chapter o2. 

“Mommy, my eyes hurt!” Soeun complained, tugging on her mother’s shirt.

Victoria chuckled and called, “Changmin, could you get some cotton pads? You know, those really small ones?”

A faint voice replied from the living room. “Hold on, Vic. I’m doing something.”

“But mommy!” The little girl whined.

Victoria shook her head and peered through the window. Her husband was in front of his laptop, typing away furiously. He was always working; it was no surprise that even on weekends he had calls to make and errands to run.

“Alright kiddo. Wait here.”

She quickly took swift steps upstairs to get a packet of cotton pads, and then came back down again, skipping steps as she went along. When she reached the kitchen, Soeun had (apparently) already rubbed her eyes so hard, it was red.

“Soeun-ah, you should never rub your eyes when they’re itchy. It just makes it worse.”

Victoria dipped the pads in warm water and placed one on each eye, and carried Soeun to the sofa, setting her down slowly. Changmin looked behind him and there their child was, settling down slowly.

“Min, you should rest now. You’ve been typing since morning.” She spoke calmly beside him.

“But I’ve just got to finish one last thing, give me a second… There. All done.” He looked up and smiled.

She smiled back, taking his hand and pulling him up. He stood up slowly, stretching his back. Victoria walked behind him and massaged his shoulders, silently using her knee to close the laptop for a moment.

Changmin, who didn’t know what she did, placed her in front of him and looked into her eyes sincerely.

“Vic… Has everything been all right lately? You look a little… pale, you know.”

“Don't worry so much. I’m all right, really. Just a little bit tired from the house improvements and whatnots. The usual.” She replied.

“I like what you did with the living room, by the way. The curtains and murals was a nice touch. I’m really sorry I haven’t gotten to help out recently. It’s just the work that’s piling up every day… I promise I’ll help out soon. With Soeun as well.”

“Leave Soeun with me. She loves you more even if you don’t help out with her. I’m trying to balance it, so don’t ruin my plan and continue working, but don’t work unnecessarily.”

He nodded, and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“You’re still really slender, you know? Are you still attending those fitness classes with Yuri?”

She chuckled and nodded, “Of course. Even if I’m married I still have to keep up with my figure. The press still notices us sometimes, even though it’s calmed down quite a bit these days.”

“I can’t wait till the day they stop bugging us.”

“Yeah, me either. But what matters is that I love you, and no trashy gossip article will change that.” Victoria grinned.

“Mhm. And I love you too.” He said, kissing the top of her head.

****

“Jaehwa, come back here! I need to clean you! And Minho, stop playing with him already!” Yoona yelled, two hands on her waist, glaring at the two.  

Chaerin watched silently from her seat, used to the chaos in the house, even though she never participated in or caused them. She preferred to stay behind-the-scenes.

Yoona sighed. Even though Chaerin and Jaehwa were obedient kids, when Minho was involved with Jaehwa, things always began to get a little out of hand.

“Chaerin, stay here. Omma’s got to do some work.”

The little girl nodded, looking at Yoona as if to say, ‘be careful omma.’ Yoona smiled and kissed her daughter's cheek before rolling up her sleeves and walking out into the open field.

“CHOI MINHO!” She yelled again.

Both boys froze in their tracks after hearing the woman’s threatening yell. She smiled, clearly satisfied as she made her way over, carrying Jaehwa with one arm and pulling Minho’s ear with the other.

“Ear, ear, ear, ow! Yoong!” He complained.

“You, sir, should be the mature one here! Jaehwa’s only like this because of you!” Yoona retorted, not releasing her strong hold on both.

When they finally reached the house, Minho stumbled out of her grip and groaned softly, rolling his eyes, “Him Yoona’s at it again.” 

“What did you say?” She threatened, setting Jaehwa down by the table.

“Um… I love you?” Minho replied, smiling.

Yoona flicked his forehead as she began wiping Jaehwa’s face with a damp towel, and changing him into casual home clothing. Minho picked Chaerin up from her seat and tapped her nose.

“Appa, you smell.” She wrinkled her nose, sticking her tongue out.

Yoona chuckled from the side while Minho just frowned. “But you still love me, right, Chaerinnie?”

The girl just turned away and smiled at her mother. Minho, childish as he always would be, pouted and set Chaerin down on the ground. The girl walked over to her mother and clung to her legs.

“You kids always prefer your mom. It’s not fair.”

“She doesn’t like you now because you smell. Go take a shower, Minho. And hurry, because I don’t think I can handle them both at once.”

Minho frowned again and said, “You’re just saying that.”

Yoona just laughed at the back of her husband (quite pathetically) retreating into the hallway and heading towards the bathroom.

****

“Dinner’s ready, sweetheart.” Taeyeon called gently, knocking on the door of her husband’s room.

Miyoung appeared from her room, opening her arms, waiting to be carried. Her mother smiled, picking her up swiftly and cooing into the girl’s ear as the mother-daughter made their way to the dinner table.

“Hey, you’re not going to wait for me?” Leeteuk smiled, back hugging Taeyeon as she set Miyoung down on the chair.

“Well, you were slow, plus Miyoung was calling for my attention.” She replied, turning around and pulling him close for a short kiss.

“Still, you could have waited.” He said, and turned to begin his meal, sitting down on the chair beside Miyoung. “I would’ve appreciated that.”

Miyoung smiled politely, and began to eat. For a few moments the dinner was silent, but then the woman of the household spoke up. “Teuk, has anything been stressing you out lately? You seem a little pale, and you haven’t been getting enough sleep either.”

Leeteuk nodded, putting down his fork and chewing thoroughly before replying, “Mhm, just some stuff. Nothing to worry about, Taeng—trust me on this.” He added, just as she saw open to ask another question.

Taeyeon nodded, and the dinner table fell silent once more. It was one of those quiet dinners that they rarely had, but appreciated. The only words that were spoken were to ask to pass the salt, or hand the pepper over, things like that. There was nothing else, no questions, no conversation, just a quiet and peaceful dinner.

But that, itself, was more than perfect.

****

A/N: A pretty short chapter, but was it too uneventful? Something’s going to happen in the next chapter, I promise. I can’t stand filler chapters like these anyway. It was just a quick overview of how each couple acts. And yeah, TaeTeuk was repeated but oh well! The side couples will be shown too, and thanks for reading ♥ Don't forget to leave a comment :)