Daehyun was in a great panic. A panic so great that not even the Great Panic of 1920 (and the panics of 1807, 1837 and 1873) could not compare. If he could not rectify his problem, he would be completely and utterly screwed.

            It was his one rare day off and he had taken full advantage of it. Nobody was home; he had the entire house to himself, to do as he pleased. And that was precisely what he did. He woke up at twelve, not bothering to set an alarm the night before. When he came to, the house had a rare silence and he had shivered with delight. He bounded downstairs to find that absolutely nobody was home.

            Of course he knew about it. He had specifically chosen this date as a day off for this particular reason. Daehyun, whistled, and walked into the kitchen. There was brunch waiting for him and he sent a silent blessing to his wife. Of course she would prepare something for him. As he settled down to eat the delicious, still warm omelet, he discovered something that was about to make his day off a bit of a nightmare. Make that quite a large bit of a nightmare.

            After he had placed the plates in the sink, he saw that his darling had left more than just lunch. She also left an entire list of chores for him to do. On his day off. He skimmed through it. She had mundane housework, such as laundry, dishes, but also harder work like cleaning the bathroom, fixing the pipes. What was he, a plumber?

            Daehyun, his stomach filled with food and his heart just a little bit guilty, decided to get the laundry done first. That was easy. You just threw the clothes into the wash, pour soap in, voila. But of course, she had listed a million bullet points underneath. ‘Remember to separate the colors, and the delicates. Please read the labels to see if anything has to be line dried!’

            That was simple enough. He had done the laundry before. The only puzzling thing was, he wasn’t quite sure what baby’s clothing was categorized as. They were quite colorful, but also soft. Delicates? But they needed thorough washing because they certainly got dirty quickly. He threw them into the colors.

            Daehyun settled down on the couch to watch the soccer game he had missed and when it was halftime, he went downstairs to work on the pipes. He twisted some screws and checked for more leaks. He reminded himself to get one section replaced, and went to order it online. By the time that task was done, he was quite proud of himself.

            After taking a shower, he proceeded to clean the bathrooms. He winced as he scrubbed the tub. Age was clearly catching up to him because his back ached even after ten minutes of being bent over. Maybe he can ask for a massage later… and maybe that would lead to something more…

            He giggled to himself and shook his head. First he had to finish. And so Daehyun mentally checked off the things on the list and he finally plopped down on the couch to watch a few movies that were on his must-watch list.

            The hours ticked by and then panic settled in. Somehow in between watching one car getting blown up after the other, he remembered that there was a back page to the list of chores. Jumping up, he grabbed the list. He still had to fold the laundry, still needed to mow the lawn and of course, dishes. Daehyun eyed the clock. If he was right, he had exactly one hour to get it all done. He was utterly screwed.

            Working on adrenaline, he quickly ran to the laundry room and pulled out the now cool pile of clothes and began to fold hurriedly. He could just hear his wife nag. “Daehyun, how can you not get such simple tasks done in time? I have to work, keep the house, and take care of the baby! I go out for one day, one day, and the house is still a mess. You’re lucky your mom was willing to take Jaylie, or else you would be taking care of her too. You’re useless. You can’t even get anything done.”

            With those words looping through his head, he quickly finished putting the clothes in their proper drawers and raced out the door. It was dark so he the porch lights and started to mow. Some neighbors walked out to see the idiot who would be mowing at night, and he waved to them. “Don’t mind me,” Daehyun smiled charmingly. “I was charging my mower all day and just remembered now.”

            When he was finally finished, he crawled back to the couch and continued watching the movie. But now, he was tired and half falling asleep. He heard the front door open not too long after and heard his wife humming as she walked in.

            “Hey! You’re still up.”

            Daehyun scowled. “Were you purposely trying to tire me out?”

            She smiled and lifted one shoulder in a shrug before walking into the kitchen. And that was when panic hit him again like a tsunami wave. Of course he forgot to do the dishes. He heard her footsteps stop and winced. How could he forget something as simple as washing the plates when he’s already done all the hard labor? He braced himself.

            “Jung Daehyun!”

            Crap. Here she comes. He sat up and turned to face her as she came in, trying to look as contrite as a puppy asking for forgiveness.

            “You’ve been a hard worker today I see.” He stared at her suspiciously. What? She was draped over the couch and smiling at him, quite prettily, he must add in his head.

            “I suppose,” he started.

            She slid off the arm and held her arms out. “Come here.” Daehyun inched towards her hug, still very, very paranoid. Did she not see the dirty dishes? His wife caught his hesitation and rolled her eyes. “Oh please, I saw that you did everything else. Would I really get mad over two unwashed plates?”

            He grinned brightly. Of course. His wife was the best. He slammed into her then and hugged her. “I missed you so much today. How was the party? Did you miss me?”

            She choked and tried to pry him off but he was quite comfortable where he was. “D-Daehyun, can’t breathe.”       

            “Oops,” he let go and she flicked his forehead.

            “Yes I missed you. Now go wash those dishes.” And then added almost as an afterthought, “I’ll see you upstairs. It's rare that we have the house to ourselves,” she said with a wink. Daehyun jumped off the couch and ran into the kitchen. 

this is for -boundless

Daehyun feels are relentless and impossible to kick away ;A;

Finished fall semester, and I feel a little sad because I really had great classes and great professors