Chapter Text
Hwanwoong has seen Yeongja excited, but he has never seen her this excited before. It’s rather amusing, considering that his daughter is bouncing off the walls over going to school. Though Hwanwoong liked school when he was younger, he can’t imagine it was anything to be so super excited about—but, he digresses. Yeongja’s just turned five, and she’s out of nursery school now, which means she’s starting kindergarten. At that, Yeongja became elated.
Going school shopping had been quite a blast. It had been one of the best shopping trips Hwanwoong’s ever been on, especially with her—she’s usually so picky and cranky when she has to try on clothes, but with the prospect of going to school in these news clothes, Yeongja had been very on board with trying on clothes. Even Keonhee had agreed that he’d never seen her so excited for something—not even her own birthday! Yeongja is somewhat of an enigma, Hwanwoong has come to realize. His daughter is a little strange, but that’s okay. He loves her all the same.
Yeongja wakes him up bright and early on her very first day of kindergarten—two hours before his alarm is supposed to go off, which had been set for two hours before they need to actually be at Yeongja’s school. She won’t stop trying to pull Hwanwoong out of bed, and he’s so tired. He’s like dead weight to her, though, as she’s much too small to actually move him on her own. Still, she tries, and when she doesn’t succeed, she gives up. Yeongja crawls into bed with her father, right under the covers, and Hwanwoong wraps his arms around her, holding her against his chest.
She manages to drift off to sleep once more, and two hours later, Hwanwoong’s alarm goes off without a hitch. Yeongja is half-asleep as Hwanwoong moves her from the bedroom to the bathroom, starting the bath for her once there. When the water is fine, he lowers Yeongja into the tub and immediately starts washing her down—starting with her hair, combing his fingers through it to fish out any tangles, before he uses the shampoo and conditioner to wash it thoroughly. Yeongja is talking the entire time, beaming as she talks about all the possibilities of what will happen to her at school, about if she’ll make new friends and if they’ll want to come over and have tea parties with her, about what she hopes her teacher will be like.
Getting Yeongja ready for school after that is a walk in the park. She gets dry and immediately runs to her room, completely naked, before Hwanwoong even gets the chance to wrap a towel around her body. She’s lucky that she’s only five, and not anymore grown up—or that there wasn’t another man around the house right now, either. Hwanwoong walks in to find Yeongja already attempting to dress herself, by sliding her head through her skirt and attempting to yank it down over her neck and shoulder.
“Baby girl, that’s not how you do that,” Hwanwoong laughs as he gets to his knees, gently pulling the skirt off of her. He sets it aside and reaches for her other clothes first.
They get her dressed in almost record time, and though she’s all ready to go, she still needs breakfast. It’s harder to convince her to actually sit and be still and eat her cereal, but Hwanwoong somehow manages. They still have an hour left before school starts for her, so it’s time for them to go. Even in the car, Yeongja can’t seem to sit still in her car seat. Hwanwoong turns on some of her favourite songs, and they sing together all the way to her school.
When they get there, plenty of parents and their children are already there and gathered around the entrance. Some are going in together, while some parents—who have already dropped off their kids—are leaving. Yeongja squeals loudly when they park, and Hwanwoong can’t help but find himself smiling. Already he feels himself tearing up, which is strange, because he hasn’t felt emotional all morning. But now that they’re here, and Hwanwoong is getting her out of the car and holding her hand, about to take her in, he feels the sudden pressure of what it’s like for a parent on a child’s first day of school.
They approach the door together hand-in-hand, and are greeted by a lovely young woman who smiles brightly down at Yeongja, bending down to get closer to her level.
“Hi there!” She giggles as Yeongja beams back, her pigtails bouncing. “You look so happy to be here, are you ready for your first day?”
“Yes!” Yeongja almost screams, but she manages to keep herself from being too loud. Hwanwoong grins gently, eyes crinkling, before he turns to look at the greeter—the name tag on her apron reads “Nayeon.” Her smile reminds him of a bunny, actually.
“She’s been excited for weeks now,” Hwanwoong says, chuckling as he gently squeezes Yeongja’s hand. “I’ve never seen her so excited for something before!”
Nayeon laughs gently as she gestures the two of them inside, waving at Yeongja as they head down the hallway. Hwanwoong follows the signs that are inside, pointing them in the direction of where to find Yeongja’s home classroom. There’s a table with a few other teachers, or other kinds of school staff, sitting with several pieces of paper in front of them. Hwanwoong approaches as one of them looks up, smiling brightly.
“Hello there, how can I help you?” He asks. His name tag reads ‘Dongju’, and he appears to be rather sweet.
“Hello,” Hwanwoong bows his head slightly, before he gently lifts up his hand with Yeongja’s and shakes it around a little. “My name is Hwanwoong, I’m here to drop my daughter off—her name is Yeo Yeongja. I was just wondering what her home room would be.”
“Yeo Yeongja…” Dongju looks down at the papers and scans them, running his fingers along the names until he finds her name written out. “Ah, here it is! Yeongja-yah here will be in the Purple Room. Her teacher for the year will be Kim Geonhak-ssi. That room is just right down the hall, you can’t miss it!” Dongju gesture down the hallway with his hand as he speaks, allowing Hwanwoong to see what he’s pointing to.
Hwanwoong thanks him then, tells Yeongja to thank him as well (“Thank you, Pretty Sir-ssi!”), then goes to find her classroom. As soon as he approaches the door, it already gives off a very homely feeling to it; it’s got paintings and colourings done by children already plastered onto it, with a sign right under the window that reads “Purple Room.”
Yeongja bounces excitedly at his side. Hwanwoong smiles down at her before he squats down, grabbing both of her hands and holding them gently.
“Are you ready, baby?” Hwanwoong asks. He’s asked her a million times, and the answer is always the same, but he’ll never get tired of the way Yeongja grins and nods her head, her pigtails bouncing wildly against her head.
He kisses both of her cheeks before pulling her into a hug, giggling when Yeongja does the same. Hwanwoong stands up, ready to allow her to go into the classroom, but his entire brain ceases to function. He is now face-to-face with one of the most beautiful men he’s ever seen—and Hwanwoong works with plenty of beautiful people, mind you. This man has such soft looking skin, and the softest, kindest eyes to accompany the lovely smile that’s on his face. He looks from Hwanwoong down to Yeongja, and that smile turns into one of the brightest grins.
