Work Text:
Yongbok crosses her arms, staring at the two little chicks in their cage. It has been 15 minutes, and she still stays right there right after she gets home from school. Inside the house, Minho wonders if she needs to call her husband because of their daughter's behavior. Yongbok didn't talk ever since she left the school and she seemed to have a lot of thoughts in mind. Minho wonders if she should approach or not, and at last, she takes a seat on the stool next to the little girl.
"Sweetheart, is everything alright?" She looks at their pets as well, checking if they are getting sick or something that worries her daughter. Yongbok doesn't respond, just heaves a soft sigh through her nose and keeps staring intensely at her two chicks. Minho decides not to push further, she knows the little girl will talk sooner or she might be waiting for her papa to come home, so the mama just leaves first, giving some space.
Yongbok looks at her mother walking back into the house, then she sighs again. She looks at the little chicks, her brows unconsciously furrows for thinking too hard.
She learnt something new at school, and the new knowledge might expose a secret her parents never told her.
"And when living things get enough food, drink, air and shelter, they can grow up well. Some living things will grow up really fast, and some living things will take it really slow to grow up. Like humans, you see, you are four years old, and you are this big. You need to take 20 years to be big like teacher!" the pre-school teacher explained enthusiastically to her students, and suddenly Yongbok raised her hand. The teacher's attention went to her right away.
"Teacher Yang Hunjin!"
"Yes, Yongbok?"
"How about chicks?" She asked brightly. Her best friend, Jinhyun, nodded eagerly when that word appeared.
"Right! Bokkie has two pet chicks! Chiki and Chiki!" She proudly told it to everyone as if it was her own TMI. Yang Hunjin, the teacher, smiled when she watched the two best friends then she answered, starting by pretending to think first.
"Hmmm~ Chick is one of the living things that actually grows up fast! Yongbokkie's Mama is pregnant right now, right?" She asked sweetly and Yongbok nodded in no time, excited when her little sibling being brought up.
"Yes! His taengmon (taemyeong/prenatal name) is Dango!" She cheered. Teacher Yang nodded just as excited as her while completing her explanation.
"Well, before Dango even comes out to see the world, Chiki and Chiki will already grow up like mommy chickens!"
Yongbok froze, her smile dropped almost too quickly. Teacher Yang didn't see the reaction because Jihan already raised her hand to ask about geckos. The little girl blinked, twice, then thrice, then she began to wonder if she understood the concept of time wrongly. Of course, her best friend noticed the little change, which made her focus on Yongbok instead of Teacher Yang at the front.
"Bokkie, what's wrong?" She asked softly, even holding Yongbok's hand to reassure her. Yongbok looked at her best friend, and she didn't even know where to start.
"Chiki and chiki... I got them almost two years ago when I was three.
...Why are they still baby chicks?"
Yongbok scratched her head although it wasn't even itchy. Totally confused because why do her pets stay as babies even after two years? She thinks about it really hard.
Well, there were times back then where she noticed that some of Chiki and Chiki's feathers turned brown and Seungmin said they were growing up. But then the pair of chicks turned into yellow again. How? Yongbok tried to imagine every possible situation, and suddenly she gasps, so hard, her eyes go wide and her mouth is ajar.
"Oh??"
"Ahh???!!"
"Ahhhhh!!!"
Minho, in the living room, flinches when she hears her daughter panic scream. So, she quickly gets out of the house to see the little girl.
"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" She holds the front door frame, stopping there because being pregnant limiting her movement a bit, so she feels slightly tired for moving too fast. Yongbok looks at her mom with terrified look, as if she cannot believe her own mind after connecting all the dots.
"Mama, I finally understand what happened to Chiki and Chiki" she says, swallowing the lump in her throat. Minho stuns in her place, only then she knows why her daughter act like this the whole day. She must have learnt about it at school. The mother gets slightly panic, mind is going fast to think of an excuse but before she can explain herself, Yongbok interrupts.
"Sweetheart, we actually-"
"Chiki and chiki are dracula chickens"
Minho stuns again, but for a different reason this time. She looks at Yongbok, wondering if that is some kind of jokes but the little girl is already leaning towards the cage, observing intensely.
"I think we can see their fangs if they open their beaks" she mumbles, then proceeds to ask the chicks to say 'ahh' as if the pets would understand.
Minho blinks a few times, totally speechless. She doesn't even know if she should laugh or worried. Maybe they really need to wait until Seungmin gets home to talk about this again.
- The End -
Bonus :
"So, we ate them?" Yongbok asks that night, when her parents finally decides to tell the truth that they replace the grown-up Chiki and Chiki with new chicks every few months. Minho wants to burst out laughing but Seungmin is faster to shake his head.
"No, of course not" he answers and that just makes the little girl more terrified as she guesses again.
"We killed them?!"
"No! Princess, that's brutal" Seungmin gets panicked over the idea, his eyes are wide like triangles, usual expression when he tries to defend himself. While Minho just laughs and claps her hands, lowkey proud that she raises her daughter like her. Yongbok fixes her sitting position on her bed while furrowing her brows.
"Then, what happened to the old Chiki and Chiki?" She asks. Seungmin and Minho spare a glance to each other for a second, only then Seungmin looks calmer and he smiles at the question.
"We sent them back to the farm sanctuary we took them from, and we took Chiki and Chiki from the same place too" he explains, and his wife nods to back him up.
"If you want, we can visit the sanctuary and you can see your old Chiki and Chiki" she suggests. Yongbok gasps in excitement at the idea, while Seungmin pretends to count by looking upwards.
"Hmm~ If I calculate correctly, I think now you have at least a dozen big chickens named Chiki and Chiki" he adds, and Yongbok just gasps even more dramatically, eyes shine with happiness and excitement.
"Really, Papa? Does that mean I have
Chiki and chiki and chiki and chiki and chiki and chiki and chiki and chiki and chiki and-"
The End <3