Three of kind

Part 3

Karina shakes her head at the girl who's still focusing everything on making her play-doh pastry. Next to her sits Minjeong, holding a play-doh cookie in her hand.

"So this is how it's going to be? I'm not even going to get the first cookie anymore? It's Mimin first, Mommy second?" she teases the girl who doesn't listen let alone respond.

Minjeong chuckles and tries to give Karina her cookie but the girl sees it and quickly protests, causing the blonde to stop in her tracks after apologizing to the little chef.

Karina has to laugh at how whipped Minjeong is and tells her exactly that. "You're whipped by a four-year-old," she whispers.

"I will gladly accept and admit that fact," replies the blonde.

"Mommy!" the girl calls out, showing Karina a play-doh cookie that's twice Minjeong's size, making the adults laugh.

"Aww it's so pretty and big. Thank you," she tells the girl, kissing her temple.

"See? Yours is bigger," Minjeong says.

"It's not about the size, it's the order. You're her first priority right now," retorts Karina, shaking her head jokingly. "Mommy's sad, Erica," she tells the girl.

Just like before, Erica doesn't listen to her mother's teasing. Instead, she takes Minjeong's cookie and Karina's cookie and switch them, giving the smaller one to Karina and the bigger one to Minjeong. "Share," she orders them like Karina has done to her whenever she's playing with others.

"Share? You want us to share our cookies?"

"Yes."

"O-kay. Nom nom nom," Karina pretends to chew her cookie. "Wow your cookie tastes great, Minjeong-ah."

"So does yours, Rina-ah." Minjeong plays along, mimicking the chewing and gestures Karina made, then both of them burst out laughing at each other's silliness.

"Let's go shopping!" exclaims the girl minutes later after abandoning her play-doh.

"Shopping? Where?" asks Minjeong.

"Mall." Erica climbs onto Minjeong's lap and leans back against her.

"Wow. Mommy's truly forgotten now," remarks Karina, amused by how clingy her daughter is when it comes to Minjeong.

"How 'bout we just go to the supermarket?" suggests Minjeong. "I need to do some grocery shopping."

"Okay." The girl scoots off the couch and pulls both women towards her room. "Dress!" she tells them.

"She wants to change into a dress?" Minjeong asks Karina who nods.

Soon they're ready to leave and the girl happily walks between the two, holding both women's hands, squealing with joy every time they lift and swing her.

The girl asks for chocolate and Karina says okay but only if she chooses a vegetable she will eat for dinner tonight.

"You can get carrots or tomatoes or pumpkins... whatever you like," Karina says.

"Okay." Erica grabs Karina's hand then Minjeong's hand and surprisingly puts them together. "Mommy, Mimin, wait here," she tells the shocked women before pushing her small shopping cart towards the vegetable area, leaving the two holding hands at the sweets and snacks aisle.

"Um..." Minjeong clears her throat awkwardly, not sure whether she should let go of Karina's hand or hold on. Her cheeks are turning red and she's looking everywhere but at the woman next to her.

Karina isn't looking any better. Her palm has started to feel clammy thanks to nervousness and she fears that Minjeong would be disgusted by it. She's thinking of ways to let go and wipe her hand without offending Minjeong and as if she can read her mind, Minjeong mumbles an apology, lets go of Karina's hand first and wipes her palm against her jeans. "My palm is sweating," she says shyly then reaches out to hold Karina's hand again.