Perfect Two - Auburn

Narrator's POV

Awoken by her own natural instinct to wake up, Min Yu groaned, having foreseen the usual churning in her stomach. Not only that, but her back ached like an old person's. If she hadn't known she was starting her first day of pre-parenthood, she might have considered downing antibiotics -- just playing doctor. Careful as to not wake Donghae up with her noise, she walked briskly to the bathroom.

It was all merely inhuman noises coming from the depths of her stomach surging up . As she had eaten nothing from last night, nothing came out. Nonetheless, after temporary dry heaving, Min Yu grabbed her toothbrush and the tube of toothpaste and began brushing her teeth, just the way Donghae had taught her to.

After rinsing and washing her face with the cold tap water, she leaned against the sink and paused. She placed her hand against her chest, right where the heart should be, and it was like a bird's wings fluttering without missing a beat. If I would have to carry this baby for nine months, Min Yu thought, then I'll have to get used to being tired all the time.

Walking slower and more cautious this time, Min Yu exited the bathroom and was glad there was no single trace that Donghae had already awoken. She climbed up the mattress and resumed her previous position by his side. He was still sleeping, or so she thought after placing soft kisses all over his face, savoring the moment when he was harmless and quiet.

He had the blanket strewn lazily across the lower half of his body, and she especially liked the peaceful look on his face while asleep. "Stop! Stop worshipping me," Donghae muttered all of a sudden. "I am not, in any way, worshipping you." Min Yu chuckled in line with her defense. "Then listen to me," he took her face in his hands and rolled to his side to face her. "Staring contest in three..."

"Wait, there should be ru--" "Two..." "This is so unfa--" "One...Start!" And with his declaration of the beginning of their contest, Min Yu fell silent. She could feel his stare boring through her intensely, beating down on her more than the sunlight from his window ever did. But Min Yu stared back, unfazed, knowing it was and always will be a privilege to have her heart broken by him.

His brown orbs dilated, alternating from one side of her face to another. But she couldn't bear blinking. And Donghae laid his hand on her cheek, his thumb probing her skin gently. If he had a pen and paper, he would have drawn two, overlapping circles. One circle is for what he loves and the other is for what loves him back. If he had written her name, it wouldn't have been a Venn diagram. It will just be a single circle because he was lucky. She was everything at once, all wrapped into one with a ribbon on it.

The man leaned closer, leaving such small proximity that it was an intrusion of her personal space, not that she ever minded. But he dipped forward more so, as if the fact was more tempting than warning -- and it really was. "You are SO going to lose," Donghae threatened darkly against her lips. Min Yu arched an eyebrow daringly. "No way."

"You are," he pressed and inched nearer as he spoke. With eyes feeling dry from her unblinking state, Min Yu's body was as stubborn as herself. Her eyelids were twitching, threatening to close any minute, but the girl was defiant, even as she could feel his warm breath on her upper lip. It was growing unbearable, like being in the desert for a year and having a cold glass of water in front of you, but you're only allowed to stare at it.

As was true, everything was built to fall apart. From dust to dust. And it was exactly what had happened to her defiance, that which was built to fall apart will do so. So she involuntarily closed her eyes and kissed him. He liked the way her lips taste like toothpaste on a relaxed Wednesday morning, and she liked how he closed his eyes half a second after she had done so.

Donghae rolled over, landing on top of her gently, careful not to put all his weight down on her stomach. He pulled away and rested his forehead against hers. He smiled triumphantly, like winning a staring contest was no different from winning the lottery. But indeed, he had won something precious. Pressing his mouth against hers one last time, he spoke. "I win."

Donghae's POV

"Annyeonghaseyo~" we greeted firsthand after entering the doctor's office. She seemed glad to see us, and her gaze fell instantly on the forming bulge on Min Yu's stomach. "A month?" the woman asked, to which we both nodded curtly. The doctor ushered Min Yu to a bed, which squeaked its way to my eardrums. "Are you sure that thing's safe...?" I interrogated.

Min Yu, meanwhile, gestured for the doctor to focus on her. "He's more paranoid than me," she muttered as she settled comfortably on the cushion. Dr. Jin grasped the hem of her shirt and lifted it up her stomach before spreading an unknown gel-like substance across her skin. I swallowed the forming comments surging up my throat and watched silently while she held a beeping instrument across Min Yu's stomach.

