Disclaimer: All credit goes to The Literary Dragon!

 

Dara and Hojin walked into the house. She turned to shut the door.

"So, Hojin, what do you want to do. . .first?" Dara's voice trailed off as she got a good look at the living area. To say it was a mess would be an understatement. It looked like a tornado had passed through.

Empty fast food containers littered every available surface. Laundry, some clean and some dirty, lay in piles. A red sock hung from the overhead light. Dara didn't want to think about how it got there. The only clean spot was a glass case fastened to the wall over the couch. It contained a rusty-looking carpet in a cracked scabbard. The glass was well cleaned, without the dust, smears, or fingerprints that coated everything else.

She felt a tug on her hand. She looked down to see Hojin staring up at her. "Can we play a game, Sandara-noona?"

"You don't have to call me Sandara-noona, Hojin. My name is Dara. Can you say that?"

"'Dara," Hojin said.

"Close enough." Dara accepted Hojin's attempt. "Let's find a game to play?"

Hojin nodded and bounced over to a closet. He opened the door. A mountain of board games and puzzles teetered in a haphazard stack. He chose one near the middle and started to pull. The pile wobbled.

"Hojin!" Dara cried. She rushed forward and grabbed him just as everything came crashing down.

"Neat, 'Dara-noona!" Hojin laughed, his chosen game clutched in his arms. The nearest boxes had just missed them.

Dara took deep gulps of air, trying to calm her racing heart. Maybe babysitting wasn't going to be as easy as she thought.

^**^

Dara frowned down at the gameboard. Hojin drew a card and moved his piece to one space away from the finish line. 'I knew it,' she thought. 'Nobody over the age of five can play Candyland and win.'

The two of them had cleared a small area in the middle of the floor. They had been playing Candyland for almost an hour. Hojin beat her two games out of three. And it looked like he was going to win the fourth. She glanced at him. He was staring at her.

"What's up, Hojin," she asked as an excuse to take a break from the game.

"Where's your black kitty and pointy hat?"

"Um, I have a cat named Dadoong." Dara floundered, unsure why he was asking. "But he's not black. And I don't own any pointy hats. Why do you ask?"

"Daddy said all women were witches." Hojin looked disappointed. "All witches have black cats and pointy hats and fly on broomsticks. I never met a witch before."

Dara clenched her fists, digging her nails into the soft flesh of her palms. She forced herself to relax.

"I'm sure Daddy didn't mean it," she reassured Hojin.

"But that's what Daddy said," Hojin protested.

Dara changed the subject. "That's enough of Candyland. Let's go have a snack."

'When I see your Daddy, I'm going to strangle him,' she thought, taking Hojin by the hand. 'Imagine saying stuff like that to an impressionable child.'

She sat Hojin down at the table and opened the fridge. There were a couple of chocolate pudding cups, a six pack of Pepsi, a milk carton, and a lump of cheese with blue, fuzzy stuff growing on it. She pulled out the milk and took a cautious sniff.

"Ugh!" Dara fought the urge to gag. "The milk has definitely turned. Let's put it over here." She set the carton on the counter with all the care due a live grenade. She fished out a pudding and a Pepsi and found a clean spoon.

"Here you go," she said. She handed him the pudding and the spoon.

Hojin sat on the edge of his chair with his feet swinging a good foot above the floor. Pudding ended up smeared all around his mouth and the tip of his nose. Dara sipped her Pepsi, wondering if there was more chocolate on him than in him.

"So, Hojin," Dara asked. "Where's your mommy?"

Hojin stopped trying to pudding off his nose. "She doesn't live here."

"Why not?"

"I don't know." Hojin shrugged. "Daddy takes me to visit her sometimes."

"Poor little guy." Dara tousled his hair. How did he get pudding up there? "I bet you miss her."

"No. Daddy's more fun. I'm finished 'Dara-noona."

"Okay. Let's wash up and get you into bed."

^**^

"Hojin?" Dara called. "Where are you, Hojin?" She turned her back on the kid for a minute and he disappeared.

"This isn't funny, Hojin." She looked in the hamper. No Hojin. Dara was beginning to panic. She had looked everywhere at least twice. She knelt down and reached under the couch. Her fingers touched cloth. She pulled out a pair of Hojin's pants and a shirt. Maybe he was hiding under the bed in his room. Wait, was that a giggle?

