Perfect Possession - Episode 64

Having put on a hooded sweatshirt for the first time, Tae-yul seemed fascinated by the garment. He stood in front of the large mirror, repeatedly taking the hood off and then pulling it back on.

 

Seo-yeon, having changed into lighter clothes, turned to look at Tae-yul, whose hair was tangled beyond repair, making him look like a shaggy puppy that hadn’t been brushed in a month.

 

“Tae-yul.”

 

Seo-yeon couldn’t help but smile at his adorable appearance, but she was more concerned about how tangled his fine hair would be to brush.

 

“Mommy, what?”

 

Annoyed by his bangs, Tae-yul roughly swept them up with his hand and pointed to his hood, asking.

 

“It’s a hoodie. Why, don’t you like it? Should we change it?”

 

“Like it. Tae-yul likey.”

 

Tae-yul grinned and hugged Seo-yeon’s legs tightly.

 

“Aish, even if you like it, taking it on and off like that will make your hair tangled. We’ll have to brush it again before we go out.”

 

Seo-yeon said, searching for and grabbing a brush. As his mom turned around with the brush, Tae-yul furrowed his brow and shook his head so hard it looked like it would fall off.

 

“Head hurty, stop it. Geez, you really hate getting your hair brushed.”

 

Seo-yeon quickly picked up Tae-yul, who was trying to run away, and sat him back on her lap.

 

“No likey. Tae-yul no likey.”

 

“You’re really good at saying ‘no likey.’ But if you go out like this, people will say, ‘Who are you?’ I’ll brush it gently.”

 

“No likey. Dada. Dada?”

 

“Wow, our Tae-yul just said Dada? ‘Daddy, where are you? Come quickly! Tae-yul doesn’t want to get his hair brushed.'”

 

Seo-yeon diverted Tae-yul’s attention to Jaehoon and carefully brushed his tangled hair as quickly as possible. These days, he properly called him Dada two or three times out of ten, making Jaehoon beam with joy.

 

If he had heard Tae-yul calling for him just now, he would have been ecstatic. Seo-yeon was disappointed that he couldn’t hear it because he had gone to the parking lot to install the baby car seat in the car.

 

“All done. So, don’t play with the hood.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Tae-yul, who had jumped up, started playing with Seo-yeon’s hair, saying.

 

“Do you know where we’re going today, Tae-yul?”

 

“Mommy. Chi-chi.”

 

Tae-yul put his hand to his ear and said, “Chi-chi.” She didn’t know why, but at some point, Tae-yul started calling cellphones “Chi-chi.”

 

Even Seo-yeon didn’t know why he called it that. So, once, they all put their heads together and came up with theories about the reason.

 

Of course, Jae-moon, being an expert, was excluded from the discussion, but Jaehoon’s opinion was considered the most plausible.

 

‘Um, it seems like the word ‘cellphone’ is recognized as ‘Chi-chi’ by Tae-yul. Is this okay?’

 

To Seo-yeon, it sounded more like a worried grumble than an opinion.

 

When she found a picture of a supermarket and handed him the phone, Tae-yul asked again, “What?”

 

“Not yet?”

 

“Dada?”

 

Jaehoon, who had come inside, was dressed in casual clothes. He was wearing a knitted sweatshirt and dark navy cotton pants.

 

It could have looked plain, but Jaehoon, with his tall height and perfect proportions, looked so handsome that Seo-yeon’s heart fluttered.

 

“Why?”

 

Jaehoon asked, picking up Tae-yul, who had raised his arms.

 

“No, just because.”

 

Seo-yeon replied lightly, grabbing her bag and leaving the room.

 

“What’s wrong? Your eyes look strange. My heart drops when you look at me like that.”

 

“Did I do something wrong?”

 

“No, that’s why you’re doing this. I worked hard last night, too.”

 

Seo-yeon glared at Jaehoon, remembering what he had worked hard on last night, and he grinned charmingly.

 

“So, tell me. Does Tae-yul know? Tae-yul, do you know why Mommy is like this?”

 

As if asking him now, Tae-yul took a deep breath and burst out.

 

“Mommy Tae-yul hair coo-coo-coo did. Coo-coo-coo wink-wink.”

 

Tae-yul mimicked brushing his hair and explained diligently, then took another breath and mumbled something excitedly. It seemed like he was singing a song.

 

“Um. Could that be why you looked at me like that? I understand you brushed Tae-yul’s hair.”

 

Seo-yeon laughed as Jaehoon turned around.

 

“He kept putting on and taking off his hood all morning because he was fascinated by it, so his hair got all tangled. Tae-yul’s hair is fine, you know. So, I guess he doesn’t like getting it brushed. He kept saying ‘no likey, no likey,’ so I sat him down and brushed it. That’s why. But that’s not why I looked at you like that.”

 

“Not why? Then why?”

 

Jaehoon asked, sitting Tae-yul in his chair and fastening his seatbelt.

 

“Do I really have to say it?”

 

Seo-yeon hesitated whether to tell him that he was so handsome that she didn’t want to take him to the supermarket for a moment. If she did, he would be grinning all day.

 

Everyone would be attending the barbecue party in the afternoon, and it would be a problem if he foolishly went around telling people, “Seo-yeon likes me so much.”

 

“I won’t say it.”

 

“Don’t do that. That’s a bad habit of yours. You should say what you want to say.”

 

“It’s okay. But can you really go to the supermarket? Everyone will recognize you.”

 

“This isn’t just for show, you know.”

 

Jaehoon opened the passenger seat and took out sunglasses and a baseball cap.

 

“How is it? Are you excited?”

 

“Whatever. It’s really a disease at this point.”

 

Seo-yeon hid her fluttering heart and got into the car next to Tae-yul.

