And When The Sun Sets ⋆ Lee Heeseung

ii. Fall 2008

Lee Heeseung is almost eight, and in awe of how Jordan, his sole playmate and best friend, manages to blend so well with the crowd. Crowd would be an overstatement, for it was just you and his dearest little sister- who were immersed into a world of their own- playing house on the soft mattress on the farthest side of the living room. 

Jordan was always the outgoing one of the two, Heeseung realises as he grows. He was the one who went out of his way to go sit with unfamiliar people, strike up conversations with things like how much he likes their pencil case, if they liked pokemon cards. It's thanks to Jordan, Heeseung thinks, he'd met so many cool people. Jordan was his personal pokemon collector, the almost 8 year old thinks. The only thing that set Jordan Burch apart from the ones on tv- Ash and his friends was that he collected friends.

"Come on!" Jordan laughs, casually revealing a line of missing milk teeth from each row of his gums. "Let's play."

Heeseung tchs at that. Their own game of pokemon cards was starting to get all heated up, and that too, with him leading by a margin in so long. He looks at the group of two- well, three, now that his traitor of a friend had already migrated to the other side as well. Jordan and the gremlin wave at the brunet, gesturing to him to cross over to their side as well. He then looks at you, who still had the excited poker face on (he knows his thoughts contradict each other- but you did know how to make a face like that). Comically enough, Lee Heeseung can physically see all your eyes sparkle like in those cartoons- your quiet and especially large ones standing out the most,

And he realises it was a war long lost.

After not too long, Lee Heeseung had realised two very important things.

One, his sister was as bad at playing house as she is at drawing and a number of other things. And two, more like a self realisation for a boy as young as him- you were surprisingly a better husband than anyone else in the room could be.

He didn't know how he'd ended up playing the girly and childish game of house on his treasured weekend. Neither did he know when he'd actually (pretty guiltily) started enjoying it. 

Heeseung played the silent housewife, or so he thought. He'd thought it would be the least tiring and more enjoyable. But turns out it was just the opposite- with his hands being full with one chore or another. And you, his (loving) husband- didn't really make things easier, per se. 

You were playing his quiet (a given) and diligent husband, albeit one he'd fall for. Your routine consisted of waking up early, making your own toast and leaving some milk one the counter for your wife (which was Heeseung), working pretty late into the night (10 pm isn't much, you'd told him quietly), have small talks with your neighbours- barbie model (his sister) and her magician husband, enjoy a nice meal in his presence (doesn't matter if he's eaten already- you just want him present at the table, you'd made it very clear) and go to bed after doing your half of the utensils.

Heeseung liked the fact that you didn't demand much, sparing him a sweat. 

You were still much, much more helpful than what his sister had- Jordan, who was just as bad as his pitifully incomepetent sister. 

And it made his stomach grumble. Not in a hungry kind of way, but more of a bungee jump and float in the air sort of manner.

Heeseung was almost eight, and unable to grasp the feeling that built up in his stomach every time he served you a piping cup of non-existent hot chocolate at dawn.