The Angel And The Woodman - FT Island

Narrator's POV

"Ah jalhanda, uri Bada~" Min Yu clapped her hands in delight, watching her son sit by himself. Though it wasn't the first time he had done so, she couldn't help but squeal and shriek. She had thought, perhaps, that because she didn't fan girl over Donghae back in his celebrity days, she was making it up for their son.

"Ah..." Bada rested his hands on his soft floor that was the bed. "That's right!" Min Yu shifted her attention to firing up her computer for a quick while before turning back to him and wiping the saliva off his chin. "Ah...?" she repeated, scooting closer to his level. The 7-month-old infant opened his mouth in a similar manner. "Ahhh..."

"Appa. Say appa." She watched as he threatened to crawl over to the edge of the bed. Fearful of a bad fall, Min Yu carried him to sit on her lap instead and they both stared at the computer monitor humming to life. As if heaving a tired sigh, "Appa," Bada muttered and looked up to his mother like he, too, was surprised to have finally spoken.

Clutching him tighter against her, "One more time, say appa," Min Yu requested and dipped further to hear him more clearly. "Aigoo~ appa will be so happy to hear you call for him," she commented, planting a soft kiss on the child's forehead before turning back to her computer. "What could appa be doing right now in Hong Kong...” Min Yu muttered blankly, tapping away on the screen.

"Bada, we will just talk to appa for a while, okay? It's 7:00 and you have thirty more minutes before bedtime," she pointed out carefully, her tone indignant and strict as if the child she was talking to was on the same level as hers. "Oh--" she exclaimed all of a sudden as a new window popped open out of nowhere and in came Donghae's face on the screen.

"Bada, appa's here!" Min Yu nudged her son lightly and pointed to the computer screen. He, in turn, became too interested to touch the screen like what he has seen grown-ups do, and so he reached out to tap on the monitor. "Aniyo~ we just talk to dad without having to touchy touchy~" Min Yu whimsically added to distract Bada.

"Uri Bada~" Donghae called out from where he was. The child fell back down on his mother's lap. "You startled him," Min Yu laughed accusingly at Donghae. And, as if suddenly remembering something, "Oh! Appa, our Bada has something to tell you~" the woman announced excitedly to the equally anticipating man facing her virtually.

Min Yu put one arm around the child mumbling nonsense syllables at his surroundings. "Say appa," she whispered close to his ear. Donghae waited eagerly with his forefinger in between his teeth as he tried his best to control his emotions. "Hmm?" Bada unsteadily threw his head back to have a clearer look of the woman he has seen every single day in his early life.

The woman motioned with her finger to the man inside the small box in the computer screen. "Who is that on the screen?" Min Yu forced Bada's small fists to open. "That's appa. Say appa like you did earlier," she ordered softly, letting him take his time. Donghae had both his eyebrows raised in curiosity. "Did he really...?" he trailed off after Min Yu put a finger up to her lips.

"App--" Bada opened his mouth to speak slightly and looked up at Min Yu again, as if asking for permission to go on. She nodded at him, like she understood what he had meant. "Appa," she repeated again, just in case he needed more convincing. "Our Bada~ please call out to dad even just this once," Donghae pleaded with his hands clasped together.

Sighing, as if by coincidence, "Appa," Bada exhaled. With just one word, it was as if all hell broke loose in Hong Kong. "Ya, Donghae, it's making me dizzy just seeing you fuss around," Min Yu commented as she observed how Donghae stood up, covered his mouth, sat back down, bit on his finger, sat back up, jumped around, and finally balled his fists.

"You people..." he stated accusingly.”I have a meeting with the new investors tomorrow and since you called me today, I want to go back home as quickly as possible." He grasped his computer and hugged it tight against his chest, as if it was them he was holding. He gave the camera a soft kiss before he pressed his cheek on the screen.

Min Yu laughed. By then, it was only the side of Donghae's head they could see. "I miss you two," he muttered bleakly. "It's lonely and tiresome having Yesung hyung here with me. But yeah, he's had more experience and business know-how so I hope I'll get to learn from him," he told them. "HAE! GIVE ME MY SHIRT, WILL YOU?" a man's voice shouted from the background.

Donghae rolled his eyes. "Not to mention noisy," he sulked before leaving the computer to face the ceiling instead as Donghae obliged to the older. After a minute or so, the view changed and was back to his face. "What has our Bada been doing lately?" he asked, a sudden change of topic. He wanted to cheer himself up from grave homesickness.

"This, I'm sure, he acquired from you," Min Yu started, handing Bada her phone so he had something to play with and keep him busy. "I mean, he keeps wanting to use his head to roll around the bed like a...what do you call that...that thing..." Donghae let out a loud laugh. "A headstand?" he suggested. "Yes! Exactly! Hyukjae thinks it's cute but I hate it! It's scary and dangerous and I stop him," Min Yu groaned, causing the man to only laugh louder.

