Perfect Possession - Episode 77

Tae-yul’s eyes snapped open, and he jumped out of bed. Without hesitation, Tae-yul opened the safety bar on the bed. He looked at the loyal woof-woof dog guarding the bed with a face still heavy with sleep, then smiled brightly, his lips curving upward.

 

Tae-yul hugged the woof-woof doll he had slept with to his chest and climbed down from the bed. Then, he grabbed the hand of the big woof-woof, whom he wanted to sleep with but was too big. Holding the small woof-woof in one hand and the big woof-woof in the other was too much for his little body.

 

Tae-yul took a deep breath and pondered for a moment, then kissed the head of the woof-woof doll in his arms. He then placed it on the bed, tucked it in up to its chin, and patted its chest.

 

“Woof-woof, nighty-night.”

 

With one hand now free, Tae-yul dragged the woof-woof doll, bigger than himself, out of the room. It was a distance he could cover quickly at his own pace, but his body couldn’t keep up with his heart. Still, his heart seemed to be running, his body leaning forward, using the woof-woof doll as a center of gravity.

 

“Oof, oof.”

 

With a burst of energy, Tae-yul dragged the woof-woof doll and arrived at his mom and dad’s door. Only then did his black eyes widen like saucers, and he looked around, flustered. Tae-yul looked back the way he had come, his face crumpling. He was so focused on bringing the doll that he didn’t realize it would have been easier to open the door if he had gone through the dressing room. The hallway door had a handle that he couldn’t reach. It was different from the dressing room door, which slid open easily.

 

Tae-yul’s room and the master bedroom were connected through the dressing room.

 

“Big Woof-Woof, what do I do?”

 

As Tae-yul stamped his feet, the door slid open, and he tilted his head back to look up. A moment later, Tae-yul’s eyes sparkled, and he smiled brightly. He raised one arm high.

 

“Daddy.”

 

“Did you bring Big Woof-Woof here, you rascal?”

 

“Tae-yul sleepy.”

 

“Baby has to sleep more.”

 

Jaehoon scooped Tae-yul up in his arms and grabbed Big Woof-Woof’s foot. Tae-yul was holding on and wouldn’t let go, so he had no choice.

 

“Are you going to keep coming to Mom and Dad’s room when you wake up?”

 

On days when he woke up early, Tae-yul invariably came to the master bedroom, and Jaehoon couldn’t bring himself to say no firmly. It was only an hour or two earlier, and Jaehoon was too soft on his son to tell him to go back to his room and sleep. Inevitably, he had to bring him to their bed, stealing glances at Seo-yeon.

 

“Daddy, bring Woof-Woof too?”

 

“Little Woof-Woof is sleeping, so no. And it’ll be too crowded if everyone comes up on the bed.”

 

“Hmm… hmm. Then only Tae-yul will sleep.”

 

“Big Woof-Woof stays under the bed, okay?”

 

Tae-yul stroked Woof-Woof’s ear, which Jaehoon was holding, and nodded. Jaehoon smiled, placed Woof-Woof next to the bed, and put Tae-yul next to Seo-yeon.

 

“…Our son’s awake again?”

 

Seo-yeon woke up to the scent of Tae-yul’s baby powder and opened her eyes with a smile.

 

“Mommy!”

 

Tae-yul hugged Seo-yeon’s neck and plopped down, rubbing his nose against her.

 

“Tae-yul sleepy.”

 

“Not yet. Let’s sleep a little more.”

 

“Why does he wake up early sometimes?”

 

Jaehoon looked at the two of them and lay back down.

 

“He went to bed a little early yesterday. Tae-yul, tomorrow’s a day Daddy doesn’t go to work, so you need to sleep more to have fun.”

 

“Sleep no come.”

 

“Sleep, where did you go? Come quickly and put me to sleep.”

 

Seo-yeon patted Tae-yul and whispered softly. After patting his back a couple more times, Tae-yul fell asleep as if by magic.

 

“It’s amazing every time I see it.”

 

Jaehoon whispered, watching Tae-yul fall asleep so quickly.

 

“What is?”

 

“He was so wide awake just a moment ago.”

 

“No, he wasn’t. His eyes were full of sleep.”

 

“Was he? I didn’t notice.”

 

Jaehoon looked at her in wonder and stroked Seo-yeon’s face. Seo-yeon also smiled, touching Jaehoon’s stubbly cheek.

 

“Just go to sleep. You have to farm with Tae-yul.”

 

“Oh, right.”

 

After Tae-yul read a storybook about a giant radish, he wanted to grow one himself, so Jaehoon promised him. They would plant radishes in the backyard flower bed. When Sung-joon heard that, he said, “Tae-yul’s farming?” and Tae-yul became very ambitious about becoming a little farmer.

 

“Do you think you can do it?”

 

“Who are you talking to? I’m Han Jaehoon. What is there that I can’t do?”

 

“You’re annoying, but I love you so much.”

 

Seo-yeon let out a sigh of longing as Jaehoon leaned in and kissed her softly before pulling away. She stroked his arm so that he could sleep for at least a few hours. Soon, she heard Jaehoon’s regular breathing, and Seo-yeon closed her eyes as well.

