Grandpa Problems

Incredible Things
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[OLD SUBSCRIBERS WHO HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS CHAPTER FOR MONTHS, I ADVISE YOU TO REREAD THE PREVIOUS CHAPTERS FIRST.  ESPECIALL CHAPTERS 13-16.  PEOPLE ARE GETTING CONFUSED OVER STUFF WE'VE ALREADY ESTABLISHED BEFORE.]

Hahahaha .  .  SHIIIIIT. 

If I ever get out of here alive, I swear to God Suzy might not come out of that cinema in the same way.  I don’t care how but that is going down! 

I told her not to do this!!  Something will most definitely go wrong!  I mean, are you not familiar with Murphy’s Law?  Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.  Isn’t that just pleasant.  Yeah, but maybe not as pleasant as having two official managers of the cinema and the mall staring at you up and down, probably waiting for the police to come.  They’ve also been blabbering about how I’m gonna have to pay a huge amount of money as a fine for breaking the law, but then of course I don’t have that kind of cash, so I guess that’s why the police are heading here, which means I’m probably not gonna be able to head over to Kai anytime soon—which basically adds on to my overflowing list of calamities!

Now look at me. 

Of course I couldn’t get out of the cinema with a valid ticket, so of course the ticket guy brought me to his boss.  And as for Suzy?   Of course she’s still in there.  She offered to walk out with me, saying that a best es die together and all that but I wouldn’t let her.  I mean, come on.  Letting her do that for me would be selfish.  Anyway, I was going to work after this.

But now I’m mad as so that will so be getting it from me when I get outta here alive!!

“Look, I proooomise I won’t ever do this again, so can’t we just make a written, signed agreement—“

“You can, Ms.  At the police office.”

“—without involving the police or a huge, impossible sum of money—“

“Miss.”  One of the bald managers with a small moustache and beard stops my rambling.  “Do you not understand that the act you have just committed is positively illegal and that matters like these should be handled according to the official procedure that we all follow?”

“Look, I get it but—I—I—my boss called.”  I finish lamely.  “I’m probably fired by now, but even so, can’t we just switch the order of this... procedure about a little?  Like, you let me go first for a while so I can go to my boss, explain everything to him, then you guys can go ahead and arrest me—“

Suddenly, a firm knock on the door sounded and without waiting for an answer, three cops barged in.

.

Seriously, did they even need to call three?!!  Like, do I look like someone who can fight or even run fast? 

“Whoa—whoa—um—“ I begin, trying to back away.  Oh no.  Oh God no.  I’m seriously not getting arrested now right?  I’ve kept my record squeaky clean and I’m not gonna lose my police records ity to some stupid stunt Suzy pulled!!

“Miss, you need to come with us.”  One dude with a moustache grabs my wrist and proceeds to pull out a pair of handcuffs—and that’s when I start to freak out for real.

“NO!!  You don’t need those handcuffs!  I won’t resist, I promise!  Just—please.  I won’t even try to run.  Please?”  I try to use the saddest puppy eyes anyone has ever used in history.

After a few sighs, disapproving grunts, and slight nods, they put the handcuffs back in.  I sigh in relief and let myself be escorted by all three dudes, one with my bag.  We walk out of the building, Suzy still inside doing God knows what, and soon enough I find myself standing in front of – oh, the horror—a police car. 

I gulp.

One of them opens the door for me and without much protest I climbed in, huffing irritatedly.  As I sit on the back seat it occurs to me for the shortest of seconds that these dudes, the police I mean, are taking a little longer than they should’ve to get in the car.  Just the tiniest of delays.  But soon one of them opens the door and steps into the driver’s seat, and my thoughts about it burst like a bubble. 

I raise my eyebrow.  Where’s the other one? 

“Where’s your fr—“

“Put on your seatbelt.”  The police on the wheel cuts me off and yet for another second, I thought I knew his voice.  But then again, how could I?  I’ve never gotten involved with them before, and even if I do, you don’t just meet a policemen twice like life is a Korean drama or something. 

“Uh, I’m handcuffed.” I point out the obvious, showing him my wrists. 

“So?  You wanna break more rules and get charged for not wearing a seatbelt as well?” The police spoke again, and this time, with him speaking a longer sentence, I am more convinced that I know him.  Or at least his voice.  Before I could put a finger on it, he spins around, winks, and takes of his cap.  “Or you wanna die?  Cos I’m gonna have to drive like no other in order to get you to Kai before he fires me.”

