CEBF Extra 2

PR by neji

Daily Spring Life

“Mama! Mamma¹!”

“Bom². Are you saying ‘Mommy’ or ‘mamma’?”

The baby in Daon’s arms squeezed Daon’s eyes, nose and lips with her small hands. They had eaten before they came out, so it probably wasn’t ‘mamma’. Judging from the way she was rubbing her hand against Daon’s face, it looked like Bom was saying she wanted Daon to play with her.

“If we wait a little longer, Daddy will come out from there, you see? Bom, look over there.”

“O’wer ‘der?”

Daon pointed to the gate, and Bom turned her head as her eyes widened.

“Yeah, over there. You miss Daddy, right?”

“Dada! Dadadada!”

“Mommy misses Daddy like crazy, too. Daddy said he’d come out faster if Bom is good.”

“Co’ ou’ fah’ster. Daddy, faster!”

Bom glared piercingly at the closed doors of the gate. Daon dragged Bom’s hand off of her mouth.

Not long after, the doors of the gate opened, and a few people in uniform came out.

Having found her dad first, Bom squealed. Startled, Daon tried to calm Bom down to no avail.

“Shh, no. Quietly. If you’re too loud, Daddy won’t come out.”

WooHyun came out with his suitcase, an indifferent expression on his face. But when he saw Daon and Bom, a bright smile formed on his lips. He ran over to them and took Bom into his arms. He wrapped one arm around Daon’s hips and hugged her close.

“Was our Bom playing well with Mommy?”

“Me too.”

Daon grew jealous when she saw that WooHyun was only giving kisses to Bom and pouted her lips. WooHyun swallowed Daon’s lips as if he were going to eat her up.

There were so many eyes watching… Daon looked around and pushed against his chest. WooHyun narrowed his eyes as he laughed.

“You asked for it.”

“We can do that kind of stuff at home.”

Bom watched her parents share a deep kiss. As if she were entertained, she began to clap her hands.

“Bom, it looks like Mommy’s love has cooled.”

“Yeah.”

“Bom, you only have Daddy, right?”

“Yeah.”

Daon lightly tapped Bom’s cheek and retorted in an annoyed voice.

“No, Bom. You shouldn’t agree with everything Daddy says.”

Bom, who had been squeezing Daon’s face as if it were her toy, was now playing with WooHyun’s face. WooHyun playfully bit down on Bom’s fingers but was careful not to hurt her. Bom angrily pulled her hand back and rubbed it against his uniform jacket.

“Na Bom, there isn’t any spit on your hand. You don’t have to wipe it.”

WooHyun spoke in disbelief, but Bom had already lost interest in her father.

Bom began to play with the badge on WooHyun’s shoulders as she went, ‘waa, waa’ in awe. Then her lips opened and closed as she asked a question.

“Wha’ is ‘dis?”

“Daddy’s clothes.”

“Dada clo’se?”

“Yeah, it’s Daddy’s clothes.”

Bom continued to repeat ‘Dada clo’se’ for a long time as she played with the badges on his shoulders.

Was liking uniforms also genetic? The thought briefly popped into his head. WooHyun shook the silly thought out of his mind.

“What should I do when Bom grows up and brings home a boyfriend? Daddy can’t let Bom go.”

WooHyun murmured in a grave voice. Bom was not yet two years old, so it wasn’t appropriate to say such a thing to a baby. However, Daon understood his feelings. Daon looped her arm around his and thought about it before she asked him.

“Later, when Bom is all grown up, what will you do when she says she’s going to go on a trip with her boyfriend?”

WooHyun’s expression grew serious. He looked at Daon with reproach for saying such a thing and answered in a gruff voice.

“I’m going to follow them.”

“Bom, you’re in big trouble. You won’t be able to have a proper dating life because of Daddy.”

Unaware of what was to come decades later, Bom merely smiled. Daon quickly changed the subject before WooHyun’s mood soured even more.

“If you’re hungry, should we eat something at the airport?”

“Can we eat at the airport?”

“Why not…”

Daon answered nonchalantly when she met WooHyun’s eyes. She quickly closed her mouth.

She could tell that WooHyun was ravenous, but it wasn’t a simple kind of hunger. His intense gaze was focused on the nape of her neck.

“Bom, come to Mommy. I don’t think Daddy’s okay.”

Daon opened her arms and took the baby from the sinister man’s arms. However, WooHyun merely shook his head and began to lead the way.

* * *

Recently, Daon got her driver’s license and even finished taking driving classes. While WooHyun was putting Bom into her carseat in the back, she quietly got into the driver’s seat.

Sure enough, it felt different. WooHyun spoke up in a worried voice.

“I can drive.”

“No, you’re tired, Oppa. Just relax in the back.”

“…Do you think I’ll be able to relax?”

