Hello :)))
I kind of came to love this tiny fictional family, so now a short thingy came to my mind, though, this is kind of depressing, but I wanted some reality in it. I hope it goes through to anyone what's the chapter is about. :)
I might as well add more chapters in the future xDDD

Thank you for reading :))))) I love all of you so much you seriousy sweet people >.<

Papa's day off
 

Every day Papa is the one who wakes me up for school or when I sleep in for late on the weekend. I’m always already up, when Papa comes into my room very silently, but I keep pretending sleeping, because I love Papa’s gentleness when he tries to wake me up.

He usually walks up to my bed, reaches his hand out to me and gently caresses my head saying ‘Hyejin-ah, wake up’, but I stay the way I am. So Papa sighs thinking I’m sleeping very deeply, gingerly pushes me onto the other half of the bed and lies down next to me. He puts one of his arms under my head and hugs me with the other one. Then he starts to hum the wake up song while caressing my hair. I like Papa’s voice, it’s very gentle and nice. Daddy always says he has a voice of an angel and I’m sure he is right: such a nice voice could only be an angel’s.

However, I never wake up to Papa’s ‘wake up song’, so he soon stops humming and stays still for a few moments. Then he says ‘Yah, Moon Hyejin, wake up soon, huh?’, even though he says angrily, he is still very gentle. ‘Did you eat Daddy or what? You two are bears I swear.’

For a few moments Papa again stays still then sighs again. ‘Princess, won’t you wake up?’

I always smile and say ‘Princess could be only woken up by a kiss.’ I never open my eyes, but I always hear Papa’s chuckle and I know he is smiling.

‘Aigoo, so sly.’ Papa says, then he kisses my forehead. ‘This should be enough, right?’ But I always shake my head still with closed eyes and this makes Papa laugh out again. ‘I’m sure you have learnt this from Daddy, not from me. Aish, that leech…’ Then Papa gives me his sweet millions of kisses on my cheeks and even tickles me and I can’t hold back anymore. I open my eyes and I hug Papa very tightly not letting him go. He pulls me out of the bed like this and let’s me cling on his neck while he takes out the clothes I’ll wear.

I like it when Papa wakes me up, because he is so much gentler than he usually is. However, sometimes Papa doesn’t come to wake me up. Sometimes I don’t get to prank Papa, sometimes he won’t give me his sweetest millions of kisses and I know it’s a bad day of Papa’s.

I know it when I hear Daddy’s loud footsteps and the big noise of the door opening and closing. Daddy comes in, walks up to my bed and gently pats my head. ‘Little cricket, wake up.’

And I don’t play and I don’t pretend I’m sleeping, but I wake up instantly and I see Daddy having a sad expression and I know it’s one of those days for Papa. I get out of the bed and go to my wardrobe to put on my clothes, because I can do it alone if it isn’t Papa who helps me. Until then Daddy prepares breakfast for us, but I know there will only be two plates, because Papa won’t eat with us.

As I go out I’m never surprised. Only two plates and Daddy’s and Papa’s bedroom is closed, because Papa is in their lying on the bed resting. Because it’s one of those days.

I sit down quietly to the table and wait for Daddy to serve our breakfast. It’s never as delicious as Papa’s and it’s always something easy that could be prepared fast, because Daddy always sleeps in late. Sometimes he even takes me to eat out saying let Papa have a nice rest in silence. And he always smiles, but that usually sweet smile is always so bitter.

We start to eat in silence, but Daddy takes care of me well always asking if the food is good or if I need some more. But I’m always sad when it’s only the two of us, without Papa it’s not the same.

“Did you hurt Papa again?” I ask even though I’m sure Daddy would never make Papa sad. “I’ve heard him crying at night.”

“Aish, Moon Hyejin!” Daddy gets mad at me, something he rarely does, but always when it’s about Papa. “I’ve told you not to wander around in the house when we send you off to sleep. Do you want the monster that lives in the wardrobe in Papa’s and Daddy’s room to find you and eat you?”

“There are no monsters.” I say accompanied with a merong. “And Papa would scold you if he heard you want to scare me.”

“Aish, really, kids these days…” Papa shakes his head unbelievingly then sighs looking at his plate. “It’s not me who is hurting him… It’s the country.”

I never understand why Daddy says this, after all why would Korea hurt such a sweet person like my Papa? However, I think it might be something about the TV or the newspapers.

Sometimes Papa gets sad when he reads the newspaper or suddenly switches channel during the news or when they talk about Papa, Daddy and the uncles. I never understood this, but Papa gets sad often.

That’s why Daddy sometimes takes the newspaper saying let’s cut angels out of it or says let’s play something instead of watching the TV. And at times like this Papa watches Daddy with a kind of knowing-everything-smile and when their eyes meet Daddy always say ‘It’s okay Pilgyo’.

After breakfast it’s time to go to school. Unlike other days Daddy brings me to school alone and on the way usually he is the one chatting a lot, but it feels always so weird. Like he is talking so he could fill the emptiness due to Papa’s absence.

However, before we leave Daddy let’s me into their bedroom to say goodbye to Papa. The room is always dark, only a little light comes in letting me see Papa lying on the bed. It always scares me, because he is breathing so slowly it looks like he isn’t breathing at all. I silently walk into the room and climb up to their giant bed and as Papa does it every morning, now I’m the one lying next to him and slid close to him. Papa is always awake and puts his arm out so I can rest my head on it. He turns his head towards me and smiles powerless and I see his eyes being swollen and red. However, he still smiles and caresses my head.

“Papa, I’m going to school now.” I say and he nods.

“Okay, be a good girl, okay? I’m sorry for not being able to wake you up, will you forgive me?”

“Of course Papa, I’m not angry at you. You are sick now, so rest a lot, okay? Because I love Papa the best in the world!”

Papa chuckles as he always and grabs me with his hands and squeezes me so much it hurts, still, I wish he would never let me go. “That’s my girl.” He says and kisses my forehead and this kiss is always so much better when he gives me a million. “Papa loves Hyejin the most, too.”

Then Papa lets me go saying I should not be late from school. And Daddy is already standing in the door and waves at me to hurry up. I look at papa for one last time and I leave the room, but I never leave really. I stop there and watch as Daddy enters the room, walks up to Papa and kisses his forehead just like he did to me a few moments ago.

‘I’ll be back soon, have some rest.’ He always says then leaves the room, too, and takes me to school.

I don’t know what happens to Papa and Daddy after that. However at days like this I can’t concentrate well, I do a lot of mistakes during the lessons and I don’t enjoy playing with my friends. All I can think about is Papa and wish he would be better after school ends.

And I can’t wait for the end of the day, because every time I leave the school building and approach the gates I see Papa standing there waving at me with a wide, bright smile – the smile he has every day and which I love so much.

And then all my worries disappear and I run up to Papa and hug him tightly and saying I missed him a lot.

And Papa hugs me, too, then holds my hand and says he buys ice cream for me, because I’m a good girl.