Unlikely Parents [S1]

UP.1 (2/4)

Leona Kim and Savi Pham made their way towards the playroom, their faint footsteps echoing across the tiled floor. The smell of paint and fresh carpeting filled Leona's nostrils as she tailed behind Savi who walked through the unfamiliar space confidently as if she knew the place like the back of her hand.

It spiked Leona's nerves to rise. She felt a surge of nervousness as her eyes picked up upon a room at the end of the corridor deemed the "PLAYROOM".

They found the door ajar, a peephole into the colourful space beyond, Savi took hold of the handle, leaning her head into the creek, giving Leona a wider view of the inside. She could immediately make sense of a wide assortment of toys and games scattered on a large carpet with 'lighting McQueen' as its design. A row of shelves were also aligned with bundles of figurines and cars... A part of Leona wonders how a child could find joy in those.

She counted the cameras that she could see, 4 to be exact and she only saw half of the room.

“This is where we'll be spending most of our time.” Savi breaks the train of Leona's thoughts. “We'll have to make sure the toys are clean and ready for sure.” She quietly adds.

Leona cursed herself for nodding as her way of communicating when Savi literally had her head turned away from her.

Gingerly but surely, Savi Pham pushes the door open for space. And damn, the whole room looked as if a unicorn had vomited everywhere. It makes her remember why she didn't want to be a part of this in the first place. The sheer amount of vivid colours in this room, paired with the overabundance of toys and legos gave Leona a sense of regret for signing the contract for this tremendous reality show.

Leona Kim was once a kid too, however, she's now grateful for the fact that her mother had a strict eye for colours. Because she could never thought of living in such an eye-sore room.

Taken aback by the vibrant colours that seemed to have been splashed on the walls with no particular pattern whatsoever, she failed to notice a curly-haired kid by the dark blue bean bag beside her, not until Savi crouched down to the kid's eye level. Leona looked between the two, furrowing her eyebrows as she kneeled down as well.

What was on the bean bag was a child with his face scrunched up as her bottom lip was pushed out, giving him a pouty look. Not to mention how the kid also had his arms crossed with a huff.

Savi Pham knew exactly what to do.

But before that, she sent an assuring smile on Leona's way, causing the other to blink twice with widened eyes.

Savi took charge of the situation, interacting with the child using the softest, comforting tone she could muster as she maintained eye contact with the grumpy kid.

With a long bated breath, it took a while for Savi to get the kid to spout out words– at least some while Leona could only look back and forth at the individuals and it hit her. A sudden realization that as an adult, she should know how to ease a child's frustrations but she doesn't. How her first thought as she took a single step inside the room should be the child's wellness instead of the whole decoration, It fuels Leona's envy of Savi's composure and ability to handle the problem instantly. 

By the time she realized that she was pouting too as she gazed at Savi, the child began to respond sporadically, sometimes with a single-word answer, other times with a sentence or two. Savi's patience was rewarded, though, as the child became more open with her over time.

Savi worked her magic and Leona felt a mix of admiration as well as a growing frustration.

She feels like the child here.

She watched as Savi pulled out a car toy out of nowhere, wiggling the wind-up plaything on her hand with a cheeky grin. “Do you want to play with this toy?” Savi appealed to, getting a lively nod from the kid. She winded up the toy, letting the kid chase after it.

It turns out that Savi Pham noticed Leona Kim's discomfort the whole time because she turned her head at her for the briefest minute, “Don't worry too much. Just follow my lead on this one, okay?” A kind twinkle in Savi's eyes had Leona lost in thought. She cleared her throat and nodded, not trusting her voice at the moment. “His name is Jihan by the way.”

Leona was then left dumbfounded as the co-parent crawled to Jihan.

She bet she looks dumb in front of the camera right now.

Save gestured for her to get closer, Leona didn't have any reason not to.

As Savi added her block to the growing tower, making it totter and ultimately collapse, both of the adults laughed at the absurdity of the situation. But their joy turned to anxiety as Jihan grew upset, tears streaming down her face. Quickly, Leona grabbed a handful of toys within arm's reach and started waving them around excitedly, using her high-pitched voice to pretend that the toys were talking to each other. This successfully caught Jihan's attention and brought a smile to her face, diffusing the tense atmosphere that was dispelled.

Did it work? Yes. Did she feel embarrassed after she realized what she was doing in front of the camera and Savi? Yes.

With a sinking feeling in her stomach, she became hyperaware of the cameras directly pointing at them. What if Leona accidentally hurts the kid? What if she does something wrong? What she's doing right now will be aired out for others to see. She suddenly felt stiff and awkward, as if she were under a microscope to be examined.

In a moment of reflection about the intensity of the situation, Leona took a deep breath, exhaling slowly to calm her nerves. She tried to focus on the task at hand and push the lingering thoughts to the back of her mind. Savi had noticed the slight change in Leona's demeanour, pointing the same reassuring look, a silent reminder that they were in this together.

Savi's presence was a stabilizing force– a balm for her nerves, not only did she calm the child, she somehow found a way to soothe Leona's anxieties too.

Jihan will be in good hands it seems, Leona mused.