Chapter Text
December, 1980
Snow covered the city of Seoul like every winter. The city looked beautiful with the grayish blue sky above the heads of the passersby, in addition to being covered by a thick and shiny layer of snow with which the little ones were always more excited.
December had always been a magical month, with the arrival of Christmas and later New Years. People moved in an uproar and smiling through the streets, feeling the magic fill their bodies and ignoring the terrible cold of the city.
The children walked hand in hand with their parents wrapped in scarves, hats and small colored jackets, making them look adorable and warm. Or, in Johnny's case, making him feel adorably suffocated and unable to move.
His mother and he were in the hospital waiting for the last check-up of the year.
He would get a flu shot and a lollipop in compensation for being a brave baby. The doctor would tell him that he is a healthy and big boy, they would go home and then his mother would make dinner to wait for his father to come home from work.
Eun and Johnny were sitting in the pretty waiting room with the yellow walls and animal stickers, when a woman with long dark hair with a little chubby-cheeked baby entered the room.
The woman offered him a warm and friendly smile before sitting down in the huge blue chair Eun was sitting on. She placed her little one next to him and handed him a small bag of sliced carrots, the little one ate in silence while her mother went through one of the magazines she took from the table in front of them.
Eun did not know when it had happened, but a second later she turned to look over her shoulder and noticed how her little one moved her chubby fingers trying to take one of the carrot pieces that the little one with dark hair and cheeks plump was trying to reach him. There was a little laugh and the two women locked eyes when Johnny managed to take the orange vegetable and pop it into his little mouth.
"I'm sorry" Eun apologized, moving Johnny to the other side.
"Oh, there's no reason, it's just carrots, I have more in my bag" the woman smiled at him. “They make Chittaphon distracted and well, it helps that it's a vegetable and not a candy. You should let them share. "
"Uh, sure," Eun agreed, placing Johnny next to Chittaphon.
The children looked at each other for a long second and huge smiles spread across their sweet little faces.
"Fa Ying Leechaiyapornku" Chittaphon's mother said stretching out her hand and smiling broadly at Eun. "But you can call me Ying, it's much shorter."
Eun smiled back and accepted Ying's hand warmly. "Eun Suh" the woman introduced herself, "delighted."
"I think the little ones get along very well, Chittaphon tends to get irritated pretty quickly but your little one ..."
"Oh, this is Johnny" Eun mentioned quickly. "We came for your flu shot, the weather now makes children sick very fast."
“We also came for the vaccine. Poor Chittaphon was sick less than a month ago. We had to wait for it to pass to be able to make an appointment. "
"The winter in Seoul is terrible," Eun points out with a nod. "Johnny is still adjusting to the weather."
"Aren't they from here?" Ying asks confused.
“Oh yes we are, but we lived a long time in America. We went back to Korea to raise Johnny here with the family. "
"That's adorable, they are the first foreigners I meet," Ying says cheerfully. "We came from Thailand, my husband's company moved him a couple of months ago and meeting more people is a bit ... complicated."
"People tend to distrust foreigners a little more than usual," Eun agrees with an understanding smile.
"Johnny Suh" calls a nurse in a white uniform full of little animals. "The doctor is waiting for you" she points out with a friendly smile.
"That's us" says Eun taking Johnny in her arms.
As if this were a threat, Johnny takes Chittaphon's little hand and lets his fingers join with those of the little one in front of him.
"Honey, it's time to go" explains Eun trying to loosen the bond from her hands. "It's time to say goodbye."
A slight quiver of Chittaphon's lower lip appears and his bright little eyes water as Johnny pulls away from him. Then, like a domino effect, Johnny's eyes get wet and a chorus of tears fills the room.
Eun and Ying try to calm the two little ones, but the more they seem to separate, the harder they seem to cry.
"I'll talk to the doctor to see if both can pass" says the nurse to the incessant crying of the children.
"You can't cry like that, Chitt," Ying says as her little girl's cheeks get wet. "What happen dear?"
The small hands of her son reach behind her mother's back, as if beyond her were what he needed.
"I think they hit it off really well," Eun explains, approaching with Johnny reaching past her arms to reach the boy across the room.
"I think we'll be serving two new best friends today, right?" says the doctor appearing. "Mrs. Suh, Mrs. Lee," he greets with a nod. "Come in please."
The visit to the doctor is quick.
The doctor takes the weight and height of both; Johnny is outstanding in size and Chittaphon is just the right size, both boys being the same age.
The little ones refused to separate more than necessary and the injection was without tears or major drama.
The doctor scheduled a new appointment for both patients for a couple of months later and both women left satisfied and amused by the new friendship that their little ones had just formed.
The afternoon sky was clear and the street was calm when they left the office, so both women headed to a small coffee shop down the street so they could allow Johnny and Chittaphon to play for a while longer.
Chittaphon and Johnny were exchanging little rattles and brightly colored toys. At no time did they let their faces stop smiling, which took both mothers by surprise. Johnny had always been smiling and charming, but the laughter that came out of his little body was so constant and so pretty that Eun couldn't help but film it and get excited about the idea of her husband seeing how cute Johnny had been that afternoon.
Chittaphon's case was the complete opposite. He wasn't a difficult baby, but he wasn't used to being that loose with new people. Yet he and Johnny seemed to get along, even Ying's little boy had shared his little gray rabbit with Johnny and that was saying enough. He was somewhat more shy and self-conscious around new people, but seeing him smile so easily and hearing him laugh with a new baby made Ying's heart melt.
"I'm going to need more play dates with Johnny," Ying commented when Eun stopped recording. “I haven't seen Chittaphon play with anyone like this,” she adds, laughing.
"I think this is the first time that Johnny laughs," Eun adds enthusiastically.
So when the sun has started to go down and the streets of Seoul have filled up again, both women decide it's time to go home.
The farewell is complicated and there is a bit of crying, but both women explain that in a few days they will see each other again. Both little ones seem to understand what their mothers babble and, before their mothers pick them up to head home, Johnny pounces on Chittaphon in an awkward hug that Chittaphon seems to respond to.
Both mothers with children in their arms wave their hands and promise to get together for the weekend in a park near that cafe.