Work Text:
november
"Elijah", called someone, the voice close to the camera. "Elijah look at mom!"
Yohan turned the baby slightly, so that she faced the camera, her hands clutching at her bear.
"Elijah", said Huijin again, this time laughing. "Are you so sleepy already?"
The camera shook a little, vaguely showing around the room. The hospital bed was made, a few bags were packed on the side, all too blurry with how quick the camera was going, before focusing again on Elijah, opening her eyes slightly. She barely had any hair yet, a few dark strands there, all cheeks and small hands, her mouth forming a pout.
Yohan had wrapped his arms around her, keeping her close to his chest. Somewhere, out of the camera's focus, Isaac was on the phone, his voice coming out low.
"Do you want her back?", asked Yohan, tilting his head towards the baby falling asleep in his arms.
"It's okay", assured Huijin. "Thank you for coming to the hospital to meet her, we know it wasn't easy for you to find time-"
Elijah made a vague noise, closing her eyes again, tucking her head against her uncle.
Huijin zoomed in on her daughter's face, and Yohan wasn't visible when he started saying 'it's fine, I wasn't going to miss-' before the video ended.
july
"We're at the swimming pool", said Isaac, his grip on the camera more shaky than his wife's. "Huijin went to get Elijah's swimming goggles-"
His voice was drowned out for a moment as a kid ran past him, shouting, followed closely by another, wet feet against the floor.
"There's more people than expected", noticed Isaac, slightly amused. "Elijah and Yohan are just..."
The camera went around, revealing dirty white tiles, chlorine blue water, grandmas raising their arms for an aerobic lesson nearby, all going very quickly, before he made a satisfied 'ah!' noise, focusing on his brother.
His hair was sticking to his face, as he held Elijah up, the little girl waving her arms around, bright yellow swimming armbands on.
Yohan turned his head towards the camera, the tip of his nose and his smile the only visible features, as his bangs hided his eyes.
He put Elijah into the water, where she started flapping her arms and legs around, before he pointed to the camera.
The music playing for the grandmas' aerobic class, the shouts of children playing and the discussions were too loud to hear what Yohan said, but he seemed to be telling Elijah to say hello to her dad.
The camera shook, as Isaac's hand appeared in front of it, waving.
It disappeared again, as Yohan took Elijah's hand, mouthing 'hello!', while making her move it gently.
Isaac chuckled.
There were footsteps coming from behind.
"Honey, are you film-"
february
"Elijah, be careful", reminded Isaac.
The little girl, clutching onto her mom's gloved hand, glanced back at him, her eyes crinkling at the camera.
"Don't distract her", said Huijin, amused.
Snow had fallen down the country heavily this year: everywhere the camera showed, it was coated in white.
Elijah's stroller was abandonned to the side, already disappearing under snowflakes.
"Ah, our daughter is so pretty", cooed Isaac.
"Elijah, do you want to try and take a step alone?", suggested Huijin. "Should mom let go of your hand?"
She started pulling her hand away gently, but Elijah made a noise of protest.
She was disappearing under her clothes, whether it was the pink beanie obscuring most of the face, the scarf that was slightly too big and wrapped around her countless times, or the huge winter jacket, trousers and shoes she wore. She'd lost one of her gloves a while ago, and her dad's giant one replaced it.
She stopped taking small steps with her mother, and suddenly let herself fall onto the snow, letting out a giggle when she landed on it.
"Elijah's first snow-", started saying Isaac.
august
"Hello", said Huijin, panting a bit, as she walked through the beach. "The three of us are at the beach-"
The camera spinned around. A crowd of hotels was packed behind, while at the front, there was only the sea, swarms of beach-goers invading it.
"I think I lost them when going to find the sunsc- oh they're here", she sighed in relief. "Isaac!"
He raised her head, and then waved at her, a big white shirt thrown over swimming shorts, Elijah busy with her sand mountain next to him.
"Elijah, mom is back", said Isaac to their daughter, as Huijin hurried towards them.
The place was crowded, but they'd managed to find a spot, putting the towel down. Huijin's camera moved for a moment, showing the sand that covered the towel.
"I have the sunscream", she said. "Elijah, were you nice to dad when I wasn't here?"
Her daughter pulled a face, before slamming a tiny fist in her mountain, destroying her artwork.
"She was nice", confirmed Isaac. "But she's always nice, aren't you sweetheart-"
A bip bip made Huijin sigh.
"I forgot to charge the camera. Alright, I'll record lat-"
december
"-like this", explained Huijin.
"Ahhh", understood Ji Youngok.
The camera only showed dark red, until Huijin raised it, revealing her scarlet dress, and then the table, and then the people sitting around.
"This button is to zoom in-", she kept explaining. "Look-"
She zoomed in slightly. In front of her, Jisang, Isaac's father, gave her a slight frown, as the camera focused on his face.
