Himchan was having a difficult time trying to bond with his son. His son had his mother’s character, he concluded. He was not at all the congenial, vivacious kid he had been when he was younger. Because there was no way he was this quiet when he was young.   

            “Come on, Himjong, speak a bit!” he begged. His son only widened his eyes and shrank further back into his father’s embrace. Himchan shook him slightly and blabbered to him. “Talk to grandma at least,” he tried.

            From across the table, his wife leaned back and smiled in amusement. A determined Himchan was the most fun to watch especially when he was being thwarted. She winked at her son and he smiled shyly back. His smile was still hesitant and his large eyes blinked.

            Himchan’s mother smiled. “He’s just shy. Himchan, you went through that phase for a while too when you were his age.”

            At this revelation, he turned playfully indignant. “No. I was always a bright happy kid.”

            The large, extended families laughed and tried to take a look at the new addition. Even though Himjong was already two, this was the first time the entire family from both sides has gathered to meet him. He sat on his father’s lap and stared wide-eyed at the doting relatives and whined slightly when older cousins surrounded him, wanting to play.

            Himchan shrugged. “Maybe he’s just being stubborn. He normally would make some small talk.”

            One of the older children, upon being rejected by Himjong, straightened and spoke matter-of-factly, “Maybe he’s retarded.”

            Her mother yanked her ear and forced her to sit down while Himchan’s ears burned red in embarrassment. There was an awkward silence and someone broke the silence by picking up his chopsticks and banging it against the plates, giving the signal to eat. Himchan clapped quietly to his son, peering down at the mass of dark hair and wondering why he refused to interact at all. 

            When the party was over, Himjong had long fallen asleep. Himchan strapped him into the stroller and was rocking it slightly when his wife walked over. Her lips were set in a straight line and she bent towards Himchan. “We need to take Himjong to see a child development specialist.”

            He packed up the stroller and placed it in the trunk of the car and strapped his son into his car seat. “There’s nothing wrong with him. He’s just shy. My mom said I was the same.”

            She looked worried. “My mother just told me that he’s showing signs of some sort of delay. She would know. My older brother, before he passed away, had it.”

            Himchan was quiet and glanced at their peacefully sleeping son. His heart wrenched and he muttered a quick prayer, hoping that his son would be alright. “Fine.”

            The couple was silent as they walked out of the doctor’s office. Himjong was playing with his father’s collar, not noticing the tension in the air. He wouldn’t look at her and she was near tears. Once in a while, Himchan would clutch tighter at Himjong, willing him to just speak out.

            It was only until they had placed him safely in front of the television that she wrapped her arms around Himchan and sobbed. “How are we going to deal with this?”

            For a long time, he was at a loss. The words would reach his head and then shrivel on the tip of his tongue. Finally, he croaked out, “Autism. How in the world did we have a kid with autism?”        

            He knew that he had to be the brave one. “Well, at least we caught it early. We need to start adjusting our lives so that when he grows up, he’ll be able to have a stable environment.” She sat up and stared at Himchan in wonder as he grabbed the laptop and started searching ways to treat and to adjust.

            “Look, he’s going to need a strict schedule like what the doctor said. We also need to be able to understand that what he is doing isn’t his fault. He may have difficulty communicating verbally but we should find other ways to talk to him.”

            She stood behind him. “I’m going to go downstairs and play with him. He’s still a child. He doesn’t understand.”

            Himchan rubbed his eyes tiredly and stared at her. “You go ahead. I’m going to do some research.”

            A few hours later, he walked down and found Himjong staring blankly at his mother. Nothing she did could make him respond. His mouth was clamped shut and he looked disinterested, tired even. Himchan came downstairs and waved a teddy bear.

            “Himjong-ah, look!” At the sound of his father’s voice, the toddler looked up and grinned briefly. His arms reached out for the bear and Himchan decided to play peek-a-boo with him.

            This brief moment of child’s play caused Himjong’s face to split into a happy grin and his wife stared at the two of them interact. What she had been trying to do for hours was accomplished by Himchan in a single moment. He sat down next to her and watched as his son turned the bear over and over in his arms, getting on top of it, butting it with his head, growling and pretending to wrestle with it.

            She leaned against him and once in a while, Himjong would look up, grin briefly, looking very much like the happy two year old he should be. Tears glittered in her eyes and she turned to Himchan. “Can we do this for years to come?” She had talked to her aunts, people with experience and they had said a supportive partner was the key to success in dealing with a child with autism.

            The man grinned and kissed the top of her head. The loud smooch caught Himjong’s attention and he wiggled his way over. “Of course, honey, of course.”

requested by requiemofarebel

You wanted daddy Himchan and I decided to deal with it differently.

Everyone really liked the Yongguk one previously, thank you for pointing out that I'm an ahjumma and got the numbers wrong XD

And thank you to those who demanded the ring be plastic ^^ That was cute.

But I figured, one reason why you all liked it, could be because it was pretty realistic. And so here's another "slice of life" I suppose you can call it~

♥

If there's anyone reading this who has been through autism, or anything of the sort, and felt I had butchered it, I apologize. I'm trying my best.