There was a loud roaring sound, along with a trickling sound, hitting his room's windows, hard.
"Hm?" Namjoon groaned, stirring in his bed with his comforter before sitting up.
He rubbed his eyes and stared out of the windows when lightning flashed.
"Raining..." he mumbled as he grabbed his phone to check on the time, but when he heard the thunder, he quickly jumped out of the bed towards his door.
Yeon Hwa!
He opened his room door and yelped when he suddenly saw Yeon Hwa standing before him, sobbing.
"Uncle Joon?" she muttered, rubbing her eyes with the sleeve of her pajamas. Namjoon picked her up and patted her head, trying to calm her down.
"Thunders... Thunders..."
"Shhh... It's okay, I'm here," Namjoon whispered, kissing her head a few times, as he walked towards the guest room where she was sleeping in. "I'll get you back to your room, okay?"
"But I want to sleep with you!" Yeon Hwa cried out, hugging his neck tight as he closed the door behind him.
"I won't go anywhere. I promise," he whispered, placing her down on the bed. He put on the comforter over her and himself as they lay down next to each other, cuddling.
"How did you and your mama handle the thunders?" Namjoon suddenly asked, as he softly patted her arm.
"We hug together in sleep. When mama is not home, I will run to Uncle Wook or into mama's closet room," she mumbled, closing her ears as another thunder boomed.
"Closet room?"
"Mama said she used to hide in there too when there are thunders-"
The room suddenly got lit up with the lightning, and Namjoon hugged her closer to him as the thunder came again.
And he got another memory coming to him again.
"That one! That blue one- Ah!"
"Ya! If you keep bumping into me, how am I going to get that pillow?!"
"Sorry!"
"Just... be brave a bit. It's not like the storm could hit you! You're in the house!"
"S-S-Shut up!"
"Uncle Joon?" Yeon Hwa suddenly called out, distracting him from his trance. "How did you know mama?"
"Ah... she's um... a friend- Ah, remember Uncle Kookie? He was your mama's friend when they were little, like you."
"Oh..." she nodded, before she scooted closer to him, perfectly fitting in his arms. "Uncle Joon, I can just stay like this all night. You're so warm."
"Then get closer," he whispered, kissing her head as he tried to compose himself again because he knew that he heard her last words before, from Hyun Ae.
His mind that night was pretty much messed up that he couldn't even focus properly on the little kid.
"Uncle Joon..."
"Y-Y-Yes, Yeon Hwa?"
Yeon Hwa bit her lip, looking a bit worried as she went silent for a few minutes before she opened her mouth.
"Can I call you 'papa'?"
He gasped inside as they stared at each other. Yeon Hwa then looked at her fingers, feeling gloomy but she went on anyway.
"It's just... I never know the feeling of having a papa. My friends in school always say bad things to me, because I don't know where my papa is. When I asked mama about papa, she told me that he left us..."
Yeon Hwa began to cry, covering her eyes with her sleeves. Namjoon quickly shushed her and scooped her into his arms, rocking the little kid back and forth with care.
"Shh, don't cry-"
"Papa, papa. I wanna call you 'papa'. I won't tell mama or anyone, please. Let me call you 'papa'. Just until tomorrow. It's the last day tomorrow, please let me. At least for the whole day tomorrow," she cried, laying her head on his shoulder as she tried to seek the calmness she needed from him.
"Yes my dear, you can call me that," he whispered, kissing her head softly and smiling.
"Thank you... papa."
The week was too short for both of them.
And even so, both Namjoon and Yeon Hwa became closer and more comfortable with each other. Not just with him, but also with the other BTS members.
But that very last night was different.
Yeon Hwa felt Namjoon's love and care so much, that she wished he was her real father.
While Namjoon...
How he wished Yeon Hwa was his daughter.
This is so heartwarming.
*
"Good morning, papa!"
Namjoon groaned, stretching out his body as he felt hands on his legs, trying to wake him up.
When he chose to dive back into the pillows, suddenly he felt Yeon Hwa climbing onto the bed beside him and as he opened his eyes, she kissed his cheek, then giggled.
"Ah... you're early Yeon Hwaaaa..."
"I made you breakfast!"
"You... WHAT?!" Namjoon shot up, staring at her with a worried look.
He jumped off from the bed, immediately went to the kitchen, and saw two plates of omelets and sausages, with a carton of orange juice. "You... made these..."
"Yes," Yeon Hwa said, walking towards the kitchen counter and climbing to one of the chairs, sitting on it.
"You... Do you know that it's dangerous for a kid to be in the kitchen, without an adult?"
"Yes. But I'm all safe now!"
"But... just..." Namjoon let out a sigh, and then he grabbed two glasses and placed it on the counter. "I'm glad you're fine but... how- why-"
"Mama taught me how to use an air fryer and a frying pan."
"And how did you reach the top fridge? And the eggs? Oil? Plates? Spatula?"
"Chairs."
"Your mother is crazy! How could she teach her six years old some cooking-"
Namjoon let out another sigh, but this time it was a relief sigh. He was glad that nothing bad happened to the kid as she was making breakfast.
He took the orange juice and poured it into the glasses, passing one over to her across the counter.