"Sorry", she apologized, "I'm just showing how to use it-"
The camera moved to the plates of food, most of them half empty. In the background, music played, low enough that the words were impossible to understand.
"Can it also record voices?", asked Youngok.
"Yes, it can keep everything except smells and tastes, things like that", assured Huijin.
"Do you use it a lot?"
"I bought it to take videos of Elijah. Sometimes Isaac uses it-"
She moved the camera, which focused to the man next to Jisang. Isaac dropped his fork, with which he'd been busy picking at his food, instead giving the camera a bright smile.
"Honey, are you alright?", she worried.
Isaac glanced briefly at Jisang, pushed his glasses further up his nose, before making a dissmissive gesture of the hand.
"It's fine. Should I go get the gifts in the car?"
"Oh, good idea", reacted Huijin, and her chair's legs screeched against the floor, as she stood up.
"Gifts?", called Elijah's voice, and the camera focused on her, her wide eyes looking at her dad. Yohan had her on his lap, his arms securing her, his body angled away from Jisang.
"Dad is going to get them", assured Huijin.
There were a few loud noises, as the camera moved, now showing the floor.
"Do you want to try and record a video?", asked Huijin.
"Oh, no, I wouldn't be able to", argued Youngok. "How do you turn it off?"
"First you press on this button to end the vid-"
march
"Elijah, can you show us how good your sentences are?"
Elijah grabbed the camera with her small hand, bringing it closer to her head. For a moment, all that showed were her nostrils and the beginning of her mouth.
"I can talk better than Yohan", she claimed, her voice almost singing, before letting go of the camera.
"Ey", protested Yohan, off-camera. "Don't you know that this is slander-"
"Yohan, it's your turn", said Isaac.
The camera moved down, as Huijin sat. They were around the small table, cards laying in a pile at the center.
"No it's my turn!", said Elijah. "Yohan can't play now!"
"Why, what did I do?", argued Yohan.
"It's the youngest who plays first!"
"You played just now!"
"I'm the youngest! I can play when I want!"
"Alright, alright-", tried to intervene Isaac, while the camera focused on Yohan's offended expression.
"Play when you want? Isn't that inventing rules? Do you know about cheating?"
"You're cheating!", accused Elijah.
"How did I-"
"Cheating, cheating, cheating-", started singing Elijah.
"I think I'll end the recording here", said Huijin, amused.
"No I'm not-", tried to protest Yohan.
"Cheating, cheating, cheating-"
"No-"
october
"-py birthday to you, happy birthday to you Elijah, happy birthday to you-"
Elijah gave the camera a wide grin, before leaning forward, blowing half the candles.
Huijin, sitting next to her, started clapping, followed by the other guests, a few 'happy birthday!' added.
january
The camera focused on Elijah's neck first, before she managed to adjust it, making her eyes the only thing visible.
"This is my first recording", she said, very proudly. "Dad said I can play with it-"
The camera turned around, showing her bedroom, toys all over the floor, the curtains opened, revealing the streetlamps outside.
"I'm going to find dad", she decided, and the camera started shaking, as she hurried out.
The corridors were blurry, until she reached a door saying 'dad's office', stopping abruptly.
"Uncle is there", she whispered, very close to the camera. "He always reads on dad's couch."
As proof, she pushed the door to open it wider.
Inside, Isaac was at his desk, frowning at documents, while Yohan read on the couch, laying down.
"Pew, pew!", said Elijah, mimicking a gunshot, her tiny hand appearing in front of the camera, shooting at Yohan.
Yohan glanced towards her, before opening wide eyes, and throwing his book to the ground, half falling off the couch, tongue out, in a failed imitation of a dead body.
"I got him!", cheered Elijah, going in, the camera focused on the carpet.
"Elijah, don't bother your uncle", warned Isaac.
"Uncleeeee", called Elijah, and the camera was brought closer to Yohan's face, almost bumping against his forehead. "You're on TV, come back to life!"
"TV?", reacted Yohan, sitting up abruptly.
His hand moved to adjust the camera, showing his face fully.
"Do I look good?", he asked, pretending to straighten his collar and style his hair.
"No", she answered, giggling. "Do the weather, uncle!"
"Dear fellow citizens", started Yohan, his voice changing tone, "a tornado is going towards our city right now. Make sure to all stay indoors to avoid dying, except for Kang Elijah- hey you're not holding the camera right it's going to-"
The camera fell abruptly.
september
"Today was Elijah's first day at childcare", explained Isaac, walking through the corridors. "Yohan came to visit us-"
The camera stopped in front of a door, and his hand appeared, knocking.
"Come in!"
The camera focused on the wood, before showing the inside of the room.
Elijah and Yohan sitting on the floor, surrounded by plastic teacups and toys.
