“Youngsuk! Come to mommy!” you clapped your hands and tried to entice your son away from his father and towards you. The one year old gave you a look of distaste and you sighed. “Don’t want to say goodbye?”

            The little boy focused on his father’s earlobes and ignored you. “He’s too young to understand farewells,” Youngjae commented and you glowered.

            “Oh aren’t you quite the expert?”

            Your husband only gave you a smug look and he bounced the baby against his hip, muttering to himself. “Let’s see. You’re going to be hungry soon. And we need to set a routine for you. You need to eat first, have play time before going to sleep. How about we set a time? Youngsuk’s going to sleep at eight.”

            “You’re going to have to give him a nap in between. Because if you don’t, he’ll get colicky and annoyed. Eight seems a bit early. If he wakes up in the night, you’re getting up.” You warned him. Giving your son one last futile wave, you walked out the door.

            Youngjae smiled triumphantly, glad to finally reign supreme in the house. He walked to the cabinet and flipped open the door. “Formula, where are you?” he sang out. He knocked over some cups and tried to catch them with one hand.

            Youngsuk shrieked and clapped his hands, liking the cacophony of the falling glass. Thank goodness nothing broke and Youngjae went back on his hunt for the formula. He finally found it, tucked inside the large bag you had prepared for him.

            Youngjae placed his son in the play pen and went to make the formula. He read the instructions and frowned. “Put ratios of the powder and water to taste.” His eyebrows furrowed. “You can’t be so vague!” he raged at the bottle of powder. “Useless! How does she even do this? I can’t exactly ask the baby. I’m going to have to sue the people from this company. Assuming knowledge that cannot be known and confusing fathers everywhere.”

            He decided to call Daehyun for advice. “Daehyunnie, do you have any idea how to use this powder? It’s baby formula,” he asked over the phone and read aloud the brand name.

            “Ah, that. Er, is that the one with the vague instructions? I don’t know. Let me ask.” Youngjae heard him call for his wife. “Can you tell me how you measure Jaylie’s formula? I think Youngjae needs help.” There was a mumble and Daehyun answered, “She said that as long as the milk is not too thick or too thin it should be fine. It should turn a creamy color.”

            Youngjae raged. “Thanks.” He turned back to the baby bottle and poured in three spoonful of powder and heated the water. When he poured the liquid into the bottle, he rolled the bottle back and forth in his hands the same way he had seen his wife do it.

            In the play pen, Youngsuk cried, starting to feel hungry. He started fidgeting and pushed his various toys out of the way and pushing himself on his tushie.  Youngjae glanced back and placed the bottle by his face, feeling the warmth of it.

            “Okay, okay, appa is here,” he picked Youngsuk up and placed him in his lap. He tilted the baby against his forearm and placed the bottle in front of his mouth. Youngsuk took the hungrily and on it before pushing it away with a cry. His face contorted and Youngjae quickly twisted off the cap to make sure that the milk wasn’t too hot.

            He dabbed it with his finger and the temperature was okay. However, the formula tasted horrible and he, too, winced. Youngjae added a little more water and cooled the liquid by placing it in a pot of cold water. He placed Youngsuk once more in his lap and this time the baby took the formula quietly. When the bottle was two-thirds finished, Youngsuk pushed it away again and clapped his hands happily.

            Youngjae placed him on the mat and the baby started to inch his way along. Youngjae placed a stuffed die in front of him and Youngsuk pushed it away. His father was insistent and pointed at the number. “This is one. Aish, you need to learn your numbers soon! It’s going to help you be a smart boy. Come, look at this. One, it’s one line, look.” But the baby only rolled the die over and over, laughing each time as different symbols showed on the faces.

            The baby started to pluck at a thread that was falling out from his teddy bear and he giggled, showing it to his dad. Youngjae beamed. “You’re so smart, you really know how to take care of your things, don’t you?”

            Suddenly, he dropped the bear and started to wail. Youngjae sighed, knowing what the problem was. He had eaten already; there was no other option except for a full diaper. He picked up the baby and carried him into the nursery.

            Youngjae’s nose wrinkled as he unwrapped the smelly diaper. He reached for wipes and cleaned his son before looking for a new diaper. “Shoot! The bag’s downstairs!” He covered Youngsuk with a blanket and raced down the stairs, even sliding down the banister to reach the living room quicker. He grabbed the bag and took out baby powder and a diaper before racing up the stairs.

            Youngsuk wasn’t on the table. Youngjae turned and saw that somehow his son had climbed off the ledge and crawled from the table to a chair and down to the floor. He picked the infant up and Youngsuk kicked around. But Youngjae was firm and finally the baby calmed and Youngjae took out the diaper.

            He glanced at the cover for instructions and found diagrams for putting the diaper on correctly. He eyed the position of the diaper and when he seemed satisfied with it, tried to fit it on the baby. The diaper would not clasp correctly. Youngjae hissed. It turned out he had read the diagrams wrong. He scowled.

            “You are such a nuisance you know. Taking care of you is harder than I thought.” Newfound appreciation for his wife grew in him. It was difficult to handle a job and take care of Youngsuk properly.

            With the newly diapered baby in his arms, Youngjae walked downstairs to wait on the couch. When you came in, you found Youngjae fast asleep, his mouth falling open and his head against the back of the sofa. Youngsuk was also sleeping, with his head tucked in the crook of his father’s arms. You smiled to yourself and placed a blanket over the two of them. You can thank Youngjae properly tomorrow.  

Daddy Youngjae requested by shigapetal