YEJIN's POV
It was 6am in the morning and the Kim household was already awake and busy. I called out to Bin, "I think we have to wake her up, she needs to be fed before we can leave."
Bin following my suggestion, walked over to Ji eun's crib and slowly settled her in his arms. Ji eun didn't budge at all, she was still fast asleep and even looked more comfortable in her appa's arms.
"Baby, lets feed you some milk okay?" Bin said tenderly as he gave Ji eun kisses on her chubby cheeks hoping that will awake her.
Being woken up at 6am was certainly something she was not used to hence she was feeling grumpy.
Ji eun erupted into a faint cry, burying her head into Bin's chest.
"Aigoo, my sweetheart. I know it's early, eomma and appa are tired too." I said emphatically as I shot a glare to Bin. It was practically his fault that we have to be up this early because he accidentally booked a 8am flight instead of 8pm.
I quickly made Ji eun a bottle and sat on the bed to feed her. Thank god we made the decision to wake up even earlier to get ourselves and the luggages ready before we woke Ji eun up. While I fed Ji eun, Bin was busy in the kitchen fixing up a light breakfast. He reboiled the left over kimchi stew from last night and cooked some korean egg rolls and of course we can't forget rice. A staple in all korean households.
After feeding Ji eun, I quickly dressed her in her thick teddy bear onesie, her favourite winter outfit. I made sure to put some thick fluffy socks on her as I didn't want her to catch a cold. After being dressed, I grabbed her favourite blanket and she instantly grabbed it and hugged it as we made our way to the living room to have a quick breakfast before we head out the door.
I laid her on her baby mobile and placed it beside us so we could watch her and eat at the same time.
I took a bite of the egg roll and instantly my annoyance at being up so early went away. I gave Bin a kiss, "You can't book flights but at least you can cook!" I chuckled before I was forced to shut up with a kiss on my lips.
After quickly devouring our breakfast, Bin carried the asleep Ji eun to our car as our assistants loaded up the car with our luggages. I took one final look at the house, making sure I didn't forget anything and finally locked up the house.
As we were on our way to the airport, I looked over to my Ji eun who was now buckled up in her car seat looking so cuddly and comfortable.
"Do you think she will freak out when she sees so many people crowding around us with the bright camera flash?" I asked Bin
"It's okay, I'll hold onto her. She will be fine." Bin replied as he gave me a chaste kiss on my
forehead ensuring me that he's got the situation under control.
No matter how much Bin and I can provide for Ji eun, heck we can practically give her everything she wants but I will always feel bad that we will always have to be cautious of the media.
I took her out of her car seat slowly and snuggled her in my arms, kissing her chubby cheeks and her chunky hands.
"Ji eun-ah, eomma and appa will do our best to make sure that you will have the happiest childhood."
Arriving at the airport, there were already a massive group of media reporters with their cameras ready. As we alighted from the car, Bin carried Ji eun making sure she was facing his chest so that she would not be frightened by the overwhelming amount of flash.
"Ji eun-ie, it's okay baby. Appa and eomma are here." Bin whispered to Ji eun as we walked into the entrance of the airport. He reached out his hand to grab mine and led the way, shielding both Ji eun and I from the cameras. On a normal day, media reporters taking pictures of me is like second nature to me. However, with Ji eun being there with us and this being a personal holiday, it made things pretty overwhelming.
Ji eun just snuggled her head onto Bin's chest and he continuously soothed her back and swayed her whilst still holding onto my hand.
After we checked in, we immediately went into the private lounge where there was no more media reporters. We stayed in the lounge to freshen up and relaxed for a bit. Fortunately, Ji eun was feeling much better after having napped for a while. She was all smiles and her usual self again, thank god.
As we boarded the plan, we settled into our business class seats and waited for departure.
A 9 hour flight to Maldives awaited us.
Due the air pressure difference, I had to breastfeed Ji eun during the take off and also the landing so she wouldn't have blocked ears. We are trying to slowly ease her off breastfeeding but today was an exception. She immediately latched on and drank heartily. Bin did his best to help by covering us up with a baby cloth and adjusted the seat to make me more comfortable.
The 9 hour flight was pretty smooth considering that this is Ji eun's first time travelling internationally, she's been on planes but only for domestic travel to Daegu and Jeju.
I laid her down on the makeshift bed that our seat turns into and she slept almost the whole way to Maldives, waking up only to play for a short while, eat and cuddle in our arms. We also took turns to carry Ji eun as she prefers to be held and in our embrace when she's in places that are unfamiliar to her. Nevertheless, that wasn't much of a problem as we both love to carry and snuggle with her.
