Onew passed the street food stalls and tried to ignore the aroma of delicious food emanating from them. He was in a hurry to get home and the food lane was the shortest way to get there. He looked at his watch and almost speed walked. After all, he couldn’t disappoint his special girl tonight.

Opening the door for him, the middle-aged housekeeper gave him a brilliant smile and walked out to enjoy her personal time. Onew entered but did not take off his shoes. He stowed his briefcase behind the door and braced himself for the impact. He wasn’t disappointed when his girl slammed into him before beginning to jump in excitement.

Her words tumbled out at the same speed as her body, “You are on time dad. Gosh, I was so worried that you will be late again. Couldn’t your boss find any more work for you tonight? I think he is turning into an almost-nice person now. I am so happy that we can have dinner together two days in a row.”

“Whoa baby, slow down. Your words are running away with you. Actually, I am one minute early and I delegated my work to my assistant with a promise of first row tickets for the Olympics opening ceremony. How could I disappoint my little princess?” Onew kissed his 11-year-old daughter’s cheeks and made sure she was bundled up warmly for the cold December night. Smiling widely, Amber allowed her father to take her hand as they walked to their car.

Amber buckled herself quickly and turned to Onew, “Hurry up dad! Can’t you hear my stomach growling in hunger? I didn’t have anything since lunch.”

Onew grinned and tapped her head with his knuckles, “Silly girl who asked you to starve yourself? Greedy pig.”

Amber laughed and rolled down the car window to feel the chilly air on her face. Onew did not to protest. It was too short a drive for her to catch cold. “Did you practice your taekwondo today?”

“Of course dad, you know I never miss a day of practice. I am going to win that Olympics gold. You just wait and see,” Amber poked her forefinger in Onew’s upper arm to drive in her claim.

“You will and I am going to be in the front row screaming myself hoarse,” Onew couldn’t help but ruffle her short hair in pride.

“Come on Dad, don’t mess up my hair,” Amber whined at him. “It took me a long time to set it just the way I like it.” Her father only pinched her cheek lightly in response.

After spending a couple of hours chatting non-stop through dinner, Amber closed her eyes and enjoyed a pop song as Onew took her for a long drive by the river-side. Both father and daughter used the time to soak in the peace and silence of the night. It was almost midnight and Amber had fallen asleep with a beaming smile on her face, when Onew began driving back to their apartment.

Next day was Sunday and neither of them had to go anywhere. He looked forward to the once-a-week luxury of sleeping till late in the day. Then for two weeks were Amber’s school break. Most of her classmates were going on a school trip, and those who weren’t had holidays and projects to do at home. Onew had made special plans to spend the time with her which the sleeping girl was completely unaware of. He began humming to himself in joy.

At the last intersection near their apartment building, Onew’s joy turned to terror as he watched a car come at high speed from the opposite side, ignore the red signal, swerve and ram head on with the car in front of his. Horrifying sounds of metal scraping against metal rang out in the silence of the night, waking up Amber.

Onew immediately parked his car at the curb and rushed to help. When he saw Amber get out of their car as well, he went back to hold her hand and explain, “The car in front of ours had an accident. We are okay. Just going to check and help them.”

Amber nodded and clutched his hand tighter. Onew saw the driver of the signal-jumping car slumped in his seat. When he peered in through the broken window, he understood the horrifying reality. The man’s neck was pierced, right in the center, all the way through by a long shard of glass. Realizing that man was beyond all help, Onew jogged to the other car. He held on tight to Amber’s hand who also sped up to keep pace with him. Onew stopped near the driver’s side and peered inside the car.

He spoke to Amber in an urgent tone, “Stay here and don’t move. Call 119. Tell them there is a car accident and three people need medical help.” Amber nodded and took out her phone to do as her father instructed.

Onew reached inside the driver’s window and checked the carotid pulse of the man whose open eyes stared sightlessly ahead. Onew frowned and gave up on finding any pulse. He looked beyond the dead man to catch movement from the passenger side and saw the injured woman staring at Amber. As he moved to the other side, the back door opened and an overweight girl struggled to step out.

“Stay there, don’t move,” Onew tried to keep his voice as calm as possible. “Let me check the woman and then will help you?”

The girl who was searching the air in front of her with her hands, responded in a deep baritone, “What’s wrong with my mother and father? Did we have an accident? Appa is not answering me at all. Umma, say something.”

The injured woman whispered, “I am okay dear. Listen to this nice man and do as he says.” The girl halted her movements with one leg out of the car.

