I didn't fall in love with you. I walked into love with you, with my eyes wide open, choosing to take every step along the way. I do believe in fate and destiny, but I also believe we are only fated to do the things that we'd choose anyway. And I'd choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I'd find you and I'd choose you.
She's it. She's my everything. She's the standard by which I'll judge beauty for the rest of my life. I'll measure every touch to her breath on my skin. Every voice to her voice. Every mind to her mind. My measure of perfection. The name carved into me. If I could, I would lie with her under these stars until my heart burst. ― Jeff Zentner, The Serpent King
When true affection is present, there is a leaning towards one another. This universal, non-verbal phenomenon is particularly true for the head and neck regions - and very often even a touching of heads is seen (in all cultures and even cross species).
Seyoung fixed the scarf wrapped around her neck and shivered in her thick cardigan against the icy February wind. It was supposed to be the last days of winter but the temperature in Seoul was still in the low teens. The front porch from her car was only 10 feet away but she couldn’t wait to step into the warmth of her house and get out of the cold, so she quickened her pace. As soon as she unlocked the front door, she could already smell an overwhelming scent of flowers coming from inside. And once she opened the door, she saw it - a sea of red roses in the entryway.
She stepped in cautiously and even looked around to check if this was the correct house. The picture on the wall of a familiar, smiling couple with a new-born suggested that she was indeed in the right home.
“Look Jae-young, omma’s home!” A voice called out from the stair landing. Seyoung looked up to see Wooyoung carrying their 15 months old son in his arms. A smile instantly appeared on her face at the sight of her two heroes.
“Happy Valentine’s Day omma!” Wooyoung exclaimed, as Jae-young clapped his hands excitedly like a little baby seal. Seyoung hands flew up to her chest, awestruck. “Omo, yeobo you shouldn’t have.”
“But I wanted too.” Wooyoung explained as he stepped down the stairs and walked towards her. “Roses are your favourite. And remember that time you were jealous I gave a 100 baby breaths to a girl when I was nine?”
Seyoung scrunched up her face at the memory of their first meeting. “There are 500 roses here, so.” Wooyoung finally reached where she stood and pressed his nose to the top of her head. She lifted her face to kiss him before pulling her husband and son in for a big hug.
Jae-young leaped from Wooyoung’s arms into hers when she pulled away and squished her cheeks with his tiny hands. He gave her multiple sloppy kisses making the young parents laugh. “But I didn’t get you anything yeobo,” Seyoung said guiltily as they walked into the kitchen together.
“You already gave me a beautiful, gorgeous son, what more could I want.” Wooyoung replied.
“A daughter?” Seyoung asked.
“Well. I mean…we can work on that tonight.” He smirked his trademark smirk and raised his eyebrow suggestively at her.
Seyoung bit her lip and chuckled as she sat Jae-young down in his highchair. “Appa is silly, isn’t he?” She made faces at their son who giggled and nodded. Seyoung sat down at the kitchen counter and watched as Wooyoung boiled water over the stove and prepared tea for her, while softly humming. Her gaze went back and forth between her husband and son, as she silently counted her blessings for these two people in her life.
“What did you boys do today?” she asked.
“Our son learnt how to bow today, didn’t you Jae-youngah? Show omma how do you bow?”
Jae-young clasped his hands on his round belly and folded his body in half until his forehead rested on the tray table of his highchair. “Aigoo,” Seyoung laughed and ruffled his soft hair.
“He’s so smart,” Wooyoung beamed as they stared adoringly at their proudest achievement in life who is now putting his hand in his mouth and drooling all over his shirt.
Seyoung giggled. “The smartest.”
“God, look at those eyes. He looks just like you.” Jae-young looked up at them as if he knew they were talking about him and started to whine.
“I think he’s hungry,” Wooyoung said, handing Seyoung his biscuit across the counter. They continued to talk about their day as she fed their child and Wooyoung prepared dinner.
“Did you finish that song you wrote about him?” Seyoung asked.
“Not yet, it still needs your vocal.” Wooyoung joined her at the counter with two plates of jalapeno pasta and took a seat on the other side of Jae-young. “Do you think we can work on it after dinner?”
“Sure, I’d love to.” About three months ago, during Jae-young’s birthday, Wooyoung had presented her the sweetest lyrics he had written about Jae-Young titled ‘To the Moon and Back’. Since their last song ‘Two Hands Intertwined’, they haven’t worked on a song together and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so.
“Jae-youngah, omma and appa are going to the studio to make a song for you,” Wooyoung said in a child-like tone. Jae-young’s eyes lit up like he understood. But that was the way he always looked when Wooyoung speaks, his eyes fixated with admiration while Wooyoung’s are full of pure love.
When Seyoung finished cleaning up, she joined them at Wooyoung’s in-house studio. Once inside she saw Jae-young on his dad’s lap at the drum set. Wooyoung was trying to guide him to play a beat but their son had a mind of his own. He was wildly wielding the drumsticks around, almost poking his dad’s eye. Seyoung’s heart melted at the sight of them together and took out her phone to capture the moment. Wooyoung noticed her and looked up, grinning.
“Okay, let’s do this.” Wooyoung said, putting Jae-young on the floor while motioning Seyoung into the sound booth. Over the course of an hour, they worked diligently on the song while Jae-young played with his toys at the foot of Wooyoung’s chair. Once they were done, Wooyoung played back the track she just sang, along with the backup music he had previously recorded. As it played over the speakers, he lifted Jae-young up and bounced him in his arms. “What do you think son? Isn’t omma’s voice beautiful?”
Seyoung smiled and got out of the booth to join them. She put her arms around Wooyoung’s waist as he shifted Jae-young on his chest and held both of his loved ones in each arm. They swayed together around the studio to the slow beat of the song. Both of their gazes fell on their perfect baby’s face whose eyelids were getting heavier.
“I think he likes it,” Wooyoung whispered, as Jae-young drifted off into slumber. “He’s just like me. We both like to hear you voice as a lullaby.”
Seyoung pulled Wooyoung tighter in her embrace in response. She tore her gaze away from the tiny person they created together and looked up at Wooyoung, resting her chin on his chest. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. “I love you, Jang Wooyoung,” she told him, immensely grateful by how perfect her life is at the moment.
“And I love you, Jang Jae-young,” she lowered her eyes back down to their son. “To the moon and back.”
