Bold - English Normal - Korean _______________________
“Mom, I’m home!” Nara greeted as she entered the apartment and took off her shoes before walking to the living room. The older woman was about to greet her when she saw a small boy holding on to her jacket.
“Whose this little guy?” She asked as she waved at him and the toddler shyly waved back at her. “What’s your name?” Nara smiled when he looked up at her and nodded, telling him it’s ok to introduce himself with his real name since they were told to only introduce themselves with their Little name.
“My name is Mark. Nice to meet you.” The 5 years old introduced himself and bowed at her before fidgeting his fingers and grabbing on Nara’s jacket again.
Nara was on her day-off and was planning to visit her mother when Johnny called early in the morning to tell that Mark turned Little and no one is going to be at the dorm with him. So, she brought him along. They went to the bakery first to buy some breads and pastries to have with her mother as breakfast.
“Your English is very good. It’s nice to meet you too, Mark.” The mother patted his head as she smiled. “Granny is going to make some hot cocoa for you to warm up a bit.” With that, she went to the kitchen as Nara took off her jacket and Mark’s and set them on the couch.
“Mom, he’s old enough to be my brother. Don’t call yourself, Granny, you’re not that old.” Said Nara as she giggled and put Mark on the bar stool at the island counter before standing behind him, to keep him from falling off. “Mark and I also went to buy some breads and pastries for breakfast too.” She placed the bag filled treats on the table and brought them out for her mother to see.
“You also remembered to buy my favourite garlic bread.” Her mother said and Nara giggled. “Thank you, sweetie.”
“Actually... Mark personally picked that one for you without knowing it’s your favourite.” Nara looked at the toddler who shyly smiled and looked down at his dangling legs. The older woman awe-ed and patted his head as she thanked him.
Moments later, she placed 2 mugs and a small mug of hot cocoa on the counter and took a seat next to Mark. The toddler thanked her for the drink and softly blow on the drink before taking a small sip. He hummed in pleasure as the cocoa drink tickled his taste buds, making the two women to giggle.
“Do you like it?” The mother asked and he nodded with a smile. “Thank you for liking it.” He shyly mumbled, ‘You’re welcome’ and the woman ruffled his dark hair, which Nara was thankful for the stylist that have not decided to dye his hair yet. “Why did you brought him, Nara? Are you babysitting him?”
“Yeah. His brothers are busy with their works and it happened to be my day-off from work. So I thought why not just bring him along with me to visit you.” She nodded and took a bite on her garlic bread.
The three finished up breakfast and went out for a short walk to the nearby wet market. Mark held on Nara’s and her mother’s hand as they walked through with him singing softly one of their songs. His eyes widen in fascinated to look at the crabs and fishes swimming in the tanks and jumped as he pointed at them and nudged on Nara’s jacket’s sleeve.
“Look! Look!” He whispered and she giggled as she crouched down next to him. “Yonggie형 also have fishes at home. Only smaller.” Nara nodded and ruffled his hair before pulled his hood up as his ears were turning red from the cold.
“What an adorable pair of mother and son. He surely has your eyes.” One of the fishmonger ladies asked as she was eyeing the two and smiled. “How old is he?”
“He’s 5 years old.” Nara answered when Mark hide his face against her jacket, feeling shy. “And I’m just his babysitter.”
“You do look like his mother though.” Nara giggled and slightly bowed at the older woman.
After they were done, the three headed back and Nara’s mother decided to bake some cookies with Mark, which made the toddler very happy. Nara recorded everything as Mark’s eyes just sparkles through the whole process and sent it to the members. Johnny was the first one to react and FaceTime them.
“Cuddles! I made cookies with 누나’s mummy!” Mark excitedly said to him and Johnny just laughed at his cuteness. “We made many cookies for you guys too.”
‘That sounds great, bud and remember say thank you for us, ok?’ Mark nodded and immediately said thank you as he turned to her, which made the older woman to laugh, along with the other two. ‘I have to go now, bud. See you back home, ok?’
“Ok, Cuddles. Bye-bye.” Mark waved and kissed the screen. They continued baking the cookies after Johnny hang up. “This is better than what we made for Christmas.” Nara giggled as she remembered that day since she was away for a few hours only to come back to a brownie like cookie even after she told them to read the instructions on the box.
“At least they tasted good and you had a good time with your brothers making them, Minmin.” She ruffled his hair while he just shrugged. Just then, the door bell rang and Nara went to the door.
“Who is it?” She checked the monitor and gasped when she saw her cousin before immediately opened the door for him. “Chan Hee!!” She called and hugged him when he came in.
