“Was that Hoonie?” Eli asked groggily from his bed.

Soohyun nodded. “Yeah. He just wanted to let me know that Serin had her baby this morning.”

“That’s good news,” he said. “Boy or girl?”

“Girl. Her name is Eunsook.”

“I just knew they were going to have a girl,” Eli mused.

“How?” Soohyun asked.

“I don’t know. It just seemed right for them to have a daughter. It suits their personalities. Plus, there are so many guys in their lives, a girl would be a nice addition.”

“I suppose so,” Soohyun admitted, trailing off a bit at the end.

“Did you sleep any yet, hyung?” Eli asked, aware that Soohyun had starting worrying as soon as the manager had told them.

“No. I couldn’t sleep until I knew that every thing was all right with Hoon and Serin and the baby.”

“I see. Well, sounds like things are just fine so go to sleep. We have to be up in a few hours and have a pretty busy day ahead of us. We’ll be home to see them before long.”

“You’re right,” he conceded. He took several deep breaths to let himself to relax, willing himself to clear his mind, and resting his head against his pillow. “Goodnight, Eli.”

“’Night,” he answered. Laying his head back against his pillow, he fell asleep without waiting to see if Soohyun had taken his advice or not. He had three more hours left to sleep, and he wasn’t going to waste them worrying about whether or not Soohyun could sleep.

--

When Soohyun woke up, he could feel how little sleep he’d gotten. His eyes felt like rocks in his eyes, and he wished he had been able to follow Eli’s example. But he couldn’t. It was in his nature to worry. The few supportive words Eli had said had helped him relax enough to finally sleep. He moved through his morning routine a bit slower than usual because he was just a bit more tired than usual.

“Is it true?” Kevin asked him brightly as they both ate breakfast.

“Huh?”

“Serin had her baby this morning?”

Soohyun nodded. “How did you know?”

“The manager mentioned it to Kiseop when he came in to make sure we were up.”

“Ah. Yeah. They had a daughter. Eunsook.”

“Eunsook,” Kevin said experimentally. “It’s a pretty name.”

Soohyun nodded. “After we get through today and then get home, we’ll all go see them. Probably tomorrow, as I’m sure they’ve had a flood of visitors, and we’re going to get back pretty late.”

The rest of the members made their way out for breakfast, waking up and eating, in a sort of awkward silence. No one was really sure what to say. Eli finally spoke up, “I guess we’re all uncles now.”

“Mmmhmm,” Kevin chipped in. “I’m so excited to go home and meet our little niece.”

“We should call Hoonie today,” AJ said, “while we’re in the van or something.”

Kiseop nodded enthusiastically. “I really would like to talk to him and see how he’s doing. I know he was looking forward to this, even though the two of them were having a fight.”

Kevin and Eli looked at him a bit confused. “They were fighting?” Kevin asked.

“Ah… yeah. But judging by how he left yesterday, it looks like things are probably resolved.”

“Ah,” AJ said, comprehension dawning on him. “I sort of wondered what was going on. He didn’t call her once at night, and that’s not like him. He usually is on the phone with her as soon as he takes his shower. It seemed strange for him to just… not.”

“What was it over?” Eli asked.

“It’s not really my place to tell,” Kiseop said. “You can ask him later if you want, but I never really got the full story, and I don’t want to be spreading rumors. From what I do know, I would guess that now that the baby is born, everything is resolved. The fight seemed to be because he was getting… overbearing about what she was doing while she was pregnant. She’s not pregnant any more, so no reason to fight.”

Soohyun nodded. “I was aware that something wasn’t right. He definitely wasn’t acting quite like himself. But that’s not really important. We will not gossip about his relationship. The fans are going to know immediately when they only see the five of us today that Hoonie is absent because of the birth of his child.”

“We should find out exactly how much is okay to say from Serin,” Kevin said seriously. “We need to tell the fans because they are all going to know what’s happening, but we honestly don’t know much. We also don’t know how much information they want shared yet.”

Manager Shim stepped in to the conversation then, dressed and ready to get them on their way. “I’ll call them and ask. Hoonmin called me this morning to let me know that Eunsook had been born, but he never gave me specific details. I’m sure he’s had a lot of other things on his mind. But don’t say anything about it until we know.” The topic was clearly finished, as were the member’s breakfasts. “Get dressed, then. We’ve got 10 minutes to get out of here.”

