Babies are difficult creatures. Despite having five in the span of ten years, Yoo Jin still maintained his view of babies being the hardest type of people to please and have fun. They don’t tell him what they want. Only cry and cackle as a means of communication. Who isn’t frustrated when that happens?

He stared at his opponent, almost glaring if one to have squint hard. He had never expected communication with his opponent would be this hard. Jin Yoo Jin gave his young son a gaze; the toddler briefly tore his eyes away from the bedazzled mirror in his hand, replying with quick smile.

The rock star sighed at the sight of his son, engrossed with the mirror. Rian had left him with their son this morning, rushing to get to her movie filming and gave him a simple instruction, “Stay out of trouble and have fun.”

He preferred to have her leaving him a list on how to have fun with a toddler. He deserved that much. It was his first time, being left alone without the actress’s supervision. He knew nothing about having fun with a child much less than he knew how to operate time machine.

While Lee Jin’s attention was still at the mirror, Yoo Jin began to list names of those who could help him with the babysitting gig and slowly scratched out names that most likely will bring him more trouble by hiring the said person.

Rian’s mother. His monster-in-law. Should he ask for her help, she would most likely to launch her famous “oh-my-poor-grandson-has-an-idiot-for-a-father” speech. The contents were not that different from her previous her speech called “oh-my-poor-daughter-has-an-idiot-for-a-husband”. He heard it so many times that he practically memorised both speeches and could recite line by line on demand. His mother-in-law, out.

Ui Bong has students to teach and Seul was always there by his side to make sure the dance teacher did not slack. No, Yoo Jin would be dead if Rian knew Lee Jin witnessed violence acts (by Seul to Ui Bong) first hand at a tender age of thirteen months. Hong Joo might be cuddly like a bear and has voice that could soothe a thousand men with his ballad songs, but he was stuck in Japan with Nana for their Japanese debut. Ui Bong and Hong Joo, out.

He was running out of options. Ailee and Nana, out. Simply because they were Rian’s former group mates and girlfriends always tell each other secrets.

Last but not least, his mother. His mother had a shop to run. That was definitely was a no.

He looked back at his list and quickly glanced at Lee Jin, he crumpled his list before throwing into the thrash big. It was then an idea struck him and his expression brightens. He got to his feet and went through his closet to find a pair of sunglasses, a cap and his blue jacket.

He was going to take the baby out for a walk. Considering how parents (these days) treat their children, confining them to what they claimed ‘a safe environment’, deprived of fresh air and most of them turned out as hard core nerds (they are the only country with these kind of problems). No, he will not let his son to grow up like that.

He fixed his son into the baby stroller, packing the boy’s essential stuffs into the stroller before putting on his disguise and gave his appearance a final glance. Satisfied, he pushed the stroller out from the apartment, into the elevator.

“Where should we go, son?” he bent down, smiling at the boy. Lee Jin replied in his own language, which Yoo Jin hoped meant, “Where you go, I go.” They continued to pace a little further down the pavement, passing a couple of shops before Yoo Jin suddenly halted on his tracks.

“I know!” Yoo Jin exclaimed, excitedly. “Let’s hang out in the Rock & Roll Café. Just because I’m a married man and a father to you, doesn’t mean I am not entitled to have fun with my son, right?” he said, to no one in particular.

The café in question was a café where he used to hang out with Ui Bong and Hong Joo just after they graduated from high school, before each taking different paths to stardom and happiness. It was also a café where aspiring rock stars hang out with others of their kinds and there was bound to be loud music.

They only lasted about a minute and forty-two seconds before they were kicked out by the manager (of fifteen years and knew him personally) for disrupting peace. However, the wailing miraculously stopped the minute the father and son pair stepped out from the café.

“You rascal! You are Rian’s spawn! You even her taste and manipulator streak!” he hissed at Lee Jin, casting accusatory look at his son, to which the boy returned with a cackle of his own (a cuter version of Rian’s laughter). He placed the boy into his stroller before taking off from the premise.

He knew it. All that times the boy spent with his mother had turned him to a little version of her. That horrible, manipulative, heartless, troublemaking and evil wife of his. No worries, he, Jin Yoo Jin, the rock star will do anything he can to prevent from Jin Lee Jin from becoming to a male version of Rian (or better known as JB, his former arch nemesis).

The father and son pair strolled along the streets of Hongdae. “I should have seen the signs. The first object you actually pick, without your mother’s presence was the bedazzled mirror. You’ll never develop the prince’s complex and I will not allow it,” he muttered, loud enough for other pass-byers were able to listen and gave him a bewilderment look. “Maybe you have a shot of being an actor. I should discuss this with Rian later.”

While gazing at the picture of a bowl of ramen, Yoo Jin came to a horrible realisation that for the past year they have been husband and wife, he had never cook for her despite having a cook for a mother. He bit his lower lip in aghast, turning to his son inside the stroller, “Son, we’re going to cook for your mother today! Let us get to the supermarket immediately!”

The pair made their way to a nearby supermarket. Upon reaching the entrance, Yoo Jin exchanged the stroller for a baby-friendly roller cart, placing the cackling baby inside the cart and strapping the boy tightly. They went down to the first aisle they laid their eyes on. It was the spices aisle.

They (particularly Yoo Jin while Lee Jin decided that a nearby baby gazing at him was far more interesting than the spices) spent a good fifteen minutes just staring blankly at the shelves before actually taking his blackberry out and searched for a recipe for his beloved wife.

