Chapter Text
A white room, a plain couch in the center of the room. It had been so long since they had been in front of the camera, but at least this was supposed to be lighthearted, easy to do. To just be themselves. People wanted the raw, unfiltered families that were supposed to be normal. Minji sat on the couch first, then her wife, then their children piled on after. It was nice to have some sort of comfortable feeling.
“Okay, we are going to start with Jiu, then Irene, then the kids in age order. Just state your name, your age, and when you debuted and which group. Kiddos, you will say your name and your age.” The producer smiled.
“Gosh… Our age?” Joohyun whispered.
“It’s fun this way.” Minji chuckled.
Everyone went quiet on the set, the cameras in position as the director sat in front of them. It brough the two of them back to their youth, focusing on their perfect camera posture… It was something nostalgic.
“Action!”
“Hello, my name is Kim Minji, formerly known as Jiu. I am currently 45 years old. I originally debuted in 2014 under the group Minx, then in 2017 I was able to re-debut with Dreamcatcher.” She introduced, a smile on her face. She hadn’t changed much, just a little more tired, her hair kept short, just below her shoulders. She hadn’t bothered to dye it in years either, keeping the familiar black hair.
“Hello, my name is Bae Joohyun, formerly known as Irene. I am currently…” She looked at Minji who let out a chuckle. “47 years old.” She finally spoke. “I debuted in 2014 with Red Velvet.”
“My name is Hajoon and I’m 10!” The eldest of the twins smiled, showing off his bright smile.
“My name is Jisung, I’m also 10.” Jisung giggled.
Everyone looked down the couch, seeing their youngest daughter.
“You have to say your name.” Jisung whispered.
“My name is Wendy!” Their youngest, and only daughter, giggled.
“How old are you?” Joohyun asked.
“Four!”
It was cute, perfect. Everyone was normal at that point. Up until the interview with the children happened. Minji could have sworn her kids had normal manners, had normal personalities. But it was their fault for interviewing Wendy first.
“What’s your favorite color, Wendy?” The producer asked.
“Um… I like…” She looked around, thinking. “I like green!” she nodded.
“And why do you like green?”
“Because it’s the color of throw up on my cartoons.”
“Here we go.” Minji sighed, shaking her head while Joohyun buried her face in her hands.
“Sometimes it looks fuzzy too!” She giggled.
The idea of the entire premise show was to show what former idols were doing. Since Joohyun classified as a big name, she was casted into the show with her family, each one consenting to their houses being filmed, how they acted, what they did… Anything that showed that they either were still incredibly relevant or were normal people now. It had only been ten years since the last Dreamcatcher reunion, and they were due for another one. Which would be quite interesting to film for TV.
After they got their little introduction interviews done, they were already getting ready to pile back into their car, a little mini SUV, nothing that would scream that they were parents to three kids. Joohyun swore up and down that she didn’t want to drive a mini-van, not since they had spent a lot of their years being driven back and forth in vans. Minji couldn’t agree more.
“Umma, why did we have to go do that?” Jisung asked.
“It’s for a TV show.” Minji answered with a smile on her face. “Our family, Auntie Seulgi and Bora’s family… It’ll be fun.” She shrugged.
“I can be a cartoon?” Wendy giggled.
“Not a cartoon, sweetheart.” Joohyun smiled. “You’ll still be you.” She explained.
“Oh.” She pouted.
Just before they had left, they were advised that certain cameras would be on. Living room, outside, kitchen, and hall rooms would be on and recording. To just be normal. Minji and Joohyun knew they could be normal, having dealt with cameras in places before and being themselves. Joohyun more than Minji.
Their house was small to their standards, knowing that it really wasn’t. Seulgi and Bora’s house was much smaller and they lived further away despite Joohyun wanting to be Seulgi’s neighbor. It just couldn’t happen since nothing really fit in their budget or wants when they were house hunting together.
