Honeymoon

"Kun, Kun! Let's do spelling practice!"

The child ran to Liu, who was grabbing a slice of cake and some milk from the kitchen. Hugging his leg, the boy held a thin notebook in one hand.

"Spelling practice? Sure. Come sit at the table."

The child scrambled onto the chair on his knees.

The child's name was Leo — Liu and Yeehyeon's neighbor. Born to a Korean chef father and an Australian painter mother, Leo had been born in Bali and grown up there ever since. Because of this, he was fluent in Korean, English, and even Balinese.

Since recently starting to learn to read, the child had become completely absorbed in spelling practice. Compared to the old days when Liu had to actively play with him, things had gotten a little easier.

Liu placed the cake and milk beside Leo's notebook and sat down across from him. The child raised his pencil high and shouted.

"Number one!"

"Okay, number one. What should we do for this one... Hmm. Cake."

The child, who had been watching Liu's lips with sparkling eyes, moved his pencil with a confident expression the moment the word was spoken. Resting his chin in his hand, Liu watched the child's small, glistening crown and smiled silently.

After their marriage, Liu and Yeehyeon had moved, as planned, to Bali — Ubud, specifically. That had been five months ago already. Leo, who used to hide behind his parents' legs and couldn't even greet them properly when they first met, was now a close buddy to both of them.

"Cake!"

The child presented the crookedly written word to Liu.

"Correct! Leo, that's amazing. 'Cake' was a difficult word."

"It wasn't hard. Cake is easy."

"Here, since you got it right, have a bite of the cake too."

Liu took a piece of cake with a fork and placed it in the child's mouth. He was a little surprised by the boy, who was so focused on spelling practice despite having his favorite cake right in front of him.

"Okay, next is number two... What should I make number two?"

"Give me a hard word! Something hard!"

Wondering what word would be challenging enough yet still possible for Leo to get right, Liu looked around the room.

It was then that he heard a small voice begin to whimper and cry.

"Parang woke up!"

Leo was the first to shout it. Without needing to decide who would go first, both of them got up from their seats.

In the middle of the living room, on the mat and cushions, a small baby lay on his stomach, crying while flailing his arms and legs.

"Parang, did our Parang sleep well?"

Upon hearing Liu's voice, the baby's crying quieted. Liu lowered himself and revealed his face to the baby. Dark, wet eyes blinked as the baby examined him.

"You slept well and even managed to roll over by yourself?"

"Does Parang want to go swimming?"

Leo, who had come to Liu's side, asked while watching the baby with fascinated eyes.

The baby knew how to roll over but couldn't yet crawl. The sight of him lying on his stomach and waving his limbs around looked to Leo like he was trying to swim.

"No — he wants to crawl forward. He'll be scooting around everywhere soon. Right, Parang?"

As the baby's cries grew louder, Liu picked up the small body. Leo spoke in a worried voice.

"Parang must have been scared because no one was around."

"I suppose so. He must have been startled."

Liu soothed the baby with practiced ease. Usually the crying would have stopped right away, but this time the fussing didn't subside even with gentle rocking.

"Parang, what's upsetting you after waking up? Huh?"

While rocking the baby and nuzzling his nose against the fragrant little head, Liu checked the diaper. The yellow star on the outside had turned blue — the baby had peed.

"It was the diaper. I'll change it right away."

"The diaper? Should I go get the diaper?"

Leo asked, his eyes lighting up as though he'd been waiting for the chance. He always wanted to do something for the baby. Usually quite the wild one, Leo was extremely careful whenever he was around Parang.

"Would you?"

From the diaper bag not far away, Leo quickly retrieved a fresh diaper and brought it over.

"Thank you, Leo."

Liu carefully laid the small body back down and handed the baby a stuffed doll that had been rolling around on the mat. The light blue rabbit with long ears was Parang's comfort object. Since the baby had learned to roll over, he would struggle to flip himself the moment he was set down, so they needed something to hold his attention during a diaper change.

Leo knelt quietly beside Liu, his gaze fixed on the baby.

"Did you poop? Parang, did you poop?"

"No. He just wet it."

"Aww, that's boring."

Liu burst out laughing when he saw Leo looking disappointed.

"You really love talking about poop, don't you, Leo?"

"It's funny."

Liu couldn't understand what part was funny, but he felt he understood the fact that children all over the world went crazy for that kind of thing.

Laying a new diaper under the baby's bottom, Liu made eye contact with Parang and smiled kindly as he removed the soiled one.

"When Parang gets as old as Leo, will he also like talking about poop?"

"Of course!"

Leo answered proudly, as if it were some glorious ritual. Liu couldn't help but laugh.

