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“Seonghee-yah, look over here!”
A pair of wide, innocent eyes glances to the right at a much taller figure kneeling on the hardwood floor. The figure covers their face with their hands, steadily counting down before removing them to reveal a look of joy in a cartoonish manner—fingers wriggling freely in the air next to their head.
“Peek-a-boo!”
The wide, innocent eyes remain unfazed, carelessly tearing their attention away from the figure posing as a jester.
“Doyoon-ah, you idiot, she’s eleven-months-old. That game stopped working on her a while ago.”
“It didn’t hurt to try, Minjoon-ie. She still loves me. I’m her favorite uncle, after all.”
A third voice chimes in with a snort. “In your dreams, bastard.”
“Fuck you, Yoojoon.”
“Language.”
The three adult men flinch at the stern tone sounding from the kitchen. Even outside of that terrifying person’s field of vision, the trio still apologetically bow their heads and recite in unison as if it’s routine for them.
“Sorry, Sieun hyeongsu.”
At their simultaneous gesture, the little one seated on the floor enthusiastically claps her hands and giggles, supping on her favorite yellow pacifier like a lollipop. Yoojoon settles down on his stomach in front of her, taking her miniature hands in his and guiding them near his mouth to playfully nip at her stubby fingers.
“You sure love it when your mama scolds us, huh, Seonghee-yah?”
Another fit of giggles erupts from Seonghee’s tiny body, making her uncles’ hearts melt at the sight.
“She knows Sieun hyeongsu is scarier than Seongje hyung.” Minjoon adds, stationed on the floor behind the baby to ensure she doesn’t fall back on the wooded ground.
Hearing Seongje mentioned, Seonghee turns back as best as her chubby body can allow her to and looks straight into her uncle’s eyes with a wishful glint shimmering in her fawn-like irises. Minjoon sadly pouts in her direction like an upset puppy.
“Your daddy’s still at the grocery store, sunshine, but he should be back soon.”
“Haha, she’s such a daddy’s girl.” Doyoon jokes, but understands. Seonghee looks just like her father—short and unruly brunette hair, a sharp fang on her molar tooth, almond brown eyes that droop, a beauty mark under the left eye (her father has his under the right eye, but regardless, she’s practically his twin).
Choi Yoojoon, Park Doyoon, and Oh Minjoon have a long history with her father, the notorious Keum Seongje, otherwise known as the “Mad Dog” of Ganghak High School, where they had first met him and immediately became his loyal followers right after admiring him from afar.
Teenage Seongje was always loud, reckless, and prepared to start a fight with just about anybody, perfectly in tune with his position as the second-in-command of the largest high school gang, the Yeongdeungpo Union, at the time.
But to Seongje’s rash, incautious side, the lackeys were surprised to find out their boss harbored a hopelessly romantic side as well.
They had come to know about his crush on someone following a fight that had left him temporarily disabled.
His crush being the same someone who caused that very disablement in the first place.
Yeon Sieun—a student from Eunjang High School who was widely referred to as the “White Mamba” by his peers. A studious kid, quite introverted, yet immensely protective of his friends. Despite fostering a physically weaker build, Sieun would bravely fight back against bullies in his own unique way, utilizing his surroundings and logical inquisition to take down anyone bigger than him in what would usually be considered as unfair fights.
Yoojoon, Doyoon, and Minjoon vividly remember that day on the rooftop. They had technically kidnapped two Eunjang students, Go Hyeontak and Seo Juntae, under Seongje’s orders to lure out Park “Baku” Humin—the top dog of Eunjang that the Union leader, Na Baekjin, desperately wanted to recruit.
However, Sieun showed up in his place instead. Unexpectedly.
Seongje smirked at his presence with provocation. He casually walked towards the shorter boy, asked him why he bothered showing up with that “pretty face” of his, and then immediately dodged the pen that was wielded towards him like a knife.
The pure, unfiltered rage storming in Sieun’s eyes as he fought their boss was permanently etched into the trio’s memory. They recall the rude yells, the constant punches, the rough bloodshed…
…And the way their boss’s foot was calculatedly stabbed into with his own glasses.
