Aoto

Are Yu-jun and Sota still together? It’s already Sunday morning… Tsk. Who am I kidding? They’re probably going at it like rabbits. Damn it. I need to stop thinking about them.

“Mama! Mama! Mama!”

I blink a couple of times and glance at the twins, their arms stretched toward me.

Smiling warmly, I reach for both toddlers and nestle them into my arms, kissing their foreheads as I ask, “What is it, my little buns? Mama is here.”

They giggle in unison, their cuteness completely distracting me from my toxic thoughts about Yu-jun and my brother—and the fact that they’re together at some hotel, having the time of their lives.

As I shower my buns with cuddles, four knocks on the front door of the apartment startle me, making me wonder who it could possibly be. It’s ten in the morning, and my parents are out at the moment.

“Just a moment,” I yell, securing the twins on the carpet and rushing to open the door. “Yes, how can I help you?” I say without looking at whoever is in front of me.

“Finally! I thought you were going to ignore me today too.”

“Marina?” I gasp, stunned by the presence of my agent at my home. “What are you doing here? I thought we were supposed to meet at two in the afternoon at the café near the train station.”

“We were supposed to meet later, but I couldn’t wait any longer. I’ve been trying to contact you since yesterday morning, but you’ve been ignoring all my calls and texts,” she huffs, glaring daggers and crossing her arms over her chest.

“Sorry, but I haven’t checked my phone since Friday night,” I reply, frowning. “But why have you been so desperate to talk to me? Did something happen?”

I do my best to block the entrance to my apartment, as Marina isn’t aware of the twins’ existence. Even though she’s been my agent and a close friend for the past year and a half, I haven’t told her about my buns yet. In fact, only my parents, my brother, Kenzo, Junko, and my doctor and nurses at the hospital know about them.

“Aren’t you inviting me in?” Marina arches an eyebrow, her eyes glued to me.

“No?” I blurt out.

“Wow. How rude. Are you seriously going to keep your hard-working, sweet agent standing in your entryway like this?”

“Yes?”

She stares at me suspiciously. “Are you really going to leave me standing here? Are you hiding something from me?”

I shift on my feet, mumbling, “Hiding something from you? Of course not. What could I be hiding?” I let out an awkward laugh, uncomfortable. “Anyway, can we meet at the café later? I’m busy right now and can’t leave the apartment because my parents aren’t here.” I start closing the door slowly, making it clear I don’t want to stretch the conversation further.

Glaring, she places a hand on the door and pushes it back, stopping me from continuing to close it. “Actually, I want to—”

“Mama! Mama!” the twins call from the living room, consequently announcing their existence.

Marina glances behind me, her eyes going wide and her jaw dropping as she shrieks, “Mama?” She looks at me and points a trembling finger. “Are you a mama?”

Coming to terms with the fact that the cats are out of the bag—and that it’d be too much work to come up with a lie I’d probably forget later—I let out a deep sigh and confess, “Yeah, yeah. I’m a mama. Tch. You weren’t supposed to find that out yet.” I scowl, annoyed. “Why did you even come here? You’ve never done that before. We always met at cafés and restaurants to discuss my streams.”

“Mama!” I hear Gaku call again, followed by Genkei. “Mama!”

“Let’s talk inside,” I decide, stepping aside and allowing Marina to enter, which she does without hesitation.

“I’m so excited,” she exclaims, practically kicking off her high heels and running to the living room.

I drag my feet as I follow her, dreading the barrage of questions she’ll probably throw my way the moment she lays her eyes on the twins, especially if she figures out who their papa is.

“Oh my gosh,” Marina squeals, stopping in front of my buns. “Who are these two adorable angels? They’re the cutest toddlers I’ve ever seen in my thirty-one years of life,” she remarks, her purple eyes shining.

“The one wearing lighter-colored clothes is Gaku, and the one wearing darker-colored clothes is Genkei. They’re my twins,” I introduce, puffing out my chest proudly as I watch my buns smile and giggle at me.

“They’re absolutely adorable, Ao. How come you didn’t tell me about them before? Why didn’t you mention you’re a mama?” Marina kneels in front of the twins, inspecting their faces more closely.

“Mama,” Genkei wails, rising to his feet and trying to walk away from her and toward me.

Gaku, on the other hand, stares curiously at her, neither crying nor smiling.

“Mama is here,” I tell Genkei, meeting him halfway and scooping him up into my arms, patting his back and rocking him gently to comfort him. “I know you don’t like strangers. I’m sorry. It’s okay, Genkei. That’s my friend Marina. She’s your and your brother’s crazy aunt from now on.”

“Wha—?” Marina turns to face me, indignation splashed across her face. “Crazy aunt? Why am I their crazy aunt?”

I laugh in response, not bothering to answer.

“Not that I mind being these angels’ crazy aunt,” she says, looking at Gaku again and squeezing his cheeks.

With a flat expression, Gaku glances at me and calls out to me, blatantly ignoring her.

I laugh, teasing my agent. “I don’t think my buns like you, Marina.”

She shrugs, unfazed, and asserts, “They’re just not used to me. You’ll see; they’ll love me by the end of the day.”

“Yeah, I doubt that, but whatever you say, crazy aunt.” I laugh again.

“By the way, who is their father?” She inspects Gaku’s face again. “Judging by these angels’ beautiful faces, I can say for sure their dad must be gorgeous.”

I flop down onto the sofa with Genkei still in my arms. “Their papa isn’t in the picture,” I state, cringing.

“Who is the bastard? Tell me who they are so I can punch them. How dare they abandon these angels? How dare they knock you up and disappear? I swear I’ll knock their teeth out,” she barks, curling her right hand into a fist, visibly enraged.

Covering Genkei’s ears, I scold, “Hey, be careful with what you say in front of my buns.”

Flinching, she raises her hands in the air, her voice softening as she rushes to apologize. “Oops, I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful from now on. But really, who is their father? Are they Alpha, Omega, or Beta? How old are they? Where do they live? More importantly, how did they manage to seduce you? I swear, I thought you were an innocent, virgin young man with no impure thoughts,” she teases, shooting me a knowing smile. “But who would have guessed that you’re actually a mama to two beautiful angels?”

Gaku stands up and gestures for me to sit him beside Genkei and me on the couch, which I do while pondering whether to reveal the truth to Marina about the twins’ father or keep his name buried in my broken heart and memories.

Arching an eyebrow, Marina presses, “So, who is their father?”

I sigh. “Anyway, why have you been trying to contact me so desperately since Saturday morning, so much so that you couldn’t wait a few more hours until our meeting at the café?” I change the subject, making it clear that I want to drop the conversation about my buns.

“Oh, that’s right. So, Mr. Yoon’s secretary from the Yoon Group called me on Friday afternoon about wanting you to be in the next music video for the Yoon Talent Agency’s biggest star. But then, after talking to you on Friday night and receiving your confirmation that you didn’t want it, I emailed her to let her know it’s not happening.” She pauses, takes her cell phone out of her purse, and shows me the screen, which has dozens of missed calls from a number I don’t recognize.

“Whose calls are those from?”

Gaku extends his arms and leans to grab the phone from Marina’s hands, but I quickly wrap an arm around his waist, managing to stop him from falling off the couch.

I scold, “No, Gaku. You can’t take other people’s things without asking first. Also, be careful not to fall off the couch, or you’ll get a bubu like last week when you hit your forehead on the table.”

Gaku stares at me as though processing my words, then breaks into a grin and a giggle, nodding in response.

* * *