CHAPTER: 012 You Guys?!
CHAPTER: 012 You Guys?!
He dressed the two babies warmly, almost like he was bundling them up tight.
The babies, seated in the car seats, flailed their arms and legs for a bit.
But once the car started moving, they calmed down.
Click—
He turned on quiet classical music at a low volume.
A Mozart greatest-hits collection.
Soft music settled through the car.
When Yoonseul looked at the babies in the back seat through the rearview mirror, he ended up smiling to himself.
Their fingers were twitching to the music, and their eyes were closed.
Why was it so cute…?
The place he drove to was Eulwangri.
After getting out, Yoonseul took out the stroller and put the babies in it.
Worried they’d be cold, he laid hot packs inside the stroller.
Then he spread a thick custom-made quilt on top, laid the babies down, and buckled them in.
With the stroller setup complete, Yoonseul pushed the stroller around near Eulwangri.
“Feels good to breathe sea air for the first time in a while…”
Back when he was an intern, he never had time to come here, so coming with the babies felt strangely new.
Pushing the stroller slowly, he showed them the sea.
“It’s good the wind isn’t too strong today… It’s nice spending New Year’s Day with you guys…”
Yoonseul crouched beside the stroller and looked at the sea from the babies’ line of sight.
“Aua. (It’s the sea…)”
“Uweo. (The sea—.)”
Hearing the babies’ babbling “conversation,” Yoonseul smiled at them.
“Garam, Dasomi—you’re hungry, right? Let’s go into a quiet café and have your milk.”
“Aa—ppa—”
“Ppa-ppa—”
At the dolphin shouting and the “ppa” he heard at the end, Yoonseul looked down at the babies lying in the stroller.
“You guys… did you just say ‘ppa’?”
At Yoonseul’s question, the babies answered powerfully with “Woo!”
?!—
What babies say can be seen as a kind of resonance.
For example, babbling that seems to mimic tone, like “bya-bya~.”
Of course, there are social reactions too—turning when their name is called, smiling, grinning, and so on.
But when he asked if they said “ppa,” their reaction went beyond resonance.
You could reasonably call it an answer.
When he communicated with the babies, there were countless moments that felt strange.
They often acted like they understood.
So he hadn’t really suspected anything.
And when he took them out, their reactions felt different from the babies who came into the hospital.
Pushing the stroller, Yoonseul sank into thought.
“Auaaa— (Soma, it’s the sea. The sea.)”
“Uaeo-oo— (Idiot Ram, I know it’s the sea too.)”
“Uau. (I want to swim. If it wasn’t winter…)”
“Eh? (Swim?)”
“Waa. (Why? What’s wrong with swimming?)”
“Uhaeoueo. (I don’t like swimming in the sea. It feels gross.)”
When Garam calmly explained ways to play at the beach through babbling, Dasomi, looking like she hated the idea, just stared blankly at the sea.
Ttara-rang—
Their babbling “conversation” stopped at the sound.
“Oh my?”
“Wow— he’s handsome.”
“Huh? He’s a baby dad.”
The moment Yoonseul stepped into a café with an ocean view, he became the target of attention.
He pushed the stroller into a tucked-away spot and went up to order.
A café employee smiled at the stroller and Yoonseul.
“Welcome. This is Café Riel.”
“Ah— yes. A hot café latte, please.”
“Yes— one hot café latte?”
“Yes.”
Yoonseul answered, then pulled a thermos from under the stroller and poured it into the babies’ bottles.
He shook them vigorously.
Then he dripped a little onto his wrist.
Seeing that, the customers started whispering.
“He’s really on top of it… Where’s the baby’s mom?”
“The dad is so young. And he’s handsome.”
Hearing that, Yoonseul gave a small smile, lifted the stroller wind cover, and handed the bottles to the babies.
When the babies’ faces showed, people covered their mouths and stared.
“Wow— is it because the dad is handsome? The babies are really pretty.”
“So cute. They’re like angels.”
“Oh my— the way they’re sucking on the bottle is so adorable.”
As compliments about the babies reached him, Yoonseul whispered low.
“They say you’re pretty and handsome.”
At that, the two babies blinked like they already knew.
Yoonseul smiled and kept watching them.
Click—
At the sound of a photo being taken, he turned his head.
A man with a camera had approached and offered a business card.
“Hello. You looked so cool taking care of the babies, so I snapped a shot… Would you like to see it?”
He showed his camera screen, and there was a photo of Yoonseul looking at the babies.
“Ah— this is…”
“Yes. I’ll send it to you, so could I get your email address?”
At that, Yoonseul took out a business card from his card case and handed it over.
The photographer also took out his own card and gave it to Yoonseul.
When Yoonseul read it, his eyes widened a little.
“You’re Photographer Han Bada?”
“Haha… the name’s kind of like that, right?”
“No—you suit it, like that sea out there.”
At Yoonseul’s teasing, Han Bada smiled and checked Yoonseul’s card.
“You’re a doctor?”
“I’m just a salaried doctor working at a small clinic…”
As they spoke quietly, a café employee came over with a tray.
“Here’s your café latte. Enjoy—oh my? The babies are so pretty?”
Holding the tray close, the employee’s eyes turned syrupy as she looked at Garam and Dasomi.
“Oh my—so pretty. Are you drinking your milk?”