After that day, when Seongje received a tetanus shot for his infected foot, the trio surely thought he would get his revenge. He was always one who craved to have the upper hand, who always wanted to come out on top victoriously.
Little did they know that he would come to them instead.
For fucking dating advice.
Their arrogant, violent, borderline sadomasochistic of a boss didn’t want to retaliate against Sieun. He had honestly thought their brief fight was the most fun he had in years.
So he wished to have even more fun with Sieun. Just in a different way.
As expected, the lackeys gladly helped Seongje, even though it felt odd. They skillfully guided him on what lovey dovey words to say, what expensive gifts to buy, what romantic places to loiter at for dates.
The process was agonizingly slow, but the hard work paid off exceptionally. Sieun accepted Seongje’s feelings, and the three were grateful to witness the boyish, yet slightly loserish charm their boss secretly inhibited.
Seongje and Sieun had gone on to date all throughout high school, the floating rumor being that their relationship in fact fixed the broken one between both of their schools—even if their respective friend groups weren’t used to it, but the Union’s tedious harassment was gone, at least.
After high school, they went to college. Then after college, they got hitched.
And finally, Sieun got pregnant, welcoming a little bundle of joy into the world.
They named that bundle of joy Keum Seonghee.
A sweet baby girl showered with so much love and affection from not only her parents, but also from many uncles who set their differences aside thanks to her existence. She’s the glue that sticks them together, preventing everything from falling apart like the past.
Luckily, their life was simple. Sieun stayed at home, keeping himself busy with both the baby and online classes for his master’s degree. Seongje invested all his earnings from the defunct gang into multiple businesses, rolling in a steady income that was more than enough to support the whole family.
Their life was simple, yet warm.
And Yoojoon, Doyoon, and Minjoon couldn’t be more than happy to be a part of that warmth. Still stuck at Seongje’s side, and now Sieun’s side, after all these years.
“Yoojoon, please set the table.”
Yoojoon groans at Sieun’s command, wanting to spend more precious time idly playing with his niece. He rises off his stomach to his knees, reaching out to tighten the cherry-beaded rubber bands holding the short pigtails on Seonghee’s head in place, but an accident happens.
His foot knocks over the long-forgotten glass of water Sieun gave to him, the glass tipping and spilling all its contents on the hardwood floor.
The sound gently reverberates through the apartment, causing Sieun’s maternal instincts to kick in as he lightly dashes into the living room with concern written all over his face. He then lets out a rested sigh, relieved that nothing too serious had occurred and that Seonghee was safe. Yoojoon mumbles guiltily like a criminal caught red-handed.
“My bad, hyeongsu.”
“Let’s clean it up quickly before it leaves a stain.” Sieun responds to him, briskly grabbing a roll of paper towels off the coffee table and squatting low near the mess. Yoojoon follows suit.
Seonghee intently watches the two at work, but her attention on Sieun is firmer. She recognizes that look on his face—the one he expresses whenever he seems the tiniest bit distressed. She feels it in her bones, her attachment to Sieun being overwhelmingly strong both mentally and emotionally, and she has the underlying need to help her anxious mama.
She makes her move.
And right behind her, Minjoon’s eyes widen in shock, almost choking on the words that hastily escape from his mouth.
“Hyeong…Hyeongsu! Look! Seonghee’s standing!”
Sieun, Yoojoon, and Doyoon’s gazes snap up directly with urgency. Yoojoon smiles brightly, Doyoon gapes in awe, and Sieun is left completely speechless.
His daughter stands upright on her plump, wobbly legs, her feet clothed by her cotton pink onesie gracing the solid floor. She stumbles back and forth, but is highly determined to keep her balance as she lovingly stares at her mother.
Sieun drops his task of cleaning without hesitation, maneuvering his body to kneel before Seonghee with his arms out. He gently pries her with patience, his doe-like eyes faintly gleaming with marvel while the softest smile decorates his pretty face.
“Come to mama.”
Seonghee coos back at his instructions, attempting to lift one shaky leg to her front in a walking motion. Doyoon and Minjoon are on the floor, positioning themselves at her side and back in preparedness to catch her if she falls.
