"Night, Hayoungie," Eunji said as she switched off the lights in her daughter's room, while quietly slipping out of the room, closing the door softly. She stood outside the door and smirked, then walked back towards the master bedroom. 

 

"Chorong-ah, don't you think our Hayoungie has grown? She used to be a small little bean, and now she's this big girl who's grown and going through puberty. Instead of talking about toys and homework, she's talking about having crushes…” Eunji sighed, talking to her wife.

 

"Yeah, she's barely even at home now. I still remember how tiny she was when we first saw her, she's unrecognisable now. Heck, she's even growing taller than you!" Chorong laughed. 

 

"Yah, we're the same height! She's growing taller than both of us!" Eunji whined. She knew she was shorter than Chorong by a few cm, but refused to admit it. 

 

"Excuses, excuses. Isn't it embarrassing, her mom is taller than her dad! When are you going to stop denying that I'm clearly taller?" Chorong nagged. She pretends she's sick of silly quarrels but secretly enjoys bickering with her wife. As usual, her wife sees right through her and knows exactly what she's going to say. But she still can't counter back. She knows for a fact that Chorong's taller. 

 

"Fine, fine. You're taller. But wait till I grow a few more cms, I’ll catch up to you in no time!" 

 

"Oh please, you're not Hayoungie's age anymore. She still has time to grow unlike you, midget," Eunji only could sigh in defeat as she knew she lost to her wife again. Secretly, she was having fun. 

 

Hayoung, in the room next to them, heard everything. To her, it's cute how they have little quarrels like that about height and stupidity (though Hayoung thinks they're both just as dumb, but cute). As usual, she's staying up and using her phone instead of sleeping. Her dad would kill her if she found out she was still using her phone and not sleeping.

 

She's prepared, though. She memorised her father's footsteps and the squeaky sound the master bedroom door makes, and how loud her parents close the door. She's also in a position where she could immediately put her phone down, close her eyes and pretend to sleep. She knows she's irresponsible for doing that, but she thinks: "I'm already 13, can't I do what I want for once?" and "Eh, I'll deal with the consequences tomorrow". 

 

Suddenly, she heard the sound of her father's footsteps. She scrambled to turn off her phone, pull up her blanket and close her eyes to pretend to sleep in the fetal position. Rico and Brie crawl around on her chest and tickle her, making her giggle quietly.

 

"Hayoung-ah, are you sleeping? It's already 11, you better not be lying again," Hayoung refused to admit that she wasn't sleeping. A voluntary scolding? No way. But the cats on her chest thought otherwise…

 

She stood at the side of her daughter’s bed and smiled at her fondly, before pulling her blanket toward her chin and sitting down. 

 

“I can tell you’re not asleep, you know? She chuckles. 

 

“What? Dad, how do you always know?” She “awakes” from her “slumber”, groaning.

 

“Dad always knows…” She smiles, feeling nostalgic. Hayoung used to wake up with nightmares and ask to sleep with her parents.

 

“Fine, fine, I’ll sleep…” 

 

“Night…” She smiles and starts to pat her daughter’sbutt in a rhythmic pattern, soothing her to sleep. She dozed off quickly, exhausted. 

 

• fin.