Chapter Text
“Well, what do you think?” Felix grins wide, his eyes darting from the two storey house in front of him and down to the little boy holding his hand. “It’s quite nice, isn’t it?” He gently squeezes the small hand, as if pressing for a good response.
The little boy hums quietly, blinking at the house. “Since Pa says it’s nice, then it is.” He mutters, lifting his head to look at Felix’s face.
Felix sighs defeatedly before a fond smile curves on his lips. He drops to his feet, leveling himself with the little boy, fixing the strays of hair that fall on his face. “Baby, it’s okay to have your own opinion on things. You don’t have to say something is nice just because Appa says it is. Haru’s opinion matters too, alright?” He calmly says, holding both of the child’s hands in his own, slightly swaying.
Haru’s brows furrowed lightly, eyes down on their hands with his lips pursed as if thinking. “Okay,” He says after a few moments, selfsame doe eyes back on his father.
The only thing Felix could do was smile before he pressed a loving kiss on Haru’s forehead. “How about you explore around while Appa tidy up the things inside, hm?” Felix says, the undertone urging his son to actually go and play outside instead of being cooped up with him in the house.
Haru, however, seems to have other plans as he holds his father’s hand—almost pulling to the direction of their new home. “Then, I’ll just help Pa.”
Felix shakes his head, “Nuh-uh, Appa can handle it alone. So, Haru should go out and try to make new friends. Remember the playground we saw earlier? You can go there and play. But, if you found nothing interesting, you can go back here and just help Appa then.” He hides behind a smile once he sees the look on Haru’s face, one that he identifies as the little boy actually considering the thought. So, Felix pushes on gently, his smooth deep voice turning even more mellow and sweet. “Can you do that for me, baby?”
While Felix knew it contrasted everything he had just said earlier, Haru needed it. The boy needs friends, preferably someone his own age and not some ahjussi he happens to befriend after a solemn round of chess or go. It concerns him sometimes, how Haru just seems to be overly mature for his age of six. His son is outstandingly intelligent, and never once did Felix have any problems with him at his previous school. But, every teacher of Haru told Felix one thing, Haru lacks social skills. They told him that the boy often kept to himself during lunch and play time, stays quiet unless called, and seemingly has no energy to utter more than two to three sentences in one go.
To be honest, to Felix, all of those seem quite normal. Haru must feel more comfortable alone than with everyone else. Staying quiet unless called, couldn’t it be that he’s just very well disciplined? And what kind of kid talks so much without having to? However, it might not be the case for Haru. The school counselor told Felix that it may affect Haru’s behavior and personality in the future. He was advised to, as much as possible, have Haru be engaged with people. Let him build relationships. And Felix was just trying to do all that.
The reluctance in Haru’s face was evident, but upon taking another glance at his father, he inevitably nodded. “...I guess.” He mumbles, pout forming on his lips.
Felix immediately kisses it away, happy about the boy’s response. “Ah, my good boy!” He lightly pinches Haru’s cheeks to which the boy groans. “Hurry along now.”
Haru dives for a hug before he lets go, walking to the direction of the park. “I’ll be back soon.” He says while looking back at his father, then runs.
Felix waves, chuckling. The boy hadn’t even arrived at the playground yet, and he was already thinking about going back. Sometimes, Felix couldn’t help but wonder just where he got such odd traits.
Once Haru’s back fades from his view, Felix goes inside the house to clean up. It was only two hours before lunch, and there was so much Felix had to do before then. He decides to just have something delivered for their lunch today, then actually cook their dinner later once he sets the kitchen up. Five big boxes were placed in the living room, and if he remembers correctly, there are still two each back for the two rooms upstairs. Somehow, Felix wonders if he could actually assemble half of these boxes by today.
Sure, it would be nice to have someone helping him, but Haru’s little hands are only capable of so much. Speaking of his son, he wasn’t that worried about the boy getting lost or worse. In fact, Felix chose this subdivision because of its tight security. Apart from having people on patrol night and day, the streets are also laced with security cameras. Besides, Haru’s a smart boy. He always has a whistle and pepper spray with him, and he’s also been learning jiu jitsu since he was four. Haru became interested in it after seeing an uncle in their neighborhood come and go with his jiu jitsu uniform.