"Catch me, 'Dara-noona!" Dara turned in time to see Hojin launch himself from the top of the bookcase. How did he get up there? She lunged, catching his small body and twisting so that he landed on top of her.

"Oof. I think I hurt myself," Dara groaned.

"That was fun!" Hojin laughed and clapped his hands. "Let's do it again!"

Dara stood up, clasping the boy in her arms. "Time for bed. It's already 8:30." She marched upstairs and deposited Hojin on his bed. At least he was already wearing pajamas.

"I need doggy," Hojin whined in a last effort to avoid going to bed. He dove under the covers and emerged holding a fluffy white dog with pointed ears. "Can I have a glass of water?"

"You already had one."

"Read me a story, 'Dara-noona."

"I've read two. Now go to sleep." Dara stayed in the room and watched Hojin snuggle under the covers. She would leave once she was sure he was asleep. That was why she had spent the last thirty minutes looking for him. He had snuck out of bed as soon as she left. She watched Hojin's eyes close, silently counting to one hundred just to be safe.

"'Dara-noona?" She froze with her fingers just inches from the doorknob.

"Yes, Hojin?"

"Can I have a goodnight kiss?"

Dara smiled. "Of course." She walked to the bed, leaning over to give him a kiss on the forehead. He smelled like soap and pudding.

"Night, 'Dara."

"Goodnight, Hojin." She closed the door softly after her. The smile left her face when she almost twisted an ankle tripping over a toy on the stairs.

"I'm sure Mr. Kwon won't mind if I clean the place a little.

^**^

Kwon Jiyong dragged himself up the walk at 11:39pm. The meeting was hell. The first two hours were spent listening to one group of morons telling another group of morons what they were doing wrong. During the second two hours the second group accused the first group of being major screw-ups. A grand total of thirty minutes was devoted to taking care of business. His head hurt, his feet hurt, and his hand hurt from punching the moron who called him an . Tomorrow he was going to spend all day playing with his son and forget about work.

He opened the door and wearily kicked off his shoes in the entryway. He scrubbed his hand through his hair. He wrinkled his nose. What was that funky smell? He took a good look around for the first time since coming home. For a minute he thought he had the wrong house. Then it hit him - the place was clean. He followed his nose to the source of the smell. Dara was on her hands and knees in the kitchen, scrubbing at an apple juice stain on the floor.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jiyong yelled.

Dara jumped, slipped on the wet floor, and fell on her rear. "Don't do that!" she yelled back.

Jiyong grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. "I hired you to babysit, not clean house."

Dara's eyes narrowed in anger. "You should be thanking me. How can you raise such a sweet little boy in this pigsty."

"I don't need parenting advice from a child!"

"I am not a child! For your information I'm almost 19."

"19, huh? You're probably still in school." Jiyong crossed his arms and looked down his nose at her.

"Well, I graduate this summer." She dropped her gaze to the floor. "All I did was pick things up after nearly twisting my ankle on the stairs.

"I'm not paying for housekeeping."

Dara looked up. "I didn't ask you too!" she yelled

He dropped his arms and tried to shush her. "Stop yelling! You'll wake Hojin!"

"I am not yelling!"

"Daddy?" They both turned at a small voice in the kitchen doorway. Hojin stood there, clutching his white dog.

Jiyong knelt and held out his arms. Hojin ran to him. "I'm sorry we woke you," Jiyong said, smoothing his son's sleep-tousled hair.

"I heard yelling." He wiggled out of his father's embrace. "Why were you fighting?"

"We weren't fighting, Hojin," Jiyong replied. "We were just discussing some things very loudly. Say goodbye to Sandara-noona. She's leaving."

Hojin ran forward to give Dara a hug. "Do you have to go?"

She nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"I had fun, 'Dara-noona. Come play with me again."

"Maybe. Be a good boy, Hojin." Jiyong came up beside him and took his hand.

"'Dara?" he questioned.

She favored him with a withering glare. "Goodbye, Mr. Kwon." She gathered her jacket and shoes and flounced out the door. She was halfway home when she remembered something.

"Shoot. I forgot to get paid."

 

---------- Jiyong is such a rude guy, but still extremely y! LOL! As usual, comments are much appreciated! <3