diadem | hyunho

epilogue

A few years later:

HYUNJIN

"Will my princess be a good archer one day?" Minho asks in a child-like high pitched voice, looking down at the baby who had made herself comfortable in his lap. Ari was our second child, just a little more than one year old.

Ari unexpectedly kicks Minho in the abdomen, causing him to yelp and almost fall into the fountain by which he was seated.

"A little dramatic, don't you think?" I chuckle from the side. I was painting, as usual. The garden was our favorite spot to spend time together, even after all these years.

"Not if you murdered your abs just an hour ago at the gym," he groans. "Forget archery, she's going to be a darn good footballer."

"DAAAAAAAADDDD!" Minwoo, the older one, comes running to me in tears. I drop my pencil to see what was wrong. I was drawing the rough sketch before painting.

"What's wrong, baby?" I ask.

"Uncle Minnie is bullying me," he says, a wet droplet falling down his cheeks as he sobs. Said man comes walking in behind him a few moments later.

"Hey Minho where the fu-"

"Language," Minho warns, eyeing the kids.

"Why's this one crying?" Seungmin rolls his eyes, looking at Minwoo. I chuckle. He had a knack for making kids cry, even if he didn't mean to. The two were always bickering but they really loved each other a lot.

"You ate my cake!" Minwoo accuses.

"How would I know it's your cake?" He defends, eyebrows flaring up at the accusation. "There's like, a hundred more plates in the kitchen. I don't understand why you're crying, kid," he shakes his head. "You can also take away a lot from this situation. Throughout your life, you'll meet a lot of people, both good and bad. Only time can tell what kind of people they are, and there'll be a lot of people you love and trust. But sometimes, they can hurt you and take advantage of your kindness and within the snap of a finger-"

"Seungmin, he's just five!" I sigh, holding back a snicker. He was always turning everything into a philosophical life lesson just to confuse the shit out of Minwoo. I wipe his cheek to clear away the remaining tears.

"I'll get you cake after dinner, okay sweetie?" I comfort him. "Do you wanna paint with me?"

"Yes!" He exclaims, forgetting all about the cake. I leave my pencils aside and bring out my paints. I could finish this one another day.

"Choose a color," I say to him, picking him up and seating him on my lap in front of the canvas.

"Hmm...this one!" He picks a bottle of purple paint. I open it and pour a small amount onto his palms, which he rubs together to spread evenly. I never understood his fascination with painting his hands, but it was cute to see how excited he got every time he did.

"UNCLE SUNGIE!" Minwoo suddenly exclaims, leaving my lap to run to Jisung. He had just walked into the garden.

"MY BABYYYY!" He yells back with the same energy, crouching down to hug him. Minho and I look at each other for a second before bursting out laughing.

"What?" The unsuspecting man asks.

"There was...paint on Woo's hands," I say between giggles. His eyes widen and he turns his head to see the crisp, white fabric of his shirt stained with tiny purple prints.

"Minwoo you naughty boy!" He pretends to be angry, chasing him around the fountain. He screams as Jisung catches him in his arms and starts to tickle him.