughing at me when she passed by me.

“What’s wrong?” I whined pouting at both of them.

“You’ve been showing off that Yongjae calls you Mommy Whee for the past week. Hyejin said it’s irritating”

“I should show off! I wanted to show off! Why wouldn’t I show off?!”

Byul laughed at me again as she pinched my cheek and patted my head. “Relax… There’s nothing wrong about it. Your best friend’s just a little bit whiny” she whispered to me.

My eyebrows raised up and my mouth hung open when I heard the implication of her statement. I moved closer to her and whispered, “How was it?”

She shrugged her shoulders as she watched Hyejin play with Yongjae and Yongkeey. “We don’t know yet. I’m not so sure if it’s her normal whining or it’s a different whining”

“She whines a lot too so it’s hard to tell. Has she started craving anything?”

Byul gave me a pointed look as she said, “She craves anything all the time. You might’ve forgotten who your best friend is”

I softly giggled at her as I shook my head. “Sorry…”

“There’s no assurance that it’ll be successful but she’s very hopeful. I don’t want it to fail because she might be disappointed in me”

“I don’t think so.” I smiled at her when she frowned at me, her eyes filled with worry. “It would never be your fault, Byul”

I squeezed her arm while she sighed heavily before I went inside the bar to make Yongsun’s mint chocolate drink. Yongjae, Yongkeey, and I will be picking her up later at work. She still hasn’t told me anything yet about her decision whether she’d be accepting my proposal for her to work with me or not. She only said that she will think about it. I don’t want her to be in that place for longer. I’m just glad that she has friends in there that she could rely on.

When I was done fixing Yongsun’s drink, I left the bar with the drink in hand, ready to drive us to Yongsun’s workplace. I stopped right outside of the bar and just watched my friends play with Yongjae and Yongkeey. It’s been more than a year since I found out that they wanted to have their own family and raise their own kids. I never planned one and was failing miserably in my love life at that time but I got ahead of them.

They’ve been checking out hospitals and possible donors. It was just recently that they finally had the guts to try it. Hyejin wants to carry the baby and a mini version of Byul so they’re using Byul’s egg cell. They’ll be going to the hospital later to find out if it was successful or not. All three of us were nervous the entire day, that’s why I decided to close the café early.

I gave them a few more minutes before I finally decided to cut their time playing with Yongjae. As much as I wanted them to play longer, I don’t like making Yongsun wait as well. We have to get going.

“We have to go” I said and saw how they were disheartened about it. Hyejin was even slightly glaring at me. “We have to go or else Yongsun we’ll be waiting for us” I said to her while she pouted at me this time.

“Goodbye, Yongjae” Byul whispered as she waved at him. She pointed at her cheek and said, “Kiss”

Yongjae followed obediently. He turned to Hyejin to give her a kiss as well. Then he hid his face on Hyejin’s neck when he suddenly got shy.

“Text me the results later” I whispered to Byul when she passed by me on her way back to the bar.

“Sure”

I walked towards Yongjae and Hyejin and laughed a little bit when I saw that pineapple man was still holding Yongkeey’s leash. He’s really sticking to the plan of not letting go of Yongkeey. Yongkeey was also behaving properly, knowing that the little guy was holding onto her leash.

I grabbed Yongjae from Hyejin’s arms and carried him with one arm. “Let’s go pick up Mommy, okay?”

“Pick… Mommy…” he whispered as he nodded at me.

I smiled at him and kissed his cheek before I turned to face Hyejin. “Update me the results for later, okay?”

“Yeah…”

“Okay. We’ll go now.” I turned to Yongjae and whispered, “Say bye bye to Auntie Jinie and Auntie Bow”

“Bye bye…” He normally waves his hand but since he’s committing to not letting go of Yongkeey’s leash, he just raised his hands up before he dropped them down.

“Yongkeey…” I called out to her as I looked for her on the floor and saw that she was already facing the doors, waiting for me to move. “Let’s go, Yongkeey” I said before I headed towards the café doors.

I walked out the same way as I walked inside. Yongjae was again looking at Yongkeey and making sure that she’s following us. Yongkeey decided to lead the way on our way to the basement parking lot. I sighed in relief when Yongjae leaned his body to me to look at Yongkeey in front of us, making it easier for me to carry him.

“Yum…” he suddenly whispered.

“Are you hungry already? We just ate before we left the house, little guy. Yum yum… Yongjae yum yum?” I whispered worriedly.

He shook his head and raised his hands, pointing at the drink in my hand. He looked at me and said, “Yum yum…”

“Oh, this?” I raised the cup and showed it to him.

“Yum…”

“It’s Mommy’s yum yum, Yongjae. Mommy yum yum”

“Mommy?”

I nodded at him as I kissed his cheek. “Yeah… This is Mommy’s yum yum. It’s her drink when you were in her tummy”

“Tummy?” he repeated, unable to comprehend what I said while still staring at the drink in my hand.