 

 

“Daddy, what’s this?”

 

Tae-yul found a small stone in the dirt and asked Jaehoon. The ground was soft because they had tilled the soil and fertilized it a week ago to plant radish seedlings. The fertilizer was harmless, so Seo-yeon let him touch the soil with his bare hands. She wanted to put gloves on him, but there were no work gloves that fit his small hands.

 

Tae-yul seemed to like the soft soil, playing with it and pushing everything he found into Jaehoon’s face.

 

“Our Tae-yul knows it’s a stone, doesn’t he?”

 

“Hehe, right. Stone.”

 

Tae-yul shrugged his shoulders, squeezed his eyes shut, and smiled, then put the stone in the basket with the radish seedlings as if he had just realized it.

 

“Daddy, radish, radish?”

 

Tae-yul lifted a pot of radish seedlings with both hands, urging him to plant them quickly.

 

“Just a minute.”

 

Jaehoon looked up and held out his hand to Hyun-shik, who was standing right next to him. He wanted the tablet PC he was holding.

 

“I’ll read it to you.”

 

Hyun-shik said, seeing that his gloves were covered in dirt.

 

“That would be good.”

 

“First, you need to take the radish seedlings out of the seedling tray.”

 

“You don’t plant them like this?”

 

“I guess not.”

 

Hyun-shik had never planted seedlings before either, so he couldn’t answer accurately.

 

“Will they come out if I shake it like this?”

 

Jaehoon picked up the seedling tray, held it upside down, and shook it hard. It didn’t come out as easily as he thought, so he tapped the back of the seedling tray with his hand. But he couldn’t control his strength and hit it too hard, causing the seedlings to fall to the ground, their roots splayed out.

 

“Daddy, why you do that? Radish hurt.”

 

Tae-yul frowned, brought his lips close to the radish seedling, and gently blew on it as if to soothe the pain.

 

“Blow, blow, hurt? Tae-yul blow, no hurt.”

 

He wanted to explain that radishes were for eating when they grew, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it in front of Tae-yul, who looked so sad.

 

“This is a problem. Should we just plant them as they are in the seedling tray?”

 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’ll search for a way to get the seedlings out of the tray easily.”

 

“Yes, that would be good.”

 

Seo-yeon was sitting on the terrace a little further away, drinking tea with Sung-joon. But the distance was close enough that she could see Tae-yul’s expression clearly, so it was hard for Seo-yeon to hold back her laughter. She thought they had checked how to remove the seedlings from the tray before starting. But Jaehoon, who started planting the seedlings after receiving a briefing from Hyun-shik, suddenly turned the seedling tray upside down, which surprised her. That was funny enough, but then Tae-yul picked up a radish seedling that had emerged from the soil and blew on it, stroking it, so she had to tighten her stomach to keep from laughing.

 

Tae-yul often burst into tears when people laughed when he was being serious.

 

“Do you think hyung can do it?”

 

Sung-joon, who was in charge of filming “Tae-yul’s Seedling Planting,” said without taking his eyes off the camera.

 

“He’ll do it. He’s a proud man. He’ll never say he can’t do it.”

 

“No, why can’t he just water the seedling tray and gently push the back with a chopstick?

 

Seo-yeon paused with her mug raised and looked up at Sung-joon, who was standing next to her.

 

“Doryeonnim, do you know how to plant seedlings?”

 

“Of course. I volunteered in rural areas a lot when I was in college. And my girlfriend’s house was in the countryside.”

 

“You look cool, Doryeonnim. Just a moment. Jaehoon-ssi!”

 

Seo-yeon called him, thinking that he could get help from Sung-joon.

 

“Don’t worry. I can do it.”

 

“Tae-yul can do it too.”

 

When Jaehoon answered, reassuring Seo-yeon, Tae-yul followed suit in a loud voice.

 

“I guess we’ll have to wait and see since he says he can do it.” Then I’ll go capture Chairman Han struggling and Tae-yul’s adorable appearance.””

 

“Please, Doryeonnim.”

 

Seo-yeon wanted to go and help, but she leisurely drank her coffee as her son had told her to do, telling her not to do anything and just drink “coffees.”

 

“Water and push? Push with what?”

 

Jaehoon looked at the holes in the bottom of the seedling tray and asked Hyun-shik. As Hyun-shik looked around for a long stick, Tae-yul suddenly jumped up and rummaged through his bag. After searching for something, Tae-yul took out something long and brought it to Jaehoon.

 

“Daddy, push-push.”

 

Jaehoon couldn’t hide his surprise at Tae-yul, who had brought him a toy fishing rod.

 

“Isn’t our son a genius?”

 

“I think so.”

 

Hyun-shik agreed with Jaehoon’s words.

 

Pleased that his dad had praised him, Tae-yul smiled broadly and wiped his forehead. Jaehoon, happy, scooped Tae-yul up and called Seo-yeon.

 

“Seo-yeon-ah, look at this.”

 

“Mommy, Tae-yul give.”

 

Seo-yeon approached them, curious.

 

“What is it?”