For some reason that day, Ji eun was extra clingy than usual so we cuddled her and gave her all of our attention. Even when she was sleeping, she wrapped her chunky hand around our finger and buried her head into our chests.
"Ji eun-ah, you can't be this clingy to your future boyfriend, only to eomma and appa okay?" I teased
Bin shot a glare at me, "What boyfriend are you talking about. She's only 9 months old." He said, pouting and holding Ji eun closer to his chest."
"Yah.. Ji eun you better not bring your future boyfriends home. Appa is going to scare all of them away." I sighed jokingly
"Of course, my princess only deserves the best." I could only jokingly roll my eyes at his overprotective appa mode.
Two hours later, it was time for the in-flight meal, we placed her in between us and fed her some bread that she absolutely loved.
After the meal, she immediately retreated back to her appa's arms.
I turned over to Bin to see Ji eun comfortably snuggled in her appa's arms and the both of them fast asleep. I couldn't resist and snapped a picture of this beautiful sight that I want to cherish forever.
9 hours flew by quickly and we landed in Maldives. After alighting the plane, we changed into our summer clothes and it was time to enjoy the sunshine in Maldives.
We checked into our 5 star resort that was absolutely stunning. Each "room" was a mini modern hut that was above the water. It was breathtaking. Each hut was nicely spaced apart and there was even a private pool for us. It was the most private and beautiful place we have stayed in Maldives thus far.
After we arrived at the resort, we took a short nap and then went out to the restaurant in the resort to have dinner. It was private and very peaceful. We ate dinner with a magnificent view of the Maldives sunset. Nobody recognised us, we were just like any other ordinary family.
"Ji eun, open your mouth. Ahh" Bin said tenderly as he fed a small piece of a french fry to Ji eun.
Ji eun loved it so much, she started to bounce and clap in her baby high chair.
" Aaappa!" She called out to get Bin's attention so that he will feed her another fry.
We chuckled at our silly girl's antics, "You want more Ji eun? Ok appa will give you some" Bin said as he cut up some more french fry into small tiny pieces.
He placed the french fries and some small pieces of lobster plus her favourite broccoli. She ate every single thing on her bowl, watching her eat so well makes us so happy as well.
"It's that yummy, baby?" I asked in a high pitched tone
Ji eun looked at me and clapped her hands, trying to show her satisfaction and excitement.
Once again, our table will was filled with laughter because of our little Ji eun .
We devoured the ribeye steak and the lobster quickly before we took a stroll back to our room.
"Love, I'm so happy" I said as I looked to Bin with Ji eun in his arms.
"Me too. It's crazy how the last time we were here, we were still dating and our little princess wasn't born yet."
The last time Bin and Yejin was in Maldives was with their friends for a short vacation, it was fun but definitely not romantic.
FLASHBACK TO FIRST MALDIVES TRIP
"Binnie, when do you think is the next time we will come here?" I said as I looked out to the beautiful horizon, unhappy that we were leaving in tomorrow morning.
"We should come here for our honeymoon or maybe a vacation with our first born in a couple of years?" Bin lovingly replied as he intertwined our fingers together.
"That would be a dream come true, I can't wait for that day." I replied as I gazed into his eyes.
That was probably the first time we talked about children in our relationship, a conversation that will forever will etched in my heart.
Fast forward 3 years, we really are here with our first born, happily married and still so deeply in love.
I unknowingly smiled at that memory of that conversation that took place in this island.
"Our little precious princess. What was life without you, I don't even want to recall." I said as I took Ji eun from Bin and brought her close to my chest, inhaling her heavenly baby scent.
The 3 of us stayed in bed after washing up and getting ready for bed. We watched movies, we cuddled and talked about everything under the stars. Looking up from our bed, we clicked a button on a remote and it turned our ceiling into a glass that revealed a sky full of stars.
Although there was a baby crib already provided for Ji eun, she refused to sleep in it and only wanted to be on the bed with us. She was probably scared to sleep alone. So, the three of us snuggled in bed with Ji eun in the middle. Eventually, we fell asleep as we gazed at the stars.
AUTHORS NOTE
hey guys! i hope you enjoyed this chapter. i got inspiration to write this chapter after rewatching the airport clip of Yejin and Hyun Bin at incheon airport flying off to Mongolia to shot CLOY. also, i just really miss travelling lol. wherever you guys are in the world, i hope all of you are doing well and keeping safe.
see you in the next chapter x