“Coco.”
Siwoo, who had been looking at a pale pink baby bottle, turned his head at Evan’s voice. Siwoo glanced at Evan’s face holding a selfie stick, then without hesitation put down the baby bottle he was holding and pointed with his fingertip at the pale pink baby bottle set.
“A set would be good, right?”
“…Let’s think about it a little more.”
“There are so many pink things like this, but I don’t know why the shopper only ever showed us ivory, mint, or blue tones. Everyone, it’s not right to assign specific colors to genders. I don’t know if our Jadu will like blue or green when he grows up later, but right now I’m the one using it more anyway, so I’m going with pink.”
The shopping basket Evan was holding was full of things Siwoo had impulse-bought. Tiny hand mittens, foot mittens. Hats and infant headbands that he’d ended up buying three of after admiring them for a long time saying they were too cute. As he said, they were things not restricted by gender and color.
“Wow. This is really expensive.”
Siwoo bent down in front of an infant blanket with all sorts of descriptions about organic this and that, checked the price tag, and his gaze turned to Evan once again.
“You want to buy it?”
A long sigh flowed from Evan’s mouth, having too easily read Siwoo’s sparkling eyes. Just browse around and buy one thing for Jadu. At this rate, he seemed ready to buy every single newborn item in this store.
“Do we need a lot of handkerchiefs? Again? A diaper changing table and a baby crib? Ah! Someone said they’d gift us a baby crib. Huh? What’s that again? Evana, an anti-reflux cushion? There’s such a thing?”
Siwoo, who had been looking at blankets just moments ago, had already come in front of Evan and fixed his gaze on the rapidly scrolling chat window. Every time he saw the names of items he was hearing for the first time, Siwoo muttered those names several times as if trying to memorize them.
“We agreed to buy only one thing for Jadu.”
“Ah, some things aren’t here.”
Seeing Siwoo not listening to his words as expected, looking at the chat window and having a conversation with the staff member next to him, Evan closed his mouth. If Siwoo wants to do it, he should do it.
Siwoo, who had been secluded at home all day as if confined, was extremely excited about this rare outing. He had clearly said he’d only buy one thing, but seeing him buzzing around everywhere and bringing things one by one to put in the basket, Evan’s expression hardened slightly.
Home and hospital. For Siwoo who had only been going back and forth between those two places, this was a proper outing for the first time in a while. Even if he had a home where everything was provided, even if there was Rush who took his mind off things, he would want to live this kind of ordinary life.
The top-grade items selected and brought by the shopper were nice, but Siwoo couldn’t even do something as simple as walking around and choosing things he liked himself.
Evan’s arm, standing behind Siwoo who was still alternating between looking at his phone and the guide standing next to him, checking if the items the Nimo-nims mentioned were here, naturally wrapped around Siwoo’s waist. And with his large hand, he slowly stroked the round belly.
How nice would it be if we were less famous? If we weren’t celebrities or if I weren’t a Lloyd… Both weren’t things he could do anything about, but he couldn’t help feeling heavy-hearted.
“They say that’s made in Korea? As expected, Korean moms are the best. Then we should buy that in Korea. There’s so much and it’s difficult. I think I need to study.”
Whether Evan hugged him from behind and stroked his belly or not, Siwoo leaned comfortably against his chest and diligently communicated with the Nimos.
As Evan’s pheromones enveloped Siwoo and his hand slowly stroked his belly, Jadu must have woken up because he wriggled following Evan’s hand. Eventually, laughter burst from Siwoo’s mouth as he’d been chattering away. When Jadu kicked Evan’s hand with a thump, Evan quickly placed his other hand elsewhere. Then Jadu also moved his body and kicked where Evan had placed his hand.
These days Evan and Jadu had gotten into the fun of playing like this, but it wasn’t such a welcome thing for Siwoo. Can’t you both play a little more gently? Because Jadu, who had grown quite a bit now, would sometimes move around and accidentally kick near his ribs, which hurt enough to make him go “Ah-.”
“Stop it. I’m having a hard time.”
The Nimos who had only been looking at Siwoo’s face wouldn’t know, but as Evan continued to play with Jadu, he eventually pushed Evan away.
Evanie aside, Jadu, are you playing soccer in there? I get that you’re sturdy enough to do that, but stop for now.
Siwoo supported the lower part of his belly with one hand and stroked his belly with the other hand, soothing Jadu who seemed excited. When Jadu’s movements, which had been kicking vigorously just moments ago, slowed down a bit, he slowly exhaled.
“Evan and Jadu are playing too roughly. Ha-. Then I’ll just buy this much today. I think I need to study and come back. Honestly, I don’t know if I’ll be able to come again. If we’re here, other people can’t shop comfortably. Evanie and I are ordinary people too. I think we show a lot of our life and communicate in my own way, but I guess it’s not enough. Honestly, I used to think sasaengs were really scary. But compared to the paparazzi here… No, six of one, half a dozen of the other. Instead of spending time taking photos like that, just log in here and post your questions in the chat. I’ll answer them.”
