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Episode 7
Hajin entered the bedroom and sat Sejin down on the bed. He patted Sejin’s head and asked softly.
“Sejin, did you have fun playing?”
“Yes!! It was fun! The uncles are so nice! Kyahaha~”
Sejin was overjoyed by the gifts and the reunion with the group members he hadn’t seen in a long time.
Because of his excitement, he hadn’t noticed Hajin’s condition earlier. But now, as he looked closely, something seemed off about his uncle.
“Uncle, were you crying?”
“Huh? Oh… No, not at all. Why would I cry?”
‘Not at all? Yeah, right! He totally cried. After spending so much time with him in my past life, how could I not notice? Something must have happened while I wasn’t around. Ugh.’
Sejin decided to pretend he didn’t notice for now.
“Uncle, then why did you come here?”
“Well, I have something I need to ask Sejin.”
“Okay, ask me.”
Looking into Sejin’s innocent eyes, Hajin hesitated, his lips trembling slightly.
Sejin, noticing Hajin’s reluctance, pretended to focus on playing with the teddy bear.
After hesitating for a long while, Hajin finally spoke up.
“Sejin, earlier today, because of that bad man, you must’ve been really scared, right?”
“Yes! But now I’m okay.”
“Wow, our Sejin is so brave.”
Hajin gently stroked Sejin’s head before cautiously asking another question.
“Do you remember the things that bad man said earlier?”
“What did he say?”
Sejin tilted his head in confusion.
“Hmm, earlier, that bad man mentioned your mom and dad. Do you remember that?”
‘Ah, so that’s what this is about. But how does Uncle know what that jerk said?’
Sejin briefly thought about how to respond.
So far, the adults believed Sejin had amnesia because of the way he had been acting.
However, since everyone was still treading carefully, they didn’t know exactly how much Sejin remembered.
‘Hmm. I guess it’s better to clarify things now. I can’t pretend to know things I don’t. I’ll just say I don’t remember anything from the past, except for a few specific details.’
With this decision, Sejin opened his mouth to speak.
“Yes, I remember. That man asked if I remembered being in the accident with Mom and Dad.”
“I see… You must’ve been really frightened.”
Hajin bit his lip and cautiously asked another question.
“So, does that mean you know Mom and Dad have gone to heaven now?”
“Yes!! I know!! I’ve known since a while ago.”
“Oh… Really? Then why didn’t you ever ask about Mom and Dad?”
Sejin fiddled with his fingers and replied.
“I don’t remember much. I only remember a little bit of what Mom and Dad looked like, but nothing else.”
Hajin was at a loss for words at Sejin’s response.
“I see… Then, don’t you miss Mom and Dad?”
“I don’t know… I don’t remember them very well….”
Hajin responded to Sejin’s words with silence, simply hugging him tightly before saying:
“Alright. If you don’t remember, don’t force yourself to. When you’re healthier and a bit older, Uncle will tell you stories about Mom and Dad. Or, if you ever get curious, you can ask me anytime, okay?”
“Okay. But, Uncle, are you alright?”
“Huh? About what?”
“I don’t remember much, but you must still feel sad because Mom and Dad went to heaven.”
Hajin felt a lump rise in his throat at Sejin’s words.
“Yes. Uncle feels very sad, but I’m getting better. As long as I have you, Sejin, I’m really, really okay.”
Without a word, Sejin patted Hajin’s back with his small hands and spoke softly.
“Uncle, you can’t cry too much, okay? Since you have Sejin, if you ever feel like crying or feel sad, just tell me. Alright?”
“What will you do if I tell you, Sejin?”
“Hmm. I’ll hug you tight like this. And if you want, I’ll sleep next to you too.”
“Hahaha! Is Sejin going to comfort Uncle?”
“Yes!!”
‘This time, I’ll make sure Uncle doesn’t end up making the same choices as in his past life!! No matter what, I’ll protect him!’
Hajin felt as though Sejin’s words had healed the wounds deep in his heart.
The two of them stayed like that for a while when—
Knock knock.
Someone knocked on the door.
“Yes, come in,”
The door opened, and Cheolhwan entered.
“The guys ordered a bunch of food, so it’ll be delivered soon. Minsu’s waiting for it and will bring it up, so come out and get ready to eat.”
