“I am sorry Mister Song for putting you in such a tight spot.”

“It is ok Mrs. Kim, your husband’s health is more important and you should be with him by his side especially during this difficult time. Don’t worry about it.”

“Since there is still two weeks before I would go back to Daegu. I will help train the replacement.”

“That will be great, I will get Seungyoon to help me find the replacement as soon as possible.”

“Thank you Mister Song.” The elderly lady answered before she quietly left the study.

Song Minho then leaned back against his seat closing his eyes for a moment before he picked up the phone to call his assistant.

“Seungyoon-ah...”

“Mino hyung!” The guy on the other end greeted cheerfully.

“How is the search coming along? Have you found anyone that is suitable?”

“Yes I have! He is a friend of my cousin, Minhyuk. He is 25 this year.

“Isn’t 25 years old a bit too young? “ Mino asked skeptically.

“Well, he has been taking care of my cousin’s kids for the past 4 years. So when it comes to toddlers, he is experienced. They would have kept him as their babysitter for as long as they could but Minhyuk’s company transferred him to Hong Kong so they had no choice but to let him go.”

“Fine since he comes with experience… I guess I could try him out and see if he is suitable…”

“Great! I will tell him to report next week. Mrs. Kim will have a week to get him familiar with the house and with Hana’s schedule. “

“About Mrs. Kim, please give her the full month, it definitely be a lot of help to her.”

“I know. I have already got that properly covered.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem. That is why you hired me for anyway.” Seungyoon joked.

“By the way, what is the new sitter’s name?” Mino suddenly remembered to ask.

“Oh right I almost forgot. His name is Nam Taehyun.”

“Nam Taehyun…” Mino muttered to himself after hanging up the call with Seungyoon.

~~~~~~~~~~

“So you are Mr. Nam Taehyun?”

“Yes I am Nam Taehyun nice to meet you Mrs. Kim.” Taehyun greeted the elderly lady with warm and kind eyes.

“Come, let me show around the place and also get you familiar with Hana’s schedule.”

The next hour was just Taehyun trailing behind the older nanny as she talked through the child’s habits, funny little episodes and also her daily routine once she is back from her kindergarten classes. From the impressions that he was getting about the little girl, he might just fall in love with the girl.

Taehyun felt a little sad to know that his new charge had already lost her parents due to an accident two years ago and had since been living with her uncle who became her sole guardian. He was happy to see the girl adapting well to the change since he knew how hard it was to be all alone.   

~~~~~~~~~~

“Dear omma and appa, thank you for watching over me and Mino samcheon. However, Hana would like to ask for just one thing and that is to grant my Mino samcheon a partner so that he is not so lonely all the time. I hope that you will grant me this wish. Thank you.”

A knock on the door had the little girl with her hair tied in two pigtails running to open it.

“Mrs. Kim!” The girl called Hana greeted the elderly lady with a tight hug around her.

“Not so loud Hana-yah.”

“Ahrasso, you finally came to play with me to day.”

“Hana, I want to introduce to you your new friend. This is Taehyun-ssi. From now on he will take care of you.”

“Hello I am Nam Taehyun and you can call me Taehyun oppa. I will be your new playmate starting from today.”

“It is nice to meet you Taehyun samcheon, I am Lee Hana.”

“You can just call me oppa, I don’t think I am that old to be an uncle yet.” Taehyun joked which made Hana laughed and she felt instantly more comfortable with her new friend.

They went through the next few hours introducing her “friends” and getting to know each other better. As she looked up to find Taehyun oppa smiling at her, Hana knew that the higher power from up above had just granted her wish.