They all stood up and did as instructed, pulling on comfortable clothes and heading out to the van. Once there, Manager Shim took out his phone and called Hoon, handing it to Soohyun. “Hello,” Hoon answered groggily.

“Hoonie, it’s Soohyun. How are you this morning?”

“Hey hyung. We’re still at the hospital. Everything is going great. We should be out before the end of the day.”

“Have you slept any?”

“Not really. I managed to doze off here and there.”

“You should really get some sleep. We were just calling to check in. We’re going to get our hair and makeup done and get our outfits on for our interviews today.”

“Oh. Fighting!” he said, enthusiasm in his voice tempered by his exhaustion.

“Thanks,” Soohyun said. “Everyone is going to ask about you. What should we tell them?”

“Tell them?”

“Yeah. About the baby. How much should we say during interviews when they ask about you not being around?”

“Oh. Hold on,” Hoon said, and Soohyun could hear him ask Serin the same question he’d just asked him. After a bit, he returned, saying, “Okay so, we both agree that you can say that we had a healthy baby girl named Eunsook this morning. I mean, there isn’t really too much else to share at this point. All of us are healthy, happy, and looking forward to going home.”

“Alright, Hoon. We’ll be sure to do that then,” Soohyun said. “Do you think we could see her right now?”

“Hold on a minute. Let me get my phone switched over to video and… here we go.”

Soohyun pulled the phone off his ear, switching it to a video call, and looked down at the screen. The camera was held close to the baby’s face, giving a close up of her as she slept. “We have to be quiet,” Hoon said softly. “She’s sleeping right now.” Soohyun stared at the baby that was presumably with Serin. He was already an uncle. His older sister had had a child not too long ago, but he felt the same connection with this child, too. This was his little brother’s daughter. He was so absorbed in watching the video that he didn’t realize that several of the other members were leaning over to look at the manager’s phone.

“She’s beautiful,” Kevin marveled. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

Soohyun frowned at them. “Here. I’ll just pass the phone around so that everyone can see her.”

They all sat back down, and Eli was handed the phone. They each took a turn looking at the newborn. Even AJ expressed more interest than anyone really expected. Soohyun was returned the phone and promised that they’d be over either very late in the evening or sometime the next day. “Do make sure you get some sleep, okay?”

“I will, hyung. I made everyone else go home to sleep, so they’ll be showing back up here soon. Once there’s someone else here, I’ll try to sleep myself.”

With that, they ended their conversation. The boys of U-KISS were buzzing with excitement. It seemed more real to them now that they’d actually seen the baby. Hoon was a father. His daughter had been born, and now they could all consider themselves uncles. They arrived at the salon and got their hair and makeup done. Putting on their professional image, they turned serious, putting behind the excitement over the birth of Eunsook in order to focus on the day’s activities.

--

When they finally returned home that evening, every one was exhausted. They stopped in at the company so that the members with their own vehicles could drive them home. AJ and Eli decided to go home and sleep. Soohyun, Kevin, and Kiseop decided that they wanted to go see Eunsook despite the late hour.

Soohyun called Hoon, to make sure a late night visit was okay. He told them that it was, that Eunsook wasn’t able to sleep yet, and that they could come on over. They climbed into Kiseop’s car, and headed to Serin and Hoon’s house, as they had come home from the hospital earlier in the day.

When Soohyun rang the bell, Hoon came to answer the door. “Hi every one,” he said, still looking quite tired.

“Did you sleep? At all?”

“I slept for several hours this afternoon. You don’t look much better yourself, hyung.”

“Ah well. I was too worried about you and Serin and everything last night. I didn’t sleep until you called. I got a few hours.”

“How is everything?” Kiseop asked, alluding to more than simply the baby.

“Everything is good. We sorted everything out, and we’re good again,” Hoon said seriously.

“How’s the baby?” Kevin asked then.

“She cries a lot,” Hoon admitted. “But I… I love her. More than anything in the world. There is nothing more precious to me.” He looked like he was going to cry, but he cleared his throat and said, “Why don’t you go sit down? I’ll go get Serin and Eunsook.”

