September 15, 2020 - Six months earlier; the week of capture (Part I)
 

"I do like green eggs and ham, I do! I do!” Taemin’s voice carried down the hallway as he read to Haneul. Almost every night, his nephew would ask if he could read a bedtime story, to which Taemin could never deny him. The last few nights had been the same book, which of course was Green Eggs and Ham. It was a classic favorite already and each and every time Taemin read to Haneul, it never got old. The young boy was excited every time because his uncle made it fun. 

It didn’t take long for Taemin to finish the book, and as usual, Haneul already had a pout on his face. 

"Can you read it to me again, samchon?” Haneul asked politely, hoping that it would charm his uncle. 

Taemin puffed the air out from his cheeks that made his bangs flip up. He smiled at his nephew, knowing very darn well that the boy was doing his best at the “puppy dog” eyes to persuade him to read one more time. 

"Aniyo, Haneul-ah, it’s late now. You have school tomorrow and I know your umma would want you to close your eyes and go to sleep.” Taemin said playfully as he reached forward and smoothed the boy’s bangs down on purpose to cover his eyes with his palm. Haneul laughed as he tried to move Taemin’s hand away. They played like this for only a moment more before Taemin placed the book under the small child’s bed. He stood up from sitting on the edge of Haneul’s bed and as soon as he did so, Haneul was back to pouting. 

"One more story, juseyoo?” The boy was pleading this time. It always made Taemin feel bad seeing and hearing Haneul act that way. 

As soon as Taemin stood up, he sat back down, but not to read. Haneul stared at his uncle longingly, and Taemin could tell in his eyes that he didn’t want him to leave. With a heavy sigh, Taemin looked up at Haneul. 

"Haneul-ah, would you rather that I sleep with you?” Taemin offered. On a few occasions, Taemin often found his nephew had managed to find his way to his room and crawl into bed with him. Other times it was Sohee who would wake up to find Haneul clinging to her in the early mornings. Taemin knew that this was Haneul’s way of missing his appa and it was heartbreaking to experience. Haneul stuck out his bottom lip and shook his head. 

"Are you sure? Or do you want umma to sleep with you?” Taemin asked again, wanting to be sure that his nephew would maybe feel better having his mother around. Instead of a verbal response, he heard a small sniffle. Big tears started to roll down Haneul’s cheeks and he shook his head to Taemin. 

"I want appa.” The boy croaked out and Taemin felt his heart sink. Some nights were good where Haneul would easily fall asleep after reading one story… and then some nights weren’t as good, like tonight. As much as it pained Taemin to see his nephew so sad, he knew that he had to be a good example for him. He reached for him again but this time used the pad of his thumb to wipe away the tears. 

"I know, Haneul-ah, but appa isn’t here right now. He’ll be back home soon.” Taemin said with a soft smile in hopes that Haneul would believe him. Haneul sniffled again and wiped at his eyes. It was obvious to Taemin that his nephew was tired of hearing the same thing almost every night but he was at a loss of what else he could possibly say, until it hit him. 

"We can try to call appa tomorrow after school, ne?” Taemin suggested. The idea seemed to have perked Haneul up as he nodded his head. Taemin smiled again and he leaned in to kiss the top of Hanuel’s head. 

"Arasso, time to go to sleep. We can’t call appa if you don’t go to sleep!” Taemin teased and Haneul nodded his head in agreement. It was amazing to Taemin how easy it was to switch up the boy’s mood but at the same time, it was hard and tiring trying to make sure that Haneul was happy and distracted by the fact that Minho wasn’t around. 

Once again, Taemin stood up and Haneul knew not to pout this time. He was now too excited to go to sleep because sleeping meant tomorrow and tomorrow meant calling appa! Taemin went over to the one side of the room where Haneul had his little green dinosaur night light and turned it on for him. As he reached the door to turn off the bedroom light, Haneul called out for him. 

"Taemin Samchon!” 

So close. Taemin thought to himself and turned around. With the sparkling round eyes that reminded him of his brother Minho, Haneul pulled his blankets up to his chin before asking, “Can appa read with us tomorrow when we call him?” 

Taemin chuckled softly and nodded. “Ne, Haneul-ah, we’ll all read together tomorrow. Now close your eyes and remember to say your prayers to Haneunim*, arasso?” 

Haneul nodded his head that he understood and before Taemin could even turn the light off to the boy’s room, his eyes were tightly closed as he waited for tomorrow. Taemin shut the door to Haneul’s room but left it open just a crack. 

He walked down the hallway to his own room and plopped himself on his own bed. Taemin reached for his phone that was left on his nightstand to find his lock screen loaded with notifications. Some of them he didn’t care too much about, he saw he had a couple of text messages from friends, one of them being from Jinki asking if he started on his report for one of their classes. Even though it was only eight-thirty at night, Taemin was tired. It was often days like this where he found himself wondering what his brother would do if he was here. It wasn’t that Taemin resented Minho for choosing the military as a career, but he supposed he resented the military for breaking families apart. 