“Oh! Minsu’s here too? Where’s he been?”
“He’s been waiting in the parking lot. I told him to come up, but he said it’d be too crowded if he did.”
“He could’ve just come up instead of staying in the car. Once the food gets here, I’ll tell him to join us and eat here.”
“Sure, let’s do that. But for now, come on out.”
“Alright. Sejin, let’s go eat something delicious with the uncles.”
“Okay! Sounds fun!”
Hajin carried Sejin out to the lounge.
“Hey! Why’d you take Sejin in there? I wanted him to help us pick the food!”
Hwan complained as the two came out.
“You know you ordered the right stuff anyway.”
“Well, yeah, true. Haha.”
As everyone laughed and chatted—
Knock knock knock.
“Yes! Come in.”
The door opened, and a man in his early 20s entered, carrying food in both hands.
Sejin tilted his head, looking at the man curiously.
‘Huh? Who’s this? I didn’t see him in my past life. He must be the road manager who replaced me. Hmm. Then, what happened to the old me? Is there no Kim Doyoung in this life? I’ll have to look into it later.’
While Sejin pondered this silently, Hajin greeted the man warmly.
“Oh! Minsu, you’re here. Why were you downstairs? You should’ve just come up.”
“Hello, hyung. There were already so many people here; I thought it’d be too chaotic if I came up too. Anyway, I’ve brought all the food you ordered.”
Minsu placed the food on the lounge table as he answered.
The members immediately started unpacking and setting up the food.
“Wow, why did you order so much? There’s no way we can finish all this.”
The chicken Sejin had asked for came in several varieties, accompanied by cheese balls, fries, spaghetti, pizza, salad, and more.
“I didn’t want Sejin to run out of food, so I got a little bit of everything. Besides, there are so many people here. How could we not finish it?”
“Yeah, don’t worry. We’ll finish it all. Alright! Here’s the chicken Sejin wanted!”
Jumin placed a plate of boneless fried chicken in front of Sejin.
“Oh, and make sure to invite the caregiver to join us,”
Jaewon said thoughtfully, Cheolhwan responded.
“She left a little while ago. She usually stays longer, but since you guys were here, I told her to go home and rest early today. She said she’d say goodbye, but I told her it was fine to leave.”
“Oh, really? It would’ve been nice if she could’ve eaten with us before leaving,”
Roy said, looking regretful.
“We can treat her to something nice next time. For now, let’s eat. I’m starving.”
“Alright, let’s eat. Sejin, enjoy your food!”
“Yes!”
The aroma of the golden, perfectly fried chicken filled the air.
Sejin’s eyes sparkled as he gazed at the chicken, its glorious appearance captivating him after such a long time.
Unable to resist any longer, Sejin stabbed a piece of boneless chicken with his fork and quickly brought it to his mouth.
“Wow! It’s delicious~~!!”
Sejin’s eyes widened in delight as he savored the taste of chicken for the first time in a while.
“Hahaha! Look at Sejin! It must be really good!”
Hwan laughed, watching Sejin’s expression.
The others paused to look at Sejin, then burst into laughter as well.
“Wow~~ We’ve got to take a picture of this!”
Roy exclaimed, pulling out his phone and snapping photos.
One by one, the others also took out their phones to capture Sejin’s adorable moment.
While the adults excitedly took pictures, Sejin was fully immersed in the world of chicken, devouring piece after piece without a care for what was happening around him.
Hajin, watching Sejin’s puffed-out cheeks as he ate, poured him a glass of water and handed it over.
“Sejin, slow down a bit. You might get a stomachache.”
Sejin sipped the water through a straw and finally looked up, snapping back to reality.
Seeing his uncles taking photos of him instead of eating, Sejin decided to give them some fan service.
Wink.
He made a hand heart while attempting a wink.
Of course, with his child’s body, it wasn’t much of a wink—more like a simultaneous blink of both eyes.
“Ohhhh!!”
“Sejin! Do it again! I missed it!”
“Wait! This has to be recorded as a video! Sejin, Uncle is ready. Do it again!”
Encouraged by the overwhelming cheers of his 'fans,' Sejin gave another wink, followed by a hand heart and even blew a kiss.
“Hahaha!”
“Sejin’s really something, huh?”
“Honestly, he might be better at fan service than me. Puhahaha.”
