Engraved in Flesh

By Your Side

Dicarius did not sign up to babysit when he became the librarian. He just wanted to assist others in obtaining knowledge, not to assist them in the basics of life. Sighing as he put another book on a shelf, he grimaced as two girls messed with each other on the opposite aisle. He would rather be with the Kim twins at the moment.

If only these two behaved as well as Joon and Soo Ah Kim did. Sure Soo Ah seemed like the suspicious one of the two due to her quiet nature, but at least it didn't drive him insane. Even Joon's constant struggle to not stutter or make sentences longer with "um" and "oh" didn't bother him.

"Uncle Dica...? Um...can I, I mean, can we look at that book?"

Dicarius looked down to his right to see Joon standing there, Soo Ah close behind him. He almost forgot that he'd agree to watch them for a bit while Aru and her coworkers went to go deal with something. Apparently the twins wanted to be with him as soon as Aru drove into town for summer break.

"Which one?"

Joon smiled as he stood on the tip of his toes and pointed to a blue scaled covered book. Grunting and giving the children a small nod, he reached up and swiftly pulled the book from the shelf. He looked down at the cover and froze. It was a book about sea serpents. His eyes flicked over to the two twins that stood before him. With a small smile, Dicarius got down to the twin's level and held the book out to them.

"Keep it. It's a gift from me."

Joon let out a happy gasp, accepting the book. Soo Ah's eyes watered up causing Dicarius to fear that she would begin to cry. With smiles that reminded him of their father, the two kids engulfed the quiet man into a hug.

"And Gunn thought someone that held the same expression couldn't be so lovable."

Aru smiled as she stood at the entrance of the book aisle. The twins happily ran up to their mother, eager to show her their new addition to the book collection. Aru thanked and paid Dicarius for watching her kids. Before they could engage in a conversation, they were interrupted by the two girls.

"Okay Jade, write these down on your arm as notes for later."

Dicarius sighed as he couldn't help but overhear the list being given to the girl referred to as Jade. Aru smiled at the man's discomfort, only to gasp in disbelief. Yanking him back to reality, Aru pointed to his arm. Dicarius curiously looked down at his arms to see what she was trying to show him. His eyes instantly widened as the words being spoken was being written neatly on his arm. Aru smiled and put an arm on her shoulder, giving Dicarius words of advice and encouragement. She then winked at her kids, who quickly pushed the man into the aisle with the two girls. As the three ran away, they heard the shrill voice of a girl screaming out how she couldn't believe that her friend was gonna finally get laid. When they had reached a safe distance, the three Kims broke into fits of laughter.

"What's so funny?"

The twins cheered as they ran into the arms of the guy who spoke. It was Gunn.

"Uncle Gunn! We played cupid! Right, Soo Ah?"

"Mmh! We used our big kid strength to help!"

Aru quickly explained the situation to Gunn, the kids smiling proudly at their actions. When Aru had finished informing him, Gunn couldn't suppress his laughter. After he settled down, he presented the three with small tokens of gifts. The kids gladly accepted, Aru being more hesitant. When she had the small gift in her hand, she raised an eyebrow and looked up at him.

"Don't give me that look, haha. They're thank you gifts for letting me tag along with this trip. I saw things that'll help our business greatly! We'll be the best journalists around!"

Gunn laughed a bit before looking down at his watch. Frowning, he sighed and covered the watch with his sleeve.

"I better get back to Chicago now. Someone has to run our business, eh? We know Waxy and Mari can't take photos as well as me. And Sua is off visiting friends in Florida-"

"She is?"

"Oh yeah, forgot to tell you. Surprise? And Sehui is still fairly new. Oh! She wanted me to thank you-"

"No need! She's your best friend! She needed a stable job, and I didn't mind giving her one. You be safe on your way back or else the kids will track you down so that I can scold you."

The twins and Aru have have Gunn a hug, the twins having a harder time letting go of him. They walked him to the bus station and waved as he took the first bus home. Taking the hands of her children, Aru happily led them back to her mother's house. When they reached the front door, she quickly looked at her children. She straightened the collar on Joon's white shirt and fixed his vest. She began to fix his hair with her hands, only for him to become shy and whiny. She then moved onto Soo Ah, making sure that the yellow dress was neat and clean. After assuring that her children were presentable, she worked on her own appearance. It only took a few minutes as she fixed her recently cut hair to make it look like it did when she was younger.

Her mother's house was full of guests. Families of all kind were scattered in the living rook, kitchen, dining room, and the backyard. The twins quickly kissed their grandmother hello before running off to play with the other children. Aru kissed her mother's cheek and smiled.

"Mama, I love how you remodeled the living room! The lights look amazing! And the walls remind me of a red clay kind of color."

"What can I say? I've always been the artistic kind."

Aru laughed a bit before leaving her mother be.
Spotting people she hasn't seen in a while, Aru began greeting people. She hadn't been there for that long, so her greetings were going to take a while. She was nearly done when the rook went dead silent. Confused, Aru turned and followed the gaze of the crowd. There, standing at the front door, was her father. Without thinking, Aru pushed past the people and threw her arms around her missing parent.

"PAPA!!!"

She felt her mother run up from behind her and throw her arms around both her and her dad. Her mother rambled in Korean as her father carefully detached himself from their arms. As he was trying to calm them down. Aru noticed movement behind her father and peeked over him. Her eyes widened as she gasped. Covering her mouth, she began to choke up.

"Eomma? What's wrong?"

She heard her children cry out to her, but she didn't look at them. She just began to sob as she ran to the hidden person. Throwing her arms around them, she held them tightly. Tears in her eyes, she looked up at their face and into their blue eyes.

And then she kissed Mook.