My Japanese Childhood Friend Is Too Flirty - Chapter 146



145. What it means to have a growing family (1)

Approximately six months after that feverish honeymoon.

In less than a year, so many things had happened to Aki and me that it was hard to list them all.

If I only recall the things that I remember, there are more than a dozen. But to list only the major ones, there was moving to a bigger house as soon as we got back from our honeymoon, receiving a nice used car as a gift from my father, and getting into a minor fender-bender while taking driving lessons in that car.

And, without exaggeration, the most important thing in the past year—or my entire life—was the birth of the baby between Aki and me. I still remember that day vividly, as if it were yesterday.

When I was told that the delivery was a little delayed, I was so nervous that I closed my eyes tight and prayed that both Aki and the baby would be alright. Then, suddenly, a loud cry echoed from behind the tightly closed door. It was so loud that I, standing outside, was startled.

‘Father-in-law, you can come in now!’

‘Ah, yes!’

I immediately jumped up and went into the delivery room. And I saw Aki lying on the delivery bed, holding a swaddled bundle in her arms.

Aki’s face was pale as if all her energy had been drained, and she was smiling faintly… Inside the swaddle was our baby, crying with his eyes squeezed shut.

The feelings I had then, when I first saw her… ah, it’s truly difficult to express with my clumsy way with words. It was like my chest was swelling, my mind went blank, and I felt a tingling sensation running from my toes to the crown of my head. I also felt like I’d never forget that moment for the rest of my life…

Lost in that daze, I snapped back to reality when the nurse asked if we had a name for her. “Joo-ah,” I said, approaching the two of them, and in that moment, miraculously, the baby, who had been wailing loudly, stopped crying abruptly and, with great effort, opened her eyelids to look at me.

Honestly, I teared up a little then. Not a full-blown cry, just a few tears that I wiped away with my finger, pretending I hadn’t cried at all. But Aki, even in her dazed state, must have seen it, because she teased, “Atashi didn’t even cry, why is 서방님 (husband) crying~? Hehehe….” She still makes fun of me about it.

…Well, anyway.

Aki had a natural birth, not a C-section, so she recovered quickly and was discharged two days later. But being discharged didn’t mean we went straight home. Instead, she and the baby went to a postpartum care center to rest and participate in various programs for about three weeks.

She said she learned a lot that was helpful in many ways, like body shaping, postpartum massages, and br*eastfeeding techniques, but all I saw was the br*eastfeeding part, so I don’t really know what she did specifically. I just took her word for it since she said it was helpful.

“Aki, I’m home!”

And today is the third day since Aki came home.

After a quick trip to the grocery store, I swiped the card key, opened the door, and stepped inside. I hadn’t been able to get used to this card-type door lock, instead of typing in a password, at first, but it’s been almost half a year since we moved into this bigger place, and I’m slowly getting used to it.

“Where are you, Aki?”

The kitchen light is on, but I can’t see her anywhere. I put the plastic bags down on the table and started searching for Aki.

The bathroom, of course not. I wondered if she might be sleeping in the bedroom, so that’s where I went first.

“…Shhh.”

“….”

Aki is sitting on the bed.

Holding our baby, sound asleep.

“…Did she just fall asleep?”

“Yeah. So be quiet…!”

“Okay…”

Right, the baby’s asleep. I made sure of that, and moved as quietly as possible.

Every step I took was incredibly cautious, almost like a sneaky guest in someone else’s house, I changed into my clothes that I wear at home. Aki watched me like that for a moment then she giggles.

“Hehe…. why are you sticking your b*tt out like that?”

“…You told me to be quiet, remember?”

Aki gestures with her right hand. Signalling me to come closer.

I quietly approached her, as she asked. And carefully sat down beside her, gazing at the face of our sleeping baby.

Light eyebrows, closed eyelids drawing a straight line. Cute lips parted slightly, puffing softly.

The sleeping baby looked like an angel, truly.

It would be so nice if she was this quiet when she was awake too…

As any couple who has raised a child knows. A baby a few months old cries loudly every time they open their eyes. Because crying is the only way they know how to communicate. They cry when they’re uncomfortable, they cry when they’re happy, and they cry when they’re unhappy. They just cry when they’re bored. I’m not kidding, really.

“When did she fall asleep?”

Whispering, as if even the slightest noise would rouse the babe, I murmured,

“He fell asleep right after you left, so, maybe fifteen minutes ago…?”

“Then we’ve got, roughly, an hour of quiet…”

Truthfully, I should take this chance to do chores, tidy up the place. But I simply gazed upon the child. The sight of him sleeping was, without question, the most precious thing in the world.

