Sound of Silence

Strawberry - TAOS

Prompt: A little spin-off of the Chupa Chups one-shot with the TAOS family, inspired by cmpotter. This is of course based off my TAOS characters but I imagine binjin to be like this when they have children of their own too🤪So to those who haven't read TAOS, you can think of them as their future children too!

Again, don't mind my imagination!

Ages: Jeong Eun - 6, Eun Ae - 5, Ki Rai - 2

***

"Appa! Can we have a lollipop? Eomma said we could have one if we got an A for our spelling! Jeong Eun Oppa and I both got an A!" Eun Ae "kindly requested" for her reward the minute they were through the door.

Hyun Bin let out a dimpled smiled before he reached over to ruffle his princess' hair. Looks like his daughter held the same sentiments towards the heavenly goodness that never seem to run out in the house. "Of course, princess. You both deserve it after all your hard work."

Eun Ae let out a squeal, clapping happily while jumping on the spot. Jeong Eun simply let out a small shrug as the little group made their way to the kitchens. 

Reaching over to the top shelf, Hyun Bin took down the special Chupa Chups box and opened it. The top shelf was a good hiding spot because 1) The children would never be able to reach it. 2) It was rarely used and only their little family knew about the Chupa Chups.

Digging through the assortment of multi-coloured wrappers ranging from the sour editions to the classic flavours, Hyun Bin automatically handed the orange-flavoured one to Jeong Eun while he dug around for two strawberry-flavoured ones for himself and Eun Ae. 

To his dismay, there was only one more left. Biting his lip, Hyun Bin mulled over his new dilemma. Should he be a "bad" parent and take the last strawberry lollipop or be a "good" parent and make this tremendous sacrifice?

"Jagiya, I'm leaving Ki Rai in her high-chair. I'll be out in the garden if you need me." Ye Jin interrupted his inner debate.

Eun Ae and Jeong Eun's attention were effectively captured by their eomma's instructions, giving Hyun Bin a chance to make a final decision. What a true test of his morals...

He could argue it in two ways. 

One, it wouldn't be particularly immoral for him to take the last strawberry lollipop because an egoist would argue that as long as the decision maximises one's own self-interest, it was still abiding the moral philosophy under Teleology. 

Two, an enlightened egoist would argue that his decision to take the last strawberry lollipop would be moral because he would be considering the well-being of Eun Ae. Having too many strawberries might upset her tummy. She already had a serving of it that morning. He should also discourage sweets. If there weren't any of her favourite flavours left, perhaps she would give the lollipop a pass. That was good for her in the long run, right?

Simply put, yes, he should be the "bad" parent and take the last strawberry lollipop.

Of course, he was deliberately ignoring the other moral perspective; that his children have the right to the lollipop of their choice since they promised them one if they got an A. As a parent, he should respect them and the promise they made to them. This was the deontology perspective.

With that, Hyun Bin hid the strawberry lollipop behind him as he took a strawberry cream Chupa Chups out for Eun Ae.

"Alright, love. I'll take care of our little princess!" Hyun Bin smiled nervously at Ye Jin.

Ye Jin narrowed her eyes at Bin's suspicious behaviour but brushed it off. If it became a problem later on, then she would deal with it. Entrusting the kids with Bin, Ye Jin hummed and left for an hour of gardening.