DTL Extra 3 part 1

PR by neji

Monday Evening at SooHyun’s House

“Mommy! Oven!”

The young child who had been in the middle of playing with his blocks suddenly got up and ran over to YeonJung. He tugged on her skirt. YeonJung glanced to the side and saw that the light of the oven that had been broiling the barbecued pork ribs had turned off. When the young child heard the timer go off, he ran to his mother to let her know. YeonJung grinned down at him.

“Thank yoo, son.”

The boy’s eyes and brows were already an exact replica of his father’s. He stretched out his arms to her. He wanted her to hold him.

“Hm? Mommy is cook-king, SooHyun.”

She crouched down so that they were now eye-to-eye and slowly spoke to him. SooHyun was deep in thought for a moment. Then he grabbed her face with both of his cute, little hands and brought his pink lips closer to her cheek. He placed a loud, smacking kiss on her cheek and ran away. He giggled as he ran into the living room and began playing with his blocks once again.

He was stacking his rainbow blocks to make a dinosaur. As he focused on his work, his brows furrowed, reminding YeonJung of that man. It was almost as if his features had been stamped onto the child’s face. She was always amazed by the power of genetics whenever she saw him like this.

‘Ah, the meat!’

She had been staring blankly at her son and forgot about taking the meat out. She opened the oven. It was almost time for SeonJae to return home. Not that long ago, he had sent her a text saying that he had left the office. And since he had a personality that was very punctual…

“Ah! It’s Daddy!”

Just as YeonJung glanced up at the clock, SooHyun burst to his feet when he heard the doorbell ring.

“Daddy!”

SeonJae bent down when he saw SooHyun running towards him and gave him a high-five.

“Did you listen to Mommy today, Min SooHyun?”

“Yeah!”

“What are you making?”

“A dinosaur!”

“Show Daddy when you’re finished.”

“Okaay!”

SeonJae picked up the excited child and put him down next to the blocks. Then he placed his car keys and cell phone on the table and walked over to the kitchen. He embraced YeonJung from behind.

“You’re hun-gry, righ’?”

He nodded into her hair. She tried to escape his grasp, but he tightened his arms around her.

“Jus’ wait ah moment. I’m almost done.”

“Ah, something smells delicious.”

YeonJung tried to twist out of his arms in order to quickly set the table, but it was of no use.

“Is it coming from you?”

“SeonJae-shi!”

YeonJung glanced at the inquisitive SooHyun who was busy building his small blocks with shining eyes to see if he’d heard. However, SeonJae didn’t care. He placed kisses along her cheeks before he found her lips. After a few more kisses, he finally let her go.

“I missed my wife so much that I thought I’d die.”

SeonJae stamped his lips on hers as she smiled.

‘You saw me before you left this morning.’

When he saw YeonJung sign her reply, SeonJae shook his head.

“That was then, and this is now. Do you know how much time has passed in between? It’s almost been twelve hours.”

SeonJae spoke earnestly.

“Should I just go to work three times a week? The employees will probably like that better anyway. They’re still asking me when you’ll be back at the office.”

“Why?”

It wasn’t like the employees in the office weren’t talented. And she still diligently sent them her ideas from home. Was there some kind of problem? SeonJae laid her worries to rest with the following answer.

“They know their boss isn’t in a good mood when his wife isn’t there by his side. They’ve begun to work with military precision now.”

In actuality, the two years YeonJung had gone to work with SeonJae at the office were like a dream to the employees. They also had fun watching the ruthless Min SeonJae stay on his best behavior in fear of YeonJung.

“Go ah-nd wash up. Hur-rry.”

YeonJung chuckled.

“Later. Don’t disturb the precious time I have with my wife, Lee YeonJung-ssi.”

As YeonJung tidied the counters, SeonJae kept his arms wrapped around her from behind. Whenever she moved, he followed. Meanwhile, he’d bury his nose against the nape of her neck and take a deep breath before placing ticklish kisses on her ear. She was worried that she smelled like food. Thankfully, she had taken another shower before she had started cooking. YeonJung tapped on his arm that was wound around her waist.

“SeonJae-shi.”

“Hm.”

“Go ah-nd play with SooHyun.”

