Episode 13. Is it you too? (2)
After their first meeting with Kang Yeyoung, Kang Dae-oh moved to the hospital room where he would temporarily stay until Min Seung-yeon could be transferred to the postnatal care center.
‘This feels like the same place we stayed when Yera was born.’
The layout, windows, entrance, and bathroom location were all quite familiar.
Since they had given birth to three children at the same obstetrics and gynecology clinic, such coincidences happened quite often.
‘It’s better this way, I guess.’
An familiar hospital room was better than a strange one.
While he was unpacking the suitcase he brought from home, a phone placed in a corner rang.
“Hello?”
“—Are you the guardian of patient Min Seung-yeon?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“—The patient will be moved to the room now, so please stay there.”
“Understood. Thank you for your care.”
To ensure his wife could be comfortably moved to the hospital bed, Kang Dae-oh began clearing away all the luggage that might get in the way.
Meanwhile, Min Seung-yeon, who was still groggy from the anesthesia, arrived in the room with the help of the medical staff.
“One, two… three!”
The medical staff successfully transferred her to the hospital bed while she lay down.
Kang Dae-oh thanked them, then carefully removed the strands of hair stuck to his wife’s face.
His wife, who had given birth to not one, but three children with her delicate body, seemed especially grateful, pitiful, and lovely today.
“You worked hard, honey.”
Kang Dae-oh thought Min Seung-yeon hadn’t heard what he just said because she was still unconscious.
However,
“…I did well, didn’t I…?”
Min Seung-yeon, her eyes half-open, asked with a faint smile.
“Are you starting to come to your senses?”
“…I feel like I’m going to die.”
“The pain-relief shot is next to you, so if it hurts, press the button. You know which button it is, right?”
“Of course I know…”
Tap, tap, tap.
She mercilessly pressed the blue button.
This was because she felt the pain intensifying as the anesthesia wore off.
If you don’t want to endure pain that feels like your organs are spilling out, it’s best to rely on the pain-relief shot early on.
Perhaps because she had already experienced childbirth three times, there was no hesitation in her actions.
Kang Dae-oh resumed organizing the luggage he had put aside.
Perhaps the pain had lessened for a moment, as Min Seung-yeon spoke again.
“How was Yeyoung…?”
“Yeyoung? She was very cute and pretty, just like our daughter. Didn’t you see her?”
When Kang Yera and Kang Yebin were born, the obstetrician had told him that the newborn baby was shown directly to the mother on the spot.
So Kang Dae-oh thought Min Seung-yeon would have met Kang Yeyoung before him.
“I did, but I don’t remember it clearly. I was in a daze.”
Perhaps the anesthesia worked too well, as Min Seung-yeon’s memory of that time felt hazy, like wandering through a thick fog.
That was entirely possible.
Kang Dae-oh recalled what the nurse had said and relayed it to his wife.
“They said she was incredibly strong. Not like a newborn baby at all.”
“Is she going to become an athlete later?”
“I wonder.”
Come to think of it, Kang Dae-oh hadn’t heard exactly what profession his youngest daughter had pursued.
All he knew was that she was two years younger than her second older sister and that she was good at mediating disputes between her older sisters.
And that was all—the three characters of the name Kang Yeyoung.
‘I guess I didn’t know much about Yeyoung after all.’
He decided that when he returned home later, he would ask his daughters specifically about Kang Yeyoung.
Evening of the first day in the hospital room.
Kang Dae-oh, who had eaten alone at the hospital cafeteria, was going down in the elevator when he overheard a familiar song from somewhere and listened intently.
A young child was watching an animation on her mother’s smartphone.
It was the very animation for which Kang Yera had sung the theme song.
Hearing his eldest daughter’s voice in this way brought a smile to Kang Dae-oh’s face.
At that moment, the little girl tugged lightly on her mother’s and father’s sleeves and said with an excited expression:
“Mom, Dad! That ajusshi must be watching this cartoon too!”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Kang Dae-oh thought, ‘Oh no!’ internally.
But he couldn’t avoid the sharp gaze of the young child.
The child might have spoken without any particular intention, but if he remained silent, the child’s parents might misunderstand him.
Reluctantly, Kang Dae-oh decided to explain how he came to be interested in the animation’s theme song.
“My eldest daughter sang that song. So I was listening carefully without realizing it.”
“Oh my, really?”
The child’s parents were greatly surprised.
There was a reason for their extremely surprised reaction.
“Our child loves this so much. Oh my goodness! Yeeun, this ajusshi’s daughter sang the cartoon song.”
“Wow…!!!”
The child’s eyes sparkled.
At first, he was flustered when the child told her parents about his actions.
But now, he felt glad he had revealed it.
“You must be happy. To have a child who sings so well.”
“You’ll make her a singer later, right? I’ll look forward to it.”
Kang Dae-oh nodded briefly.
“Yes, I should.”
Thanks to the presence of his proud eldest daughter, Kang Dae-oh’s shoulders naturally straightened with pride.
After finishing his meal, Kang Dae-oh went alone to the nursery.
It was for his first visitation time with Kang Yeyoung.
As before, when he showed the certificate with Kang Yeyoung’s basic information, the nurse waiting inside the nursery brought Kang Yeyoung closer to the glass wall.
Kang Yeyoung seemed tired and was sound asleep.
