An hour and a half later, the feeling settles in again in Jiyong’s stomach.

They had painted all Ken’s nails, pink on the left hand and black on the right one. Ken asked if they could use it for his coloring books too and Jiyong said yes –because he didn’t want to break Ken’s heart and eventhough all his nail polishes are expensive, they cost less than his friendship with this boy’s parents –so they colored the unicorn in the coloring book with red, orange, fuchsia and green for the horn. As they waited for it to dry, Jiyong showed Ken his self–painted shoes. Ken let out a squeal and wanted to draw on his own too. They walked to the front door to get the toddler’s shoes, a small size of black slip–on Vans’. As Jiyong rummaged through the box for yellow paint because Ken said he wants to draw a sun on it, the toddler told him that his shoes actually matched with his appas’. Jiyong gulped and turned to him, saying that sadly he’s running out of yellow so maybe they would do it next time. Ken pouted but then asked for white and Jiyong lied that he’s also running out of white.

He hated to see the toddler’s face fell as he put back his shoes near the front door but he reminded himself that it’s better than to get unappreciative sigh from Seunghyun for ruining the family shoes. Jiyong thought about getting Ken a new shoes they could paint freely later.

Now that Ken looks bored and tired of painting, Jiyong racks his brain for a conversation topic. What are you supposed to discuss with a toddler?

“Jiyong–samchon, can you tell me a story?”

He hates to admit it but he is glad that Ken seems to know of what to do next more than he does. If the kid waited for him to take the lead of what to do, Jiyong might just put cartoons on and suggested them to watch it the entire day.

“Okay,” Jiyong pats his laps for Ken to sit on and the toddler obeys, eager to listen. “Do you know Cinderella?”

“I know,” Ken exclaims, playing with Brownie’s artificial fur. Jiyong notices some dots of orange paint –nail polish –on its back, probably got splashed as they colored the unicorn before. “Yeonjun–hyung told me about Cinderella.”

“How about Three Bears?”

“Papa bear, mama bear and baby bear,” Ken nods. “I know that too.”

“I’ll tell you about Rapunzel then.”

“Is it penguin?” Ken looks at him expectantly.

Jiyong hates to break it to him that Rapunzel is indeed not a penguin. “No, it’s a girl. She is actually a princess.”

Ken hums thoughtfully. “Does she know penguins?”

“Oh,” Jiyong doesn’t know if Rapunzel knows penguins or that if she ever gets any education in the castle or if she ever had any spare time to read about penguins than combing her ridiculously long hair. “I think she does.”

“I went to zoo with Daesung–appa,” Ken says. “I saw penguins. Has Rapunzel ever been to zoo, Jiyong–samchon?”

“I don’t know,” Jiyong stammers, completely at lost.

Ken raises from his laps. “Let’s ask Daesung–appa!”

Jiyong isn’t sure if Daesung knows that much about Rapunzel’s life but he finds himself calling the younger male anyway.

“Hello?”

“Daesung,” Jiyong hesitates. He hears people talking in Japanese and remembers that Daesung is not in Korea right now. “Oh sorry, I’ll call you later? Are you busy now?”

“No,” Daesung chuckles. “What is it, hyung?”

“Eh,” Jiyong tries to form a question that will somehow make sense. “Do you think Rapunzel ever been to a zoo?”

As he had expected, Daesung sneers. “You sounded like my kid.”

Jiyong can hear the affection in the way he said my kid. He knows –and had seen –that Daesung’s gaze softened and his body language would speak of proud and excitement everytime he told him about his toddler. It made Jiyong envy him, envy the way he would seem to gain strength immediately whenever he spoke to Ken as if the kid was able to re-charge him somehow. Maybe that’s how being a parent is.

“Actually, it’s your kid.”

“Ken?” Daesung asks. “You’re with him?”

“Yes,” Jiyong gives his phone to the boy who’s giggling impatiently.

“Appa!” Ken squeals and Jiyong swears he could hear Daesung squealed too. “Does Rapunzel know penguins? Jiyong–samchon doesn’t know about it.”

Jiyong watches the toddler speaks with his Daesung–appa about penguins then zoo then lastly, an agreement that Rapunzel is allergic of crabs before he hands back the phone to Jiyong.

“So,” Jiyong really doesn’t know about Rapunzel, apparently.

“I told him that Rapunzel knows about penguins and she wants to go to the zoo but she can’t because she’s sick after eating crabs,” Daesung says. “You must be confused.”

“I am,” Jiyong blinks. “Did you sleep with Rapunzel or –”

“Hyung, no!” Daesung laughs. “I made it up. We don’t usually tell him normal fairytales. We made it up for whatever theme he threw us about. We made stories based on what he wanted to know about.”

“We.”

“Seunghyun–hyung and I. Just leave it to Seunghyun–hyung, he knows what to do.”

“Seunghyun is not here,” Jiyong groans. “And I’m afraid that I know nothing about parenting.”

The laughter dies immediately. “What?”

“Seunghyun has to go…somewhere. I’m babysitting Ken for today, don’t you know? I thought it’s your…agreement? With Seunghyun?”