“Dae?!” I gasp, only just realizing who this so-called police dude is.  “How did you even—“

“I know.  We’re pretty cool.”  Dae smirks and before I know it, he steps on the gas and rushes me over to Kai’s place. 

Something’s wrong.

I can sense it.

Is it just me or does the elevator looks a little darker today?  Like, like it’s warning me that something bad is about to happen.  Darkness is usually associated with bad things, right? Or maybe it’s just a creepy, nonsensical premonition I have.  I’ve been texting Kai, asking him how the hell did he get Dae in there on time wearing a ing police uniform.  I mean, I know from Let’s Be Cops that that’s actually not impossible and you can actually get cop-y stuff on Ebay but...?  Still, how?!

The elevator dings and the grey doors slide open to reveal level P, a.k.a home sweet home.  I take out my keys and unlock the door, stepping inside. 

And that ominous feeling still hasn’t left me.

“Hello?” I call, noticing Kai’s shoes near the entrance, along with some.... I don’t know, they look like grandpa shoes?

“Kai?” I call out again.  Ok.  .  .  This is how a horror movie starts.  The character calls out and instead of the person she’s calling out for, a ghost will pop out from behind and stab her on the back.  !! 

“Jongguk?” I call again.  Why is no one answering me?!

Suddenly, the door to Kai’s room opens and there he is, leaning on the doorframe.  “Iseul!” 

“Uh.... hi?”  I ask, exhaling in relief as I drop my bag on the couch.  “I actually have some questions??  How did you get Dae to come over right on time, in a complete police uniform even with small gun on his belt—oh!” I break of in surprise as suddenly, when from his room, he pulls—or rather, pushes out an old man sitting on a wheelchair. 

A small part of my brain immediately goes into panic mode. 

I am not prepared to meet anyone’s parent.  Maybe not even my own!

Oh my God!!!!  I haven’t had a boyfriend for like... I don’t know, 4 years?  And even then, no parents were met!  Now, plot twist!  I’m meeting my boss’s parent first!! 

“Iseul, this is my father.”  Kai says, with eyes that say ‘why the hell are you still standing there?!  Come over and greet him!!’.  I immediately rush over. 

“Hello, abbeoji!”  I say, greeting him with proper Korean manners—the bowing and all.  “I’m Seo Iseul, and I’m Jongguk’s babysitter.” 

“Ah, yes.  Kai told me about you.”  His dad says with a tight-lipped smile.  For the record, that’s the only thing I find similar about them.  Their smiles.  Other than that, they don’t look like each other at all. 

“Oh..”  I smile politely, unsure of what else to say.  My eyes dart to Kai for help, and my heart jumps a little, finding that he’s already looking at me first. 

“So, Iseul.  Since you’re gonna be taking care of my dear family, I’d like to hear about yourself.”  He crosses his arms and his thin lips twitch into a half smile.  “Why don’t we go over there to the dining table so you can sit...”

“Of course, abbeoji.”  Kai says, immediately wheeling him over.  I rush there first and pour out some cups of water while mentally browsing through the ‘about me’ folder in my head.  Omo, what do I say?!!  Where do I start?!!  If I say something wrong I could get fired instantly!! 

“Here.”  I set the cups down, smiling. 

“Thank you.”

“Sooo.... about me huh?”  I ask, as his grey eyes pierce into mine questioningly.   He nods slightly, and something about that nod tells me that this isn’t an old man one can easily around with.  I take a deep breath to relax--  but wait, why am I even tense?  It’s not like I’m meeting the parent of my boyfriend or my husband or anything.  Oh God, look, I’m mentally rambling off again.  I have to say something—ah!

“I... I go to SNU, and I major in pure and applied mathematics, so like, maths in general, and I, yeah, I.. I live at Ttal-Gi Apartments down at Yeonpo Street, and I.. I like reading and music and also a little bit of cooking.” 

Note to readers:  The last part was added just to give more of a babysitter effect on me.

“How old are you?”  Grandpa Kim asks, the question jumping out at me like a red light.

“Uh.. 21?”

“Siblings?”

“A sister.” I shrug. 

“What is she like?”

“I’m sorry?” I ask, unable to hide the evidently huge surprise on my face as Kai’s dad immediately clears his throat and attempts to re-phrase his question for me.

“I mean, what is your relationship with her like?”

Okay to me, that correction didn’t help with much.  I still think his question is weird and out of context.

