HYUN [ JJK ]

28

"Jae, where did y-" The words were cut off when Jaehwa slammed the door of her bedroom, startling Yerin due to the loud sound echoing through the whole apartment.

Putting away her snack, Yerin got up from the couch and walked towards Jaehwa's bedroom. Her knuckles touched the door yet she couldn't bring herself to knock, scared if it only would make things go worse. Yerin swallowed hard and wet her lips, taking a deep breath before she tried to knock again, and this time, she succeeded.

"Jae, can I... can I come in?" Taking the silence as a reply, Yerin twisted the door knob. There Jaehwa was, lying down with her back facing Yerin so she couldn't tell if the girl was sleeping to the point she ignored the knock. Yerin was about to turn her heels and leave her friend alone, but the shrug of Jaehwa's shoulders made her steps come into a halt.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Yerin trembling fingers poked Jaehwa's back. "Jaehwa? Are you... are you okay?"

No response.

"Jaehwa?" The way Jaehwa acted did get on her nerves but instead of exiting the bedroom, Yerin stood up and walked to the other side of the bed, and what she saw made her jaw drop.

"Jaehwa! Hey, why are you crying?!"

_______

On normal days, Jeongguk would have passed out at times like this. It was 3 in the morning, and his body indeed needed the beauty sleep yet his eyes refused to shut. He had tried everything to distract himself from thinking about Jaehwa—from playing his favourite Overwatch to reading Parenting 101 like a sci-fi novel that he used to love with all his heart. From searching baby's food menu to rummaging through his wardrobe only to reorganise it on the next second. Jeongguk had tried doing so many stupid things yet the image of Jaehwa on the verge of tears just wouldn't leave the back of his mind.

Maybe it's not a bad thing to have a baby at this time. Maybe God was trying to show Jeongguk some mercy by making Hyun wide awake at this hour. Maybe the luck was on his side so that Jeongguk wouldn't have to stay up all night thinking about what happened just now all by himself.

Putting the controller on his side, Jeongguk joined Hyun to lay down on the mat, eyes glued to the plain ceiling above him before he turned to lock eyes with the little boy. Hyun batted his eyelashes for a few times before he broke into a gummy smile, legs kicking the air before he tried to roll over.

Jeongguk stared at the baby in amusement. Loved the way Hyun paid his attention to him, loved how the boy struggled to roll over within the small gap between their bodies, loved how Hyun proceeded to push himself closer towards Jeongguk. To have Hyun staring at him with those mono-lidded big eyes was enough to make his heart flutter. Forget about butterflies—Jeongguk had a whole zoo in his stomach.

Jeongguk inched his face closer towards Hyun before he pouted, and what he got in return was a quick peck from the little one. He had tried practising some affections since the past few days and this, kissing and pecking like this, was like a routine for both of them now. The first time Jeongguk read the affections and emotions chapter, he thought it wouldn't make any change even if he didn't do the mentioned acts. However, when he stumbled upon a baby video on his Instagram's explore tab, the urge, the giddiness to get kissed by a baby got the best of him. Never he thought that a quick, saliva-coated peck could warm his heart so much.

And that's how he ended up kissing Hyun all the time now. When he got up in the morning, the thing he would do after checking the time was kissing Hyun's chubby cheeks. When he was putting Hyun to sleep, one of the routine would be planting pecks on the boy's forehead.