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You and Jisung sit down to talk, briefly deciding what your feelings are at this point.
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After work, you drove to your brother's home to pick Jisung's things up. Your sister in law let you in while she went to grab Jisung's bag. You bent down to greet your niece.
"Hi, Yuri." You greeted.
"Gomo." She giggled, holding her arms up. You chuckled as you lifted the almost 3 year old up and held her at your hip. You spun around playfully and she giggled while you booped her nose. She scrunched her nose as she burst into a fit of giggles.
"Again!" She cheered and you spun her around. She threw her head back in laughter, making you laugh at how adorable she was.
"Jisung is always jealous seeing you play with her." Your sister in law emerged from the bedroom with a laugh. You just smiled. While Yuri was adorable, everyone knew no one would replace Jisung in your heart.
"He knows he's number 1. I've been in love with him since his birth." You chuckled.
"I'm glad Jisung has you to count on." She smiled.
"He's amazing." You said, placing Yuri down to get Jisung's bag. You slung it over your shoulder. Yuri whined, wanting to be picked up by you again to continue playing but you had to go pick Jisung up from school. Your sister in law picked Yuri up, trying to soothe her as she whined and squirmed in her mother's arms.
"Good girl, Yuri. I'll come play again soon, alright?" You kissed her cheeks and bid your sister in law goodbye before driving to Jisung's school. You got out of your car to wait for him, seeing students slowly start to stream out.
"Gomo!" You heard Jisung shout as he ran to you.
"Jisung ah." Your heart swelled as you caught him in your arms. He hugged you tightly, looking up at you with a big grin.
"Ready to go?" You ruffled his hair. Jisung nodded and you opened the door for him to sit. Jisung wasn't really tall enough to sit in the passenger seat yet so he sat in the back. But he didn't need a car seat anymore.
"How was school today, aegi?"
"It was okay, I guess. I did really well for my writing. The teacher put it up." Jisung shrugged.
"That's amazing. You should be more proud of yourself." You chuckled.
"I am, gomo. But at the end of the day, everyone goes through the same education system, there will be people who have the same achievements as you do. I want to focus on fully utilising my school time to be more of a stand out than a trophy winner." Jisung spoke.
"You make a valid point. I'm still proud of you and all your achievements though. And I think it's great that you aim to be a stand out student." You replied with a nod of your head.
"Did you decide on whether you want to accept the offer of skipping some grades?" You asked him.
"Not yet. I don't know if I'm ready to compete against older kids."
"Aegi, you don't have to look at it as a competition. I think it's great that the school thinks you're capable of skipping grades to be with older kids. But if you want to go at your own pace, that's fine too." You assured.
"I'll think about it for a while more."
"That's fine too. Do what you think it's best. It is your education after all." You said as you parked the car. You opened the door for him to come out. Jisung immediately slipped his hand into yours as he walked with you to the lift lobby and all the way up to the apartment. He keyed your door's passcode in and opened it.
"Kookie!" Jisung put his shoes aside and went to greet the rabbit. You placed his bag in your bedroom.
"Are you hungry, aegi?" You asked as you went to the fridge.
"Not really. I had quite a big lunch at school." He shrugged, climbing onto the bar stool. You grabbed a bottle of juice for him and opened the lid slightly, giving it to him.
"You can decide what we get for dinner later. Do you want to go out or stay in?" You asked, getting a drink for yourself.
"Can we do pizza from that new Italian place?" He asked.
"Of course. Your usual cheese one?" You grabbed your phone to retrieve the number. He nodded his head, finishing his juice. He slid off the bar stool and rinsed the bottle before tossing it into your recycling bin. The two of you moved to the couch, where Jisung glued himself to your side.
"Gomo... Do you still miss... them?" Jisung asked out of the blue. You paused, knowing exactly who he was referring to but wondering why he would suddenly ask you that.
"Why do you ask, aegi?"
"I hate that they left you. I hate them for making you cry. I hate that you miss them even after they hurt you." Jisung frowned.
"Jisung..." You sighed, pulling away to look at him. At first, you lied to Jisung that the 7 boys just went overseas for work and would be back in a few years but he saw through your lie rather quickly.
"What happened, happened, okay? At some point, we just have to move on from it, we still have lives to lead." You cupped his cheek, stroking it with your thumb.
"Don't cry, gomo." Jisung reached out to wipe the tears you didn't even know you had shed. You smiled, gathering Jisung in your arms to hug him. Maybe this was the last cry that you needed. You weren't ashamed of crying in front of Jisung, he had seen you at your down times before and it was just human emotions, there was no need to hide it from him.
"Thank you, Jisung ah." You whispered.
"For what?"
"For being here. You make me happy by just being here. Even if you're so big now that I can't carry you like last time, you'll always be my aegi. No matter what." You kissed his head.
"They're mean for leaving, gomo. Even after the chance I gave them, they still hurt you." He said softly, bunching the material of your shirt.
