Daeul - Kwon Hyuk

15

Sundresses were her favourite -- most especially the plain white ones with the lace or doily trimming. She had three of them and two floral rompers which she figured would be ideal for the beach as to not get sand in her pants.

"Tahiti?", she had reaffirmed with Hyuk once he told her where they would be going.

"Uh huh! Daeul loves tropical places -- I took him to Hawaii last year. Although it was kind of lonely with just the two of us.", the man pulled a sour face, sitting on the desk of his office, it being only the second time he had allowed Hanji to come in.

Minji had declined the offer to tag along, saying she needed to do her share of work at the art gallery she and her friend Joel worked at.

Hanji rolled her eyes at the excuse, knowing perfectly well that her sister often let Joel do all the work with the phone calls to and from other facilities. She had even put on a deceitful pity look when she had said no to her offer, whispering a "enjoy the week with the songwriter, though".

There's a lot of sun in Tahiti. And maybe a few bugs, Hanji placed a finger to her chin as she sat on the floor with her luggage in front of her.

Never mind the bugs, idiot girl -- at least you're going on vacation. As true as that was she still had to take care of Daeul. Regardless of where they were, her position still remained the same and as close as she and Hyuk have gotten, his words of reminder still lingered in her head.

You're his nanny.

~

"You wanna sit next to Hanji or me? Or you can sit alone over there and she and I can sit together."

Hyuk held his son in his arms, teasing him about where he would be sitting for the plane ride. Daeul flashed him an unamused look making the two adults bellow out in laughter. His dad had decided to place him next to Hanji who sat next to the window, himself being a chair over the aisle.

It was Hanji's first time on an airplane, let alone first class. Although she felt it was somewhat unnecessary considering she could handle the eighteen hour flight (with one stop-over). The issue however, was Daeul who became restless within less than two hours of the flight.

"Even in the air, you still give me a hard time.", she joked as she carefully held him in her arms and brought him up close to the window, pointing to the gray clouds which would soon fade as the sky began to darken.

When the boy had finally fallen asleep, Hanji desperately needed to use the washroom. She struggled as she tried to place him down in his seat which would cause him to fuss about.

"Here, lemme have him.", Hyuk suggested, seeing her struggle with the child. She gratefully smiled and placed him on his father's chest and he immediately cosied up to the man, his cheeks pressed against his sweater.

She mentally captured a photo of the two -- one of the first and hopefully not the last times that both of them had fallen asleep at the same time.

~

Upon their arrival in Tahiti, the sun had already begun to set -- a pink and orange hued sky lay above them.

They had decided to settle for a simple dinner at the small bar and resto next to the shore, sitting at a small round table. Mahi Mahi was definitely a first for everyone but it was needless to say that they enjoyed it.

A few meters from them resided a small stage, a band playing soft jazz music to accompany the guests along with dim lights to set the mood.

One of the head waiters had instantly recognized Hyuk as they entered the restaurant, being quick to assist the trio. "Dean", he had even called him.

Usually he would be open with taking photos but considering he was on vacation with his family, he settled for an autograph on a small piece of memo instead.

"Sir.", the same waiter approached their table later on in the night.

"If you don't mind, the crowd would love to hear you perform here tonight. I-It would certainly be an honour.", he shyly asked, lowering his head in humility.

Although he wanted to keep his vacation lowkey, Hyuk's main concern was that he hadn't sung in years -- the last time being months before Daeul was born. But then he turned to his son and the woman next to him who both smiled warmly, almost encouraging him with their eyes to go on.

And before he knew it he was on stage once more. It wasn't like he didn't sing at all -- he hummed melodies in the studio each time he wrote a new song. However, singing a full three-minute song in a room full of families was something he hadn't done in what seemed like forever.

"Please give your warm welcomes to our guest!", the restaurant owner applauded much to which everyone else obliged to.

"Alright, gimme a d-minor-nine.", he pointed to the small band behind him.

He gripped the mic with his right hand, closing his eyes for a few moments as he took in the familiar chords and melodies.

It seemed like someone else in the audience recognized it too as Oh Hanji began to smile widely at the familiar tune of Half Moon.

love, love the stars

love, love the moon

Oh, he's still got it. She nodded her head softly to the music, noticing Daeul sway side to side which made her giggle and tap his chin playfully.

A certain giddiness inside her almost made her want to jump out of her chair in excitement that he had chosen to sing one of her favourites.

It was the first time she had heard him sing in real life -- she hated admitting to her sister that she lowkey listened to his songs every now and then but refrained from watching the music videos, most especially Bonnie and Clyde for as much as she loved history, for some reason he heart couldn't bear seeing him touch another woman.

He opened and shut his eyes over and over again throughout his performance but on one particular opening, his eyes fell on Hanji.

Sitting on a short stool in one of her beloved sundresses, next to Daeul whose sways were offbeat. It was almost a scene out of a movie -- their eyes locked for the remaining five lines of his song, everything else seemed to fade and all he could see was purity.

She was purity.

Her warm look of admiration, the tilted head and rosey cheeks and tight smile.

W-What are my lyrics again?

Snapping out of his daze, he realized he missed a whole line and just sang the last two in hopes of covering up his distracted mistake.

The applause was definitely something he missed but Daeul clapped for him every day for no apparent reason and even if he were applauded in a room full of thousands of people, it couldn't compare to his son's open-palmed claps.

Hanji's own daze was interrupted by a ringing coming from her phone and as much as she hated it, she had to rip her eyes away from Hyuk.

"Hanji! Guess what!", it was Minji who for some reason managed to call long distance.

Pulling her phone away from her ear as her other hand tried to keep Daeul balanced on his chair, she replied, "Why are you so damn loud for?"

"I'm seriously going to owe Joel for this one -- a curator who works in Manchester came in today to discuss a collab and Joel mentioned you. And get this! He wants you to send your best work to him!"

Oh my gosh.

And though this was a moment of celebration, she struggled to feel it within her for all she could focus on was the man still on stage whom she knew she might have to leave behind.

--

Fun Story Fact #15

Both Hanji and Minji studied social science in high school and college.