Chapter Text
Four years since the baby was born.
Dae-yeol is just getting out of the meeting room when he notices the vibrating from his cellphone in his pocket. He takes out the phone and sees the ‘heart’ from the incoming calls. He smiles widely knowing who is the caller. Without waiting any longer, he presses the green icon and brings the phone to his ears while walking toward his office.
“Hello?”
“Appa!!!” Instead of hearing his wife’s voice, he is greeted by the five-year-old baby boy. (Korean age)
Dae-yeol arrives at his office room. After years of working in AN.J Entertainment, finishing his bachelor's and master's degrees, he got a promotion and now he is a Director of the Marketing Team. He enters the room and goes to his desk to talk comfortably with his son. “Hello, Yoon-ie, my baby, why are you calling me?”
“Because Yoon-ie miss appa so much!” Such a lovely boy. “Appa, you said that you work with Uncle Jun but why is only Uncle Jun here, not you? I prefer to play with Appa instead of Uncle Jun,” His baby boy is sounded upset. In the background of the call, he can hear Jang-jun yells protesting the baby boy who chooses his father over him. Jang-jun and his son are clicked with each other, they get along well. They are playing together well but also fight well like a kid (though Jang-jun is turning 32 years old this year).
Dae-yeol chuckles. “Appa miss Yoon-ie too, so much. Does Uncle Jun visit our house?” He asks though he already knows the answer.
“Humm!” The baby is humming as the answer.
“How about Eomma? How can you call me using Eomma’s phone?” Dae-yeol asks once again. His baby is smart, he knows so well how to use the gadget at his age but he is not allowed to use his parent’s phone without permission.
“Eomma? Eomma is working in front of the laptop right now. Yoon-ie miss Appa but Uncle Jun doesn't let me call you using his, so Yoon-ie asked Eomma.” He is explaining so well. “Appa, when will you come home?”
After giving birth to their son, Ji-soo resigned from her previous job and chooses to be a freelance writer, so she can work at home while taking care of their son. Recently, Ji-soo gets an offer to be a script-writer for an upcoming drama. Because of that, she is quite busy these days. Thankfully, his superstar brother often comes to help babysit their son since Golden Star is on hiatus now. Half of the members are enlisting and Jang-jun, who was just discharged last year, is enjoying his time as a full-timer uncle. Actually, a lot of proposals come to Jang-jun but he is being picky about the project he wants to take. He likes to spend his time with his nephew more instead of working. It’s kinda frustrating Dae-yeol as Marketing Director of the agency but he is being grateful to him for being the best uncle to his son.
“Appa will come home when the sun is changed by the moon and the stars in the sky.” Dae-yeol recognizes a bunch of documents on his desk that he needs to review. If he can to choose, he wants to spend the entire day talking with his baby but he can’t put aside his duties. At least, the call from his son gives him the energy to finish his work. “Yoon-ie, is there something you want? Appa will buy it for you.”
“CHICKEN!” He doesn’t need to think to answer it. “Yoon-ie wants to fried chicken!! I want it maaaaannyyyyy” He repeats it again politely and cutely.
Dae-yeol giggles hearing his son. “Okay, Appa will buy maaaaannyyyyy chicken for you, my little angel. Wait Appa comes home patiently, okay? Play with Uncle Jun while waiting for me or Uncle Jun will be upset and please be a good boy to Eomma, okay?”
“Okay! Yoon-ie will play with Uncle Jun and Yoon-ie won’t bother Eomma working. I Love you, Appa!”
“I love you too, Yoon-ie.”
“Appa, fighting! Byeee!” then the call is ended. This time, Dae-yeol continues working and he wants to finish everything faster so he can go home earlier.
---
“Appa is homeee” Dae-yeol enters his apartment while holding boxes of chicken, his son’s favorite food. He is expecting a greeting from his sun like he usually does but this time, he doesn’t hear small steps running excitedly towards him nor the little voice welcoming him home. “Appa is homeee!” He repeats louder but still no response. Instead, he sees Ji-soo who comes to greet him with her index finger on her lip. Telling Dae-yeol to be quiet.
Dae-yeol raises his eyebrow, questioning.
