✓ the hooded princess • kim seungmin

t w e n t y t w o

Nightfall.

Seungmin wrapped a bandage around his arm after getting out from shower. The pain was at least bearable for him now. It might take a few days to recover fully.

He planned to go to bed earlier because of school tomorrow. However, when his eyes met the fabric hanging on the wardrobe's door, he thought sleep could wait.

The male took the cloth along with the torn off piece and brought them downstairs. He rummaged a shelf to find something until his father came down, startling him.

"What are you searching, son?"

"Um," he hid the cloak behind him. "Sewing machine. The one mom always use."

At the mention of his mother, a sad smile appeared on the man's face. He noticed the cloth Seungmin was holding. "You're sewing something?" he asked as he turned to open a door under the stairs. It was a store of their unused stuffs, mostly his mother's things.

His late mother.

Seungmin approached his father as the man handed out a familiar yet old box. "Thank you dad."

The older hummed while keeping back the things inside of the storage. Seungmin went to the corner of the living room where there was a small table his mother always use when sewing. It had been a long time since he did this. He silently hoped he'd still remember how to do it. After setting up the old machine, he hesitated.

What if he screwed up?

I shouldn't do this–

"...that was the last gift that keeps her happy."

His lips pursed into a thin line.

"...he was bleeding! Should i leave him losing blood just like that?"

Silly, the cut wasn't even deep.

A smile unknowingly appeared on his face as he remembered the event earlier that day. Even though he felt guilty, the fact that the princess showed her concerns towards him made his heart flutter.

He switched on the lights on the machine and carefully put the two separated fabrics together. His one leg stepped on the level and moved it slowly according to the speed he wanted. To say he was nervous was an understatement.

Soon, subtle sound of whirring filled the room. If he was to be emotional at that moment, he would reminisce how he'd wake up at night to the small noise only to see his mother sewing skirts to sell. Little Seungmin would always ask, "why don't you do it in the morning? mommy needs sleep too." with a pout on his lips. When his mother refused to do so the little one would drag a chair next to her and watch how the level on her leg moves along with the needle on the machine. Curiousity rose inside him and his mouth wouldn't stop asking, yet his mother replied to it with patience.

As he grew up, he was interested in trying so he did. He just learned the basic and had sewn a few random pieces of clothes, but ever since his mother passed away, he'd never touched the machine again. It brings nostalgic feels.

Seungmin had never thought he'd do this again. He tried so hard to lessen the tremble of his hands to make sure the needle won't hurt his finger. Also, he didn't want any decent defect shown on the cloak. Even though the possibility to make it look like new was definitely zero, he still wanted to try.

It was impossible to fix the badly torn off cloth without making the long line of sewing visible.

After a moment that seem like an hour, he finally finished it. Seungmin turned off the light and undone the wires that attached to the machine. He then got up to present the cloak in front of him.