“Hi,” He speaks, and Hwawoong’s knees feel like jelly. His voice is so deep and velvety, Hwanwoong’s head swirls a little because of it. “My name is Kim Geonhak—I’m going to be your teacher this year.”
Yeongja lets go of her dad’s hands and goes straight to this Geonhak, a skip in her step. She hugs his legs immediately, giggling loudly. “Hi, Geonhak-ssaem! My name is Yeongja!” She looks up at him from down below, her chin resting near his knees.
Geonhak laughs softly, eyes disappearing into crescents as he bends down and reaches a hand out to gently cup the back of Yeongja’s head. “It’s nice to meet you, Yeongja-yah. Is this your papa?” He looks up towards Hwanwoong then, and that’s when Hwanwoong realizes he hasn’t said a single thing. He had been so stunned into silence by how good-looking this man is that his brain just went completely offline, and Hwanwoong had needed a moment to reboot.
“Oh, um,” Hwanwoong lets out a squeaky noise, before he clears his throat, managing to bring a smile to his face. “Yes! Yes, I’m Yeongja’s dad. My name is Yeo Hwanwoong, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Geonhak-ssi.”
Hwanwoong bows a second later, with Geonhak bowing briefly in return. Yeongja releases his legs, turning to face her dad with a big smile. “Daddy, I’ll see you later! Bye bye now!” She waves at him, practically kicking him out now.
He laughs with slight disbelief, shaking his head some. Hwanwoong looks up towards Geonhak and offers a slightly apologetic smile, but Geonhak only seems to be endeared and not annoyed in the slightest. He hopes that continues, since he knows that Yeongja can be quite a lot for people to handle—even Hwanwoong can admit that to himself. She has so much energy that he’s never really sure what to do with her, sometimes.
“Have a good day, baby,” Hwanwoong waves back at her, before offering another small bow of his head towards her teacher. Geonhak’s lips twitch up into another smile, before he gently ushers Yeongja into the classroom, likely to find her seat and place her there.
Hwanwoong makes it back to his car in one piece, thankfully, but he has to stop and sit there for a moment to process everything. He leans his head against the steering wheel, breathing in and out deeply, before he blindly reaches around for his phone in his pocket. When he finds it, Hwanwoong opens it up and dials Keonhee’s number immediately.
Keonhee picks up after just two rings, speaking into the speaker, a bit confused. “Hey, Woong. Is everything alright with Yeongja-yah and her first day?”
Hwanwoong whines, loudly, rather than answering Keonhee’s question. The other man is silent for a minute, before he lets out a soft “ah” through the line.
“Let me guess. Her teacher is extremely hot, and you have no idea what to do with yourself now?”
Hwanwoong doesn’t dignify Keonhee’s question with an answer. At least a verbal answer. He just whines again, and he hears Keonhee’s laughter through the phone.
Sometimes he hates having an ex-boyfriend as a best friend.
Hwanwoong almost dreads having to pick up Yeongja from school at the end of the day. He’s happy to see his little girl again, but he’s also not sure if he can mentally or physically handle looking at her teacher twice in a single day. Keonhee had badgered him into telling him all the details about the encounter when Hwanwoong was driving to work, and now Keonhee will be holding that over his head for years to come. The realization that he will have to see Yeongja’s teacher many times throughout the school year has him wishing he had enrolled Yeongja in a different school, if only to avoid the disaster that is himself inevitably gaining feelings for her teacher.
Hwanwoong doesn’t have to go far to pick up Yeongja. When he arrives at the school, most of the kids are already outside with the teachers and other school staff, playing together as they wait for parents to come and pick them up. Yeongja notices her dad straight away and yells out for him, jumping down from where she had been climbing onto one of the benches in front of the entrance. Hwanwoong smiles brightly, immediately getting down to his knees to catch Yeongja as she goes barreling into him, a happy laugh leaving her. He squeezes her tightly, pressing several kisses to her head between the pigtails, before leaning away to look down at her.
“Hi, baby girl! Did you have a good day at school today?”
Yeongja’s eyes are alive. They are so wide and big and happy and Hwanwoong’s insides melt. She’s got such a big smile on her face, he feels like he could genuinely cry about this.
“I had the bestest time, Daddy!” Yeongja bounces up and down in place slightly, holding onto Hwanwoong’s arms as she does. “Geonhak-ssaem is really, really nice! He’s so fun and he lets me talk to him about Pororo and SHINee and Uncle Keonhee!”
Hwanwoong nearly chokes when she mentions Keonhee, but he supposes that’s par for the course—Yeongja adores Keonhee as much as Keonhee adores her. He’s not sure if Yeongja is aware that Keonhee is also her biological father or not, and if she is aware, he’s not entirely sure if she knows what all of this means. She’s seen Hwanwoong naked before, they’ve bathed together plenty of times, but she’s still very young and Hwanwoong hasn’t felt the need to teach her about all of this stuff. It’s pretty complicated for a five year old, you know.
“Does he now? That’s very nice of him. Did you make sure to say goodbye to Geonhak-ssaem before leaving?” Hwanwoong asks, hoping desperately for her to say yes.
Yeongja gasps then, and that’s Hwanwoong’s answer. She turns around in Hwanwoong’s hold and leans up onto her tip-toes, holding a hand above her eyes, pretending to search for Geonhak. She finds him very easily—he’s rather hard to miss—and immediately begins to wave at him from where they’re at in the parking lot.
“Bye bye, Geonhak-ssaem!” Yeongja yells, grinning happily. “Thank you, Geonhak-ssaem! You’re the best!”
Hwanwoong feels his face flushing somewhat. Most of the parents and other kids don’t pay attention, though, which he’s very thankful for. Geonhak looks towards the both of them as soon as he hears Yeongja’s voice, and his look of surprise fades into a much softer look. He smiles towards them, waving a hand in their direction. He mouths ‘goodbye’ to Hwanwoong, causing Hwanwoong to duck his head behind Yeongja for a brief moment.
Wrangling Yeongja into the car goes smoothly. She continues to talk about her first day and how she’s having the best time there. She’s already made a few friends: their names are Jimin, Baram, Dongpyo, and Jaehyun. She’s declared all of them her best friends and she loves every one of them very much already. Hwanwoong’s heart is warmed that his daughter is so sociable. He remembers being a kid her age and not making many friends, despite his rather outgoing nature. She tells him about what they’re learning and the assignments they did in class, then tells him about the homework that she absolutely needs her daddy’s help with.
