Disclaimer: All credit goes to The Literary Dragon!

 

Dara knew she looked stupid, but she couldn't stop staring. Jiyong had yelled at her and called her a child, and now he was asking her to babysit?

"When?" she stuttered.

Jiyong rolled his eyes. "Your brain must be slow. Tomorrow. As in the day after today."

Dara recovered enough to glare at him. "I meant what time?"

He didn't even have the grace to look embarrassed. "I need you there by seven o' clock in the morning. Shouldn't be more than a few hours. I have something to take care of at the office."

"Jiyong, working on a Saturday?" TOP clutched one hand to his chest. "I may faint. Is the world coming to an end and somebody forgot to tell me?"

Jiyong smacked TOP on the back of the head. "Idiot. The morons I work with screwed up a major contract and I have to go in and fix it."

"So will you do it?" he asked Dara. He paused for a moment and then muttered, "Hojin really wants you to."

Hojin turned his big violet eyes on Dara. Who could say no to that face? She nodded, too charmed by Hojin's cute smile to speak.

"Fine. Come on, Hojin." He took the boy by the hand and walked away. "And don't be late!" he called over his shoulder.

"Bye, 'Dara-noona!" Hojin trotted after his father, turning to wave at Dara.

"Wow, Dara," Bom said. "No wonder you were so worked up over him. He's hot."

"But Bom, you promised that I was the only man for you." TOP pouted, looking hurt.

"Think of it as payback for all the flirting you do." The arrival of the waitress with TOP's order and Dara's soda interrupted their bantering. Dara decided to forget about the irritating Kwon Jiyong and enjoy the rest of her evening.

^**^

Bom dropped Mir off just in time for dinner. Dara talked Bom into staying to eat. Dara's mom had outdone herself. She kept disappearing into the kitchen and returning with more food. Grandpa was currently into a lengthy monologue about the history of the chicken dumplings, which everyone ignored. Sanghyun and Mir sat with their heads together, giggling and whispering. Dara eyed them and made a mental note to lock her door after she went to bed. She didn't like the looks they kept giving her. Bom nodded over her food, already half-asleep.

Dara hurried Bom out the door before grandpa could trap her into a discussion about the probable existence of demons and demon slayers in the feudal era.

"Thanks for having Mir over, Dara." Bom gave her a warm hug. "Though I doubt if you will enjoy it, the way those two were scheming over dinner."

"Don't worry about it. Now, go home and get some rest." Bom gave her another quick hug and left with a shout to Mir to behave himself.

Dara found her mom in the kitchen washing the dishes. Shouts from upstairs told her that the boys were occupied with one of Sanghyun's games. Grandpa dozed in a chair in front of the television. She grabbed a towel and started to help by drying the dishes.

"Mom," she said after several minutes of companionable silence. "I haven't told you yet, but I have another babysitting job in the morning. So, I'll be going to bed early."

"Oh." Mom handed another dish to her daughter. "Is it that cute boy you were telling me about?"

Dara blushed. "He's not-," she started to say before seeing her mom's amused glance. "Oh. You mean Hojin. Yeah, I'll be watching him for a few hours." She hid behind a plate, waiting for the heat to fade from her cheeks. Dara's mom just smiled and continued washing dishes.

The stairs were quiet; not a peep could be heard from the boys' room. 'They're probably torturing Dadoong,' Dara thought. She took a quick glance around before entering her room. Everything looked just they way she had left it. They had been too cooperative when mom asked Sanghyun to keep the noise down because his sister was going to bed. It made her suspicious.

Dara relaxed when nothing happened. Maybe she was being paranoid. She shut the door with her foot as she ed her blouse. After shedding her skirt, she pulled on a pair of fuzzy, pink, kitty print pajamas. She wondered what Jiyong wore to bed. Mental slap. 'I have got to quit thinking about him.'

Turning to the bed, she pulled back the covers. She was already thinking ahead to a morning with Hojin. A funny noise made her look down.

Dara's blood-curdling scream roused the entire household.

Grandpa and mom came rushing up the stairs to find Dara chasing Sanghyun down the hall. Mir was laughing so hard he could barely stand up.

"Sanghyun, you little freak! When I catch you I'm going to rip you apart! Why are there FROGS in my bed?"

