The Heart Of Life

Chapter 6

When Eun-a turns six months old, Se-ri brings her back to Seoul. It's the longest time since she's been away from the company, but Se-ri is grateful that they seem to be coping well without her physical presence.

On the day of their departure, she catches Jeong-hyuk carrying Eun-a on his hips in the nursery, watching the sunrise. Eyes glowing with gentle affection, he talks to her - appa is going to miss you so much peanut, be a good girl and listen to your omma okay, she's going to be very tired having to work and take care of you at the same time and appa can't be there to help her, so I need you to help her for me, is that alright? I love you so much, and I love your omma so much too.

Eun-a is babbling away in her own language, as if trying to respond to her father's words, and Jeong-hyuk smacks loud kisses on her rosy cheeks, and her sweet laughter fills the room.

It's the most Se-ri has ever heard Jeong-hyuk talk, and she doesn't have the heart to interrupt their precious moment, but it's time to leave for the airport. "What are you whispering to our daughter Ri Jeong-hyuk -ssi?" she comments in lieu of greeting, holding a faint smirk on her lips.

Turning around, he finds Se-ri standing by the door, and his lips twitches into a playful smile. "It's a secret, right peanut? Our little secret." Moving his attention to Eun-a, he peppers another kiss on the top of her head. He will definitely miss her sweet baby scent.

"You're only six months old and already sharing secrets with your appa?" she takes Eun-a over from him and spins her around, and the baby dissolves into a fit of giggles. "Only you can make your appa talk so much Eun-a -ya," Se-ri tosses over a mischievous smile at Jeong-hyuk. "Your appa is quiet and stoic and pouty, but he's kind and warm and has a heart of gold, that's right, that's your father."

"Ya Yoon Se-ri," the tips of his ears are red and he's blushing and he's struggling to hide the smile on his face, "I do not pout," he says with his lower lip jutting out.

"You're doing it right now!" Se-ri laughs teasingly. Their daughter is reaching out for Jeong-hyuk again, waving her chubby hands in front of his face, eager to be held by her father.

"She's going to miss you so much." Se-ri watches Eun-a settles herself on Jeong-hyuk's wide shoulder, clinging to him like she knows they're going to part soon. A feeling of melancholy washes over Se-ri.

"Are you going to miss me?"

"Yes." She throws herself to him on her tallest tiptoes, the tender touch around the nape of his neck conveying millions of reluctance. "I'm going to miss you so much," she whispers with a heavy heart, brushing her lips on his cheek.

...

Back in Seoul, Eun-a is fretful most of the time, and it lasts for about a week. It's as if she senses that she's in a new environment, it's a new crib, and there's an absence of her father's sweet, soothing voice. In the morning before Se-ri goes to work, she has a hard time getting Eun-a to latch longer on her breast. Occasionally, in the night, Eun-a refuses to sleep in the crib, and prefers to snuggle with Se-ri on the bed. She sends Eun-a to her parents' place with a hired nanny during the morning and takes her back home with her after work. As much as Se-ri hates to admit, nothing about this is easy.

Easy would be waking up and rolling into Jeong-hyuk who's right next to her, or making love before Eun-a wakes up. Easy would be stumbling downstairs to Jeong-hyuk making breakfast, the smell of her favourite coffee wafting in the kitchen. Easy would be sitting by the work desk buried in papers and documents in the night, with Jeong-hyuk's calming presence always close by with a book in his hand.

Easy isn't this - when she wakes up, it's to the empty, cold space beside her, there's no sounds of running water in the bathroom, or Jeong-hyuk sliding back into bed to kiss her awake. There's no helping hand to help her when Eun-a cries in the night, or when she fusses in the morning, refusing to let go of Se-ri when she leaves her at her grandparents place. It gets a little bit more difficult when Se-ri discovers that Eun-a is teething - and it disrupts her night time slumber, her daughter feeling compelled to share her discomfort with Se-ri by being restless and whiny, only calming down when she hears Jeong-hyuk playing the piano through their video calls.