“Yeah…” I raised him up and kissed his tummy. “Tummy. When Yongjae was still in Mommy’s tummy.” I looked at him and bit my bottom lip when he looked so confused. He’s probably thinking that Yongsun ate him or something like that. I giggled at him and kissed his cheek again. “We’ll give Mommy yum yum later when we pick her up, okay? Mommy yum yum, Yongjae”

“Okay…” he whispered even though I think he didn’t understand what I said.

I placed the cup on top of the car first before I strapped Yongjae in his car seat. Then I let Yongkeey sit beside Yongjae so he has company in the backseat. I grabbed Yongsun’s cup when the babies were settled then jogged towards the driver seat. I placed the cup in the cup holder and smiled when I heard Yongjae mumbling vroom vroom, definitely spitting his saliva out. I moved the car out of the basement parking lot and headed to Yongsun’s company.

“We’re picking up Mommy… We’re picking up Mommy…” I chanted and smiled when I saw Yongjae bouncing in his car seat. “We’re picking up Mommy… We’re picking up Mommy…”

“Mommy! Mommy!” he shouted, joining in my chants before he giggled excitedly.

“Who’s picking up Mommy?” I asked, briefly glancing at him through the rear view mirror before I faced the road again.

“Ki! Ki!” Yongjae excitedly responded while Yongkeey gave an equally excited bark after that, making me flinch a little bit because of how loud her bark is.

“Who else is picking up Mommy?”

“Jae!” he shouted, clapping so loudly now.

I smiled so wide when I heard that. He recognizes his name already. He’s been using it too but not so often, so every time he refers to himself, it always makes us smile.

“That’s right! Who else is picking up Mommy?”

“Mommy Whee!”

I smiled the widest when I heard that while I bobbed my head as I chanted again. I discovered that he likes these kinds of things. He enjoys it so much, especially now that he was able to understand a couple of words and speak them as well. It’s the best way to keep him distracted so he wouldn’t be grumpy on our way to Yongsun’s workplace. It’s also a form of distraction for me but it’s more of an entertainment to get rid of my nerves when driving.

“We’re here!” I glanced at the rear view mirror in time to see Yongjae raising his small fists up in the air while Yongkeey barked excitedly.

I moved out of the driver seat and jogged towards the backseat, bringing Yongsun’s cup with me. I opened the backseat and let Yongkeey out first before I unstrapped Yongjae from his car seat. I put him down on the ground and closed the door. I handed him Yongkeey’s leash but he shook his head.

“Mommy yum yum” he said, reaching his little hands on the drink I was holding.

“You want to hold it?”

“Yum yum. Mommy…”

I crouched down and handed him the cup, making sure that he’s holding the part with the cup sleeve so it wouldn’t be cold in his hands. “You have to make sure you won't spill it, okay? Mommy still has to drink it. Do you understand me, little guy?” I asked while he only stared at the cup in his hands. “No spill. Don’t fall”

I don’t think he understood me but he looks determined to hold his Mommy’s mint chocolate drink. If it falls, at least the little guy tried.

I held Yongkeey’s leash while Yongjae started slowly walking. I held his shirt and guided him to where we’re going while his eyes were on the cup. I silently laughed at how the cup was a foot away from his body. I adjusted his hand and made him lift the cup closer to his body so he’d be able to hold it comfortably.

We slowly made our way to the entrance of the building. Yongsun would be worried if she wouldn’t see us outside of the building. Yongjae hasn’t complained yet so we took our time walking. Yongkeey was right beside him while I was behind him, holding onto his shirt and wishing for him not to fall down.

“Good job, Yongjae. You’re doing a really good job” I whispered to him.

“Good?” he whispered softly.

“Yes. Very good, little guy. You’re doing really well”

There were people passing us and praising how cute Yongjae was. I tried to greet them back but I was afraid to take my eyes away from Yongjae. I just smiled at the pineapple man and would sometimes touch his pineapple hair because it’s cute.

Yongsun would be out of the building by now. I haven't received any call from her yet, asking where we are right now. She didn’t tell me anything about working overtime today as well.

I decided to risk looking away from Yongjae and quickly look ahead to see if Yongsun had already come out. I smiled when I saw her standing outside of the building already, patiently waiting for me and Yongjae to get to her. I glanced at Yongjae again to watch over him.

“We’re almost there, Yongjae. We’re almost to Mommy” I whispered to him.

When we’re really close to Yongsun, I glanced up at her again and saw her smiling at me and Yongjae. I held Yongjae’s shoulders and stopped him from walking. “We’re here, Yongjae. Look… Mommy’s standing in front of us now”

“Mommy?” He glanced up and smiled right away when he saw Yongsun in front of him. “Mommy!” he exclaimed, bouncing on his heels a little bit.

“Quick. Grab the cup from him or else he’ll drop it” I whispered to Yongsun and she followed right away.

She held the cup and crouched down in front of Yongjae. “Did you bring this for Mommy?”

“Mommy yum yum” Yongjae responded, nodding his head enthusiastically.

I leaned down and wiped his hands, which felt a little bit cold from holding onto the cup for a long time. Yongsun grabbed them from me and blew warm air into them before she kissed them.

