Yongsun’s POV

“Are we there yet?”

“Almost…”

“You’ve been saying that for the last hour and we’re still not there yet”

“You asked that question the moment you put on the blindfold until now and that was what? A few minutes ago”

“It doesn’t feel like a few minutes for someone who had the blindfold on, Wheein” I said, unable to stop my frustration and impatience to show up.

I’ve been gripping Yongjae’s car seat and my seatbelt since I had the blindfold to avoid removing it. I’ve been itching and tempted to just take it off but I don’t want to ruin her surprise as well. She's already frustrated that I knew about this way earlier than she planned to tell me.

I sighed heavily and leaned my head back on the headrest. “Sorry…” I whispered.

I heard her softly laughing at me before she said, “It’s okay. I understand your impatience, but we’re almost there. We’re really almost there, Yongsun. I promise”

“Okay…” I raised my hand to Yongjae and said, “Yongjae… Hold Mommy’s hand, baby”

“Yongjae’s asleep” Wheein said with a light chuckle. “He closed his eyes when he saw you blindfolded and followed you. The next moment I checked on him, he was already asleep. He must’ve been tired closing his eyes and got exhausted”

I smiled as I silently laughed at the thought of Yongjae falling asleep because he tried to follow what I did. I could picture his hands were on his tummy while his mouth was slightly open and his cheeks would bounce from the light rocking of the car. That would be an adorable sight to see.

I blindly reached for his hand, softly patting my hand on the car seat so I wouldn’t wake him up. I felt his foot first. I slowly raised my hand up and traced his small leg. I felt his knee and raised my hand up some more before I felt his tummy. Then I finally reached his hand, smiling when I finally felt his tiny fingers. I wrapped my fingers around it and waited for this car ride to be finally over.

A month ago, I found out that my girlfriend owned a penthouse, but that penthouse is gone now because she sold it to buy a house. I kept asking her about it but she consistently refused to answer my questions. I wanted to at least look at the pictures of the house but she didn’t allow me that too. She never told me about its address, saying that I might secretly go there. That was the plan though and she caught me on my act right away.

Three weeks ago, my resignation also got approved and I officially left the company. My friends were disheartened about it but they’re mostly happy because they know how much I wanted to leave the company. I still visited them. We still hangout and call each other. Irene and Chorong would still tell me stuff and rumors going around the company like how we always do to pass the time and in order to avoid getting sleepy at work.

I started working with Wheein right after my resignation. It was very hard at first because I’m dealing with all her twenty one café branches. I think she intentionally made it difficult for me because I love the challenge. I was slowly getting used to it, especially when I got complimented with my work. Also, listening to Wheein discuss stuff about business to me is really y. It’s a new side of her I just witnessed and it’s such a turn on. I’d easily get goosebumps just by listening to the serious tone of her voice. She looks very professional even in her oversized shirt and pants, and very different from the other sides of her that I’ve seen already.

It was fun working in her café too. We’re always laughing in the café but when it’s time to work, they’re all in work mode. Being surrounded by ordinary yet amazing people is way better than being surrounded by powerful yet obnoxious ones. Even the ones that aren’t in the high positions in the company are obnoxious as well. The best part about working with Wheein was I get to spend more time with my son and dog, as well as be around Wheein most of the time. She’s still busy with the expansion so she was running around and going to places.

I understand now why Hyejin stayed working in the café when Wheein told me that she’s only working with Wheein temporarily. It was also a month ago that I found out the real reason why Wheein ventured into this business. It was not for profits but was mostly to help her friends, specifically her best friend. I eavesdropped on her conversation with my mother and found out a lot of things during that conversation. She really did mean it when she said to me when I was still pregnant with Yongjae that she’s willing to help her friends. And creating an entire business just to help Hyejin is really something else. She went out of her way just to help. Now, she’s earning big from her business yet she stays humble.

How did I deserve her? How did I deserve someone like her?

I sat up when I felt the car slowing down. “Are we there yet?”

“We are. Don’t remove the blindfold yet, okay? Don’t get too excited. You’ll see everything today. I promise. Let me just park the car”

“I’m already excited, Wheein. Faster… faster… faster…”

I heard her laugh at me while my hands itched even more to remove the blindfold. When I felt the car stop, I placed Yongjae’s hand back to his tummy and fiddled with my seatbelt, trying to remove it but due to my excitement, I failed to remove it several times.

“Yes” I whispered under my breath when I finally got the seatbelt off. I reached to my right and searched for the door handle. “Should we go down now? Do I have to go down now?”

