It was a typical children’s birthday party. Kids were running everywhere and there were shouts and squeals. Yongguk placed his hands on his hips and looked around. He couldn’t find his own child in the sea of tiny bobbing heads but he could see that the cake was about to topple over and so he thought it his right to step over to help right it.

            That was when he finally saw his son at the very beginning. Yongwon looked up at his father and smiled, a familiar gummy smile. “Thanks Appa!” He shouted and then turned around. “Guys, we’re going to start off with a game!”

            Yongguk sighed a little and shook his head. His son was so different from him. When he was four, he didn’t even speak and yet Yongwon was already bossing his classmates around. He leaned down to whisper in the boy’s ear, “Yongwonnie, don’t you think you should let your daddy make the announcements?”

            The little boy blushed sheepishly and leaned his head against Yongguk’s arm. Yongguk clapped his hands together and in his best MC voice, he said, “And now my little ladies and gentlemen, we are going to get ready to play the three-legged race! Please look in your goodie bags and find who your number is and who your partners are!”

            There was bustling as the children opened their bags. They started screaming out their numbers and running to be paired up. Yongguk winced as they pushed and tried to maintain order. He saw one kid reach up and scratch his hair vigorously and felt his insides squirm. The cake was right there. He gently pushed the kid more into the circle, away from the food.

            The other adults were tying the strings around their legs and he saw another child scratch her hair. Yongguk raised an eyebrow when he saw another person reach up to scratch. Something was going on.

            He walked back to where his wife was resting, her swollen stomach protruding from her. “Babe, do you notice all the kids scratching their heads?”

            Her eyes narrowed as she observed the phenomenon that seemed to have spread throughout the crowd. Then she gasped and she clapped her hands together. “Himjong had lice a week before! That’s why he didn’t come! What if it spread to everyone? I thought the schools had everyone check?”

            Yongguk gulped and ran to the other mothers. He told them what he just learned and they froze. Each of them began to grab the children and examine their heads. When there were shouts of confirmation, he sighed and turned to his wife.

            “Looks like we have a pandemic.”

            It was at that time that Himchan showed up with boxes. “Yongguk! I think Himjong may have spread…” his words trailed off when Yongguk raised an eyebrow and glared at him. “Oh oops. Good thing I brought supplies to exterminate them immediately. Here make it a birthday game. Put the wraps on their heads after you spray the medication. Each of them should have a change of clothes too.”

            Yongguk huffed as he picked up the boxes and took them in. He had the adults gather the kids and they began to spread the treatment. Yongguk stopped in front of Yongwon and peered into his son’s precious hair. He saw a couple of red scratches and knew that his son had not been spared. He sighed and placed on gloves, and began to spread the medication throughout his hair.

            “Daddy, what are you doing?”

            Yongguk smiled thinly. “There are evil things in your hair and if you let daddy take care of it, it’ll all die and go away.”

            He nodded and stood patiently. The moment every kid had their heads wrapped, they resumed with games and some moms went home to give them a new change of clothes. The kids took it in stride, thinking it was part of the party.

            When the party was over, they all waved happily. “Yongwon, your party was the best!” This kid shouted. He pointed at his head wrap. “And this? I’m fighting warriors on my head. Pwah!”

            Yongguk smiled thinly, knowing that the reality was a lot worse. When everyone left, he aggressively began to attack Yongwon’s hair, getting out every nit he could see. When he was finally done, he went ahead and disinfected the entire house.

            As he tucked Yongwon in, he smiled tiredly. “Happy fourth birthday, son.”

            A week later when everything had settled down, he took one last examination and didn’t see anything. Yongguk carefully ruffled Yongwon’s hair. “There, Bang Yongwon, you are officially a clean, healthy boy.” Yongwon smiled a little confusedly but Yongguk was satisfied.

this is for fishykisa

not sure when I'll be able to update again but happy Thanksgiving guys