ACT IV | SCENE XIX

❝BABYSITTER❞

DÉJÀ VU. THAT was the only way rian could define this moment as she sat silently in yoongi's car. except she knew that it had definitely happened before. in fact, only a week ago. and that was all it had taken for her life to take an unexpected turn.

rian was all for spontaneity, embraced it even. in her earlier years before she settled down into her nursing job, she had been notorious for doing things on a whim. she still did, now and again, but not as often as her in her teens and the first couple of years of her twenties. deciding to raise haneul whilst her mother was in hospital was one of those spontaneous decisions.

but finding herself being entangled with the young ceo of a pretty big corporation didn't feel like one of her spontaneous decisions. it wasn't even one of her decisions, period. one grocery run and suddenly, a tech tycoon was the pretend father of her ward and she had the support, as well as phone number, of a top model whom every woman sought after – if baek chanmi found out about the latter, she might swoon.

she felt like she had been thrown into one of those dramas she occasionally watched as a guilty pleasure when she wasn't working or feeling exhausted from work. whilst eighteen-year-old rian might have appreciated the notion however it came, she wasn't so sure about twenty-six-year-old rian.

having to inconvenience yoongi, even if it was for haneul's sake, didn't sit right with her. he always looked so out of his element whenever they met. and it made her feel bad, even though she couldn't remember the last time she'd seen haneul smile so brightly around anyone.

she eyed him in her periphery, gaze moving from his mop of black hair to his ringed veiny fingers wrapped around the wheel. he seemed to be deep in thought, lips pursed and brows drawn, cheeks puffing out ever so slightly. she wanted to apologise for taking him out of whatever he was busy with for haneul to get a glimpse of him, but she held back. he seemed to be exasperated by her constant apologies since they first met, so she bit her tongue.

but the silence was beginning to stifle her and she ached to say something – anything – to ward off the awkward air that always seemed to surround them. "thank you so much for doing this, mr min. you certainly could've declined."

he mumbled something under his breath but she didn't catch it, though she thought she heard him mention seokjin. "sorry, i didn't get that." she winced when she realised she had managed to let that word slip out again. he didn't seem to take notice though. his head turned, eyes meeting hers briefly. "don't mention it." his voice was more audible.

another déjà vu. it seemed like she was either apologising or thanking him for something each time they were around each other. she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, glancing back to see haneul happily playing with her plush toy while humming the tune of a familiar rhyme.

"is a babysitter going to pick her up from the hospital?" his raspy voice broke the silence, taking her by surprise. he was trying to make small talk to fill the silence. "um, the babysitter can't make it today, so she'll have to stay at the hospital tonight." she replied.

his eyes rounded in surprise and he turned to look at her to confirm if she was serious. "she's going to sleep at the hospital?" he gasped, glancing at the child in the rearview mirror. as though she could sense his eyes on her, she met his gaze in the reflective glass, grinning brightly at him.

rian nodded. "i don't like it, but it's not the first time. she usually spends the night in her mother's room or in the on-call room." she answered. "wait, this is a regular occurrence?" he tapped his fingers against the wheel, one brow arched. "not regularly, but it does happen once in a while, when her babysitter is unavailable."

"and you don't have a backup for when this happens?" he queried, eyes on the road. "honestly, i don't feel very comfortable leaving haneul with just anybody. she's had the same babysitter for years now and i can trust that she'll be safe with her. i can't confidently say the same about someone i barely know. and i don't want to burden my friends." she answered.

when it came to haneul's well-being, spontaneity was a luxury rian could not afford. she'd been entrusted with caring for a child and she could not risk her safety or health for whatever reason. after all, haneul was like her own child now. if it involved the six-year-old, rian would always choose stability and discipline over her natural instinct to be even a little spontaneous.

