Muse - Kwon Hyuk

01

"Guess whose first day of kindergarten it is!"

The snapping of her fingers turned into pointed arrows toward the boy who excitedly sat up from his bed.

"Me! Me!", Daeul cheered loudly, his expressions loving enough for his (new) mom to ignore the incorrect grammar in his response.

Oh Hanji smiled widely before fully entering his room and sitting next to him on his small bed, the blue sheets ruffled against the two of them. She leaned into him as she pecked his forehead.

As she brought a hand to wipe damp hair on his forehead, he looked toward her longingly. "I'm big now!"

His statement made Hanji grin warmly as she tilted her head. Daeul turned five-years-old in February and was now entering kindergarten. Her heart filled with bittersweet emotions -- happy to see him take the opportunity to learn yet also burdened with the sorrow that he was quickly growing up.

It seemed like yesterday when she first met him on the sidewalk. Only then, she wasn't his mother but his caretaker.

They both climbed out of his bed and stumbled their way downstairs and into the dining room, a certain man waiting for their entrance.

"Abba!", Daeul cried loudly upon seeing his dad at his usual spot at the dining table.

Kwon Hyuk calmly sat with a cup of black coffee in his hand, wishing that he had made the roast a little hotter since it cooled down too quickly for his liking.

"I-Is that a kindergartener, I see?", he joked with his son.

Daeul and Hanji laughed widely before taking their seats next to him. Their usual seating arrangement took place -- Hyuk at the head with Hanji adjacent to his right and Daeul seated next to her.

They had been complete for a year and a half now, rings on both Hanji and Hyuk's finger to confirm it. Hanji was never one for extravagance and begged her now-husband for a simple wedding as to spare herself from the embarrassment of overly-priced memories.

Some may say they married quickly -- just four months after he had asked her to, however she had already felt as part of their family considering the years they had spent together under the same roof.

Plus. Their wedding wasn't too elegant to the point where it took decades to plan.

Her dress on the said day was nothing far from Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face, her ankles and mid-calves showing as if to play off the innocent look. And to no one's surprise, Daeul carried their rings.

The pair honeymooned in Tahiti, deciding that it was a good choice to return but just as the two of them. To reminisce where most of it all began.

"What are you most looking forward to?", Hanji gently asked Daeul as she gracefully picked up a couple bean sprouts with her thin chopsticks -- the boy had needed less attention during meal times when he was close to turning five.

"Bona!", Daeul clenched his fists in the air.

Hyuk curled his brows lightly, as he took another sip of coffee.

His wife cleared her throat before explaining, "The girl who plays soccer with him -- pigtails."

"Ohh, Hanmin's kid.", Hyuk nodded along.

"Do you like Bona, Daeul?", Hanji teased her son, patting the cow-lick down on his head of hair.

The boy only smiled, scrunching his nose and showing only his top teeth. "I hope she sits next to me."

Hanji chuckled in surprise, her facial expression enough to say that his cute statement had melted her heart. She had always found it odd when mothers gush over their own children but who could say no to Daeul?

"Should we drive him today?", Hanji turned to Hyuk who nodded immediately. "Of course, it's his first day."

"Oh, what time are you coming home?", Hanji asked him as she brought a cup of tea to her lips.

"Hmm, maybe seven? Jiho said he'll stay behind tonight.", Hyuk explained. He and the said friend had been working on the same album for the past couple months, more words scribbled and new ones written each and every day.

They were to begin their tour along with Dong-wook and Hyo-seob near the end of the year but could only do so if they manage to actually release songs.

"You?", the man asked as he gulped down the last little bit of his breakfast, seaweed salad and soup.

"I'll be back early -- there's an installation and they want us to evacuate before closing.", Hanji explained. She had been working at the museum downtown for the past year and a half, loving each morning she drove to do what she genuinely enjoyed.

"I'll pick him up.", she offered.

Her (now) husband smiled softly before standing up to peck her on the forehead as he brought his plate over to the back kitchen.

Hanji had taught him and Daeul to be more considerate toward their helpers -- considering she, in a way was one of them. Clean up after yourself so Missus Chae doesn't have to. Ride your bike so the driver doesn't get disturbed.

In the beginning, her husband disagreed as he said "why have them if we do everything ourselves?" To which she replied with, "they're helpers, not servants you big baby."

The trio made their way out the door and into Hyuk's car, ensuring they all had what they needed being backpacks and lunches and what Hanji always told them to bring, tissues for you never know in case of emergencies.

Upon arriving to Daeul's school, they both exited the vehicle to kiss him goodbye and even bidded Bona and her dad a kind hello.

"Hanji will pick you up later, okay? Show your teacher her number if you can't find her.", Hyuk kneeled down to his son's height as he pointed to the name tag on his backpack with his parents' contact info.

Daeul was too excited to even properly say goodbye as he quickly ran to Bona, their hands intertwined as they ran off to class.

"And then there were two.", Hyuk teased, pulling Hanji into a side-hug as they made their way back to the car.