Hwanwoong happily helps her with her homework when they get home, and is not surprised in the slightest when she becomes sleepy as soon as she’s finished with her dinner. It’s barely seven o’clock when Hwanwoong puts her to bed. He’s a little thankful that she goes down so easily, as he’s also rather tired after today’s events. Falling asleep that night is easy, his head filled with thoughts of Yeongja’s happy smile.
Hwanwoong is starting to think that maybe he and his daughter might have the same taste in men. Which is a rather odd thing to say about a five year old, but what else is he supposed to think in this situation?
Yeongja talks about Geonhak nonstop, basically. She always finds some way to bring him up in a conversation, always referring to him as ‘Geonhak-ssaem’ and Hwanwoong having to explain to people that ‘Geonhak-ssaem’ is her teacher in kindergarten. She’s extremely enamored with the man, and while Hwanwoong doesn’t blame her for it one bit, he can’t help but find it so utterly amusing. He’s just hoping that her starstruck crush will go away if he and Geonhak ever start dating—
Which is something he should not be thinking about, in all honesty. Most of their interactions revolve solely around Hwanwoong dropping off and picking up Yeongja from school. Aside from that, they don’t have many interactions, and Hwanwoong hasn’t even worked up the courage to ask for his number. He shouldn’t be daydreaming about dating Yeongja’s teacher when he can’t even work up the courage to try and talk to him outside of Yeongja’s school.
“You really like Geonhak-ssaem, huh, Yeongja-yah?” Keonhee says as he ruffles her hair, laughing gently.
“I love Geonhak-ssaem,” Yeongja declares around her fork, kicking her feet back and forth under her seat.
Hwanwoong almost chokes on his water, sputtering as Keonhee breaks out into cackling laughter. He glares at Keonhee then, patting his own chest gently as Yeongja just looks between them rather innocently.
“Do you tell Geonhak-ssaem that?” Keonhee is an instigator. Keonhee is such an instigator.
“I tell him everyday!” Yeongja sounds so proud of herself, and Hwanwoong wants to coo, but he’s also a little horrified that his daughter is just going around telling her teacher that she loves him everyday. It must not bother Geonhak, though, otherwise he would have gotten a phone call or something asking him to talk to Yeongja, probably. “I walk into class and I say, ‘Hi Geonhak-ssaem! I love you!’”
Keonhee grins as he leans his elbow on his table, putting his hand in his palm. “And what does Geonhak-ssaem say back?”
Yeongja giggles loudly, shying away from Keonhee as she shakes her head.
“Does Geonhak-ssaem say he loves you, too?”
Yeongja giggles so hard that Hwanwoong is worried she’s going to fall out of her chair. Keonhee laughs and reaches out to pet her hair, a grin on his face. When they’re finished gossiping about Yeongja’s love for Geonhak, Yeongja turns towards her dad and asks,
“Daddy, if you marry Geonhak-ssaem, does that mean I can see him outside of school?”
Hwanwoong does actually choke then. Keonhee gets up to help him, gently patting and rubbing his back as Hwanwoong coughs into his hand, offering him some water after a minute or so. Hwanwoong downs the water quickly, blinking away some tears from his face. He breathes in slowly and deeply, letting it out just as slowly, before he looks at Yeongja with wide eyes.
“Yeongja-yah, where in the world did you get that idea?”
Yeongja shrugs, waving her plastic fork back and forth in her little fist. “Kids with married mommies and daddies get to see them every day. I want to see Geonhak-ssaem every day, too! So Daddy should marry Geonhak-ssaem so I can see him every day!”
Keonhee looks between them with a very amused look on his face. Hwanwoong does not want to deal with him right now. Yeongja’s wishes are honestly rather amusing and silly, but Hwanwoong knows his daughter. When she puts her mind to something, she’s absolutely going to try and get her way. He just hopes that Yeongja isn’t taking herself seriously and that she doesn’t actually want Hwanwoong and Geonhak to get married.
Not that Hwanwoong would be against marrying Geonhak in any capacity. He may not know a lot about the man yet, but he knows that if he’s good enough to have Yeongja constantly praising him—when Yeongja herself tends to not enjoy being around most men in her life—then he must be a rather good man. Geonhak would absolutely make a great father to Yeongja; he’s already proven to be an excellent teacher, Hwanwoong can’t help but imagine what Geonhak would be as an actual parent.
The three of them finish dinner together and Keonhee puts Yeongja to bed. Hwanwoong lays face-down on the couch, contemplating very many things about his life. He only moves to look up when he feels Keonhee pushing at his legs, forcing him to move and make room for him to sit down on the couch with him.
“You should let me take her and pick her up from school one day. I have to see what this guy looks like if Yeongja-yah is that invested in him.”
“Absolutely not.” Hwanwoong says instantly, pursing his lips in Keonhee’s direction. “You’ll end up trying to interrogate the man before you can even leave the building. I’m not going to subject him to that!”
“You’re no fun,” Keonhee pushes at Hwanwoong’s leg gently, laughing. “I really do just want to see him once! I’ve gotta make sure you guys are going to end up in capable hands and all that, you know?”
“Keonhee, I love you, you know I do, but I would rather go through Yeongja’s birth a second time than let you try and scope out Geonhak-ssi.”
Keonhee fully pouts before he rolls his eyes. “Fine. I won’t do anything! But I still want to be the one who takes her to school when you can’t make it yourself.”
“Deal. But if I have to hear Geonhak-ssi say one thing about you asking him twenty questions, you’re banned from her school forever.”
Yeongja’s school is holding an event for Children’s Day and Parents’ Day, combined together. It’s held on the weekend to allow parents with weekday jobs the ability to come and join them. Hwanwoong already knows that he’s going to attend, per Yeongja’s wishes. Not to mention, he knows this will be a perfect opportunity to try and get to know Geonhak outside of school—while this is technically still a school event, he’ll be able to actually reach out and talk to Geonhak about various different things. (Look, he’s really trying, alright?)
Saturday rolls around and Yeongja wakes Hwanwoong up well before his alarm is supposed to go off again. He’s become accustomed to this, and has now learned how to function on less than optimal amounts of sleep, thanks to his daughter. He doesn’t mind it too much, but he could definitely use a little less coffee and energy drinks in his life right now. He sort of wishes that some of Yeongja’s energy would just transfer over to him, instead, and help him feel just as energized for the day as his daughter is.