"Don't tell anyone, not even your Uncle Wook. Or he won't let me see you again."
"Okay," she laughed, picking up her fork before she called out to him again. "Oh, can you get me the pepper? I couldn't reach it earlier."
"Wow. You just made us breakfast, and you couldn't get yourself the pepper?"
Namjoon shook his head, grabbed a white ceramic bottle from the shelves, and gave it to her as he sat on the chair beside her.
"This is salt!" she shrieked, giving the bottle back to him with a scrunched-up face.
"How can you tell-"
"The smell!"
He rolled his eyes, standing again to get the pepper from the shelves.
"Fussy kid..." he whispered, placing the salt back.
Daughter of a chef, indeed.
"You called me 'fussy'," Yeon Hwa suddenly said, getting his attention.
"No, I didn't," he mumbled, walking back to her with the pepper.
"Yes, you did. I heard it," she huffed, taking the bottle away from him.
"Your mama sure had taught you so much stuff," he laughed, beginning to eat his omelet.
As they were eating, Namjoon couldn't help but keep on remembering every little detail of the moments he once had with Hyun Ae.
Small fights, like us back then.
"So, what are we doing today?" Yeon Hwa asked, munching her sausage.
Namjoon hummed, chewing on his omelet as he tried to list down any activities.
So far, they had done many things together starting from when she first stayed with him, until the last day.
"How about a picnic?" he suggested, taking a sip of his orange juice.
"Really? Yay! I always wanted a picnic!"
"I can invite the others if you want me to."
"No. Just... you and me," she muttered and smiled as she looked up at him. "Yeon Hwa with papa."
Namjoon let out a soft sigh as he watched her, continuing to eat her breakfast, humming happily.
I shouldn't get comfortable with that.
She grabbed her glass and slowly drank it till the last drop.
"Oh, right. Mama!" she gasped, placing down the empty glass before she got down from her chair. She ran towards the living room area and pointed to the television as she looked at Namjoon. "Turn on the TV!"
"What?" Namjoon asked, walking towards her.
"Mama, mama! Mama will be on the TV!"
He quickly grabbed the remote control and turned on the TV. He let Yeon Hwa tell him what channel was it and he set it all up.
After a few minutes, the live stream of an international channel worked well and Yeon Hwa pulled on his arm, dragging him onto the sofa.
Namjoon lifted her onto his lap as the cooking show started.
And there she was.
Park Hyun Ae.
The girl that had given him wonders, answers, and tears all in one time.
Hyun Ae... You're... so beautiful.
"I know right?!" Yeon Hwa exclaimed.
"Eh?" Namjoon whispered, looking at her in shock.
"I heard you, papa. She's so beautiful," she sighed, smiling as she watched her mother in the show, with professionalism and elegance. "She is my beautiful mama."
********
"You had fun?" Namjoon asked.
"Yes! The kite was awesome! The deers' park was so great!" Yeon Hwa happily voiced out, swinging his arm back and forth as they walked down the pavement, heading back to the Seoul Forest's parking lot with their picnic basket in his other hand.
"Wish we had more time," she whined, standing closer to him with her cute smile.
"Next time, okay?" he uttered, patting her head as they continued to walk.
While walking, Yeon Hwa spotted a tent that was renting out bicycles of many types by the roadside.
"Oh, bicycle!" she said, pointing at it.
"You want to ride it?" When Namjoon asked her that, he noticed she instantly became quiet. "Yeon Hwa?"
"I... I don't know how to..."
"You don't know how to ride a bicycle? Your mama never teaches you?"
"She's busy with work and didn't even buy me one. So I never learn."
"It's okay. I'll teach you today. I'll get the bike for you."
"Really? Yay!"
*
She let out another breath, her hands gripped hard on the handles after she had readjusted her elbow pads.
"I'll try again," Yeon Hwa said, before she looked over her shoulder at Namjoon behind, that was holding onto her seat to keep her straight.
"Don't let me go, okay?"
"Yes, I promise," Namjoon convinced her, patting her softly.
"Really?"
"Yes, yes. Now go," he said.
Yeon Hwa began to put her feet on the pedals and began to cycle.
"That's it! You're doing great!"
Even though after a few attempts, the bicycle was still wobbly under her control, when she managed to keep its balance and finally was able to cycle perfectly, Namjoon began to let her go without her knowing.
"Amazing, Yeon Hwa! You did it!" he excitedly said, clapping his hands in excitement as he ran along beside her.
She laughed in victory as she kept on cycling until she felt it was perfect. After a few rounds, she reached Namjoon and stopped beside him.
"Now, you can ride one with me. Next time, if I want to ride a bicycle, I can invite you," he smiled.
"Really? I would love to!" she happily said, before going for another round.
Namjoon watched her cycling around the empty park, and his smile changed to a frown one as he watched from afar.
"Yeon Hwa?" a guy called out, standing in her track, blocking her.
Yeon Hwa stopped and looked upon him, fear began to engulf her. And her terrified look made Namjoon quickly run to her.
The guy glanced at Namjoon as he was shouting, telling him to go away. He swiftly kneeled beside the kid and grabbed her wrist as he began to say.
"Hey, Yeon Hwa. It's me, your father."
********************************************************
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