The Most Important Place in the Office
The Most Important Place in the Office
“We’re here.”
I pulled into the cathedral parking lot, parked with absolute precision, and killed the engine.
Then I planted my forehead against the steering wheel. Every last drop of strength drained out of my body.
I feel like I’m going to die.
Greg laughed and grabbed my shoulder, giving it a good shake.
“Dude, what were you so worried about? You drive better than I do, and I do this every day!”
“I feel like I’m going to die…….”
Was driving always something you did with your whole body? My neck was stiff, my shoulders were locked up, and cold sweat ran down my spine.
“No, you were just way too tense. You got us here just fine, so what’s with this? You look paler than I do right now.”
“Uh…….”
It struck me that Luca had gone suspiciously quiet, so I glanced into the back seat.
Finding my son deep in the most profound of slumbers, mouth slightly open, finally let my heart settle a little.
“I feel like I’m going to die.”
“That’s the second time you’ve said that. Hey—look. That kid running this way, isn’t that Reni?”
Sure enough, when I looked out the window, Reni had spotted our car from way off and was racing toward us with both arms waving.
“Daddy!”
I climbed out to meet the running child. Steadying knees that were shaking far worse than expected, I stepped toward him……
……and failed to take another step. Instead I sank to my knees right there, arms wide open, and caught the boy as he crashed into me.
Reni, Daddy had such a hard time.
Greg drove us home. I passed out in the passenger seat and slept the entire way.
“Aba! Papa! Daddy!”
“……Huh?”
At Luca’s voice right in front of my face, I forced my eyes open—and found Luca literally inches from my nose.
Greg had opened the car door and was holding the baby up to my face.
“Hey, finally awake. Luca Alarm really is the best.”
From the back seat came the sound of Reni’s pealing laughter.
“Papa!”
Luca kicked his feet, struggling free of Greg’s hands so he could spill into my arms.
Even as I gathered the child against me, I looked around with half-awake eyes and realized we were home.
“……I must have been out cold.”
“Yeah. Anyone looking would’ve thought you’d fainted.”
Greg unloaded the stroller, settled both kids into it, and parked properly. Both children stared, fascinated by the whole process.
Reni looked up at me in a bright voice.
“Daddy, I like our vroom-vroom!”
“Yeah, I think Daddy likes it too.”
Among the bland-colored cars lined up along the street, ours stood out at a single glance.
……Well, the more I look at it, the less bad it seems. At least I’ll never have to hunt for where I parked.
I would soon learn that our house’s bright-yellow vroom-vroom made an excellent landmark for other people, too.
I had just brought the kids upstairs and was feeding them lunch when the crew scheduled to cut through the office wall and install the windows called to say they had arrived.
“Is this the place with the yellow car parked out front?”
“Yes, that’s right. Just pull up in front of the villa.”
Cassandra happened to arrive with them, so I asked Greg and Cassandra to keep an eye on the construction site while I finished feeding the kids and put them down for their nap.
“Auuungah!”
Of course Luca, who had already stolen one nap in the car, put up a fight……
“Luca.”
“…….”
Even when I called him in my most serious voice, he only stared back with a sulky face and refused to answer.
As always, I had no choice but to coax and plead.
“If Luca takes just a little more nap, Daddy will make you a ball pit later.”
Summer was nearly over, so I planned to fill the kids’ mini pool with balls and set it up in the office playroom.
Among the packages that had been arriving in a steady stream while I was out at the cathedral to pick up Reni were the things I had ordered for the children.
So if these little ones would only fall asleep and grant me a bit of working time, I could more or less finish the playroom today.
Of course Luca had no idea what any of that meant—but Reni, who had been half-asleep on the soft mattress, snapped his eyes wide open.
“Daddy, what’s a ball pit?”
So Reni didn’t know what a ball pit was either.
“Daddy bought a whole bunch of little balls. If we put the balls in your mini pool instead of water, it becomes a ball pit.”
“Wow!”
“If Reni takes his nap, Daddy will hurry and make it while you’re sleeping.”
“Okay!”
Reni answered with full force, lay right down, and squeezed his eyes shut. Whatever sleep had been coming seemed to have fled entirely, but……
“Look at your big brother, Luca—he’s sleeping so well! Mmph!”
Luca decided he had heard enough and pressed a hand firmly over my mouth. I couldn’t help laughing.
Then I sat down with Reni, whose sleep had already scattered, tucked him in beside me as well, opened a picture book, and switched on the ceiling fan.
With the soft breeze and Daddy’s signature picture-book ASMR, it was time to put the children to sleep.
“And so the Sun and the Moon, having misunderstood each other, were doomed never to meet again, forever chasing each other’s heels at the same speed.”
……Does this series even have the slightest interest in protecting children’s innocence?
I had somehow gotten completely absorbed in the story, and closed the book with a complicated expression.
This was the series Evan had brought over as a new release—one I never would have bought otherwise—and apparently it was still wildly popular with kids.
But so what if it’s popular? No matter how many times I read it, the aftertaste stays weirdly bitter.
Regardless of my harsh review, the children were already sound asleep, warmly heating both of my sides with soft, even breathing.
Surely it isn’t popular because the baffling plot puts kids to sleep faster.
Having achieved my goal either way, I carefully slipped cushions under their heads and extricated myself as gently as possible. Right on cue, Cassandra quietly opened the door and stepped in.