He clicked on the first recipe he saw; Kimchichigae (Spicy Kimchi Stew). He picked kochukaru (Red pepper powder) and kochujang paste out from the shelves and then headed to get a soy sauce bottle and sesame oil from its respective shelves.  He pushed the stroller further ahead, into the frozen aisle.

Yoo Jin tore his sights from the boy briefly and paid his fullest attention to the three different types of scallion and beef in his hands. Without any realisation, he left the stroller stranded in the middle of supermarket traffic to get a professional opinion on which ingredients to use in the kimchi stew. Of course, two ladies, dressed in dark coloured coats, paced swiftly towards the boy and pushed the cart he was in away from blocking on traffic. One of the actually glared at his rocker father.

They squealed in delight, gushed on how cute the boy was, catching Yoo Jin’s attention.

“He’s so cute!” exclaimed the shorter lady, unbuckling the baby from its stroller. “Even better in real life! God, look at his smile. He looks so much like Ji Kyung~

“Excuse me, lady but get your ugly hands from my- his words were cut by the second woman, staring at the rocker, taking off her glasses and flashed an embarrassed smile at the rocker before smirking, “Now, what would Rian say if she saw you leaving your child in the middle of traffic for- she raised her eyebrow upon meeting the beef in his hand. –beef,” she finished, with an evil smirk.

His eyes narrowed at the smirking woman, cringed at the she-devil, “I’ll do anything, just don’t let her know,” he begged. Hyomin cuddled the baby, poked him several times for the baby burst into a series of cackles. “Can we hang out with the baby for a while? Can we, Soyeon?” she battered her eyelashes at her friend.

“You have to ask the dad,” the sly smirk was slowly making its way on her beautiful face. The smirk that said ‘Say-no-and-Rian-will-know” and it was the smirk that Yoo Jin knew so well, Rian had the same smirk too when he refused to obey her orders and she threatened to publish his old photos.

“Why not? I mean it’s not like you guys are baby-snatchers. Just until I get all the ingredients,” he replied, pasted a fake, pleased smile on his face.  Soyeon bent over to scoop the boy out from the cart whereas Hyomin unbuckled the straps.

“I once played a role as a baby snatcher with Rian, kidnapping one of the Moon brothers in a series called ‘Hi, baby’. You can ask Hyomin, she was part of the kids’ seven people nanny crew in the same show-

“No kidding, Soyeon unnie has a talent for hiding babies.” Not wanting to let his son in the hands of vicious, blackmailing former idols any longer than five minutes, he immediately rushed to get the remaining ingredients and returned to claim his son from the two women.

Cautiously eyeing Soyeon’s movements, he plastered a fake smile on his face. “Well, ladies. It was nice meeting you but I have to run and so as my son,” said he, taking control of his son by taking the boy off from Hyomin’s arms and settled him down in the cart.

“Here, don’t forget this. This is his favourite toy,” voiced Hyomin, handing him several plushie toys. Yoo Jin replied, “No, it’s not. I don’t remember bringing any of his toys along.”

She smiled at Yoo Jin, pushed the plushie toys into the cart, “You didn’t. He picked these from the toys aisle,” she said, like it was the most obvious thing that happened. “Wait, who’s supposed to pay for this?” He carved a mixed between disbelief and lost expression on his face.

Soyeon smiled, slyly and pointed her index finger at his direction before interloping Hyomin’s arms with hers and they walked away from the rocker and his infant son. The man could only afford to glare at the vile women before making his way to the counter.

The pair walked home, with their groceries in tow. Once he locked the door behind and placed the groceries on the counter, Yoo Jin placed his son inside the crib, facing the kitchen. When the boy showed signs of being tired and reached out for his plushie toys, the rocker placed all the toys he bought inside the crib as well.

He went on around the kitchen, gathering the pots from the cabinets and started to get working on the stew. It was safe to say that a simple dish like that which normally takes a person a total of 35 minutes of preparing and cooking. In the case of Rian’s husband, he took exactly one hour, forty-five minutes and thirty-two seconds to figure out which are the steps of preparing and which of those steps are cooking.  

By the time, he finished cooking the stew; the rock star closed the lid and switched the fire off. He headed to the bedroom and had his shower. Feeling a little refreshed, he glanced at his Timex wrist watch.

Time showed seven in the evening.

Rian would be home in half an hour.  Perhaps, he could sneak some nap time before the actress arrived for dinner. Yes, a quick nap to energise himself. And they have so many things to talk about, like how the boy could be a talented actor and Yoo Jin’s determination to cure the boy of his early stage of prince complex.

Seeing how “lonely” Lee Jin looked inside his crib, Yoo Jin delicately took the infant boy out and together, they rested in the couple’s king-sized bed. When the actress returned home, she sensed something was out of place and went to search for her favourite boys. 

And found Lee Jin wide awake, playing with his new toys and smiled at his mother, upon seeing her. Rian went to her son and found her husband snoring. She bent down and motioned her arms, asking him non-verbally if he wanted to be carried.

The boy chuckled, happily, prompting the former idol to carry him. “So, Lee Jin, what did you do with daddy today?” she asked. Lee Jin continued to make happy sounds in his limited vocabulary and native baby language, which Rian seemed to understand, “Really? Let your daddy sleep for five more minutes. Show me your new toys,” she replied, with a huge smile.

Despite the obvious barrier in the communication, he would never trade quality time with his children for anything else. For two reasons; one because Rian will kill him if he doesn’t make time for their children and two, he will never let his children turned to a male version of Rian (before she married him and changed a little) because nobody prospers with the royalty complex.