Houseboat

1

There was nothing unusual for today but he relishes the fact that it was finally the end of the weekday.

The passcode for the apartment began to make a beeping noise, indicating someone is inputting the password on the other side. It was nearly 7 pm and he had just gotten off work.

The door opens with a ding and before Min Tae Gu can announce himself, Ha Chae Yoon cuts him off when she passes in front of him, carrying their crying three-year-old on her shoulder as she continuously coos her.

Without a word, Tae Gu removes his shoes, put them aside on the rack, and began to pull his sleeves up. "You could've called me so I could drive home faster," he says, picking up the knife from the dining table and resuming cutting the vegetables.

"I would've done that if my hands were free," she responds from the living room, pacing back and forth and still pacifying the cries of their daughter.

Tae Gu was still in his work pants, dress shirt tucked in with only the sleeves rolled up. When he's done with the cutting board, he sees the stove Chae Yoon had already started working on and finishes cooking their dinner along with the rest of the ingredients.

"Good point," he humors, stirring the boiling soup. "I'll give her a bath later."

"It's fine, I'll do it. You still have a lot of work to finish."

"I'll wash the dishes then." He closes the lid and makes his way to the living room. Chae Yoon was standing in front of the turned-off television, muttering words to their daughter but the young one could only cry.

"Hyun Ju-ah," he softly approaches and she naturally passes their child to his arms.

She closes her eyes for a bit and stretches her aching neck and shoulders while Tae Gu cradles her.

He softly cooed. "Why are we crying again today?"

"She said she dreamed of you getting hurt by bad people." There wasn't any surprise in her voice because this wasn't the first time their daughter had a nightmare. Everything was going fine half an hour ago but Hyun Ju suddenly woke up from her short nap on the couch, crying and trying to find him out of the blue.

Chae Yoon and Tae Gu shared a look for a moment. Words weren't needed for their eyes learned to communicate most quietly ever since their, very first meeting.

Exhaling, Tae Gu gently wipes his daughter's eyes with the back of his hand, taking off her tears and replacing them with soft kisses on her forehead. "It's okay, Daddy's here."

That seemed to reduce Hyun Ju's cries upon hearing his deep voice and she innocently blinks her eyes—dazed from all the crying— to stare at the huge man holding her in his big arms.

"She seems to understand," Chae Yoon gently reaches for her small head to caress.

Min Tae Gu purses out a dimpled smile for her. "See, I'm here," another kiss on her nose, "Daddy's alright."

With Hyun Ju now distracted—trying to reach for his long silky hair and curiously tugging on it— he asked, "Did something happen today?"

Chae Yoon shakes her head. "No," she hushes, "No, everything's fine. It was just the nap a while ago and the dream."

"Should I take a few days off? I don't want to make her feel she's distant from me." He had his head already bent down so her little hands can easily clump his hair and play with it. He thought it would assure her enough that he's perfectly safe if he'll always be with her.

"Tae Gu, you already took a few days off for her just recently. We have a babysitter anyway."

"Still, you've been doing most of the work lately," he eyes her wrist, "And you're still hurting."