Fifty Six

Beneath
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FIFTY SIX

 

The next four years came and went like a breeze. Seohyun and Euna remained in Europe— in Paris for the most part, as Seohyun finished her degree in business and fashion design. She resumed her work as a model but focused more on training upcoming models for the agency. She also maintained her usual writing projects for the fashion magazines affiliated with their company.

 

Yonghwa’s band is more famous than ever. They have released albums after albums, had sold-out concerts all over the world, endorsement deals and so on. They were basically remained on top of their game for the past years. Despite the busyness of his career, he tried so hard to make it to special occasions like birthdays and Christmas. He also found time to visit his little family and they would go on a short trip on little villages and beaches around Europe. It was the safest they could ever get.

 

Euna was growing up looking more like a little version of her mother-- big expressive pair of eyes, pouty lips, chubby cheeks and adorable little nose. If she got her looks from her mother, the early signs of her impishness surely came from her Appa. Although she was a bubbly baby around people she was close with, it was not surprising that Euna was pretty shy and guarded with the rest. If her mom brought her to work, she would usually cower around strangers who would fuss over her. It may have been because she stayed home most of the time and her parents basically shielded her from the outside world. The Korean media only caught up with the existence of Euna after a year she was born but Taeyeon clandestinely made a false leak that Seohyun broke up with the baby’s father before she was born. The local fans accepted the news easily as it was not uncommon in the Western culture. But this did not prevent Seohyun from keeping her daughter out of the limelight.

 

As Euna grew up, it bothered Yonghwa that she was not as close to him as he wanted her to despite their constant communication online and on the phone. Seohyun argued that their little girl is just really shy but she’s really adorable when she manages to get used to someone. Because of that, he demanded that it was time for them to live together. There was a big risk of course but he didn’t seem to care anymore but it took a few years for Seohyun to agree.

 

He was always reminded of that one fateful day when Euna was around six months old and starting to segregate people to family or strangers. Yonghwa naturally belonged to the latter. That winter, he celebrated Christmas with them but the little baby wouldn’t go to him. If he approached, Euna would cry so hard or bury her face on her mother’s chest or the old woman they hired to help Seohyun out. Most of the time, she would simply put her hands on her face when there was no hiding place nearby which was terribly cute  but upsetting for the new father. Seohyun, too, added to his grief when she told him to just keep his distance and give the baby time to adjust to his presence.

 

And that was what he did— he watched her from afar. It broke his heart repeatedly and hated the thought of leaving while Euna was still distant. He would only get close enough to touch when she was asleep and, during those short moments, he would cherish the feeling of having to embrace her and kiss her arms, her legs, her cheeks, her nose, and just the simple brush of Euna's thin hair against his arm would make his heart melt. Seohyun would always laugh at what she called his silliness over his feelings for their little baby but he knew that she was happy for him.

 

One day, however, he was in the playroom scribbling some lyrics while watching Euna play with her plushies a few feet away from him. She didn’t seem to mind his presence, as usual, and it was all too good just as long as he didn’t go near. On his absentminded moments, he would find himself staring eye-to-eye with Euna and when he smiled, she would look away. It was adorable in some ways but heartbreaking for him as a father. Suddenly, while he was fully engrossed on the paper in front of him, he heard a giggle by the foot of the table. Yonghwa found his little one's head jerked up, the twisted ponytail high up on top of her head bobbed as she bounced softly on her bottom. Euna scrunched up her nose at him with her cherry lips puckering in the process then she giggled adorably with drool glistening on her face and her two little front teeth peeping out. His baby was trying to make a baby conversation with him with that perky smile.

 

That instant, he knew he was a goner.

 

Just then, Euna stretched out one chubby little arm towards him and offered the rubber ducky she had been trying to eat.

 

Yonghwa almost cried as he took the wet toy from her little fist then placed it gently on the table. He waited for a moment if she would cry or turn away but she didn’t, instead Euna’s smile remained as she breathed with excited sniffing sounds. Yonghwa reached out and held out his hands to her just to test the waters but to his utter surprise, Euna touched his fingers and she anchored herself up and dropped her fists on his knees. Yonghwa laughed as he picked her up and hugged her tight. He showered her with kisses while she giggled so loud it almost hurt his chest from too much happiness. Putting her on his lap, he kissed the crown of her head as Euna found her rubber ducky on the table and started nibbling on its head again.

 

“I love you...” he whispered but Euna obviously loved her ducky more but he didn’t really care. After a few seconds of just embracing his little girl and basking on her baby smell, Yonghwa lifted her up to make her face him, her feet placed carelessly on his lap that Euna bounced up and down while giggling at her daddy like he just caught her in some mischief. Yonghwa chuckled, “You are so like your mother.”

 

“What makes her so like me?” Seohyun asked as she wiped her tears. She had been by the doorway the moment Euna crawled to her father. She was like, counting the seconds Euna would start crying but the scene blew her away that she couldn’t stop her tears. She crossed her arms on her chest waiting for him to reply as Yonghwa adoringly turned to her with Euna now sitting quietly on his lap.

 

“Good at playing hard-to-get?” Yonghwa replied with a note of humor in his voice.