When she was closer to her delivery date, she gave SeonJae, who was both her husband and boss, her request for a leave of absence. Because he liked having her by his side at all times, he didn’t really like it, but there was nothing he could do. This was a decision that had been made because she was close to giving birth. She told him she wanted to focus her attention on taking care of the infant, so she managed to persuade him. And, ultimately, SeonJae was happy with the decision. After that, he would always return home from work with such precision. Sometimes, when YeonJung and the child were out late, she’d return home and find him waiting for them. Whenever this happened, she’d even feel bad.

“SooHyun plays with the kids all day at kindergarten. And then, when he comes home, he gets to play with you. What about me?”

“Ah, how childish.”

Sometimes, she wondered who the child was in this family, but SeonJae was truly a good father to their son. The other day, when they had gone to the dinosaur exhibit, SeonJae carried SooHyun as if he were superman and ‘flew’ him over to the tyrannosaurus rex. The other children nearby saw this and asked to be carried like that too. Their surroundings were soon bustling with children as they waited their turn. Whenever there was an event at SooHyun’s kindergarten, SeonJae would always be the popular dad amongst the children.

“Then let’s eat fo’ now.”

YeonJung pushed against his shoulder.

“It’s hot. Let me do it.”

SeonJae took off his suit jacket and hung it on a chair. Then he placed the barbecued pork on top of the cutting board. A delicious aroma filled the room. YeonJung took his jacket and began to carry it to the dressing room. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. She saw a happy, smiling woman staring back at her.

“Min SooHyun, you should come here and help Mommy!”

“Okay!”

At SeonJae’s call, SooHyun ran over to his father. When the boy jumped up and down because he wasn’t tall enough, SeonJae picked him up. SooHyun took out two pairs of chopsticks and a couple of spoons. Then he took out his spork and placed them all on the table. It was the dinner routine they were all familiar with.

“Thank you for the meal.”

Before SeonJae picked up his spoon, he placed a kiss on YeonJung’s cheek. SooHyun, who had been sitting across from her, jumped down from his chair and placed a kiss on YeonJung’s other cheek. The coolest thing in the world to SooHyun was dinosaurs. Then it was his father. Therefore, he liked to copy everything SeonJae did.

“Min SooHyun.”

SeonJae called his son’s name, and SooHyun answered in a melodic voice.

“Yeah!”

“Who does SooHyun love the most?”

“Mommy!”

SeonJae raised his brow as if he’d been expecting this. The boy answered without any hesitation, but that just made his next question a lot easier to ask.

“Then who does Daddy love the most?”

“Mommy!”

SeonJae laughed in satisfaction at his son’s quick answer.

“And who do we protect first if something happens?”

“Mommy!”

In a way, this was no different from brainwashing. SeonJae gave another delighted laugh as he hugged his son.

“Good job. As expected of my son. Give Daddy a kiss, too.”

“Hee, hee. Don’t wanna. I’m just gonna give Mommy another one.”

As the boy tried to playfully get out of his father’s arms, SeonJae grasped the boy’s head and rained kisses down on his face. Then he whispered into the boy’s ear.

“Don’t like Mommy too much, Min SooHyun.”

“Why not?”

“Because Mommy belongs to Daddy.”

“No! Mommy said she doesn’t belong to anyone! Not to SooHyun, and not to Daddy!”

“You can’t tell secrets so openly. That’s why Mommy said that.”

The family of three’s dinner was as noisy as ever. The father and son were in sync.

“Hur-rry ah-nd eat. Both of yoo.”

When YeonJung shouted out, the father and son picked up their forks.

Today’s topic of conversation was the sports day at SooHyun’s kindergarten that had taken place yesterday. It was SooHyun’s first time participating in a sports day, and naturally, all the mothers’ and teachers’ eyes were drawn to him. Additionally, SeonJae had even participated in every single event that was open to the children’s fathers. Even the chicken fights. With his long legs in sweatpants, SeonJae brought down every single father in attendance and became the champion. SooHyun couldn’t stop bragging about his father. Daddy’s the best! He’d scream and clap with glee. Recalling this, YeonJung began to chuckle.

“Why are you laughing all of a sudden?”

