SIXTY

“Oh my god, Unnie…” Seohyun gasped staring at the contract in her hand, “He will surely go ballistic…”

Taeyeon lifted her eyes towards her for a second and went back signing documents in front of her. She just got in that morning to find Seohyun waiting for her in her office. When the younger girl confided her concerns about Yonghwa’s she decided that she could help a bit and L’Or was the best target. However, Taeyeon decided not to let Seohyun know of her participation in that project so she just shrugged, “It’s a good start, darling.”

“I know! But to be featured in a single mother empowerment article is seriously not going to sit well with him.” Seohyun couldn’t hide her disbelief. Despite knowing that her unnie was right about this, she knew Yonghwa won’t have a positive response to it. She sighed and nodded resigning to the thought, “Okay, I’ll talk to him first.”

“Besides, this was his idea…” Taeyeon shrugged, “He opened it up and L’Or’s got a good timing. But yeah, talk to him first.”

“Imo!!!”

Euna emerged from the door and jogged towards Taeyeon. The little darling was a good distraction from what she was trying to hide. She knew, of course, that Yonghwa wouldn’t like that but the couple need a gentle push—Taeyeon still saw it as ‘gentle.’ She hugged Euna back and kissed her cheek, “Hi, princess! I didn’t know you’re here!”

“Imo, guess what?! Pandas’ favorite food is bamboo. Do you know that?”

The little girl asserted nonchalantly as she pressed a hand on Taeyeon’s cheek like it was a very important information her imo should know. “No kidding...” Taeyeon tried to appear surprised as she shot Seohyun a WTF look.

“She’s into pandas these days,” Seohyun supplied with an amused smile. Her daughter says the most random things. Then she added, “We talk about pandas before sleeping.”

“But Euna likes ice cweam more.” Euna went on sitting comfortably on her imo’s lap, “Can we get ice cweam later?”

“Sure, princess…” Taeyeon grinned, “Bamboo ice cream…”

Euna giggled shaking her head, “You’re joking, there’s no bamboo ice cweam. Can I use your pyuteu?”

“Seo Euna…”

Euna pouted, “Imma just gonna look at pandas…”

Taeyeon stood and opened her arms, “Come here, princess, let’s look at pandas at my computer!”

“Yay! I love you, Imo ‘cause you’re nice and reeeally pweetty too!” She beamed leaving her imo and umma throwing their heads back laughing. She pouted when she remembered something, “Umma doesn’t want me to use her pyuteu…”

“You’re umma is just a spoilsport…”

“Oh, no… no!” The little girl shook her head vehemently her eyebrows shot together, “My mommy doesn’t do sports! She’s a model, okay?”

That resulted to another eruption of laughter from the adults. Taeyeon dabbed the sides of her eyes and looked at Euna, “Do you wanna be a model too? Like mommy?”

Seohyun clicked her tongue but her unnie just shrugged. Most of their friends would always ask her baby the very same question but if she would rather have Euna do something else where she could preserve her privacy. But their oblivious little future supermodel looked up from the monitor with that calculating stare before declaring, “I don’t know but I wanna be Ariel or Sofia.”

“Sofia’s okay since she’s a princess and Euna’s a princess but Ariel? Ariel is a mermaid! She’s half fish!”

“I guess that’s okay too… or panda,” her head bobbed slightly then her eyes widened and she beamed, “I know! I can be half panda! Right, Umma?! Can I be half panda?”

Seohyun pressed her lips together trying hard not to laugh, “Whatever you want, honey…” She wished Yonghwa was here to hear Euna’s funny remarks again. He would literally roll on the floor laughing with this kind of conversation. With him away, Seohyun decided to bring Euna to work and mostly everywhere she needed to be. She could only wish that Yonghwa was with them for him to know what Euna was doing or the things she would say.

It could happen, Seohyun knew that could happen. But Yonghwa has to give up the dream he is living in—the fame.

She couldn’t help but sigh as Taeyeon looked up to her with a grin.

“Maybe we can put her in a panda costume for L’Or.”

“If that’s the case, let’s get a stand-in,” Seohyun replied watching Euna click pictures after pictures of pandas, “So her Appa won’t go all caveman.”

“Half panda, half Euna....hihi…” Euna said to herself and giggled oblivious of what her declaration did to her mommy and aunt.

The two looked at each other, and then to the little girl who was still giggling at her own thoughts. Convulsions of laughter followed that soft giggly voice from the panda-loving Euna. The little girl’s mommy and her imo couldn’t stop laughing until their bellies hurt and tears rolled down their cheeks.

~~~

Seohyun was still figuring out the best way to tell Yonghwa about L’Or’s offer when he called that night. Giving the phone to Euna was her way of stalling the inevitable. However, their baby was not really cooperating as she tossed the phone on the table after that almost one-sided conversation with her Appa. Seohyun salvaged her phone with a giggle seeing Yonghwa’s appalled face of being tossed aside for a panda.

“It’s me… she went back reading,” Seohyun looked past her shoulder over Euna, “Or pretending to…”

“She’s too cute.”

“Are you crying, Oppa?” She narrowed her eyes with a soft laugh.

“I’m not,” Yonghwa laughed but gave her a sad face, “Sorry we can’t come home tonight.”

“It’s okay, you need to rest.” Seohyun positioned the phone in front of her that he could see Euna flipping her book behind her. She sighed, after all Yonghwa was set to come back three more days. The contract was still lying on her table waiting to be signed and Taeyeon had been bugging her all day about it. It was now or never. Forcing a smile, she started, “Anyway, I’ve got news for you.”

“Hmmm?”

“L’Or’s giving me new project.” The smile Yonghwa was wearing made her want to wince.

“Why don’t they put me with you for an anniversary cover?”

“That’s a nice idea but then again,” Seohyun liked that thought but she knew he won’t really like the rest of the news and she tried to break it softly—one bomb at a time, “They’re putting Euna with me.”

“Really? That’s a surprise!”

“It is!” Seohyun beamed then bit the insides of her cheeks before aiming for the next shot. She continued keeping a noncommittal tone, “It’s for their mother’s day issue…”

“That’s a good news… how do you feel about it?”

“I’m flattered as Euna’s mom… but Oppa, here’s the catch…” Seohyun her lips and braced herself for the final blow, “They’re putting us for the Single Mother Empowerment special feature.”

A long suffering silence followed. Seohyu