99th position again

"Ahhh… See what you caused," Michael sighed, staring at his stained shirt.

Little Pumpkin pouted, almost on the verge of tears. "I don't like medicine..."

"I don't want it," he muttered sadly.

Michael sighed as he stared down at his son, realizing he had no choice but to call Joel.

Emily, who had stirred awake while the father and son were chasing after each other, spoke softly, breaking Michael's train of thought. "Please let me feed him."

Michael and his son looked in her direction.

"Ahh, komawo. But he doesn't let..." Before Michael could finish his statement, Little Pumpkin picked up his medicine from the stool and walked towards Emily.

Michael opened his mouth agape as he watched his son in astonishment.

Emily grinned at the cute darling before her. "Good boy."

"Bring the spoon and water," she said, ruffling his hair affectionately.

As if being controlled by a spell, Little Pumpkin turned around and snatched the spoon from his father's grip. He also carried the bottle of water from the floor.

Michael watched his son in disbelief as he scampered back to the beautiful stranger.

Emily smiled. "Very good."

"Cutie, please sit on the chair," she said, patting the chair beside her.

Obediently, he climbed up on the chair, and Emily nodded happily.

She managed to dissolve the tablets in a spoonful of water with her right hand, then turned to Little Pumpkin.

She smiled sweetly at him. "Baby, say 'ahhh'..."

Michael shook his head pitifully at the pretty stranger. 'Ahhh, my foot… he'll never open that stubborn mouth of his. You are only wasting your time and effort.'

But to his utmost surprise, Little Pumpkin obliged. He opened his mouth and gulped down the medicine.

Of course, the medicine was very bitter. But since the beautiful noona was sitting right in front of him, he took it gladly.

"Ahhh..." Michael gasped in shock.

Wait, did his son just... actually take the medicine? Unbelievable! He wouldn't even take it from him, his father. But then, he took it from a total stranger—something he had never done before. Michael watched his son in bewilderment.

Little Pumpkin never took things from strangers. He never even got close to them at all. He never even allowed the maids in the villa to touch him. The only people who were allowed to touch him were his father and his uncle.

Taking his medicine was a pain in the ass for him and everyone in the villa. He never allowed anyone to feed him medicine, not even his father sometimes. Only Joel was always able to feed him, and that was after a lot of persuasion and promises to get him anything he wanted. But seeing his son take his medicine with the help of a stranger, Michael was beyond shocked.

Emily clapped her hands cheerily. "Awwn, awwn... you did it, baby."

"You are soooooo strong. You didn't even grimace," she praised.

She grinned as she dissolved another tablet in a spoonful of water. "Let's take the last one."

"Fighting!" she cheered.

Little Pumpkin giggled. "Fighting!"

"Hana - Dul - Set!" She quickly fed him the medicine.

Little Pumpkin gulped down the medicine, but this time, he grimaced a bit.

The second medicine was even more bitter than the first.

"Ahhh..." Emily feigned a grimace, and this made Little Pumpkin snicker.

"Uwa!" Emily gasped, impressed.

"You did it again, baby," she stated, ruffling his hair.

"You are such a big boy!!

!" She nodded approvingly.

Of course, she was only saying those things to make the cute little boy not grimace.

But joking apart, Little Pumpkin was strong. Many boys his age would have poured their eyes out if they were in his position.

Little Pumpkin hugged Emily.

Michael blinked rapidly as he watched the duo. If anyone saw them right now, they would think they were a mother and son. Who would believe they had just met each other for the first time?

Little Pumpkin laid gently on the sofa, resting his head on Emily's lap. She, in turn, stroked his hair happily, and in no time, the cute little darling fell asleep.

—

Within a few weeks of being together, Emily and Little Pumpkin grew very close to each other.

They were always doing virtually everything together.

Little Pumpkin never felt the absence of his father and his uncle whenever they weren't around since the pretty noona was always with him.

