Chapter 23. Field Trip

Yonghwa glanced up at the wall clock and noticed that only a few minutes has just passed when she called telling him she was on her way but he thought that she was taking a long time. He hurriedly rose to his feet when he heard her honking outside their house.

He grinned while watching Euna struggled with his duffel bag and waved at Joohyun.

Joohyun laughed when she got out of the car to see the little girl dragging her appa’s bag, “Is your daddy punishing you or something?”

“Ya, she insisted!” Yonghwa retorted but the woman’s giggles did not falter. Euna, after all, looked amusing as she heaved. He could not help but watch her laugh like that— contagious. Then his gaze traveled all over her. Joohyun has always been fashionable but every time she would dress down, he could feel like he was seeing the real woman. This time, she wore a black hoodless sweatshirt with a pair of white shorts. She tied her hair in a ponytail and her face was almost left bare with only a dash of lip gloss and a little eye color. He was well aware that he was checking her out but careful not to let her know so he looked away when she turned to him.

“Look at her!” Joohyun continued to laugh.

“But I am seeing him off so I should carry this!” Euna dropped the bag when it was getting too heavy for her. She took a deep breath and wiped her face with her arm as her mommy patted her head.

“Where’s halmeoni?”

“She’s taking her nap,” Euna replied then clung to her arm, “Unnie, please watch over Appa for me and don’t let him wander off alone, okay?”

The two adults looked at each other then laughed. Joohyun bended down and kissed her forehead, “Sure thing,” then she straightened and gave Yonghwa her sweetest smile, “I won’t let him out of my sight…”

“Good!” Euna beamed then turned to her father, “Appa, please behave well and mind her, okay?”

Yonghwa chuckled walking towards them then ruffled her hair, “I will, just as long as you promise to be good to halmeoni too while we are away.”

“Yup! I promise!” She gave him a thumb’s up then tiptoed to kiss him, “I love you, Appa.”

“I love you too, sport…” he gave her a peck on the lips.

“I love you,” Euna turned to Joohyun and her mom kissed her on the lips too.

She smiled and whispered, “I love you too, princess…”

Yonghwa watched the two share a very tight embrace. He dropped his head and muttered under his breath, “You better go inside now…”

She straightened and watched how he turned away to deposit his bag in the compartment. She smiled sadly guessing why he said that so suddenly. Joohyun knew it was uncomfortable for him to watch his daughter treat her like that because he has never seen Euna with his dead wife. The sudden twitch of pain rushed inside her, she knew he was fighting off the emotions that probably go to him whenever Euna would act as if she was her mother. Joohyun should be angry at him for acting like that but she couldn’t— sad, yes.

 Yonghwa sauntered back beside her and watched Euna wave at them as she closed the gate.

“She’s so sweet…” she found herself saying when she felt him beside her.

“Yeah, like her mom…” Yonghwa commented then looked away.

Joohyun nodded wearing the same smile. It was a punch in her gut. This whole trip was probably not a good idea. Ignoring the negative feelings, she forced to smile dangling the key on one finger, “Wanna drive my baby?”

At last, Yonghwa found his smile again as he took the object offered to him without hesitation then turned to open the door of the passenger side for her. When they got settled in, he turned to her with a grin, obviously excited to drive her ‘baby’, “Ready when you are…”

“Always will be,” she winked playfully and laughed when he gave her an exaggerated groan.

~~~

Hours later, she found herself in a café just a few blocks from their hotel. She changed into a green dress to which she tried so hard to stop the wind from blowing on it a few minutes ago when she was looking for a place to wait for him. After a while, she saw him jogging the streets towards her and smiled when Yonghwa pulled the seat across her.

“What happened?” Joohyun asked as she finally took the menu book resting on the table.

“I don’t know,” he grabbed the other one and started leafing through it as well, “They said they were sure they gave the right schedule to the office.”

‘Appa…’ Joohyun shook her head upon realizing that he might be playing match-maker again. Maybe it was part of his plan on letting them come early so that they can have time to— She sighed heavily, “Oh well… what else can we do. We’re here already.”

“Yeah…” Yonghwa wondered why she had that disappointed look. Maybe she’d rather be with that Changmin Oppa than be with him. ‘What are you thinking?’ He chided himself and gave him an apologetic smile; somehow, he felt that it was his fault without even knowing why. “I’m sorry. I should have double checked the schedule before coming here.”

She waved a hand as she shook her head. The apologies should be from her since she knew that her appa was definitely scheming to get them together this way. “No, don’t worry. It’s okay,” she called the waiter just to distract herself.

“So, since we are here already, I will take this opportunity to know Seo Joohyun-ssi more…”

Just when she decided to forget about this growing tension between them—or at least the tension she was having, Yonghwa would say something like that. She rolled her eyes as he laughed; if only he could read her mind. Thankfully, he couldn’t.

He laughed at the way she seemed to be dismissing his suggestion but it didn’t stop him. Besides, he needed to lighten the mood since she looked disappointed for arriving earlier, “Come on, Joohyun-ssi, tell me something about you that I don’t know yet.”

“There’s nothing to tell, actually,” she waved him off but she managed to smirk. It was not really the most comfortable conversation path he was crossing, “I’m not your typically interesting kind of girl.”

“I don’t think so,” he took a quick sip of his water maintaining his eye contact with her. Putting his glass back on the table, Yonghwa prodded, “I think I’m not the only one interested in knowing you more.”

Joohyun almost drowned on the water she was drinking then raised her brows, ‘Didn’t he realize that his remarks are flirtatious?’ She shook her head forgetting her inhibitions and looking at him through her lashes. If one could play the game, or so they say, “I will tell you more about me if you tell me more about you. Fair deal.”

He laughed shaking his head. Joohyun is probably the first person who never fails to challenge him. She never tries to make thing