Minho had been gone since May of that year and wouldn’t be back until August 2022. Most people in the military had much longer tours and Taemin partially felt guilty for feeling that Minho’s tour was too long compared to others. Along with that, it was the unknown future that Taemin worried about often. What would become of Sohee and Haneul once he graduated from university? What kind of brother would he be by leaving them? 

He’d been mindlessly scrolling through apps on his phone as these thoughts swam in his head that he didn’t realize that Sohee had come home. There was a soft knock on his door and he instantly knew that it was her. 

"Annyeong! I’m home,” She called out softly. 

Taemin immediately sat up as he heard her voice, his phone tossed to the side. He saw that she stood in his doorway, still in her waitress uniform and she looked equally as tired as he did. 

"Annyeong, noona,” He responded back with a yawn and a chuckle to follow after. 

Sohee smiled at the greeting and looked back into the hallway before she looked at Taemin. “Did he fall asleep?” She asked, her voice just above a whisper.

Taemin nodded to her as he decided to finally stand up and go over to her. “Ne, he finally went to sleep after I told him we could call hyung tomorrow.” He stood by his desk that was right by the door of his room and loosely crossed his arms. 

Sohee nodded her head but not without sighing. Taemin knew that all of this was hard on his sister in law too. Ever since Minho had been deployed, Sohee began working long hours at the restaurant. With Sohee constantly at work, everything else fell on Taemin. 

"Are you hungry?” She asked finally after a moment of silence between them. 

Taemin shook his head before answering, “Aniyo, I’m okay, noona. What about you? I can make you something right now.” 

The offer immediately perked Sohee up, but he knew she was too modest. “That’s okay, Taemin-ah. I know you must be tired too.” 

Taemin could feel his cheeks flush a light shade of pink. He shrugged his shoulders and awkwardly looked down at his feet before looking back up at her again. He was almost startled when she walked fully into his room towards him. Once she was close she reached her hand out and started examining his face, like a mother would. 

"Aigo, noona, I’m fine!” Taemin said in between small laughs and his cheeks felt warm against her cool fingers. 

Sohee pulled back and smiled. “I know, but sometimes I feel like I have to take care of another little kid around here.” 

Taemin playfully scowled at her. Before leaving his room, she double checked if he was sure he wasn’t hungry, which he wasn’t. He could hear her go to Haneul’s room and whisper to him that she was home. He went to shut the light off in his room before walking back to his bed and tossed himself on the mattress again. His cheeks were still burning all the way up to his ears and he knew why.

He heard Sohee leave Haneul’s room and with his door not completely closed, he could still see the shadow of her feet underneath. She walked down the hallway to her and Minho’s bedroom and closed the door.

Taemin hadn’t noticed it but his heart was racing. He started to think about what just happened. It didn’t make sense to him why he was feeling the way he did, but he liked when Sohee had touched his face. Her actions were honestly nothing more than her being a concerned sister-in-law, so why did Taemin have these feelings? 

If he had to admit, Sohee was an attractive woman. She was very poised, modest, and had a little bit of attitude in her if steered the wrong way. Who she was as a person outweighed the physical, which to Taemin was an added bonus. It was a no-brainer that Minho had taken the opportunity to get to know her more, especially when he had been playing football (soccer) and the ball landed directly on the windshield of her car. After that, the rest was history. 

Taemin turned to his side in bed to look at his phone. More texts from his friends that he didn’t even care to read. He turned the screen off and laid onto his back again, staring at the ceiling, silently wishing in the back of his mind that Sohee would touch him like that again. 

*   *   *

"Annyeong!” A familiar voice came from the speaker of the phone. 

"Appa!” Haneul said excitedly, his eyes bright seeing his dad on the other side of Sohee’s phone screen. 

It was the next day, a Wednesday, and Sohee happened to have the day off. She had managed to do some housework and let Taemin off the hook from doing much of what she hadn’t been able to catch up to. She had been able to keep in contact with Minho when he was deployed, though their messages would be delayed from time to time. He immediately responded to her asking if he would be available for a video call after she picked up Haneul from school. 

Both her and Haneul sat in the living room on the couch as the call started to beep, indicating that it was trying to connect. She smiled at the sight of him on the other side of the screen in his full army uniform but was quite “casual” since he wasn’t wearing his cap. He was most likely on base and had the free time from any duties. 

"Haneul-ah, have you been good in school?” Minho asked and he smiled when the young boy nodded his head. 

"Ne! Appa, when are you coming back home?” Haneul finally asked. Sohee felt the sting in her chest at his question. Her eyes went from Haneul to Minho’s face on the phone screen. She could tell that the question hurt him too, but he was much better at hiding it. 

"Aigo, not for a while, Haneul-ah.” Minho said gently as he tried to not let it get to him. 

"But, appa, I miss you.” Haneul said with a pout. “You’re not here to walk me to school or play games, or go in our tent. It’s not fair.” 