“Thank you.” She happily muttered softly under her breath.

~~~~~~~~~~

Mino was finally glad that he managed to get some time to himself after tying up the loose ends to his project. It had been a crazy two weeks and he welcomed the normalcy to his schedule like an old friend that he missed for a long time.

He was also glad for the break since he had not found the time to meet the new babysitter, Taehyun, that had been taking care of his niece but the presence was definitely felt since Taehyun always made sure that there was food on the table when he came home with instructions on how to warm it up.

Mino entered the apartment with the sound of pattering feet and a delicious smell floating out from the kitchen.

“Samcheon!” Hana exclaimed loudly before she wrapped her arms around his thigh.

“Hana-ah... sorry I have been busy with work to spend time with you. Have you been a good girl?”

“Yes, you need to meet Taehyun oppa. He is my new friend.” Hana filled him in as she pulled her uncle along towards the kitchen.

Mino was greeted with the sight of a tall, slim and pale looking guy with a slight longish hair. His elegant facial features were deep in concentration as he preparing the meal. Somehow just watching him just made Mino’s heart beat faster and he could not quite understand why.

“Taehyun oppa! Meet my Mino samcheon!” Hana tugged on to Taehyun apron excitedly.

Taehyun quickly finished up with the cooking and making sure to turn off the burner before he turned around to face the grinning little girl. Giving the little girl a wide smile, Taehyun lifted his head slightly to take a good look at the person that was standing behind Hana.

The Song Minho standing in front of him was tall, tanned and without needing to imagine much Taehyun already knew that the guy works out by the way he filled out his clothes really nicely.

Nam Taehyun… you need to get a grip on yourself…. NOW!

Quickly stopping himself from borderline ogling, Taehyun wiped his hands on the apron before holding out a hand to introduce himself.

“Hello, nice to meet you, I am Nam Taehyun. “ Taehyun introduced with his hand outstretch.

“Hello I am Song Minho but just call me Mino.” Mino replied before taking the pale hand in his.

Taehyun would not deny that he felt a jerk in his system when his hand made contact with his new employer.

I need to do something to break this awkwardness…

“Taehyun oppa is making bibimbap for dinner tonight.” Hana quipped from her spot as she watched the two men.

“Yes! I made enough. Why don’t you go sit with your Mino samcheon in the living room while I finish up? I will call you both when dinner is ready.” Taehyun smiled as he ruffled the little girl’s hair playfully before turning his attention back to the stove.

It was another 15 minutes later before Taehyun announced to the uncle and niece duo that dinner was ready.

“You are not eating with us?” Mino asked when he noticed that there were only two bowls on the dining table.

“It is okay, I will have my dinner later.” Taehyun answered.

“You are not a servant here. You should not have the feeling that you are not welcome to join us.”

Leaving him with not much of an option especially with two pairs of eyes looking at him, Taehyun went to back to get himself a bowl before sitting down with the uncle and niece and began his own dinner.

After the initial ice thawed, Mino found out that even though Taehyun was younger by four years at the age of 25, he was hardly immature in his thinking. He knew that Taehyun was working at a teacher assistant at the local university and as the eldest who spend most of his time taking care of his sister since he too lost his parents at a young age.

“You could say that I had a lot of practice since my sister was practically a handful all by herself.” Taehyun laughed as he continued his story over dessert.

“I think what you did was admirable. It must have been really hard.” Mino stated as he looked at the guy sitting across from him.

“It was but she is my only family member left so I have to make it work somehow.” Taehyun added pensively.

Mino could not help but to agree even more as he watched how the younger guy’s gaze drifted off…

~~~~~~~~~~

Things definitely fell into a routine after that.

Facing Taehyun everyday was definitely doing weird things to Mino. He wondered if it was the way he effortlessly handled Hana with her classes, prepared their meals and effectively saw to the running of the house by filling up on the food and seeing to the chores.

Of course, he would not deny that the main part of the reason was mostly that Taehyun actually looked very good in an apron.

He woke up on one early Sunday morning to loud noises coming from the kitchen.  Curiosity getting the best of him, Mino made his way to the source of the noise. He was greeted with his niece standing on a stool and Taehyun who was standing beside her with a frown on his face.  From the look on the kitchen counter, there seem to be some bake fest going on.

“Are you sure about this? I don’t remember you need to add so much milk pancakes. Plus you are going to be adding fruits, it will be runny. “ Taehyun commented looking at the bowl there was a light dusting of flour on the side of his left cheek that Mino found made him look cute.

“You can trust me. I do this with my omma all the time. It is fine.” The little girl confidently answered as she watched her newest oppa whisked the bowl before heating up the frying pan.

The homey scene with Taehyun in the picture somehow struck a chord with Mino and he could imagine many more breakfast time with him. Mino figured that at the very moment he needed to get a grip on himself because he was starting to be a bit delusional.

He decided that he needed to make his presence known to the two people in the kitchen.

“Good morning… What are you both up to so early on a Saturday morning?”

“Princess Hana has a craving for pancakes this morning.” Taehyun answered as he skillfully flipped the pancake over and added to the already growing stack.

“Then after that we are going to make biscuits! Mino samcheon you have to join us too!” Hana exclaimed as she set up the breakfast table.

“Me? But I don’t know how to bake.”

“I will teach you or Taehyun oppa can too.”