“Thank you!” She kissed Yongjae’s cheeks and hugged him tightly. Then she lifted him up in her arms while Yongjae sighed heavily, probably tired from holding onto the cup and walking for a long time. Yongsun chuckled at him and kissed his cheeks again. “Thank you. I love you”

“Wabyu…” Yongjae whispered before he laid his head on his Mommy’s shoulder.

“He must be really tired. He was holding onto Yongkeey’s leash when we headed to the café to make your drink and he never let go of it until we reached the car in the basement parking lot” I said to Yongsun.

“Is that so, Yongjae? Were you watching over Yongkeey?” Yongsun whispered to Yongjae.

I wasn’t able to catch what Yongjae said when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket from a text. I pulled it out of my pocket, thinking that it was from either one of Hyejin or Byul. I saw an unread text from Byul and immediately opened it while my heart beat so fast from both excitement and nervousness.

“Something wrong?” Yongsun asked.

“I got a text from Byul. I think it’s the results” I mumbled, my fingers shaking a little bit from nervousness.

From: Byul
Negative. We weren’t able to do it, Wheein.

My fingers instantly stopped shaking while my body froze like ice cold water was poured directly into my body. I stared at her text, reading it again and again because I think I’ve read it wrongly. Every time I ran my eyes on the first word, I read it again because I simply could not believe it.

“Wheein?”

The moment I heard Yongsun’s voice, it activated the shaking and the loud beating of my heart again. My hands shook even harder now and it felt like there’s a loud pounding in my chest because of how deafening my heart throbbed this time.

I hurriedly dialled Byul’s number and placed my phone on my ear. Then I stared at the ground and bit my nails as I waited for her to answer the call, my knees bouncing on its own from nervousness.

“Byul” I said, clearing my throat right away when my voice broke. “Byul” I said, clearer this time.

I stopped biting my nails and instantly pouted when I heard Hyejin’s familiar voice on Byul’s end. Then I closed my eyes and pouted harder when I could clearly hear her crying.

“Hyejinie…”

“Wheeinie…” she whispered, her voice breaking from her cries while I shut my eyes tightly because it was purely heartbreaking. I’m somewhere far from her but I could clearly hear the pain in her cries. “Wheeinie…” she whispered again before she cried harder this time.

I could hear Byul saying Hyejin’s name, which meant that she’s just right beside Hyejin. Every hiccup I could hear from Hyejin was like a stab to my chest, making it even harder for me not to cry. I raised my free hand to cover my eyes and push back my tears.

“We can’t… Why can’t we do it, Wheein? Why?”

“I don’t know, Hyejinie… I’m sorry…” I whispered before I sniffed back the tears I couldn’t hold anymore.

“Byul” Hyejin said, addressing Byul this time.

“Come here…” Byul whispered softly, which I could clearly hear on my end.

Hyejin didn’t end the call and I didn’t drop the call as well. I don’t know if she still remembered that we’re on the line. I could picture her and Byul crying in each other’s arms because I could also hear Byul sniffing over Hyejin’s loud cries.

It’s harder for me to stop crying when I hear them crying but I still never end the call. It makes me feel like I’m with them right now. Like I’m beside my best friend, holding her as well.

Tiny arms suddenly went around my shoulders then I heard Yongjae whisper, “Mommy Whee… boo boo?”

I carried Yongjae right away and pushed my face on his shoulder. I felt kisses on top of my head next, which surprised me. I instantly pulled my face away from Yongjae’s shoulder and stared at Yongsun in front of me.

She wiped the tears on my cheeks right away while her worried eyes scanned all over my face. She suddenly leaned forward and kissed my forehead. The moment her lips touched me, my eyes immediately widened. She didn’t pull back right away. She stayed touching her lips on my forehead and pressed her lips further, making me close my eyes this time.

This is probably the first time she went further than hugging me when we were out in public. We walked closer to each other. We held hands. We hugged. Those actions could be interpreted as if we're friends but this one is very different. I don’t think this could still be interpreted like that, especially with how she’s kissing my forehead for so long.

She finally pulled back and caressed her thumb on my cheek tenderly. “What happened to Hyejin and Byul?”

My lips quivered when fresh new tears flowed down from my eyes. I bit my bottom lip to stop them from shaking as I shook my head at her.

“Okay… Should we go back to the car now? Should we go to them right now?”

“Can we… Can we go… to them?” I stuttered from my hiccups.

“Of course, but you have to calm down first. I don’t know how to drive, love. I might ruin your car on our way there. I can’t replace that thing if that happens”

I slightly pouted at her while she chuckled at me and continued to wipe the tears on my cheeks, my mood slightly better than a second ago. “Even if you know how to drive and you can replace it, I don’t think I can allow you” I whispered teasingly.

She playfully narrowed her eyes at me and whispered, “Are you challenging me?”

“You always wanted to be challenged”

“Challenge accepted then. I’ll drive your car when you're asleep when I get my license” she whispered while I pouted at her. She suddenly leaned forward and k