Crash Landing On You - These Are The Days

Sunrise

Second ficlet of the day, babes!

"Me too, Mama."

Se Ri startled, so bad that she spilled the coffee she was so lovingly pouring. Her little ninja sneak. She should be proud of her daughter. At five-thirty in the morning, she was probably concerned. "You scared me, Da Eun-ah."

Da Eun snuggled with her mother's leg, then looking up at her. "I want that, Mama."

"No, Da Eun-ah." Se Ri murmured as she slipped the pot back where it belongs. It will be cold by the time Jeong Hyeok woke up, assuming she didn't finish it first, but she was the one who couldn't stand microwaved coffee. "Not yet, Baby."

"Ten minutes?"

Se Ri snorted this time. It was too early. Saturday morning and she just couldn't go back to sleep since Jeong Hyeok arrival at three in the morning. The boys were still deep asleep. It was just her and her daughter.

But Se Ri wasn't caffeinated enough to stifle her amusement. "Appa teach you that?"

She got a sigh from her daughter. It was a pretty grown-up sound for her five-year-old. "Appa is busy."

"Yes, he has been busy." Se Ri agreed on a quiet hum.

Jeong Hyeok did get in really late. He spent last three weeks back in North Korea. It was something that had to do with his father's retirement. To be honest, Se Ri was scared shitless. There were so many worst imaginations that had passed through her mind. What if he never comes back? What if the retirement thing is only an alibi and the government wants to arrest the whole Ri family? Can she raise all three children by herself? The boys weren't even one-year-old.

But he was back last night, and she was really grateful for that.

"Up, Mama." Then, after a beat and a look. "Please?"

And of course, Se Ri picked her up. Her daughter. Her sweet Butterflake. Sometimes Se Ri couldn't believe that she was a mother of three. "Good morning, my dear Butterflake."

Da Eun cuddled in close, her little face in Se Ri's neck. "Not morning, Mama. I am Da Eun, not Butterflake."

Se Ri agreed to one thing and disagreed with the other. Yes, it was early, and her little girl shouldn't be up. No, Da Eun will always her mother's Butterflake.

Da Eun refused to call her mother as 'Eomma'. When Se Ri patiently taught her why she should call her mother as 'Eomma' she wasn't having any of it. So Se Ri just let it slide. There was not much difference anyway and Da Eun's friends probably called their mother as Mama too.

"Yes, it's not morning, yet. Then why are you out here with me, hm?" Se Ri asked quietly as she swayed her daughter back and forth. "It's early."

"So early." Her daughter agreed, her eyelashes fluttered like she wanted to go, but the tension in her little body was painfully obvious. "Your bed, Mama?"

"No, Butterflake. Appa is sleeping there."

"Appa is home?"

Se Ri chuckled and smoothed back Da Eun's hair. "You can say hi once he wakes up."

"Safe?"

Oh.

Oh wow. Se Ri had thought for sure that she'd get at least another year before she had to go down with this conversation with her daughter. But as far as she knew, this was the first time Da Eun was actually put it all together.

Both Jeong Hyeok and Se Ri always thought they would come clean about Jeong Hyeok and his family. Where they came from. Why Da Eun's paternal grandparents couldn't visit them as often as her maternal grandparents', why Da Eun couldn't visit Appa's hometown, why Da Eun never meet the uncles that her parents kept telling her about, and the list went on and on. They thought they had more time before explaining things carefully to Da Eun. Turned out she just figured it out all by herself.

"Yes." Se Ri answered, pressing a kiss to her daughter's head. "Appa is safe. Safe and whole."

Exhausted, for sure. While Se Ri didn't know for sure what he was doing in Pyongyang during his three weeks visit, she was absolutely sure whatever that was completely drained Jeong Hyeok's energy. He managed to drop his suitcase, hugged his wife, and checked their sleeping children. The moment his body hit the mattress, he was out.

"I want to see Appa."

Se Ri looked down at her daughter. She looked so much like Jeong Hyeok, almost like a female version of him. She could be stubborn to the end.

But this was not a battle Se Ri willing to fight in the morning. "Peeking only, alright?" she replied, already heading off to the master bedroom. Their bedroom. Hers and Jeong Hyeok's.

Her heart swelled, even as she nudged open the door. Jeong Hyeok sprawled in every way, hand tucked under his pillow, legs askew, and the comforter only covered half of his body.

Se Ri felt the tension leak out of Da Eun's shoulders.

"See, Da Eun-ah?" she murmured. "All safe."

"All safe." Da Eun repeated her mother. Her small body went soft.

Se Ri slipped back out of the room, pulled the door. Her hand returned to her daughter's back, stroking slowly, carefully, easily. It was soothed more than a few of Da Eun's rough night.

"Worried?"

"Appa was gone a long time."

Three weeks. Longer than they have ever been apart since Da Eun was born.

Da Eun was always a daddy's girl. After the birth of the twins, Se Ri barely managed to take care of her own children. Da Eun understood. She knew that her twin brothers needed more care and attention and she was a big sister now. She didn't mind to spend more time with her Appa. She wasn't mad when Se Ri wasn't able to tie her hair in the morning because of her baby brothers. She was politely asked her father for help when she wasn't able to do things on her own. Jeong Hyeok and Da Eun have created another level of bond, and Se Ri felt both grateful and envious of it.

Se Ri had to admit that it was hard being a mother of three. But she was happy. They were all happy.

"Come on." Se Ri murmured. "We'll get Mama's coffee and sit by the window, okay?"

And if they were lucky, they would see the sunrise. Just her and her sweet Butterflake.

****

Wow, I feel so productive today. No idea where the energy came from.

Still taking requests, just drop it in the comments. 

Comments and votes are deeply appreciated. 

And I want to shamelessly promote my new Binjin one-shot called "Breathe" haha.

Thank you all. I love you❤❤❤❤