"But he misses you, I can tell," she said while caressing Bada's cheeks gently. "It's your fault for getting him used to having you play the piano in the living room before he goes to sleep. Even if I make him listen to instrumental tracks, it doesn't compare. And since I don't play piano, I ask Jungsoo to come over and play for Bada," she stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

"How's the sleep training going?" he pressed, staring dead straight into his computer's camera as if it was considered eye contact. Min Yu used her hand to wipe a string of saliva from Bada's lips. "It's funny. I was feeding him and aiming the spoon at his mouth and his eyes began to feel heavy. I had to stop feeding him and talk to keep him awake," she recalled.

Donghae let out a laugh that was both amused and pitiful. "If he wants to sleep in the afternoon, let him. Then just tire him out the whole afternoon so he still gets to sleep early," he suggested instead. "Why? He'll start to stand up and walk soon and I don't want your son sleeping anytime he wants! He should learn how to obey his parents," Min Yu countered defensively.

The man crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back on his chair. "So if Bada is being cute and begins to sit up by himself, then he's OUR son. But if he's being disobedient and naughty, he becomes MY son," he concluded with a chuckle. "What if he learns new words and becomes smarter than he is now?" he asked curiously like he didn't know the answer well enough.

"Then he's MY son~" Min Yu declared victoriously. Donghae laughed and ran a hand through his hair before rubbing at his eyes. "What's been keeping you busy?" she asked, estimating how tired he was just by his physical appearance. "Since we arrived a week ago, I've been jumping from one meeting to another and visiting restaurants here and there because Yesung hyung said it was called surveying...or something like that," he replied half-heartedly.

"How about the interview with that new law firm you told me about?" he asked instead.

Min Yu shrugged indifferently, checking to see if Bada called one of her contacts by accident. "I turned it down."

"WAE?!" Donghae half whined in a loud voice, which startled Bada once again. "Lee Donghae, you're shouting at me now?" Min Yu started off accusingly, ending it off with a laugh. "You want to kick me out of the house? Who will take care of OUR Bada, then? And besides, I'm not looking for work. I told you I won't go to work until Bada turns a year old."

There was shuffling in his background as he accidentally knocked a pile of papers off the desk and began picking it up. "So that's how it is, then? Don't-look-for-a-job-let-the-jobs-look-for-you kind of thing?" He sighs and resumes his upright position by the chair. "Won't they think you're playing too hard to get?" he asked worriedly.

"Donghae, I've told you this once and I'm going to tell you again: I am not an easy woman," she stated with clear conviction, to which Donghae laughed. She laughed afterwards and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

"And Hae?" she called out to him softly.

"Hmm?"

"Don't stress over making yourself richer too much, okay? Just remember that I am contented and I will always love the Mokpo boy who wanted to be a fisherman and the man who gave me a starfish for Christmas. For richer or for poorer, remember?" She smiled at him. He heaved a sigh that sent his shoulders rising and drooping. He had his head tilted slightly at an angle while he watched her intently.

Min Yu suddenly felt self-conscious. "What?" Her eyes widened and her hands wiped away nonexistent somethings on her face. "You're beautiful," he exhaled, as if the words were what keep him breathing at that moment. "And I miss you." And his words made her smile. She didn't respond and listened instead, liking how his voice sounds and wishing he would talk more.

Snapping out of it so suddenly, "If that's your way of forcing 'Yes, I miss you too, Donghae' out of me, then yes, I miss you too," she told him and rubbed at her eyes while grinning at him. He found it cute and also found it frustrating. "Don't try to be prettier because I want to kiss you but it seems as if you're shoving it down my throat that I can't." He noisily stomped his feet.

"Appa!" Bada exclaimed, jostling his parents out of their obvious flirting via video calls. Donghae laughed. "Yes?" His virtual face inched closer to the screen. "Appa," the child merely stated the word as if it didn't mean much more than four letters to the man overseas. "Yes, Bada?" Donghae responded nonetheless, feeling ecstatic. "It's like you have many things to tell dad, Bada." Min Yu wiped the drool glistening on her son's mouth.

--

"We sit here today with two of the country's beloved group, Super Junior. And even though it's been long since their dancing and singing days, they will always be their fans' first love. Welcome!" The MC started off in a voice that only meant his mouth was pressed too near against the microphone. "Annyeonghaseyo," Donghae and Yesung greeted politely, taking their designated seats.

"I heard you two recently settled in with your own families. How is the married life going so far?" the host started carefully. Yesung fidgeted nervously with his fingers. "Is that how you're going to start this interview out?" he asked somewhat carelessly, his inner uniqueness shining out. "That's what my cue cards say so..." the host defended weakly, earning them laughs from the audience.

The two were silent for a while, leaving the question hanging heavily because of the curiosity from almost everyone in the studio that day. "Okay, that's it. If you guys aren't going to talk, I'm going to call an undercover agent to spill some of the beans for everyone else to hear." The MC jokingly stomped his way towards the crew, who, in turn, handed him a handphone.

With the two Super Junior members fearing the worst -- with Yesung feeling worried that he will call his wife and with Donghae feeling afraid that he will contact his brother -- the MC dialed an unexpectedly expected number. The voice was all too familiar for the two of them, and it felt as if they would rather have him call a random person instead.

