Episode 2. Different from the Bud (1)
7 AM.
Min Seung-yeon, who had started the first feeding of the morning, yawned widely and put the baby bottle into Kang Yera’s mouth.
Gulp, gulp Kang Yera, lying on the nursing pillow, gulped down the breast milk Min Seung-yeon had pumped.
Every time Min Seung-yeon saw her daughter, she felt a happiness that words couldn’t express.
Meanwhile, Kang Dae-oh, who woke up late, scratched his head and came out of the couple’s bedroom into the living room.
As soon as Min Seung-yeon saw her husband, she pointed her chin towards the sink and said.
“Please wash the baby bottles. While you’re at it, sterilize them with hot water too.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to buy a sterilizer? And a formula kettle.”
“I’m constantly checking second-hand trading platforms. I’ll buy it when it comes up at a price I like. It’s too expensive.”
“How expensive can it be?”
“Just the formula dispenser alone costs around 300,000 won, you know?”
“……Starting today, I’ll also diligently browse DangX.”
Kang Dae-oh recently realized that even though childcare products might seem like nothing special, their prices are incredibly high.
He had no experience raising a baby, so he was flustered by the prices more than once or twice.
“How’s Yera today?”
“Our Yera seems to have started sleeping through the night already. She slept for 8 hours straight yesterday without waking up.”
“Others talk about the miracle of 100 days. Our daughter is the miracle of 50 days.”
“Exactly. I can’t express how pretty she is. Oh, how cute!”
She never troubled her mom and dad with crying.
At Kang Yera’s appearance, who already seemed to possess the qualities of a filial daughter, Min Seung-yeon almost spontaneously gave her a kiss.
Kang Dae-oh lightly tapped Min Seung-yeon’s shoulder.
“Honey. The doctor told us not to kiss the baby carelessly.”
“Right, he did. I just couldn’t help myself…… It’s because our baby has such an enchanting charm.”
Indeed. It’s incredibly difficult to resist the temptation when you see those plump, small cheekbones that seem like they’re about to overflow.
Even Kang Dae-oh was occasionally overcome with the desire to kiss her.
Nevertheless, they had to resist.
Because if the cavity-causing bacteria in adults’ mouths were transmitted to the baby, it would be a big problem.
When raising a baby, you can’t help but pay attention to many things.
The most important thing is cleanliness.
“Don’t forget to clean before you go to work.”
Bottle washing, cleaning.
There was a mountain of chores to do.
Still, Kang Dae-oh wasn’t particularly tired.
As long as Kang Yera grew up well.
Kang Dae-oh had no regrets.
Kang Dae-oh, who had diligently finished everything his wife asked him to do, approached Kang Yera to say goodbye before going to work.
“Yera! Papa’s going to work. You need to stay well with Mama, okay? Got it?”
Min Seung-yeon tried to hold Kang Yera’s small arm and wave her hand, saying ‘Papa, have a good day~’.
But.
Woosh, woosh~!
Before Min Seung-yeon could even touch her, Kang Yera vigorously waved her small arms, which were wrapped in mittens.
It wasn’t the usual fluttering or twitching reflex that babies do.
It truly looked like she was waving her hand to see her papa off.
It felt as if she accurately understood that her papa was going to work.
Min Seung-yeon expressed admiration at her daughter’s behavior.
“Yera seems to know papa’s going to work! Oh my goodness!”
“Indeed.”
A wry smile naturally formed on Kang Dae-oh’s face.
Sometimes, Kang Yera was so mature that it gave him goosebumps.
Just like now.
It was too amazing to see her as just a 50-day-old baby.
Kang Dae-oh, having left the house, drove his old used car for about 10 minutes.
After barely parking his car in a narrow parking space, he headed towards a small neighborhood cafe.
A paper with the message ‘Taking a break due to childcare. Sorry’ was attached to the cafe door.
Kang Dae-oh took it off and opened the cafe door after a long time.
Even though he had taken a break from operating the cafe, Kang Dae-oh used to come out once or twice a week to clean the store.
This time, the feeling was particularly different.
It was because he had decided to resume business starting today.
If it were up to him, he would have liked to dedicate himself to raising Kang Yera with his wife.
However, since Kang Yera was so quiet and well-behaved, there was no real need for Kang Dae-oh to stay by her side.
The difficulty level of childcare was so low that Min Seung-yeon could handle it perfectly well on her own.
So, Kang Dae-oh decided to reopen the cafe earlier than planned.
The scale was small. And business wasn’t particularly good either.
‘Still, if our family of three is to live, I have to work hard.’
Kang Dae-oh had always been very interested in coffee.
He originally worked a normal office job, but his wife’s words, “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance, wouldn’t it be better to live doing what you want?”, moved his heart.
A few months after hearing those words.
Kang Dae-oh had somehow become a cafe owner.
Sometimes, difficult customers made it hard, but the joy outweighed the hardship.
That’s why he was able to continue running this cafe until now.
Kang Dae-oh, who had taken charge of cleaning the store in addition to his home, was about to change the sign on the cafe door from ‘CLOSE’ to ‘OPEN’ to announce the official start of business.
“Kang Sa-jang (Boss)! Are you open for business today?”
“Hello, Sa-jang-nim! Yes. We are open for business.”
