Perfect Possession - Episode 36

Ironically, Jaehoon flinched as the small hand reached out. Seo-yeon burst into laughter, and Jaehoon shot her a look that told her to stop. But her laughter transformed into a smile with warm tears as she watched Tae-yul’s next move.

Tae-yul reached out and touched Jaehoon’s toes, then looked up and opened his lips brightly.

“Ugh.”

He hadn’t thrown a ball or done anything that particularly warranted a shout of effort, but Tae-yul made an “ugh” sound while looking at the two of them.

Perhaps he liked how happy Seo-yeon and Jaehoon had been when he made that sound.

“See, Dad took his socks off too. Right?”

Seo-yeon made a fuss on purpose, fiddling with Tae-yul’s cheeks. Jaehoon grumbled, “What am I supposed to do, it’s hot,” then grabbed Tae-yul with both hands, turned him over, and lifted his arms high.

Suddenly suspended in the air like an airplane, facing Jaehoon, Tae-yul silently opened his mouth wide. His eyes widened in surprise, then the corners of his lips slowly curled up, revealing his front teeth.

“You’re smiling now, aren’t you?”

Jaehoon carefully shook his arms, making Tae-yul happy. Seo-yeon quickly lay down next to them.

“The teacher said his teeth seem fine. But I’m still thinking of taking him to the dentist.”

Seo-yeon finished speaking and made airplane noises, entertaining Tae-yul. Jaehoon stared at Seo-yeon with disbelief.

“What?”

“Do you really have to bring up the dentist at this historic moment when our son is playing airplane with his dad for the first time?”

“Of course. Look, his teeth are clean, aren’t they? It looks like he’s been brushing properly. Are you having fun, Tae-yul?”

Jaehoon chuckled at Seo-yeon’s firm words and muttered, “How many teeth does he have?”

“You know what?”

“What?”

“Kids’ teeth, these bottom ones come out first, and then the top front teeth come out after that.”

Seo-yeon touched Tae-yul’s two bottom front teeth and his top teeth in turn.

“But then the next teeth aren’t from the bottom, they come out from the sides of the top front teeth first. Isn’t that amazing?”

“The order is all mixed up.”

“Really? I think it’s very scientific.”

“Seo-yeon.”

“Yeah?”

Seo-yeon shifted her gaze from Tae-yul to Jaehoon.

“It’s getting a little hard. How long are we going to do this?”

His face was gradually turning red. Even though he was smaller than other kids his age, he still weighed over 22 pounds. Lifting Tae-yul up and shaking him from side to side, then raising and lowering him up and down, must be tiring.

But Seo-yeon feigned ignorance, widening her eyes and asking,

“Is this hard? Tae-yul likes it, just a little longer…”

At that moment, a drop of saliva fell from Tae-yul’s open mouth onto Jaehoon’s cheek. Plop.

“Oh my.”

Jaehoon reflexively closed his eyes, and Seo-yeon covered her mouth, trying to suppress her laughter.

“You little rascal.”

Jaehoon opened his eyes, hugged Tae-yul, and got up. Seo-yeon handed him a towel to wipe the saliva from his mouth and gently touched his cheek.

“You liked it so much you didn’t even know you were drooling, huh?”

Tae-yul nodded at Jaehoon’s words.

“It’s good for you.”

Seo-yeon joked and laughed.

“You’re talking about it like it’s a vitamin.”

“Well, it’s similar. Tae-yul, let’s go night-night now.”

Tae-yul’s eyes widened at the words “night-night,” and he wriggled out of Jaehoon’s arms. Then he went to his bedroom door and looked back.

“Why is he doing that?”

“I don’t know.”

Tae-yul awkwardly lowered his butt and then straightened up, opening his mouth.

“Ugh.”

“Hmm, is ‘ugh’ supposed to mean ‘come here’?”

“Oh, you’re getting good at this, Jaehoon.”

Jaehoon, wearing a charming smile, got up first and took Seo-yeon’s hand. As the two of them approached, Tae-yul knocked on the door as if asking them to open it.

Seo-yeon squatted down in front of Tae-yul, wondering if he wanted to play more since he was going to his room after she said “night-night.”

“Tae-yul wants to play more but I don’t think so.”

She was about to ask if he wanted to play, but she smiled and changed her words when Tae-yul yawned widely.

“He looks sleepy, why is he doing this?”

“Let’s open the door for him first.”

Jaehoon opened the door, and Tae-yul went to the master bedroom as if he had been waiting for it, then knocked on the door again. Only then did the two of them realize what Tae-yul was trying to say.

The night Jaehoon and Seo-yeon had made love, Jaehoon had brought Tae-yul to his room because he didn’t want to make him sleep alone and didn’t want to be separated from Seo-yeon.

Saying “just for today,” the two of them had held hands tightly with Tae-yul between them and fallen asleep. He must have liked that. Seo-yeon understood Tae-yul’s feelings.

That dawn, Seo-yeon had felt her son’s touch on her face and woken up, but she hadn’t opened her eyes. Tears were about to spill, so she couldn’t lift her eyelids.

When the small hand that had been touching her face stopped, Seo-yeon kissed it. Using her sleeping son’s breathing as a lullaby, she had fallen asleep before she knew it.