He left them in the living area while he proceeded down the hallway to the bedroom. They all sat down and before long Hoon came back with the baby in his arms. “She’s getting tired,” he said sitting down on the extra chair in the room. “Her first day has been a long one.”

Kevin nodded. “I’m sure it has.”

“Is Serin coming out?” Kiseop asked.

“Oh. She was in bed, almost asleep. I didn’t want to bother her. Not for you guys, anyway. You won’t be offended if she doesn’t say hi at this hour.”

“Certainly not,” Soohyun said. “But I would like to say hello at some point. Maybe she can come in tomorrow afternoon. I’m sure you need to stop by the company to see what their plan is for the time being.”

“Oh, I already talked to the president. He stopped by the hospital. He told me to take the next several days off, and then be ready to come back in on Monday. You guys can all stop by in the morning though. Since I know we were supposed to get the morning off.”

“Do you think we can hold her?” Kevin asked.

“I don’t know,” Hoon said, unsure. “It may not be a good idea. She shouldn’t be held by too many people. It’ll increase her chances of getting sick.”

Kiseop had actually seen this coming. He knew Hoon well enough. He understood why Serin and Hoon had gotten into a fight in the first place. Hoon was going to be super protective of Eunsook. Anybody not directly related to the child was going to have a difficult time getting an opportunity to hold her. He was going to protect her from everything for as long as he could. Kiseop was a bit concerned, as this sort of behavior would get tiresome very quickly.

“Why don’t you go wash your hands, Kevin?” Serin said as she walked toward them.

“Oh, you’re up,” Hoon said as he stood up from his seat.

“Mmm, yeah. I wondered what you were doing, and then I heard these lovely guys’ voices, so I got up to say hello.”

The three stood up and bowed. “Congratulations on the birth of your daughter,” Kevin said happily. Soohyun and Kiseop echoed him, each saying their own congratulatory words to her.

“Thank you,” she stated sincerely. “I’m so happy to have her here with us. Especially after all the trials and heartache.”

“Why don’t you sit down here?” Hoon asked her, pointing to the seat he’d vacated.

She shook her head. “I’m going back to bed soon.” She took Eunsook from Hoon, and went to give her to Soohyun. He was still standing, and she put her daughter in his arms, showing him how to hold her properly. He remembered on his own though.

“My noona just had a baby a few months ago. So I remember what she told me then,” he said.

“Oh. Okay. Well, you guys can sit down. Try to understand how protective Hoonie is of her. However, you have my permission to each hold her for a bit. But he is right. She shouldn’t be exposed to too many people because it increases her chances of getting sick.”

Soohyun held her as she started falling asleep. She was less than 24 hours old. She was tiny and fragile, and Soohyun was more nervous about holding her than he was his nephew. Maybe it was because she had been slightly early and was just smaller in general. He wasn’t related to this child by blood, but he understood what Hoon was feeling. The urge to protect this defenseless child welled within him. This girl was going to change every thing. He had known everything was going to change as soon as Hoon had told him that Serin was pregnant the first time. Though that pregnancy had been ill fated, it marked the start of an unavoidable alteration in their lives. Though he couldn’t have guessed exactly how things were going to change, he could feel it innately. It was even clearer to him now. Eunsook would alter Hoon’s, no all of their lives. He looked at her face, adoring the young child of two of his closest friends. “She really is a spitting image of you two,” he remarked to them.

“Thank you, Soohyun,” Serin said.

“She’ll be beautiful as she gets older,” Kiseop said as a way of expressing his agreement with Soohyun.

“I bet she’ll be musically inclined or athletic,” Kevin interjected.

“Probably both,” Soohyun said. “Serin isn’t a slouch when it comes to sports.”

“Really?” Kevin asked her.

“I played basketball,” she admitted.

“She’s good, too,” Kiseop added.

“Yeah, she and Hoon one time teamed up on the two of us,” Soohyun explained, indicating Kiseop as his teammate. “They just shut us down. It was kind of embarrassing really.”

“You underestimated me so I caught you by surprise,” Serin said modestly. “After that first time, it was never quite as easy. You won about as often as we did.”

 “I never realized you played sports,” Kevin mused. “Besides skiing, of course.”

“Now you know,” Serin said, smiling.