So I decide to answer as shortly as possible.  Besides, he doesn’t need to know about the whole weird gangster thing my sister is involved with.  If he knew I was sort of indirectly involved with the underground society and , he might fire me on the spot! 

“Good.  We’re totally fine.”  I say lightly.

There is a millisecond of a pause before he answers.  “Good then.”

“Have you had experiences before in.. babysitting?”

“Well.. in terms of professional experience, sadly, no, but I have had a lot of experiences with kids—like, helping out at kid camps during summer breaks, field trips to the zoo, the beach... et cetera..” I trail off, suddenly feeling very self-conscious.  I think it’s because a) I did not sound like a convincing babysitter at all, and more importantly, b) Grandpa Kim is staring me down like a hawk.  Whoever said age softens people clearly has not meet this man. 

“I see.  How long have you been here?”

“About.. about 4 months.”

“How do you like it here?”

“Frankly, I completely love it.”  I say without thinking.  From the corner of my eye, I see Kai look at me.  Oh God, did I sound too eager?  Did I come off like... I’m tryna kiss ? 

“You do?”  Grandpa Kim says with a smile.  I think he senses my fear. 

“I do.  I love Jongguk so, so much.”  I gush without thinking again.  “He’s such a cute, obedient boy—naughty at times, but still manageable.  I love how my schedule fits with his, so I have no problem with my babysitting timetable and I can babysit whenever I have to.  Even if there are times when I have something urgent to do and I can’t come over and babysit him, Kai is always nice enough to step in and help and take care of Jongguk himself.  Not that it happens a lot.”  I fib a little.  Not that it’s completely a lie either right?

I continue.  “My work hours are also very flexible so that’s a definite, unbeatable bonus, and I can live by this job just fine, so... yeah.  I love it.”

“And so you’d like to stay?”

I immediately look up and at him, square in the eye.  “Yes.  Yes, yes I’d love to keep it.”

I have a feeling that my answers are not strong enough for this tough granddaddy.  

Clearing my throat, I struggle to add more.  It’s like answering an open response question during an exam—one that you sort of know, but don’t actually quite know as well.  You’ve written something but you don’t think that’s gonna get you full points and you can sorta feel that the teacher wants to read more as well.  And so, you finally do what you have to do.  You bull away.

“I know this might be a little weird but I actually really love my job as a babysitter.  It turns out that I have a… profound love for kids and domestic duties—“

OKAY WHAT THE ?  No.  NO!! 

“—I mean,” I quickly backtrack, seeing that Kai’s dad is glancing at me weirdly, “I find cooking and stuff quite enjoyable!  I wouldn’t mind doing it at all for now, and it’s actually quite a good stress reliever from all the pressure and stuff at school.  Because I’m studying mathematics, right, so this is a good escape from the… numerical world.”

I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore.  Did I actually just imply that I take this job as a refreshing getaway, some sort of escape, or a… breather??

“I hope you don’t think I take this job as a mere stress-reliever or getaway of any sort.”  I quickly add, frantically trying to push some actual good words that make sense out of my voice box.  “It’s just…. okay, simply put, I like this job and just like what happens when we’re doing something we like, we wouldn’t mind going out of our way once in a while for it, working harder for it, and most definitely, we wouldn’t mind giving our all to do our best at it.  And that is precisely how I feel towards this job.”

There you go.  There you finally ing go.  Me serving some positive points.

“Hmm.” Kai’s father dips his head ever so slightly.  “But I heard Jongguk’s given you quite a hard time.  Are you still okay with this job after all that has happened?”

“Yeah, we all meet difficult people in life.  So I’m perfectly fine.”  I shrug.  “Besides, Jongguk has promised me a ton of things, which all goes down to the same point—he’s going to be a better child.”

“Noonaaaa!”  Jongguk’s squealy voice emerges from the toilet, and a second later, out he comes rushing from it, with a ribbon of toilet paper trailing from his hand like a gypsy’s ribbon.

“Hello Jongguk!”  I say, as he rushes over and waves the string of toilet paper in front of my face.  “What is that?”

“My DNA strand.”

“What?” I echo, flummoxed.  Wait, wait, he’s still 6 right??  Where the hell did he get that from?  “Jongguk, that’s so cool!  Where did you learn that from?”

“Bill!  Bill!!”

“HUH??” I look at him, trying to decrypt this child’s mysterious answer.  What the hell was THAT?!

“Disney channel noona!  Bill Nye the Science Guy!” he cheers, jumping up and down.  “Do you wanna watch TV?”