“Should we bring him to sleep with us again today?”

Jaehoon was at a loss for words, but when Tae-yul knocked on the door again, he picked up his son instead of opening it.

“Let’s do this. We’ll sleep together just for today. But in Tae-yul’s room, not Mom and Dad’s room. How about that? That’s a pretty good deal. Deal?”

Seo-yeon had to hold back her laughter as she watched Jaehoon speak playfully with a serious face.

“Are you signing a project contract? Just bring him to sleep with us.”

“No way. I’m going to have a drink with you tonight. But are we going to ask Mrs. Kim to watch Tae-yul in our room? We can just sleep in Tae-yul’s room. That way, he’ll think, ‘This is where we sleep.'”

“Oh, you’re such a dad.”

Seo-yeon admired Jaehoon as she entered Tae-yul’s room.

“Such a dad? I am a real dad.”

Seo-yeon burst out laughing when she found Tae-yul looking at his parents’ room with a disappointed face as the two of them entered his room.

She couldn’t believe that she had been on the verge of death, unable to die, not knowing that happiness was waiting for her like this.

“I’m happy.”

Jaehoon didn’t say anything to Seo-yeon, who whispered and leaned on him. They were connected to each other, and they could feel each other’s emotions without having to exchange words.

Jaehoon held Tae-yul in one arm and hugged her with the other.

“Does that mean we’re having a glass of wine?”

“Why are you asking something so obvious now?”

Tae-yul, who had fallen asleep as soon as he was laid on the bed, hugged his favorite puppy doll and breathed regularly.

Jaehoon spoke to Mrs. Kim, who had come inside at that moment.

“Talk to Seo-yeon and find a nanny. It’s too hard in the mornings and evenings.”

“If you two are okay with it, I’ll take care of him for the time being. The staff will be back from tomorrow, so I won’t be too busy.”

Mrs. Kim said calmly.

“I’d be so happy if you did that. Tae-yul listens to Mrs. Kim well now, so it’ll be much better than having someone else.”

Seo-yeon looked at Jaehoon.

“If you’re okay with it, let’s do that.”

She held Mrs. Kim’s hand tightly.

“Please take care of him.”

“I should be the one saying that. Oh, and I’ve prepared some simple snacks in the bar.”

“Thank you.”

Jaehoon told Mrs. Kim and took Seo-yeon to the bar.

The bar, which had a view of the distant mountains, had a terrace with a glass front. It could be opened and closed, so on nice days, opening the doors made it feel like sitting at an outdoor bar.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been here.”

“It’s been two years since I’ve been in this room too.”

Jaehoon could now talk about his painful memories with a light heart.

Seo-yeon didn’t say anything to that. She didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere by saying something rash. She watched him take out two wine glasses and asked him.

“Are you really letting me drink too?”

“Why, don’t you want to? You had a glass of wine before. If you don’t want to, I’ll make you a non-alcoholic cocktail.”

“No. I’ll drink it. But just a little. I don’t want to sleep next to Tae-yul smelling like alcohol.”

“You won’t smell like alcohol if you drink this much.”

Jaehoon poured about half a glass of wine into the wine glasses and took Seo-yeon to the terrace sofa.

He sat her down first and went to the window, opening it halfway.

“Should I open it all the way?”

“The weather is nice today.”

Jaehoon opened the door wide and sat down next to her.

“Aren’t we going to toast?”

Seo-yeon asked that on purpose as she watched Jaehoon bring the wine glass to his mouth. Jaehoon, who was famous for not toasting, didn’t even toast when the two of them drank together.

She had sometimes wondered why, but in those days, Seo-yeon didn’t ask Jaehoon anything unless he said something first, so she kept her mouth shut.

“Toast?”

“I’ve always wondered. Why don’t you toast?”

“You could have asked.”

“Was I allowed to ask? There wasn’t a special reason?”

“Me? That’s funny. It’s nothing. I just don’t do it because the origin of toasting is so ridiculous.”

“The origin of toasting?”

“Are you curious?”

“I can find out by asking an intellectual, so stop showing off and tell me.”

Seo-yeon spoke bluntly on purpose and lightly clinked her glass against Jaehoon’s, saying, “I want to do it.”

“Is asking an intellectual the same as me explaining it with my own mouth?”

“That’s why I’m telling you to tell me. What is it?”

Whenever she had these little squabbles with Jaehoon, her throat tickled and she felt sweet throughout her breathing. Ironically, Seo-yeon felt like she could live without breathing.

She leaned lightly on Jaehoon and took a sip of wine. The wine, which had always been bitter, tasted sweet.

“There are several theories, but I know two. When they first made alcohol, there was a theory that the devil helped. They thought the sound of clinking glasses chased away the devil.”

“Hmm, that makes sense. Then what’s the other one?”

When Seo-yeon asked with shining eyes, Jaehoon stared intently into her clear brown eyes. His gaze, which moved slowly, reached Seo-yeon’s lips, which were holding wine.

Jaehoon lightly clinked his glass against Seo-yeon’s wine glass. A clear, transparent sound rang softly.

“The impact of clinking the glasses would mix each other’s drinks, proving that they hadn’t been poisoned.”

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