"Then that's their lost, hmm? They wasted the last chance that you gave them." You pulled away and patted his head. At your words, Jisung broke into a grin, nodding his head firmly. You let Jisung go and shower while you ordered dinner for the both of you.
"Pizza is coming at 7. Do you have any homework to do?" You asked. Jisung nodded, going to his backpack.
"We can do work together." You went into your office. You placed a chair for Jisung to sit on at the side of your desk while you continued to type patient reports on your computer.
"Gomo, do you like working at the emergency department?" Jisung asked as he wrote.
"I do. Why?"
"Omma was saying that being in the emergency department is a lot more stressful, compared to being in the surgical department with halmeoni." Jisung explained. You nodded your head.
"It is stressful but I learn a lot more in the emergency department. Besides, I kind of like the stress, it pushes me to do well. In the surgical department, I do still learn things, of course, but it is mostly the same stuff. And I honestly do not like teaching students surgery and having them shadow me. It's easier to teach emergency department stuff." You shrugged.
"That's what I thought. Omma says that stress doesn't really make you better but I think differently. I think small amounts of stress is good, they make people do their jobs better and be more attentive." Jisung said.
"I agree. But everyone works differently. You and I may work better under stress but some people break down." You reasoned.
"True." He nodded.
"Do you want to be a doctor?" You asked.
"I'm not sure yet. I'm just doing my best so when the time comes, I have as many options open to me as possible." Jisung informed. You smiled softly and reached over to pat his head.
"That's good." You chuckled. Some people find it hard to believe that you would have such conversations with Jisung at his age but he is just a smart kid.
"Do you need help with your work?" You leaned over. Jisung shook his head and you turned back to your screen. It was just a productive work session, Jisung finishing all his homework for the weekend while you finished all your work reports that were due on Monday.
*DING DONG*
"Must be the food." You stood up and cracked your fingers, stretching your back from having seated for too long. You grabbed your wallet and opened the door.
"Here you go." The delivery man handed the boxes of food over.
"Thanks, keep the change." You handed him the money and he bowed before you closed the door. Jisung was washing his hands when you placed the food on the coffee table and grabbed some plates.
"What do you wanna watch?"
"We can finish our movie." Jisung said, blinking at you. You nodded and switched to find the movie you watched with him the last time he was here.
"Do you remember where we stopped?" You asked. Jisung guided you, stopping at where you ended the last time. Sitting back down, you put a pizza slice on his plate and took one for yourself. The both of you liked to have after movie discussions so there wasn't really much chatter between the two of you for the rest of the film.
"I need a drink. Can I get you anything?" You stood up.
"Just water." Jisung replied, stuffing his mouth with the remaining bit of his slice. You hummed and got him a cup of iced water, getting yourself some juice as well.
*BEEP BEEP*
You reached over to retrieve your hospital beeper. Seeing the numbers, you got your phone to send your team a message.
"Is that work?" Jisung asked.
"Yeah. But this is our time. I've worked overtime too much." You smiled, ruffling his head. This was the only time that you wouldn't give up your time off to go back to work, even if you liked work. Time spent with Jisung was the most precious to you.
After the movie, you and Jisung changed into your pajamas and sat in bed to discuss the movie right before going to sleep. He fell asleep rather quickly after such a long day at school.
"Goodnight, Kookie." You whispered, stroking the rabbit's head before closing the cage and turning off the lights in the living room. You slipped back under the covers.
"I can take everyone else leaving me but you." You kissed Jisung's head before turning off the light on the nightstand and going to sleep.
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"Ah, I can't believe I forgot the ice cream." You smacked your forehead as you stared at your freezer. After breakfast, you and Jisung were supposed to bake brownies to have with ice cream.
"It's okay, gomo. We can just head to the store to get it." Jisung said, scooping the scrambled eggs into his mouth. You hummed, making sure the make a list with whatever other groceries you needed since you were going to be there anyway. You drank your iced coffee, watching Jisung enjoy the breakfast that you cooked for him.
"Thank you for the food." Jisung grinned, cheeks stuffed with food.
"Aegi, you'll choke if you do that." You chuckled and leaned over to wipe his mouth with a napkin. He continued to chew his food while you took his empty plate and started on the dishes.
"Can I help with anything?" Jisung came up next to you. You turned the tap to let him wash his hands and mouth.
"I'm good with these. If you could help me fill up Kookie's food bowl, that'll be great." You smiled. Jisung nodded and went to help feed Kookie.
"Aegi, when you're done, wash your hands and get changed." You instructed before going to your room to change. Just when Jisung came to change, you were done.
"Let me know if you need help with anything." You said as you moved to the living room to give him privacy. He nodded and closed the door to get changed. When he was done, you grabbed your keys and walked hand in hand with him to the car. He buckled his seatbelt on his own.
"Let's go!" He cheered and you chuckled. You put your seatbelts on and began to drive to the supermarket.
"I can go get the ice cream, gomo. I'll come find you later." Jisung said.