The move wasn’t sudden. Felix was already thinking about it six months prior, and talked to Haru about the plan two months back. Changbin, a close friend of his from work, was the one who told him about this subdivision. Not only was it closer to his new job, it was also a few minutes drive to the nearest nursery school. Fortunately enough, Haru wasn’t too sad about leaving. While he says he’d definitely miss the park and the grandpas he constantly played go with, moving away didn’t pose any grand reaction from the little boy.
The doorbell ringing snaps Felix from his thoughts, immediately leaving the box and walking over to the door. When he opens it, he is met with a handsome man smiling, a little shorter than him, holding what seems to be a plate of sticky rice cakes.
“Hi!” The man starts enthusiastically. “I heard about you from Changbin! My name is Wooyoung, and I live across the street.” He frees one hand, offering a hand shake.
Felix grins, eyes sparks familiarity once Changbin’s name was mentioned. “Ah, I think hyung mentioned you before too. You can just call me Felix.” He says, flashing a kind smile, and taking Wooyoung’s hand.
Wooyoung nods, handing Felix the plate. Accidentally seeing the big boxes on the floor still left to be opened. “Here, I figured you have your hands full from unpacking your things.” He looks at his watch worriedly, “Ah, I really would have offered to help but I have to get to work right now. Sorry, I’m really running late. Anyway, I’ll see you later, Felix!” He says, and before Felix could say anything, he was already running to his car parked literally across the street.
As if deja vu, Felix waves chuckling at the speeding car with one hand holding a plate of sticky rice cake. At least he now knows one person in this neighborhood. Just when Felix was already ready to go back in, a black convertible parks in front of the house beside his own. Felix didn’t know why he waited, watched as the person on the wheel took his key out and slammed the door shut after he got out. His eyes trailed on to the man wearing a black suit, bleached hair slicked back, and with a face that could end every war just by catching a glimpse of it. How could a person look so good to the point of being unreal? Felix would like to know too.
The man took something out from the back seat, something that looked like a canvas. It wasn’t big, but not that small either. If Felix were to describe its size, it’d have the length of the man’s foot up to his knees with the same width. He held its sides without much care as he walked toward his home. Felix knew that he should probably look away now, get inside, and save himself the embarrassment of being caught staring. Truly, he was just about to do that when the man’s gaze fell on him. Apart from the feeling of shame that creeped up, Felix was a little concerned about the drowsiness that he saw on the man’s face. Hell, those eyes were about to close and fall into a deep slumber.
And, Felix wasn’t wrong.
Because after another step, one second—the man blinked with his eyes still on Felix, until they weren’t. It took Felix more than five seconds to react when he saw the man’s body make contact with the freshly mowed grass of his own lawn. The plate of sticky rice cake was abandoned by the stairs of his porch, and he was running.
⌂
“Haru, can you get Appa the utensils on that small box please? Thank you.”
“Pa, why isn’t he awake yet? Should I wake him?”
“He’ll wake on his own, baby.”
Hyunjin’s hearing was a little muddled, but he was positive that he had just heard rustles and voices from a distance. But, that was impossible. He lives alone, and Chan hyung doesn’t come over without prior notice. It couldn’t have been a burglar or anything of the sort. The security in this subdivision was stricter than his mother. So, what are these? Some kind of hallucination or have the ghosts decided that his narcolepsy wasn’t that much enough of a suffering, so his third eye was opened as well?
As Hyunjin begins to slowly draw away from the sleepiness, he blinks his eyes open until the sight he could see was clear. The ceiling was white, with a small chandelier hanging above him, sparks flying in every direction—as his astigmatism kicked in. He draws his gaze away, groaning.
Fuck, since when did my pretty light bulb turn into a damn chandelier?
“I think he’s awake, Pa.”
Hyunjin hears it again, clearer this time. It was the voice of a kid, probably around six to eight. It was still a little baby-ish. Like a soft rumble of words. He turns his head to the direction where he heard it, only to be greeted by a pair of curious eyes. Hyunjin stumbles back up—startled into a sitting position as he looks back at the kid.