Yeongja insists on wearing her favourite dress ever—it’s a very light blue dress with a bright pattern on it, the pattern being multiple types of fruit slices and colorful popsicles on sticks, surrounded by specks that look like confetti through the open space between the shapes. It’s breezy and comfortable for her, and she adores it. She’s probably going to be devastated when she grows out of it, and Hwanwoong just hopes that he’ll be able to find it online and order it in a bigger size for her when that day does come. (Unless she decides the dress is no longer her style, and decides to pick something else as her absolute favourite outfit to wear. Either option is alright.)
Oh the ride to her school, Yeongja somehow seems nervous. Hwanwoong glances at her through the rearview mirror, a small smile on his face. “What’s wrong, baby girl?”
Yeongja goes shy, tucking her chin against her chest. “Do you think Geonhak-ssaem will like my dress?”
Hwanwoong can’t help but laugh softly, shaking his head a little. “I’m very sure Geonhak-ssi will like your dress a lot, Yeongja-yah. You really value his opinion, huh?”
Yeongja looks up and into the rearview mirror, smiling happily towards her dad. “If I want Daddy and Geonhak-ssaem to get married, Geonhak-ssaem has to like me and my favourite-est dress ever!”
Hwanwoong is desperately hoping that Yeongja has not told Geonhak that they need to get married yet. He doesn’t think he can handle Geonhak talking to him about it, despite the fact that he’s sure plenty of children have said much more deranged things to the teacher. Still, declaring that someone needs to marry someone is pretty big—and he would be rather embarrassed if any of the other teachers or even parents at the school knew about what was happening with Yeongja and, well, this entire situation.
Hwanwoong pulls up to the school, and is in a little bit of awe at how much effort the faculty have put in into making this event rather big—there’s even a banner hanging on the outside of the entrance, signaling that the event is taking place there and there are colourful balloons strung up around it. It makes Hwanwoong smile, and he can see that Yeongja is already dying to get inside and be with her friends—and Geonhak.
They get out together and walk into the school hand-in-hand. A few of the other teachers are there in the hallway to lead them to the gymnasium, where most of the event is being held. The gym inside is colourful. That’s the first thing Hwanwoong notices as they walk in. There are balloons and streamers everywhere, more banners strung up and hanging along the walls. He notices that there are even some drawings pinned against the walls, most likely done by the students of the school. Hwanwoong is too soft for this—he feels emotional, for some reason, and feels like he could just start crying because of it.
Yeongja tugs on Hwanwoong’s hand, drawing his attention back to her. She grins up at him and points out with her other arm, bouncing up and down on the pads of her feet. “Daddy, Daddy! Geonhak-ssaem!”
Sure enough, when Hwanwoong looks up towards where Yeongja is pointing, Geonhak is there. He’s with another teacher and another parent, with a few children by their legs. Yeongja looks eager to go over there, so Hwanwoong gives in. He leans down to press a kiss to her head, before he leads her over to the small crowd.
Geonhak looks up just as they approach, seemingly in the middle of speaking. However, he just smiles brightly when he sees them, looking between both Hwanwoong and Yeongja. “Yeongja-yah, hello!”
“Hi, Geonhak-ssaem!” Yeongja giggles loudly as she lets go of Hwanwoong’s hand, running up to Geonhak and hugging his legs. Geonhak crouches down just enough to wrap an arm around Yeongja in a hug, and Hwanwoong inwardly swoons. Yeongja looks so small in Geonhak’s hold, especially with his arm around her like that. If Yeongja looks miniscule, then Hwanwoong knows that he’ll end up looking tiny in Geonhak’s arms.
He quickly shakes that thought away, willing himself to focus and to not daydream about what it would be like to date Yeongja’s teacher.
“Yeongja-yah, why don’t you go play with some of your friends?” Hwanwoong squats down as he says this, pointing over to the makeshift play place that the teachers have set up for the children. Yeongja sees Baram and Jimin and lights up, nodding quickly. She starts to run off, before she pauses, and turns back around, running back to Hwanwoong. He gives her a slightly confused smile, head tilting slightly, before Yeongja reaches up and taps her lips with her fingers.
Hwanwoong laughs gently, leaning in and pressing a kiss to her cheek. Yeongja giggles loudly and kisses Hwanwoong right on the mouth, innocent and soft, before she kisses his cheek as well. She turns back around then and runs off to find her friends to play with, now leaving Hwanwoong alone with Geonhak and the other adults.
When Hwanwoong stands back up, brushing off his pants a bit, he turns back to Geonhak and offers him a polite smile. Geonhak’s eyes crinkle around the edges when he smiles, his eyes somewhat lidded, but so kind and warm. This close, without having to look at Yeongja, Hwanwoong takes notice of his eyelashes and just how long they are—they’re so pretty, and Hwanwoong wishes that he could just stare at him for hours.
Hwanwoong clears his throat a little then, averting his gaze towards the floor for a couple of seconds, before flicking his gaze back up to Geonhak. “She’s very energetic, isn’t she?”
Geonhak chuckles, a low and gentle sound. Hwanwoong almost sighs when he hears it. “She’s definitely the most lively one out of the whole classroom. Yeongja-yah tries to befriend everyone, even when they don’t really want anything to do with her.”
That makes Hwanwoong frown a little, but before he can ask a single thing, Geonhak continues. “She’s very kind, though. She doesn’t force anyone to be her friend, but she tries to be open with everyone. You’ve raised her very well, Hwanwoong-ssi.”
Hearing someone praise the way he’s raised Yeongja like that makes Hwanwoong want to cry. He hopes his eyes don’t give that away, a rather shy but proud smile tugging its way onto his face. Hwanwoong looks down towards his feet, shifting his weight on them a little as he holds his hands in front of himself, lightly tapping the pads of his thumbs together—a nervous habit he has yet to kick, after all these years.
“Thank you for saying that, Geonhak-ssi. It… it means a lot.” Hwanwoong admits, lifting his head. “It’s been a little hard, raising her on my own. I haven’t done it totally alone, I’ve had some help from her biological father, but—still, it’s just the two of us at home. She’s never really expressed needing another parent or anything, but I do sometimes feel bad.” The story rolls off his tongue with ease, Hwanwoong not realizing he’s effectively dumped a little too much onto Geonhak’s plate. He looks up at the teacher with wide eyes, mouth opened to apologize, but Geonhak is just watching him intently, a thoughtful look on his face.
