Thy Art | Park Seonghwa

4.4

( 🎵 J_ust - Way Back Home, Standing Egg - Little Star )

The sound coming from the friction of her phone vibrating against the stack of books beside her, ripped her attention away from the brightly lit screen of her laptop. Upon seeing the familiar name pop up, she slide across her homescreen to pick up the call. "San, what's up?"

"Yunhee!" he exclaimed excitedly, sounding exactly like how he always does, "can you come over tonight? Seonghwa could finally make it to our movie night so you shouldn't miss it too!"

A smile drew itself onto her face upon hearing how excited the younger was. He had always been like so, that's probably why no one could ever say no to San. He would be so exuberant that you wouldn't have the heart to reject him. So obviously, the lass decided it would be a great idea for her to go over to their place. It wouldn't hurt, especially when she has finished most of the portion of work she had. "Of course, as long as I don't have to clean up after dinner again."

"We'll choose who'd be on cleaning duty in a fair way, don't worry," he address, "bring Eunbyul over, okay? I'll see you later, Yunhee!" The line ended right after and she placed her phone down beside her before continue typing away words.

Yunhee didn't want conclude just yet as it was only 3PM but she had to admit the day has been peaceful and honestly she could count how many tranquil days she's had ever since she arrived from Daegu. And she wanted so badly to say that it felt like the day was going to be a good one, as although she had woken up this morning with a headache, when she went to pick her daughter up, she could hear the little girl saying 'mommy' twice. The second time sounded like 'momma' but it was still utterly heartwarming for her to hear.

Like every other day, she started packing her belongings when the clock strikes 5PM with the feeling of relief that she has finished work for the day and she could finally loosen her mind a little. The evening breeze was still fresh and the sun still stood firmly on the sky, telling her that she was off early and that she had plenty of time to be at home before going to the other boys' house. Unlike the last time, she was able to arrive home, play with her little sunshine for a bit before taking a bath without having to rush and cook some food for Aunt Minju before she leaves.

Much to her prediction, although Jiwon had a lot of assigments on her plate, she still insisted to join and that made Jongho a ride for the sisters yet again. All throughout their journey, she was sat at the back seat while her sister was on the passenger seat beside her now-boyfriend. Yunhee had claimed to be a third-wheel at first, with Eunbyul being the forth but both of them claimed that they weren't going to act all disgusting and mushy inside the car. However, ten minutes into the whole ride, they were already holding onto each other's hand which the older could only sigh upon.

Mingi had been the one to open the door for the four to enter, with his new bed of red hair which surprised the two females standing behind Jongho. With the new color, he could stand beside Hongjoong and the only thing differentiation them would be their height. "Wow, hello stranger," the younger of the two greeted.

"Now you know how we feel when you came over with a blonde lock," he retorted with a playful smile.

The house was filled with foods but instead of rice cakes and pizzas, this time they chose to order sushi. However, San and Wooyoung was still at it with their battle on who's strong enough to open the bottle of coke only for Jongho to be the one successfully twisting the cap and Yeosang was shaking his head from a distance as he watched with his imaginary popcorn in hand.

"Where's Seonghwa? We're going to start eating soon," the shorter red-hair questioned upon seeing Yunhee entering the living room with only her daughter.

"He said not to wait for him," the lass replied, "he'll for sure be here for the movie but maybe not the food."

Hongjood nodded as to tell her 'okay' and proceed to carrying Eunbyul into his arms, taking her to where Yunho brought her to for the purpose of asking her which food she would like to have from the now 6 different jars of different flavors; they stocked up. Yunhee followed suit behind them this time, wanting to know how decisive her little girl could be.

Eunbyul pointed at two different jars at first, confusing both her mom and uncle but eventually she settled for a pea flavored one. "Don't give her that," Yunhee muttered to the lad, startling him and she could see how confusion instantly filled his eyes as his head tilt slightly to the side. "She doesn't like that flavor, she's only intrigued by the color. Ask her to choose one more." With that, the red-hair cooed for her to point another flavor and she ended up going for pear which did not possess a very appetizing color but had a better flavor.

All of them once again gathered by the coffee table which was then filled with different rolls and nigiris but still had a box of fried chicken on the side. Yeosang had probably insisted they should always have it no matter the circumstances. Once they each have a plate of their own, the only noise left that filled the room was their plates and chopsticks hitting each other.