Let me say it again. Babies are cutest when they’re asleep. Of course, they’re adorable when awake, too… but it’s not quite the same, is it?

“Yeah. Go wash up now. It’ll be mayhem again if he wakes…”

Aki told me, glancing toward the bedroom door. Always needs to be spick and span around the baby, so I nodded and went straight to the bathroom in the living room.

Just in case I miss anything. Washing carefully, meticulously, to the point where no one could ever accuse me of being unhygienic… I emerged.

Back in the bedroom, the baby still slept, an angelic vision.

“Aki, what do you want for dinner?”

“Samgyetang!”

“Samgyetang? Okay. But we’ve been having that a lot lately. Is it really that good?”

“Yeah. It’s weird, but I really like samgyetang. My taste must’ve changed after having the baby.”

“Really…?”

I’d heard plenty about cravings during pregnancy, and experienced them myself, but didn’t expect them to just linger on even after giving birth. Never thought she’d get this hung up on the Samgyetang I made her for strength during her late pregnancy. How odd.

“Oh, hey, did you see this, Aki?”

“What is it?”

Aki, holding Jua, leaned closer, showing interest. I took out my phone and clicked the YouTube link a friend had sent.

–

[2024 Jamsil Stadium Legend Korea-Japan Couple Update LOL]

[Likes – 22K / Views – 2,355,582]

[#Legend #Marriage #Couple #k*ss #LastALifetime]

[Comments 720]

–

“Uh…?”

Aki’s eyes widened. Understandably so. The video thumbnail was none other than a picture of us back in high school.

“Isn’t this the one that went up on YouTube when we were high schoolers?”

“Yeah. Well, not *exactly* that video. The title’s different. And the ending, too.”

I played the video, showing it to Aki.

The video started with a clip of us sharing a passionate k*ss at Jamsil Stadium, then transitioned at the end into a photo of me and Aki, both smiling, with Jua nestled between us.

“You know that picture we took together a while back? I sent it to some of my friends from high school, and one of them uploaded it to Instagram. Somehow, it got passed around and ended up with the person who made that video of us. They even prettied it up and posted it.”

“Ah, I see…! Wow, that’s amazing… The views are insane, aren’t they?”

“If you look at the date, it’s only been up for two days and it’s already over two million. The comments are going wild too. They’re saying it hasn’t been long since they saw the video, but we’re already married, how time flies, you know?”

“Hehe… I guess so. But we *did* get married pretty quickly, didn’t we?”

“The video first came out four years ago… So yeah, I guess we did.”

After replying to Aki, it suddenly felt strange. Back then, I never would have imagined that we’d be here, chatting cozily with Jua between us.

“Oh, look at this. Some of the comments are asking what the baby’s name is?”

“I almost replied to it, but I stopped myself. We still haven’t settled on a name.”

“Well… now that it’s brought up, should we talk about it some more? Jua’s almost a month old, we can’t just keep calling her Jua forever.”

Aki made a valid point, gazing at me. I nodded in agreement.

“Like we talked about before, Rumi, Rin, Yura. I think it’s best to decide on one of these three. What do you think, Aki?”

Aki and I decided to give Jua a name that could be used in both Korea and Japan. This was something we’d discussed before, but it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

Because due to the Japanese language’s difficulty in pronouncing final consonants, names rarely contain them. But Korean names often include the final consonants ‘ㅇ’ and ‘ㄴ’.

“In Japan, Fujiwara Rumi, Fujiwara Rin, Fujiwara Yura, they all sound lovely… But your surname is Joo, right, darling? Joo Rumi, Joo Rin… Doesn’t it sound a little off?”

“……Does it?”

“Mhm. *Atashi* thinks Yura. Yura would be the best. Fujiwara Yura, Joo Yura. It sounds pretty no matter where you put it, right?”

“Hmm… I guess so. So should we just go with Yura?”

“Unless you have a better idea, I think that would be best.”

“Okay. So, the name is Yura….”

That’s when it happened.

The moment I spoke Jua’s, no, Yura’s name. Yura’s eyes snapped open.

“…….”

“…….”

Yura, who should have been bursting into a loud cry the moment she opened her eyes, just stared at me.

“……Our Yura, you’re awake?”

I whispered, gently stroking Yura’s puffy cheeks with my index finger.

Then, unbelievably, Yura, as if responding to hearing her name, smiled brightly and tightly grasped my finger.

“Oh my, she’s moving her hand…?”

“Yura. Say Daddy, Daddy.”

“Eungae…!”

“…Ah. Still no luck with Papa?”

“Hmph… You think there’d be? With *that*!”