ACT VII | SCENE XXXIII

❝PHONE CALL❞

PANIC DIDN'T SET in for yoongi until a whole week later. realisation hit him after he'd purchased a new journal. a journal to help him plan his time with haneul in mind. as he'd stared at the little sunflower in the middle of the black cover while in his study, it dawned on him just what he had agreed to.

he still had no experience with kids outside of haneul. he knew he had to be careful with what he said, how he spoke and how he acted but it didn't mean he knew what to say and how to act. as far as he knew, kids were a bit like eggs. parents usually got the chance to prepare before their child was born or at least while they were still babies but he'd just been thrown into this with a child he barely even knew.

so far, he had somehow pushed through that weekend and had made only one mistake – two, if he counted agreeing to let her watch that animated film that almost sent his blood pressure through the roof – which wasn't all that bad. he had handled it much better than he'd imagined he would. still, how was he supposed to keep that up?

he'd tossed and turned the whole night and had barely gotten any sleep. the dark circles under his eyes were a testament to that fact. gaze shifting to the little book on his desk, his brows furrowed in a grimace as he wondered why he had brought it to the office. soft grunt leaving his lips, he picked it up and pulled one of the drawers in his desk open, tossing it in and shutting the drawer.

a sigh slipped past his lips, his stiff shoulders relaxing somewhat. mere seconds later, there was a knock at his door before it was opened. he looked up to find jeongguk approaching him carefully. stopping in front of his desk, the younger man tipped his head forward in a bow. "the presentation will begin soon. everyone is waiting for you, president."

"ah, alright. let's go." he pushed his chair back, getting on his feet. nodding, jeongguk reached for the third journal in the short stack sitting on yoongi's table as well as a black pen. it was where yoongi noted down his observations and points for improvements during presentations or pitches.

the two left the office, making their way to the elevator. when the doors dinged open a few floors down, they strode down to the presentation room. just as jeongguk wrapped his hand around the handle, yoongi's phone buzzed in his pocket. reaching for it, he read the contact name, brows going up in surprise. jeongguk's eyes watched him in waiting.

"i have to take this. you can go in first. just let them know i'll be there in a few minutes." yoongi stated, eyes still on his phone screen. barely registering jeongguk's nod of understanding, he turned around and walked away, thumb swiping over the answer button. "hello?"

"mr min, i'm sorry for calling when you're probably still at the office but haneul wouldn't stop insisting on speaking to you now." rian's soft voice filled his ears almost immediately. he resisted the urge to click his tongue at the fact that the first thing she did was apologise. "is something wrong?" he asked. "no, it's just..." she let out a small sigh. "i'll just let her tell you."

there was a little shuffling before rian's voice was replaced by a much higher, younger voice. "hello? daddy?" she called eagerly. yoongi didn't realise the fact that he barely reacted to the title as he waited for her to continue. "daddy, are you there?" she asked. in the background, he could have sworn he heard rian say, "haneul, don't shake the phone like that!"

"yes, i'm here." he chuckled lightly. "hi!" she chirped happily on hearing his voice. "hi," he responded. "do you have something you want to tell me?" he asked softly. "yes! i got ninety percent on my math test today!" she announced excitedly. "really?" he replied with a small gasp. "yes! do you want to see?" she answered. "haneulie, he can't see your test sheet through the call." rian's voice filtered through again.

"you can show me some other time, okay?" he told her. "oh, okay!" he could tell she was nodding by the waver in her voice. "i've been practising the way you taught me. are you proud of me?" she asked cutely. it took a second for yoongi to realise he was smiling. "yes, i am." he responded honestly. "yay! rian, daddy's proud of me!"

yoongi didn't pick up what rian said in reply but he certainly heard haneul's enthusiastic giggle. "rian wants to frame my test sheet!" she told him. "oh, really? then, i get the next one." he said lightheartedly. "then, i'll get a hundred for you!" she declared boldly.

his grin grew the slightest bit at that, feeling her confidence rolling off her and through the phone. "just do the best you can, haneul. you don't have to get a perfect score. no pressure." he told her softly. "mm!" he could practically see her bobbing her head in reply.

"i have to go now. there are people waiting for me." he continued after a moment. "oh..." he heard the pout in her voice. "okay, daddy." she added after a second. he exhaled deeply at the disappointment that fizzled through her tone. "if you want to talk to me, you can just tell rian, okay? i'll try to talk to you as much as i can if i'm not too busy." he offered without giving his words much thought. "okay, daddy! thank you!" her voice picked up.

"bye bye, daddy!" she chirped happily. "bye, haneul." he replied gently. there was a shuffle again. "thank you for taking time out for this, mr min." rian's voice replaced haneul's. "don't mention it." he answered easily. "goodbye, miss son." he added. "goodbye, mr min." she responded before he ended the call.

slipping the phone back into his pocket, he turned around and walked back to the presentation room. all eyes turned in his direction when he opened the door and everyone got on their feet, bowing respectfully. he nodded in response before taking his seat.

jeongguk leaned closer, concern swirling in his eyes. "is everything alright?" he whispered softly. "yes, everything's alright." he nodded in confirmation. he truly hoped it would stay that way. somehow, everything had stayed balanced for the most part, though quite a few things had changed. he had no idea how he would handle it if things went awry.

he turned his attention back to the work at hand, holding his hands out in front of him. "alright, let's see the proposed interface for the daisy app."

🌻🌻🌻

look at papa yoongi being proud of little haneulie uwu. i hope you all had a wonderful christmas and a nice couple of days if you don't celebrate. take care if yourselves and stay safe! 💛