“Do you want Eunsook now, Kevin?” Soohyun asked.

Kevin happily accepted and was handed the infant. Serin showed him how to support her neck, and he just held her awkwardly, not moving his hands from the position Serin had placed them in. He felt uncomfortable, and quickly passed her off to Kiseop. It was the same process of showing him how to hold her. He watched her intently as she wriggled around in his arm. “She’s awake,” he stated quietly.

“I’ll get you a bottle to feed her. Just give her to Hoon when she’s done. He knows what to do.” With that, Serin walked gracefully into the kitchen and pulled a bottle out of the fridge. She heated it up and then walked back over to hand it to Kiseop. She showed him how to best hold Eunsook for feeding. Once Kiseop had her situated, she walked to Hoon and sat on the armrest of the chair he was sitting on. She rubbed his back with her hand, lazily playing with the hair on the back of his neck while leaning against him.

“I thought you were going to bed,” Hoon said as he looked up at her.

“I will. Don’t worry.”

Eunsook started crying, refusing to drink the rest of the bottle in Kiseop’s hand. He looked up at them nervously, and Hoon was up before Serin could get off her perch on the chair. He took Eunsook out of Kiseop’s arms, carrying her back over to sit down with her. Serin leaned against him again, staring down at her daughter lovingly. “She can’t eat too much right now,” Serin explained to him. “And she’s tired and fussy, I think.”

“Sounds about right,” Soohyun said. Hoon was burping the girl, focusing all his attention on her. “Would you mind if the other two come over tomorrow sometime?”

“If they want, it’s fine with me. Neither of us should be quite as tired,” Serin said.

“You say that now, but you’re not going to sleep well again for months,” Soohyun told her.

“I know,” she said resigned.

“We should go then,” Soohyun said with authority. “I think Eli wanted to come over in the morning.”

“Any of you are welcome at any time,” Serin told them, never looking away from her daughter.

“Jaeseop will probably come with him. I’ll tell Dongho and Alexander and, I guess, Kibum too, because I’m sure they’d like to come stop in sometime, as well.”

Hoon’s breathing got deep and slow, and everyone there knew he was asleep. His head was leaned against Serin’s side, and she affectionately brushed his hair back into place. “He’s exhausted. Today was the most emotional experience I’ve ever gone through. I can’t really explain it, but Eunsook is here and I just… I love her more than anything. She’s my precious daughter. I would do anything for her,” Serin said quietly. “I’m so very glad that you guys were there supporting us the whole time. From the very beginning. I feel so fortunate to have Hoon, and all of you, in my life. I can’t imagine things without him.”

Soohyun saw the tears building in her eyes. She was exhausted and emotional. She needed to sleep and have time to sort out her feelings. “Serin,” he said quietly, standing up and walking over to put his hand on her shoulder. “We are very glad to have you as a part of our U-KISS family. We’re so happy to have Eunsook as part of the family now, too. We’re going to go home now, but do call any of us if you need anything. We’ll see you and Hoon again soon.”

She nodded, sniffing and fighting back her tears. “Okay, I’ll see you later.”

He gestured, and Kevin and Kiseop stood up and said goodbye. The three filed out of the small house, and headed home, more than a little excited about finally getting to sleep.

--

The following morning, Hoon woke up. He remembered Serin waking him up and telling him to go to bed, but he barely remembered walking to bed or getting in. With Serin beside him, everything felt serene and right. He felt rested and happy. He put his hand on her waist and pulled her closer, snuggling against her back.

“Mmmm, Hoonie,” she said groggily. “Is Eunsook up yet?”

“I haven’t heard her make any noise.”

“You slept through all of her crying before.”

“Really?” he asked, a bit surprised.

“You must have been so exhausted. If you’re up now, I’ll let you handle her. I want to sleep more.”  He nodded, snuggling closer to her. She sighed in contentment.

“I’ll miss this when you have to go back to practice,” she confided.

“I know,” he whispered. “But it’s never like we get time with each other in the morning anyway. You get up just as early as I do for work.”

“I know. But I am going to be off for a while. And I think I’m going to get moved into a new position when I get back. Dad doesn’t want to send me overseas anymore.”

“Well, that’s probably a good thing.”

