July 15^th was the one year anniversary of my beginning this story.  I can’t believe I’ve managed to come so far!  Honestly, when I started this project I wasn’t sure if I would actually be able to finish it.  100 stories is a hell of a daunting prospect and honestly, it requires a lot of work and planning and dedication.  I didn’t know if I quite had the drive to be able to finish this, but being in the final stretch now I know that it’s a question of when and not if.

I did intend to post this on the actual anniversary, but I just couldn’t get it written.  The muses left me bereft on that day it seems.

I notice I’m focusing a lot lately on writing about the kids and not so much the couple...I don’t know what that means, but it’s been fun.

Oh, and there isn’t any keytae in this one (sorry).  It’s the kids and Jonghyun. 

#82 – Elephant

"Uncle Jjong!  Over here!  Come look over here!" Kim Munhee squealed, racing towards the fence and railing that kept the animals separate from the view public.

The singer smiled and tightened his grip around Jinae’s hand as the followed after the young boy.

He had volunteered to take the kids off of Taemin and Kibum’s hands for a while.  His wife, Hwayoung was off on a trip for work and it left him feeling a little lonely.  What better way to cure that then to take care of a pair of rambunctious children for a while. 

"Uncle Jonghyun – I’m old enough to not have my hand held." The nine-year-old whined, twisting her hand in his grip, but Jonghyun held firm.

"Really?  And that’s why I had to ask one of the zoo workers to help find you after you had taken off somewhere without telling me?"

Jonghyun phrased it sweetly and gave the girl a pleasant smile, but that just made her embarrassment run even deeper as a flush crept over her face.

Munhee, the man knew, would never run off without having Jonghyun in sight, just a little quirk of the boy’s that made it rather easy to look after him.  And if the nearsighted Munhee could see Jonghyun then the singer could see the little rascal without a problem.  Jinae on the other hand liked to explore and would do so with great abandon, whether she was supposed to or not.

So Jonghyun held her hand despite her protests, encouraging the smiles of other parents and keepers in the park who heard the little girls whines as they held fast to their own charges.

Munhee had found the monkeys and he leaned slightly towards the bars, entranced as the primates swung their bodies around the habitat. 

Suddenly a monkey’s screech cut through the air and they were inundated with sound as the others took up the call.  Munhee ducked his head against Jonghyun’s side and even Jinae was standing closer instead of trying to pull away. 

The little group made their move away from the suddenly raucous enclosure.  They had left it long behind when Munhee finally brought his hands down from his ears, "I don’t think I like monkeys." He said, crinkling his brow and pouting. 

Jonghyun laughed, "That’s alright, there are plenty of other animals to see."

That cheered the little boy up.  "What’s next?!"

Jonghyun couldn’t help but smile, these little ones were so damn cute.  "Let’s let your sister chose."

Jinae bit her lip, looking up at one of the many maps that were scattered throughout the zoo to direct the patrons.  "How about the birds?“

Jonghyun smiled, “Alright, birds it is!” He exclaimed, wrapping his other arm around Munhee’s shoulder and directing the children to the bird house not far away.

The little group went around the zoo for several hours, taking in all of the different animals – with Jinae even lightening up and deciding that maybe the zoo wasn’t just for babies after all.  Jonghyun even agreed to let go of her hand...so long as she was holding onto her brother’s, and considering how contagious that little boy’s enthusiasm can be, Jonghyun didn’t really have a problem with her wandering after that.   

All the walking under the hot sun started to take its toll on the group though and Jonghyun saw Munhee starting to yawn with increasing frequency.   

Jonghyun picked the boy up and settled him against his hip.  Munhee immediately wrapped his arms around the singer’s neck and settled his head against Jonghyun’s shoulder, still insisting that he wasn’t tired.

Jinae rolled her eyes and messed around with Munhee’s dangling feet until she felt Jonghyun’s warning look on her. 

Jonghyun shifted the boy momentarily before saying, “I know you aren’t buddy,” trying not to smile as he implemented reverse psychology, “but your Uncle Jjong is.  Is it okay if we go home and let me take a nap?” 

“Uncle Jjong needs a nap?” Munhee asked sluggishly.

“Yeah – even adults need naps sometimes.”

“Ohhh!” Jinae suddenly squealed, surprising her Uncle and jolting her brother awake.  “Look!” She pointed to an enclosure not far away.  “Elephants!”

“Oh Uncle Jjong!” Munhee bounced around on the singer’s hip, “Can we see the elephants before we leave?  Can we?  Please!”

Jonghyun couldn’t say no to that cute dimpled smile...and it was on the way out...

“Alright, alright.”  He smiled at the little boy, “We’ll see the elephants and then we’ll leave.”

“Yay!” Munhee clapped his hands together, just a little to close to Jonghyun’s ears, but the singer put the boy down who ran over to where his sister was watching at the rail.

He walked over at a more leisurely pace and watched the children’s faces as they were entranced by the massive grey animals.

“Why do you guys like elephants so much?” He was genuinely intrigued.  Out of all the cool animals that they had seen that day, they looked so much more interested in the elephants than they had at any of the other habitats.

Munhee looked up at his Uncle like it was the most obvious thing in the world, “Dumbo!” He said, actually rolling his eyes at his Uncle. 

Jonghyun laughed.  Taemin and Kibum were always into Disney movies and it seemed like they were sharing that love with their children.  Dumbo was a pretty old reference for a child Munhee’s age and he couldn’t think of any of the other children that he knew who would know who Dumbo is aside from just thinking it was a cartoon elephant if they should happen to see the picture. 

“You like Dumbo?” He asked ruffling the boy’s hair for possibly the millionth time that day. 

Munhee nodded excitedly, “Yeah!  I wish I could fly!” 

“You do?!” Jonghyun said with fake shock, “But you can!”

“Huh?” Munhee said, looking towards his Uncle.

Jonghyun quickly slipped his hands under Munhee’s arms and lifted the boy up over his head, swirling and enjoying the smile that covered Munhee’s face as the boy’s feet lifted away and out, leaving him entirely horizontal. 

Munhee’s breathless laughter as his Uncle finally brought him down made the entire exhausting day worth it. 

“Uncle Jjong! Uncle Jjong!  I was really flying!  Like Dumbo!”  Munhee jumped up and down in his excitement, causing a smile to come to even Jinae’s face, as well as passersby who had seen the whole thing. 

“I know!”  Jonghyun grabbed the little boy’s hand in one, and s his fingers through Jinae’s in the other. 

They walked out of the zoo, tired but happy and Jonghyun thought that he may not be a father, and honestly he could not bring himself to ever see himself as such, but he could be a hell of an Uncle. 

And that was alright too. 

I did have the thought of using this prompt as ‘the elephant in the room,’ but decided in the end to just go with a literal elephant.  It was something lighthearted and fun and I hope that you enjoyed it!

Comments make me feel loved.