"WAIT, WHAT'S THAT?!?" I asked, panicking. "It's called a probe, Donghae," the doctor explained calmly. "It's going to help us see..." she motioned to the small monitor beside the bed, "...how your baby looks like." And I felt my heart pace unevenly in anticipation. My hands felt damp with perspiration while waiting for what was about to happen next.

Is it a boy? Will he look like me? Will he play soccer with me? Will he like to eat the same food I like? Will he hear my voice? Will he talk with a Mokpo accent? Will he enjoy car rides and ice creams and playgrounds? Or is it a girl? Will she be as pretty as Min Yu? Will she be as smart and witty as her? Will she want me to kiss her forehead too? Will she like me to read her bedtime stories?

"Our baby looks mighty fine to me~" the doctor cooed all of a sudden, snapping me from my thoughts. I shifted my gaze towards the monitor and there it was, a small little inkling of growth. I felt like jumping and screaming and shouting all at once. But of course, I had to contain my burst of emotions. "It's just a little more than three millimeters, but it's enough progress for a month," Dr. Jin added.

Happily, I helped Min Yu get up from the bed and led her back to the two seats. She grinned widely, like there was a hidden joke I wasn't supposed to know. But she pursed her lips anyway, still smiling with all the delight of our high expectations. Dr. Jin, on the other hand, busily scribbled down her prescriptions before handing us the ultrasound pictures.

"The thing is," Dr. Jin started, which caused me to tense all so suddenly. "The baby is sitting low." She pointed to a miniature model of the human anatomy on her right. "It means the baby is lying in your lower abdomen. Any strenuous activity -- lifting heavy objects and the like -- will most probably lead to a premature delivery or -- I pray to God not -- miscarriage."

I fought back the urge to grimace. "What should we do, then? And what should she avoid?" I asked. Min Yu nodded in agreement, placing both her palms on my knee. "Hmm..." The good doctor her chin thoughtfully. "No seafood, especially fish. Avoid any medicine or drug -- except, of course, your vitamins -- because their side effects don't affect you but the baby. And strictly no alcohol and smoking."

Min Yu shook her head no. "I don't smoke," she stated somewhat proudly. "But you drink." I turned to her, to which she said nothing. "And no tiring work. No staying up late at night," Dr. Jin added as-a-matter-of-factly. "Psh," Min Yu snorted boastfully. "I can do all those," she stated confidently. "Did I already tell you about no caffeine?" the doctor inserted.

I stifled a laugh, but Min Yu's expression turned grave. "WHAT?" she asked. "You must seriously be joking." She tried laughing it off. "I mean, you won't really tell me to avoid caffeine, right? RIGHT?" She pressed, like missing out on a joke's important punch line. The doctor behind the table feigned indifference. "I am not to be joking. Come on, I'm a professional. If I was joking, I would have told you you weren't pregnant at all."

Narrator's POV

"Do you want some ice cubes with that?" Donghae asked Min Yu after gesturing to a glass of water, but his eyes weren't focused on her. His right hand kept the bedroom door open while the other was tightly gripping a smaller hand to avoid losing her like what Jongin and Yixing did before. Heejin was already steady on her own two feet and was youth-inducedly eager to go everywhere, anywhere.

With equal eagerness, Donghae was also excited to bring her everywhere she wants to -- more specifically, up and down the stairs as they had done so for the last half hour. And Donghae offering Min Yu all kinds of food was a cover-up. She, on the other hand, only rolled her eyes at him. "You are seriously tiring her out," she scolded, wiping a sheen of sweat away from her sister's forehead using her palm.

Donghae knelt down, leveling to that of the child's small frame. "Heejin-ah," he called out to the girl mesmerized at almost everything, from the color of the carpet to the neat white paint on the ceilings. "Unnie said we should just play here beside her," he explained softly. Heejin shook her head before pointing her tiny forefinger towards the door. "Downstairs," she almost whined.

The man clenched his fists tightly to prevent from squishing the little girl's cheeks. "Isn't she the cutest?!?" he shrieked before walking out the door and following Heejin's footsteps. They transferred from one room to another, and each time they enter, it was as if Heejin imagined the room to have toys and attractive things when to Donghae, it was a plain empty room with whitewashed walls. But the little girl still smiled and laughed and ran around with gracious delight.

