June 13, 2022

Cough. Cough.

Sneeze.

"Mom." Haneun whines as Hakyeon rushes towards her room, worry and astonishment painted on his face. "What? What's wrong with my baby Haneun? You seem colorless!" Hakyeon cries as he runs towards her. 

"I don't feel well." Haneun pants as she squints her eyes. "I feel extremely weak, mom. I can't feel my entire body."

Worried, Hakyeon feels her forehead and nearly retreats his hand due to the burning feeling. "Oh my goodness- Cha Haneun! You're burning up with fever! Dear heavens, where did I put the medicine box?!" Hakyeon screeches as he darts out the room, only to have a crashing sound ooze out of the living room.

"Mom? Are you okay?" Haneun cries out as she tries to eye where her mother was. 

"I'm okay! Just... slipped on this rag over here!" Hakyeon answers back, followed by a rather ashamed and nervous laughter. "Darn it! Where's the medicine box-?! Oh, there it is. Cha Haneun, don't go into the light, I'm coming!" 

Supressing the laughter in her, Haneun simply burries her head under the pillow nearby to prevent herself from bursting into laughter as she saw how Hakyeon panicked. Soon, Hakyeon comes back with a bottle of medicine syrup and a teaspoon. The chocolate-headed male runs back to the kitchen to get a glass of water on his hands and afterwards, he sits beside Haneun's bed. "Drink this, okay? This might help you." he smiles. "I'll just get something, okay?"

Once Hakyeon was out of sight, Haneun simply grabs the teaspoon alone and puts it in . Afterwards, she puts it down and pretends to gulp down on water exactly as Hakyeon comes back. "I drank it up, mom." Haneun says.

"Good girl." Hakyeon giggles as he places a wet towel on Haneun's forehead. "Stay here, okay? I'm calling my boss to say that I'm taking a day's leave." he says as he grabs his cellphone.

"Mom, I can do well alone. Go to work." Haneun pouts.

"I ain't leaving my sick angel alone!" Hakyeon cries out. "I'm staying here."

Defeated, Haneun nods and simply watches as Hakyeon leaves the room to converse with his boss. She slowly eyes everything around her and finally, gets up, just to hear Hakyeon end the call that quick. Upon noticing the young fellow, Hakyeon turns around with a shocked expression on his face as he sees Haneun standing up out of her bed. "Cha. Ha. Neun. Get back in your bed now!" Hakyeon cries out.

"Well, about that." Haneun nervously sighs as she fumbles with her fingers. "Well..."

"Yes?"

"I wasn't really sick. I was simply being dramatic." Haneun sighs. "I just didn't want to go to school today because, well, you're dropping me by at my grandparents' place and this'll be the last day we'll have together and-"

"Haneun. I know that." Hakyeon giggled, making Haneun blink her eyes and tilt her head a bit. 

"W-what...?

"Come on, I'm your mother, of course I'd sense if you're lying or not, Cha Haneun. I knew your plan the moment I stepped in your room." Hakyeon giggled as he ruffled her head. "Plus, I was just playing along." 

Shocked, Haneun had ajar as she eyes her mother, who was simply grinning happily. "So... you've got plans perhaps?" Haneun asks as she crosses her arms on her chest. "I suppose you're having a rather genuine plan hatching right inside your head this very moment on what to do."

"Actually, it's been yesterday." Hakyeon giggled. "Haneun, get your bathing suit, we're going to the beach!"

"Wait... say what?" Haneun blinks.

* * *

For some reason, Haneun finds the sun extremely brighter than usual today. It was as if it complied to the joy she and Hakyeon were about to have. The two rode a public bus to arrive to their destination with some distance from where they currently stood in. Haneun, who rarely comes out of the house for reasons, was rather amazed by the sight of nature she witnessed. Hakyeon, who sat beside her, simply smiled by how magestic the view was. Due to work, he can barely have a time of fun with his family, namely Haneun.

"Hey, mom, why the sudden thought of going to the beach?" Haneun asks as she eyes Hakyeon.