“Jongguk, noona can’t right now.” I chuckle softly—a little awkwardly, in fact—and turn back to Kai’s father who’s watching Jongguk with a little smile. 

That actually looks forced.  Whoa, what?

Aren’t grandparents always happy to see their grandchildren??

“What?  Why— Ooh.” Jongguk’s mouth closes completely. Which is like, really rare in Jongguk’s case.  “Hello.”  He says to Kai’s father, blinking.

I’m a little shocked, to be honest.  That’s the plainest greeting I’ve ever seen come from Jongguk. EVER.  And I didn’t expect to see it directed towards his grandfather—or anyone in his family, for that matter. 

Oh well, then I take it that this is not the most harmonious family ever huh?  That’s totally fine by me.

“Hello, Jongguk.”  Kai’s father smiles at Jongguk a little more warmly, but I can see that it’s still not the most sincere smile one could muster.   He’s straining to do it, that much I can tell. 

I can’t help but wonder why he isn’t happy with Jongguk.  How could you not love a kid like that?! 

“How was school today?” Grandpapa asks again, ruffling Jongguk’s hair a little—which, by the way, if you saw him did with your own eyes like me, would seem totally stiff and… out of character?? Yeah.  Anyway, I’m probably commenting too much on this Grandpa.  Maybe he’s had a before, which would explain his stuff actions.  Or I’m just being too cynical.

“It was good!” Jongguk chirps, nodding his head like the cutie poo he is.  “We learned a really fun song during music class today.”

“Show us!” I clap merrily before I could stop myself. 

“Really??” Jongguk asks, his eyes wide as he looks from me, to his grandpa, and back to me again.  Kai’s dad nods a bit.

“Do, a deer, a female deer.. Re!  A drop of golden suuuuun~!!” He sings, throwing his hands up.

I immediately jump up at this.  “Me, a name, I call myself..”

“Fa, a long long way to ruuuunn!” We both chorus. 

This song!  I love this song!  I loooove Sound of Music.  And before I knew it, before I could stop to remind myself to act more professional and grown up in front of my boss, and my even bigger boss, I have jumped up from my seat, pushed back my chair, and Jongguk and I are now singing and dancing away to the song.

“Do re mi fa sol la si do, sol do!” We both finish off, giggling as we finish off with a goofy pose.

“I can now see why you hired her.”  I heard Kai’s grandpa whisper to Kai.

“Indeed.”  Kai says, and I look up to him, meeting his eyes which actually seem to be sparkling with amusement.

“I’m so sorry about that!”  I gush, rushing back to the dining table where Kai and his dad are sitting. 

“It’s fine.  I now believe you completely when you said you love your job.”  Kai’s dad gazes at me with a neutral expression, not giving anything he thinks about me away.  But I sort of feel like he’s still… scrutinizing me.  Assessing me, like Kai did when he first hired me.

“Abbeoji, are you staying for dinner?  If so, is there anything you’d like to…”

“Yes, I think I’ll be joining my family for dinner, but I’ll just let you make what you usually make.  No special requests or allergies to be noted.” He shakes his graying head. 

“Okay then!” I nod, heading over to the kitchen. 

I ended up making mashed potatoes with  gravy and some chicken and softened vegetables with some sauce to go with- all so that Kai Sr. can chew them without damaging his aged gum and teeth.  Like, okay, his teeth looked fine but you never know right?  Aren't I just the most thoughtful and caring babysitter?  Har har.

"I take it that you're more than just a babysitter to Kai then?"  Grandpa says as I bring over the food to the dining table, where all the Kims are already seated.

"I-I'm sorry?!"  Hooo boy, my brain definitely did not interpret that right.  My eyes flicker to Kai for a second but his eyes are on his phone.

"He also makes you his personal chef, am I right?"

Well. You see?

"I see it my duty to take care of both Jongguk and Kai, Abbeoji."  I bow a little before leaving the table.  "Please enjoy your meal!"

"Iseul what are you doing?" Kai says, abruptly looking up from his phone.

"I am.. wishing you a good meal."  I say, blinking. 

"And why is that? Aren't you going to eat as well?" Kai questions again, in his usual FBI agent manner. 

"Well I-"

"Iseul if you decide to skip meals and fall sick due to your own actions-- I'm not letting you skip work, you hear me?  My job is particularly busy these days--"

SHEESH.  What.  A.  Goddamn.  !  It takes every ounce of energy in me to hold back the urge to roll my eyes or snap out some snarky response.  "I wasn't thinking of skipping dinner,"  I say, so calmly that I surprise even myself, "I just thought that it would be better to wait until you guys finish eating so I won't disturb any family time--"

"You eat with me and Jongguk every day."  Kai points out.