‘How cute.’
Kang Yera and Kang Yebin were also such tiny babies when they were born.
Now, they were big enough to walk on their own.
So, sometimes, he often missed the time when his children were newborns.
Kang Yeyoung, their third child, filled this longing.
“Yeyoung.”
Kang Dae-oh’s words were unlikely to be heard, but he continued to call Kang Yeyoung’s name nonetheless.
It was then.
“Oh…?”
Kang Yeyoung slowly began to open her eyes.
When the baby recognized her father’s presence and reacted, the nurse adjusted her position to make her more visible.
Kang Dae-oh briefly nodded to the nurse, expressing gratitude for her thoughtful action.
“Yeyoung! It’s Daddy, Daddy. Can you see me?”
Kang Dae-oh made various expressions and gestures, trying to attract Kang Yeyoung’s attention.
Nevertheless, Kang Yeyoung merely yawned widely and then fell back asleep.
It was a completely different reaction from young Kang Yera and Kang Yebin, who had immediately recognized their father’s presence and responded.
‘Yeyoung seems to have been born ordinary, unlike her unnies.’
The expectation that their third child might also be a regressor was gradually fading.
‘Right. It’s strange to begin with for all three of them to be born as regressors.’
Actually, even two is strange.
He couldn’t properly decide whether to feel relieved or disappointed that the third child wasn’t.
After being discharged from the hospital, Kang Dae-oh took his wife and child to their third postnatal care center.
As soon as the director saw the couple, she greeted them warmly.
“Oh my! You really had a third child?”
“Indeed. Thanks to you, Director.”
At the time, the director had told them to visit this postnatal care center again if they had a third child.
The director shook her head and said,
“Thanks to me? No, it’s mostly thanks to the two of you. Oh my! Your third child is also a princess? Your mother must be happy.”
Kang Dae-oh chuckled softly.
“Daddy is happy too.”
“Oh, of course! You have three daughters, how cute and lovely they must be.”
Kang Dae-oh was secretly curious about how the director would react if she knew that two of them were regressors from the future.
As soon as the brief explanation of the postnatal care center’s rules was finished,
“Honey. Let’s bring Yeyoung over.”
“Shall we?”
Min Seung-yeon wanted to hold Kang Yeyoung in her arms as soon as possible.
When they went to the nursery, Kang Yeyoung was still just sleeping.
Min Seung-yeon held Kang Yeyoung and gazed intently at her small face.
“Our third princess is such a sleepyhead, unlike her unnies.”
“They say beautiful people are sleepyheads, don’t they?”
“Is that so? Oh, she’s so pretty. Even just looking at her sleeping and breathing makes me happy.”
Perhaps because she was the youngest daughter, she felt even cuter.
“Do you want to hold Yeyoung too?”
“Shall I?”
Kang Dae-oh received Kang Yeyoung from Min Seung-yeon.
The third daughter, a petite size that fit perfectly in one arm.
At that moment, Kang Yeyoung suddenly began to squirm.
“Oh my, oh my. Yeyoung must be uncomfortable in Daddy’s arms.”
“Is that so?”
From Kang Dae-oh’s perspective, who thought he had become quite a parenting veteran after raising two daughters, Kang Yeyoung’s reaction was unexpected.
‘Come to think of it, Yera and Yebin were born clearly aware of who their mom and dad were.’
Perhaps that’s why they stayed still even when their father held them awkwardly.
But Kang Yeyoung, as far as they could tell, seemed to have been born ordinary, unlike her unnies.
So, she would react immediately even to slight discomfort.
‘This is my first time parenting a normal child. This is a big problem.’
He felt a different kind of worry than with his two daughters.
After returning home with Kang Yeyoung, Kang Dae-oh summoned his two daughters while Min Seung-yeon was resting.
Kang Yeyoung was still fast asleep even after returning home.
“She kept sleeping even at the postnatal care center.”
He told Kang Yera and Kang Yebin everything that had happened when he saw Kang Yeyoung at the postnatal care center.
“Her reactions were lukewarm too. So it seems Yeyoung doesn’t have much to do with regression, unlike you two… What do you two think?”
Since the regressors themselves might have different opinions, Kang Dae-oh decided to hear his two daughters’ opinions as well.
Kang Yera spoke first, sharing her thoughts.
“Yeyoung was originally very sleepy.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Once she fell asleep, she wouldn’t know even if someone carried her away.”
Although the period of meeting his third daughter was short, Kang Dae-oh understood what Kang Yera meant.
Whether in the hospital nursery or the postnatal care center, his third daughter had only slept the entire time.
So Kang Dae-oh couldn’t definitively tell whether she was a regressor or not.
Moreover,
“Yeyoung is good at acting.”
“Acting? Did she work as an actress like Yebin?”
“No. She was an influencer. She was the YouTuber with the most subscribers in Korea.”
“Th-that so?”
Kang Dae-oh was surprised by two facts.
First, because his youngest daughter was a successful influencer.
And second,
“YouTube exists until then.”
Indeed. A platform that had properly established itself didn’t easily disappear.
At that moment, another daughter, who had quite a knack for acting, stepped forward.
“There’s no choice.”
“Whether Yeyoung is acting, or if she’s just simply sleepy. I’ll check and let you know.”
Kang Yebin, a former top actress, decided to take matters into her own hands.