“Is ‘Uncle Keonhee’ her biological father?” Geonhak asks, genuinely curious. There’s no disdain or judgement in his voice, something Hwanwoong always fears.
He nods, reaching up and lightly tugging on his earlobe. “Yeah, Uncle Keonhee would be him. We’re very close, even though we’re exes. I think without him, I probably wouldn’t have had such good luck in raising Yeongja. So I’m very thankful to him.”
Geonhak nods slowly, listening, his head tilted just slightly. A strand of hair hangs precariously on the side, almost threatening to fall into his eyes. Hwanwoong wants to reach up and brush it behind his ear, his fingers twitching slightly by his side. Geonhak’s hair is long, reaching past his ears and resting right along the back of his neck, almost the length of his shoulders. It fits him so well, Hwanwoong thinks. He’s seen plenty of men with longer hair before, though it doesn’t necessarily fit them or their image, but for Geonhak, it fits him and his image very well.
“Being a single parent must be hard,” Geonhak murmurs, turning his head in the direction of the play place. Hwanwoong watches him, before following his gaze, coming to notice that he’s somehow managed to find Yeongja through the crowd of children. “I’m glad that Yeongja-yah can rely on you and Uncle Keonhee so much, though.” He pauses, before looking at Hwanwoong with a half-smile, his eyes now shining with mirth. “And you didn’t hear this from me, but she’s definitely my favourite student.”
Hwanwoong laughs loudly at that, unable to help himself. He covers his mouth as he does, tucking his head against his shoulder, laughing into it. He hears Geonhak chuckling at the same time, and Hwanwoong’s heart warms.
“It may be very obvious,” Hwanwoong starts, his own eyes disappearing with his smile, “but you are Yeongja’s absolute favourite teacher ever. I really have no idea what spell you’ve put her under, but she’s so infatuated with you. It’s a little scary, honestly.”
Geonhak laughs then, full body laughter that causes him to stumble against Hwanwoong’s shoulder for a moment. Hwanwoong watches him with wide eyes, an intense fluttering of butterflies spreading through both his chest and his stomach. When Geonhak calms down, he’s grinning in Hwanwoong’s direction, eyes shining with unshed tears from how hard he had been laughing.
“I don’t know if I should apologize for that or not,” Geonhak’s voice is soft but teasing, his amusement very evident. “I am glad that Yeongja-yah likes me so much, though. I would hate it if she were to dislike me for any reason.”
“I’ll be honest,” Hwanwoong looks towards Yeongja, who is currently standing on top of one of the plastic tables in the play place. “She probably thinks you’re the most perfect person in the world, even above her own daddy here.”
Geonhak watches him with a bit of an odd expression, one that Hwanwoong can’t quite decipher. He doesn’t get much of a chance to before someone comes running into his legs, nearly knocking him over. Hwanwoong looks down to see Yeongja staring back up at him with big eyes, a smile on her face.
“Daddy, I’m hungry! Can we eat lunch? Please?” Yeongja goes up and down, standing on her tippy toes in between.
“Of course, baby,” Hwanwoong smiles brightly as he runs a hand over her hair. He chances a glance towards Geonhak, who is smiling in Yeongja’s direction, before he slowly crouches down to Yeongja’s height. He leans in, putting his hand over Yeongja’s ear and stage-whispering into it. “Would you like to ask Geonhak-ssi to join us?”
Yeongja’s eyes light up and she nods quickly, turning towards Geonhak. She holds her hands behind her back, rocking forward and then backward on her feet. “Geonhak-ssaem, will you eat with me and Daddy?” She pauses, before tacking on: “Please!”
Smiling, Geonhak gets down to Yeongja’s level as well, reaching a hand out to her. She holds her hand out immediately, Geonhak taking hers, and he gently squeezes it. “I’d love to join you and your Daddy for lunch, Yeongja-yah. Thank you for inviting me along.”
Yeongja giggles again as she pulls her hand back, clapping happily. “Yay!”
There’s a small spread of food and snacks for everyone attending the event, most of them rather healthy choices for the children (and possibly some of the parents, as well). Hwanwoong helps Yeongja get what she wants to eat on her tray first, not bothering with getting his own meal yet. He sets her down at one of the tables, tickling her side briefly to get her to settle down. She swats at his hands lightly, giggling softly.
Hwanwoong goes to get himself something, standing and turning, but Geonhak continues to surprise him—he’s standing there with two trays, already filled with food, and he offers Hwanwoong a small smile as he sets them both down on the table.
“I hope what I picked was okay, there’s not a lot of variety, but…”
Hwanwoong shakes his head a bit quickly, before returning the smile. “No, no—it’s fine, thank you so much, Geonhak-ssi!”
He sits down beside Yeongja and thanks Geonhak again for getting his food, before giving his own thanks to the food. “Thank you for the meal.” He cracks open an eye to look at Yeongja, who presses her hands together, fork trapped between them, and gives her thanks as well. “Thank you for the meal!”
Yeongja behaves as they’re eating, which surprises Hwanwoong a little bit. She talks with both of them like normal, occasionally just giggling whenever Geonhak says something to her or praises her. Hwanwoong doesn’t really blame her for that. It’s such a nice time, this experience. It genuinely does feel like they could be some kind of family together, and while Yeongja is talking to Geonhak about one of her new favourite songs (THRILL RIDE by The Boyz), Hwanwoong’s mind begins to wander a bit.
He imagines what it would be like if they were at home, like this, gathered around the dinner table together. Keonhee would be with them, sitting across from Geonhak and talking, probably trying to tease Geonhak into revealing more and more about himself, maybe even attempting to try and scare the guy away—Keonhee isn’t jealous or anything, but Hwanwoong knows that Keonhee wants to make sure that he and Yeongja end up with someone who can actually help take care of them, and won’t turn out to be some kind of asshole.
Geonhak can’t possibly be an asshole, Hwanwoong thinks. He’s much too kind and gentle, he looks at his students and any other children with such kindness and love in his eyes—much like he’s doing with Yeongja right now. He hasn’t stopped looking at Yeongja, focused on every single word that comes from her, and responds to her in kind. Hwanwoong feels a wave of warm affection flowing through him, filling him to the brim with love. Whether he’s in love with Geonhak or not, Hwanwoong can’t say for sure, but he feels something strong for him, something he genuinely would like to pursue.
“Geonhak-ssi,” Hwanwoong says lightly, catching his attention.