Seeing at a glance that there were many people pointing cameras from outside the store, Siwoo expressed his honest feelings and walked ahead of Evan with one hand on his lower back. The paper bag with the wrapped items went into the hands of the accompanying security guard, and Siwoo, who had been drinking the passionfruit ade another security guard had bought, waved at the screen at Evan’s words that they should probably leave.
“I want to do more lives and hang out, but we have to leave the store now, so that’s it for today. See you next time in a vlog.”
After ending the live, Siwoo looked outside and let out a small sigh.
“Is it hard?”
“A little.”
At Evan’s expression that looked like he would pick him up right now, Siwoo raised his hand, placed it on his chest, and patted it lightly. This is something he wanted to do. He called Evan who had been working hard, and the shopping was also something he wanted to do, so he couldn’t help being more tired than usual.
“Straighten your face. I’ll have you know that back in the day, I was someone who could run through concerts over two hours without getting tired.”
“That’s different.”
“I can’t dine out. Let’s go straight home. Ah, you know that restaurant there. I wanted to eat the T-bone steak there. Takeout doesn’t taste good. It’s delicious when you eat it there.”
Siwoo raised the hand that had been patting his chest to touch the furrowed brow while drinking the ade in his other hand.
“Should I ask the chef to prepare it?”
“Do that.”
Siwoo, who had been walking while talking with Evan, had to stop in his tracks because of the security guard who had stopped.
When going out, having paparazzi attach to them was now a natural occurrence. They always followed when he went to the hospital regularly, and now there were even more people, as if the paparazzi were contacting each other.
They were curious about everything. That’s why they even tried to collude with hospital staff to find out about his condition and Jadu.
What are they so curious about? Compared to other celebs, Siwoo and Evan’s lives were very exposed. Knowing that the more they tried to hide, the more persistent they became, they actively utilized vlogs and lives.
Still, seeing them desperate to find out anything more, even a little bit, left him speechless. In a situation where he couldn’t even properly look around surrounded by security guards, Siwoo, who had been standing with his head slightly bowed, involuntarily lifted his head at the muttering asking if the pregnancy was fake.
Hadn’t he said it over and over? He’d overlook them talking about him and Evan to some extent, but not to touch the child. When Siwoo stopped walking, perhaps becoming more excited, they poured out unimaginable words asking if he was really an omega, why he was trying to draw aggro with a pregnancy.
It’s not about anything else—if it’s about pregnancy-related content, it will naturally be revealed over time. Besides, why would he and Evan lie by even bringing up a child?
“I really hate this.”
As words not even worth responding to continued, Siwoo let out a small sigh. He knew they were deliberately provoking him to make him angry or to capture an unusual appearance to put a provocative title on it and sell it to gossip magazines or broadcasts, but he didn’t feel comfortable.
“Our Coco and Jadu should only hear pretty and nice words.”
At Evan’s playful words knowing his mood, and his action of raising both hands to cover both ears, Siwoo chuckled.
The Lloyd family kept warning about the paparazzi. Katie, who was about to become a student, was also their prey.
That pretty and bright child burst into tears, exhausted by the flashes exploding wildly toward her. The paparazzi who came all the way to the kindergarten poured out ridiculous questions even to Katie’s friends.
What was so important about what foods that young child liked or disliked, what subjects she was good or bad at?
“I want to go to Korea. Korea doesn’t have that many crazy paparazzi like that.”
Because of the swarming people, eventually even the department store security team had to come, and only then did Siwoo get into the car waiting at the department store entrance and lean into Evan’s arms.
He’d been standing for a long time, and because he was even tense due to the paparazzi, his back ached and his belly was cramping.
“Is it hard?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry.”
Siwoo pulled Evan’s hand and placed it on the cramped part of his belly. And he layered his hand over his and made him stroke it slowly.
“What are you sorry for? Those things are the problem. Jadu’s angry, right?”
“A little. Because you’re having a hard time.”
“I caused this mess by insisting on shopping for no reason. I should just look online and order. Or tell the shopper. It’ll be hard to come out again, right?”
Siwoo muttered with his eyes closed.
“If you want to. We’ll have to come after the department store operating hours end.”
“I don’t want to come out because I hate seeing their faces.”
With Siwoo’s grumbling as the end, silence descended in the car, and the tired Siwoo soon fell asleep.
“Jadu, you sleep a little too. If you wake up and play, Mom has a hard time.”
Evan gently touched the part Siwoo said was cramped, and feeling Jadu moving slowly, he whispered quietly.
