Daeun woke up to the soft hum of voices and the faint clatter of equipment. she glanced around and found Mark sleeping, slumped against the wall next to her. she rolled out of her ready bed, wobbling a bit as she stood. not wanting to wake him but also not wanting to be alone, she spotted Jisung nearby.
"Jisung appa," she called softly, tugging on his finger. he turned and smiled warmly.
"hey, munchkin. had enough sleep? where's appa?" he asked.
"sleeping," she replied with a yawn, pointing to the wall where Mark was dozing. Jisung chuckled and opened his arms, and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he picked her up.
"what do you wanna do?" he asked, and she thought for a moment.
"let's take pictures!" she grinned, her excitement bubbling over. she pointed to a staff member with a camera.
Jisung went over to talk to one of the photographers to set up a backdrop. they started posing together, and Daeun, unexpectedly natural in front of the camera, struck the cutest poses imaginable. her adorableness was infectious.
one by one, the boys appeared, with Jaemin filming her antics while the others took turns having their photos taken with her. laughter and smiles filled the studio, creating a warm, joyful atmosphere.
Mark woke up to the sound of his daughter's laughter. he saw her in Jeno's arms, squishing his cheeks and giggling as they posed for pictures. curious, he walked over to the laptop, scrolling through the hundreds of photos they had taken. he laughed softly and took his turn once Jeno was done.
"appaaa! want appa!" Daeun beamed, reaching out for him.
"come here—aigoo," Mark said, catching her as she switched from Jeno's arms to his. they took silly pictures together, pulling faces and laughing. Chenle suggested group shots, thinking it would be great to have some professional photos to post and keep as memories.
they spent most of the late afternoon taking pictures until the manager called them back to work. as promised, Mark stayed with Daeun, who clung to his side. by the time they were wrapping up for the day, it was late, and Daeun was getting tired and cranky.
"not much longer, bubs," Renjun assured her as he hurried past, taking off his filming jacket and handing it to a staff member.
she tugged on Mark's hand, her fatigue showing. "i'm tired, appa."
"i know, little one. we're almost done. just a few last things to sort out before we go home," he said gently.
"want to go home noowww," she whined, dragging her feet.
Mark was sad to see her so restless and decided to distract her for a bit. "i have something for you in my bag. only if you behave, baby." he raised his eyebrows at her, watching her slowly calm her whines down.
she pouted while looking up at Mark, hoping to get the special thing he wanna give her.
"there's my girl, wait here a bit" he headed to where his bag was put across the studio, a satisfied grin was on his lips.
he came back with a black t-shirt, obviously way too big for her. he settled her on his lap, his hands were fast to dress her in his shirt, smallest shirt he have. "appa, why—oh, i like it!" she gasped as he pulled it over her head.
"now you can always have me with you, even when we're not together," he explained. she beamed and ran to her trunki, fetching one of her hair ties.
she handed it to him with a proud smile. "appa can take this."
his heart melted at her gesture. she cherished that hair tie, that always being given to any of the Dreamies who tied her ponytail. now, she wanted him to have it. he scooped her up, covering her face with kisses, making her giggle.
"i'll keep it with me always, beautiful," he promised, slipping it on his wrist as a bracelet.
as he turned to talk to her, she had toddled off, showing everyone her oversized t-shirt. she did a little spin for Renjun, who laughed with her, and pointed to Mark, probably explaining where the shirt came from.
Mark watched her, his heart swelling with love as he finished the last few tasks. Daeun went from one appa to another, twirling in her new shirt and pointing to Mark's hand where her hair tie was. she was very proud of the exchange.
just before they wrap up, Haechan came over with a dozing Daeun on his shoulder. "let's get this one home," he said with a laugh, glancing at the wet patch of drool on his shoulder. she was normally in bed way befo
