"Are you sure these are enough?"
Taehyung lifted the small packets of infant cereal to me before he placed them on the cart, and I nodded.
"She still keeps on pushing food away with her tongue, and Aeri's doctor hadn't really suggested solids last time we visited," I explained. "But maybe on our next visit he'd recommend it. For now those are fine."
Taehyung continued to push the trolley and I trailed beside him with Aeri cradled in my arms. With a pacifier on her mouth, she kept observing her surroundings attentively. I pinched on her nose lightly.
"Her doctor's a he?"
Taehyung's question caught me off guard, and my brows furrowed a bit. "Yeah? Is that a problem?"
"Not really." He shook his head. "Just wondering why it's a guy."
"He used to be friends with Mina-unnie. Unnie was a doctor and they worked in the same hospital. I think I hadn't told you that," I clarified.
"Oh, okay. What else do we need?" asked Taehyung, shooting me a sideways glance.
"Well, we already have Aeri's necessities, and..." I paused, eyeing the contents of the trolley. "Oh. I think we forgot wet wipes."
Taehyung leaned forward and rummaged through the items on the cart. "I'll get them. I think we passed through the aisle earlier." He gave me a knowing look and situated the trolley on the side. "Wait here, I'll be back."
Obliging, I scooted to the side. The aisle we were currently in had bedroom necessities, mostly pillows and comforters. Humming, I scanned through the different designs. Some of them had really cute patterns and prints, but then, I'd still prefer the one Taehyung had set up on our room.
Some people that passed us by gave us smiles and approached Aeri waving their hand.
A minute had passed, but Taehyung still hadn't came back. Did he get lost? Though that really seemed unlikely. My gaze fell on Aeri at the same time she yawned, her eyes getting milky.
I swung her gently, admiring how adorable she was in her cream cotton bear onesie that Taehyung had also picked out for her.
"Taehyung will be back soon," I soothingly whispered.
"Uh, excuse me."
My head snapped up and I flashed a look at the person in front of me. He had a polite smile on his face, and I could barely see his eyes due to the way they squinted.
But hold on.
I was sure I had seen this guy before. Especially those almost non-existent eyes.
He must've thought I didnt hear him because not too soon did the pleasant smile on his face slipped away. I knew he was about to ask me to move again. But perhaps something else came into his mind, and just when I remembered where I had encounterd this guy before, he raised his hand, index finger ready to point at me.
"Lee Kyungmin!" he called, the same time as I exclaimed, "Park Jimin?"
And then we both laughed.
"Jinjja? Is it really you?"
"Who else could it be?" I shot back, grinning, and Jimin chuckled.
"Wah, it's been so long! And—" His eyes landed on Aeri. "—is that...?"
"Oh, this is Aeri," I slowly lifted Aeri to give him a better view. "She fell asleep not too long ago."
"Aish, she's so cute." Jimin caressed her cheeks, closing his attention to Aeri. Then he turned to me inquisitively. "So you're married now?"
"Yeah." I guess so. "What about you? Still playing around?"
Jimin scowled and shook his head. "You make it sound bad. That was in high school."
"So you admit it?" I challenged with a teasing smile.
"Agh, you're still the same old Kyungmin," he said frustratingly. "For the record, I'm not seeing anyone now."
"Kyungmin, I wasn't sure which brand Aeri uses and when I chose one, I couldn't decide which color to—"
Jimin and I both turned our heads at the same time and saw Taehyung with a brow quirked up.
"Taehyung, it's Jimin," I told him, brushing off the awkward air about to happen.
"Oh? Kim Taehyung!"
Taehyung nodded in acknowledgement. "Park Jimin."
"I haven't seen you for such a long time. You left in the middle of high school," Jimin casually said that it would make you think these two used be close before.
Actually, they weren't. But Jimin was always like that being the outgoing guy he was.
"Things happened." Taehyung shrugged, and I kept on praying he would smile, even just a little. He looked so stiff, I wonder what was wrong.
Jimin glanced at me. "I see you both ended up together huh?"
"Yeah." Taehyung wrapped his arm on my shoulders and gripped on it tightly. I glanced at him through the corner of my eyes, a grin forming on his lips. "We're a happy family now."
"Hyung! There you are."
A guy, probably younger than Jimin—albeit he was taller—approached Jimin. He was wearing a black shirt and jeans ripped around the knee part.
He noticed us and a perplexed expression etched on his face before he questioned Jimin with his eyes.
"Oh, guys, this is Jungkook." Jimin gestured to the guy and Jungkook gave us a welcoming smile, showing his pearly whites. "And this is Kyungmin, Taehyung and their daughter Aeri." Jimin pointed to us one at a time. "We used to be classmates in high school."
"Nice to meet you," I said, nodding my head since I couldn't reach for a handshake.
Taehyung smiled at him, much friendlier than with Jimin. What? Was he having mood swings?
"Well, we need to go now. I guess you two are busy as well," concluded Jimin. "See you around then!"
Jimin waved his hand dismissively and Jungkook politely threw us a smile. As I watched their backs fade into the horizon of the aisle, I pondered over the fact that Jimin was supposed to get something when I met him earlier.
Oh well, that wasn't important now.
But suddenly, a pang of nostalgia hit me. Compared to today, Jimin used to look like a fetus. Although that didn't stop the girls from falling for him endlessly.
Same went with Taehyung. Come to think of it, they both grew twice as mature than they used to be. I wonder how puberty would also work on Jungkook.
"Don't tell me you still like him." Taehyung snapped me out of my reverie and my eyes slowly went his way.
Actually, I never really had any feelings for Jimin. Sure, Jimin was handsome and he also had an amazing personality, but that was just some lie when Taehyung was so busy with his girlfriend.
"Oh don't be jealous," I monotonously responded.
"So you still do?" he pressed on.
"Taehyung, I'm married to you and I have Aeri. That doesn't matter now."
"You're not answering my question."
A smirk was about to make its way on my face, but I pursed my lips together to prevent it from showing.
It wouldn't be bad to tease him a little, right?
"I don't want to," I flatly uttered.
"Why don't you just marry him then?" Annoyance dripped on his words.
"Should I ask him?" I tilted my head and pretended to consider it. All the while, I had been trying to push my laughter back.
"Pabo." Taehyung flicked my forehead.
"Yah! What was that for?" I complained, only being able to move back in defense.
"For being an unfaithful wife."
"But—"
"Shhhh, don't talk." Taehyung averted his gaze and dropped the different colored packs of wet wipes on the cart.
"What if I don't want to?" I provoked.
"I'm going to kiss you," he bluntly replied, not turning back at me.
"Would you now?" Yeah. As if he would.
"Mhmm?" Without warning, Taehyung inched his face closer, and I wanted to push him away but Aeri was on my arms. I stepped backwards and he held on the small of my back, pulling me closer. His breath was literally fanning across my face. "Now would you shut up?"
And in that moment, with pulses beating irrationally on my chest, I didn't know what had gotten into me. But what I did was to close the gap and kissed him on the cheek, instinctively pulling away right after.
Shock covered his expression, and I immediately shifted on my heel, my back facing him. My cheeks were flushed and when I noticed some people had seen us, smiling in awe, I felt the warmth on my cheeks turned to a deeper shade of red.
Don't worry Taehyung, I don't know why I did that either. But hah, that's what you get for messing with me.