“Oh! No, no, no. Not yet. Stay there and I’ll help you out so you don't stumble on your way out. I’ll be there in a second”

I frowned towards the driver seat and frowned harder when I heard the door closing, which means that she hadn’t seen the disappointment in my face. My frown instantly turned into a wide smile when I heard my side of the door open.

“I’m going out now? What about Yongjae?”

I heard Wheein laugh at me again before I felt a kiss on my cheek then she whispered, “So impatient”

“I’ve been waiting for…”

“Hours. I know, but we’re here already.” She held my hand and helped me move out of the car, feeling her other hand on top of my head so I wouldn’t bump my head. “Just let me get Yongjae and Yongkeey out and guide you to the front of the house so you could remove your blindfold”

“What about now? I want to remove it now” I asked the moment I was standing outside the car.

“No…”

I laughed, thinking she’d be pouting at me right now just by the sound of her whining voice. “I’m just teasing but I really can’t wait. Talk to me so I won’t get bored standing in the dark here”

“Wait” she whispered before she grunted and sighed heavily. “Here… Carry Yongjae so I can deal with Yongkeey while guiding you to the front of the house”

“Give me our baby…” I raised both of my arms in front of me right away. “Where’s… Oh…” I whispered, stopping when I felt Wheein standing close to me.

It was hard to transfer Yongjae to me, especially with my inability to see as of the moment. There were a lot of whispers exchanged between us and a suggestion from me about removing the blindfold just for a little bit with Wheein rejecting it instantly and saying that we’re doing fine. After a couple of grunts and a lot of arm movements, I was able to lean Yongjae’s body to mine and his head on my shoulder. Fortunately, he didn’t whine and just stirred until he settled in my arms.

I felt an arm around my waist before I heard Wheein say, “Let’s go. Just walk with me”

“Okay…”

We started walking slowly together. I could hear Yongkeey’s paws walking on the cement floor that we’re walking on right now, which I think must be the garage. After a couple of steps, the cement turned into concrete blocks and grass. I think the concrete blocks are the pathways and the front yard is covered with grass because Wheein mentioned that she wanted a lawn for Yongjae to walk around on.

“Can you give me a size comparison? Will this be as big as your house in Jeonju?”

“No. That’s too big for us. I don’t think you’d like something like that”

I smiled as I nodded my head in agreement. “The apartment was enough but that won’t be enough if Yongjae grows up. I’m thinking of twice larger than that”

“Ah… well…”

“So it’s bigger than twice the size of our apartment?”

“Ah… Ye… es?” she whispered, uncertain about it herself.

“Why do you sound so uncertain?” I asked, softly laughing at her.

She stopped us from walking and said, “It’s definitely bigger than just twice the size of our apartment. How about you tell me?”

“Remove the blindfold then.” I turned my face to my right where I knew Wheein was standing and smiled at her as I gently bounced on my heels. “I’m excitedly already”

She laughed as she removed her arm around my waist. “Okay…” she whispered, hearing her voice behind me now.

I felt the blindfold moving on me before it started to get loosened until it was off of me now.

“Ta da…” Wheein excitedly whispered.

I bent my head low and blinked my eyes a couple of times, giving myself a few seconds to adjust from the sudden brightness. Then I slowly opened my eyes and stared at the house in front of me. It’s definitely bigger than twice the size of our apartment. Eric’s house looked bigger than this one though.

It’s a two-storey house. It looked like two separate houses because of how the bright sun was reflected on the glass partition in between the grey painted wall and the white painted wall. It turned out it was just like a thin glass window from the bottom to the very top of the house.

I was also right when I thought about those concrete blocks acting like pathways in the front yard. The front yard is very lovely. Mrs. Jung’s garden is more wonderful but they're too big for my liking. There are also pine trees in one corner of the fence and several small conical trees lining the side of the inside perimeter near the garage.

“Do you want to get inside now?” Wheein asked.

I glanced at her when I heard her voice shaking a little bit. She had her head bent low while she nervously fidgeted with her hands in front of me, clearly nervous about what my reactions would be.

I moved closer to her and kissed her cheek. “Are you nervous? Why are you nervous?”

She pouted at me and whispered, “Because you might not like it…”

“That’s impossible.” I kissed her pouting lips before I smiled at her. “Tour me around our new home?”

“Okay…” she whispered, smiling back at me now. She still looked a little nervous but at least her voice was not shaking anymore. “I’ll put Yongjae to his crib while we move around the house so you’d be comfortable”

We went inside the house, Wheein leading us while Yongkeey was following closely behind me. She opened the door and let me in first. Then she grabbed Yongjae from me, saying that I could explore the main floor of the house while she tucked Yongjae in his crib.