"Haaaa..." Emily gasped, her eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

"99th position..." she stuttered, staring wide-eyed at Little Pumpkin's school report.

She quickly covered up her shock with a smile. "Omo!" (Omo means oh my)

"99th position again?!!!" Joel and Michael gasped as they entered the lounge, overhearing Emily.

Little Pumpkin and Emily looked up at the duo, who were staring at Little Pumpkin in disbelief.

Michael sighed as they walked into the lounge.

He took his seat on a chair next to Little Pumpkin. "Ha... When will you improve? 99th position every time."

Joel grinned, ruffling Little Pumpkin's hair with his left hand. "You tried, kiddo."

Michael sneered. "You keep telling him he tried... He never gets any better." He stood up and headed to his room.

Joel shrugged. "Well, at least he didn't get the last position."

Michael scoffed and waved his hand in the air without looking back.

"I'll get you a toy car, okay?" Joel winked at Little Pumpkin and lazily climbed the stairs to his room.

Emily opened her mouth agape, surprised by Joel's comment.

'He tried?!' she thought, staring at Joel's retreating figure.

With the little time she had spent living with him, she already knew Joel was always the sweetest person whenever he was around his nephew, so she wasn't shocked when he grinned. What shocked her was the fact that he said Little Pumpkin tried—99th position!

"Humph..." Emily heard Little Pumpkin let out a sad sigh.

"You tried, baby," she said, trying to cheer him up.

Little Pumpkin shook his head. "No." He pouted his cute pink lips. "I know I didn't, noona."

She smiled. "Don't worry, cutie. We'll work it out together, okay?"

Little Pumpkin nodded slowly.

"Kaja." Emily stood up and gently pulled Little Pumpkin towards the dining area—it was time for dinner.

(A/N: Kaja means let's go)

After taking their baths, the brothers—Michael and Joel—strolled over to the dining table.

Michael smirked as he sat next to his son. "Little Pumpkin, eat well, okay?"

"Nde." Little Pumpkin nodded his head.

He shook his head at him. "At least you're good at something. Tsk tsk tsk..."

Joel chortled lightly.

As soon as their dinner was served—a chop suey dish—Emily hastily dug in. One of her traits was that she loved food, a lot.

The 'boys' had just taken their first bites, but Emily had already taken ten bites—she was a pretty fast eater.

Michael and Little Pumpkin paused to watch her in

amusement.

'A beautiful lady with a beautiful appetite,' they thought.

Joel stared at the girl before him in annoyance.

He shook his head, disgruntled. 'Why does she eat like an animal?'

He dropped his chopsticks and folded his hands, looking straight at her. "Hey..."

Emily swallowed and looked up at the handsome man.

"Have you no manners at all?" Joel asked, furrowing his brows. "It's been three weeks already. The doctor will be here tomorrow to remove the bandage."

He pushed his chair backward, stood up, and took long strides towards the staircase.

Emily dropped her chopsticks at once and stared at the floor dejectedly. After a while, she stood up and walked away to her room. She understood the deeper meaning behind Joel's words. She had to leave.

Little Pumpkin pouted as he watched his pretty noona walk away. He climbed down from the dining chair and also scampered towards his room in dejection.

"Little Pumpkin, you're leaving me too?" Michael pouted, watching his son as he walked to his room.

"Unn." Little Pumpkin nodded his head and shut his door.

"Ahhh... Everyone ditched me." Michael shrugged his shoulders and continued eating.

Emily slumped on her bed and sighed. She was slowly falling for the handsome man, but she would be leaving the next day.

The few weeks she spent with the family seemed like months.

She was beginning to feel like she actually belonged in the villa, but it was all lies and fantasy—she was leaving soon.

She would miss Little Pumpkin, his dad, the maids that treated her like family, the villa itself, and of course, her god.

Even though her god never spent much time at home, the little time he usually spent with Little Pumpkin made Emily realize he wasn't that bad of a person.

Emily let the tears stream down her face as the reality hit her that she was really leaving.