Onew heard his daughter end her call with the emergency services. He went to the girl in the back seat. When he looked at her again, Onew realized he was looking at a young man - a tall, attractive man with a small face, large eyes and long hair. Despite the long hair, Onew immediately recognized him. He helped the man get out of the car and led him to the curb where Amber was standing and made him stand next to her, speaking softly to him all the time, “I will go and check on your mother, Mr Choi. Please stay with my daughter till I return.”

Onew took Amber’s hand and put it on the man’s lower arm, “Amber don’t let him move from here. Call me if he does.” When Amber nodded, Onew hurried back to the passenger side of the car.

The woman trapped between the front part of the car and her seat, looked at him. She tried to smile through her pain, but failed. Onew was unsuccessful in opening the car door and asked her, “Are you alright? Can you open the door from inside?”

The woman stared at Onew pleadingly and lifted her only free hand to beckon him closer. When he did, she touched her hand to his cheek, “Take him away from here before anyone comes. You recognize him, don’t you?” When Onew nodded, she smiled feebly and continued, “Your daughter is also blind, right?” This time she didn’t wait for Onew to respond. “I saw the way you interacted with her and the phone in her hand is the same kind that my son uses. You understand what I am saying? Take him away, keep him safe. In the backseat is my handbag. It has all the information you need to keep him safe. Please. He has no one else in this world.”

Onew considered the woman’s plea. “Don’t talk as if you are leaving him alone. Medical help is on the way. You will be alright. You will continue to look after him for a long time,” he tried to reassure the older woman.

“No, I know I don’t have much time. I cannot feel my body below my waist. My back is wet and I am sure I am bleeding somewhere heavily. If I survive, I will be forever under your debt. But, promise me you will look after him till then,” the woman became agitated. She brought Onew’s hand to her lips and kissed the back of it. “You are a kind man. Your eyes tell me so. Please look after my son. Take him away right now. No one should know about him. Hurry. I can hear the ambulance siren.”

Onew looked for a long moment into her eyes and then nodded. He reached into the back of the car and took out the woman’s very large handbag and ran to his daughter’s side. He slung the handbag over his shoulder and moved to stand between Amber and the younger man. Onew took both their hands in each of his own and led them to his car. When the younger man resisted, Onew spoke calmly to him while continuing to pull him towards the car, “You need to go with me, Mr Choi. Your mother has requested that you stay with me while she recovers in the hospital. Paramedics are on their way. By the way, I am Lee Jinki. You can call me Onew like all my friends do. With us is my daughter Amber, who is eleven.”

Amber silently buckled herself in the passenger seat and Onew made the younger man sit in the back and put the handbag next to him. He carefully sped towards his apartment, keeping up a steady stream of words so as to bring some calmness into the tense atmosphere.

“What is your name, Mr Choi?” Onew asked. Because of Amber, he had taken emergency medical training and wanted to be sure that the younger man was not suffering from concussion.

“If you know I am Choi, you also know that my full name is Choi Minho,” the younger man let a bit of sarcasm drip from his answer.

“I know, Mr Choi. But help me to ascertain you are alright,” Onew smiled into his words to soothe the irritated man. “How old are you?”

“I am twenty five today. We were returning from my birthday celebrations. Are my parents okay? Where are we going? Why are you not helping them?” Minho’s anxiety refused to go away.

“We are going to my apartment where you will stay with Amber. And then, I will go back and check on your parents and see to their hospital care,” Onew patiently explained to Minho.

On reaching their destination, Onew observed Minho struggle to get out of the car and leaned in to help him. Standing up straight, Minho immediately put his hands on his lower back in a very typical fashion. Onew was puzzled by it but did not have much time to think about it. He led Amber and Minho to his second floor apartment and left them in the capable care of his housekeeper before going back to the accident site.

He saw police officers and paramedics surrounding the two cars. He approached the paramedics to talk about the woman who was already loaded into an ambulance. He introduced himself as a family friend and was informed by the paramedics that there were no survivors in the accident. To the police officers, he gave his contact details and explained he had to leave to take his young daughter home. Not too long a time later, Onew found himself driving back home.

He opened the door with a heavy heart and had still not decided how to break the news of his parents’ death to Minho. He found both Amber and Minho sitting together on the couch, sipping hot chocolate while the housekeeper talked to them. Minho’s mug was taken by the housekeeper when he realized Onew was back. Minho again struggled to stand up. The housekeeper put the mug on the coffee table and helped the younger man. Once Minho was standing as straight as he could, he put his hands to support his back.

Onew stared at him in shock.