ACT V | SCENE XXV

❝FIRST AID❞

IF IT WEREN'T for haneul, dinner would have been painfully quiet. her bubbly excitement was the only thing that punctuated the awkward silence between yoongi and rian. the only time they'd spoken directly to each other was when he noticed her try to switch her chopsticks from her left to her right hand and she'd explained that she was trying to learn how to hold them properly on her right. besides that, neither of them said much.

and for once, the man felt grateful that an easily excitable child was in the vicinity, and asking more questions than he could keep up with. though, he wouldn't be in this situation in the first place if it wasn't for the said child.

once the dinner was over, yoongi retired into his study to get some work done and rian led haneul to the room they were currently occupying to get ready for bed. but yoongi's peace and quiet only lasted for so long.

he heard the soft patter of small feet first before haneul's soft voice reached his ears. "daddy?" she sounded like she was searching for him. looking up, he caught sight of her through the glass walls of the small study, her head turning left and right in a bid to figure out her location.

her wide-eyed gaze met his as she took another step forward, cheeks rounding in a huge smile. she held the stuffed peanut he'd gotten her earlier to her chest, one small hand coming up to wave at him as she hopped excitedly. "hi, daddy!" she squealed happily, hurrying towards him.

eyes rounding, he jumped on his feet, trying to warn her. "wait, don't—!" the words didn't leave his mouth fast enough and he watched with a wince as she bumped into the glass door and fell back on her bottom. pushing his swivel chair back, he ran towards her in alarm, swinging the door open and getting down on one knee.

haneul held a hand to her forehead, features pulled together in pain. small pained whines tumbled from her lips, her eyes squeezed shut. yoongi pulled her to his chest, gently hushing her. "hey, hey, don't cry." he said in the softest tone he could muster. patting her back comfortingly, he continued to let out soft hushing sounds.

slowly, haneul's little whimpers died down and she calmed down. he pulled away, giving her the once-over. she wasn't going to cry anymore but her features were still contorted in a cute frown. "let me see." he urged, trying to pry her hand off her forehead.

obliging him almost instantly, she let her hand drop back to her side. yoongi's eyes ran over her forehead, brows knitting. there was a little red bruise and he could tell that a bump was forming at the point of contact. sighing, he looked her in the eyes. "where's rian?" he asked. "brushing her teeth."

"does she know you're out here?" he questioned. bottom lip jutting out in a pout, she shook her head. "i didn't tell her. i just wanted to say goodnight." she mumbled out, gaze cast downwards. pressing his lips together, he lifted the girl into his arms, picking up the toy that had been inadvertently abandoned on the floor when she fell and giving it back to her.

yoongi pretended not to notice the large grin dancing across the child's lips, making his way to the room rian was occupying. he stopped on the way to grab the first aid kit before his feet led him to the one side of the shut door. rapping his raised fist against the cold wood, he waited.

at first he was met with silence, then there was a shuffling sound on the other side, a muffled voice following before the door was opened. "haneul!" rian gasped, large eyes on the girl in yoongi's arms. "i'm so sorry. i just got out of the bathroom now and realised she wasn't in the room." her gaze flitted to him. his eyes narrowed at the unnecessary apology but he made no comments on it.

her eyes returned to haneul's and yoongi saw the way her pupils dilated in shock. "what happened to you?" she reached for the girl, brushing her hair out of her face.

"she ran into a glass door." yoongi answered. rian swiped a thumb over the red spot and haneul whimpered in response. "does it only hurt when i touch it?" the nurse looked at the child. haneul's head bobbed in a nod. "okay, so no headache." a small sigh of relief slipped past rian's lips.

"do you feel sick?" she asked again. haneul shook her head. "and you can see me well, right? there aren't two of me, right?" she continued. haneul smiled as she shook her head again. another relieved sigh left rian. "so it's just the bump and the slight bruising."

"i brought the first aid kit." yoongi said, drawing rian's attention back to him. her gaze travelled down to the box in his hand and she smiled. "it doesn't seem to be a serious injury so we only need a cold compress to reduce the swelling." she told him, eyes darting back to his.

"oh, i think i have something you can use in my fridge." he blinked. "okay, thank you." she smiled graciously, following him as he turned and headed towards the kitchen. "sorry for running out and not telling you." he heard haneul mumble to the woman who gently dandled her in her arms. "it's okay, my little slice of heaven."

another display of maturity that fascinated yoongi. haneul had just apologised without having been instructed to. his gaze shifted sideways but he didn't glance back, once again finding himself questioning if she was different or if he just knew absolutely nothing about children.

walking into the kitchen, he went straight for the fridge, taking out an ice pack that was usually left there for emergency purposes. "here," he handed over the pack to rian, noting the surprise in her eyes. "i was expecting a bag of frozen peas or something along those lines." she admitted lowly.

sitting haneul on the island, she gently pressed the cold pack against her forehead. the child hissed, features creasing in a grimace. "i know it's cold but just bear for a little while, hm?" rian's voice was soft and haneul nodded in answer.

silence fell over them once again. and yoongi stared at nothing in particular as rian carefully iced down haneul's bump. rian glanced down at her face after a while, an endeared smile pulling on the corners of her lips. looking at the child, yoongi saw her head slowly bobbing back and forth. she was nodding off already.

"i should get her to bed." rian mused, pulling the ice pack away from haneul's forehead. yoongi nodded, reaching for the pack. "thank you," she handed it to him and lifted haneul into her arms.

"goodnight, miss son." he said as she made her way out of the kitchen. "goodnight, mr min." she glanced back at him. haneul suddenly lifted her head off rian's shoulder. eyes drooping, she waved sluggishly at him. "goodnight, daddy." she mumbled with a lazy smile on her lips. blinking in surprise, it took yoongi a moment to respond.

"goodnight, haneul."

🌻🌻🌻

BE.
that's it. that's the message.
do y'all have a favourite already? for me, it's definitely blue and grey. the album kind of went from mono to hope world and i'm completely here for it. i can't even begin to put into words how much i already adore the album.
anyways, we're making progress with this story as we go (naturally) and i'm getting more excited. i hope you all have a BEautiful day/night wherever you are. and remember, life goes on 💛