“Careful! Careful!” Doyoon reassures, his arms acting as an invisible barrier around his niece’s small body, following her every move without flatly touching her as she saunters forward.
Extremely focused on Seonghee’s first steps, everyone just barely notices the brand new voice that fills the living room with its harsh, jealous tone.
“Hyung, are you seeing this?! Seonghee’s walking!”
“Hey! Why are you idiots seeing this before me?!”
Yoojoon stands tall behind Sieun, slightly hunched over with his cellphone in his hands. He instantly pulled it out to call Seongje on video since the latter was unfortunately absent, still insufferably waiting in line at the grocery store.
“Hyung, she’s really doing it! She’s walking!” Minjoon happily waves at Yoojoon’s camera, hearing a grunt coming from the device’s built-in speaker.
“Let me see my daughter. Now.”
“Okay! Okay!” Yoojoon surrenders, automatically reverting to his faithful self that always listens to his boss. He gives the phone to Sieun, who presses the control that flips the view to the front camera.
“Did you buy the fruit?” Sieun questions his husband with swiftness. Seongje sighs on the other side of the screen—not out of anger, but out of impatience.
“I’m in line, Sieun-ie. Just show my daughter to me, please.”
“Our daughter.”
“Yeah, yeah, our daughter!”
Sieun smirks at the defeated response, turning the phone so that Seongje is face-to-face with Seonghee, his twin. He chirps at his daughter with prideful spirit.
“There’s my pretty princess!”
At the source of the voice, Seonghee squeals in glee, clapping her hands together in straightaway recognition of her most favorite person in the world. On the screen, Seongje dons the widest, gummiest smile on his face, with onlookers behind him inputting their own commentary on the video call.
“Awww! She’s so cute!”
“Is she your daughter?”
“She looks like you, ahjussi!”
Wanting to get closer to her father, Seonghee carefully moves a few steps forward, inching closer to the cellphone with her unsteady legs and nubbly arms out in front of her.
“That’s my girl! Come to daddy!”
Sieun keeps the phone absolutely still for Seonghee to easily glance at. Yoojoon, Doyoon, and Minjoon remain quiet to not interrupt the sweet moment, with the latter blinking away the blissful tears welling up in his eyes.
With Seongje’s words of encouragement, Seonghee continues moving, impressively walking at an even faster pace towards the cellphone. In a few minutes, she reaches her destination, making grabby hands at the digital device until it’s finally situated in her clutch. She joyfully babbles at her father as he praises her, her short fingers pirouetting across the screen with wonder.
But unfortunately, the tip of her index finger accidentally grazes over the red end call button, the virtual image of her father disappearing from the screen—fading to black.
At the same time, her wobbly legs finally give out, and she topples forward into her mother’s chest with the cellphone still grasped in her palms. Sieun wraps his arms around her back and properly sits her up on his upper thighs, brushing short loose strands of wavy hair out of her face while softly smiling down at her. He leans in and plants a kiss on her round, cherub-like cheek.
“You did so well, sweetheart. I’m so proud of you.”
In response, Seonghee merely lifts the phone up to Sieun’s face, her large brown eyes glassy in disappointment. She parts her lips behind her pacifier to quietly mutter a word that astonishes the entire room.
“Dada?”
Everyone in the room subdues into an eerie silence, making sure their ears picked that up correctly. After a few seconds, which felt more like years, Yoojoon eagerly slaps his knee and laughs.
“Taking her first steps and saying her first word at the same time? She’s destined for greatness, hyeongsu! She has your brain!” Yoojoon exclaims before averting his attention to Minjoon. “Pay up, Minjoon-ie! I told you her first word would be dada.”
“Well, that’s not exactly her first word.” Doyoon interjects between their conversation. Yoojoon glares at him with suspicion.
“Then what is it?”
“C’mon, you remember, Yoojoon! A few weeks back when she said shiba-”
Doyoon stops himself mid-sentence as soon as Sieun’s threatening stare cuts through him like broken glass, the man awkwardly turning his head away and scratching the back of his neck in shame—mouth zipped shut in a straight line. Yoojoon sighs.