“Sung-yoon is sleeping now. He didn’t want to take a nap in the afternoon because he said he wants to wait for you home.” Ji-soo tells what happened to their son. Dae-yeol kisses Ji-soo’s forehead and they walk together to the living room. He notices Jang-jun is sitting comfortably on the sofa while watching TV as if it’s his own home. “Then Jang-jun brought him to the child playground, after two hours of playing there with Jang-jun, Sung-yoon started sleepy and he slept right away in Jang-jun’s arm while they are in the lift. Seems like his eyes gave up to wait for his father to come home.” Ji-soo chuckles finding how adorable their little baby is. Ji-soo then walks away towards the dining table after taking the chicken boxes from Dae-yeol’s hand.
“Hyung, you know, Sung-yoon really has unlimited energy. I don’t know is it because I’m getting older or is he too energic, but I’m drained out while playing with him.” He sighs but Dae-yeol can see that Jang-jun loves to spend his time with his nephew. Jang-jun spends more time in Dae-yeol’s house instead of his own house ‘till the point he just uses his home only for sleeping. Since Jang-jun is so often here, Dae-yeol once told him to just live with them rather than buy a house to be empty. But of course, Jang-jun rejects that idea. “And hyung, I think Sung-yoon is more popular than me. When we were playing in the playground there are several ahjumma and young women recognize him first instead of me... at this point, Sung-yoon should be signed to be a talent in our agency.”
Dae-yeol rolls his eyes. “It’s because you keep posting your photos with Sung-yoon in your SNS!” Dae-yeol reminds him. “You better stop doing that, you know!”
“But my fans is more curious about Sung-yoon’s update rather than me. They keep asking Sung-yoon during my live streaming too or under my post. They love Sung-yoon more than me! I even heard that you are contacted by the Dad is My SuperHero PD to join the program many times but you keep rejecting the offer.”
“The PD that I know also asks me to scout Sung-yoon to appear as a cameo in his drama.” Ji-soo joins the conversation of the brothers.
Both Dae-yeol and Ji-soo agree about the parenting method of not letting Sung-yoon get exposed. It worries him that public attention might affect him in the growth process. Yeah, except Jang-jun who often posts photos with Sung-yoon on his SNS. Dae-yeol and Ji-soo are still okay with that but they won’t be allowed to get far more than that. But later, when Sung-yoon is bigger and chooses the same path as Jang-jun, of course, they’ll support him.
Dae-yeol is done changing his cloth to something more comfortable then he heads off to Sung-yoon’s room to see his sleeping baby boy. The room is dark and he sees Sung-yoon is sleeping with his tummy below. The baby boy is hugging his favorite rabbit doll.
Dae-yeol is kneeling beside the bed and rubbing Sung-yoon’s cheek with his thumb. “Yoon-ie, Appa is home, bring your favorite chicken.” He whispers at him softly.
Don’t know, is it because Dae-yeol is home or because of the chicken, Sung-yoon wakes up. He is blinking his eyes several times, adjusting his eyes to the darkness. “Appa?” He sounds sleepy.
Dae-yeol smiles fatherly “Yes, it’s Appa.”
Sung-yoon rolls his body and stretches out his hands, asking to be carried by Dae-yeol without saying. Sometimes, this baby is really spoiled because he receives so much love from his parent and the people around him, but Dae-yeol never complains about it since Sung-yoon always be a good boy. Dae-yeol kisses Sung-yoon’s forehead before holding him and the baby rests his head on his father’s shoulder. His tiny hands are circling Dae-yeol’s neck. “Want to chicken now?”
Sung-yoon nods.
They get out of the bedroom with Sung-yoon carried by Dae-yeol. Once they are in the living room, Sung-yoon is squinting his eyes because of the sudden light from the living room. He hides his face on Dae-yeol’s shoulder. He puts down Sung-yoon on the chair in the dining room. His eyes are still closed and his tiny lips pouting. He is so cute, Dae-yeol wants to bite his son's chubby cheek.
Ji-soo is preparing the chicken on the plates and the family eats dinner together. Seems like Sung-yoon is not completely waking up so Dae-yeol feeds him patiently. Dae-yeol is working in the office and Ji-soo is working at home. So, Ji-soo will be taking care Sung-yoon during the day and Dae-yeol will help her at night once he is at home.
After finishing their dinner together, they are playing for a while to make the food go down to the stomach before going to the bath.
Jang-jun helps Ji-soo washes the dishes. It’s not that much so it’s done fast.