"Well, it's been quite some time that we came to the beach, right?" Hakyeon giggled. "Remember? You were about seven years old back then." he grinned.

"Ah, right, that time." Haneun nodded. "We built sandcastles back then, right?"

"Mhm! You were so happy when you succeeded at one!" 

"I recall that time..."

Hours passed and Haneun unconsciously fell asleep during the trip, head falling on Hakyeon's lap. Of course, being a caring mother he is, he simply lets it off and pats Haneun's head lightly, smiling on how cute his daughter was. It wasn't a quick trip to their destination but soon enough, Hakyeon also fell asleep, still alert of whether they were getting near or something. 

With one beep of the bus, Hakyeon jolts awake and afterwards, scans the outside view. "Oh! Haneun! Haneun, we're here." Hakyeon softly says, tapping her shoulder gently. Once she was awake, Haneun stretches her arms and blinks a few times before she hears Hakyeon talking again. "Come on, Haneun. We're getting off." he smiles as he grabs hold of the young teen's hand, who obediently lets herself get dragged along. 

Once they were off the bus, the two makes their way to a nearby resort to get dressed in the right clothes. The two first stops the the counter, Hakyeon conversing with the man there and soon, makes their way to a nearby dressing room. Hakyeon soon comes out comfortably dressed in a white printed shirt and blue shorts. Since he was done, he simply waits for Haneun to come out.

"Mom?" Haneun calls out as she shyly walks out of the dressing room. Once he hears his daughter's sweet voice, Hakyeon stands up and looks for her. 

And there she was.

Dressed in an obviously oversized gray shirt and dark blue shorts, Haneun comes out with her hair tied up in a ponytail-style. Hakyeon was sure he saw Haneun blush and that was just extremely cute of hers! "Haneun, my little angel! You look extremely astounding!" Hakyeon squealed as he hugged the young teen tightly, making Haneun flail her arms up.

"Mom- ack- can't breathe!" Haneun shrieked, making Hakyeon let go in an instant and let go. "Sheesh, talk about man power!"

"I'm sorry." Hakyeon grinned. "Come along, let have the real fun started, eh?"

"I'm way ahead of you!" Haneun smirks as she darts out of the resto, Hakyeon running after her closely. 

* * *

The sea breeze never changed since that day.

"Eep! The water's cold!" Hakyeon gasped as he jumps away from the shore.  Haneun, who stood a bit further from Hakyeon, simply supressed a rising giggle in her upon seeing her mother jump in shock. "You're overreacting, mom. The water's warm." Haneun sighs as she feels the water with her feet. "It's not even close to the word 'cold'."

"What are you saying? It was cold when I felt it!" Hakyeon pouts.

"Yeah? Prove it!" 

"Here!" Hakyeon cries out as he splashes water to Haneun, who nearly fell back by the sudden contact of the water. Knowing that she had to counter, she splashed water back at Hakyeon, who tried running away from her by enterring more in the water-part. Haneun didn't hesitate to chase her mother down while splashing more water on him. 

The air was filled with laughter and the sound of splashing water. Haneun and Hakyeon were definitely having the greatest time of their life, and indeed, Hakyeon was glad that Haneun was enjoying this moment. 

The sound of her laughter.

That smile on her face.

Everything gave color to her and added to her radiating beauty.

She was like an innocent angel from the heavens. How Hakyeon wished to have Haneun like that everyday. "Gotcha!" he hears Haneun cry out before he notices that he was being tackled to the sea, coming in contact with the water everywhere. Haneun was sure he heard his mother's girly scream and in an instant, the two of them were wet.

"Cha Haneun!" Hakyeon pouted as he looks at himself, wet from top to bottom. "Geez, look what you've done!"

"You did bring extra clothes, right?" Haneun laughs, making Hakyeon nod and smile back. Of course, since they were already in the water, the two spent their time in swimming and staying in water. The two decided to play a game of "rock-paper-scissors" and unfortunately, that was one of Haneun's advantages. She easily wins round per round, making Hakyeon continuously get splashed by water.

