Chapter 5: The Family and My New Life

For me, my body was my prison all my life and the only things I could do were to see through my eyes, move my eyelids, and hear sounds.

This new body, despite being limited by being that of a newborn has many more functions and has allowed me to experience many more sensations in the span of a few hours than I had experienced in all the 22 years of my old life.

I could feel through the sense of touch, move my hands and feet a little, I can move my fingers with a little more ease, but even so, at this moment, any part of my body that I move, even a little, requires great effort and generates great fatigue. I was able to stay awake for a while, but like the other babies in the room, sleep and tiredness claimed me, and I fell asleep.

The only difference is that unlike the other babies, I woke up completely renewed much earlier, and I know this because some babies who slept before me were still resting when I woke up and took much longer to wake up.

This cycle repeated several times; I made my best effort to experience this new ability to feel and move everything I could in my body until I was completely exhausted and fell asleep. Sometimes when I woke up, the other babies were already awake and crying. Other times they were completely asleep, and sometimes nurses came to take us to our mothers to breastfeed us, but in my case, I only accepted the divine tool; I would not accept any other way of being fed, 'I was reborn only for this moment,' is what I thought each time I was presented before the divine tool.

Even so, in all the times I was fed, the one who held me was my mother, and everytime she embraced me I could feel a sense of warmth and security. All that together with the pleasure of being subjected to the divine tool makes me feel as if I'm in paradise. I will never understand the heroes of the different stories I read who always complain about how horrible it is to be reborn in the body of a baby, because this is just pure bliss... But I suppose it only applies to me since my old body was a prison in itself.

After feeding me, they returned me to the room with the other babies, and the cycle repeated until finally, after a long time, they handed me back to my mother, who this time was wearing clothes different from a patient's, and with the help of my father and some nurses, they took us to a vehicle of this era.

After what I believe were a few hours, we finally arrived at our destination, an apartment house where I will apparently live from now on.

My mother carried me to the entrance of the house, and we were greeted by a woman who appears to be pregnant and close to giving birth, a man who seems to be her partner, and finally a boy who, judging by how he ran to hug my father and approached my mother and me with much enthusiasm, I can say is Seol Jihu's older brother or in this case, my older brother, Seol Wooseok.

And so they began to talk about a great many things with great happiness, things that I did not understand at all as I am still not able to understand the language, just getting familiar with the rhythm and distinction of names as they speak.

While I try to continue understanding what they say, Wooseok looks at me and tries to do everything possible to get my attention. But unfortunately, the effort to stay awake since we left the hospital until now finally caught up with me, and I couldn't help but fall asleep again.

Seol family home

**Women's side**

"I'm telling you, Seonmi, little Jihu is not like other babies; he is very calm and active at the same time," said Seol Jihu's mother, Mrs. Seol Jinna.

"I don't understand, he seems normal to me, besides, how can he be calm and active at the same time? That's contradictory, and seeing that he hasn't cried at all since he arrived and fell asleep shortly after, he seems more on the calm side," said Mrs. Yoo Seonmi, Jinna's best friend.

"You haven't had your first baby yet, in a few months when the child is born you'll understand. I already had Wooseok, and I can tell you, newborn babies sleep a lot, between six to nine hours straight before waking up crying for food and then being awake for a couple of hours and sleeping again."

"This little one however is not like that, he wakes up every two or three hours and doesn't cry at all, at most he makes a small whimper to get attention and signals that he is either dirty or hungry.

And when I say he is super active, I mean that while he is awake, he spends his time looking around and moving his little hands and feet whenever he can, he is super restless in that sense," said Seol Jihu's mother with great enthusiasm, like any mother boasting about her son's achievements.

"I don't know Jinna, I still think he is more on the calm side, but I'll see when mine is born and then compare to see if the differences are as big as you say," said Seonmi as she watched little Jihu sleeping whilst rubbing her swollen belly, proof of her pregnancy and that she will soon be a mother.

"That's fine, you'll see. He will wake up in a couple of hours, and if he is hungry or wants to be changed, he will only make small whimpers to get attention. I can't wait for your baby to be born. if it's a girl they will be a destined pair I'm telling you, and if it's a boy they will be best of friends, like us," said Jinna happily as if she could already see a complete picture of the future.

"Ha ha, you and your ideas, although it would be nice if I have a girl and they fall in love from a young age, but you know there are many stories like that where parents want to impose a relationship on their children and that ultimately ends up separating them. It's better to let them grow up and decide for themselves. And if it's a boy, that will also be great, if that's the case I have no doubt that they will be best friends with Jihu and Wooseok," Seonmi said happily.

And so the two women continued to talk about the future of their children and an endless number of 'what ifs' that occurred to them.

**Men's side**

"I'm telling you Jung, that little one will be a man among men. He already shows his indomitable character. If only you were there to see him fight because he did not want to breastfeed and instead took the bottle directly, the little one will be anything but a mama's boy. And when he wants food or to be changed, instead of crying he makes a little grunt, all like the little man that he is," said Seol Jihu's father Mr. Seol Jiseok, with great enthusiasm, boasting about his new son to his best friend Yoo Jung.

"Come on hyung, don't brag so much, it gives me anxiety and kills my desire to know if mine will be a boy or a girl. But you know how Seonmi is, she didn't want us to do the ultrasound and we can only wait until the child is born. All that and with you bragging about yours just makes me more curious," said Jung with a downcast and envious tone towards his best friend who not only already has one son, but now has two and never misses an opportunity to show them off whenever he can.

"Don't get discouraged, there is only one more month for you to have something to brag about too. Surely you will have a boy as well and we can put them on the same soccer or baseball team. They will definitely be the stars of the team and steal the hearts of all the girls," said Jihu's father.

"God willing. Though if I have a girl I will have to quickly join a taekwondo team so that I can intimidate all her suitors. And to clarify, your sons will not be exempt from this, hyung," said Jung seriously.

"Calm down brother, control your nerves. Your fighting spirit is so intense it's almost tangible. Also don't kill the mood, just imagine; if it's a girl and she goes out with one of my sons then we can boast of the union of our families with a bond greater than friendship. How great does that sound?" said Jihu's father trying to calm his best friend with a harmless joke.

"You're right hyung, I got carried away. Look at us counting our chickens before they hatch, it makes no sense to worry before we know if my baby is a boy or a girl. It is only after the child born that I can start planning for the future," said Jung a little more cheerful and relaxed.

**Children's side**

Wooseok couldn't stop looking at little Jihu as he slept. For him who has been dying to meet his brother for months since his parents told him he would have a little brother and that he would become a hyung. Now that he finally got to meet him he can only marvel at how small and tender he looks while sleeping.

"Don't worry Jihu, I promise I'll become the best hyung in the world and we'll have a lot of fun together," said little Wooseok, who is just 8 years old at the moment, as he watched the sleeping figure of his little brother.