Episode 9. Temporary Alliance (2)
As Min Seung-yeon was rushing to get ready to go out, a big problem suddenly arose.
It was because of the baby car she had bought from a used trading platform a long time ago.
Min Seung-yeon didn’t expect to have Kang Yebin so soon after Kang Yera was born, so the baby car she took out could only carry one infant.
As a compromise, there was a way to carry Kang Yebin in a baby carrier and put Kang Yera in the baby car.
“What should I do……”
Min Seung-yeon began to ponder, looking alternately at the baby car and the baby carrier.
At that moment.
Kang Yera spoke first.
“Mom.”
“Huh? What is it?”
“Let Yebin ride. I’ll walk.”
“You’ll walk? It’s quite a distance. Are you sure?”
“Yes. I should practice walking at times like this.”
For a baby who hadn’t even entered kindergarten yet, her tone was too mature.
However, Min Seung-yeon had heard Kang Yera’s way of speaking so much since she started talking properly that she was now used to it.
“Yera has become so mature since her little sister was born, hasn’t she? Oh my, you’re such a good girl.”
Min Seung-yeon stroked Kang Yera’s small head several times.
Kang Yera seemed to like her mom’s warm touch, smiling brightly and then giving a gentle smile as if to say, ‘This much is basic.’
Then she spoke to Kang Yebin as if telling her to listen and watch carefully.
“Where else would you find such a good unnie? Watch carefully, and when you grow up, listen to unnie well. Okay?”
“……”
Kang Yebin didn’t say anything…… no, she didn’t even babble.
At the lukewarm reaction of her little sister, Kang Yera was momentarily choked up, but since she was in front of her mom, she desperately maintained her composure.
The fierce war of nerves between the sisters, unknown to Min Seung-yeon, finally came to a temporary halt.
Min Seung-yeon, having safely taken the children out of the house, headed to the pediatrician’s office closest to their home.
It wasn’t that the children were particularly sick and needed to see a doctor.
They visited the hospital because it was Kang Yebin, the second child’s, regular infant check-up today.
As soon as she entered the hospital, a sigh escaped Min Seung-yeon’s lips.
“I aimed for a time with as few people as possible, but……”
Despite that, there were a lot of people.
After registering for the consultation and checking the waiting list board, Min Seung-yeon’s sigh grew heavier than before.
“25th in line…… I have no idea how long it will take.”
It would probably take at least 2 hours.
As the birth rate decreased, pediatric clinics were becoming increasingly difficult to find.
Because of this, people would flock to them, creating long waiting lines every time.
Min Seung-yeon, who was raising two children, had become quite used to this situation, but she couldn’t help but feel exhausted.
Just then, while their mom was briefly in a state of panic.
“Mwaa.”
Kang Yebin, who was lying with her back against the baby car, made a small babbling sound.
The first person to react to that sound was her own older sister, Kang Yera.
As Kang Yera subtly turned her gaze towards her little sister, Kang Yebin pointed to a certain spot with her right hand.
“Why?”
“……”
The second child shot a look, telling her to stop talking and look over there.
As soon as she saw the direction her little sister pointed, Kang Yera understood why Kang Yebin was acting this way.
“Mom!”
Kang Yera tugged at Min Seung-yeon’s sleeve.
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
“Look, there’s a seat. Let’s go sit there.”
“Oh my, you’re right!”
In the crowded hospital, a space for Min Seung-yeon and Kang Yera to sit was perfectly available.
Thanks to Kang Yebin’s sharp eyesight, the two were able to sit comfortably and wait for their turn.
Even in the past, Kang Yebin had a much wider field of vision compared to her unnie.
Perhaps because of that, she could immediately spot empty seats as soon as they became available.
“Even after regressing, she’s still so quick-witted.”
While Min Seung-yeon briefly left her seat to go to the restroom, Kang Yera looked at Kang Yebin and said.
Then Kang Yebin smiled sweetly and gave a small thumbs-up.
She also made some babbling sounds, but Kang Yera couldn’t accurately understand what her little sister was saying.
It was because her pronunciation kept leaking.
“Once all your teeth come in, then you can talk.”
“……Tsk.”
Still, she could roughly make a tongue-clicking sound.
While the two regressors were talking secretly, unknown to others.
From somewhere, a child’s crying sound began to be heard.
The crying was so loud that the shoulders of the children waiting with their parents visibly twitched.
The younger the baby, the more sensitive they are to small sounds.
Moreover, this is a pediatrician’s office.
It was already full of children who came because they were sick. If one of them burst into such sorrowful tears, this crying could easily spread.
Indeed, starting with the most startled child, one or two began to burst into tears.
“Jae, Jaehyun! Stop it. Shh!”
“Shhh! You need to be quiet.”
“Why is the quiet child suddenly…… Aww, mom’s here. Mom will hug you, so stop crying. Okay?”
Even parents who had experienced all sorts of hardships in the ‘parenting hell’ found it very difficult to control a child 100 percent perfectly.
As nearly 20 children burst into tears simultaneously, the hospital truly became chaotic.
Even the doctor who was seeing patients rushed out and tried to soothe the children with the nurses, but.
“They’re not calming down at all.”
At Kang Yera’s words, Kang Yebin nodded her head.
Kang Yebin, who called her unnie with babbling sounds, took advantage of the nurses being distracted and pointed to a ballpoint pen and a reception slip.
