Crash Landing On You - These Are The Days

Variables

More ficlet. Enjoy!

Ri Da Eun was an unnaturally well-behaved baby, Se Ri was pretty sure that it didn't come from her. She ate well, she slept well, and she wasn't colicky, she hadn't been sick until she hit five months old and started cutting her first tooth. The deck really seemed stacked against them when she got her first ear infection five weeks after that.

Jeong Hyeok and Se Ri initially tried a day of 'watchful waiting' advocated by a well-meaning pediatrician concerned about the overuse of antibiotics, but all that netted Da Eun was a fever, an infection in her other ear too, and parents who were almost as miserable as she was. One night of no sleep for any of them was enough justification to get that prescription of amoxicillin phoned in.

Later that night, as Se Ri slept, Jeong Hyeok killed a couple of hours in his study until it was time for Da Eun's next dose of Infants' Tylenol. He made it to her bedroom and scooped her out of her crib just as she was starting to fuss again. He muted the baby monitor, sensing that a full-on wail was coming soon, and there was no need to wake Se Ri since he was already there. Fortunately, he managed to sit down and coax the medicine into Da Eun before she dissolved into choking cries about a minute later.

Jeong Hyeok settled the baby's head against his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Butterflake."

He spent the next few minutes trying to figure out how to calm his daughter down. He rocked the chair, she cried harder. He stood up, she quieted a bit. Bouncing elicited a scream, but swaying seemed to help. Rubbing circles on her back with his palm didn't seem to make a damned a bit of difference to Daeun, but Jeong Hyeok thought it made him feel a little better, so he kept doing it.

Parenting wasn't so hard when there were obvious and testable variables.

Talking was something that seemed to comfort her consistently, so he kept up a running chatter. "Come on, kid. If you keep up like this, you're going to wake up your mom and the whole village. You know she is probably secretly cultivating your lung capacity with the hope that you end up singing opera instead of going to business school. That'd be totally fine, by the way. But going to business school would be okay too, kid. You may want to follow your mother's step, and I would be totally okay with that. As long as you won't have the legions of boyfriend in the future."

Da Eun gave him a few more quiet whimpers. Jeong Hyeok wasn't sure if he managed to soothe her or she had just tired herself out. He decided to score it as victory, regardless, when he saw Se Ri in the doorway out of the corner of his eye.

"Well, finally you caught me with another woman, Yoon Se Ri." He said as he watched Da Eun shove a fist in her mouth, her favorite pastimes since she started teething.

"I might be worried if there was lipstick on your collar, but all I see is snot and drool."

He smirked at his wife. "Did she manage to wake you despite me cutting the baby monitor?"

"Well, she does have impressive lungs. She'll be singing arias on the stage at the Opernhaus Zurich before we know it."

Jeong Hyeok looked at her askance. "How long were you listening from the hallway?" she responded with only a smile. "Stop doing that, you make me feel anxious in my own house."

Se Ri rolled her eyes at him and she walked over to wrap her arms around his waist from behind, kissing the top of the baby's head before resting her forehead on Jeong Hyeok's shoulder. "She is calm now. We should put her back down, let her try to fall asleep on her own."

He only hummed, didn't move. "Actually I was thinking I could just sit down in the chair over there and—"

"Ri Jeong Hyeok-ssi."

"Alright, alright." He said reluctantly, gently lowering Da Eun into her crib, then leaning on the bars with a sigh as the baby settled into the mattress. "I wish I could do more for her."

"I bet she wishes that Appa would get some sleep, at least until it's time for more medicine and more talking about her college or career decision or legions of boyfriend that are seventeen years down the road." Se Ri murmured to his ears.

"Seventeen?" Jeong Hyeok scoffed at her. "She isn't allowed to have a boyfriend until at least she is thirty. You know you are my actual first girlfriend, and we first met when I was—"

"I know exactly how old you were, thank you. I don't want her to have emotional immaturity. My first boyfriend was when I was sixteen, and I grew up just fine. End of conversation, old man." She sounded like she was teasing. Maybe.

Jeong Hyeok cocked his head and squinted in Se Ri's direction, then leaned over to whisper at their daughter. "Da Eun-ah, your mom fights dirty. You can learn some tricks from her, but only if you always take my side in arguments."

Se Ri gave him an exaggerated sigh as she nudged him in the direction of the door. Jeong Hyeok hesitated, feeling guilty about leaving their sick baby alone, even though her deep and even breathing suggesting that she was already fully asleep.

"Come on, she should be out for a while, and you're dead on your feet. I'll restore the baby's monitor."

He had operated on much less sleep before, but he had to admit that he felt completely drained. Se Ri took his hand and led him towards their bedroom. He stripped his t-shirt before climbing next to her.

Barely any time seemed to pass between when Jeong Hyeok's head hit the pillow and he was awakened by another piercing cry. He groaned when he checked the time and realized that it was too soon to feed Da Eun or to give her another dose of Tylenol, they were going to have to ride this one out. Se Ri sat up next to him and started to swing her legs toward the side of the bed, but Jeong Hyeok caught her by her wrist.

"I'll get her." He yawned.

"You took the last shift, Ri Jeong Hyeok-ssi. I can do it."

"Just stay in bed. You have meetings in the morning and have to get up early to feed her." He said as he threw back the covers and stood up. "Unless you decided to spy on us again, in which case you're getting out of the bed anyway so take care of yourself." He figured the fact that he was already halfway out the door made it clear that he was just giving her a hard time.

"Ri Jeong Hyeok-ssi?"

He stopped and glanced back over his shoulder. "Yes?"

"Thank you. I love you. You are the best. I am so glad I married you." Se Ri said as she settled back into the pillow.

He shook his head, smiling to himself, and stepped into the hallway towards their daughter's room.

****

As usual, comments and votes are appreciated. 

I am still taking requests, but it may take a little longer to write it since I will be busy again for the rest of the week. 

Thank you, I love you.