The first camera that greeted them was their front camera, pointing at their little concrete front yard with a gate. Joohyun parked the car, letting everyone out and carrying Wendy while Minji unlocked the gate. The boys were eager to run through the yard, already screaming at each other about who knew what. Joohyun set Wendy down once they were in the safety of the enclosed space, away from cars and people, watching her toddle off after her older brothers.
“Well, now they’re nuts.” Minji sighed.
“They’re you’re kids. I expect nothing less.” Joohyun smiled as she went to the front door.
The next camera to greet them was the living room camera. Perfectly angled in the far corner ceiling, able to capture the most of everything. The large sectional couch that sat just under the camera, the TV across from it. There was a side door next to the couch, leading into the small side and backyard where the kids were. They had a large, soft rug that Wendy loved rolling on for some reason, and toys scattered everywhere. The floor was at least clean and free of toys.
“I told them to clean up their toys before we left.” Joohyun groaned the second she stepped out of the foyer.
“I’ll get them.” Minji sighed, shuffling into her slippers before making her way over to the side door. “YA!” She yelled. “If these toys aren’t cleaned up I’m throwing them out!” She shouted, watching all three kids coming barreling through the door. “These should have been cleaned up before we left, who do you three think you are?” She demanded.
“Sorry umma!” The boys quickly shouted while grabbing their various action figures and robots that they were suddenly obsessed with.
Wendy however took her time, picking up one stuffed animal at a time. Minji saw how slow she was being, already growing slightly impatient.
“Wendy-ah, what are you doing?” Minji asked.
“If you throw out my toys, then you have to get me new ones.” She spoke, hugging her oversized bunny plush.
Minji looked at her in disbelief, turning to face Joohyun who had her head turned, hiding her snickering.
“It doesn’t work that way.” Minji sighed with a smile. “If I throw out these toys because they’re all over the floor, that means you get no more new toys.” She explained. “Because you didn’t take care of them.”
“I take care of them!” Wendy immediately defended.
“Leaving them out on the floor like this instead of with their friends is a little mean, don’t you think?” Joohyun finally asked, watching Wendy think for a moment before rushing over to grab more stuffed animals and run them down the hall to her room. “How do they even end up out here?” She asked.
“I don’t know.” Minji groaned.
It didn’t take long for them to clean up the toys, the open ended threat of toys being thrown out was one hell of a way to get them to move quickly. Minji sat on the couch, enjoying the somewhat peaceful quiet inside the house while the kids were back outside playing.
The third camera that greeted everyone was the kitchen camera. It pointed from the dining area, capturing the table and chairs, pointing at the kitchen where Joohyun was busy prepping things for dinner. They spent their morning getting ready for the interview, then the drive back was enough to make them all tuckered out. Then by the time they got home, it was already time to start getting everything ready.
“Jagi, can you help me get the kids’ lunches ready for tomorrow while I make dinner?” Joohyun called out, looking over the counter at Minji’s lounging form. She watched her pick up the remote to turn the TV off, getting up without another word. “Thank you.” She smiled.
“Alright… Lunch boxes…” She walked over to a little rack, frowning when she only saw two robot lunch boxes while one was missing. “Where’s Wendys?” She frowned.
“Oh, it was hanging up outside. She spilled something in it and it smelled horrible so I had to clean it on Friday.” She explained. “Give it a good wipe down and she’ll be fine.”
Minji walked out the side door, seeing an opened lunch box hanging from their wall light. She took a peek at the kids, seeing Wendy digging in the dirt of their planter while the twins were kicking a soccer ball back and forth, pretending to be world star athletes. She smiled at them, happy they were having normal childhoods. Even though they lived somewhat in Seoul, they were still getting to be kids, screwing around and finding out.
That was the last camera, pointed in their backyard at their antics. The area surrounding the house wasn’t all that big, but it was big enough to have a table, some chairs, a little canopy that was only brought out when they wanted to have an outdoor party. They had a few planters that held various plants, something both Minji and Joohyun loved doing as of late. Tending to their garden, getting a few fresh vegetables and herbs instead of buying everything at the store. It made them feel just a little fresher and healthier this way.
