Seojun, who was playing with a doll on the soft mat in the living room, turned his head at his mother's words. The door opened, and his father appeared in the entrance.
Seojun crawled toward the entrance. Or rather, he tried to crawl, but his plump belly rubbed against the floor.
His baby arms and legs paddled the ground like oars.
Lee Minjun, who had just barely finished work on Saturday evening, picked up his son who was trying to crawl toward him.
"Our son!"
Seojun stretched out his arms to greet his father. Lee Minjun held his son tightly and kissed the cheek of Seo Eun-hye, who was standing beside him.
He also kissed Seojun's rosy cheek.
"Kiss for the son too!"
"Let's wash up first!"
At Seo Eun-hye's words, Seojun pushed Lee Minjun's cheek with both hands. Lee Minjun laughed. It was always a warm home.
After quickly washing up, Lee Minjun played with Seojun while Seo Eun-hye prepared dinner. Seo Eun-hye talked about what happened during the day while preparing the side dishes.
"So, when Seojun drinks formula, everyone follows, right?"
"Amazing!"
"That's what I mean. You know Min's mom is a vlogger, right?"
At Seo Eun-hye's words, Lee Minjun remembered Min's mom's videos. There were fusion dishes combining American and Korean home cooking, and videos introducing small interior decorations.
"Yeah, you showed me one before."
"Right. So, Min's mom said that our Seojun is a foodie. A foodie star among babies."
Seo Eun-hye said this with a smile. Lee Minjun also laughed and looked at his son playing with the dolls.
Seeing his son play happily made him feel happy, but looking at the dolls made him want to sigh involuntarily.
The dolls his son was playing with were made by his friend when he was five months old... In fact, Lee Minjun found it amazing that his son played with these dolls.
He and his wife had wanted to throw these dolls away, but their son, who had never been stubborn, cried and made a fuss, so they gave up.
Lee Minjun's friend loved games but was also skilled with his hands, often making figures, dolls, and miniatures. These were the dolls he had made by hand.
They were called "monster dolls."
Ugly green orcs and ogres, a two-headed troll, and a dragon with large wings. The dragon, with its scales meticulously detailed, looked very scary, and the other dolls didn't look particularly cute either.
'Is this a waste of talent...?'
His son often played a game where the orc knocked down the dragon, looking very excited, so he couldn't stop him. He was doing the same thing now, holding a small slime in one hand and hitting the dragon doll.
"Kyaah!"
He looked completely excited.
"Should I stop him...?"
Lee Minjun was worried that his son might develop violent tendencies. Seo Eun-hye, who had finished preparing dinner, came into the living room.
"It's fine. Seojun is very well-behaved."
"Really?"
"Today, while I was distracted for a moment, he was surrounded by other babies. But he didn't hit anyone; he just stayed still."
"Surrounded?!"
Lee Minjun was startled. Surrounded? The image of his son being surrounded by babies and unable to move, looking miserable, came to his mind. Seo Eun-hye, sensing his thoughts, picked up Seojun and shook her head.
"No, it wasn't like that. It's more like he's popular, and the other babies are crowding around him."
"Oh, I see. That's a relief."
Lee Minjun also headed to the table. A delicious spread of doenjang stew, egg rolls, and other dishes was laid out. Seojun was placed in his baby chair. Seojun sat with them but didn't eat until after they finished.
He had just finished avenging the dragon that killed him when he was a slime. Well, it was just a model. He felt that tonight's dinner would be very delicious.
Seojun, who was very excited, waved his arms.
"Hehehe!"
"He must be very excited."
Lee Minjun poked the baby's cheek. Seeing the baby's beaming smile, he couldn't help but smile. Seo Eun-hye brought the rice, and the meal began.
"So, I took a video of him drinking formula earlier, but I think you should take a video of him eating baby food. It's hard to do both at the same time."
"Got it. I'll take a video after we finish eating."
Lee Minjun answered and took a big spoonful of rice.
---
After dinner, it was the baby's turn to eat.
Seojun, sitting in his baby chair, saw his father looking for a camera in the drawer. His mother had brought the baby food.
'He needs to use the glitter, right?'
Seojun remembered what happened during the day.
He heard the other mothers asking for help because their babies wouldn't eat, even while he was being surrounded by other babies.
'I didn't expect the glitter to be used like this...'
He thought the glitter would make his skin and hair shiny, making him popular among babies. He didn't expect that feeding the babies to stop their loud crying would have this effect.
"Seojun, let's eat!"
Seojun sighed inwardly and looked at his mother and then his father. He was a good eater and sleeper, so his parents weren't worried, but other parents were different. The image of Ji-yun's mother, whose child had just started crying, came to his mind.
'There's nothing I can do.'
The problem was that the [Fairy Glitter] was on his palm. If it were on his fingers, he could have subtly shaken it without the camera seeing, but... to shake his palm, he had to shake his arm.
Moreover, shaking only his right arm, which had the pattern, would look strange.
'Maybe I have to raise both arms? I've never eaten while raising both arms...'