Daon’s gleaming eyes looked at him through the rearview mirror.

“Just trust me.”

“Okay. How admirable… Right, Bom?”

“……”

“Mommy is very cool. Right, Bom?”

“……”

“Na Bom?”

“……”

Just a moment ago, she was squealing and giggling with glee, but now there was no response. It looked like her eyes were slowly closing as they looked at the driver’s seat.

Whenever Daon sat in the driver’s seat, she was completely focused on driving. Above all, safety was the most important thing on her mind.

Not worried at all, WooHyun let down his worries thanks to Daon’s safe driving and loosened his necktie.

He turned his gaze to the now quiet Bom. Her nervous fidgeting had stopped and she was now deeply asleep. WooHyun chuckled and leaned back in his seat.

“Daon.”

Focused on driving, Daon replied a beat later.

“Yeah?”

“Yesterday was nice.”

Daon gasped. Yesterday’s events came flooding back into her mind. However, she pretended not to know what he was talking about.

“You don’t remember?”

“Yesterday… I went shopping with Bom. Yeah, it was very nice. There are so many pretty baby clothes out these days. It looks like the designers are hard at work. Thanks to them, the future of fashion in our country seems bright, and…”

“Not that.”

WooHyun rubbed his brow with his thumb and stared at Daon through the mirror. Their eyes met for a moment before Daon quickly turned her eyes back to the road. 

“I’m in the middle of driving right now. It’s dangerous to talk to me.”

“I’m talking about the phone sex.”

“What if Bom hears you?!”

“Bom is sleeping.”

As usual, she was video chatting with WooHyun at the end of the day.

Because of his job, there were many days when they were apart, but there were also times when they could be stuck together for days. Whenever they missed each other, they’d see each other’s faces by video chatting, so Daon had never felt particularly lonely.

However, something was different last night. As they were talking, she felt her body grow warm. It felt like WooHyun’s voice coming through the speaker was brushing against her skin. She suddenly wanted to touch him. She wanted to fall asleep in his arms. The sudden sense of sadness caused Daon’s eyes to turn gloomy.

Having noticed this change in her complexion, WooHyun smirked and made a lewd proposition.

“I hope we can do it more often from now on. What do you say?”

“…If you stop talking right now, I’ll think about it.”

When he heard her prim reply, WooHyun shut his mouth. He leaned his head against the headrest and closed his eyes.

“Yu Daon, you’re good at driving.”

“See? I told you to trust me.”

“I’ll give you a reward as soon as we get home.”

“If it’s not a meal³, I won’t take it.”

WooHyun barked out a dejected laugh and raised a brow.

“Daon must have a lot of things she wants to eat. But all I want to eat is Daon.”

“What if Bom hears…!”

“Bom is sleeping. I’ve already said this twice.”

“She could be pretending to sleep.”

“Was our daughter always that smart?”

WooHyun waved his hand in front of Bom’s face. Safe driving. Safety above all. Daon kept her wavering focus in line and let WooHyun’s words go in one ear and out the other. Then she recalled all the things that were scheduled for today.

“I have an appointment in the afternoon, so I’ll have to go out for a bit. Yu JaeOn said he’d come by with Saeron to play later, so leave the rest to my brother and just rest.”

Saeron was JaeOn and SoYoung’s daughter. Saeron was six months older than Bom, so JaeOn was his sunbae when it came to infant care.

Tsk, WooHyun clicked his tongue. He turned his sleek eyes to the mirror and gazed at Daon.

“You’re going to leave me and go out?”

“It’s my mom’s birthday this upcoming weekend. Dad said he wanted to surprise her, so he asked me to help him pick out her gift.”

Daon turned on the blinker and was looking for an opportunity to turn, so she didn’t notice WooHyun’s tone of voice. WooHyun was ready to cling onto her and make sure she didn’t leave, but when he heard her explanation, he quickly pulled back.

“I’ll reserve a restaurant. Enjoy dinner with Father before you come home.”

“No, I’ll eat at home. And don’t fight and play nice while I’m gone.”

“…Are you talking to Bom?”

“You said Bom was sleeping.”

“……”

WooHyun let out a long sigh. Once Saeron was born, JaeOn took a parental leave of absence and became an annoyingly enthusiastic father. He was never satisfied and was always nagging at WooHyun.

If he bothered him today, WooHyun planned on taking back the keys to the Tesla he had given JaeOn for his wedding gift.

* * *

“You sure are playing dress up over here. You know how quickly kids grow up, so why did you buy so many clothes? You’ll only be able to wear these once or twice. And these are made of pure cotton, so if you put them in the dryer, they’ll shrink. How many times did I tell you? You’re washing these by hand, right? Do you know how much dust is in a washing machine?”

