Palace to Plunder (AMBW)

2 DDU

"Jiyun!" I shrieked and opened the door. She was currently playing in the toilet, with her hand down the hole of the commode. She was such a curious toddler and had some kind of weird obsession about catching the water before it 'swam down' as she had put it. "No!"

I rushed over to her and grabbed her, lifting her away from it. She was completely drenched in poo water. I groaned, realizing I was going to have to take her a bath.

That meant dinner was going to be served late.

~

"Gom-se-ma-ri-ka Han-jib-e-is-seo.." Jiyun sang as I finished braiding her long wavy black hair. She got this trait from her father and got her tanner skin from me.

"Ready for bed?" I smiled at her.

I had just finished cooking and feeding the two dinner, spaghetti and meatballs.

Jiyun raised her hands in the air, gesturing for me to lift her up, and I did. I took her to their bedroom and placed her in her toddler bed to tuck her in. She laid down and rolled over as I covered her tiny body up with her blankets.

She rubbed her tired eyes, and I kissed her forehead. "Where's Appa?" She mumbled. I stroked her head gently and smiled at her.

"When he comes back from work, he'll come and say goodnight."

Jiyun nodded and closed her eyes. Joon strolled in afterward, so I tucked him into bed as well. Once finished, I decided to open a bottle of some red wine we kept in the bottom cabinet to celebrate another night of being a house mom.

I sat onto the couch with a loud sigh, took a few sips, and slumped back further into the cushion. This felt great. Silence. Its sound was so beautiful.

I rested my head against the arm of the chair to enjoy it a while longer. But the sound of the doorknob caused me to lift it back up.

I heard the apartment door click and creak open. Qi Tai walked in with his jacket folded over into his arm and a briefcase in his other hand. He kicked off his shoes before heading in my direction. "Yeobo." He frowned and tossed his things onto the other chair. "You're still awake?"

"I just put the kids to sleep," I mumbled in response and held my wine glass up as if it were a toast, then I snorted. "Thank the lord for wine."

"They gave you a hard time?" He sat next to me and placed his palm on my knee, stroking it.

"Not anything different from what they usually do. Oh, wait," I laughed. "Jiyun had the biggest tantrum today at the store. I had to leave early because of it. Then she snuck into the bathroom and played in the toilet." I looked at him. "Were you like that as a child?"

"Not at all." He chuckled and leaned closer. He placed a kiss on my forehead and rested his side against mine.

"I need a break." I finished the rest of my glass and placed it on the coffee table. Qi Tai tilted his head at me.

"A vacation?" He hummed. Before I could answer, the pitter-patter of small feet neared us. Jiyun whipped around the corner of our couch and hopped onto us.

"Appa!" She wrapped her arms around his neck. He brought her into his arms and smiled at her, switching to Korean when speaking to her. I groaned and sat up.

"Jiyun, you're supposed to be in bed."

"No." She frowned at me and hugged Qi Tai closer. He was obviously her favorite parent. She was a daddy's little girl. I rolled my eyes and leered at Qi Tai.

If he didn't put her to bed soon, he wasn't going to hear the end of it.

He read the secret signal in my eyes and lifted Jiyun into his arms. "Alright, aegi." He kissed her cheek. "Let's go to bed." He nodded at me and strolled over to their bedroom.

Despite her protests, he entered their room and closed the door slightly behind him. I absolutely loved my children, but sometimes Qi Tai let them off easily, and I didn't agree with some of the things he did while parenting.

Jiyun especially was one who always needed to be guided. She was a good kid, but she was very curious about everything, as they should be at her age.

I washed my glass and put it in the dishwasher before heading off to bed.