The baby, who kept turning her head sideways and twitching her lips, looked amusing.
“Your sibling is looking for something to eat because she’s hungry,” Jiheon explained. Yena nodded, as if she understood. Seizing the opportunity, Jiheon asked Yena for permission.
“Can the baby go to Mommy now? Can you let Yena hold her?”
“Yeah.”
With Jiheon’s help, Yena carefully stood up while holding the baby. The sibling, nestled in Yena’s arms, was then passed over to their mother. Watching her mom hold the baby tightly made Yena feel a little empty inside, but she felt more at ease than at first.
.*. *. *. *. *. *.
Jeong-oh decided to do postpartum recovery at home. She thought it would be good to stay close to Yena so that the elementary school student wouldn’t feel neglected.
Thus, the serious task of caring for a newborn began immediately. However, while the intention was good, reality was far from the ideal.
Waaah!
Day and night, the second baby cried incessantly, waking Yena from her sleep and making her whimper.
“Mommy… it’s so noisy, I can’t sleep…”
“Did our Yena wake up? I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
As Jeong-oh cradled the baby and tried to calm her, she apologized to Yena. However, Yena only continued to pout more sadly. Jiheon held Yena’s hand.
“I’ll put you to sleep, let’s go.”
“No!”
Yena meant she wanted her mom to do it.
After the second child was born, Yena had become a bit spoiled again.
With no other choice, Jeong-oh set the crying baby down and took Yena’s hand.
“Let’s go to the room. Mommy will put you to sleep.”
Caring for two children was exhausting. It was completely different from raising just one child. Moreover, the first child was in elementary school and would definitely remember all of this.
Jeong-oh had to do her best not to make her firstborn feel neglected. She became increasingly desperate in trying to be perfect. The fear that she wouldn’t be a good mother to both children began to take hold.
.*. *. *. *. *. *.
Jinseo’s house was an even noisier battlefield.
However, Jinseo had settled her worries long ago and had given up on many things, so she felt more relaxed than Jeong-oh. Although she had become so relaxed that she couldn’t keep track of her child’s school life in a timely manner.
That morning, Jinseo quickly looked at the online bulletin board for Do-bin and called him over.
“Park Do-bin! You have a spelling test today, right? Why didn’t you tell Mom?”
The online bulletin board had a message from the homeroom teacher stating that they would be testing ten out of the twenty sentences given last week. This was Park Do-bin’s first test.
“Hmm? That?”
Do-bin responded as if it were someone else’s business, nonchalantly.
“I don’t have to study because I don’t know what will come out.”
“If you don’t know what will come out, you have to try everything!”
He wouldn’t know if he didn’t at least try.
Since morning, Jinseo’s voice had been raised because of her son. After raising her voice, she quickly felt drained.
“I’ve been really diligent. My husband is also said to be dependable. Who does this kid take after? Is he really my son? Thoughts that she had pushed aside began to creep back into her mind.
“Park Do-bin, should I pull your hair?”
“Why pull my hair?”
As she thought about whether to really get a paternity test, her hand hovered over Do-bin’s head, and her heart ached.
What if, what if this kid isn’t really my son? If he’s not my son and needs to go back to his real family, could I really do that? I raised this child! He has grown up this much in my arms!
Feeling serious, Jinseo finally spoke heavily.
“…Do-bin, you know you were born in a big hospital, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, what if… what if when you were a newborn, you got switched with another baby at that hospital?”
“……”
“So, if right now, Mommy and Daddy are not your real parents, and you’ve been switched, then your real mom and dad are someone else?”
“Then where are they?”
“Huh?”
“My real mom and dad. Where do they live?”
“No, it’s not that they’re real, it’s just, what if.”
“Why are you talking about stuff like that?”
“So, if that were the case, would you go to your real mom and dad?”
“Can’t I go back and forth?”
“…Why?”
“If I get scolded there, I can come here, and if I get scolded here, I can go back there.”
“…”
“I can’t choose one.”
