"Come on Appa, we're gonna be late!" Minseo called from her place at the front door as she swung it open "Appa!"

"I'm coming, go and wait in the car, sweetie" Minho said smiling at his impatient daughter who ran toward the passenger seat though she wasn't allowed to sit in because of her young age.

He got out of the house carrying her bag and locked the door behind him, he gave Minseo a little unsatisfied look about her choice for seat, the girl however gave him a toothless smile and her big doe eyes blinked innocently.

"Just wear a seatbelt" he mumbled as he sat behind the wheel and woke the engine to life.

When they reached the community center Minseo jumped out of the car, taking her bag with her she ran into the building, Minho followed her calling "don’t run!" but she was already far.

Swimming class was Minseo's favorite activity, every Monday after school she packed her bag with bathing suit and a towel and waited patiently for Minho to come back from work to take her, a year ago it used to be Changmin's task but since the car accident Minho have left alone to take care of their 8 years old daughter. It's been a hard year for the two, Minseo lost one of her fathers and Minho lost his husband, he became a widower at young age, each one of them had to learn how to live without Changmin and they were still learning.

"Oppa!" Amber, Minseo's swimming teacher, waved at him from afar while he took a seat at the cafeteria, he waved back at her and at his daughter who was already eager to get into the pool with her friends.

Usually Minho dropped Minseo at the community center and left for his own businesses but today he had a day off and nothing special to do so he was free to enjoy some coffee and a sandwich while he was waiting.

Amber was a great teacher, Minseo loved her, she was 'soooo cool' to her own words and truly Minho thought the same, the boyish girl had a good influence on both of them.

While he tried to be strong after his husband died Minseo had a breakdown, he found out about it one day when he came to pick her up and saw she was crying her heart out in Amber's arms, the teacher wiped her tears and hugged her tightly "it's ok to be sad" she told her patting her back, later when Minseo went to the showers Amber caught him in a moment of privacy and explained what was it all about, apparently being strong for your daughter wasn’t that good, the girl thought she needed to be a hero for her father so he won't be sad and repressed her emotions till she breakdown. Since that day Amber became close friend.

Coffee in one hand, sandwich at the other, Minho waited patiently for the class to over and when it did Amber reached his side while his daughter went to the showers with her friends.

"Oppa, how are you?" she asked and kissed his cheek fondly.

He smiled "I'm fine. Are you coming for dinner tonight?"

Amber shook her head "I have a date" she said with a disgusted tone "maybe tomorrow"

Minho's smile grew bigger "a date?!" he asked with a brotherly teasing voice.

"Yeah, my mother is pushing me to meet this guy, he's going to be a successful doctor blah blah blah"

Chuckling, he crossed his arms over his chest "don’t be so negative, you might like him"

"Chinchaa?! My mother set him up for me…do you really believe I can fall for this guy?" she said rolling her eyes like it was obvious she won't.

Minho shrugged with a smile but before he could say anything else Minseo rushed toward them "Appa!" she called and glanced at Amber before she asked "Unnie, are you coming for dinner?"

"No sweetie… but I'll come tomorrow"

The girl turned back at her father "Appa, if Unnie is not coming for dinner, can we go to McDonalds?"  

Minho gave his daughter a disliking look and wrinkled his nose before he sighed and nodded, Minseo smiled coquettishly and leaned toward Amber to kiss her cheek before she rushed her father to get up from his chair.

"I hate when she eat junk"

"Loosen up" Amber said chuckling while patting his arm "a little junk won't hurt her…"

Minho smiled sadly, Changmin always used to tell him that he need to loosen up when it came to Minseo, he was too…protective, about everything- is she cold? Hot? Is she hungry? Why doesn't she smiling? Is she sad? Depressed? Angry? She came back with a scratch on her knee, she must have been hurt, badly, is she in pain? Well, he couldn’t help it, she was his whole world.

Getting up from his chair he smiled "well, have fun at your date tonight, don’t forget to tell me how it was"

Amber gave him a warning look but nodded and waved at him as he followed his daughter out of the community center.

After an unhealthy dinner at McDonalds, huge cup of coke and an ice cream Minho had heartburn, Minseo however really enjoyed her meal.

While they drove back home Minseo spread yawns all over, when Minho parked the car in front of the house she got out of it and went inside without waiting for him, she went straight into the shower and got ready for bed. When she was already in her pajama she called her father for him to cover her with her blanket.

"Good night, Appa"

"Good night, sweetie" Minho said as he pulled the covers over her body, he turned off the lights in her room and closed the door behind him.

"Good night Changmin Appa" Minseo mumbled into the darkness.

Minho clicked the TV on and sat on the couch, sometimes he fell asleep and sometimes he just stayed up, tonight was one of those nights that thoughts about his late husband came across his mind and the memories made him feel lonely.

He stared at the screen blankly for a long hour, bored, when it was late enough he took his phone and sent a message to Amber trying to distract his mind.

*How was your date?*

The boyish girl answered quickly with a crying emoticon that made him smile, however before he could tap an answer she called him.