The first thing that I noticed when I got in was white. The walls were white, accented with brown from the wood panels were a huge television and three layers of open shelves were mounted on it. The ceilings were all white, as well as all the main lights and the ones that accented the mounted panels on the ceiling.

A couple of steps from the doorstep were the stairs that would lead to the second floor where Wheein went with Yongjae. The walls against the stairs were all the same set of wood panels I saw in the living room. At the end of the stairs, opposite to where I was standing, I could see a huge picture of me and Wheein together with Yongjae and Yongkeey. The ceiling by the doorstep reaches up to the second floor. Then there are white round pendants hanging from the ceiling to light up the doorstep.

After roaming my eyes around, I removed my sandals and wore indoor slippers. Then I finally took a couple of steps to the living room. That’s when I finally noticed the wall of photos in the living room.

The pictures are in frames of various sizes. Majority of the pictures are of me, Yongjae and Yongkeey. The biggest one is a picture of all four of us. Yongjae was standing beside Yongkeey who was sitting beside him. Wheein was beside Yongkeey and I was beside Yongjae. Yongjae was the only one smiling at the camera while the rest of our eyes were on him.

“You like that?”

I glanced to my right and saw Wheein coming down from the stairs. I nodded at her as I looked at the pictures again, smiling at them. “I do. I love it so much.” I pointed at an enlarged photo of her and Yongjae. The one I took in her office where they were sleeping together. “I love this one too. This will always be my favorite photo”

“This beats the largest one?” Wheein asked as she stood beside me now.

“I love that one too but this has always been my favorite.” I turned to face her again and said, “I still want that tour”

“Of course.” She turned me around so we’re facing the entirety of the main floor now. “We’re currently in the living room”

In the living room, there’s a huge L-shaped grey couch that’s a shade lighter than the floor. A coffee table was in front of the couch. At one corner, there’s Yongkeey’s bed and some of her toys. Yongkeey has even situated herself on the bed, completely relaxed in her new home already. There’s the TV I mentioned earlier. Some miniature figurines displayed on the three-layer shelf beside the TV and some tiny potted plants.

I pointed at the shelf and asked, “Do you own those?”

“Yes… I had them in my penthouse before and I took them here. Why? Is it bad? Should I take it down?”

I chuckled at her when she got anxious right away as I shook my head. “No… I’m just asking. They matched your personality though. I love it”

“Oh… okay.” She sighed in relief after that while I held her hand and squeezed it, reassuring her. She smiled at me before she pointed at the entire main floor. “The main floor is divided into the living room, kitchen and dining area. It’s designed with an open plan so it would be very spacious”

She led me towards the kitchen as she said, “All the windows have automatic window roller shades. The house also has a complete security system that we could control ourselves”

“This house has a security system?” I asked, my eyes widening in disbelief. Only rich people have security systems in their houses. We’re not rich. Wheein is but I’m not.

“Of course. For our safety.” She turned around to face me when we reached the kitchen with a huge smile on her face. “You can cook whatever you want here. You can bake too. The kitchen is fully equipped”

I pointed at two huge metal doors, my eyebrows furrowing as I asked, “What’s in that?”

“That’s the refrigerator. The doors below are the fridge”

“That’s… that’s the refrigerator?” I asked, unable to stop my stuttering. I looked at Wheein again, my eyes wide open from disbelief and confusion. “Why is it so big? We don’t need something so big”

“It came with the house. I couldn’t do anything about it anymore” she whispered, slightly pouting while her face slowly turned red. “Should we change it?”

“No. It’s just that… It's so big. What are we even going to put in there? I don’t even think we could fill up half of it”

“I already filled it up”

“Huh…” I whispered, still unable to process how we’re going to fill it up. How did she even fill it up?

“Should we change it? Do you want to change it?”

I looked at Wheein again and saw her nervously glancing at me and the huge metal doors that’s probably the biggest refrigerator and fridge I’ve ever seen. I sighed heavily and shook my head at her while she just pouted harder. I walked closer to her and cupped her cheek as I gave her a soft smile.

“I’m just worried about not being able to completely use it. I’ve never seen something as big as that before. That’s all. We don’t have to get rid of it. Do you want to keep it?”

“I don’t know… How about you?”