I expected him to cling to me saying, “Mommy, I want to be your son. I’ll listen to you from now on,” but my son was surprisingly realistic and rational. Instead, Jinseo was the one who was shocked.
Do-bin seemed a bit excited.
“Mom, can I tell Yena about this?”
“Tell her what?”
“That I have real mom and dad too.”
“No! I said it’s a ‘what if!’”
Seung-kyu, who had come closer, stifled a laugh at their conversation.
Suddenly serious, Do-bin tilted his head and asked Seung-kyu.
“Dad, did you see me coming out of Mom’s belly?”
Seung-kyu jokingly replied.
“Did I see it, or not… I don’t remember…”
“Then I’m not Dad’s son?”
“Maybe I bought you at the store? I can’t quite recall.”
“How much?”
“Uh… was it about a hundred thousand won?”
Jinseo could only roll her eyes at her husband’s playful teasing instead of comforting their child.
The fact that her son took this seriously shocked her even more.
“Wow! Then I could be sold for a million won! Wouldn’t that be great, Mom?”
“Why would I sell you!”
Jinseo felt her temper rise in response to her son and husband’s banter early in the morning.
“He really is your son. He’s definitely Park Seung-kyu’s son.”
Jinseo sighed deeply.
.*. *. *. *. *. *.
After class, as usual, Do-bin ran over to Yena.
“Yena, let’s go home.”
However, Yena wasn’t in a good mood. She sat quietly without packing her bag, looking sulky.
“I don’t want to go home.”
“Why? Did you get a 50 on the spelling test too?”
“No. Mommy didn’t play with me.”
“…”
“Our mom only loves Ye-jun.”
“No, that’s not true. I know because I have a younger sibling, and your mom doesn’t just love Ye-jun; she takes care of him more because he can’t do anything yet.”
“Dad can take care of me, and Grandma can take care of me too.”
Do-bin tried to comfort her, but it was no use.
“I didn’t have a dad, but Ye-jun does. So Mommy can just keep being my mommy.”
She was receiving plenty of love from her dad, so it was okay if her mom loved her a little less.
Yena’s heartfelt plea, filled with tears, left Do-bin speechless.
He recalled what his mom had said that morning. When his mom mentioned that he might have a real mom and dad, he felt a bit anxious.
He was afraid she might immediately say she’d take him to his real parents. He understood that going to his real parents was the right thing to do, but he couldn’t be sure if he could love them as much as he loved his current mom and dad.
“This is a secret, but I’ll tell you only.”
Do-bin spoke in a serious voice.
“Actually, my mom and dad might not be my real mom and dad either?”
“Really? How did you find that out?”
“My mom told me.”
Yena’s eyes widened at Do-bin’s confession.
“Then what will you do? Are you going to go to your real mom and dad?”
“Yeah. That might happen.”
Yena, who had been holding back tears, finally burst into sobs at the thought that Do-bin might leave her.
Do-bin felt awkward. While it was a bit pleasing that his girlfriend was so sad about his potential absence, he couldn’t let Yena continue crying.
“No, I didn’t say that to make you cry.”
“…”
“Your mom really loves you.”
At Do-bin’s words, Yena wiped her tears and stopped crying.
“My mom loves me so much even though she’s not my real mom, so your mom must love you even more because she is your real mom. Isn’t that right?”
Do-bin’s reasoning was a bit shaky, but it also made sense in a way. Perhaps he felt a little more pity for Do-bin’s situation, which made her grateful for her own.
“And your mom is treating Ye-jun well right now to make sure he listens to her later.”
Do-bin went on to reveal the secret of life. Yena’s expression grew serious.
“So you should bear with it and be nice to Ye-jun. If you’re nice to him, he’ll listen to you later.”
There was a certain confidence in someone who had two younger siblings.
“You just have to hold out for four years. Then you can make him do all your chores.”
“…”
“If you have a toy you want to throw away, you can give it to Ye-jun. You can even play hair salon with his hair.”
Do-bin earnestly listed the benefits of being the eldest.
