That night, you ordered pizza for dinner. When it was delivered, Yongguk wanted to pamper Jaewoo some more so the three of you ate on the couch while watching a movie together. Then it was bath time before Yongguk tucked him in to bed. Just as he started to read the boy a bed time story, you turned and went into your own bedroom. You sat on the edge of the bed as your head swam with so many thoughts.
After a while, Yongguk poked his head in. "There you are." he said before walking into the room. "What's wrong?"
"Boys don't cry." you uttered out loud.
He gave you a confused look. "What?"
"Boys don't cry." you repeated and looked at him. "How many times have you heard that stupid saying?"
That didn't remove the confused look off of his face.
You closed your eyes and took a deep breath before letting it out. "Boys don't cry because they aren't allowed to cry." you said and looked at him. "Boys play sports, and roughhouse, and are loud, and..." You trailed off and sighed. "And they certainly don't draw pictures of delicate flowers."
"What's wrong with drawing flowers?" he questioned and furrowed his eyebrows.
You shook your head and shrugged. "Nothing. Just like I know you would let Jaewoo wear a pink dress if he wanted."
"Well, yeah." he agreed. "If it's what he likes. I would even get him a matching flower headband if he wanted."
You smiled at that but the smile faded away as you gave him a serious look. "But how many people would? Or tell him he's not allowed to just cause he's a boy? Just like how boys aren't allowed to cry. Telling children what they are or are not allowed to like based off something they didn't have a choice about."
Yongguk stared at you for a moment before walking over to the bed. He sat down next to you with a heavy sigh. "You don't think...?"
You nodded your head. "He said boys don't cry and that his drawing was stupid. Somebody had to have said that to him." You swallowed and turned your head to look at your husband. "His last adoptive mother dropped him off and said they didn't want him. How much do you want to bet she was forcing him to be someone he's not?"
He turned his head to meet your gaze. "And with you..."
"Exactly." you said in agreement. "How badly did she hurt him to make him take all that pain and anger out on me?"
Yongguk nodded before turning away and staring off at nothing. "She dropped him off the day before they could legally adopt him." he said. "No wonder he cried so much tonight. He had 6 months worth of tears to let out." Then he put his elbows on his legs and rested his head in his hands.
You reached up with one hand and rubbed his back, feeling heavy hearted as well. Your other hand moved to rest on your stomach. Glancing down, you pressed your lips together before looking over at Yongguk. He was staring at your stomach as well and then he looked up to meet your gaze.
"Just kind of funny." you told him. "We started this whole adoption things because of how much we needed him. Turns out he needs us even more."
"Yeah." he quietly said. He sat up and wrapped his arms around you.
You closed your eyes and leaned against him. "We're adopting him no matter what."
"No matter what." he agreed and kissed the top of your head.

The next morning, you heard someone enter the room and you stirred without opening your eyes. A wave of nausea hit you and you quickly swallowed.
"Morning sleepyhead." Yongguk murmured and kissed your cheek.
You let out a small, pitiful whine. At least you didn't feel as sick as before though. Just enough to want to stay in bed.
"Noona."
You quickly opened your eyes at the tiny voice and stared at Jaewoo in shock. He was standing next to the bed with a bowl in his hands.
"Hyung said you're sick but crackers make you feel better." he quietly said. Then he set the bowl on the bed and pushed it towards. "You can have some of my cheese crackers."
You blinked in surprise and glanced at your husband. He was standing behind Jaewoo with a big grin on his face. He pointed at the boy and enthusiastically nodded his head, indicating that this was Jaewoo's idea.
"Thank you." you said, turning your attention back to the small boy. You smiled and pulled the bowl closer. "Thank you so much."
"Come on Jaewoo. Don't want to be late for school." Yongguk said.
"Okay." he replied and turned away to walk out of the room.
"See you later." Yongguk chuckled as stepped closer to the bed and kissed you.
You kissed him back with a smile on your face still. "Bye."
When you were alone, you grabbed one of the cheese crackers and happily nibbled on it.

The rest of the day went by as you relaxed until it was time to pick up Jaewoo. You dressed and grabbed your purse before going out the door.
When you arrived at the school, you went to the playground and spotted Jaewoo on the slide. As he slid down it, he saw you. You didn't hesitate this time to wave at him but he didn't wave at you. He simply went over to fetch his bag before walking over to you.
"Did you want to play some more?" you asked when he got closer.
He looked up at you and pressed his lips together. Then he shook his head a little and gripped the straps on his backpack tighter.
"Alright." you said with a smile. "Let's go home then."
The two of you walked home silently but you did catch him one time looking at you. You smiled down at him before he quickly looked away.
At home, he ran for his stuffed dinosaur and hugged it tightly. Then he hurried to his room where he stayed the rest of the night. Besides sneakily peeking in a couple of times to see him playing with his toys, you left him alone. Baby steps.
You made dinner and it was just finishing when Yongguk walked into the apartment. He came over to you in the kitchen and gave you a tight hug. You reassured him that the day went fine and nothing else happened with Jaewoo. Then he left to greet the boy himself while you set the table.
A couple of minutes later, they emerged and the three of you sat to eat. You didn't say anything but smiled happily when you saw the surprised look on Jaewoo's face when he noticed the rice on his plate. Then he was quickly shoveling it in to his mouth, earning a quiet chuckle from Yongguk.