“Hyung is really his son-pabo. And it’s so obvious that Sung-yoon’s favorite person is his father.” Jang-jun comments while watching Dae-yeol persuade Sung-yoon to stop playing and go to take a bath. “Noona, have you ever been jealous seeing their interaction?” Usually, the little kid is close to their mom instead of their father. But Sung-yoon seems closer with Dae-yeol than with Ji-soo.
Ji-soo chuckles hearing the weird question from Jang-jun. “Why should I? To be honest, I still think myself is so lucky to have Dae-yeol as my husband and the father of my kid. All my friends are jealous of me because of it.”
Jang-jun smirks. “Of course, they are jealous because you have Golden Star Lee Jang-jun as your brother-in-law.” He jokes, narcissistic. It makes Ji-soo wants to throw something at him.
“But I’m not lying that Dae-yeol is the best husband and father ever. Instead of being jealous, I’m so happy seeing the father and the son are close to each other. You know, since Sung-yoon was born, Dae-yeol actively participated in raising him. He never let me stay up at night. He makes sure I have enough sleep every day and he’ll be the one who gets up once Sung-yoon wakes up in the middle of the night. I am also lucky to have Sung-yoon as my son. He never is mushy and fussy. He is rarely throwing tantrums like the normal kids his age. Instead of being a rebel, he plays alone well when he knows I’m working.”
Jang-jun agrees with that. It’s true, Dae-yeol is the greatest father ever. For Sung-yoon, he might be a full energized baby boy but he never gives trouble to people around him. “Ah, yeah he is good playing by himself with his imaginary friend, what’s ‘its’ name?”
“Bo-min...”
---
Sung-yoon is playing with the bubbles in the bathtub with his rubber duck and some of his toy cars. Dae-yeol beside the bathtub, accompanying him to play. He always lets Sung-yoon play a bit more in water before washing him up cleanly and finishing the bath session. Sung-yoon giggles when he is tapping water and the bubbles splash and attack his father. Sung-yoon even makes Dae-yeol’s shirt is being wet and he laughs cutely. How can Dae-yeol get mad at him!
After fifteen minutes of playing with the water. It’s time to rinse the bubbles on his body. Dae-yeol pulls Sung-yoon out from the bathtub and pours water at him. Sung-yoon put his hand to cover his eyes while Dae-yeol pours water from his head. After they are done, Dae-yeol wraps Sung-yoon with a towel and carried him out of the bathroom. Dae-yeol dried Sung-yoon’s body with the towel and hair drying his hair.
“I want bunny pajamas for today!” Sung-yoon has his own taste. He loves the bunny thingy so much these days. Even his doll is a bunny. “And Yoon-ie now can put cloth by myself” He announces proudly. Dae-yeol then hands him the pajamas and watches the baby boy do it by himself.
Sung-yoon puts his pants first and faces Dae-yeol back while doing that. Showing his birth sign on his back. Two vertical lines on both sides with a lighter color than his skin. The birth sign always reminds him of Choi Sung-yoon’s scar. One of several things that makes him have a question that always left being unanswered.
His son always reminds him of Choi Sung-yoon since the day he saw the baby after being born. One of the reasons that he named his son Sung-yoon. His intuition was telling him that his baby is Sung-yoon, who is being born as human now. And his intuition is getting stronger as Sung-yoon grows up. They have many similarities, from the birth sign and facial features as if his son is mini version of Choi Sung-yoon. Not only their physical but also their personalities and characters, even their favorite food are the same. Are they really the same person? Is that possible? Dae-yeol doesn’t understand at all. It’s can’t be explained using human logic.
“Appa, look!” Sung-yoon has finally done putting on his pajamas but he gets some buttons wrong.
Dae-yeol smiles and claps his hand. “Wow, Yoon-ie did a great job but can Appa fix it ‘lil bit?” Sung-yoon then comes to Dae-yeol and lets Dae-yeol fix the button.
“How was your school today, Yoon-ie?” Dae-yeol asks. Since this early year, Dae-yeol and Ji-soo decide to send Sung-yoon to the preschool. It’s like their daily routine to share his story of the day.
“Humm… Today, Uncle Jun is the one who picked me up because Eomma is busy, and you know what? My friends’ mother admires Uncle Jun so much. Even my teachers asked to take a photo with him and asked for a signing. It never happens with Appa and Eomma before.”
Dae-yeol grins hearing about it. It’s totally different from what he heard from Jang-jun before.