Geonhak looks up at him, blinking slowly. “Ah—you can just call me ‘hyung’ if you’d like, Hwanwoong-ssi. I’d like to think you can be comfortable enough with me for that, especially because of Yeongja-yah.”
“Then,” Hwanwoong swallows slightly, the corner of his lips twitching up. “You can drop the ‘-ssi’ with me, as well. That’s alright with me.” He chews at his lower lip, thinking over the words in his mind, before he slowly asks, “Geonhak-hyung, do you think it’d be alright to exchange numbers?”
The question earns him a raised eyebrow, but not a harsh or mean look from Geonhak. Hwanwoong stumbles over his words a little as he continues, “Just in case if… if Keonhee isn’t able to babysit Yeongja-yah on the weekends, or when her other regular sitter isn’t able to make it. You’re so good with her—I, I figured that, maybe, you would be okay with babysitting her, if it came up. If—I mean, if you really wanted to. You don’t have to, though. Oh, god, I probably just assumed you’d be okay with it in the first place—”
“Hwanwoong-ah.” Hwanwoong’s mouth snaps shut at the way Geonhak says his name, his gaze immediately trailing up to look Geonhak in the eyes. He smiles gently towards him, giving a small nod. “That’s be fine. I wouldn’t mind babysitting Yeongja-yah on the weekends if it’s ever needed. Or even after school, if work is having you stay late and neither you nor Keonhee-ssi can make it.”
Hwanwoong’s body deflates, the tension and pressure he had built up inside of himself finally releasing. He sighs quietly, placing a hand over his chest and beaming up towards Geonhak. “Thank you so much, Geonhak-hyung! It means a lot, really.”
Geonhak just smiles, shaking his head slightly, before Yeongja is telling them that she’s done eating and wants to go play again. She carefully climbs down from her chair and grabs onto Geonhak’s hand, tugging at it and telling him to come play with them. Geonhak is weak to her. He gives in immediately, chuckling as he lets Yeongja ‘drag’ him over towards the play place.
He looks back over his shoulder towards Hwanwoong as she does, a sort of half-grin, half-smirk on his face, and Hwanwoong can see the adoration swimming in his eyes.
As summer rolls around, Hwanwoong’s job becomes more demanding. He’s begun relying on Keonhee and Yeongja’s usual babysitter, Jaechan, more often than not. It feels bad, not being able to be home and be there for Yeongja as often as he had been before, but his job has always been more demanding during the summer and fall months. The schedule for things is mostly set up to make things much easier on all of them, so they don’t have to scramble to figure something out when Hwanwoong really needs it.
Of course, no matter what, Hwanwoong’s luck is always bound to right out eventually.
Keonhee is set to babysit Yeongja one day, when his work decides that they suddenly need the extra manpower. He’s just gotten to Hwanwoong’s place, ready to go, when he gets the phone call. Hwanwoong is still at the house, thankfully, when Keonhee tells him he’s been called in—it’s disheartening, especially to Yeongja, who likes her steady set schedules and her Uncle Keonhee, but there’s no way around it. Hwanwoong already knows that Jaechan is unavailable to babysit today, as well, off at his own part-time job that he has between babysitting Yeongja.
He’s left with only one option, and he’s a little scared to try and go with it.
No time like the present, though. Hwanwoong gently taps on Geonhak’s contact and hits the ‘Call’ button, holding the phone up to his ear. It takes a couple of rings before Geonhak picks up.
“Hello?” He sounds out of breath, panting slightly into the speaker. Hwanwoong’s mind vaguely wonders about what he could be doing, before he shakes himself out of it.
“Hi, Geonhak-hyung,” Hwanwoong fidgets with the hem of his blazer, trying not to sigh. “Um, I’m so sorry to call you out of nowhere like this, but I’m a little desperate and—”
“Hwanwoong-ah, calm down,” Geonhak’s voice is steady now, the one that Hwanwoong is more used to. He does as the older says, breathing in deeply and letting it out slowly. The anxiety is really eating at him.
“Sorry,” he mumbles lightly. “Can you babysit Yeongja tonight? Keonhee was supposed to, but his work suddenly called him in and he couldn’t tell them no. Jaechan-ah is unavailable too, that’s her usual babysitter, and I have to get to work in less than an hour—”
“I’ll look after her, Hwanwoong-ah. Take deep breaths for me, okay? Send me your address and I’ll be right there.” There’s a lot of rustling on Geonhak’s side of the phone. Hwanwoong recognizes that as signs of him already getting ready to walk out the door and come right over, without even having Hwanwoong’s address in hand.
Hwanwoong smiles to himself, ducking his head against his shoulder. “Thank you so much, Geonhak-hyung—I’m so sorry again about—”
“Hwanwoong-ah,” Geonhak says his name warmly, but it also sounds a bit exasperated. “I told you before that I’d be alright with babysitting Yeongja-yah. My mind hasn’t changed at all. So please, don’t worry, and don’t say sorry. Alright?”
Hwanwoong’s heart pounds in his chest. He squeezes his eyes shut for a moment, before nodding to himself. “Okay,” he murmurs. “Thank you.”
After hanging up, Hwanwoong sends Geonhak his address and waits. He sighs softly, running a hand through his hair, before he turns around and goes to find Yeongja in the living room. She’s sitting on the couch, seemingly dejected as she plays with a doll in her lap.
“Yeongja-yah,” Hwanwoong gets down in front of her, on his knees, as he reaches out to take her hands. “I know you were excited about being with Uncle Keonhee today, but guess what?” Yeongja looks up at him, eyes watery with unshed tears. It breaks his heart to see that, so he smiles, leaning in a bit further, and stage whispering to her. “Geonhak-hyung is going to come and stay with you today instead! Isn’t that exciting?”
Yeongja’s entire face lights up at the mention of Geonhak. She tosses her doll aside and sits up straight, grabbing hold of her dad’s hands with a wide smile. “Really?! Geonhak-ssaem is coming?!”
Hwanwoong laughs gently, nodding, greatly amused by her change in attitude. “Yes, baby girl, Geonhak-hyung said he would babysit you today. So you have to make sure to be extra good for him, okay? You don’t want Geonhak-hyung to think you’re not a good girl at home.”
Yeongja nods instantly, head bobbing up and down. He’s afraid she’s going to break her neck like that, so Hwanwoong reaches out to steady her head and leans up to kiss her forehead. Geonhak makes it to their house in almost no time—it turns out that he doesn’t actually live that far from their own home, just about a half an hour away by car and a little longer by bus or train. He is immediately greeted by Yeongja, who throws herself at him, shouting his name gleefully.
