Crescent // ATEEZ ✔

47 [park]

Hwayoung squeals as she goes for another round of the slide with Byul holding on to her, before they splash into the water where Yunho is waiting, not having enough time to even catch his daughter. Hwayoung pulls Byul with her again, wanting to go onto the slide for another round.

"Hwayoung, you're making Byul tired-"

"I'm not tired, let her be," Byul says, already out of the water as Hwayoung pulls her out urgently, with them hiking up the steps to go to the beginning of the slide again.

There is no one else at the slide because apparently the child finds joy even in the simplest water attraction, while others are more interested in other areas of the water park, and not the slide which looked like it was abandoned before Hwayoung decided to use it.

Yunho looks up to the top, spotting the pair as Hwayoung eagerly sits on the slide, waiting for Byul to hold her from behind. He chuckles as he sees them sliding down, Hwayoung putting out her arms, squealing like it's her first time on the slide when it must have been at least 20 times. He catches them as they splash into the water, taking Hwayoung out of the water and places her on his shoulders.

"Come on, let's go try something else. How many times did you go on the slide?"

Hwayoung places a hand on top of her dad's head, her tiny fingers counting down as her face scrunches up in concentration. "Was it 20?"

"Smart girl," he praises her as they wade through the water.

Byul follows by his side as they go through a tunnel, plunging them into semi-darkness. Hwayoung is amused by the fact that their voices echo in the short tunnel that she starts singing, rocking her body back and forth as she belts out the lyrics to the song her dad liked to sing to her.

"The sun is blue, the star is purple, flowers are dancing with music on the side," she chants and tugs at Yunho's hair softly. "Sing it with me, dad! Byul-ie too!"

Despite feeling melancholic at the sudden rush of memories of where the lyrics had brought him and Eunbi to, he sings along, not realizing that he has stopped walking through the water and that drops of his tears have made his cheeks wet. He hopes that none of the two notice it, as the surrounding is dark and the water might've mixed with his tears.

He's too focused on controlling the sob from coming out of his mouth that it's only when Byul's fingers dig into the skin at the crook of his elbow that he realizes she's holding on to him, looking confused.

"Sorry," she enunciates. "It's dark in here that I don't know where I'm going. I just needed a guide."

"You could've told me if you wanted to feel my muscles."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm kidding." He makes sure that he holds on firmly to Hwayoung with his left hand, and gives a crooked arm to her. "Here, you can hold on to my arm."

If this is his attempt at flirting with her, he's surely doing a great job because the heat rises up to her cheeks, but she's thankful that it's hidden underneath the shadows. They emerge into the open, and it feels that they can finally get a breath of fresh air as the walk through the tunnel while going through the water wasn't an easy task.

When he sees that they're finally out in the open, he puts Hwayoung down, letting her swim as he watches on, making sure that her arm floaties are enough to keep her head above the surface.

They spend the rest of the time as three by mostly going to the children's area, letting Hwayoung explore the place on her own as they keep an eye on her. Byul and Yunho sit at the side of the pool, getting their feet soaked in water as they watch Hwayoung enjoying herself, occasionally waving at them as she's about to go down a slide or enter into a tunnel.