Once they were tired, they shifted their attention onto making sandcastles a few meters away from the water. Of course, Hakyeon did bring a bucket and shovel along with him and using them, the two began making castles of their own liking.

It took a lot of work, but it was all worth it.

In no time, and thanks to their flawless cooperation, the two were capable of building a rather great sandcastle of their own, decorated with random objects found around the area.  "It's great, isn't it?" Hakyeon asked, eyeing the teen beside him.

"It is." Haneun nods in satisfaction. "It is, but it has too much seaweed or whatever you call them."

"It does?"

"Nah, I'm just fooling around, mom."

A small smile was formed on Haneun's lips, making Hakyeon grin a lot bigger back. That expression suited the young girl more, and it was rather one of the best things Hakyeon has seen. "That fits you better, Haneun." Hakyeon giggled, making Haneun blush bright red. "Aw, there's nothing to be shy about, dear! You look a lot, well, livelier and prettier that way!"

"Stop flattering me." Haneun frowns as she turns away. Unexpectedly, she eyes a nearby seashell and quickly walks towards it, grabbing the object with her hands. "Mom, look at this." she calls out, making Hakyeon head towards her.

"You found an oyster." Hakyeon smiles. "That's cool, it's rare to find something like that. Quick, open it! Who knows, maybe there's a pearl in there!" he giggled.

"That's crazy. It takes almost ten percent for one to find pearl in some random oyster." Haneun sighs, rolling her eyes as she tries opening it. Seeing how the female struggled hard, Hakyeon decides to open it himself, which he succeeds in. To their surprise, a little gift from mother nature lies there, quietly and as if it was waiting for them. 

"I can't believe what I'm seeing right now." Hakyeon gasped as he saw the precious pearl in the oyster. "This is crazy, we've found a pearl ourselves!"

"... Am I dreaming with my eyes open? Are my eyes fooling me?" Haneun blinks. "Is that... what I think it is?"

"It is, Haneun!" Hakyeon cries out as he brings up the pearl. "Goodness, this is the real thing!"

"It's so beautiful." the amazed Haneun mumbled, audible enough for Hakyeon to hear. "So, what do you intend to do with it? Sell it?" she asks as she fixes her eyes with her mother.

"Give it." 

"... What?"

"You are keeping it." Hakyeon says as he hands the pearl to Haneun, who was rather putting up a shocked expression. "You know, Haneun, a pearl is a treasure made out the oyster's pain. A treasure of pain." he smiles

Haneun was nearly astonished of his mother's next words that she wished she'd go deaf that minute. She didn't want those words to be heard as she felt the tears begin pooling in her eyes. Once her mother noticed that, she quickly tried holding them back more before she flashes a blank face. "Haneun? Are those... are you crying?" Hakyeon asks.

"I got something in my eyes, mom. Don't worry." Haneun softly says as she averts her eyes away from Hakyeon's. "Come on, let's continue building more sandcastles! Let's not waste this day, shall we?"

"Of course." he nods happily.

Haneun wasn't really sure but that moment she and Hakyeon resumed building castles, the sky seemed to have grown dark.

A sign of sadness.

06-13-22

Tomorrow, mom's dropping me by my grandparents' place. I really don't want that to take place, but of course, if I did push myself to be with mom, I would be nothing but a big burden to him, right? Plus, my studies might get affected. I might not be the smartest student in our class or in the whole level, but a student has the role of pouring out his or her best, right?

And guess what, I'm a student.

Today, though, mom and I went to the beach. It was the perfect day when we came there: the bright sun shone down on us and embraced our whole being and not a single cloud was to be spotted! The breeze blew gently and softly kissed our skin.

We splashed each other with the water around us.

And built sandcastles with ease just like how we did six years ago.

This time, we found a lost oyster on shore and dang, it had a pearl inside. Mom gave it to me instead of selling it when in fact, when he does that, he doesn't need to work so hard anymore. That little pearl can actually be the key to pleasure.

But no.

He gave it to me instead. 

According to him, a pearl is a treasure formed by the oyster's pain. A treasure of pain in a nutshell. It was a product of an oyster's years of pain. And guess what...

Mom called me his PEARL.