“I think he’d like it if I just focused on being a mom, but I don’t think I can. I’ve been too… focused on doing things all my life. I need to be doing something, not just raising our daughter.”

“Why don’t you work on composing while you’re off?” Hoon suggested. “You haven’t been writing much recently, and I know you could sell your songs.”

“I know I could, Hoonie. But I don’t think I’d want other groups to have my songs. I’d only want to write music for U-KISS. That’s too big of a bias to overcome.”

“Let’s write another song together,” he suggested then. “Something upbeat and fun as a celebration.”

“Let’s do it,” Serin said enthusiastically. That was when Hoon’s phone rang.

“Yo, what’s up?” he said, using English, which indicated that it was probably Eli or AJ.

“Mind if Eli comes over this morning for a bit?” Hoon asked Serin.

“He can come over. That’s fine. I still want more sleep though.”

“I’ll watch Eunsook while you sleep,” Hoon said, as he pushed away from her slightly to rub her back. “Just relax and get some rest. I slept soundly all night and will have no issue staying up all day with her.”

Serin sighed, relaxing further because of both his willingness to watch Eunsook to let her nap and his fingers running over her back. “You’re the best,” she told him sincerely.

He smiled contentedly to himself. “Only because you love me,” he joked.

She laughed lightly. “Only because you love me,” she jested in return.

After a few minutes of rubbing her back in comfortable silence, Hoon stopped and rolled out of bed. She looked over at him questioning. “I have to be dressed and ready for when Eli gets here,” he explained. “Just stay here and get some rest.” Serin nodded her understanding, as he walked around the bed to her, bent over and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. “Sleep well, Serin.”

He went to shower then, letting the water wash off the accumulated grime. He knew he should have showered before bed, but he was too distracted by his daughter and then his need for sleep, that it had completely escaped his mind. He lingered for longer than usual, enjoying the peaceful feeling in his chest and the warm water washing over him. He was sure it was warm outside, even though it was still relatively early in the morning. August was never a month with many cool days. Thinking about August made him realize his birthday was coming. “Eunsook and I were born in the same month,” he mused out loud. With a small smile of amusement, he shut the water off. He wiped the excess water off of his skin and finished getting ready. He then went to check on Eunsook, who was sleeping soundly in a bassinet in the bedroom. She would one day be moved into her own room, but it was still too early, and they both wanted her closer for now.

He watched her while she slept, filled with pride. This was his daughter. He had given her life. As he stared down at her lovingly, his stomach began to growl at him, expressing its hunger. Her eyes fluttered open, and she began fussing. Hoon picked her up, holding her against his chest and cooing at her, urging her to quiet down. He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him, and went to the kitchen. He wasn’t sure what to do with her when he got there. His mom had bought them quite a few things, as had Serin’s father and brothers. However, they hadn’t really put anything together yet, as Eunsook had arrived early. Hoon decided to improvise, making sure she was swaddled tightly before he put her on the couch. He used a blanket to create a barrier so she wouldn’t roll off even though she was too young to be able to get herself anywhere. He left her on the couch while he mixed up formula for her and poured himself a bowl of cereal.

Eunsook began crying, forcing Hoon to ignore her for a minute while he quickly ate his own breakfast. Taking the bottle with him, he went and picked her up again, putting it in . She pulled her face away, and cried more. “Do you need changed, baby?” he asked her.

When he had changed her, he took her back to the living room, sitting down on the couch, and he fed her, this time much more successfully. There was a knock on the door, and Hoon stood up to answer it, taking Eunsook with him. He opened the door and saw Eli accompanied by Dongho. “Congratulations!” Eli said excitedly. “Dongho didn’t have class this morning and wanted to come with me. I hope that’s okay.”

“Thanks,” he replied. “I’m more than happy to have Dongho here. Serin’s sleeping right now, so try to be quiet,” he told them.

“Oh. Okay. Noona must have had a long day yesterday,” Dongho said.

“I think we all did,” Hoon admitted.

“No arguments there. I’m glad to have a tiny break this morning. Are you going to be at practice this afternoon?” Eli asked.

“No, I have to be in on Monday at the latest, but depending on how things go, I may be back on Thursday or Friday. As much as I’d love to spend forever with Eunsook and Serin, it’ll be better for me to get back to practice as soon as possible.”