“Hajin, you should make Sejin a celebrity!”
Everyone burst into laughter, creating an uproar.
Satisfied with how entertained they were, Sejin decided it was time to calm his uncles down.
“Uncles! Eat your food!”
Sejin then stabbed a piece of chicken with his fork and offered it to Hajin.
Seeing this, the other uncles were overcome with jealousy, causing another commotion.
Hajin, with a triumphant smile, eagerly took the chicken from Sejin and ate it.
“Wow! It tastes way better because Sejin gave it to me!”
“Sejin, Uncle Hwan wants some too! Ahhh~”
Hwan opened his mouth, acting playfully.
Sejin sighed at Hwan’s antics, extended his index finger, and spoke firmly.
“Uncle, are you a baby? Can’t you eat by yourself?”
“What?! I’m devastated!”
Hwan, struck by Sejin’s remark, slumped over in mock defeat, while the others erupted into uncontrollable laughter.
“Hahahaha!!”
“Hahaha!”
“Wow! Sejin is the best!”
“Haha, seriously, Hwan! Are you a baby? Just eat with your own hands already.”
Once everyone had calmed down, they finally began eating in earnest.
“Here, Sejin, have some cheese balls. They don’t taste as good when they get cold.”
“Sejin, you’ve been eating only meat, so how about trying some vegetables? This salad tastes really good.”
Amidst all the laughing and chatting, everyone made sure to add more delicious food to Sejin’s plate.
“Okay. Uncles, make sure to eat too.”
‘In my past life, if I didn’t take care of myself, I wouldn’t have gotten my share. But now, everyone’s fussing over me, making sure I eat. This life is so happy. This is the love the real Sejin was supposed to receive, but now that I’m Sejin, I shouldn’t dwell on sad thoughts. From now on, I’ll repay the love I’ve received by spreading it to others and live happily with Uncle. That’s the best way to honor both Sejin and his parents.’
With that determination in his heart, Sejin happily enjoyed the food his uncles had given him.
He ate until his small belly was full and rounded. Unable to take another bite, he finally put down his fork.
“Phew. Uncle, I’m full.”
Seeing Sejin’s round belly, Hajin patted it gently and wiped the corners of Sejin’s mouth with a tissue.
“Alright, your belly is so round now. You ate so well, I couldn’t stop you. But you skipped the hospital meal and ate just delivery food. Let me know if your stomach feels upset later, okay?”
“Okay!”
Before they knew it, all the food that had filled the table was gone without a trace.
“Wow! We actually finished everything. Haha.”
“See? I told you we would.”
“Well, with so many grown men here, how could we not finish it?”
“We said we were feeding Sejin, but in the end, we enjoyed the food even more.”
“I didn’t realize how hungry I was until we started eating. Haha.”
Feeling a bit sheepish, they began tidying up the table.
Once the cleanup was done, they all sprawled out comfortably on the couch, full and satisfied.
Seeing this, Hajin chuckled and asked,
“Are you guys not leaving?”
“What? Are you kicking us out now that we’ve eaten?” Roy joked.
“That’s not it. It’s already past 7 PM, so I was just wondering. Don’t you have schedules tomorrow?”
“Nope. No schedules. We wrapped up all our individual stuff last week. Haha.”
“Yeah, do you know how hard we worked just so we could spend time with Sejin?”
Hearing his hyungs’ words, Hajin was at a loss for words.
“Well, you guys still need to go back to your dorm to sleep, don’t you? There’s no place for you to sleep here.”
“Yeah, don’t worry about it. We’ll handle that ourselves.”
“Exactly! It’s not even that late yet, and you’re already telling us to leave? We’ll play with Sejin some more and then figure it out. You don’t need to stress about us.”
Even the leader, Jaewon, chimed in, so Hajin gave up, letting them do as they pleased.
“Fine. But Sejin has to be in bed by 9 PM, so do what you want.”
“What?! Why so early? We were planning to hang out with Sejin until midnight!”
Roy exclaimed in disbelief.
Hajin couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Midnight? Are you crazy? Sejin’s not an adult! His bedtime is at 9 PM. He still has to wash up before bed, so you guys better wrap it up and leave when it’s time!”
With that, Hajin took Sejin to the bathroom to wash his hands.
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