After Dark (Prompts)

One Night - 8

Hyun Ji-ho was cute. It was pointless to deny it. He was cute, smart and funny.

And he was a kid.

So, there were times that he tested Hyun Jin-heon's patience.

"Ji-ho-ah, it's time to bathe!" Jin-heon said for the tenth time. He was washing their dishes while Ji-ho stayed at the living room playing with his legos, ignoring his uncle.

"Ji-ho, bathe," Jin-heon repeated. Peeking into the living room to see the boy still playing, he called out, "Yah, do you hear me?"

Nothing.

"If your ears are broken, I'm going to replace those at the junkyard," Jin-heon said, making Ji-ho laugh.

"I'm not a robot, Uncle!" Ji-ho said.

"No? Good thing your ears seem to be working," Jin-heon replied. "Now, bathe."

"Whyyy? There's no school," Ji-ho reasoned.

"Is school the only reason you bathe?" Jin-heon asked.

"Yes," Ji-ho replied, which almost made Jin-heon laugh but he knew he should probably not laugh and show that he found the response funny.

"Come on, Buddy!" Jin-heon asked, almost pleading. "Do you want to stink for the rest of the day?"

"It's okay. You'll love me anyway," Ji-ho said, secure in his position in his Uncle's life.

Jin-heon rolled his eyes. He was glad that Ji-ho knew he would have his Uncle loving him through heaven and hell, but Ji-ho really needed a bath.

"Should I tell Teacher, Appa and Eomma that you're not listening to Uncle?" Jin-heon asked.

When Ji-ho finally ran to the bathroom, Jin-heon followed suit to make sure he was scrubbing himself properly. On the way to the room, he stepped on legos Ji-ho left on the floor and let out dozens of curses.

"Oh f — damn these things! Who made these? Ouch. Why do these hurt so much? Blasted son of a —," horrified, Hyun Jin-heon stopped when Ji-ho's head popped out from the bathroom.

His eyes wide, shampoo still in his hair, Ji-ho wagged his index finger. "Oh ho ho! You're going to get in trouble! Teacher doesn't like bad words!"

When Ji-ho was back in the shower, Jin-heon pulled his hair out and groaned. "Aaaarrrgggghhhh!"

But for all the headaches he gave his Uncle that weekend, when they busted out the game consoles with Ji-ho pretending to be the drummer while Jin-heon took charge of the guitar,  busting their out of tune voices, everything was right in the world again.

Especially when Ji-ho snuggles in his robot bed, yells, "Good night, Uncle!" and adds, "This is the happiest place on Earth!"

***

If anyone would have told Hyun Jin-heon when the day started that it would end with him standing side-by-side with Ji-ho, facing the wall as punishment from Im Soo-ah, Jin-heon would laugh and find it funny.

However, there they were with Im Soo-ah busying herself in the kitchen.

"This is your fault," Hyun Jin-heon pouted.

"Why meeeee?" Ji-ho complained. "You were the one who said the bad words."

"Why did you tell Teacher?!" Jin-heon asked.

"She asked! I can't lie to Teacher," Ji-ho said.

"I hear talking," Im Soo-ah called out. "Are you thinking about what you both did wrong?"