“How is Serin noona?” Dongho asked then.

“She’s doing great. She just didn’t sleep much in the last two days, so she’s tired. I slept all night, so I’m in charge of Eunsook for the time being. Anyway, how are you? I haven’t seen you in awhile. How’s life treating you?”

“I’m almost done with school. And my health is holding strong. After I get the broadcasting degree, I’m really hoping for a radio DJ job. It’s familiar but more… normal.”

“That actually sounds like the perfect thing for you.”

“Yeah. I’m really glad you guys were able to be successful after I left. I’m glad I did it, but I worried for you.”

Eli put a hand on his shoulder. “You had to do what you had to do. That’s years behind us now.”

Hoon agreed. “I’m glad to see you. Come over more often. Serin might need some help and some company when I get back to my regular schedule.”

Dongho nodded, before asking, “Isn’t it scary? Being left on your own with such a fragile thing?” He looked at the baby meaningfully.

“Yeah,” Hoon confessed. “It’s scary. She can’t do anything for herself. She has to rely on Serin and me to survive. That sort of responsibility is humbling.” He looked down at the child in his arms. “But it’s a good type of humbling. Anyway, why don’t we go sit down?”

They took the offer and headed over to the couch, sitting down when they got there. “Can I hold her?” Eli asked.

Hoon looked at him, dubious. “I’m not sure.”

“Just give her over,” Dongho said slightly irritated. “If there’s one of us you can trust with a baby, it’s Eli. I mean he helped take care of his little sister.”

He knew that if Serin was awake, she’d have said it was okay. So with a resigned sigh, he agreed. “Just wash your hands first, okay?”

Eli stood up excitedly and went to do just that. “So how does it feel to be a dad?” Dongho asked Hoon while Eli was gone.

“It feels…” Hoon started. “I mean, nothing really feels all that different. Just an overwhelming need to protect and love my daughter. A sense of pride and achievement. Nothing is different and yet everything is,” he explained, unsure.

Dongho cocked his head, a bit confused, but accepted the explanation without a word.

Eli walked back in then, and grabbed the newborn girl from Hoon, making sure to support her head as he did so. He moved with confidence, like a person who’d done this sort of thing many times before. “Hi, Eunsookie,” he said quietly to her. He touched her nose gently with his index finger, and then sat down next to Dongho, who then leaned over to get a closer look at the baby.

“You can definitely tell that she’s your daughter,” Dongho commented. “She looks just like you and Serin noona.”

“She’s beautiful,” Eli added. “Seeing her and holding her like this is just a reminder of how much I’d like my own kids,” he admitted. Eunsook started whimpering in his arms. Gently rocking her back and forth, he told her, “Now don’t cry, baby girl.” She quieted down instantly. “I think she’s tired.”

“You’re so good at this,” Dongho told him.

Eli smiled a bit shyly, embarrassed by the compliment. “Thanks.”

Hoon was sort of surprised. He’d known Eli liked kids and really wanted his own, but he hadn’t expected him to be so good at handling them.

Eli looked over at Hoon then. “Does Serin want her to learn English?”

Hoon gave him a quizzical look. “I don’t know. Why?”

“Oh, well, I was just wondering. Since she learned English by growing up in a bilingual household. If she does, Kevin, AJ, and I can help. We can speak English to Eunsook while she’s growing up. It easier than learning later.”

“I really don’t know. We haven’t talked about it. And it’s a little early for it, anyway.”

“Oh, I know. I was just curious.” Eli turned his focus back on the girl in his arms. She was yawning, falling asleep. “She is one of the cutest babies I’ve ever seen. I’m happy for you. I truly am. And it’s good to have a kid in the U-KISS family, finally.”

Dongho nodded in agreement. “My mom was excited when she found out. Like, when Serin’s pregnancy was officially announced, she called me up all excited.”

“Let’s not even get started on parents,” Eli said. “I think it’s a mom thing. They get all excited about babies.”

Hoon agreed. “I’m surprised my mom isn’t here right now, actually.”

“She’ll be here before long,” Eli promised. “If I know your mom at all, she won’t be able to stay away from her granddaughter.”

Dongho smiled in amusement. “Yeah. She’ll be here before long. For sure. Enjoy your alone time while you have it.”