SeonJae turned his head and met her eyes. Although he didn’t know the reason, his lips stretched into a smile anyway. YeonJung’s heart fluttered inside her chest. They had already been married for six years, but SeonJae was still taking good care of himself. Even now, when they went out, he’d draw everyone’s eyes.

“Bee-cause I’m happy.”

SeonJae put down his spoon and grasped YeonJung’s hand on top of the table. His eyes were full of meaning. YeonJung felt that he was going to say something strange.

“YeonJung, let’s quickly put this brat to sleep.”

“…Hm?”

YeonJung blinked. His lips began to move again in a slow, precise fashion.

“Because of what you just said, I got hard. Completely.”

Seeing her shocked expression, SeonJae chuckled and continued.

“…Wanna touch it?”

Because she could understand his lips without him making a sound, SeonJae found it very convenient, but YeonJung found it very disconcerting on more than one occasion.

“Daddy, what secret did you tell Mommy?”

“It’s nothing, SooHyun.”

He found her flushed face and wide eyes so adorable. SeonJae pulled her hand towards his lips and placed a kiss on the back. Ever since their child was born, she was easily embarrassed. SeonJae would ask her what the problem was. They weren’t fighting in front of the child. They were showing their love. Unable to refute his point, these actions continued. Actually, SooHyun didn’t think anything of his father’s behavior and continued to rip apart his food.

“Mommy, Mommy.”

He waved his small hand as he asked for her attention. YeonJung turned her red face to SooHyun.

“What is it, SooHyun?”

“I wanna give this to Mommy.”

His plump hands were covered in barbecue sauce. He proudly held out the piece of meat he had ripped from the bone. YeonJung found it so funny and cute that she opened her mouth and gladly ate it.

“Min SooHyun, you should eat your own food. Is Mommy a baby?”

SeonJae took out a wet wipe and began to clean SooHyun’s hand.

“You always feed Mommy too, Daddy. Even though she’s not a baby.”

“But Daddy is bigger than you. If you eat a lot of food and get as big as Daddy, you can do that too.”

“Che.”

SeonJae sat down next to SooHyun. Anyone could tell that he wanted to feed him and put him to sleep as soon as possible. Unable to make a rebuttal to SeonJae’s point, SooHyun rolled his eyes. SeonJae tapped his head.

“Son.”

“Yeah?”

“Tell me what you did at kindergarten today.”

“Swimming!”

“Good job.”

SeonJae smiled. He knew his son well enough. The boy loved swimming, and he’d always eat a lot of food and fall asleep very quickly afterwards. As expected, it was a good idea to send his son to an athletic-oriented kindergarten instead of one that only focused on schoolwork. He was glad he was able to convince YeonJung to send him here.

‘SeonJae-ssi…’

YeonJung held back from calling his name, but the gleam in her eyes said it all. Although there weren’t any abnormalities with SooHyun’s hearing, YeonJung was worried that his language and communications skills would fall behind the other children his age because his mother was deaf. Therefore, SeonJae made a point to converse with his son as much as he could in front of YeonJung in order to soothe her worries.

Thankfully, SooHyun was a clever child. It was almost as if he were on a mission to shatter any worries his mother might have had. He was quick to speak as a toddler, and he learned Korean very quickly, much to the delight of his mother. SeonJae proudly stroked his son’s head.

“But YooKyung said something to me at the pool.”

SeonJae asked him what he said. SooHyun’s mouth squirmed as he chewed his food. He answered his father once he swallowed.

“YooKyung said that his daddy was very mad yesterday.”

“Why?”

SeonJae cut the meat on his son’s plate and fed him another bite.

“YooKyung’s mommy told him that she was jealous of how strong Daddy was during tug-of-war. So YooKyung’s daddy was so mad that he didn’t eat his kimbap.”

“Ah, really? YooKyung’s mommy’s kimbap must not have been tasty. Should we have given them some of our kimbap instead?”

At SeonJae’s unfazed reply, SooHyun shook his head in frustration.

“No, Daddy. He was mad because he lost in the tug-of-war. Because you’re too strong, YooKyung’s daddy fell down when you pulled.”

Hm, SeonJae hummed as he placed some of the boiled potato salad onto SooHyun’s plastic plate.

“Maybe I should have gone easy on them.”