At the employee’s baby-talk voice, both Yoonseul and Han Bada smiled.
“Oh— sorry. They’re just so cute, I couldn’t help it.”
“It’s okay.”
At Yoonseul’s reply, the employee returned to her station.
Han Bada sent the photos to the email address on Yoonseul’s card.
“I sent them.”
“Yes, thank you.”
At Yoonseul’s neat thanks, Han Bada stared at the babies a moment, then said,
“By any chance… could I take some photos of the babies?”
“Here?”
At Yoonseul’s question, Han Bada waved his hand.
“No—I run a studio. I was hoping to shoot them there.”
“…Wouldn’t that be too much trouble…?”
“Trouble? I’m the one asking. Come on.”
Hearing that, Yoonseul was secretly pleased.
He’d been thinking of taking first-birthday photos before the babies turned one anyway.
If a photographer invited them like this, it was basically a thank-you gift.
“Then… when I have time, can I call the contact info on your card?”
At Yoonseul’s words, Han Bada smiled fully and nodded.
“Of course. Call anytime you have time. If I can photograph angel-like babies like these, our studio doors will be wide open waiting.”
After saying that, Han Bada ordered his coffee to go and left the café.
Yoonseul gave a small bow as he watched him go.
When he checked his email on his phone, the photos from a moment ago were already saved.
“You’re good… Is that what my face looks like when I look at the babies?”
Looking at the sea beyond the window, Yoonseul took a sip of his latte.
‘Nice… It’s been a while since I’ve felt this relaxed…’
“Uaeo—”
“Ao—”
At the babies’ babbling, Yoonseul turned.
The bottles were empty.
“You finished? I’ll burp Dasomi first.”
He lifted Dasomi out of the stroller and patted her back, rubbing downward.
Dasomi let out a baby burp.
When he wiped around her mouth with a handkerchief, she smiled brightly at the people inside the café.
The customers reacted with “cute” and “angel” faces.
“Kyaaaah!”
When dolphin shouting burst out, people laughed and looked at Dasomi.
“Um… can we hold the baby?”
Were they high schoolers?
Two girls approached and asked permission.
“Sorry. She’s shy with strangers… If she gets held, she cries.”
At Yoonseul’s words, the girls looked disappointed, but kept staring at Dasomi.
“Isn’t she too pretty? Baby…”
“Mister— what’s this baby’s name?”
“Huh? Ah— what?”
“The baby’s name.”
Yoonseul froze for a moment at “mister.”
I’m not a mister…
“This baby is Dasomi. The baby in the stroller is Garam.”
“Oh? Those are Korean names.”
“…Well, yeah.”
“Is your name Korean too, mister?”
At the bold question, Yoonseul smiled and said,
“Let’s see—what do you call that phenomenon, when sunlight reflects on the sea over there?”
“Huh? Ah— that shining sea?”
“Ah! Yoonseul.”
Yoonseul smiled at her answer.
At that smile, the two girls’ eyes went round.
“No way.”
“Mister, your name isn’t Yoonseul, right?”
Sharp girls.
He’d only given a tiny hint and they guessed it.
“Well—
I heard when I was born, my parents named me Yoonseul because the sunlight sparkling on the Han River was so pretty.
Yes. Yoonseul. That’s my name.”
At Yoonseul’s answer, the girls stared wide-eyed, like their brains had buffered.
“Wow… your name is insanely cool.”
“Mister— don’t smile in front of people. It seriously shakes hearts.”
Huh?
What does that mean?
My smile shakes people’s hearts?
It was the first time he’d ever heard that.
“Hahaha— thanks for saying that. Alright, Dasomi, lie down, and Garam, come here so we can burp you.”
After laying Dasomi down, he held Garam upright, patted his back, and burped him.
As they watched that, the two girls spoke again.
“Mister— can we take pictures of the babies?”
“Huh?”
“They’re so pretty.”
“If you promise you won’t post them online.”
At Yoonseul’s answer, the girls lifted their phones and took pictures of Garam and Dasomi.
They also subtly took photos of Yoonseul with them.
“Thank you for letting us take pictures.”
“No problem. Happy New Year.”
“Ah— you too, mister~”
After the girls disappeared, Yoonseul let out a sigh.
Since he liked quiet, it was hard keeping up with their energy.
In the brief quiet, the café’s normal chatter returned.
Clink—
At the sound of a cup being set down, people’s attention gathered.
Yoonseul and the babies also looked that way.
“What? You’re saying we should break up?”
At that line, Garam and Dasomi’s eyes went huge.
“Awu? (Are they fighting?)”
“Wuuhah! (A lovers’ fight!)”
Seeing the café might get noisy with a couple’s argument, Yoonseul started putting on his outerwear.
He’d already finished the coffee.
The babies had finished their milk and had been burped, so he could leave anytime.
“Aua. (Hyung— let’s watch before we go.)”
“Hoeh. (This is getting interesting…)”
Ignoring the babies’ babbling, Yoonseul closed the stroller wind cover and left the café.
Since some time had passed, the sun was slowly sinking beyond the sea.
“The sunset is amazing…”
At Yoonseul’s murmur, the two babies stared blankly at the sun disappearing beyond the sky, and the scenery around it, through the stroller cover.
“Aubbeo—”
“Meo—”
Huh?
Did I hear wrong?
It sounded like “So pretty” and “Cool.”
“You guys—?”