37

                                    

                                          
Jaehwa couldn't tell who was the baby at this rate. Every now and then, she would glance at Hyun and Jeongguk sitting on the hospital bed as her hands moved to pack Hyun's stuff into a bag Jeongguk had brought from home.

Hyun looked up at Jeongguk—Jaehwa noticed how stable Hyun's sitting position had became now—while letting out soft incoherent baby noises. Jeongguk was silent as ever, only glancing at the little boy to check on his facial expression. Other than that, he didn't utter a word, ignoring every attempt of Hyun trying to get his attention.

Jaehwa knew something would happen sooner or later if Jeongguk kept on sitting like a statue there.

Hyun leaned forward to take a handful grab of Jeongguk's sweatshirt, but Jeongguk was quick enough to inch away. Didn't know what giving up was, the little boy proceeded to lie on his tummy and before Jaehwa could turn her focus on him, from her peripheral vision, she could see Hyun pushing his body forward, struggling to crawl towards Jeongguk's lap despite the pain he had from the IV drip needle. Out of her conscious, her lips formed a smile, amused by Hyun's determination to get Jeongguk react to him and Jaehwa had to admit, if she were in Hyun's shoes, she would feel annoyed too.

Hyun crawled on the bed, pushing his body to move forward until he reached Jeongguk's lap. This time, Jeongguk didn't look away—instead, he had been keeping his eyes on the little boy when he started crawling to make sure he didn't fall off the hospital bed though no word slipped out of his mouth. Hyun whimpered, probably due to the pain on the back of his palm, but that didn't stop him from getting himself to Jeongguk's lap.

Jeongguk felt Hyun's small palms pressed against his thighs, had to purse his lips as tight as he could to refrain a smile. The little boy then propped himself up to help him sit again, this time closer to Jeongguk that he struggled to look up and search for Jeongguk's eyes.

There, the baby noises echoed again. Jaehwa wished she had the ability to translate those so that she would understand what he wanted to say to Jeongguk, but she realised that was impossible. She leaned to reach for Hyun's last piece of onesie, folding it neatly before putting it inside the bag. Once she had done, she turned her heels and leaned against the dresser which was placed next to the bed, couldn't take her eyes off the moment happening just before her. A son trying to get his father's attention—Jaehwa didn't understand how Jeongguk still managed to resist Hyun when it was crystal clear that he wanted Jeongguk to turn and look at him, pick him up and shower him with kisses like he did on the day before Jimin dropped by.

However, Jeongguk's wall of defence collapsed when Hyun started to whine, his face contorted to show that he was annoyed.

"He's going to cry." Jaehwa interrupted, crossing her arms over her chest, eyes focused on Jeongguk. 

"Let him be. Let him feel what I felt when he ignored me when Jimin came." Upon that, Jaehwa laughed while shaking her head, couldn't believe how Jeongguk was still very salty about that. 

"Jeongguk..." Jaehwa trailed off, but her words were cut off when Hyun started to cry, his high pitch voice started to conquer the whole room. "Told you."

Like a reflex, Jeongguk picked the boy up and cradled him, rocking his tiny frame slowly as his hand rubbed Hyun's small back. Jaehwa chuckled when Hyun stopped crying immediately, amazed by his development and she wondered where he learnt that.

"He was acting!" Jaehwa exclaimed before Jeongguk broke the hug to scan Hyun's expression, and yes, she was right.

Jeongguk almost rolled his eyes when he found out that Hyun was smiling at him this time, his two bottom teeth showing up as if they're mocking him for falling into Hyun's little trap. "You fooled me, didn't you?" Jeongguk asked, his hands were underneath Hyun's armpits when he shook the boy's body slightly. Hyun, on the other hand, giggled when Jeongguk did that. "Daddy is serious, Hyun! Don't laugh!"