He hoped his parents wouldn't think it was strange and looked at his father, who was calling him.
---
-Tap, tap!
"He's here!"
"He's here?!"
Ji-yun's mother, Lee So-young, hadn't eaten dinner yet. Neither had Ji-yun's father, who had just come home from work. This was because their precious only daughter hadn't eaten again.
"At least he ate once during the day, so that's a relief..."
At her husband's words, Lee So-young felt like crying. But she wiped her eyes and quickly opened the chat app. Seojun's mother had posted two videos in the group chat.
-This is the formula version.
-This is the baby food version. Sorry for the delay!
Lee So-young quickly typed a message.
-Thank you so much!
Then she quickly played the videos. She opened the baby food version, which was more nutritious. Her husband, who had heard the story from her earlier, also watched the video.
Seojun, sitting in his baby chair, was looking at the camera. A male voice said, "Seojun, look this way!" It seemed to be Seojun's father.
Seojun's eyes turned toward the camera at his father's voice. A small baby bowl was placed in front of Seojun, who was laughing. Seo Eun-hye held a small baby spoon.
"Seojun, let's eat!"
At Seo Eun-hye's words, Seojun's mouth opened wide. The spoon disappeared into Seojun's mouth. Chomp! His mouth moved. Then, Seojun's two hands suddenly raised and shook.
"Huh? Is he excited? Is it that delicious?"
At Seo Eun-hye's words, Seojun opened his mouth again. The baby food was already gone. Seo Eun-hye put more baby food into his mouth.
The video showed Seojun eating for about 10 minutes.
Lee So-young, impressed by the well-shot video, said,
"Great! Ji-yun, let's eat!"
Her husband quickly ran to the kitchen to warm up the baby food. While preparing to feed the baby, the couple was skeptical about whether the video would work. But they were desperate and quickly headed to their daughter.
They fixed the smartphone in front of her and sat Ji-yun in her chair.
"Umm."
Ji-yun started to whine. Her father quickly placed the baby food on the table. Lee So-young, stirring the baby food with a spoon, pressed the play button.
"Seojun, look this way!"
Seojun's father's voice was heard. At the same time, Ji-yun's father said,
"Ji-yun, look this way!"
Ji-yun turned her head toward the sound of her father's voice. The smartphone came into her view, and Seojun was in it.
Lee So-young quickly brought the spoon to Ji-yun's mouth.
Ji-yun watched. Seojun, with his arms raised, shone again. For some reason, she wanted to follow him. The simple baby followed what she saw in front of her.
When Seojun opened his mouth, Ji-yun also opened her mouth. When Seojun held the spoon and moved his mouth, Ji-yun also held the spoon. There was baby food on the spoon. When the baby food entered her mouth, Ji-yun moved her mouth and swallowed.
She ate!
Lee So-young clenched her fist.
"She ate!"
Her husband, who was about to shout in joy at his daughter finally eating, suppressed his voice when he felt his wife's hand on his thigh. His wife was glaring at him with fire in her eyes.
His wife whispered quietly,
"Be quiet! She has to finish the whole bowl!"
"Got it."
The couple quietly fed their daughter the baby food. Ji-yun, who had been difficult to feed, quickly finished the whole bowl. The two were so moved that tears welled up in their eyes.
Lee So-young patted Ji-yun's back. Ji-yun, who had eaten her fill, slowly closed her eyes. Seeing their daughter sleeping soundly, the couple's eyes filled with tears.
They had thought she was in serious trouble because she wouldn't eat and had even taken her to the hospital. They had tried all kinds of formula and baby food, but it all failed. Each failure made them feel like they weren't fit to be parents.
Now, Lee So-young, who could finally smile, said to her husband,
"We should buy Seojun a gift."
"Let's do that! And send a message quickly! Tell them Ji-yun ate well and thank them."
"Right."
After putting Ji-yun to bed, Lee So-young picked up her smartphone. The group chat was already full of messages from Min's mom and the twin mom.
-Really! What happened! Min ate everything! No fuss at all!
-The twins also ate everything! In no time!
Lee So-young, Ji-yun's mother, also left a message.
-Ji-yun also ate. This is only the second time she's eaten today. Really... really thank you!
Seo Eun-hye, who had read the messages, told Lee Minjun, who was putting their son to sleep. Their son, who had eaten well, was half-asleep and fell asleep on the soft blanket. His plump cheeks were very cute.
"Everyone says it worked."
"Hmm... Maybe they were just hungry?"
Lee Minjun, who had only seen his son eat well, found it a bit strange to see a baby who wouldn't eat. Seo Eun-hye, who had friends who were mothers, understood a little of their feelings.
"A baby who doesn't eat really doesn't eat. Ji-yun's mother even went to the hospital."
"To the hospital?"
Only then did Lee Minjun realize the seriousness of the situation and patted Seojun's belly. He thought about how their son was really a gentle and well-behaved child.
"I hope it works tomorrow and the day after too..."
"Me too."
As the couple hoped, Seojun's formula and baby food eating videos were very effective the next day and the day after.