At one point, however, as Donghae watched while she stumbled with the hems of her lengthy dress, Heejin fell, with her small hands towering to keep her from falling face flat on the floor. He came to her rescue immediately, carrying her in his arms and foreseeing the moment when she would cry and lose the explore-each-square-meter-of-the-house feeling. And Donghae was ready to comfort and shush her if ever she cries.

But the moment didn't come. Instead, she squirmed under his touch and demanded to be let go of. As soon as Donghae set her down on the ground, she was again on the quest for whatever she finds interesting in blank walls and hard floors. When she grew tired of being at a single floor, she bravely walked up to the stairs, not fazed by the great height -- and the great chance of a much more painful fall.

Donghae ran up to her and grasped her hand as they both walked down the stairs, with Donghae leading two steps ahead. She smiled at him for the hundredth time that day, joyous that she had a faithful friend who followed her every adventure and admired her every move. "Water please~" she pointed to the kitchen after they had reached the bottom of the staircase.

The man had another kick to his self-control because Heejin's cuteness challenged him to pinch her cheeks as hard as he can. He ducked down and lifted her up, her short arms hugging him by his neck. Donghae strode towards the kitchen and made her sit over the counter, her feet hanging over the edge. And it was a refreshing view from his everyday sight of Min Yu sitting on the same spot each morning.

He kept a wary eye out for the child as he opened the refrigerator and poured cold water from a pitcher to a glass. He lifted it up to her lips as she stared at it with the same degree of interest as she had had with the various rooms upstairs. Heejin placed her hands on either side of the glass, learning about things as practical as she can.

She drank the water graciously, her two hands pushing the glass away from when she had had enough. Donghae placed the used glass on the sink and watched as the child wiped her lips with the back of her small hand. And this time, he spoiled himself with a quick peck on her forehead. After she had quenched her thirst, her eyes felt heavy as she clung to Donghae's neck tightly.

Smiling to himself, he carried her to the couch, collapsing as gently as possible to keep from ruining the moment when Heejin actually felt tired. He slouched, leaning far back on the sofa and letting the little girl lay against his stomach, her head on his chest. She rubbed her sleepy eyes with balled-up fists, wanting to keep running and walking and exploring but her grogginess prevented her so.

After her hair thoughtfully for a while, Donghae himself began to yawn and feel his own sleepiness coming. "Aigoo, you got oppa so tired," he grumbled incoherently, finding a more comfortable position to sleep into while trying not to disturb Heejin. Finally feeling much more relaxed with his head resting over a pillow, Donghae drifted off to unconsciousness.

A few feet away from them, in a room with a slightly closed door, Min Yu finished typing her resignation letter, saving it and closing her laptop shut. She rolled over to lie on her back as she wondered what else was there to do when she had finished two degrees, 5 years of experience, but no job as of the moment. It wasn't easy for her to quit her writing career, but she had to, plus Donghae told her to do so.

Speaking of whom, Donghae, along with her sister -- whom she had agreed to babysit for the meantime -- hadn't bothered her since an hour ago. She got up slowly, bearing the doctor's words in her mind, and straightened her back, wincing as her spine carried the added weight on her stomach. Min Yu opened the door wider, exiting the bedroom.

She rubbed her eyes lazily, trying to ignore the pulsing in her head, the warning of a nearing headache. Min Yu shrugged it off. She had been straining her eyes in front of the computer for hours, after all. And she chose to ignore it. She walked along the hall, wondering where the two were and why they were so soundless.

After reaching the end of the corridor still with no sign of two of her favorite people, Min Yu decided to advance downstairs. And right there, in the middle of her descent, were what she had been looking for. She smiled to herself, continuing to walk down the stairs with caution, before reaching the flat ground. She kissed him softly and kissed her sister too, wondering why such good things happen to people like her.

~Yes, short chapter, I know. But Christmas vacation is nearing, so I'll try to update as many chapters as I can over the break. Although I think this is the last chapter for all the fluff and giddiness, and next up will be drama. Leave comments! ☺ -min_neulmi