“No,” Daesung says quietly, in his angry tone. “I never heard about that.”

Uh–oh.

“Well, Seunghyun will be here soon, I think,” Jiyong rushes to save his friend. “Don’t worry, Daesung.”

“The agreement was that he’ll take care of Ken when I’m here. He had told me that he would take him to visit you but he did not tell me about you babysitting Ken alone, never.”

“Daesung –”

“I’m going to haul his to pick up his son and take care of him by himself. I’m so sorry about this, hyung.”

“No, it is okay, really I –”

“Seunghyun–hyung better has a good explanation about this,” Daesung mutters under his breath and Jiyong can feel the murderous aura eventhough he’s miles away. “Or else I’ll kick him out of my house.”

The line goes dead before Jiyong says anything.

“Jiyong–samchon?” Ken is staring at him, waiting. “What Daesung–appa said?”

That you would have to say goodbye to your Seunghyun–appa if he didn’t come up with good excuse.

“That Rapunzel promises to never eat crabs anymore,” Jiyong smiles as if he didn’t just accidentally ruin a family.

“Will she be able to go to the zoo, samchon?”

“Sure,” Jiyong nods. “She is confused of what to bring to the zoo. Can you help her to make a list about it?”

“I can!”

***

Ken claps his hands as Jiyong ends his story. Jiyong doesn’t feel bad at all for cutting Rapunzel’s hair before she went to the zoo because he knows how it feels to have too long hair. Besides, he feels like he’s doing her justice after telling a terrible scene of Rapunzel tripped over her own hair while rushing to get her backpack. Ken said that it’s probably better if Rapunzel went to the zoo with her parents just in case she got allergic to something else than crabs. Jiyong agreed to that.

“I like Rapunzel story,” Ken pats Brownie on its head. “And penguins and kangaroos.”

“Your Seunghyun–appa told me about it,” Jiyong the toddler’s hair. “Do you still have that kangaroo costume I gave you?”

“Yes!” he shouts proudly. “Seunghyun–appa said he will buy me penguin shirts.”

Jiyong sneers. “Forever jealous.”

“What is that, samchon?”

“Oh, Seunghyun–appa doesn’t like it when someone else getting too close to you.”

“Why?”

“Well,” Jiyong shrugs. “He wants you to be forever only his son.”

“I am son,” Ken says. “Seunghyun–appa is appa, Daesung–appa is appa too.”

“He got mad when you called me Jiyong–appa,” Jiyong laughs. “But we were only joking, right?”

“I don’t like that noona called Seunghyun–appa ‘appa’ too,” the toddler pouts and Jiyong frowns.

“Noona?”

Ken nods. “Noona who plays with Seunghyun–appa.”

Jiyong raises his eyebrow. If Seunghyun had a with some noona and his son had caught him in the middle of it, Jiyong would surely throw his friend out of this planet. “I don’t get it.”

Ken sighs. “Seunghyun–appa is playing while working. Sometimes he should be someone else’s appa.”

“Oh, you meant his movie?”

“Yes,” the toddler is still pouting. “I was mad at appa.”

“It’s not really like that,” Jiyong playfully pinches his cheek and Ken smiles. “He loves you so much.”

“Appa said so.”

“You better believe it.”

“I do! I love appa too!”

Jiyong ruffles the boy’s hair. “Okay. Should we get some lunch?”

Ken agrees eagerly. “Can I pick menu?”

“I can’t cook,” Jiyong confesses quickly before the boy ask him to cook another kind of food. “And I don’t think I have anything in my refrigerator for us to eat.”

“Delivery?”

“You know delivery?”

“Yes, I like delivery. It is good.”

“Your parents don’t cook either?”

Ken shakes his head. “Seunghyun–appa’s food is good.”

“And Daesung–appa?”

Ken shakes his head again.

“Poor baby, you can pick the menu,” Jiyong sneers. “What do you want for lunch?”

“No spinach,” the toddler makes a face that reminds Jiyong of Seunghyun’s at their first try of Aori Ramen when his noodles got soggy during his unnecessary long speech that annoyed Seungri.

***

“Hey, Ken.”

They had finished their lunch and it’s almost 3 p.m. Ken is sitting on the sofa, drinking his milk. “Yes, samchon?”

“Have you ever seen this?”

He tilts his head. “No.”

“Well, you won’t believe it,” Jiyong sits beside him and flips the page of the book on his laps. It’s an old photo album. “Guess who?”

“Appa!” Ken shifts closer to Jiyong. “Seunghyun–appa!”

Jiyong hums. “What do you think of his blue hair?”

“It’s so cool!”

“You like it?”

“Yes! Samchon, appa had pink hair too!”

“I know,” Jiyong smiles. “This was before the pink hair.”

“Daesung–appa had blue hair too, samchon.”

“Hmm? Ah, right. You’ve seen his I Love You music video?”

The toddler nods. “But Seunghyun–appa said I shouldn’t see it.”

“Why not?”

“Because Daesung–appa kissed –” Ken reaches to tap Jiyong’s lips with his fingers. “–here.”