"Why?" Minho asked as he answered the phone, there was no need to say hello anyway.

"1. he's an orthopedist, successful doctor my 2. His name his Henry and he's a nerd as his name, a giant one 3. He's plays the violin in his free time, god help, can he be weirder? 4. He almost choked when we ate spicy food, it was embarrassing"  

Minho chuckled "you're mean"

"No I'm not!"

"Don’t judge a book by it cover"

"He's not even a book, he's a comic's caricature, I told him to call me when he'll be a man"

"Hurtful"

The girl sighed "I'll never let my Umma set me up again"

"You know, he can be your prince charming if you'll just give him a chance, Changmin and I also had a rough time at our first date but he turned out to be my man"

Silence lingered between them for a moment before Amber asked "you can't fall asleep, aren’t you?"

Sad smile crossed Minho's lips as he hummed as an answer, she knew him well.

"Do you want me as your company?"

Minho leaned back and shut his eyes "no, it's ok, I'll go to bed soon, it’s late anyway"

She knew he won't, it was hard for him to sleep in their bed "If you need anything, call me, ok?"

"Promise"

"Good night, Oppa"

"Good night Amber" Minho said and hung up the call. He in a deep shaky breath, Changmin's smiling face crossed his mind and made tears roll down his cheeks, he missed him too much.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Doctor Choi" Minho's secretary peeped into the treatments room.

Minho turned from the worried mother in front of him, his hand was still holding his stethoscope up on a little boy's chest "yes?"

"Minseo is on the line" she said while nodding her head apologetically toward the mother for the interruption.

Minho glanced at his wristwatch with a soft smile, it was Monday after all and Minseo became impatient on Mondays "tell her I'll be on my way in 10 minutes"

The secretary nodded and closed the door behind her while he got back to his patient, after checking his lungs and his throat he got to his desk "it's just the flu, nothing to worry about" he told the mother as he wrote recommended medication.

The mother thanked him before they went out of the clinic.

Minho collected his things and went out as well "if you need anything call me" he told his secretary on his way out.

Minseo waited her father at the porch, when she saw his blue car she picked her bag from the floor and rushed her feet to him.

"Did you wait for long?" Minho asked at the moment she got into the car, his daughter shook her head and fastened her seatbelt.

"I was worried you wouldn’t make it"  

Minho smiled and leaned toward his daughter for a loudly kiss on his cheek before he drove toward the community center "I told you this morning I won't be late" Minseo just shrugged as a respond.

They reached the community center few moments later and as always the girl jumped out of the car into the building.

Minho followed her and was surprised to see her coming back at him "What happened?"

"Ah…Unnie isn't there…"

Frowning he held his daughter's hand and they both walked toward the pool area to see a young boy replacing Amber's place.

Minseo who saw her friends let go of her father's hand and joined them while Minho went to see what's going on.

"Excuse me…"

The young boy turned to face him "yes?"

"Where is Amb- Miss. Liu?"

The boy tilted his head with a soft smile when he saw the suspicious look Minho gave him "she fell and broke her ankle, I'm Lee Taemin, I'll replace her for awhile"

Minho didn’t look satisfied with his answer, how can a young man tutor a group of little girls? He had no idea who he was, he was a complete stranger, as far as he knows he could be a e or god knows what, he should wear a shirt- he can't just walk around bare chest around the girls and besides how come Amber hadn’t called him if she did fell and got hurt?

He was being over protective again and he knew it, in his mind he could see Changmin chuckling like he always did before he kissed his cheek and asked him to loosen up a little.

"The community management hired you?"

The young boy nodded.

Minho eyed him for a moment and saw nothing dangerous about him "you should wear a shirt, you're working with little girls, they shouldn’t be exposed to…" he mumbled as he gestured at his chest with his hand.

Taemin tried to muffle his smile and nodded again, his eyes followed the man in front of him as he looked at his daughter who was already in the water with her friends "don’t worry, Mr…?"

"Choi, Minho"

"…Choi, your daughter would be fine. Class would over as same as Miss Liu's class, you could pick her up in an hour and 30"

Minho maybe nodded his head but he wasn’t going anywhere, he chose to sit at the cafeteria, just in case.

While sitting he pulled his phone and called Amber who answered after a long waiting with a painful voice.

"Hello?"

"Where are you?"

"At the hospital"

"Guess he wasn’t lying…" Minho mumbled.

"Who?"

"This Lee Taemin, nevermind. What happened?"

"I fell at the pool, twisted my ankle badly, it's broken"

Minho's voice softened "are you in pain?"

Amber groaned as she mumbled a small yes "…I'm still waiting for the doctor to see me"  

"Who's there with you?"   

"My Umma, don’t worry, I'm not alone"

Minho sighed "which hospital? We'll come after class"

She gave him the name and the address before he wished her well, they hung up the call and he raised his eyes at the pool, Minseo looked more than fine with Taemin, so does the rest of the group but that didn’t mean he was going to leave her by herself.