“Oh!누나?... I didn’t know you were here.” He said to her as he hugged her back. “It’s been a long time and I missed you.”
“I missed you too, Chan Hee.” She pulled away and noticed someone was behind him. “Oh? Hello there.” The someone shyly bowed as he greeted her and entered.
“My name is Hwiyoung. Nice to meet you, 누나.” Nara greeted back and headed to the living room with them before the two met with Nara’s mother.
“You should have call first, Chan-아.” The older woman hugged him while the lad just giggled. “Your mom told you to come over to check on me, didn’t she?” Chani giggled again and nodded. “You probably busy with your schedule, so don’t even fuss about it next time, ok? Nara came here every weekend sometime.” The younger boy just shrugged and giggled. “How are you, Hwi-아?” She greeted the friend and they hugged.
“You two met before?” Asked Nara when they pulled away and she nodded.
“Chan and the boys sometime come here when you’re too busy to come.” Said her mother and went back to the kitchen, where Mark was still at.
“누나...Minmin want go down.” The toddler said when she walked in, making grabby hands at her as he pouted. Nara smiled and put him down as he immediately hugged her leg when her cousin walked in too.
“Oh! Whose this little guy?” He smiled and crouched down next to him before looking up at Nara, while Hwiyoung just stared at the toddler with a smile. “I didn’t know you’re married.” The said woman shook her head and ruffled his hair.
“I’m not married and I’m his babysitter.” She played with Mark’s hair and his ears before crouching down and the toddler quickly wrapped himself to her. “There’s no need to shy. Come on, introduce yourself.” Mark slowly pulled away and slightly bowed as he introduced himself as Minmin. Chani giggled at the shy toddler and ruffled his hair as he and Hwiyoung introduced themselves to him.
The three boys immediately clicked after a few minutes and played at the living room. Soon, Mark was sitting on Hwiyoung’s lap with his back leaned against his chest as the three were watching some wildlife video on the couch and his eyes were starting to get heavy since he was trying so hard to stay awake. Nara was watching him from the dining area and she giggled a little before walking toward them. Mark noticed her and made grabby hands at her, wanting to be carry. She put him in a shoulder hold as the toddler yawned and leaned his head on her shoulder before falling asleep.
“I think it’s time for the two of us to head home. This little guy is going to look for his watermelon plushie in a minute.” She said as she patted Mark’s back and Chani helped to put on her jacket before helping her to put Mark’s next. “Thanks, Channie.”
“I’ll order a taxi for you.” The young man said and walked away with his phone before the young woman could refuse. “And I’ll help you carry that downstairs.” Hwiyoung slowly grabbed the paper bag containing two tall containers of cookies before walking to the door.
“See you next week, Mom.” She hugged her mother when Chani said the taxi arrived and kissed her cheeks. The older woman nodded and kissed her forehead in return. Nara walked out the unit as the two boys followed her from behind. She thanked the boys and waved goodbye at them before heading back to her apartment building.
After arriving at her apartment, she laid Mark in the crib she had at the living room, since she often had a few of the toddlers over sometime, she removed his jacket before getting his plushie from her room.
As the toddler took his nap, Nara went to the dining area to prepare some fruits for his snacks other than just giving him the cookies they baked. When she was almost done, her doorbell rang and the someone entered her passcode before she could see the monitor. She already who was it since only a few people know the passcode other than her. So, she headed to the door and saw Johnny walking in with 5 jumpy boys and a sleeping baby on his shoulder. The small boys ran to her and quietly said Hello to her.
“Now, be quiet ok? Minmin just fell asleep.” She whispered to the 5 boys and gestured Johnny to lay the baby in the crib as well while she went to get their plushies. Nara handed the boys their plushies and turned on some kids programs with the sound slightly muted as the toddlers laid down on top of their plushie on the cushioned floor.
“All the dreamies turned Littles today, didn’t they?” She asked the tall man as they went to the dining area and he scratched his head before nodding. “But you said it’s only Mark and who was taking care of them while you were working?”
“We actually didn’t have any schedule today, but Mark said he misses you. So, Taeyong suggested to let you take Mark while we handle the rest since today is your day off and he is also the most quiet one.” He replied and shrugged. “But then, the kids said they wanted to see you or they won’t take their nap and here we are.” Nara shook her head as she smiled and went back to cut some more fruits.
“Are you sure about them wanting to see me?” She asked and playfully glared at him, making him shrugged again and winked at her while drinking a glass of water.
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