“Got it.” Minji held up the puppy themed lunch box, shaking it over the trash before wiping it down with a wet napkin. “Okay!” She said as she made her way over to the sink to wash her hands. “How much does Wendy eat again?” She asked.
“Like a horse.” Joohyun explained, not bothering to turn to face her while she focused on mixing meat in a wonderfully smelling marinade with a gloved hand in a metal bowl.
Minji had all three lunch boxes open, grabbing various things from their cabinets before dividing everything and setting up their little boxes. A rice snack, seaweed snack, and a chocolate snack for the boys, crackers for Wendy because she thought rice snacks were disgusting. Leftover Kimchi jjigae for Hajoon and Wendy, none for Jisung because he didn’t like the way it tasted later. But he got dinosaur nuggets. Minji smiled at her work as she tightened the last of the soup containers, sliding everything into place before making sure the kids had their utensils.
“Okay, lunches are done.” Minji smiled.
“Did you take out the chocolate snack from Wendy?” Joohyun asked.
“No, I thought she loved them…” Minji frowned.
“Suddenly she wants vanilla.” Joohyun shrugged. “Says something about how it makes her feel like she’s a rainbow or something.”
Minji turned to face her wife, not at all sure what the hell that kid was on half the time. But she exchanged the snack, putting a vanilla flavored one in instead. She wasn’t about to fight a small child on their snacking habits.
When everything was cooked, settled and done, Joohyun called for the kids, having Minji enforce the washing up rule by grabbing Wendy and forcing her to wash her hands better than she would without help. The twins ran to the hall bathroom to wash up, knowing they could be trusted with cleaning up after themselves.
“My hands are clean!” Wendy yelled.
“You have dirt under your nails!” Minji frowned. “And on your face, were you eating dirt again?” She asked.
“It’s crunchy. I like crunchy.” Wendy smiled.
“The doctor said this was fine right?” Minji turned to her wife, watching her shrug her shoulders. “Like, as long as she got real food… She wouldn’t end up in the hospital?”
“Yeah, she’ll be fine. We ate dirt growing up. We turned out fine.” Joohyun shrugged.
“Yeah we just ended up gay instead.” Minji joked.
“Oh no, it’s in the dirt!” Joohyun gasped, already laughing at her own joke.
Once Wendy was officially cleaned up, the family sat down at the table for dinner. A simple dinner of grilled meat, rice, some kimchi and various vegetables. Everyone talked about different things, asking a million questions about the new show that was going to come out, how they wanted to be.
“I have to be cool.” Jisung nodded.
“Cool?” Minji asked.
“Yeah! I’m cool at school. I need to be cool at home too.” He explained.
“Uh huh. You’ll be cool. Just don’t make my house dirty.” Joohyun pointed.
Minji laughed, shaking her head at their antics before looking over and seeing Wendy with her entire face already covered with rice. She let out a sigh, watching her continue to eat, not saying a peep.
“Umma, are you not eating?” Hajoon asked.
“Hm?” Minji turned her head, seeing her boys looking at her. “No, no. I’m eating.” She chuckled. “Just watching you kids.”
“Ew, umma is getting emotional again.” Jisung whispered.
“Let me be. You are all growing up so fast.” Minji sighed. “And I love you kids so much. And your mother.” She turned to face Joohyun, watching her smile up at her. “Gosh… I think I might start crying just thinking about this.” She chuckled.
“Well, stop crying and eat your vegetables. Be a good example to our kids.” Joohyun smiled.
The banter always made them smile, enough to let one another know that life wasn’t always serious. The love they had just for one another was so overwhelming. Now it was transferred to their kids with even more love for one another. Minji swore she fell deeper in to the pit of love when she first saw Joohyun with the boys, but Joohyun had her beat the second she saw Minji holding Wendy in the bed, watching her lay on her stomach, holding the little infant’s hand in their shared bed.
They just really couldn’t stop loving.