A realllyyyy short one on the kids because I miss them so, plus I’ve had this idea for a while now (since the last update LOL).

Gary and Jihyo walked out of the interview room. He made sure that his eyes were no longer red and teary before going towards the children in the set; like Jihyo, he didn’t want them to know that he cried. The kids were preoccupied with the staffs, so they didn’t notice their parents until they were quire close by.

Jihyo thanked the staff for taking care of the children, and instructed them to bow too.

“Young ah, Ji-ohn ah, say thank you and good bye to the eonnies,” she told them, patting their backs so they would bow. They bowed lightly, which earned them giggles from the staffs.

“Shall we go and eat supper now?” Jihyo asked the children, who nodded enthusiastically.

“Baegopa,” they echoed, one after another.

“Arrasso, kaja,” she told them, as she held Jiyoung’s hand on her left and Ji-ohn’s on her right. Gary held Ji-ohn’s hand too, so they formed a line of 4. After walking for a while, before they even exited the room, Ji-ohn tugged on Gary’s shirt.

“Wae, wae?” he asked, looking down at her.

“Carry me,” she said, raising her hands up. Gary chuckled, whining a little about how they’ve walked so little, but carried her nonetheless.

“Nado, nado,” Jiyoung playfully giggled. Jihyo bent down to carry him, but he refused.

“Appa,” he said, meaning that he wanted Gary to carry him.

“Appa’s carrying Ji-ohn already, I’ll carry you, okay?” Jihyo persuaded, lifting him up.

“No, appa can carry us together,” he insisted. Jihyo opened to speak again, but Gary had already shifted Ji-ohn to his left hand and put out his right hand for Jiyoung.

“Why are you so playful today?” Jihyo asked Jiyoung as she kissed him, before passing him over to Gary.

Jiyoung giggled and put his hands around Gary, leaning against his shoulders.

“Are they heavy,” Jihyo asked. Gary shook his head. “It wouldn’t be long till I can’t carry them together anymore,” he mused, and Jihyo sighed. Indeed. The kids are growing up really fast.

They walked for a while, maybe about 10 minutes, then Ji-ohn suddenly asked Gary, “Appa, why did you cry?”

Gary was shocked. How did she know? He subconsciously thought to Jihyo, who shrugged in response.

“Aniya, I didn’t,” he replied. “Who told you that? Oh look, it’s the café!” he said quickly, before Ji-ohn continued to press on.

“What is there to eat?” she asked, immediately distracted.

“Ice-cream,” Jiyoung said excitedly, because their signboard was a giant ice-cream.

Gary laughed, “Yeah that, and many others. Let’s decide when we’re inside, shall we?”

“Oppa, we’re not going to let them have ice-cream, are we? It’s so late already!” Jihyo asked, concerned. It was past 10pm now.

“You can try arguing against these two,” he laughed, and Jihyo hit him, half amused , half annoyed. When he was strict, the children wouldn’t dare to disobey him; but when he’s as playful as them, even Jihyo can’t control him.

Eventually, they decided to get one ice-cream waffle and a cake, and 4 cups of hot chocolate (it was too late for coffee).

Gary sat on the seat closer to the wall, and Jiyoung was beside him. Jihyo sat opposite Gary, and Ji-ohn on her lap. They cut the waffle and cake into two, half for Jiyoung and half for Ji-ohn. Gary helped Jiyoung to cut it into smaller pieces, while Jihyo just fed Ji-ohn directly. When Gary was done, he let Jiyoung eat on his own, while he himself drank his hot chocolate and looked at his family.

Without looking up, Jihyo knew that he was looking at them. Wae, oppa, she asked.

He shrugged. “Just… thankful,” he said out. I wonder if my parents was like that in the past, he continued in his thoughts.

Before Jihyo could reply anything, Jiyoung interrupted them.

“Appa,” he called.

“Eo, why?” he asked, turning his attention back to his son, thinking that he needed help.

“Ahh,” he said, bring a piece of waffle to Gary’s mouth.

“Appa mani meogoyo,” he said gently as he smiled at his father.

Gary was stunned for a moment. “Appa mani meogoyo?” he repeated. “Who taught you that,” he laughed, but was touched. Occasionally their children will feed them, but they’ve never said that to them. Jiyoung shrugged and fed his mother too, then his father again.

“Gomawo, Jiyoung, it’s enough for me,” Gary said, after taking the second piece. “Eat it yourself,” he told him. Jiyoung did so.

When he was done, however, he turned around and sat on his father’s leg, so they were facing each other. Gary chuckled, wiping the ice-cream marks off his face and hands. “You dirty little cat,” he joked, as he kissed Jiyoung, not minding the ice-cream stains.

Suddenly, Jiyoung put his hands around his father. “Appa, mani saranghaeyo,” he said.

“Why are you so affectionate today,” he jokingly asked, but hugged him back. Ji-ohn too, climbed down from her mother’s leg and found her way to Gary and hugged him. Gary was touched and he started to tear a little, feeling more emotional today than usual.  Jihyo smiled as she saw the scene unfold. The feeling of warmth was felt by one, but shared by the two of them.  She figured out that the kids must have known that Gary was feeling down somehow, and were trying to cheer him up. She knew Gary thought the same thing too.

When they were done, Jihyo brought the Ji-ohn to the toilet to clean up, while Gary brought Jiyoung.

“Why did appa cry just now?” Ji-ohn asked, when Jihyo was helping her in the toilet.

“Uh, because he was felt very touched,” Jihyo replied.

“Aniya,” Ji-oh corrected. “Not that,” she said. “After you came out from the room,” she said, still remembering.

“Eo, who told you that?” Jihyo asked back.

Ji-ohn didn’t answer for a while, so Jihyo thought that the topic was over.

But after a while, she spoke again. “Appa… appa’s voice was different,” she answered.

“Appa’s voice was different?” Jihyo repeated, not quite figuring out. Did she mean it quivered, like how voices normally are after a person cried? Was that how she knew she cried last time at home?

“Eung,” she affirmed. “It sounded sad,” she said, herself becoming sad too. “I don’t like it when appa or eomma is sad,” she said softly.

Jihyo hugged her daughter tightly. “I know,” she said, “next time we’ll always be happy, okay?”

Ji-ohn nodded. “So why did appa cry?” she asked again, still persisting.

Jihyo laughed. You are really my daughter, aren’t you? She thought.

She explained to her in the end, “Appa misses his own appa and eomma, because they went away very long ago, remember?”

Ji-ohn thought for a while and nodded. Earlier this year, they had visited their graves so she remembered. “Appa’s appa, eomma and hyungie are together, right? In the skies.”

Jihyo nodded. “So next time, you must love appa a lot okay? So he won’t be upset,” she said.

“I already do,” she giggled. Jihyo smiled and ruffled her hair as she carried the baby out.

Back at the hotel, after the children are sound asleep, Jihyo told Gary what happened in the toilet.

“Eo, Jiyoung asked me too,” he answered. “He said he knew when Ji-ohn asked me if I cried, on our way to the cafe.”

“Ji-ohn’s ears are amazing, isn’t it?” Jihyo said, looking at her daughter and brushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

“Eo… she can’t see, but she still knows a lot of things… They’re both very nice children,” Gary commented.

Jihyo smiled, reaching out to touch her husband’s face. “Because they take after you,” she said.