Those bambi eyes continued to look at him without much care, like he was an animal at the zoo and they were separated by a wall of glass. And so, Hyunjin stared back. The curiosity dripped from the kid’s eyes like water, as if it was his first time seeing a man in his mid 20’s wearing a ridiculous suit. Well, maybe it is.
“Haru, baby, stop staring. Come here.”
Another voice came in, and when Hyunjin’s eyes tried to find the owner, it didn’t take him long as a man stepped in his vision—hugging the child from behind. When Hyunjin caught sight of his face, it rang a sense of familiarity in his head. Pretty face, freckled cheeks, ravenette—just like the hallucination of the angel he saw on the neighbor’s lawn. Minus the halo and the wings. Moreover, those doe eyes held worry as they looked at Hyunjin. How cute.
Passing out was a common occurrence that Hyunjin was nowhere near holding worried for himself when he did. Nonetheless, it feels kind of great having someone be worried about him for once, other than Chan hyung that is.
“Who…?” Hyunjin utters, as he looks at the man and the child back and forth.
“Oh, uhm, I’m Lee Felix and this is my son, Haru. We just moved here. You, uh, passed out on your porch, steps away from your house earlier. So, I brought you to our home instead.” The Felix guy says, “Uhm, are you alright? I’m sorry I didn’t call an ambulance, I was panicking so much.”
Oh.
Hyunjin waves off the apology, “No, it’s alright. I’m kind of glad you didn’t, actually. Thank you for coming to my rescue though.” He says, smiling slightly as his eyes travel on to the child he was holding.
A son, huh?
“Haru, right? Your eyes look just like your Appa, a carbon copy.” Hyunjin says, “Did you get your lips from your Eomma, then?” He continues to do what he calls, subtly prying on to someone else’s business.
However, when he lifts his head to catch sight of Felix’s face again, he notices the drop of his mood. And Hyunjin guesses that it must have been a sensitive topic to discuss, for a stranger that is. Haru’s words only confirmed this when he spoke.
“I don’t have an Eomma.”
The way the words fell out of the child’s mouth, it was straight and in a peculiar way, unemotional. Like it was a common response to be said. Like the question Hyunjin brought up has been asked to him thousands of times before, it doesn’t faze him anymore.
Hyunjin hums, “I see.” Then he smiles at the child, resting his hands on his knees as he leans forward to somehow reach Haru’s height. “How about another Appa, then?”
Felix almost bit his tongue and choked when he heard the subtle innuendo was so loud, it was screaming right at his face. The boldness of this stranger was through the roof. Saying such things in front of a child? Flustered, he nibbled on his lips, looking away as he tried to hide his reddening cheeks. He just hopes Haru won’t be able to get it.
Much to their surprise, Haru raises his left hand, like a stop signal and pushes it in front—right at Hyunjin’s face. Then, he shakes his head. “Unemployed people shouldn’t be asking for such things. Ahjussi, do you even know how much a box of my milk costs?” He snorts, “Pa shouldn’t pick someone without a job, ever.” Haru glares at Hyunjin as he hugs his father’s leg, seemingly saying how the latter man shouldn’t even dream of wooing his father away.
While Hyunjin was at a loss, Felix couldn’t help but let out a stifled laugh, hand covering Haru’s mouth. “Sorry about that, let me just—I’ll talk to him.” He says, before he lifts Haru and walks away somewhere.
“Haru, that was not nice. How could you say that to someone? Where did you even get the idea that he was unemployed?”
“Uncle Binnie said that not all men in suits are accomplished men. Most of the time, they are swindlers and don’t have a job, or are just still applying for one.”
“Still, you assumed…”
Wherever those father and son went to talk, Hyunjin believes that they don’t know that he could still hear them. Still unrecovered from the shock of being dissed by a child, Hyunjin blinks into nothingness.
Am I… unemployed?
Hwang Hyunjin, an anonymous genius painter who sold almost thirty of his art pieces at the starting price of three hundred thousand dollars and whose bank account flows with money enough to support him through this lifetime—finds himself wondering if his job was actually a job and not just a hobby that earns him money.