[E] Purity’s Epilogue

Little legs bounced on the bed happily. They belonged to a little girl, who used to go by the name Park Naeun. However, since her adoption, she had changed her surname to Nakanishi-Ryu.

"Appa!"She giggled and tumbled into Jaehwan's arms. Her father yawned and hugged her good morning. It had been a year since they had welcomed Naeun to their small family. They adopted her last year from Korea, per Jaehwan's request. She had been left at the orphanage since she was a baby.

Luckily for her, at the tender age of 5, Aki and Jaehwan were ready to accept her as their daughter. Naeun's a bright child, just like her Papa. She could comprehend languages very well and picked up on Japanese and English very quickly. However, she still preferred to converse in Korean most of the time and both of them respected it.

It would be easier to transition her to speaking Japanese by a slower gradient of change as compared to forcing her to give up Korean completely in favour of a language she barely knew. Anyway, Aki was also getting better with Korean so there wouldn't be any language barriers to begin with. It was all smooth sailing from here.

Playing with her locks of dark hair, Aki scooted closer on the bed so that he could hug both of them. "Ohayou, my darlings~"He mumbled, still half asleep. Pecking Jaehwan on the forehead and Naeun on cheek, he smiled as he could feel his daughter playing with his hair. "Papa, you have to wake up!"She whispered, twirling one of Aki's curls with her finger. Sitting up, Aki kissed his daughter on the cheek. "Yeah, I have to leave for work in the evening. Stay with Appa first. I'll get breakfast ready,".

She snuggled up to Jaehwan, happy. "Thank you, Papa!". Jaehwan held their daughter close to him. "Naeun-ah, did you know that Papa has to go to work tonight?". Flicking her hair back, Naeun's small hands drummed on her father's chest. "But he'll be home the next day right?".

Shaking his head, Jaehwan held her precious hands. "No, he'll be leaving for about 2 weeks to a month. Papa works hard for us, Naeun,". Tears began welling up in her eyes. "No...Papa shouldn't go! Papa can't go..."She whined, crying on the bed.

"Naeun-ah, he'll be home when work is over. Don't worry...You still have Appa and Tteok. Papa isn't leaving forever,". Wiping her tears, Jaehwan got out of bed to take her hairbrush that sat on the bedside table. "Besides, you get to follow Appa to work tomorrow. Are you ready, Naeun?".

"Mmhm!".

Brushing her hair as carefully as he could, she let her father work his way through her hair until Aki returned with their breakfast. "Yeobo, today I made hobakjuk. I made it with some of the leftover chicken stock from when we were making stew last week,". Picking Naeun out of Jaehwan's arms, he tied her hair up, accesorising her with a cute cat headband.

"Have you brushed your teeth, Naeun? If you haven't, please go and wash up,". She waddled to the bathroom obediently, tucking a stray hair behind her ears. "Appa, Papa, I'm going to wash my face,". Jaehwan wanted to follow her into the bathroom to make sure she would be alright. "There's a step stool for you to use, Naeun. Do you need any help?".

Shaking her head, the dragging of her step stool could be heard against the tiled bathroom floor and she left the door ajar. Aki dragged Jaehwan back into bed, tucking him in. "How's my yeobo? Did you sleep well, darling?"He whispered, pecking him on the cheek. Pulling a bed table over Jaehwan's lap, he served Jaehwan breakfast in bed.

"I slept well Yeobo~ Thank you for breakfast,"He giggled and returned the kiss. "You made pumpkin porridge? That's nice of you,". Aki shrugged and smooched his husband on the lips. "It's all part of introducing her to new foods. We need to make sure her palette is diverse,". Pinching Jaehwan's cheek, Aki smiled.

Honestly, he was glad that Jaehwan's face was starting to look fuller. He had gained a bit of weight over the last couple of weeks. Not enough to make him eligible for surgery but enough to give his cheeks some bounce. "Everyday, I wake up knowing that I'm lucky to be able to raise Naeun with you. I love you Yeobo,".

Glancing at the bathroom door, Jaehwan leaned against Aki's chest, letting himself get pampered. "I'm lucky that both of us get to be great parents for her, Yeobo. She's our everything now,".

Lifting up the lid of the clay bowl, a cloud of steam escaped from the warm pumpkin porridge. "Eat up, Yeobo. You're going to need a lot of energy,"Aki whispered, handing him a spoon. As Jaehwan was about to blow on a bite of porridge, Naeun came out of the bathroom and climbed onto the bed. "Appa! I want a bite! I want a bite!".