“Oh yeah…can we not count that so that I get my money?”
“Don’t make bets on my daughter’s milestones.”
Yoojoon shuts his mouth, eyes flicking back and forth between Doyoon and Minjoon. For the second time today, the trio repeats in unison.
“Sorry, Sieun hyeongsu.”
Sieun scoffs, quite frankly more upset that out of the two words his daughter has voiced so far, not a single one was mama.
His eyebrows knit in dismay.
He honestly doesn’t understand it. He painfully carried her for nine months, stayed at home to raise her for an additional eleven so far, and has spent every waking moment with her.
Feeding her. Bathing her. Changing her diapers. Rocking her to sleep.
So what exactly was so special about her stupid, uncool, absolute loser dada?
While pitifully wallowing in his own thoughts, the cellphone in Seonghee’s hands rings, the shrill sound piercing through the whole apartment. The baby girl looks down at the screen, her eyes brightening at the image for the contact name in bolded white letters.
“Dada!”
Sieun exhales, taking the phone and swiping the arrow to the right to accept the call. He angles the device to show both himself and his daughter in frame.
Through the screen, he notices his husband walking with a sprint as if he’s participating in a marathon. He rolls his eyes at Seongje’s dumb, annoying, yet glaringly handsome face as he fondly beams at the both of them from the opposite side.
“Hello, my two princesses! Why did the call cut? Did I miss anything?”
Sieun looks down at Seonghee on his lap, who has quieted down while unwaveringly sucking on her pacifier—droopy eyes curiously darting around the apartment instead of at the device.
Maybe I can get away with lying.
He gazes back at Seongje and answers bluntly, tone cold and impassive.
“Nothing else happened. Did you buy the soda?”
Out of view next to Sieun, the three lackeys exchange confused glances with each other, wondering why Sieun is hiding another one of Seonghee’s grand accomplishments as a baby from his husband.
On the screen, Seongje halts, his face morphing into an expression of bewilderment.
“You only asked for fruit, Sieun-ie.”
“Your point?”
The silence in the room was astounding to the point a pin dropping on the ground could be heard. Seongje frowns at the snark that was unfairly aimed at him.
“Sieun. Babe. What’s wrong? Are you mad at me?”
Sieun traps his bottom lip beneath his teeth. Factually, he has no reason to be upset with Seongje, the same man who gave up his old, unlawful life to be a reliable husband to him and a model father to their daughter.
However, he can’t help but be a tad bit immature. Bitter. Jealous.
He speaks.
“No, I’m not. Bye. Get home safe.”
Sieun adds the last statement fully aware that Seongje is perfectly capable of protecting himself, just in case. He’s about to the hang up the call, but an interruption pauses him for a split second.
“Dada!”
The baby girl squirms in his lap, shifting her attention to the phone screen and finding her voice again. Sieun rubs his eyes with his free hand, picking up a shocked gasp on the line.
“Sieun! Did Seonghee just—”
Sieun hangs up, turning the phone off and passing it back to its respective owner before standing up and hoisting Seonghee on his hip. He walks over to the dining table, the trio following him like ducklings lining up behind their mother.
“Sieun hyeongsu…why didn’t you tell Seongje hyung about Seonghee talking?” Minjoon asks, breaking the ice. Sieun sets the baby girl down in her highchair and fastens her in the seat.
“Why should I give him that satisfaction when he wasn’t even here?” Sieun retorts with arrogance lacing his manner of speech. Minjoon scratches the top of his head and decides it’s better to drop the subject while Doyoon stands awkwardly beside him, keeping to himself as if he was introverted.
Yoojoon, on the other hand, turns on his phone and scrolls through it, fully showing his devotion to his boss as he thinks to himself.
Sorry, Sieun hyeongsu.
He opens the camera roll and clicks on the most recent item—a screen recording that lasted throughout all the video calls. The contents include evidence of Seonghee walking…
…As well as evidence of Seonghee talking.
He internally thinks again.
I’m really sorry, Sieun hyeongsu!
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