JaeOn pulled out all the clothes Daon had bought yesterday and laid them out as he shook his head from side to side. WooHyun prepared two cups of coffee in the kitchen and pushed one of them towards JaeOn.

“Turn it down a notch before I kick you out.”

WooHyun took a short nap with Bom in his arms. When he opened his eyes, Daon had already left and JaeOn and Saeron were here. Saeron and Bom were playing with a pile of toys and enjoying their playtime together.

The one that needed attention and care was JaeOn.

“Did you eat? Should I make you something?”

JaeOn’s eyes widened before glaring at WooHyun.

“After you started living with Yu Daon, you think food will fix everything?”

“If you’re not going to eat, that’s fine, too.”

“Can you make omurice? Put a bunch of diced vegetables in it.”

“As if I’d put ‘a bunch’.”

WooHyun approached Saeron and Bom. He pulled Bom’s hand away as she tried to put a toy in her mouth and pulled her on top of his lap.

“This is dirty. Daddy will make you something yummy.”

Bom buried herself into WooHyun’s cozy embrace. The scent of freshly done laundry and milk tickled his nose. He selfishly didn’t want her to grow up. He wanted her to stay like this forever.

When Bom was at an age where she needed to wear a school uniform, she’d probably slam her door as she became an adolescent. Just the thought of it hurt WooHyun’s heart. If she pushed him away, claiming that she needed some alone time, how sore would his heart feel? Although he had never experienced something like that, the dread was already filling his heart. He couldn’t help it.

“Daddy, what about Mommy?”

Saeron raced over to her dad and clung onto his neck. Although she had just turned two years old, her pronunciation was precise. JaeOn stopped folding the clothes in front of him and pulled Saeron into his arms. He playfully bit down on her head.

“Mommy said she’d come get us after she’s done with work. Wait a little longer.”

“Aah! You’ll b’wake my head!”

Saeron pushed JaeOn’s head away and grew angry. JaeOn awkwardly went back to folding the clothes.

“Bom. Come here, come here.”

When Saeron called her, Bom flinched in WooHyun’s arms before climbing down and waddling over. Although they were only half a year apart, Saeron took care of Bom like an older sister. She had definitely gotten that from SoYoung.

“When Bom grows bigger, don’t throw the clothes away and sell them at a thrift market.”

Once they had all gotten married, they all moved out into separate neighborhoods. However, they were still only twenty minutes away by car, so they could see each other more often than not.

“It would be nice to hand it down to a second child, but neither you nor I are even considering a second kid.”

Because they lived so close, Saeron and Bom could grow up like sisters. Also, they both had a horrible experience with their wives’ pregnancies and labors, so they didn’t plan on having a second child.

JaeOn snickered by himself. WooHyun knew what he was about to say. It was always the same.

“I mean, what… The dad having morning sickness? I spoke to all the other new dads in my neighborhood, and they never heard of it before.”

WooHyun took deep breaths to calm himself down and raised his coffee cup. He’d already heard this a multitude of times. It started when he prepared a few meals for Daon while she was pregnant. He suddenly got nauseous and began to gag. He’d even taken some digestive medicine that he’d never had to take before, but instead of getting better, he began to become sensitive to the smells of certain foods.

A few days later, they came to find out it was Couvade Syndrome, a condition where the husband experiences symptoms of pregnancy. Daon looked up various recipes for him, but he couldn’t hold the food down. This was when WooHyun realized that cooking required talent and skill.

“Did they say there was a dad who turned bald because his wife pulled all his hair out during labor?”

When WooHyun nonchalantly threw the words out, JaeOn grew pale. It was understandable. Because that was almost him.

Although the pain of labor was excruciating, SoYoung didn’t want to experience the pain alone, so she grabbed JaeOn’s hair and wouldn’t let go.

“Hey, why would you say something like that…”

“I was just asking. What’s the matter?”

Turning his back on a trembling JaeOn, WooHyun took the empty coffee cup to the sink. Bom scurried over and clung onto WooHyun’s leg.

“Daddy, I ‘wuv you.”

Bom was looking up at him with sparkling eyes as she gave him a bright smile.

It was driving him crazy. He felt like all the weight and exhaustion had disappeared. WooHyun knelt down and brought his face closer to Bom’s.

“Daddy loves Bom, too. Give Daddy a kiss.”

He tapped his lips with his finger, and Bom mumbled ‘Kiss’ as she pressed her lips to his. Just as he pulled Bom into his arms and was about to bite down on her cheek, JaeOn raised his voice.

“Bom, give Uncle some love, too!”

Suddenly, Bom wriggled out of WooHyun’s arms and ran over to JaeOn.

“Unc’o, I ‘wuv you.”

“Kyaa, Uncle is so happy he’s going to faint.”

JaeOn flopped onto the ground and played dead. Taking this chance, Saeron and Bom squealed as they went on top of his stomach and jumped around.