“I know. Maybe I should kick you guys out so I can have some alone time with my daughter?”

Eli frowned. “Well, you’ll wake her up if you take her from me right now. If you want to deal with an upset and tired newborn screaming in protest, you can go right ahead and kick us out.”

An amused laugh escaped Hoon’s mouth. “I was mostly kidding. I have the next few days off. I’ll spend plenty of time with her.”

“Just be sure to treasure her while she’s still young like this. Everyone always says that they grow up too fast.”

Dongho then asked, “What’s Serin going to do while she’s off work? Other than take care of Eunsook?”

“We talked about that this morning,” Hoon started, warmed by the memory of the pleasant morning he’d had. “She said she was going to work on composing some again.”

“Ah,” Eli exclaimed. “I forgot that she did that.”

Dongho looked over at him with a dubious look. “She wrote a song for you awhile ago. She and Hoon performed together at a showcase last year. How did you forget?”

“Well… I didn’t really forget. I just wasn’t really thinking about it. I never see her, and on the rare occasion that I do, she never mentions music or anything.”

“How did you forget this? I wasn’t even there, and I know it,” Dongho scoffed.

“Hoon, am I right? She doesn’t talk about music or composing often.”

“She doesn’t talk about it much, but she is usually playing something here. Maybe not composing, but she’s always playing in the studio.”

“Aish. I forgot you had a personal studio here.”

Hoon nodded. “Yep. There’s also a workout room downstairs. Serin put it in so I wouldn’t have to go to the gym after practice. I can just come home. I usually get up early to work out anymore. Night time has other more… pressing matters.”

“Like ‘sleeping’?” Eli insinuated.

Hoon pretended to be oblivious to what Eli was actually trying to say. “Yeah. I take a shower and go to bed.”

Eli frowned, disappointed that he hadn’t gotten more of a rise out of Hoon for his ual innuendo.

“Is she writing another song for U-KISS?” Dongho asked Hoon then, ignoring Eli.

“I think that’s the plan.” Hoon’s phone buzzed then. “Oh, it’s Jaeseop.” He answered it, saying, “Hey Jaeseop. What’s up?”

“I just wanted to congratulate you. I’m not going to be able to make it over this morning. I wanted to at least stop by, but things keep popping up. I’ll make sure to come see your daughter before too long.”

“Thanks,” Hoon said. “Come over whenever it’s convenient for you. She’ll still be here.“

“I will. See you later today then?”

“Ah, no. Later in the week.”

“Oh. Okay. I’ll see you then. Talk to you later.”

“Yeah. Later,” Hoon said before disconnecting the call. He hadn’t really expected AJ to come, not this early on. He would come to show his support before long, but he was practical, and the fact that he and Serin had intentionally attempted to have another child after the miscarriage had irritated him. Hoon knew he was happy for him, as happy as he could be, but he wasn’t the type of person to enjoy being around children, or pretending to be excited over something he wasn’t really excited about. He appreciated the honesty. And as long as AJ seemed positive about things, Hoon was happy enough.

“We should probably go, Eli,” Dongho said then. “You don’t want to be late for practice, and I’m only off of school in the morning. If we want to get lunch, we probably ought to leave now.”

“Do you want to hold her before we go?” Eli asked him.

“Nah, I’m good. I’m not comfortable with that. She seems too fragile right now. Maybe when she’s a bit older.”

Eli returned her to Hoon, then, carefully so as to not wake her. “Bye Eunsookie,” he said after he’d transferred her to Hoon successfully. “See you later, Hoonie.”

“See you two later,” Hoon said, smiling. “Have fun at practice, Eli. Don’t slack off too much at school, Dongho.”

With that they left, leaving Hoon sitting in his chair holding his sleeping daughter in silence. “Well, Hime, what should we do? I’m not very good at doing nothing.”

He sat on the chair for a bit, before getting up and wandering around the house aimlessly carrying her for a bit. He spotted her car seat on floor and got an idea. He put her in it, and carried her to the studio. He sat her down at his feet and started playing the keyboard, the volume set low. He played many lullabies, singing them for his daughter. He glanced down and saw she was awake, but she wasn’t crying. She was listening to him sing. He glowed with happiness and pride, falling more in love with his princess.