 

“I can see you’re all excited.”

 

Jaehoon teased Seo-yeon relentlessly until the end and got into the car.

 

Having gone to the supermarket for the first time, Tae-yul bombarded them with questions, looking at the supermarket image that Seo-yeon had found on her phone.

 

“Mommy, what?”

 

“Supermarket. This is where they sell vegetables. They make kimchi, which Tae-yul doesn’t like, with this cabbage.”

 

“Ew, kimchi. Ew. Tae-yul no likey.”

 

Seo-yeon and Jaehoon burst out laughing as he furrowed his brow and stuck his tongue out.

 

The kimchi that Tae-yul ate was prepared almost to the level of white kimchi, but once, when they briefly looked away, he must have wanted to eat the kimchi that his mom and dad were eating, so he picked it up with his hand and got scolded.

 

The two of them were busy trying to soothe the crying Tae-yul. Fortunately, Grandma Kim brought ice cream and he stopped crying.

 

“This is where they sell the meat we’re going to eat today.”

 

“Meat. Tae-yul likey meat.”

 

Seo-yeon smiled and stroked Tae-yul’s hair. She looked at Jaehoon and asked.

 

“But Jaehoon, we have a lot of meat at home.”

 

“They said there’s no pork belly. We’re going to have a pork belly party today.”

 

“Can you really grill it?”

 

“What do you take me for? I can do everything. And the chef is on vacation today. Don’t worry. I’ll grill it so you can eat it.”

 

Looking at Jaehoon, who was making confident promises, Seo-yeon sincerely believed those words at the time. It was after arriving at the supermarket that she began to worry.

 

Grabbing Seo-yeon, who was about to go get a cart to load the groceries, Jaehoon whispered.

 

“They have that here, right?”

 

“What?”

 

“That thing. Over there.”

 

Jaehoon pointed with his eyes at a man pushing a cart and entering the supermarket. Seo-yeon was speechless and looked at Jaehoon in disbelief.

 

“Are you kidding me?”

 

“What?”

 

“You’re saying you’re going to buy that?”

 

“Not buy it? I don’t like using other people’s stuff. Let’s buy one.”

 

“I knew you’d do this. You just hold Tae-yul.”

 

Seo-yeon handed Tae-yul to Jaehoon and went to get a cart.

 

“I really didn’t think you’d think about buying this.”

 

But Seo-yeon stood in front of the cart and realized how thoughtless she had been and became dazed. She didn’t have a coin to use the cart. She turned to look at Jaehoon. Then she shook her head and laughed.

 

There was no way Jaehoon would have a coin if she didn’t bring one herself. At that moment, a young man who had come to return the cart spoke to Seo-yeon, who was in trouble.

 

“Don’t you have a coin?”

 

“Ah, yes. I forgot.”

 

The man, who looked to be in his late twenties, smiled brightly and handed Seo-yeon the cart. After hesitating for a moment, Seo-yeon accepted the cart that the man offered.

 

“Thank you for your help.”

 

“No problem.”

 

The man didn’t leave right away and hesitated, blushing. Only then did Seo-yeon feel a fierce gaze and bow her head to the man.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Seo-yeon.”

 

As expected, a stiff voice was heard, and Jaehoon approached. Seo-yeon could also hear him whispering to Tae-yul, “Call Mommy. Call her loudly.”

 

“Mommy, Mommy.”

 

As if representing his dad’s feelings, Tae-yul called Seo-yeon sullenly.

 

“Ah, then have a pleasant shopping experience.”

 

The man looked at Jaehoon and ran to the parking lot as fast as he could. Seo-yeon stared at Jaehoon, who was approaching with a stiff face. Seo-yeon quietly looked back and forth between Jaehoon and Tae-yul, and when he got closer, she burst out laughing and grabbed his arm.

 

“That’s why guys like that are attracted to you when you smile like that. You have a husband, is it okay to do this? Why are you laughing?”

 

“Your and Tae-yul’s expressions are exactly the same. Should I take a picture and show you?”

 

“Don’t joke around.”

 

Jaehoon said, frowning. Seo-yeon stopped laughing when she saw that Jaehoon was really upset and explained.

 

“I didn’t have a coin.”

 

“Why suddenly a coin?”

 

“You need a coin to use this. Do you have one?”

 

“Why would I have a coin?”

 

“See? That person just lent me what he used.”

 

“Then why are you smiling when you just give the cart?”

 

“Are you perhaps jealous?”

 

“I’m jealous. Don’t smile at guys like that.”

 

“I didn’t smile.”

 

“That guy smiled.”

 

“Aren’t you going to watch your language in front of Tae-yul?”

 

“Ugh. Then a fly?”

 

Jaehoon glanced at Tae-yul and lowered his voice.

 

“Really.”

 

Seo-yeon glared at Jaehoon briefly and carefully sat Tae-yul in front of the cart. At first, he hesitated, holding Seo-yeon’s hand, but he seemed to like it, widening his eyes and looking around.

 

“You called ‘Seo-yeon’ in a scary way, so Tae-yul is calling me in a scary way too.”

 

“Did I? I’ll be careful about that. Anyway, don’t smile. It bothers me.”

 

Jaehoon said, pushing the cart and entering the supermarket.

 

“Okay. Then you don’t smile at other women either.”

 

“I don’t usually smile. It’s limited to you and Tae-yul.”

 

“Liar.”

 

Seo-yeon loved Jaehoon’s petty jealousy. She felt loved, but she was even happier that she still made him nervous.

 

Tae-yul, who was going to the supermarket for the first time in his life, didn’t hear his mom and dad’s love quarrel and was busy looking around the supermarket full of things with his mouth wide open.