When Yongguk tucked Jaewoo in to bed that night, you leaned against the wall by the doorway. Hidden from sight but still able to hear your husband read the boy a bed time story. It was one that Yongguk had picked out and Jaewoo always seemed to pick it out.
As your husband finished the book, you smiled a little and went to walk away but stopped when a little voice spoke up, "Hyung."
"Yes." came a deeper voice.
"Why did noona read get me drawing things?"
"Well, I think maybe it was because of the drawing you gave her." Yongguk replied. "You did such a good job on it, she thought maybe you liked drawing. So she got you all those things."
"But... why did she read Hannah a book then?" Jaewoo quietly asked, barely loud enough for you to hear.
You furrowed your eyebrows as you thought about his question. Then you remembered when you first met Jaewoo and the little girl who asked you to read a book. Also how you had caught him looking at you once when you were reading the girl the book.
Closing your eyes, you let out a little sigh as the pieces clicked. He had been constantly bouncing around between foster homes before going to the orphanage. He must have seen other kids get adopted over him. Plus his previous family taking him back. Then the couple before them, the ones that ended up in a nasty divorce. Were they fighting about who got him, or who had to take him because neither of them wanted him either?
"I think you should ask noona that." Yongguk finally answered.
There was a few moments of silence until Jaewoo asked, "Can I have a second story?"
You expected to hear your husband start reading another book but instead you heard a noise by the doorway. You quickly opened your eyes and looked down at Jaewoo in surprise. Then your eyes widened when he held up a book for you.
You stood frozen for a moment before hesitantly taking the book from him. Then you followed the boy into the bedroom. Yongguk was standing by the doorway, smiling, and he kissed your cheek as you passed him before leaving the room.
Jaewoo climbed on to his bed and snuggled under the covers as you sat by him. You opened the book and swallowed before reading out loud to him.
When you were done, you closed the book and set it on the shelf with the other books. You spotted the one Yongguk had just read and pressed your lips together.
"You were so quiet and shy." you uttered. You turned to Jaewoo and saw him giving you a curious look. "At the orphanage. Yongguk went to play with you but you were so quiet, I thought you might have been uncomfortable. So when she asked me to read her a book, I decided to be nice and read it to her. It made her happy and it gave you time to be comfortable with Yongguk before I joined you. It didn't mean I wanted her instead of you."
You watched as his eyes widened a little before he quickly looked down. You in turn glanced around the room and the blue paint on the wall.
"I'm guessing Yongguk had told you his favorite color is red and that's why you changed your favorite color to red." you continued. "Just like how you said you liked ramen when you really don't." You took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "If you want to like red and ramen, that's fine. But if you want to like blue and rice, that's fine too. And if you want to draw all day long, that's fine as well. It doesn't matter what you like because we want you. Both of us."
You turned your head to look at him. He was still staring down at his dinosaur, clutching at it with his lips pressed together. You reached over and lightly ran your hand through his hair. He quickly looked up in surprise but you merely smiled at him.
"It's getting late." you told him. "You should get some sleep so you're not tired during school tomorrow."
"Alright." he quietly mumbled.
You stood up and tucked the blanket around him. Then you went over and the night light. "Goodnight Jaewoo." you said as you headed to the door.
"Night noona."
You inhaled sharply and came to an abrupt halt. You quickly spun around to see Jaewoo laying in bed with his eyes closed. A smile formed on your face as you felt your heart swell. Then you quietly tip-toed out of the room and closed the door behind you, leaving it partially open.

You noticed Yongguk standing in the hall, leaning against the wall where you had been previously been hiding. He turned and looked at you with a small smile, his eyes watering. "I'm so stupid." he whispered. "I accused you of basically being a bad mom when you're actually the most perfect mom in the world."
You blushed slightly and shook your head. "I'm not but I'm trying." you quietly said as you made your way over to him. "And you always forget the night light."
His face fell and he quickly looked at the doorway to Jaewoo's room.
"It's okay. I turned it on." you informed him while suppressing a chuckle.
He turned his attention back to you and the small smile returned. "See. You're perfect."
You blushed even harder before burying your face in his chest. His arms wrapped around you, holding you tightly.
"I'm sorry." he murmured and rubbed your back.
"I'm sorry too." you replied. "I shouldn't have hid everything from you."
Yongguk pulled back a little and beamed down at you. "Let's just promise to work as a team from now on."
"Deal." you agreed. Then you smirked at him. "And when we have to play 'good cop, bad cop'. You get to be the bad cop."
He frowned before pouting at you. "Why do I have to be the bad guy?"
You merely stuck your tongue at him though and set off down the hallway. Then you hurried faster and giggled when you heard him chasing you.