A Helping Hand, Part II

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May 2017

His voice sang like a tune, "Tell me, where should I start?"

"Before all these," I pointed my fingers at the to-do-list, "we should probably first get Hana to wash her face and brush her teeth."

Nodding his head, he offered without any hesitation, "Let me take care of that."

Smirking, I watched him move closer to the young girl who found teeth brushing a horrid activity. Inserting a toothbrush into her mouth could only mean waterworks. Things were looking to be interesting from the start.

"Uri (our) pretty Hana bear, what do you say to washing your face and brushing your teeth?" Hyungsik asked, stooping down to her level.

Hana shook her head firmly, "Sirheo (I dislike it)."

I stood by the corner, curious to witness Hyungsik's creative solution to the problem.

"Why is that? Why do you not like it?" He asked inquisitively.

"Izz poking. Hana feel pain. Sirheo," Hana's tiny right hand came up to her mouth, mimicking the act of brushing her teeth.

"Ahhhh... Hana bear does not like pain," Hyungsik's lips curved at the cute girl's innocence. He whispered animatedly, "Actually samchon knows how to make the pain go away. It's a secret. Do you want to see it?"

The little girl's eyes twinkled, charmed by his words.

Hyungsik held Hana by her tiny hand as he led her to the bathroom. Hana's steps were filled with hesitancy but nevertheless, she did not run away. That itself was a huge leap of faith. At the bathroom, Hana stood atop a sturdy stool and stared at her own reflection. While she was pre-occupied with her curls, Hyungsik took out the Poppy doll from behind and handed it as a gift to Hana.

"Hana-ya, meet your new friend, Poppy!"

Overjoyed, Hana clapped her hands and hurriedly embraced her new toy, snatching it away from Hyungsik's grasp.

"Now, before we play with Poppy, let's brush her teeth, shall we?" Hyungsik offered her a mini toothbrush.

Hana nodded her head with enthusiasm, and got down to business. While she 'brushed' Poppy's teeth, Hyungsik squeezed out just a small measure of toothpaste unto Hana's hot pink toothbrush and brushed her set of teeth. He did it ever so naturally and gently, without making Hana flinch or retract, colouring me impressed.

When Hana was done with Poppy, Hyungsik removed the toothbrush from Hana's mouth and lightly cleaned Hana's small face with his water-filled palm. With his thumb and index finger, he gentle pinched her nose by the side of her nostrils, concluding her wash up.

When Hyungsik looked up at my direction, I instinctively gave him a thumbs up. His lips curved into a smile, both his cheekbones elevated.

He really should stop smiling like that.

With teeth-brushing out of the picture, I headed towards the kitchen to prepare brunch. Hana has never shown herself to be a picky eater, and I suspect that had a lot to do with Hyewon unnie's love for all kinds of food. Nevertheless, Hyewon unnie had a pretty specific instruction concerning Hana's diet, which I'm about to now follow.

Just as I was about to close the refrigerator, a voice from behind startled me, "Moon Hyeyeon... cooks?"

There was an understated tone of teasing in his question, which prompted me to respond, "Yes I do, but I can't promise you'll be free of indigestion or diarrhoea..."

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