 

She laughed, “Only then we’ll know if you’re worth it.”

 

“So? Am I?” He asked as Seohyun made her way closer.

 

“Ask her…”

 

Just like she conjured it, Euna looked up to him and slapped his cheeks with her wet palms. He laughed and looked at Seohyun, “That’s probably a ‘yes’…”

 

Seohyun laughed as she moved closer and bended down to accept Yonghwa’s sweet kiss, “I love you both.”

 

He wrote the song ‘Like a Child’ that very day.

 

~~~

 

The long wait was finally over, with his CEO’s permission for them to finally come back, Yonghwa picked up his little family from the airport. Seohyun laughed on the phone a month before, saying that she didn’t know she was banished from Korea by the CEO of FNC. It took only a month for them to settle everything before she and Euna made their homecoming. The timing was perfect since it was their band’s promotion so hiding in plain sight had always been their thing. Moments like that keep the fans at bay knowing that their Oppas were busy to just play around.

 

It was in between rehearsals that Yonghwa was allowed to go to the airport and he assured his manager that he didn’t need any and he would take extra care. He didn’t want anybody else with them once he welcomed Seohyun and Euna. Waiting at an inconspicuous corner in the car park of the airport, he couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he spotted Seohyun pushing a trolley with Euna sitting on top of the suitcases.

 

He sent her a picture of the car’s location moments ago and chuckled when she was wearing a frown but immediately brushed it off when he got out of the car and waved at her. Yonghwa came out prepared with his jacket zipped up to his neck, a facemask, ball cap and dark sunglasses but it didn’t stop Seohyun from scowling at him as she and Euna approached. Seeing Euna right there made him want to burst since they had been playing this what-would-you-do-when-you-come-home-to-Korea game when they talked on the phone. She looked so prettily dolled up with that big flower pinned on her hair and the pink knitted dress on but Yonghwa found himsef chuckling at the silver winter boots she had on. He was so sure that his little sassy girl made a hell of a fight to put those on against her mother's rather conservative style. He went to Euna first and opened his arms but she just stared at him unresponsively. He groaned, “Hey, you could at least pretend to be excited to see your father!”

 

“She’s tired,” Seohyun countered taking off her coat.

 

Then Euna giggled and lunged herself on her dad taking him by surprise, “Appa! Euna’s in Korea now!”

 

“Well, aren’t you?” he chuckled while lifting her off the luggage and nuzzling on her neck.

 

“Appa! Ticklish!” Euna giggled and squealed.

 

“Ya, why are you even out? Someone might see you.” Seohyun’s concern was met by deaf ears since he was busy ticking and laughing with his daughter that he hadn’t seen for almost a month.

 

He finally turned to Seohyun draping his free hand on her shoulder and kissed her cheek, “Welcome home, baby.”

 

“Thank you,” she took a deep breath, “It’s nice to be back. Let's get inside before someone sees us.”

 

For the past years, the two managed to get together with Seohyun leaving Euna to her Unnie and meeting Yonghwa on his out-of-the-country activities. She would always feel guilty leaving their daughter behind on these trysts but it would be too dangerous to bring her along so it was a mutual decision. So Yonghwa would only be with his daughter once a month while he and Seohyun would secretly meet constantly like the way they were before Euna.

 

“And then I saw a rainbow and the ajussi said I was pretty like my mommy, I was shy and…”

 

When they got in the car, Euna started blabbering clearly showing how excited she was to finally be in Korea. Seohyun blamed it on the soda that caused her to throw tantrums in the plane. Her little girl was naturally sweet and bubbly but when she gets mad, she did it right and Yonghwa was quick to say that she got it from he

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sitaanindasa #1
Chapter 75: Anyone here? I think this stories is perfect for taehyung bts and jennie blankpink
MrsDuckbutt #2
Chapter 75: Done reading for the nth time.. Thanks for this fic.. Hope you are doing ok Lyre..
Osekop12 #3
Congrats on the feature!!
MrsDuckbutt #4
Chapter 36: <span class='smalltext text--lighter'>Comment on <a href='/story/view/751368/36'>Thirty Six</a></span>
I really hope the song you wrote can be sang by Yonghwa.. Its was beautifully written.. Reading beneath again for the nth time.. Hope you're doing ok and you're safe wherever you are Lyre. Thanks so much for Beneath.
crabbybatty #5
Chapter 4: I'm back here since i finished reading Suddenly. I just love reading well written stories, you know. And It makes my heart sing when i read yours. You're making me poetic, authornim.
BlackDragonYong #6
Chapter 75: Finally got to finish this story!

Whew, what a rollercoaster that had been! It got me laughing and ugly crying at so many parts. I’ve always wished for a beautiful story like this for uri YongSeo, and whatever that may mean, I hope they get to have the best kind of love they deserve (hopefully with each other!).

Thank you for this wonderful story! I had so much fun reading it for the past week. ❤️
Wilhemina #7
Chapter 75: Finished reading this again
Suchaw
#8
Chapter 75: I love Euna a lot in this fanfic, authornim
duduwltiya
#9
halo, i found your story on feature page. I REALLY love the way you wrote. end up read all your complete stories in 3 days. really love it ?
Somesillysoul #10
Congrats!