The Age Of Love

Twenty - For The Sake Of Love

"I disagree," Jeong Hyeok argued into his phone as he paced around his apartment. "The news itself is selling itself these days. No, we need to be funnelling our marketing resources into our literary department. The demand for political tell-alls is at an all-time high. We need to capitalize off this opportunity to grow our market share." He was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. He looked at his watch to see it was already 6 PM. "I've got to go," he told the man on the other end of the phone. "We'll finish this tomorrow? Great, see you then."

Jeong Hyeok looked down at the gurgling infant strapped to his body in a Baby Bjorn. "I think that's eomma," he said with a smile, rubbing the baby's back gently through the fabric of the carrier. "Uh-huh, I do. What do you think, bubba? Should we go answer the door and find out?" He continued his chatter to his daughter as they made their way to the front door. He opened it to see Se Ri standing there with a diaper bag slung over her shoulder and an empty car seat in her hand. He glanced down at Eun Jung, his mouth open and his eyes wide like a surprised Muppet. "Well, will you look at that? Appa was right, yes he was."

He looked back up at Se Ri who was just standing there, staring, with a big grin on her face.

"What?" he asked.

"You're wearing our daughter," she replied as she made her way into the apartment, closing the door behind her and setting the car seat and the bag down in the foyer.

"Yeah?" he asked. Her lips were pursed together, trying too hard to hold her smile. He remembered Se Ri telling him babywearing was his most masculine look.

"It's just..." her nose crinkled up and a slight blush bloomed on her face. "The image of you wearing our baby might just be the sexiest thing I can imagine." She motioned up and down. "This is perfect."

"Really?" he teased, his eyebrows arching up in amusement, his chest puffing up with a sense of smug satisfaction.

"Keep wearing the baby. I like it."

"You act like you've never seen me wear her before," he shook his head.

"I haven't seen it in a very long time," she informed as they made their way towards the living room.

"I wear her all the time," he argued. "Knowing how much you like it."

"Well not all the time," she shrugged her shoulders. "In fact, I remember you telling me you wouldn't be caught dead in a baby carrier."

He did vaguely remember making such a statement, but that was months ago, and if he recalled correctly, his friends were there, and he had no desire to give them a reason to mock him.

"You can't hold me to anything I say around the boys," he replied. He plopped down on the couch, exhausted. He'd been pacing for almost two hours. "You really haven't seen me wearing the baby in a long time?" he questioned. He supposed he did mostly use the carrier around the apartment when he was trying to keep the baby quiet long enough to make calls. Apparently, Eun Jung wasn't a fan of stillness.

"Nope," she shook her head with a smile, joining him on the sofa.

"Well, I needed to make calls and she wouldn't stop crying. She likes to be on the move."

"I know," Se Ri chuckled. "She gets that from you. I am more than happy to remain immobile for an extended period of time."

"Yeah, I remember one time when you read an entire 500-page book without getting up once."

"Hey," Se Ri protested his glib statement, "I was very proud of that accomplishment. It required a lot of prep work. I had to make sure there were plenty of snacks in reaching distance."