Before putting on the fresh diaper, Liu fanned the baby briefly to prevent a rash.

"Can I do that too? Can I do it?"

"You want to try?"

"Will Parang be okay if I do it?"

Leo was eager to try but also worried about accidentally hurting the baby.

"You can do this too, Leo. Want to try?"

"Yes!"

Grasping the handle with his small hands, Leo waved the fan very carefully.

"Kun, but when will Parang be able to talk?"

"Well, he can only babble right now, so we'll probably have to wait a little longer."

"I wish he'd grow up fast so we could play together."

"You'll take good care of him, won't you, Leo?"

"Absolutely! When we play together, I'll tell him all about the fun places and the dangerous places he shouldn't go!"

"That's really dependable. Parang is lucky to have a hyung like you."

"Yep, I'm the hyung, so I have to protect Parang."

Liu stroked Leo's soft hair and looked at him with affection.

"I'll give Parang all my cake and all my toys!"

Liu was moved that even such a small child could think of others like that. The words, offered sincerely without any calculation of benefit, reached something deep in him.

Liu gently kissed the top of Leo's head.

"Parang is the luckiest baby in all of Bali."

"Because of Leo?"

"Yes, because of you, Leo."

The boy looked up at Liu, met his eyes, and smiled brightly without any hesitation.

After fanning the baby, Liu carefully put a fresh diaper on him. He checked that the waist wasn't too loose and unfolded the tabs properly to prevent leaks. He thought to himself that this procedure was starting to feel quite second nature.

"Mom and Dad say that Kun taking care of the baby is like ilhuilbi."

"Ilhuilbi?"

At Leo's words, Liu's eyes widened as he asked back.

"Yeah, like getting better every day."

"Ah..."

Since he was still young and used multiple languages, Leo often made adorable mistakes that delighted the adults.

"So it means I've gotten better at taking care of Parang, right?"

"Yes!"

"Then what Mom and Dad said must have been ilchwiyoljang?"

"That's it! That's the word!"

Ilchwiyoljang, ilchwiyoljang... Leo repeated the word a few times, then tilted his head and looked up at Liu.

"Then what is ilhuilbi?"

"Hmm, it's a slightly difficult word... Ilhuilbi is the feeling of being both happy and sad. It can also mean happy and sad things happening alternately. It might be a bit hard for you to understand, Leo."

"I know what that is."

"You do?"

"When I eat cake, I'm happy because it's delicious, but I'm also sad because it gets smaller."

"That's right. That is exactly ilhuilbi. You are really smart, Leo."

When Liu looked surprised and patted his head, Leo grinned proudly.

When it came time to pull up the pants after the diaper change, the baby started whining again. Liu soothed him while speeding up his movements.

"Our Parang got so bored. It's all done now, all done... finished!"

After pulling up the pants, Liu swept the baby up in a sudden embrace, and Parang giggled while kicking his little legs. His condition had clearly recovered after the diaper change. Liu adjusted his hold to make the baby comfortable and stood up.

The baby settled his head and neck steadily against Liu's left shoulder. He wrapped his chubby little arms around Liu's thick upper arm and gripped the hem of his T-shirt tightly. Liu turned his head, kissed the baby's head, and gently stroked his back with his large palm.

Leo tugged on the hem of Liu's pants and looked up.

"Parang looks happy when Kun holds him."

"Should I hold you too, Leo?"

"I'm not a baby."

Though he pretended to hesitate, Leo clearly wanted to be held too. He might have been deeply immersed in the role of a hyung lately, but he was still just a six-year-old boy. After scratching his lips with his finger as if thinking it over, Leo shrugged his small shoulders and arrived at a conclusion he could accept.

"Well, Kun always holds Yeehyeon too, even though he's not a baby."

"......"

Liu was momentarily speechless with surprise.

It was interesting to see himself reflected through the child's words. He was always surprised that Leo noticed even the most ordinary aspects of their daily lives. Liu smiled and stroked the hair of the boy clinging to his leg.

"Yeehyeon is special. Forever."

"Because you love him?"

"Yes, because I love him."

Still holding the baby in his left arm, Liu bent down and opened his right arm toward Leo. Conscious of the baby nestled against Liu's left side, Leo carefully climbed in. Holding both children in his arms, Liu returned to the kitchen and set Leo down on the dining chair.

The spelling session continued up to number ten, using words like "Parang," "love," and "thank you." Just as Leo was finishing the cake, the doorbell rang.

"Who could that be?"

Leo was the first to react happily to the visitor. Liu checked his wristwatch and lifted Parang high.

"Parang, looks like Daddy's here."