"Open wide, it's a big bite,"Jaehwan teased and fed her a healthy spoonful of porridge. As she chewed, both parents watched her with anticipation. "It's delicious! Like a sweet potato!"She exclaimed, her eyes twinkling. Aki nodded and brought her kiddie bowl to Jaehwan's bed table so it was easier to scoop out her portion of the food.

"It's a more fibrous kind of sweet potato. Do you like it?"He asked, ladling a small serving of the porridge into the bowl. She nodded in response and Aki patted her on the head. "Appa and Papa made it together. Naeun-ah, you have to eat well so you can grow big and strong. Alright?".

Squealing in joy, she hugged both of them tightly, the biggest smile on her face.

"Thank you for the food, Appa and Papa! Naeun will eat well!".

Both parents also wore a smile on their faces.

They were certain that this little bundle of joy was the best thing to ever happen to them.

____________________

"Tteok!" Naeun called out and a skittish albino ferret scuttled across the floor, happy that his playmate had called out to him. Jaehwan and Aki had adopted Tteok years before they even got Naeun so he was like an older brother to her. They settled on the name "Tteok" because he looked just like a long ricecake, a tteok.

Previously, Tteok has a history of being aggressive with other ferrets and had to be rehomed from his former owner. At the time, Jaehwan didn't want Aki to constantly have to deal with allergies if they got themselves a dog. So, they decided that their home would be Tteok's furever home. It was a lot of maintenance, but they absolutely adored him.

And in Tteok's case, he had a larger playmate who was in love with him too. "We're going to video call Papa, alright?"Jaehwan announced and sat them down in the living room. "Papa is in the USA now, so it'll be night time for him,".

Waiting for the video to load, Jaehwan held Naeun's hands. "Make sure you greet Papa alright? He misses us to the moon and back,". She nodded respectfully and threw her hands in the air when the video finally popped up. "Papa~!!!!!"She shrieked, kicking her legs excitedly.

Mimicking her, Aki raised his hands in the air and half-whispered his reply. "Naeun~!!! And my Yeobo and Tteok!". He rested his head on the table, smiling at them. "I miss all of you so much. Did you miss me too?" He laughed and got a chorus of "Yes, of course," from his family.

Happy, he stared at them through the screen. "I'll try to bring home loads of presents for all of you. Naeun, do you like presents?". She nodded her head enthusiastically and Jaehwan patted her on the back. "Naeun, what present do you want from Papa?".

Straightening her back, she clasped her hands together. "I want Papa to bring home some snacks please,". Aki agreed and copied her behaviour. "Will do, Naeun~". Pouting, Naeun put her hands on her hips. "Papa~~~Don't copy me!"She whined and Aki cackled, dropping the act.

"I really miss all of you. My lovely daughter, my playful little sausage cat and my Yeobo. I wish I could hug all of you,". Jaehwan cocked his head to the side, a grin on his face. "We miss you too, Yeobo. But, you're working hard for us and we're thankful for it,".

"Papa, I have to go. I think Tteok wants to go poop,"Naeun announced, the ferret in her arms. "I'll take him to the toilet. Goodnight, Papa,". Aki waved goodbye to her and blew kisses in her direction. "Goodnight, Naeun~ Be a good girl for Appa alright? Papa loves you,".

She reciprocated the love before dashing off to her room, which she happened to share with the ferret. It was completely by choice and Tteok even had a hammock next to her bed so he could sleep close to her if he wanted. Naeun made sure to clean Tteok's poop well and to make sure that his enclosure and her room was clean.

In a way, having Tteok taught Naeun not to leave any of her toys out and about because if she did, they would be stashed away by him. Of course, she loved having Tteok around her and was more than willing to make that compromise.

While she was dealing with Tteok, Aki took this as an opportunity to get flirtier and more personal with his partner. "Yeobo, I miss having you next to me. I miss cuddling you in bed. I want to hold you again,"He sighed, slouching in his seat. Jaehwan laughed and hugged his knees.

"Yeah, I miss being held by you. But, we can start again when Naeun starts going to daycare. Alright?". Aki nodded and grinned. "It seems like she's growing up so fast. Feels just like yesterday, she first came to us. And in a month, she'll be going to daycare. Wow..".

"It's because we're raising her so well, Yeobo. That's why it feels that way,"Jaehwan chuckled, watching his husband through the screen.

"Then, let's continue to do a good job. Okay Yeobo? We're a team and we're in this together,"Aki declared, holding out his pinky to Jaehwan.

Warm on the inside, Jaehwan completed their virtual pinky promise.

"I wouldn't have wanted to do it with anyone else, Yeobo".