The Underground - 3RACHA

10

Chan was pissed off as he made his way into work that Saturday morning. He wasn't supposed to be working, Saturday was his day off to spend with Yena, but he'd been called in for a four-hour shift last minute and the threat of being fired was made if he didn't turn up. He had picked Yena up an hour prior so he had to take her with him. Once inside, he took her to a table at the corner of the pub, placed her colouring books and crayons on the table, bought her a coke and said, "stay here and daddy will be back soon, ok?"

He asked his manager to watch over her as he worked in the kitchen and he agreed to, but when Chan walked back out half an hour later, he found his manager completely oblivious to Yena's presence despite the fact he wasn't doing anything. It was as if he purposely stood on the opposite side of the pub so he didn't have to watch over her. Needless to say, Chan was even more pissed off than he previously had been.

"Are you ok, sweetheart?" He asked, pulling out the chair opposite his daughter who had surprisingly stayed put for quite a while. Chan looked at the table next to Yena and saw an elderly man sitting alone, half-grinning in Yena and his direction. Chan didn't know his reasons but he didn't like it either way.

"Yes, daddy I drew you this!" She exclaimed, holding up the picture of a butterfly that was mostly scribbled, but Chan could make out what it was.

"That's beautiful, sweetheart," Chan smiled, accepting the drawing from her and examining it more closely. At the top, she had scribbled her name and Chan chuckled. He looked over at the elderly man again who had a half-drunk pint in his hand and was still looking in their direction. There was no way Chan was going to leave her alone again, instead, he said, "hey, Yena. Do you want to come and see the kitchen that daddy works in?"

Yena's face lit up, "yes! Is it big? Do you have lots of ice-cream?"

Chan smiled, "we do. Do you want some?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" She cheered, collecting all of her crayons and putting them back in her baby pink pencil case. Her drawing and papers were also collected and Chan carried them for her in one hand, holding her hand in his other one. Chan stopped halfway towards the kitchen, noticing a semi-familiar face talking to his manager near the front door. He soon recognised him as the boy he found rapping in The Underground's bathroom. Jisung.

When his manager walked away, Jisung remained by the door, swinging his arms back and forwards as his eyes scanned the room. Chan smiled and lifted Yena up into his arm before making his way over to the younger boy. "Hey," he said, snapping Jisung out of his thoughts. The look of surprise that passed over Jisung's face when he noticed Chan was priceless and Chan couldn't help but chuckle. "You remember me, right?"

"Of course!" Jisung eagerly nodded, "you're CB67, how could I forget you!?"

Chan laughed again, "no need to use that name. I'm only a normal human outside of The Underground...and there actually."

Jisung eyes flicked between a series of things. Firstly, Chan's chef uniform. For some reason, he hadn't expected Chan to have a normal job like everybody else, he expected him to live some sort of badass rockstar life, but seeing him in a uniform made him feel much more relaxed. The second thing he noticed, and ultimately the most shocking, was the young girl that Chan carried in his arms. Jisung didn't want to jump any conclusions, but she looked a lot like Chan and when she spoke, Jisung knew his suspicion had been correct.

"Daddy, who is that?" She asked, pointing at Jisung.

"Don't point, Yena. It's rude," Chan told her but he still had a smile on his face. Jisung noted how he was so different from how he was on stage. He seemed more human and it made Jisung like him more than he previously had, which was a lot. "And this is Jisung. He's a super talented rapper that daddy met at The Underground recently."