The moment you walked in to pick your son up from nursery school, you knew something was wrong. Your usually bright and happy boy was nowhere near the classroom doors. Instead, as you pushed open the wooden door, you realized that he was curled into a ball, crying softly to himself in a corner as his teacher tried in vain to comfort him.

            “Yongwonnie?” you knelt next to him.

            He rubbed his fists into his eyes and sobbed. The teacher stood up. “He hurt himself today on the playground and hasn’t been able to stop crying since.”

            You slowly unfurl the tiny fist and saw a throbbing pinky. “Aigoo, it’ll be okay. Mommy can make it better.” You kissed his finger and he opened his eyes. His eyes were red and his nose was swollen. His pale face was streaked with tears. He shook his head and let out another ear-shattering scream.

            “Hurts,” he complained. His tiny face scrunched up and he couldn’t stop gasping.

            You hugged him to you and tried to bounce him up and down, trying to convince him to stop. Yongwon grabbed onto your fingers and you soothed his finger. You bowed briefly to the teacher and walked out of the daycare.

            Once in the car, Yongwon resorted to hiccupping. On your way out, you walked into the ladies’ room and had wrapped a wet napkin around his finger. The throbbing was slowly dying down and his face lost the pinched look.

            It was a relief to you that when you took him inside the house, Yongwon immediately bounced over to where his toy box was. You wrapped a band aid around his finger and went about the house, finishing up any chores that needed to be done. Sometime when you were in the kitchen, you heard his cries again.

            You dropped the spoon into the pot and ran into the playpen. Yongwon’s band aid had fallen off and somehow his finger was stuck between the tires of the toy car. You tsked. This just wasn’t your little boy’s day.

            You picked him up and wiped his hair off his forehead. You smacked your lips against his finger, trying to tickle him and make him laugh. He howled and kicked, thrashing in your arms. His limbs flailed everywhere and it took all your strength to keep him from pushing you off the bed. When he threw a tantrum, it was full out.

            There was a rustle at the door and you looked up helplessly. Yongguk dropped his bag on the floor and walked over. “Did he do something wrong?”

            Yongwon heard his father’s voice and immediately held his arms out, straining to go to him. His tiny feet scurried against your lap. He tried to stand and reach for Yongguk. Your husband took the boy from you and rested him against his hip. Yongwon was still sniffling.

            “What happened?”
            You explained how he had fell during recess and how he had hurt his pinky. Yongguk sat down next to you on the bed and examined the red finger. “Didn’t you put some ointment?”

            “I did. But then he was playing and must have got it stuck in the crevices of this toy.” You held up the still spinning police car he had just been playing with. Yongguk took it from you and placed it in front of the toddler’s face.

            “Did this hurt you?”

            Yongwon nodded and teared. He on his finger and Yongguk gently took it out of his mouth. “Don’t do that. Real men don’t on their fingers. Okay, Yongwon, stop crying now.” Yongguk tried to look as stern as possible. But it broke his heart to see his little boy be so upset.

            His chin still quivered and his lips pouted. He held up his hands again, insisting, “Appa, hurts.” Yongwon could not understand why even his parents couldn’t stop the jabbing at his finger. He wanted to move it but couldn’t. Why did it have to burn so much?

            Yongguk carefully adjusted the child in his arms and held up the toy. “This is a bad car. Why did you hit Wonnie? Is it because he wasn’t playing with you correctly?” Yongwon giggled slightly and shook his head. “Is it because Wonnie wasn’t being careful?” The boy’s eyebrows furrowed and he shook his head vehemently again. Why was his daddy blaming him? It was clearly the car that had hurt him.

            “Orrrr,” and Yongguk’s voice deepened with amusement. “Is it because the car is jealous that Wonnie has such a pretty mommy and wanted to show some rage?”

            At this, you blushed and your son giggled. “Neh! Neh!”

            Yongguk glanced up at you and winked. “Well, in that case, I think this car is going to need a spanking. Yongwon, do you want to do the honors? Be careful of your pinky. We don’t want it getting jammed again.”

            Your heart melted as you watched him hand the toy over to the child. Your son whacked at it a few times before getting bored and hugging his arms around Yongguk’s neck. His feet were already moving as he bounced against his father. “Daddy. Hungry.”

            Yongguk’s stomach growled and he pinched Yongwon’s cheeks. “Daddy is hungry too. How’d you know?” Yongwon laughed and wriggled himself with elation. Your husband stood up and both of your boys turned to face you.

            “Mommy, we’re hungry,” they chorused together. 

daddy Yongguk request

I've been super stressed lately actually. I'm getting better from my cold, but now the college I applied to decides to be a troll and rather than announcing their decision on the 15th, they're doing it Thursday. I'm so scared. It's such a competitive school. I want to thank all my readers for being here for me. Thank you so much, guys. I truly appreciate all the love you give to me. I hope you'll continue to be here for me, and I will work harder in the future to bring better stories!