"You sure?"
"Yeah. I'll just ask someone to help me if I really can't reach it." Jisung assured and ran off to the ice cream aisle. You watched him turn the corner before pushing the cart to grab your other necessities.
"Ah, why do they put it so high up?" Jisung pouted in frustration as he stared at the tub of ice cream. The usual brand that you both liked was high up.
"Here." Someone reached out and handed it to him.
"Thank-" Jisung's eyes widened as he stared at the male that helped him. Even if half his face was covered with a bucket hat, Jisung could recognise him. Snatching the tub, Jisung stormed off without another word of acknowledgement. He roamed the aisles trying to find you, occasionally glancing over his shoulder to see if he was being followed.
"Gomo!" Jisung ran over to you.
"Ah, you found it. Could you reach it?" You asked. Jisung nodded his head as you placed the ice cream into the cart. Jisung stuck by you as you finished up with the shopping list.
"Aegi, is everything okay?" You bent down when you saw him looking around the place, as if surveying it.
"Yeah. Just wondering why it's so empty considering it's the middle of the day on the weekend." Jisung smoothly lied with a shrug.
"You know, you're right." You stood back up with a nod. When you were done, the two of you went to the check out counter. Jisung was still looking around with wide eyes but you didn't ask him anymore.
"Ready to go?" You asked.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's go!" Jisung grabbed the lighter bags and rushed out. You shook your head with a laugh, he must be excited to make the brownies and have ice cream. You went out and opened the boot of the car to load the groceries before getting in to drive back home.
"All buckled up?" You looked at him through the rearview mirror.
"Uh huh." Jisung replied, turning to look back at the grocery store entrance. However, you didn't drive, you frowned in worry.
"Aegi, did something happen at the grocery store? You're acting a little weird. If something happened or you're hurt, you have to tell me, you know?" You turned back to look at him.
"I'm really fine, gomo. Just excited." He grinned.
"Okay..." You weren't convinced but Jisung was too smart that you wouldn't be able to get him to crack and tell you. So you just drove home. Jisung waddled beside you with his grocery bags as you headed to your apartment.
"I'm going to wash my hands and change!" Jisung announced as you put the rest of the groceries away, taking out the butter to soften it. Jisung came back out in his clothes and you went to change. You put your apron on and tied a smaller one around Jisung as well. Taking your iPad out, you got the recipe and tools ready.
"Go ahead, take the lead." You encouraged Jisung to weigh everything out and only helped him with the harder tasks.
"I'll melt the chocolate and butter." You placed the glass bowl over the pot in a bain-marie to be able to melt both chocolate and butter together. Jisung continued to weigh the dry ingredients out.
"Oh no, I spilled some flour." Jisung pouted.
"It's okay! We'll just clean up later." You patted his head. Jisung grabbed a small dustpan to sweep the spilt flour up and threw it away.
"Thank you." You smiled, bringing the bowl of melted chocolate to the table and stirred it around to cool it slightly. When the batter was done, it was placed into the oven to bake. While it was baking, Jisung took a shower. You sat down on the couch and turned the television on.
"The president announced his plans to retire, shocking the entire country. With elections in discussion, Senator Park is rumoured to be the potential candidate that will be elected to take the role as our next leader."
The president announced retirement earlier this week and everyone was not expecting it. But you weren't really into politics to care.
"I'm done." Jisung came out of the bathroom.
"I'll wait for the brownies to be done." You said, going to check the timer on the fridge to see how long more. Jisung climbed onto the barstool and you got him some snacks.
"Here, gomo." He held a piece of seaweed out. You smiled and leaned in to eat it out of his hand.
"I'm glad I got to spend time with you this weekend, aegi. I'm sorry I've been so busy with work and the ER that we hardly get to spend so much time together anymore. Every time I see you again, I feel like you've grown so much. Maybe you're just growing so fast." You smiled, reaching out to remove a fleck of seaweed that stuck to his face.
"I miss our hangouts too, gomo. But I know you're busy, those people need help from someone like you. You're a good doctor that can help them. We can always find time to be together." Jisung said.
"Thank you for understanding." You cupped his cheek.
"I promise I'm not growing that much." He giggled and you walked over to his side to give him a kiss.
"It's hard to accept that my baby is growing up. You're becoming smarter and smarter each day. I can't even carry you in my arms anymore." You chuckled, sitting beside him.
"But that means I can help you more!" Jisung climbed over to sit in your lap.
When the brownies were done, you took them out to let them cool. Jisung waited for you as you took a quick shower. By the time you came out, the brownies were cool enough to put ice cream on top but still warm and gooey inside. You handed Jisung his plate.
"Enjoy." You wished, making a portion for yourself. Sitting with him at the island, you both clinked plates before digging in.
"IT'S SO GOOD!" Jisung kicked his feet around, a big grin on his face.
"I'm glad you like it, aegi. It is delicious, you did a great job." You wiped his mouth, smiling softly at him.
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