"Yoboseyo?" Kyuhyun grumbled against the phone. Donghae and Yesung knew, right then and there, that it will be the death of them and their rightful image. "Yes, this is MC Jung Young Jin and you're on live broadcast," the host greeted coolly. "Oh, annyeonghaseyo. Everyone, you are now watching Kyuhyun," the evil maknae started off with his usual attitude.

"Ne, I would just like to know..." the MC trailed off, taking notice of the grave expressions the two guests were wearing on their faces. "Since Donghae and Yesung don't want to talk about it, why don't you tell me about their married life? I mean, this is clearly just between the two of us," he retorted, causing the audience to erupt in a peal of laughter.

"Now THAT I would like to tell you many things about," Kyuhyun started off, leaving the two to grip on the edge of their seats and get ready to counter anything he was about to say. "Yesung hyung..."

"At least he still has some manners left in him," Yesung muttered under his breath.

"Yesung hyung loves his wife dearly, that I know," Kyuhyun stated confidently.

"He was the third one to leave the dorm, after Teukie hyung and Shindong hyung did. Though his wife and I aren't really close -- because Yesung hyung and I aren't that close either because he has a turtle, which I believe is now dead -- from what I hear, noona is really kind and caring." His statement fished the appraisals from Yesung's mouth, but they were cut short as Kyuhyun continued, "And she's patient enough to tolerate hyung's weirdness."

"But Yesung's life isn't as interesting as Donghae hyung's," he segued, cuing in for Donghae to cave in and be afraid. Be very very afraid. "Hyung got married to Teukie hyung's daughter, Park Min Yu. And even though I, along with the Super Junior and EXO members, proposed to object on their marriage during their wedding day, Min Yu chose to ignore it, so now she's the one living in hell."

"WHAT HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Donghae burst out in shock. "Ah everyone~ if you all think Yesung hyung is weird enough--" Kyuhyun explained, referring to the live audience. "HEY!" Yesung cut him off, as if it was the first time he was called weird. "You should see how Donghae is with Min Yu. They are downright deserving for a trip to the nearest psychologist in the city," Kyuhyun stated.

The host just sat back in his seat and relaxed, watching as everything took its own course just by dialing a certain number and his job was done. All he had to do was ask the right questions and respond when needed. Kyuhyun made his work easier for him. He'd have to thank him later on. "Donghae had been in a relationship with her for years, right?" Kyuhyun continued once again.

"And sometimes she'd sleepover at the dorm, which was no big deal since she used to live there -- and in fact, she and Donghae were roommates. Whenever they would be there, it was chaotic in the house. They would jump up and down on beds and slide down the railings of the stairs -- pandemonium. I hated it not because they were disturbing the other members but because they were stealing my job from me!"

"And it's funny because every time we go overseas for a tour or a concert, hyung will always call or text her as if they haven't talked to each other in a long time. What's even funnier is that every time they talked via video call, they always greet each other with insults and statements that would surely start a heated argument between the two of them."

"Like, for example, if he would contact her on video call and when her face shows up on screen, she would call him ugly and he would tell her that her hair looks like a bird's nest. In turn, though, she would say he looked fat and he would retort that he won't buy chocolates for her. But she would pout and tell him she misses him and he'll soften and ask her about her day and the fight ends just like that."

"Okay, so then back to the present, where they're already living off in their own house. Occasionally, she would invite members over, and invite me more frequently because, well, she likes having me there -- and I would have been married to her long ago if it weren't for Donghae hyung--" "WHAT?!" Donghae almost pulled his hair out at what the younger was saying.

"I'll pretend Donghae hyung isn't there. Anyway, one time, I was invited along with Eunhyuk hyung to sleep over. I got the room adjacent to the master's bedroom. And, let me just tell you this honestly: you would NOT want to sleep over at their house because you will not be getting any sleep at all," he muttered as somehow a complaint.

The MC laughed, his guffaws clearer than that of the audience's. "Why is that?" he asked curiously.

"Well, I'm not complaining about the house because it's wide and relaxing and beautiful. The bed is comfortable, as a matter of fact. It's just that from hyung's bedroom, there was an unbelievably loud sound of the bed banging against the wall..." he said, which made everyone at the studio go wild and left Donghae to hide his flustered face.

"Okay, okay," the host said as everyone began to calm down from their high and had their fill of laughter from the inside joke. "Since South Korea is a free country and everyone has their freedom of speech, why don't we ask Donghae to explain his side of the story? So tell us." He shifted in his seat to face the blushing guest. "Why is there the sound of the bed banging against the wall?"

Not knowing quite what to say and knowing how helpless it is to turn to Yesung for help, "It's the carpentry," Donghae muttered bleakly, too unconvincing of an explanation. "Yes, that's right. So now we understand that the bed banging against the wall is carpentry." The host nodded off, acting as if he was really convinced and impressed with the answer.

"I just don't understand why the 'carpentry' goes on for the entire night. And why does the carpenter scream?" Kyuhyun asked.