"i can understand that." yoongi mused, making a turn. she glanced up. they were close to the hospital already. it was silent between them once again, haneul providing the only sounds to be heard from inside the car. next to rian, yoongi let out a deep sigh, and she wondered what he was thinking about.

soon the black car rolled to a stop in the parking lot of taeyang hospital. nobody moved for a brief moment, both adults simply staring at the building in front of them. "thank you, again. for the ride and for showing up." rian's voice was softer than she'd intended. "don't mention it." he responded, almost like it was second nature. she was starting to think that it was, and that he quite possibly meant it literally.

nodding once, she took her seatbelt off and opened the door, stepping out. pulling open the back door, she helped haneul out of her seatbelt, gently urging her out of the car. the little girl paused halfway out the door. "daddy?" she called.

it took a second for yoongi to respond. he turned to her, brows raised in question. "aren't you coming?" she asked. he shook his head, small smile tilting his lips. "not today, haneul. i have to go back to work." he replied. her bottom lip pushed out and she nodded. "okay," she mumbled, starting to shuffle out.

she stopped again just as her feet touched the ground, looking at him like she wanted to say something. rian's gaze flitted to yoongi and he met her eyes, an unreadable look in his. "daddy?" haneul finally called again. the corners of his mouth barely tilted up in reply. "can i stay with you?" she asked meekly. "what?" he blanched at her words.

his eyes travelled up to catch rian's widened ones. "l-little slice of heaven," she stuttered out, unable to hide her shock. "what do you mean?" she managed a smile despite her flustered state. "rian, can i not sleep in the hospital tonight?" haneul asked innocently. "sweetie..." rian felt a heaviness in her heart.

"can i stay with daddy instead?" haneul blinked hopefully. rian pressed her lips together, features contorting as she crouched down. "haneul," she mumbled, pulling her into her arms. she didn't know what to say. how was she to reply to such a request?

she ran a hand over haneul's hair softly, small sigh slipping past her lips. she could feel yoongi's gaze on her and when she looked at him, it was obvious he was still in shock. neither of them had expected haneul to say that. was it our conversation that triggered it? did she even hear us? her gaze flickered down.

"mummy..." she heard haneul mumble but the girl didn't finish whatever statement she was going to make. "what was that?" rian pulled away, looking her in the eyes. haneul shook her head in response. "nothing." she cast her gaze down. rian exhaled, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. haneul sounded so dejected.

when she looked at yoongi, she could tell he heard it too. because his brows drew closer and worry flickered in his eyes. "haneul?" he called softly, drawing both their attention to him. "yes, daddy?" it was too obvious not to notice how he slightly stiffened at the title he'd somehow gotten. "not tonight but maybe sometime soon? when rian can make it?" he sounded so hesitant, so unsure yet he said it anyway.

again, in the span of only a few minutes, rian found herself taken aback. was she misunderstanding or did min yoongi just agree to let them spend the night at his place in the near future? it was hard to believe her ears. "huh?" she spluttered.

"can i really?" haneul's visage instantly brightened. his lips pressed into a small smile. "but only if rian can be there too. so she feels comfortable." he answered. and she knew he was considering both their feelings. "can we?" haneul turned her hopeful gaze to her. she let out a small puff of air, mouth curving up. "how can i refuse that face?" she bopped haneul's nose.

the six-year-old giggled excitedly then suddenly stopped. "when is soon?" she was so serious, rian almost laughed. "why?" she queried. "the last time you said soon, it took forever!" haneul whined. "this time it won't be forever." it was yoongi who answered. "when's good for you?" he looked at rian.

she bit her lip in thought. she could only do weekends because of her work and haneul's school. if haneul thought five days was forever, she wouldn't like to wait till the next weekend. "after tonight i have the weekend off. so tomorrow's fine by me." she told him, the words leaving her just as hesitantly as his had. he blew out a breath. "okay, i guess i'll come pick you up in the evening, tomorrow." he mumbled. "promise?" the little girl asked. "promise." he responded.

haneul cheered and they both smiled at her. "does that make you feel better?" rian chuckled and she bobbed her head enthusiastically. rian glanced at yoongi again. "thank you," she mouthed. he nodded once in reply. taking haneul's hand, rian shut the door. "bye-bye, daddy!" haneul called as yoongi started the car. he simply waved at her before driving off.

a loud sigh slipped past rian's lips. she was really going to spend a night at the home of someone she barely knew all to please haneul. even with her being spontaneous, she still felt a bit uneasy. after all, it had to do with haneul. but it had already been decided, even if both she and yoongi were quite reluctant about it. they'd promised haneul.

there really was no going back now.

🌻🌻🌻

me: see you on friday! my phone and wifi: ha! so my phone decided to suddenly give up the ghost on me on thursday. still have no idea why or what went wrong but i'm basically phoneless atm. anyway, i still tried to update from my laptop but the wifi has been acting up and i'm tiredt. anyway, i had to make sure to update today. but idk when the next update will be as things stand. i hope you're having a better time than i am! and ps this isn't edited  💛