I asked in a whisper.
“Is the construction finished?”
Cassandra answered in a matching hush.
“Yes. The windows came out beautifully. I’ll watch the kids—want to go down and take a look?”
I nodded at once, gathered up the things I hadn’t finished bringing down yesterday, and headed for the second floor.
Second floor.
Loaded down with the packages delivered to the house and assorted other supplies, I stepped out of the elevator to the sound of Greg running a vacuum beyond the open office door.
“……Oh.”
The newly cut wide window in the wall between the children’s playroom and the living area made the whole space feel far more open.
The same treatment had been given to the master-bedroom side—soundproof windows—so the kids could look into the rooms from outside whenever they wanted.
Only the recording studio had been left alone; that room needed perfect soundproofing. It was the smallest room to begin with, anyway.
“You’re here? Not bad, right? The two of them came and knocked it out nice and careful.”
“Yeah, it looks good.”
I set the things down to one side and tried opening and closing the windows here and there. Pretty solid work.
Honestly, a job of this scale was something I could have handled alone.
But the window sizes were large enough that without proper help the whole thing could have gone sideways, so I had called people in.
It had cost a bit, but it still felt like the right call.
Since this wasn’t a full interior renovation—just the window installation—there was still finishing work left to do.
I pulled on a pair of work gloves with renewed energy.
“Let’s finish the kids’ room first.”
“I already cleared the playroom completely.”
“Good man. We’ll be sweeping and wiping the whole time we’re working, so I’ll need you on support. Oh—and since we’re filming, the camera too…….”
This room, which Evan had used as a study, was even more muted in color than the rest, so I had decided to put up brighter wallpaper for the children.
The colors—soft light green and sky blue—Reni and I had chosen together. Easy on the eyes; perfect for a kids’ room.
“Whoa. No, seriously—how are you good at hanging wallpaper too? What kind of life have you even lived?”
Greg marveled from the side. I huffed a short laugh and kept moving without answering. Alternating the wide strips of wallpaper made it look like hills and sky taking turns across the walls.
While the wallpaper dried, we cleaned the floor and laid down mats for the kids. On top of that we installed the toddler slide and swing I had ordered after a great deal of deliberation.
“Jun, what if we put the slide into the pool?”
Greg, diligently assisting, tossed out the idea. It sounded good, so we went with it.
It was a slide you climbed onto from a mini house and rode down, so the slope was gentle enough that height wouldn’t be an issue even with it set inside the ball pit.
Greg’s face lit up as he dumped the multicolored balls into the pool.
“The kids are going to love this. Still a secret from Reni, right?”
“Obviously.”
What Reni and I had picked out together were the wallpaper colors, the star-shaped lights, and a few small toys.
He would never imagine something as amazing as a slide had been brought in.
Once the little playground was complete, I thoroughly cleaned the rattan daybed we’d brought in from the terrace and fitted the cushions with newly made covers.
“Man, this is nice. You could put the kids down for naps right here.”
“That’s the plan. Oh—and later let’s bring the baby crib down from the house. You know, the one I built when Luca was two months old.”
“That flower-cart-looking thing?”
“Yeah. When your baby’s born, you could put them down in it, right?”
“……Oh, yeah!”
Greg’s face brightened as if he were already picturing the moment.
“Though you only get a few months out of it. Kids grow ridiculously fast.”
When that day came, I figured I would have to stick some artificial flowers in it and use it as décor. For now it was serving as toy storage.
“Still, a few months is a few months.”
The children’s playground, the nap bed, and even the toddler table from the house living room—for drawing or reading—all found their places.
A playroom that could hold its own anywhere was taking shape.
But I know. The end of every interior is always the lighting.
Once I confirmed the wallpaper had dried enough, I installed the big, plump wall lights shaped like stars and moons, suns and clouds, and switched them on.
“……Mmm.”
“……Mmm.”
Greg and I quietly bumped fists.
Thankfully the kids slept so deeply that I was able to wash up quickly and change out of my dust-covered clothes.
The moment I looked presentable, I woke the older one first.
“Reni. Reni? Sweetheart, shall we get up now?”
“Mmngh…….”
I eased him into a sitting position and gave him a gentle shake until Reni forced his eyes open.
“Did our Reni sleep well?”
“Yeah…….”
Still half-asleep, the boy rubbed his eyes. The way he looked, he’d drop right back under if I left him alone, so I patted his back softly.
If he fell asleep again he wouldn’t sleep at night—which absolutely could not happen—and more importantly, I wanted to show him the finished playroom as soon as possible.
“Our Reni, if you slept well, shall we go to work with Daddy now?”
The head that had been bobbing from side to side snapped up.
“……Work!”
“Yep, work. Now let’s wake Luca too.”
“Okay!”
Reni sat bolt upright, went over to Luca’s side, and gently stroked the baby’s cheek with a fingertip.
“Luca, we have to go to work.”
No, you two are not actually going to work……
I laughed quietly to myself as I watched him play grown-up. But the next thing out of his mouth caught me a little off guard.
“Luca, if we don’t work, Daddy won’t have any rice to eat, so you have to get up…….”
“…….”
Whether Luca understood the fib or not, he still showed zero signs of waking. Growing impatient, Reni finally played his trump card.
“Luca! Want some mama?”
Kiddo, I don’t have any milk to give right now.
But to my amazement, Luca’s eyes flew open.