Mino could not argue with his niece not especially she looked happier than she did in months.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay you need to roll it out thinly but not too thin.”

“There was nothing helpful in that instruction… That is not even a descriptor… It is either thick or thin Taehyun… there is not thinly but not too thin.” Mino grumbled as he rolled out the dough.

“Just roll the thing please…” Taehyun answered as he tried his best to keep his voice from sounding exasperated.

Taehyun on the was trying hard not to roll his eyes since Mino just more or less told him that he does not cook.

 Hana watched on as Taehyun oppa tried to guide her uncle in rolling out the cookie dough before shaping. She could not help but to let out a wistful smile. Things seemed to be going according to how she wished. She would notice how her uncle would often give the moony eyes at Taehyun oppa just like her daddy did whenever her omma was around.   

Urgh!! Why can’t they just start dating already! She never thought her uncle would be such a slow mover. It was frustrating for her to watch by the sidelines hoping and praying that things would go her way…

~~~~~~~~~~

“Mino samcheon… Do you like Taehyun oppa?” Hana asked innocently making Mino choke on his food.

“What are you asking that sweetie?” Mino asked again when he managed to get his breath back.

“It is because you look at Taehyun oppa the same way that my appa used to look at my omma.” Hana answered as a matter-of-factly.

Mino could only smile at her sharpness. He thought he had been pretty subtle about his feelings but it seemed like his girl caught on. However, he does agree that he has a crush on the guy but he was not sure if Taehyun had an ounce of feeling.

“So you like him, Mino samcheon?”

“I guess but I don’t know if he likes me too.”

“Why don’t you tell him?”

“I don’t know should I?”

“You should be brave and tell Taehyun oppa.”

“I guess I should then…”

~~~~~~~~~~

Taehyun was surprised to find the apartment empty except with Mino sitting on the couch typing away on his laptop. Hana had told him that Mino was busy recently again with another project. He spent a few moments just standing quietly at the door and just looking at the guy who was deep in concentration.

Taehyun would not deny that the past few months working for the family had been great but at the same time really distracting because of a particular man who just always managed to turn his insides into mush.

“Oh Taehyun you are here…” Mino greeted when he finally noticed that Taehyun was there.

“Where is Hana?”

“She is at my mother’s pace for the day?”

“Oh she did not tell me…” Taehyun

Because I told her not too… Mino thought to himself silently in his head.

“Oh ok then… Should I come back tomorrow instead?”

“Well, we could hang out. I have a new video game and we can order pizza and bust out some 6 pack beers.” Mino suggested knowing Taehyun love for video games.

“Sounds great!” Taehyun smiled before joining the older guy on the couch.

It was the fifth round of heaving killing and screams as the enemy team was getting their asses whopped before they paused for more food.

“Taehyun… are you seeing anyone at the moment?” Mino decided to bite the bullet and just ask the question.

“No I am not… are you seeing anyone then?” Taehyun asked after he recovered from his choking fit.

“No I am not too I see.” Taehyun nodded carefully while Mino judged him from the side.

“What do you think about me?”

“What about you?”

“I mean going out… with me…”

Taehyun was silent as he considered Mino’s words.

“Why don’t you take me out on a proper date and see how we feel?” Taehyun suggested with a smile.

“Deal!”

~~~~~~~~~~

 6 months later…

 “And they live happily ever after… The end…”

“It was a nice story Mino samcheon. It is my favorite.” Hana clapped happily once her uncle finished the story.

“I like fairy tales but it is time for bed young lady.” Taehyun answered before he began to tuck the little girl into her bed with her favorite stuffed cat.

“She is growing up so fast and I cannot believe she is going to turn 5 in a couple of months time.” Mino mumbled as they closed the door to the girl’s room.

“Yes and I cannot wait for her to see the gift we decided to get for her.” Taehyun answered as Mino led him down towards the kitchen

Taehyun had just moved into their house a month ago and things could not seem to get better especially Hana who was super excited to see her uncle finding his happiness.

 “What is all this?” Taehyun asked as he saw a bouquet of flowers, his favorite white wine chilling in the ice bucket and food on the dining table.

“Happy 6^th month anniversary.” Mino said as he wrapped his arms around Taehyun’s waist from the back.

“This is so sweet.” Taehyun turned around before kissing Mino deeply.

“Glad that you like the set up.”

“I love you Song Minho…”

“I love you too Nam Taehyun.”
~~~~~~~~~~

Hihi... my second prompt that i did for the event that i hope you all wpuld enjoy as well... As usual no silent readers please... :)