A Sunflower in the Winter - ChanBaek

Drabble #2: Papa

Mino stared at his parents in wonder as they held each other, giggling and mumbling sweet words into each other's barely touching lips like teenagers. It filled him with warmth, admittedly, to see them so in love, so devoted to each other to the point they still acted like they were in their honeymoon stage.

At fifteen, Mino was finally able to understand many things he hadn't been able to before, and while his earlier memories were blurry, he could still recall enough to understand just how precious the love his parents had for each other was. It made him feel warm seeing them together and he could never bring himself to ask them to stop, even if it was jokingly. Seeing them so happy with each other, especially his papa, meant everything to him.

He could vaguely recall how bad it had been when his dad wasn't around. He could still remember the way his papa quietly cried at night, whenever he thought Mino was asleep, pictures of his dad clutched in his hands. Or how deteriorated his health had been. Even at such a young age, Mino understood that his papa's sunken cheeks, sickly pale skin, deep bags under his eyes, and scarily skinny complexion weren't normal.

He could clearly remember how everything changed the day his dad appeared back in their lives. How he gave them a new home, how he was always present, checking that they were doing fine. And of course, how he would always make sure his papa was eating and sleeping well.

Slowly, young Mino had seen a change in his papa. Finally, after so long, sunken cheeks turned into full, rounded ones, sickly skin into a bright, healthier one, and his smile...his smile had started to shine, like Mino had never seen it before.

As he grew up, he started to understand the reasons why. He'd heard enough shushed conversations behind closed doors, read enough news on the internet, and observed his surroundings enough to understand that his papa had sacrificed everything for him. He'd starved himself to give him something to eat, he'd slept on the floor to let him sleep more comfortably on the bed, and had taken the small amount of money he'd earned and spent it all on him, on Mino only. From the small apartment he rented, to his school, to his food, to his clothes and his toys, everything his papa had was Mino's.

And it was at fifteen that Mino could finally understand it all. Not only his papa's actions, but also the reasons why.

He'd never spoken about it with his parents, but he knew what his dad's family had done. He'd heard his uncle Jongin and his papa speaking once, many years before, about it. Uncle Jongin had apologized for his behavior and his papa had reassured him it was okay. The conversation came up again time after, several times, by uncle Luhan and uncle Sehun, too.

His dad's family had threatened his papa, had mistreated him, had blacklisted him. They'd been deplorable and cruel. They'd taken everything away from his papa without any remorse. And all for family honor.

If anything, Mino was grateful his dad had cut all ties with them. It disgusted him to think he shared any sort of connection with them. Thankfully, it was only genetic.

"Hey Minmin, dinner is almost ready," said his papa as he sat down next to him on the sofa, his eight-months-pregnant belly enormous by that point. And still, he was the most beautiful person Mino had ever seen.

"And there's dessert," said his dad as he joined them, his arm instinctively wrapping around his papa's shoulders.

Mino smiled at his dad's enthusiasm. There was no one in the world who loved his papa's baking more than his dad. Apparently, from what his dad had confessed to him once when he'd taken him along for one of his concerts in Japan, the desserts his papa prepared brought back good memories from when they first started dating and that, after being separated for so many years, said desserts reminded his dad that his papa wouldn't be leaving again.