'YES BUT CAN'T YOU SEE IT'S JUST NOT YOU AND JONGGUK TODAY?!!!' I wanted to yell.  Seriously!
  
Wisely, I go for a calmer response.  "Yes but--"  I widen my eyes briefly, trying to say 'your father is here, hello??' without actually making a sound.  And without making the relay of the message obvious because the third party involved is actually sitting there watching us as well.

"Sit down, Iseul.  You won't be disturbing any family time.  Don't make me repeat myself."  Grandpa Kim orders in such an authorative voice that I immediately consent to do so. 

"Um, well... okay."  I slide into a the seat on the side between Jongguk and Kai, directly across Grandpa Kim.

And let me tell you, dinner has never been so awkward before.  I don't belong in here.  I'm not part of the family!  I shouldn't be here eating with these people--  in fact, Kai shouldn't even be keeping me!  He should've told me to go home and play with Jongguk and his father himself like what normal families do! 

Oh.. right.  Except-- I don't really have a home to go to, right?  After the incident...

Speaking of which, I wonder how's everything going?  I haven't got the chance to tell Suzy about it, since she was out last night and I was very unceremoniously kicked out of the cinema earlier today while she was still inside, and I know I should call but I can't really go off and call a friend being in the situation I currently am in, can I?  I really have to talk to Kai about this.  He can't be serious about me moving in with him!

I nervously eye the people around me, not quite believing how silent it actually is.  Kai isn't saying anything.  He's just digging through his meal like it's the first he's had in weeks without even gracing his father and son a glance or something.  Jongguk is busying himself by shaping his mash potatoes into little hearts and stars with his spoon and fork. And Grandpa Kim, he's just silently munching away as well.  

What.  The freaking hell.

It must be because of me.  It must be. 

"Jongguk, eat."  I whisper to Jongguk, desperate to break the silence.  "Stop playing with your food."

He pauses and looks up from his artwork for a while.  "I want noona to feed me!"

"What?  No!  You always eat by yourself, wha

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neonflowers
[Incredible Things] Finally complete! Thank you so much for joining me on this looong whirlwind journey 🥰 hope you join me on my other stories!

Comments

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leechoding #1
Chapter 57: Rereading this for 120th time. I'll never get tired of this story. It's like one of the best fics ever written on this app.
samara12 #2
This is the best fic on AFF. I cried when it ended. It felt something was missing from my life after finishing this. You are best writer ever. Some published books are not even this good. Please don’t ever delete this story. Best of best. My favorite fic of alllllll time… I honestly don’t think I will ever find anything better than this. I promise this is not fake flattery. This really is the best!!❤️
xiuminbaek
#3
Chapter 66: Oh my god. It's take me about a week to finish this. I really love this fic so much 😭😭. The roller coaster emotion i am having for this one is so real. The fact that i kinda hate mark so much for leading iseul to think he likes her. And to hate suzy for treating iseul like . I kinda mad at iseul for being kind to much. She's really a forgiving person. She's really quick to forgive mark for everything he did to her. And have him back as her friend. Also she's quick to forgive Suzy for breaking her relationship with jongin 😭. Eventhough the break really helped their relationship a lot. Also lucas appearance really helped too. I wish i could see them being mushy more before iseul getting back with jongin haha. But at last. I love it how iseul is accepting jongin's back. I love the effort jongin have to get iseul back. Everything in this story is so good and i love it. I love u for giving iseul a best friend she deserve like bom. The one who will stick with her. I thought the getting back between iseul and jongin will be a little hard. Like iseul will be playing hard to get or smthg 🤣. But well she loves him so much. And it's good for them...anyway!! Thank you so much for the fic! I enjoyed them so much!!
theshadyone
#4
Chapter 68: Can’t believe I finished reading this, it took me several days of non-stop fangirling and crying but I finally made it! Thank you for the ride, I simply loved this story with all my heart 💜
Ekale_erie
#5
Chapter 13: I'm seriously doubting Mark!
And who's this new person now?
Ekale_erie
#6
Chapter 12: Don't know why I feel suspicious of Mark...
Ekale_erie
#7
Chapter 8: Oh my God! That last line is just aksjskakakja!!
Ekale_erie
#8
Chapter 5: Jongguk is such a cute lil ball of sunshineeeee!