The owner of the laundromat directly opposite Kang Dae-oh’s cafe came to visit.
“Actually, Kang Sa-jang, I saw you going into the store and came over just in case. Lucky me.”
“Thank you always, Sa-jang-nim.”
“How’s the baby? Growing well? No illnesses?”
“Yes. She’s growing very healthily.”
“That’s a relief. My son had severe jaundice before and was hospitalized for a few days.”
Perhaps because he was glad to see a fellow married man who owned a neighboring store.
The laundromat owner freely shared a bundle of his childcare experiences with Kang Dae-oh.
After chatting for nearly 10 minutes, the laundromat owner belatedly realized that he was hindering Kang Dae-oh’s store opening.
“Sorry, Kang Sa-jang. Oh, right. Two Americanos, please. To go.”
“Including your wife’s, right? Then I’ll add syrup to one of them for you.”
“Thanks. You’re indeed Kang Sa-jang. That’s why I can’t stop being a regular here.”
“Please visit often in the future too.”
“I should help a young papa earn money for diapers and formula.”
“Thank you, Sa-jang-nim.”
Thanks to this, Kang Dae-oh felt the warm affection between neighbors from the morning.
While preparing the ordered Americanos, Kang Dae-oh quickly scanned the store surroundings.
If the store was too quiet and boring, people staying inside might feel awkward.
To lighten the heavy atmosphere even a little, Kang Dae-oh put on some music.
A playlist primarily consisting of popular contemporary songs played randomly.
Normally, he would have just left it.
“……”
Kang Dae-oh, who had been silently looking at the playlist, pressed the pause button for a moment, then started adding a few more songs.
The song changed.
They were songs he had heard often, specifically, songs that could frequently be heard on the streets from 2-3 years prior.
The laundromat owner said with an ‘Ah!’ expression, as if he had noticed something.
“This, that…… what was it? It was a song by a young singer named Choi Seon-a, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. You know it well.”
“My kids really loved Choi Seon-a. I haven’t heard this song in a long time. But why did you suddenly change the song?”
Kang Dae-oh replied with a faint smile.
“My daughter loves Choi Seon-a’s songs very much.”
For some reason, he didn’t know why.
After 50 days.
Finally, Kang Yera’s 100th day arrived.
Kang Dae-oh had intended to look for a studio to take 100-day commemorative photos.
However, because photography costs were too expensive these days, they ultimately decided to create a makeshift stage at home and take self-portraits.
Min Seung-yeon, who had pre-ordered rental items for the 100-day commemorative photos, checked the contents and let out an exclamation of ‘Oh my goodness!’.
“This outfit is so cute! What do you think?”
It was a white dress with many frills.
It seemed like an outfit that would suit Kang Yera, who had fair and delicate skin, very well.
Kang Yera also seemed to like the dress, waving her arms high and making an ‘Awoo-awoong!’ sound.
Perhaps because her babbling had increased significantly recently, her assertiveness had become very strong these days.
At first, Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon couldn’t quite adjust to Kang Yera’s behavior.
But now, they simply accepted it and naturally blended into their daughter’s actions.
“My daughter. Mama will change your clothes.”
“Bua—!”
As if she understood the words about changing clothes, Kang Yera stretched her arms, which were shorter than her head, straight up.
That sight was endlessly cute.
Min Seung-yeon, maintaining a motherly smile, told her daughter ‘Thank you for cooperating’ and then put shoes the size of her finger onto Kang Yera’s feet.
Meanwhile, Kang Dae-oh put up a banner celebrating the 100th day on the wall, arranged balloons here and there, and then set up a princess-exclusive chair for Kang Yera to sit on.
He thought all they had to do now was seat Kang Yera and take the pictures.
Suddenly, Kang Yera began shaking her head vigorously.
Min Seung-yeon said to Kang Dae-oh.
“Yera seems to be displeased with something.”
“What is it? I’ve set up everything.”
Just in case, he even placed Choi Seon-a’s album package, which Kang Yera loved so much, next to her.
But this time too, Kang Yera shook her head from side to side.
Then she suddenly pointed towards the light.
Afterwards, she showed them by pointing to Min Seung-yeon’s and Kang Dae-oh’s smartphones in turn.
More precisely, she was pointing to the part where bright light came out when the flashlight function was activated on the smartphone.
“No way.”
“Are you saying you need lighting?”
At the word “lighting,” Kang Yera finally smiled brightly.
A wry laugh escaped both of their mouths.
They knew well that lighting was very important for taking photos.
“A baby not even 100 days old is asking for lighting.”
“Indeed.”
Still, if the princess wanted it.
Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon, as if there was no other option, turned on the flashlight function according to Kang Yera’s wishes and placed them on the left and right sides, respectively.
“Alright, princess. We’re taking pictures~!”
When Kang Dae-oh spoke, holding the camera, Kang Yera neatly brought her two hands together in front.
It seemed like she was posing coyly.
At the sight of the adorable and charming baby, Kang Dae-oh let out a chuckle once again.
“She’s my daughter, but really…… she’s too serious about taking pictures.”
Other babies supposedly cry and fuss so much that it’s hard to take even one picture.
Kang Yera, however, was difficult in a different way because she was too serious about the photoshoot.