“Why? You want me to get that?”
“Myaah—!”
At her little sister’s cat-like reply, Kang Yera stood up with an expression that said she couldn’t help it.
Kang Yera, barely managing to secure a ballpoint pen and several sheets of paper by standing on her tiptoes, brought them to Kang Yebin.
Then Kang Yebin took the ballpoint pen and scribbled something on the back of the reception slip.
[Unnie, you’re an idol.]
[Why don’t unnie step forward and soothe them?]
“Me? Why me?”
[There’s already a long waiting line. If this continues, we might have to stay here for 3 hours.]
The commotion needs to subside before they can resume consultations or do anything else.
Since the hospital is almost paralyzed, some action needs to be taken.
[Unnie, before I was born, you were good at handling kids at the cultural center, right?]
[And at the daycare center too.]
“Well, that’s true.”
Kang Yera had always been very sociable.
Moreover, since she herself became a baby, she could clearly understand what babies wanted.
[Idols are a profession that makes people smile, aren’t they?]
[Since it’s a rare occasion, how about faithfully performing your main job?]
“But……”
Kang Yera’s body trembled slightly.
Kang Yebin knew about her unnie’s tragic ending.
The fact that she had suffered harsh experiences in the entertainment industry due to her long period as an unknown idol.
Because of that, right before she regressed, she even developed stage fright, something she had never had before.
Her life as an idol had ended.
She could certainly sing and dance in front of two or three people.
However, when a large number of people were in front of her like this, it felt as if something was catching in her mind, like a speed bump.
Because of this, at the age of twenty-nine, she had even made an unspeakable choice towards the current Kang Dae-oh.
Kang Yebin didn’t want to see her unnie like that ever again.
[You said you were going to be an idol again.]
[You said this time you would succeed.]
Kang Yebin had something she always wanted to say to her future unnie.
Those words that had echoed in her mind countless times.
She could finally say them to her young unnie, whom she had met again.
[Cheer up. Unnie, you can do it.]
Even though they bickered, they were ultimately family.
A precious unnie and a precious little sister, unique in this world.
Kang Yera clenched her small fists.
Just then, from the TV set up in the hospital, an instrumental children’s song without lyrics was playing.
It was the tomato-related children’s song that Kang Yera had heard endlessly at home when she was Kang Yebin’s current age.
Encouraged by Kang Yebin’s support, Kang Yera raised her voice.
“With a bumpy, cool body~ wearing a red outfit~!”
At the sound of the familiar children’s song coming from somewhere, some babies’ attention turned towards Kang Yera.
Kang Yera sang with all her might and headed towards the center of the hospital.
“I’m gonna be juice~ I’m gonna be ketchup~”
As she even performed the dance moves, the babies’ gazes were completely drawn to Kang Yera.
Although she was an unknown idol, Kang Yera had quite a lot of stage experience.
Even if people didn’t turn to look, she quietly sang and danced.
So, performing in front of crying babies was very easy compared to her past experiences.
“Cool Tomato! Tomato!”
Kang Yera made a gesture as if passing the microphone to the babies, seemingly trying to elicit a response.
At this moment.
“Tomaah—!”
Kang Yebin, who was in the baby car, raised her voice to enthusiastically call out to her unnie’s children’s song, despite her imperfect pronunciation.
Encouraged by this, Kang Yera sang the lyrics again.
“Cool Tomato! Tomato!”
Everyone together!
As she made a hand gesture, the parents and hospital staff who understood Kang Yera’s intention diligently shouted ‘Tomato’ following Kang Yera’s lead.
The children also started shouting ‘Tomato,’ imitating the adults.
A deep smile spread across Kang Yera’s lips.
She continued the children’s song.
At some point, the children became completely absorbed in Kang Yera’s performance.
Min Seung-yeon, who came out of the restroom belatedly, was dumbfounded watching her eldest daughter sing and dance in front of people.
“What in the world is…… happening……?”
Kang Dae-oh, who returned home after finishing work at the cafe, stared intently at the video Min Seung-yeon showed him.
“Our Yera sang a children’s song to soothe the crying kids while I was gone. Isn’t that amazing?”
“Indeed.”
His daughter, singing, looked happier than ever.
Watching the video, Kang Dae-oh felt a myriad of emotions.
He vaguely knew.
The reason for Kang Yera’s obsession with succeeding as an idol. Her lingering attachment.
And also what choice she made in despair because of it later on.
When the video ended, Kang Dae-oh lowered his voice as much as possible and asked his wife.
“Are the kids sleeping?”
Min Seung-yeon, who briefly turned her gaze towards the baby room, slowly nodded her head.
“Yeah. They both seemed exhausted. They fell asleep right after eating. Why?”
“No reason. I just wanted to see the kids.”
Kang Dae-oh headed to the children’s room.
Kang Dae-oh slowly opened the room door so as not to wake his daughters and smiled faintly as he saw the two sisters sleeping peacefully together.
He had once worried about what if the two children kept fighting.
Now, his thoughts had completely changed.
“They’re sleeping well.”
Kang Dae-oh looked on with satisfaction at the sight of the two holding hands side by side next to the baby crib.
He hoped that the temporary alliance formed between the unnie and her little sister would continue peacefully for the rest of their lives.
The dad secretly wished within his heart.
