Work Text:
It's funny how time flies, but the most important things remain etched in our memory.
Zoey remembered the weight of Mi-sun the day she was born. She could never forget her warmth and the way her daughter had been placed against her chest, skin to skin, as if the world had decided that Zoey’s heartbeat was the safest place to begin. Time had slowed then, bent around that single moment. She had waited five long years to meet her. And somehow, it seemed she had already known her forever.
Mystery stood close that day, watching everything as if afraid to blink. He had held Mi-sun like something borrowed from the universe, so careful, reverent, terrified that a wrong movement might send her back to wherever miracles came from. He memorized the curve of her cheek, the way her tiny fingers wrapped around his thumb, the startling red of her hair that already refused to behave.
And just like that, time began to move again.
—------
Mi-sun’s first teeth arrived without warning, when she was around nine months old, in the middle of a sleepless week.
Zoey discovered them one early morning when Mi-sun bit down on her finger and Zoey felt something sharp. She pulled back, startled, then laughed in disbelief. Mystery leaned down to inspect them, squinting seriously.
“Oh…” He said. “That’s unfortunate.”
“Unfortunate?” Zoey raised an eyebrow.
“Those are mine.” He pointed gently.
Two tiny teeth. The upper canines, but they were shaped as little fangs. They made Mi-sun’s smile look mischievous, almost feral. Like a tiny vampire. Zoey laughed harder then, pressing her forehead against her husband’s shoulder as Mi-sun grinned proudly between them, drool shining, teeth on full display.
It became a running joke among their friends.
“She got your teeth.” Rumi teased.
“But everything else is Zoey.” Mira added.
Mystery agreed without hesitation.
Zoey watched Mi-sun crawling around the living room later that day, jaw set with determination, and thought ‘if this is the only part of you that looks like him, I’ll take it.’
—-------
Mi-sun took her first steps at her first birthday party. A cherry themed celebration. An allusion to the birthday girl's red hair and her parents always proudly saying that "she is the cherry on top of our family".
The house was full of friends, laughter, balloons, noise layered on top of love. Zoey had been distracted, helping someone in the kitchen, when she heard the gasp ripple through the room. She turned just in time to see Mi-sun let go.
One step. Then another.
Mystery froze mid-sentence, eyes locked on his daughter as she wobbled forward, arms outstretched, utterly fearless.
“She’s-” He started, then stopped, because she fell directly into his legs, laughing like she had meant to do it all along.
The room erupted. Zoey covered her mouth, tears spilling freely as she crossed the room. By the time she reached them, Mystery was kneeling, holding Mi-sun against his chest like he might never let go again.
“She walked…” He whispered, stunned. “She walked without me looking.”
“She did.” Zoey smiled through her tears.
It was the first time it occurred to them that Mi-sun didn’t need permission to move forward.
—------
The first day of school came too quickly.
Zoey crouched in front of Mi-sun, adjusting her backpack for the third time, smoothing her hair with shaking hands. The little girl stood still, patient, her red hair was neatly parted into two braids and styled into buns, just like her mother had worn it years before. Her eyes were bright with excitement.
“You’ll be okay.” Zoey said, more to herself than to her daughter.
“I know.” Mi-sun nodded seriously.
Mystery waited by the door, keys in hand, watching the exchange with quiet awareness. He noticed how Zoey lingered, how her fingers hesitated before letting go. When Mi-sun ran ahead toward the school gates without looking back, her mother’s breath hitched.
“She didn’t even turn around…” She murmured.
Mystery slipped his hand into hers. “That means we did it right.”
Zoey watched her daughter disappear into a world that suddenly no longer required her constant presence. And just like that, time moved forward.
—-------
The first sleepover was harder than they expected.
Mi-sun packed her bag herself, bouncing with excitement, while Zoey stood in the doorway pretending to be calm. Mystery offered to help, then stepped back, sensing the importance of this particular goodbye.
The girl hugged her mother quickly, then her father.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” She said to her parents, already halfway out the door.
Zoey waved, smiling. Only when the door closed did she sit down and let the quiet hit her.
Mystery brought two mugs of tea and sat beside her.
“She’s still ours…” He said gently, more to himself.
Zoey nodded. “I know. I just… didn’t realize how fast she would grow.”
—------
The first boyfriend was announced over dinner when she was about fifteen, casually, like it meant nothing.
Mystery nearly choked on her water.
Zoey raised an eyebrow, surprisingly calm. “Does he treat you well?”
Mi-sun rolled her eyes. “Yes, Eomma.”
Mystery stared at Zoey later, incredulous. “How are you so calm?”
She shrugged. “I remember being young. And I trust her.”
Mystery sighed, leaning into his wife. “I trust her too. I just didn’t realize how fast we’d get here.”
—-------
Graduation days came and went like turning pages.
High school. Then college.
Zoey cried every time. Mystery had learned to cry quietly many years before.
They watched Mi-sun step into her future with confidence they had only dreamed of having at her age. They celebrated her independence while mourning the versions of her that no longer existed.
And still, time slipped through their fingers.
—------
On the day of Mi-sun’s wedding, Mystery stood beside her in a quiet room.
She was radiant, grown, grounded, unmistakably herself. The red in her hair caught the light like fire softened into warmth.
He offered his arm and she took it.
As they waited for the doors to open, the man looked at his daughter and felt the weight of every moment at once: the birth, the first teeth, the steps, the goodbyes.
‘I blinked and here we are’, he thought.
“Appa? You okay?” Mi-sun squeezed his arm.
Mystery smiled, eyes shining. “I’m perfect.”
The music swelled. And as he walked her down the aisle, he understood something he had never been able to put into words before:
Time didn’t steal her. It trusted them with her, even if briefly, but beautifully.
And that was enough. They wanted to see her conquer the world, even if it meant she slipped through their fingers.
“Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time”