“Appa, do you think you can do this?” There was a tug on his pants and Zelo looked down to see his son staring earnestly at him. The two of them were in matching animal onesies and the little boy was fretting to make sure his father remembered the dance they had choreographed together. “We have to be the perfect kangaroos.”

            “Yes, yes,” Zelo replied and did the highlight, a kick step to the right and then two hops with his hands bowed in front of his chest. Seunghong smiled in satisfaction. “Relax, baby. Daddy used to be a professional dancer when he was younger.”

            It was the school’s annual show and tell and Seunghong’s first one. He had heard rumors from his older hyungs that nothing less than perfection was shown. In fact, he was witness to their vigorous training with their fathers as they practiced singing and rapping and all sorts of choreography. Now it was his turn to join a long legacy of mind-blowing performances.

            However, it was fifteen minutes before their stage and his father was nowhere to be seen. “Appa?” He darted out from the dressing room and weaved among the crowds of children and their parents. “Excuse me,” he mumbled as he looked.

            His dad was tall so looking for him shouldn’t be difficult. But in the mass of crowds, he found that it was nearly impossible to spot a six foot two figure dressed in a kangaroo onesie. He peered into countless classrooms and saw that they were all abandoned. Seunghong glanced up at the clock and whimpered in fear and frustration. Where was his father?

            “Seunghong! Please get ready. You have ten more minutes.”

            He waved at his teacher in acknowledgement before deciding to try his chances on the second floor. This was a completely empty hallway so his only bet was the rooms. The six year old crossed his fingers, fully believing that by chanting a spell he could get his daddy to appear.

            “Please, please,” he whispered as he looked into classroom after classroom. When that search turned out to be futile, he finally allowed the tears to drip down his face. “Appaaaaa!” he cried as he ran down the hallway and then back down to where the huge gathering of people were.

            When he saw the hanging clock, he saw that there were only five minutes left and his face was a mess. He sobbed as his teacher approached him. “Seunghong, why are you crying? You’re set to perform in five minutes.”

            Hearing the impending deadline made him wail harder. Never mind that the entire first grade class was looking on curiously. “A-ap-appa,” he whimpered. His teacher continued to look confused and he elaborated. “I can’t find him.”

            “Seunghong?”

            When he looked up, he saw the tall kangaroo that he had spent ten terrifying minutes searching for. The figure held out an ice cream cone and the child cried even harder. Such a simple gesture filled with love, but it came at the wrong time.

            He heard his father asking the teacher to switch their performance for last. “I promise, you want to save the best for last.” Then he felt his dad kneel down and pull him in for a hug.

            “Appa is sorry. I remembered when I was younger, I always had an ice cream cone before my show and tell performance and that gave me energy. But I was careless and forgot that our performance was on so early. Please don’t be mad. Here, you’re going to wipe away your nose.”

            Zelo pulled out a tissue from his front pouch and gently dabbed at his son’s face. Seunghong hugged him tightly and gave a few more shaky gasps as his emotions finally calmed down. “Is it strawberry banana?” he asked.

            When his father grinned, the little boy returned it, albeit a little sniffly still. As he ate, his father jumped onto his feet and started to do a modification of their choreographed dance. “I am the hip hop kangaroo.”

            Seunghong laughed as his father tried to do one of those cool whirl on the floor moves, only to trip because his legs are restricted by the fabric. “More like hop hop kangaroo,” he giggled into his palm.

            Zelo got up and pretended to look angry. “Oh yeah? Wait until I see you out on that stage, young man, and then we will see who’s the better dancer here.”

            “Choi Seunghong and his dad, presenting the Hip Hop Kangaroos!”

            There was a roar of applause and through the beam of the spotlight, Seunghong spotted a row of his hyungs. He resisted the urge to wave to them and saw each of them staring at him intently. He took a deep breath and glanced at his father.

            Already Zelo was feeling the nonexistent music and bobbing his head. Once the beat started, Seunghong felt the rhythm overtake his body and started dancing. When they ended their performance with a back and forth wave, he saw that everyone had stood up and was clapping for them.

            After the performance was over, Seunghong playfully hopped to his father. “Thank you, Appa.” He gave Zelo a wide grin before running to his hyungs who were waiting to congratulate him.

this is for Live_Love_Kpop

It's a bit short because finals are coming up but I hope you all still enjoy :)