“You know, Uncle Jun is a famous singer, that’s why it happened when he is the one who picked you up. Do you like it if Uncle Jun picks you up?”
Sung-yoon seemed thinking for a while. “Hmm… I like it but I like it more if Appa or Eomma who the one pick Yoon-ie up.” He says honestly. Of course, he loves his Uncle Jun but he loves his parent much much more than he loves Jang-jun. “And Appa, today, the teacher told us to draw a family picture. Yoon-ie wants to show it to you.” He remembers the reason why he rejects to take a nap and waits for Dae-yeol but his eyes betrayed him. It’s all because he wants to show his art to Dae-yeol.
“Really? Where is your drawing? Have you showed it to your Eomma before?”
Sung-yoon runs to his school back and takes out a paper of his drawing. “Of course! I’ve shown it to Eomma!” He brings the paper with him and sits on Dae-yeol’s lap. “Eomma said that I’m really good at drawing! I can be an artist in the future!”
To be called the family portrait, the picture is more like a sticky human drawing of different sizes. Sung-yoon kindly explains his drawing to his father. Sung-yoon is pointing to the tall human stick on the left as his father, the little human stick in the center as himself, and the human stick with ribbon and skirt on the right as his mother. He didn’t only draw three of them, he also drew another human stick wearing sunglasses like his uncle, Lee Jang-jun.
“Then what is it, Yoon-ie? Is it a butterfly?” Dae-yeol points strokes that looked like a butterfly in the corner of the paper.
Sung-yoon tilts his head and looks up, seeming upset because Dae-yeol can’t recognize his drawing. “No, it’s Bo-minie!”
“Bo-minie?”
Sung-yoon nods excitedly. Dae-yeol furrowed his eyebrows. Dae-yeol blinks several times, seems like Bo-min is sounded so familiar in his ears, but he couldn’t recall it.
“Bo-minie is Sung-yoon’s friend. He is tall, handsome, and kind. He has always accompanied Yoon-ie when Yoon-ie is alone since Yoon-ie was a baby. And Bo-minie has wings so he can fly! But Bo-minie said that he can’t bring Yoon-ie flying with him.” Sung-yoon explains it to Dae-yeol. “Bo-minie said that Yoon-ie must be happy to be born as Appa’s son. He said he’ll be happy if Sung-yoon is happy too. He also told Yoon-ie to be a good human so Bo-min can stay longer with me. Because of Bo-min, Yoon-ie is never scared when wakes up at night without Appa and Eomma—“ Sung-yoon notices something warm drops on his head and it stopped Sung-yoon from telling about Bo-min excitedly. Sung-yoon looks up to find out Dae-yeol shed tears. “Appa, why Appa is crying?”
Instead of answering, Dae-yeol wraps Sung-yoon and hugs Sung-yoon tightly. “It’s really you… Thank you for coming back into my life and being my son…”
Dae-yeol is smiling then shakes his head. “No, Appa is crying because Appa is happy… Because Appa can meet Sung-yoonie once again in this life.” And his statements make Sung-yoon more confused. Dae-yeol chuckled and hugs Sung-yoon once again as if he is the most precious thing in the world. “Thank you” he whispers.
Dae-yeol now remembers about ‘Choi Bo-min’ though it’s been years. He once heard Choi Sung-yoon mentioning that name while talking with something invisible called Bo-min. “Sung-yoon ah, is there Bo-min here?” Dae-yeol asks.
Sung-yoon has looked around of the room then he is pointing somewhere near the window. “That’s Bo-min, Appa can see Bo-minie too? Eomma can’t see him, she even called Bo-min my imaginary friend though Bo-min is real!”
Dae-yeol sees nothing at the spot that Sung-yoon pointing. But he still looks at that spot and smiles at the winds. “Bo-minie, thank you for sending Sung-yoon to me. I promise to take care of him well.”
“Bo-min is smiling…” Sung-yoon reports it innocently and Dae-yeol hugs Sung-yoon tightly as if he is the most precious to him.
No one knows how Sung-yoon can end up being Dae-yeol’s son. Maybe it’s heaven’s secret but all he knows, Angel is exist and Sung-yoon is one of them. A fallen angel that comes into his life once again. A fallen angel that saved and changed his life. A fallen angel that gave him a precious second chance. Now… His life is completed with Sung-yoon as part of it. He is really the happiest human in the world now and he is so grateful for it.
--- To be continued ---