"We're saving the president!", announced Elijah, as the camera zoomed in on her face, and she raised her teddy bear. "Uncle, show Dad the plan."
"The T-Rex goes through the door", explained Yohan, as he came into focus, presenting a doll house. "Then the teddy bears jump from the plane-"
"No no it's the princess first", reminded Elijah.
"The princess jumps from the plane-"
"Dad, I made you coffee", announced Elijah, and she reached for one of the teacups.
The teacups went out of focus, as Isaac made a fake slurping sound.
"Wow, it's so bitter. Did you put sugar in it?"
"She's trying to poison all of us", laughed Yohan.
"Dad, how can you say this, I put all the sugar in it! Look, you have to help us save the president now-"
december
"We're going to the church for the donation", explained Huijin. Her boots were visible. "Elijah, close your coat, you'll get cold-"
"I'll help her", suggested Yohan's voice.
The view changed to show him kneeling down in front of his niece, closing the buttons while she gave the camera an angry look.
"Honey, did you find the teddy bear?"
"On it!", shouted Isaac back.
"What do- I'll go search too-"
"I can hold the camera", suggested Yohan, ruffling Elijah's hair before looking at his sister-in-law.
"Oh thank you-"
A few loud noises as the camera changed hands, looking down at the carpet, before showing Elijah's face.
"Elijah, say hello to the camera-"
"You're so annoying", complained Elijah.
"Elijah", repeated Yohan, amused, and he poked her nose, "Elijah, aren't you the cutest?"
"You're just saying this because you're my uncle."
"What?", scoffed Yohan. "Well, even if I'm your uncle. Actually, maybe you're so pretty because I'm your uncle-"
"You say nonsense", grinned Elijah, before turning her head towards the sound of footsteps.
"I got Teddy", announced Isaac, the camera moving to him, as he grinned and held the teddy bear up. "Hey, Elijah, since I found it. Do you like mom or dad better?"
"Yohan!", claimed the little girl.
Yohan started laughing at that, and the camera rose as he stood up, showing the top of her head as he ruffled her hear again.
"Hear that? I'm the favorite", he boasted.
Isaac, again the focus, stuck his tongue out.
"Oh my, Elijah, did you see this? Did your dad just stuck his tongue out at me?"
"Not good, Dad!"
"Ah, sorry, sorry. Honey, I got the bear, we can go now!"
"Thank god!", shouted back Huijin.
"Should I take the camera with us?", asked Yohan.
"No, no, leave it here, don't worry. There'll be enough people taking pictures", assured Huijin, walking back into the hallway.
"Huijin, can you believe it? Elijah said Yohan is her favorite-"
"I'm gonna stop recording", announced Yohan. "Any last words?"
"We're going to be late", said Huijin.
"I can't believe my daughter likes you more than me", fake complained Isaac. "Elijah, I love you so much, how can you-"
april
"How do you focus this thing?"
After showing the top of a dress, the camera shifted to show Elijah's face.
She's older and she adjusts her necklace, frowning.
"Hello?"
Her eyes are a bit red.
"I finished watching all the videos recorded on the camera. I think some got deleted... I'll ask about Yohan about it. Uhm, I'm at home now..."
She leaned forward, grabbing the camera, before moving it to show her bedroom.
"This is my bedroom- oh, I'll go find Yohan. Should I stop recording?"
The screen goes dark for a few minutes, some noises still audible.
"Yohan!"
The camera was picked up again, the living room appearing. Yohan looks up from his desk.
"What are you doing?"
"Recording. Mom and Dad used to do it, you don't remember?"
"Uhm?"
"You're also on the videos. I'll show you later. But this is my uncle! He's a grumpy old man, and this is where he works. There's the TV on-"
The TV is briefly shown.
"Yohan, do you have anything to say to the camera? This is for posterity."
"I thought you were supposed to be doing your homework, where did you find this-"
"Aaaaaand this is where Yohan's intervention ends. Say goodbye, Yohan!"
Yohan gave the camera a deadpan expression.
"Goodbye", he said, and Elijah moved out of the room.
"The kitchen is all the way there", she explained. "There's noises, so..."
The camera showed the kitchen, a man standing with his back facing the entrance.
"And this is Gaon! He lives here", she said. "Gaon, you're being recorded."
"What?", reacted Gaon, glancing at her.
"It's for posterity. What are you cooking?"
"Diner. Do you need help for your homework?"
"Ah, why are you all asking about this?", she complained. "Gaon, do you have family pictures? Like albums? Or recordings?"
Gaon, his face zoomed in, chuckled, before shaking his head.
"Just some pictures. I'll show them to you later. Where did you find the camera?"
"In my parents' bedroom. There's lots of videos on there. Oh, the battery is down", she noticed. "I'll cut the recording then-"