Chapter Text
The sunlight had barely filtered through the pale curtains when a small voice pierced the peaceful air.
“Eommaaa! Appaaa! The sun is awake! Are we late for the hospital?”
From under a mound of blankets, Oh Yi-young groaned, then laughed. “Min-joon-ah, today’s Sunday!”
“Oh!” The three-year-old boy blinked from the side of the bed, lips already forming a dozen new questions. “So… you don’t have babies to catch today?”
Yi-young sat up slowly, her messy bun lopsided and eyes still sleepy. “Nope. No babies today.”
Min-joon climbed up the bed like a squirrel, crawling over his mother to plop between his parents. “Yay! Then can we go to the park? And eat pancakes? And maybe I can be a doctor too? I brought my stethoscope!”
Do-won, who had been silently awake for minutes, opened one eye. “Let Eomma breathe first, buddy.”
“But Appa, you said breathing is automatic. You said it’s from the brainstem,” Min-joon replied confidently, his tiny finger poking at Do-won’s temple. “So Eomma is breathing already!”
Yi-young burst out laughing while Do-won just sighed, pulling the blanket over his head. “I raised a monster,” he muttered.
“Nope,” Yi-young corrected, kissing the top of Min-joon’s head. “I raised him. You just supervised from the sidelines.”
Their cozy home wasn’t big—two bedrooms, a cluttered bookshelf of medical journals and baby picture books, and a fridge plastered with Min-joon’s crayon masterpieces. But every corner pulsed with life and laughter.
Yi-young swung her legs off the bed. “Alright. Pancake duty is mine. Doctor Min-joon, please make sure your Appa is alive while I cook.”
Min-joon nodded with serious eyes. “I will auscultate him.” He grabbed his toy stethoscope and leaned on Do-won’s chest. “Appa, your heart is beating slow. Are you sleepy? Or just lazy?”
“Both,” Do-won grumbled.
Down the hallway, the sound of pans clinking and a toddler’s chatter filled the air, like background music to a life hard-won—after years of sleepless residencies, heartbreaks, surgeries, and second chances.
And in the kitchen, while flipping pancakes, Oh Yi-young smiled to herself.
This wasn't the kind of morning she imagined back when she first stepped into Yulje.
This was better.