Seonghwa arrived by the time San was already on the floor, his stomach filled to the brim and Yeosang had ditched the Japanese cuisine for the plain fried chicken. He was still wearing his work attire but his tie was already loose and the top two buttons of his dress shirt had been undone.

"There he is!" Wooyoung greeted loudly with a bright smile when he saw the older trailed behind Hongjoong to the living room. "We were about to finish all the food but Yunhee saved some for you. Don't forget to thank her!"

Seonghwa immediately took his place on the floor beside her, before proceeding to pin a piece of rice with raw fish atop of it with the two wood sticks he held by his fingers. Though it was too late when she realized, the chopstick he used had been hers. Due to how there really was no more disposable ones left and she no longer wanted to eat, she allowed him to claim it as his own.

"Okay it's time to decide who's going to clean up after this mess!" San excitedly announced after seeing how Seonghwa had finished eating the few pieces of sushi that was left. All of them stood in circle and Eunbyul was carried by Yunho on his waist and Yunhee could hear him telling her daughter, quote and quote, how much her mother sucked at rock-paper-scissors.

San, Jiwon, Jongho and Wooyoung easily freed themselves from the duty. Mingi and Yunho won not long after and soon it was the three oldest of the friend group going against each other. They had decided since the mess made was not so bad, only one person should clean like how it was last time. Yunhee had started dreading it when she saw the spilled soysauce and rice but as if she really really can't change her faith, or perhaps she was just really bad at rock-paper-scissors, she was once again chosen to clean.

A groan immediately escaped her lips as soon as she lost against Hongjoong. She didn't think she ever heard the latter sighed so much in relief before in her life. Everyone began busying themselves with god-knows-what. Yunho was acting as though he was an airplane and carry Eunbyul across the room. And Yunhee once again has to pick up the plastic to dump all the empty boxes that smelled like fish and soy. Seonghwa was beside her, giving her endless mental support but that didn't help at all and as if he knew, he started taking all the filled plastics to the trashcan.

Yunhee could feel her head pound halfway through her wiping the table. It was the exact same feeling that she got that morning when she woke up. She continued cleaning the table though she could feel the headache seeping in and once she was done, it was already at full blow.

"Should we watch Barbie or Ice Age?" Wooyoung's voice came from behind and everybody started screaming for the latter except for Jiwon, a pout immediately forming on her lips as she figured there was no way one vote would win against eight.

Eunbyul had not been able to go back to her mom from when the movie started. San insisted he would introduce all the characters to girl so Yunhee could go and cuddle with Seonghwa. Before she could argue, they had formed a ford, keeping the girl in middle. With the headache hammering inside her skull, she decided to surrender to their antics.

The light was dimmed and this time, none of them were on the couch. The carpeted floor had blankets and plushies thrown over it and some of them were sleeping as if they were a mermaid on land. The couples were cuddled comfortably with each other and as embarrassed as Yunhee was to admit, as soon as they both lay down, she was the first one to koala-hug Seonghwa from the side. That must've been the side of her that was internally trying to fight the growing pain in her head. The man was quick to react, circling his arm around her shoulder as well to pull her closer.

"Hwa," she called out with a whisper, earning a hum from him. She was debating whether or not to tell him but it has been 30 minutes into the movie and she could barely open her eyes anymore. The throbs became so prominent, all she wanted to do was sleep. "My head hurts."

Seonghwa immediately tilted his head down his right to look at her, surprising her but she quickly pushed her index finger in-front of his lips as he was about to speak as if telling him not to let the other know. He took her finger into his grip, pulling it away as he looked at her with nothing but worry. "Do you want to go? Or should I get you some aspirin?" he questioned, his volume only slightly above a whisper.

"No, it's fine," she glanced slightly at the boys who were still surrounding Eunbyul. The little girl looked like she was having fun and she couldn't have just carry her home. "And I took one this morning, I can't take another one. My eyes are just.. kind of heavy? So is it okay if I fall asleep on you?"

The lad moved slightly, adjusting their position so she could lay on him a lot more comfortably. She slowly placed her head back onto his shoulder and she could feel his hand moving at the back of her head, caressing it gently. "Close your eyes and sleep, it's alright. Tell me if you need anything, yeah?" He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and that was the last thing she remembered before drifting off. And although the sharp pain was what welcomed her sleep and the sound coming from the movie was loud, that had probably been her most comfortable slumber in so long.