Hwanwoong is so used to seeing Geonhak bending down to hug Yeongja, that he’s completely caught off guard when Geonhak only bends his knees, arms held out, and scoops Yeongja up into his arms and into a hug. Geonhak is actually holding Yeongja, something Hwanwoong has had yet to see in any of their encounters, and Hwanwoong—well, Hwanwoong’s brain is a little slow at playing catch up, and he ends up just staring again for the first half a minute, processing the image of Geonhak holding Yeongja in his arms like she belongs there.
Then he flushes, embarrassment overtaking him, bowing himself towards Geonhak a few times before he lets out a soft sigh.
“You’re a lifesaver, Geonhak-hyung.”
Geonhak chuckles as he sets Yeongja on his hip, fully entering the house. “Not really. I told you I’m fine with babysitting her. I’m glad you decided to take me up on the offer, finally.”
Hwanwoong rubs at the side of his neck, a sheepish half-smile on his face. “Ah… did you want me to contact you earlier about it?”
“Hmm,” Geonhak hums quietly as he looks at Yeongja, who is fascinated with his hair and is currently attempting her own version of a braid with two strands of it. “I guess so. I had sort of been hoping that maybe Yeongja-yah here would convince you to let me babysit some day.”
Yeongja giggles softly, beaming towards him. “I missed you, Geonhak-ssaem!”
“Ah, I’m not your teacher right now, Yeongja-yah,” Geonhak reaches one hand up, holding her up with his other hand with such ease, brushing some of her hair aside. “You can just call me ‘oppa’.”
Yeongja thinks for a minute, swaying herself from side to side as she does, before she looks Geonhak straight in the eyes and asks: “Can I call you Papa instead?”
Hwanwoong flushes red at that, going up to the two of them and carefully pulling Yeongja into his own arms then. “Yeongja-yah! You can’t just ask someone that. Remember what I told you? Be good today, okay?”
Yeongja pouts at him, batting her eyelashes as if that will make Hwanwoong give into all of her absolute desires (one day it might), before she dramatically deflates in his arms. “Okaaay, Daddy…”
Hwanwoong lets out a sigh, shaking his head a bit, then looks towards Geonhak apologetically. “I’m sorry about her, she’s… well, honestly, I’m not sure what’s up with her. But please don’t take anything she says like that seriously, Geonhak-hyung.”
“Ah, it’s fine,” Geonhak reaches out for Yeongja again, who goes into his arms willingly. He pets her hair for a moment, before setting her down on the floor. “Kids say some of the strangest things, I’m pretty used to it. Especially five- and six-year olds.”
Hwanwoong wants to continue this conversation for hours, but the soft ding from his phone indicates that his shift starts soon, and he still has to call his office and tell them he’s going to be running late. “I have to go now—Yeongja-yah, be good, Daddy will be back tonight, and we can have ice cream, okay?” He kisses Yeongja’s cheeks, lets her kiss his, then stands up to face Geonhak.
Part of him is entirely too ready to lean in and kiss Geonhak, a sickeningly domestic thought that he’s not really sure he’s equipped to handle right now. He swallows hard, offers Geonhak a smile, then gently pushes past him to open the front door. “Have a good day, you two! I’ll see you tonight! Bye, baby, bye Geonhak-hyung!”
He leaves with the image of Yeongja and Geonhak holding hands, both waving to him as he goes.
Hwanwoong gets home late that night, later than he had originally planned. Some of their projects had required extra work, and his bosses had wanted him to make-up for his lost time of being 45 minutes late to work. He felt awful about it, texting Geonhak that as much, but he had only received a text that said: “It’s alright, Hwanwoong-ah. I’ll have Yeongja-yah in bed.”
Opening the door quietly, Hwanwoong enters his home with a defeated sigh. He feels boneless, in the very tired sense of the meaning—he wants to wobble his bed, collapse face-first into it, and sleep for a hundred years. Neither Geonhak nor Yeongja are in the living room, which means they must be in Yeongja’s room. After taking off his shoes and jacket, Hwanwoong heads to Yeongja’s room to make sure she’s put to bed, only to freeze up at the entryway.
He blinks slowly, several times, before reaching up to rub at his eyes to make sure that he’s seeing things correctly.
And he is. As he looks in, he sees Geonhak and Yeongja on her tiny bed, together, asleep. Geonhak is practically bent in half around Yeongja, because he most definitely cannot fit in a bed made for a five year old with his physique and height. Yet for some reason, he’s there. Sleeping with Yeongja. His arms wrapped around her securely, protectively.
Hwanwoong bites his lower lip, blinks away a few tears, then turns around and goes to his own room. He carefully changes himself out of his work clothes and into his sleep clothes, trying to ignore the way his chest aches, only to find himself standing aimlessly in the hallway again, looking into Yeongja’s room once more. If he studies their positions even closer for a moment, he can see the way Yeongja is clinging onto Geonhak’s shirt, tiny hands fisted into it so tightly he’s a little worried she might rip it or something.
Tears form in the corner of his eyes. Hwanwoong has dated a few guys before, since he and Keonhee broke up, but Yeongja had never taken to them as well as she’s taken to Geonhak—and they aren’t even dating in the first place. Most men she meets, Yeongja tends to shy away from them and often feels awkward with them—Hwanwoong can always tell. A child’s intuition is often better than an adult’s, so Hwanwoong trusts his daughter’s judgement more than he trusts his own. He runs on emotions much more than he’d like to admit, but with a child that he has to put as a first priority, Hwanwoong has learned to trust Yeongja first, and himself second.
For Yeongja to feel so trusting of this man, enough to allow him into her room (which, by the way, is another thing she has never done with any of Hwanwoong’s past dates), Hwanwoong’s heart squeezes so hard in his chest that he just can’t help but cry.
He’s in the living room by now, sniffling quietly to himself, as he pulls out his phone to call Keonhee—he should still be awake, even if he should be asleep.
“‘Woong-ah?” Keonhee’s voice is a little hoarse, probably from talking at work all day. “What’s up? Why’re you calling so late?”
Hwanwoong sniffs again despite himself, rubbing at his eyes with his palm.