Jiyong rolls his eyes. Surely this kid haven’t watched their Loser MV. “Well, if Seunghyun said so,” he flips another page to show Ken a picture of himself. “This is me.”

Ken’s eyes go wide and he turns to face Jiyong very slowly.

“Ken? You don’t like it?” Jiyong rushes to find a picture of Daesung.

“Ghost,” the boy whispers and wraps his arms around Jiyong’s waist. “Like in Yeonjun–hyung’s DVD.”

Jiyong frowns. “Ghost? What ghost?”

Ken flips the page again and points at Jiyong’s photo, the one he’s sitting on the chair with the popular seaweed hair. “Ghost will come through TV.”

Jiyong feels slightly offended. “No, Ken, this is me. Look at the face, it’s me, right?”

Ken stares at him in disbelief.

“It’s me, really,” Jiyong tries to convince him. Doesn’t this kid know that Seunghyun used to claim himself as a ghost?

“This is Jiyong–samchon?”

“Yes, it’s me. Besides, I had orange hair, not black.”

Ken is still looking at him skeptically.

“Rapunzel also has long hair, remember?”

Ken gasps. “Rapunzel is that ghost?”

“No!” Jiyong is torn in between laughing and crying. “There’s no ghost.”

***

“Don’t go anywhere, okay?”

“Yes, samchon,” Ken holds out his pinky. “I promise.

Jiyong links their fingers together. “I’ll be quick.”

“Okay,” the toddler pushes him to the bathroom. “Samchon, shower.”

“Right,” Jiyong laughs and closes the door. Ken accidentally spilled his milk all over himself and Jiyong rushed him to change his clothes but then some milk also magically made its way to the kid’s hair so bath, it was. Ken insisted on taking a bath by himself because he did it at home too and Jiyong couldn’t reach either Seunghyun or Daesung so he let him be but Ken had to leave the door wide open. After a pinky promise that he would not peek inside, Ken finally took a bath by himself. When he’s done –it was a quick ten minutes –he asked if Jiyong had showered and Jiyong laughed nervously before saying no.

Ken groaned –Jiyong swore he is just a mini Daesung sometimes –and told him to take a bath.

“Ken?” Jiyong shouts as he undresses. “You there?”

“Yes, samchon,” the boy answers. “I am on bed.”

“Don’t jump okay? I’ll be quick,” Jiyong turns the shower on. Water jet hits his skin and his muscles relaxing under the warmth. As promised, he takes a quick shower, the quickest he can.

Just as he puts his bathrobe on, he hears the toddler screams.

“What happened? Ken?!”

Ken is still sitting on the bed but instead of holding his precious Brownie, he is now hugging Jiyong’s cat, who looks so annoyed in his arms.

“Samchon has cat!”

“I do,” Jiyong tries to calm down his breathing. “It’s my cat.”

“Can I play with cat?”

“Well, you have to be careful, it doesn’t really like people and –”

Too late.

Ken’s mouth forms a frown as he stares at the scratch the cat left him, a punishment for hugging the feline.

***

“I’m sorry,” Jiyong whispers quietly as he watches Seunghyun takes the sleeping toddler in his arms. “I’ve cleaned it up and –”

“I know,” Seunghyun cuts him in. “It is okay, Jiyong. I guess he learned something about pets now. He had asked for puppies few times and I’ve been trying hard to change his mind about it. It’s not your fault.”

“Yeah, still,” Jiyong shrugs. He had put band–aid on the small scratch, and of course, soothing the crying boy. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine, thank you for watching him today, Jiyong. I owe you a lot,” Seunghyun smiles.

“Where were you anyway?” Jiyong walks them to the door and sees Seunghyun’s car already waiting in front of his house. “If I may know, of course.”

“Preparing for holiday,” Seunghyun grins. “Booking some flight, hotels, and… well, looking for gifts.”

“Oh,” Jiyong nods.

“For Daesung’s birthday. Just four days trip but I want it to be perfect. This is a secret, don’t tell Daesung, okay?”

“Okay…Well, it sounds like a good excuse to me.”

“Excuse?” Seunghyun asks confusedly. “Excuse for what?”

“You didn’t answer your phone, did you, Seunghyun?”

“No, it’s dead,” Seunghyun shakes his head, Ken’s back when the toddler mumbles in his sleep. “Why? Did you call?”

“Yeah, once. I wanted to ask if Ken is allowed to take a bath by himself alone.”

“He is,” Seunghyun smiles. “But we told him not to lock the door.”

“He told me.”

“Thanks, you’ve been really a good help, Jiyong.”

“Sure,” Jiyong grins. “Anytime.”

“I’ll go. See you later in the studio?”

“Yeah,” Jiyong pats Seunghyun’s shoulder then Ken’s hair softly. “Oh, Seunghyun?”

“Hmm?”

“Daesung might be…angry.”

“No, he won’t,” Seunghyun rolls his eyes. “He’s in Japan, he will be back in three days. By then, I’m sure that the scratch would be healed already.”

Jiyong sneers. “If you say so, Seunghyun.”

***