In Seven Days

Friday; 11: 39 AM

"You really like that lion roar, huh?"

Instead of answering his father, Seokmin pushed the huge purple key from his animal keyboard, a lion's roar booming from its protruding punctured plastic speakers.

Jin quietly chuckled to himself before quickly giving the boy's soft fluffy cheek a pinch.

Upon arriving earlier from the grocery store, he took it upon himself to watch Seokmin while Byulyi sorted the groceries and lunch. Admittedly, the events with the cart and the woman had still yet to leave his mind completely. Even as Seokmin happily slammed his tiny hands on the multicolored keyboard on his lap, Jin still found himself inspecting every spot on the boy's body to make sure nothing truly happened.

The hour passed by fairly peacefully. Seokmin drank his milk and stacked his cups and played his keyboard. Meanwhile, Jin dutifully watched the boy with his every move, snapping a pic or two—or maybe a whole album full and 6 videos—in the process.

But loud metal clangings rang the first floor, taking both Jin and Seokmin by surprise. Two pairs of comparable dark brown eyes widened as they looked at each other.

The older Kim sat up from the carpeted floor of Seokmin's room and peaked out into the hallway.

"Byul?" he called out. When he received no answer, he walked some steps towards the stairs and tried again. "Byulyi you okay?"

"Fine!" she yelled back a second later, though her voice sounded way too strained for her to be actually fine.

Piqued by curiosity—and just a pinch of worry—Jin carried Seokmin in his arms—along with the rainbow keyboard that he refused to let go off—and walked down towards the kitchen.

He found Byulyi standing before her open freezer, hands frantically running through each shelf there as she muttered curses after curses under her breath.

Jin stepped inside the kitchen, still carrying the boy who slammed his hands down the keys. "You okay?"

Just as a cacophony of animal hoots and roars and barks burst from the keyboard, Byulyi snapped her neck to glare at him.

"Do I look okay to you?"

Jin raised the available hand he had in the air in surrender. "Jeez okay. I was just asking."

He deposited Seokmin and his toy—which Jin turned off in case it further angered Byulyi—onto his nearby high chair so that he could inspect what caused the sound from earlier. Haphazardly shoved frozen things in the freezer, a steaming pot of water sat on top on an off stove, a metal lid on the ground, Byulyi clutching her arm with a deep frown on her face.

She finally managed to grab a frozen pack of mixed vegetables from the back of her fridge. She placed it against the angry red spot on her forearm and hissed loudly when it made contact with her skin.

"You shouldn't put ice over your burn," he said, gently pushing the bag of frozen vegetables away and grabbing her wrist, careful not to touch the burn's area.

Byulyi's frown deepened. Though she didn't protest when Jin pulled her towards the sink and opened the faucet. He placed her forearm under the running water, feeling her stiffen for a moment until it fully slackened in his palm.

The bubbling of the running water mixed with the thud thud thudding of Seokmin's keyboard in the background. Even if the thing was off, he was still slamming his hands onto the keys, making it sing an irregular rhythm instead of animal noises—a sound that was no less irritating than the other.

Jin clicked his tongue playfully. "Clumsy Byulyi strikes again." He slightly rotated her forearm left to right so that the water could cover every spot.