“Are you crying? What’s wrong? Did something happen to Yeongja? What happened with Geonhak-ssi—”
“She’s fine, we’re fine, I’m fine,” Hwanwoong quickly tries to placate Keonhee, before he works himself up too much. He sinks himself back into the corner of the couch, sighing quietly. “I came home a bit ago, right? Geonhak-hyung said he would have Yeongja-yah in bed by the time I got home. They weren’t in the living room, so I went to check and…”
He pauses, biting his quivering lip. It’s a little too long. “And? And what, Woong-ah?”
“She’s sleeping with him,” Hwanwoong whispers the words, the tears forming again. He presses his forehead against the arm of the couch, curling up into himself more. “Keonhee-yah, she’s sleeping with him. She’s never let a single one of my dates even step into her room before, even when they stayed the weekend to test the waters. Keonhee-yah, what am I supposed to do? She trusts him so much, and I like him so much. Isn’t it weird to want to date your kid’s teacher?”
Keonhee seems to be stunned into silence, not speaking for at least two minutes, before he clears his throat and quietly starts to speak. “I mean, it might be a little weird to some people, but I don’t think there’s any laws against dating your kid’s teacher. I’m kind of jealous, though. Yeongja-yah loves me and I’ve never gotten to sleep with her!”
Hwanwoong laughs wetly, a small smile coming to his face. “To be fair, Jaechan-ah hasn’t gotten to sleep with her, either. But at least the two of you are welcome in her room, you know?”
Keonhee laughs as well, making the heaviness in Hwanwoong’s chest feel a bit lighter. It’s not that he feels like a terrible person for wanting to date Geonhak or anything like that, he knows there’s no laws forbidding teacher-parent relationships, but it’s an unknown territory that Hwanwoong has never waded through before.
“I think you should try,” Keonhee eventually says, after they had lapsed into silence together. “You deserve someone very good to Yeongja-yah, and even though I haven’t met him yet, I believe he’s a good fit. For both her, and you.”
Hwanwoong nods to himself, slowly pushing himself to be sitting properly on the couch. “I… I’ll try. Even if it turns out he’s not really interested in me, I hope it’ll be alright and we can still be friends.” He pauses briefly, then slowly smiles to himself. “Thank you, Keonhee-yah. I really love you, you know?”
“Don’t let Geonhak-ssi hear you say that,” Keonhee cackles wickedly, Hwanwoong can imagine the stupid look on his face after saying it. “But I love you too, Woong-ah. You and Yeongja-yah, both. Thank you for trusting me enough to stay in your life.”
Hwanwoong hangs up feeling much lighter than before, though his heart still feels heavy in his chest. He feels so much right now, from anxiety to love to shock to fear. There are a lot of variables to weight, a lot of possibilities to think through, and more importantly, Hwanwoong has to think about what would happen if Geonhak doesn’t want to date—if he ends up fading away from Yeongja’s life, and effectively hurting his daughter for life.
It’s a possibility. There is the slimmest of chances that it could happen, one-in-a-million chance, but it’s still there.
And yet… Hwanwoong doesn’t linger on that possibility very much.
He’s seen the way Geonhak interacts with Yeongja, has seen the look in his eyes and how it varies from looking at all of the other kids in his classroom. Geonhak cares so much for Yeongja, Hwanwoong can tell, and he doesn’t think that Geonhak would be able to hurt her, even if he tried his hardest. Maybe it would take Yeongja longer than Hwanwoong to get over Geonhak if he were to reject Hwanwoong’s future romantic advances, but as long as Hwanwoong is able to teach her that, sometimes, things in life don’t always work out the way you’d wish they would, then she’ll be alright in the end.
Hwanwoong stands from the couch and goes to Yeongja’s room, stopping by his own room to grab his pillows and comforter. Once there, he sets the comforter down by Yeongja’s bed and bunches it up, very nest-like for himself, and sets his pillows up around him to make sure he can be supported throughout the night.
Yeongja has shifted in her sleep, now turned with her back to Geonhak’s chest, and one of her tiny hands being held in Geonhak’s. Hwanwoong settles himself down into his blanket cocoon, his head propped up right by the headboard and near Yeongja’s head, where he can gaze at her face. He watches her for several minutes, a soft smile on his face, before he reaches out and carefully brushes his hand over the top of her head, gently rubbing his thumb over her cheek a few moments later.
There’s a lot that Hwanwoong can’t stop thinking about. Yeongja’s trust in Geonhak, Geonhak’s adoration for Yeongja, his own feelings and trust towards Geonhak. If he could, he would take a week to merely sit in his room and contemplate everything.
Geonhak shifts slightly in his sleep, one of his legs stretching out over the end of Yeongja’s bed and hanging off rather precariously. Hwanwoong silently laughs at the image, incredibly fond. This right here—this is the kind of domesticity that Yeongja and Hwanwoong have never experienced before. Yes, Keonhee is somewhat like another parent to Yeongja, but he’s never done anything like this with them before. Keonhee is her uncle, not another father. Keonhee has done so much for them, but he’s in their life platonically. Hwanwoong could never imagine the three of them sleeping like this, where one of them is on the floor just to be able to sleep close to the other two.
With Geonhak, though—Hwanwoong envisions everything with him. He watches them sleep, the tears threatening to fall again, because he can see Geonhak as Papa. He can see Geonhak calling Yeongja daughter. He can see Geonhak living here, with them, for the rest of their lives. It’s a startling realization. Hwanwoong has tried, very much so, with his past dates to really imagine them as being fathers to Yeongja—none of them fit, though. They weren’t equipped to be fathers, as much as they tried to be. While they were good with children, they didn’t want to have a hand in raising a child.
Geonhak could be Yeongja’s father. He could be her Papa, and he would take an active part in helping raise Yeongja into a lovely person. (Because while Hwanwoong encourages her to embrace her femininity, he does not force it upon her. He leaves that window open, for her to explore, because who knows? Maybe she really will follow in her dad’s footsteps and be trans, as well. He doesn’t know, and he’s not going to push that onto her at such a young age, but he doesn’t keep it from her, either.)
Hwanwoong feels his eyes droopy, exhaustion washing over him now. He settles further into his blankets and curls up, reaching his hand up and carefully pushing it under Yeongja’s and Geonhak’s, where he can curl his own fingers around both of their hands. His wrist will be killing him in the morning for this, but it’s well worth it.
He closes his eyes, breathing out slowly through his nose, and lets himself drift off to sleep.
He doesn’t feel when Geonhak’s hand slowly stretches out and links their fingers together, effectively holding Yeongja’s hand between their palms.