He might really faint at this rate.

* * *

“Bom, look. One, two, three, four…!”

“No, nyoo. Noo! One, th’wee, tooo, fi’.”

JaeOn had placed Bom on his lap and was teaching her numbers. He showed her the numbers and asked her to follow after him, but Bom claimed he was wrong and called out the numbers as she liked.

“…She’s strangely stubborn. Where did she get it from?”

JaeOn glanced at WooHyun in vain as he mumbled. WooHyun saw Bom read the numbers and felt proud. Even though she was completely wrong, she’d learn it all later, so there was no need to worry.

Suddenly, they heard the front door unlock, and Daon entered inside. Bom threw down the numbers book and ran to the entrance. Not forgetting to show that she was the older one, Saeron gravely looked at the tossed book and ran after Bom with her arms outstretched.

“The baby will get hurt! You shouldn’t run!”

“You’re a baby, too. Yu Saeron, don’t run!”

The corner of the book had hit JaeOn on the head. He grabbed the book and shouted. And the one with the brightest expression on his face was WooHyun.

“Bom, Mommy’s here! Ah, you’re still here, too, Saeron? Did you eat some ‘mamma’?”

Daon’s excited voice tickled WooHyun’s ear. He slowly got up and walked over to the entrance. He pulled Daon into his arms for a hug. He had seen her earlier in the afternoon, so why was he so happy to see her? Daon laughed as she stroked his back.

“Did WooHyun eat some mamma, too?”

WooHyun scoffed as he took Daon’s bag.

“Get washed. Then come out for some mamma.”

Saeron and Bom clung onto each of Daon’s legs. Daon held her daughter and niece’s hands and walked into the living room with much difficulty. JaeOn was tidying up the messy living room.

“Oppa, are you going to eat dinner before you leave? What about SoYoung-unnie?”

“SoYoung said she’d come and pick us up after work. She said she’s probably going to be late and told us to eat first.”

“You didn’t torment my husband, did you?”

“He was my friend before he was your husband. Why would I torment my friend?”

WooHyun put Daon’s bag in their room and came back out to the kitchen. He nonchalantly spoke up.

“I felt tormented.”

“You did torment him!”

“Hey, Na WooHyun. Say that again. What, I tormented you? I’m saying all this for your own good, so why are you being so pathetic? Also, Yu Daon. Come over here for a sec. Didn’t I tell you to call me when you went out to buy baby clothes? Didn’t I?”

Daon ignored JaeOn’s words and went to the bathroom to wash her hands. Saeron and Bom followed in after her, so she washed their hands as well.

“Did you have fun today?”

“Yeah! Unc’o fun!”

“Did you have fun, too, Saeron?”

“Yeaah, buuut… Daddy kept, kept yelling.”

“Who did he yell at?!”

“He kept, kept saying stuff to Uncle.”

Saeron cupped her hand around her mouth and whispered as if she were telling Daon a secret.

“He did? Then Auntie better punish your daddy, huh?”

Daon wiped Saeron’s wet hands with a dry towel and brought them outside the bathroom.

Lately, JaeOn’s pride as a father had skyrocketed. Although Daon understood that he only wanted his daughter and niece to grow up healthy, he shouldn’t meddle in someone else’s parenting.

Not only that, there were already signs that there was going to be quite a lot of conflict between Saeron and her dad very soon. If there was a tutoring center for dads, she wanted to register him immediately. Daon pulled up her sleeves and stood in front of JaeOn.

“I told you that if you kept doing this, you’d be called a young boomer, right?”

“What? A young boomer? Did you really think about what you’re saying right now?”

“You’re right. As soon as I said it, I realized my mistake. You’re not a young boomer. You’re an old boomer. You’re not that young anymore, Oppa.”

JaeOn looked completely bewildered as if he’d been struck across the face. He thought about it for a second before wilting like a dying flower. 

“I’m not the only one who’s old. Your husband is the same age as me.”

Daon looked back at WooHyun, who was preparing their meal in the kitchen. Then she bit her lip. She looked a bit dispirited as she answered a beat later.

“Still… He’s not a boomer.”

WooHyun felt uncomfortable. Even if he wasn’t a boomer, he was still old? It wasn’t a pleasant thing to hear.

He could hear Daon and JaeOn bickering in the living room. In the end, JaeOn surrendered with both arms and legs. He heard his helpless voice murmuring.

“Okay. I got it. I won’t say anything anymore…”

Bom smelled the food coming from the kitchen and walked over to WooHyun. WooHyun chuckled and spoke as if he were talking to himself.

“Bom, it looks like your uncle has menopause.”

“Huuuh? Meno’paw?”

“How cute. Bom, say ‘Daddy, I love you’.”

Bom rubbed her face against his leg and laughed.

“Daddy, I ‘wuv you.”