“No! You can’t go easy on them!”

SooHyun tightened his grasp on his spork and shook his head.

“Why not?”

“Because a fight needs to be fair and square!”

“Who told you that?”

“You did, Daddy.”

“I did?”

“You said that when we were fighting with the water guns. You said there’s no such thing as going easy on someone in a fight between men.”

“You’re right. Here. If you want to become as strong as me, you should probably eat this quickly, don’t you think?”

YeonJung chuckled as she watched the father-and-son pair get along.

When she was pregnant, SeonJae had gone and decided to call the baby ‘brat’. Although the early months of her pregnancy passed peacefully, she had a terrible bout of morning sickness when she hit her fifth month. Even when she was in the office, she’d run back and forth between her desk and the bathroom. Watching her from the sidelines, SeonJae had an even tougher time getting through this period. She’d feel nauseous despite not having eaten anything. Because of her pitiful state, SeonJae had a difficult time sleeping at night. One time, as she lay limply in bed, he was so upset that he told her that seeing her going through such hardships just because of a brat made him angry. This saddened her.

“SeonJae-shi, how can yoo say something like… hm!”

She was afraid the child in her belly had heard his words, so she grew angry. However, SeonJae cut her off as he lightly bit her lips.

“Why, am I wrong? I consider my wife who is currently by my side to be more important than a baby that hasn’t even been born yet. Lee YeonJung, you… you…!”

Usually, women gained weight during pregnancy. However, YeonJung was gaunt and haggard. There wasn’t any fat on her bony body, and only her stomach was swollen with his child. When he saw her cover her belly protectively, SeonJae suddenly wished that he could go through this in her stead.

“I… I hate seeing you suffer. And do you know what I hate even more? The fact that I can’t do anything about it as I watch you suffer. I can’t take it. YeonJung… I feel like I’m completely incompetent. Every time I see you suffer, I feel like I’ve hit rock bottom.”

Because she couldn’t sleep at night, he stayed up with her. His bloodshot eyes began to fill with tears.

“I’m sorry… For making it harder for you.”

YeonJung bit her lips as she watched him hold back his tears. She slowly moved her hands in sign language.

‘I’m not suffering at all.’

“…How can you say that?”

‘SeonJae-ssi’s and my baby is inside my belly right now… I’m so happy.’

“…YeonJung.”

‘I’m so excited. I’m so excited to meet our baby. So… I wish SeonJae-ssi would feel the same way.’

That day, SeonJae leaned his head against her belly. She continued to speak to him.

“SeonJae-shi, apoh-logize… to the baby.”

SeonJae lifted his head and looked at her.

“Our baby proh-bably herd everything his daddy said. Bee-cause he has good ea-ears, he proh-bably herd everything.”

SeonJae nodded and obediently obeyed her command.

“Okay.”

He turned back to her belly and brought his hand close to his mouth to seem as if he were whispering to the baby.

“Hey, brat. You hear me, right? It’ll be in your best interest to stop bothering your mommy and come out as peacefully as possible. If you don’t, your life will be difficult once you come out into this world. Your daddy is a very scary man.”

SeonJae threatened the baby instead of giving it an apology, but YeonJung couldn’t tell what he was saying. Therefore, she gave him a satisfied smile as she swept her fingers through his hair.

Every night, SeonJae would say something to her belly. As if the child had truly taken his father’s words to heart, the delivery was a lot smoother than expected. Rather than worrying about a difficult birth, they were more worried about whether there would be something wrong with the child. SeonJae held back from saying it, but he was worried about this as well. He knew how YeonJung felt better than anyone. That’s why he didn’t make a single complaint throughout  YeonJung’s pregnancy.

Even when SeonJae placed the newborn baby in YeonJung’s arms for the very first time, she didn’t feel relieved at all. Only after the baby had gone through every single test imaginable did she shed tears of relief.

SeonJae changing the baby’s diaper and putting it on backwards. Watching from behind as SeonJae took the baby out of his stroller and held him in one arm. YeonJung found so much joy as she watched all these events unfold before her eyes.

Four years had passed since the baby was born. If anyone asked, YeonJung had the confidence to answer them. Right now, she was happier than she’d ever dreamed possible.