Sohee could feel almost close up from trying to keep herself together in front of Haneul. Her heart was breaking on the inside as she heard these things that when she looked back at the screen, Minho was looking down. She knew he was trying to hide his tears because he looked back up, he avoided the camera and the Adam’s apple in his throat bobbed from swallowing his emotions. He took a breath as he looked back to the screen and forced a smile the best he could. 

"Ne, I miss you, too. I miss you, and umma, and Taemin Samchon… I know it doesn’t seem fair right now but just be patient for appa. I promise you when I get back that we’ll have a lot of fun, arasso?” As Minho said this, Sohee knew that he meant it. There wasn’t anything that Minho wouldn’t do for Haneul and that she felt confident about. She looked back at her son, who still seemed a bit disappointed but nonetheless had to accept what his father said. He nodded his head with a small “OK” under his breath. 

"You behave for umma and you can drive your uncle crazy every once in a while, OK?” Minho said as he winked with a smile. He always knew how to turn the mood around. Haneul nodded that he understood and even attempted to give a wink back. Both parents laughed almost in unison at Haneul’s action, and as their laughter died down, Minho raised his brows. 

"Hmm.. speaking of Taemin, where is he? Is he not home?” 

Sohee looked behind her at the clock on the wall. It was already close to four in the afternoon. She turned back to the call and bit her lip. “Aigo, I know Taemin wanted to join in on the call but he said he needed to finish writing a paper for school.” 

Minho squinted his eyes a bit at her, almost as if he were suspicious of him. “He better be writing that paper and not fooling around. I feel as though he’s been avoiding me.” 

By this time, Haneul had already begun distracting himself by playing with his toys nearby. Though he was still listening to the call, he mentally was keeping tabs so that he could at least have the chance to say goodbye to his appa. 

Sohee shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not sure, oppa. I know he’s been tired lately between school and helping me around the house.” As she said this, Minho visibly went from wanting to be a disciplinarian to then being a little more understanding. 

"It really isn’t the same without you here, Minho.” She said softly. Even though it had been four months into his tour, the amount of time did not mean that things were any easier for the small family. 

Again, Minho looked down but this time for the slight tinge of guilt. It wasn’t that when she said things like this that Sohee wanted Minho to feel guilty, and he knew that, but he automatically couldn’t help but feel that way. He sighed through his nose and looked back up at the screen. 

"Ne, I know, I’m sorry, Sohee-ah. I think about you all the time.” Minho admitted softly and he smiled. 

She smiled back the best that she could without wanting to cry right there. Although she had always known that Minho had chosen to be in the military, and that eventually there would come a time where he would be deployed. In the beginning of their relationship it hadn’t been unmanageable, the most he had been gone was usually less than six months for smaller tours. They had been lucky throughout everything they had been through that Minho was able to be involved in Haneul’s life before officially being deployed on this longer tour. It all just seemed overwhelming. 

"Appa! Can you call me to read with Taemin Samchon and I tonight?” Haneul asked out of the blue. Minho smiled back at the both of them from the video call. He looked off to the side in thought, and raised one of his brows. 

"Hmm… maybe not tonight, Haneul-ah. Appa has to work late, but how about Friday?” His father offered as he knew Haneul would have protested if he hadn’t thrown in a solution. Sohee smiled as Haneul nodded his head as he was clearly excited about the guarantee of seeing his father again later on in the week. 

"Arasso, appa has to go now. You behave at school, be good to umma, and make sure Taemin Samchon is doing his school work too.” Minho told them with an affirming nod. 

"Ne, I will! Two more sleeps until Friday!” Haneul responded back happily. The small family said their goodbyes before ending their video call. Sohee decided that now was a good time to start making dinner and would definitely need a helper. 

Miles and miles away, Minho started typing out a text to Taemin: 

Yah! The one time that I get to call home and I learn that you’re not even there. I’ve barely seen or heard from you in four months, nyeon.* Are you avoiding your hyung? ㅋㅋㅋ  Well, I hope that I get to talk to you on Friday. I’ll be reading with you and Haneul when he goes to bed. I also told him to make sure to keep you in line! ㅋㅋㅋ OK, hope you’re doing well in university! When I come back, you better have graduated! 

He smiled as he sent the text through to his brother. He knew that he most likely wouldn’t respond right away but he knew eventually that Taemin would.

A/N: Hey guys! 

Sorry for the REALLY long gap between updating! Lots of stuff going on personally so just trying to be able to cover all the bases TT Also, I apologize again because we're "going back in time" for a little bit in the next few chapters. This chapter was going to be longer, but I decided to cut it into two parts to not make it too over whelming to read. 

And I know how ironic it is that Taemin has now been enlisted into the military. Time flies when you're having fun, right? But in a blink of an eye, 18 months will be nothing and we'll all be able to say SHINee's Back! ^^

Again, thank you all for your kind comments, for reading, subbing, and everything else in between ♡ you all are so lovely and I wish that there was more I could do (maybe update a bit more frequently, ne? lol) 

Oh yeah, before I forget: 

Haneunim* : Is the Korean word for God. 

Nyeon* : Korean swear for "" (heheu) 

-M