I chuckled as I wrapped my arms around her and pushed my face on her neck, feeling the need to console her. She’s been very nervous since we left the apartment. She’s even already nervous since she slowly moved our things from the apartment to this house. She’s been anxious and jittery as she continuously doubts herself every time I ask her something about the house since we arrived here. My squishy teddy bear that happens to be my girlfriend really wants to impress me but she’s too shy to be confident about everything she already did here.

“Hug me back” I whispered and smiled when she finally had her arms around me. “I love you. I love this place. Please don’t be anxious about my questions, okay? I’d be asking you a lot since it’s my first time here but I’m just genuinely curious, Wheein.” I pulled back to look at her and asked, “Do you understand me?”

“You love the house already? But you haven’t seen everything yet…”

“I don’t have to see everything. As long as it came from you, there’d be nothing wrong about this place. I’m sure you’ve been planning and thinking about this for a long time already. Didn’t you?”

She bent her head low and tipped her chin in a small nod. “Since we got together” she softly whispered.

“See…” I kissed the top of her head before I cupped her cheeks and brought her face up to me. “You’ve been planning for so long already. Now, please stop worrying” I whispered while she kept pouting at me. I quickly kissed her pouting lips before I looked through the glass doors. “Should we go outside?” I asked, changing the subject. Maybe the fresh air would help her with her nerves.

She glanced at the backyard before she grabbed my hands that were still on her cheeks. She kissed my palms and held one of my hands as she guided me outside. “When we celebrated your birthday in Eric’s house, I wanted to have a barbecue party but he didn’t have a grill there.” She slid the door to the side as we entered the patio. She pointed to the right and said, “We could have barbecue and invite your friends over if you want”

The grill wasn’t the highlight of the backyard though. It’s definitely something really good but it’s the fire pit in the patio that immediately caught my attention. It’s directly right in front of the glass doors and the fire pit made the patio a relaxing place to hangout or talk like you’re in a camping.

As she promised, Yongjae has a huge space to walk and run around. There are several potted magnolias lining the fence in the backyard as well. The line of conical trees I’d seen in the front yard reaches the backyard too. Wheein even has a small playground for Yongjae on the left side of the backyard. There’s a rotating slide and a swing set. Yongjae will definitely love the new home his Mommy Whee made for us.

“Do you want to see the bedrooms?” Wheein asked after a couple minutes of walking around the backyard.

“Of course”

We walked back inside the house again. She led me towards the stairs but I stopped us when I noticed another set of stairs leading downstairs.

“We have a basement here? What’s in there?” I asked Wheein. What more could this place have? It even felt like the house had more than we needed already.

I take it back when I said that Eric’s house is bigger than this one. With that basement, the space was definitely maximized. It’s bigger than Eric’s house, especially with how spacious the main floor is with its open floor plan, but Wheein’s house in Jeonju is definitely bigger than this one. It’s definitely bigger than the house where I grew up as well.

I can’t believe I’ll be living here starting today.

She tugged my hand and started walking again. “We’ll go to the basement later. Let me show you Yongjae’s room and our room first”

“Okay, but tell me what’s in there first”

“I have a small bar there for you to store wine. There’s also a small theater and a gym there so you could exercise. It’s really nothing. Let me show you the rooms first”

“It’s nothing? It’s not nothing, Wheein. Did it come with the house as well?”

“The theater did but I renovated that basement so it could also house a small bar and a gym.” She briefly glanced at me when we reached the stairs and whispered, “Watch your steps.” Then we headed upstairs with me frowning a little bit at the back of her head from what she just said. “The house didn’t have a room for the wines that you like to drink and a couple of beers for me too. We could drink there together to relax. The gym was because you’ve been worried about not having enough time to exercise so I made it. It’s really nothing”

I sighed heavily as I shook my head. “You made it sound like it’s nothing but it’s not,” I whispered to myself.

“Ta da…” she whispered excitedly when we reached the second floor.

The very end of the second floor has a small sitting area with a huge glass wall that overlooks the backyard. The walls and the ceiling here have the same design as the ones downstairs. There are even more pictures of us here but it’s now mixed with a couple of paintings, which I think were from Wheein.

“There are four rooms here; the master bedroom, Yongjae’s room, which we’ll slowly convert once he grows up, a guestroom and the laundry room. Each bedroom has its own closet and bathroom, except for the laundry room.” She led me to the door closest to the stairs. “Yongjae’s here”

She had the walls in Yongjae’s room painted with pastel blue. All his toys were stored in a box while his stuffed toys and his rubber animals were lined up on the shelf. His mini car that Wheein’s father instantly replaced was sitting at the corner of the room. We could now run it around the house since there’s already a huge space for that one. There’s the changing table