^**^

Dara rang the doorbell at exactly 7 o' clock. Jiyong made such a big fuss over being on time. Well, she was on time today, being neither early nor late. She could hear the gonging of the bell echoing through the house. She shivered outside the front door. The air was turning nippy and she hadn't brought a jacket. She jabbed at the bell harder than before, mentally cursing Jiyong for being a slowpoke. She was about to ring the bell for a third time when the door opened. She opened to yell at Jiyong for making her stand in the cold, but abruptly shut it. Hojin hung from the doorknob, clutching his white dog in his other hand.

"Hi 'Dara-noona," he chirped, entirely too cheerful for so early in the morning. "Daddy's not ready yet. He's yelling at the washing machine. It ate one of his socks again."

Dara nodded, not sure what to say to that. She followed Hojin into the house. Surprisingly, the place was still clean. A half-finished puzzle decorated the coffee table, but there was no clothing or toys strewn about.

Hojin climbed back onto his chair at the kitchen table, dropping his dog on the floor. Breakfast was a bowl of Lucky Charms. The little boy had laid out a line of the brightly-colored marshmallow shapes that came in each box. He ate them one by one, making humming noises as he pushed them around the table.

There was a crash and Jiyong barreled into the kitchen, fastening the last buttons on his shirt.

"I'm late! Where's my briefcase!" He yelped as he tripped over Hojin's fluffy, white dog. Dara spotted the briefcase sitting against the wall. She picked it up.

"Be a good boy, Hojin. I'll see you at lunch." Jiyong gave him a quick kiss and a hug.

"Help yourself to anything in the cupboards," he yelled to Dara, hopping on one foot and pulling his shoe on. He grabbed his briefcase from her, pecked her on the cheek, and dashed out the door.

Dara stood frozen. She raised one hand to her cheek. 'Did he just kiss me?'

Hojin tugging on her shirt brought her out of her trance. "I'm finished, 'Dara-noona. Let's play."

"I need to eat first, Hojin." Dara had overslept and skipped breakfast so she wouldn't be late. She opened the first cupboard. A variety of ramen packages met her eyes. She tried the second cupboard, and the third. All ramen, and one half-empty box of Lucky Charms.

"Does this guy live on ramen?" she muttered, loud enough that Hojin heard.

"Daddy says ramen is one of the four basic food groups."

"Ramen is not a breakfast food." She turned to Hojin. "Why don't we go shopping. We can buy something yummy to make for lunch." Hojin cheered.

A half hour later, Hojin was dressed snugly in a red shirt and jeans. Dara found his jacket and scribbled a quick note to Jiyong. She hustled him into the car, thanking her mom for letting her drive it this morning.

^**^

Hojin kicked his legs from where he sat on the shopping cart's child seat. He clutched a box of pocky that he had begged Dara to let him have.

The cashier cooed over the little boy. "Your son is so adorable. How old is he?" Dara wondered why that comment gave her a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Oh, he's not my son. I'm just the babysitter. And he's four."

"Daddy gave 'Dara-noona a kiss when he left for work," Hojin piped up. Dara blushed and hurried him out of the market, leaving the cashier staring after them.

^**^

The explosion happened just after they walked in the door laden with groceries.

"Where have you been?" Jiyong yelled. Dara dropped the bag, wincing as the eggs tumbled out to splat on the floor. "Do you know how worried I've been?"

"What are you talking about?" Dara asked, surprised at the verbal assault.

Jiyong marched up so that he was an inch away from her face. "I come home and my son is gone! He could have been kidnapped!"

Dara stiffened, angry at the accusation. "You feed the child on nothing but ramen and Lucky Charms! I had to buy him some decent food!"

"You call this decent!" Jiyong pointed at the box of chocolate- covered pocky Hojin held.

"It's better than that bowl of sugar disguised as cereal that you were feeding him!" Dara shot back. Hojin watched the loud discussion with wide eyes. His daddy and his babysitter seemed to like yelling at each other. At least they did it an awful lot.

"You are not to take Hojin from this house without permission!" Jiyong crossed his arms and tried to look like the conversation was over.

"You are such a jerk!" Dara shouted.

"And you are a. . . female dog!" Jiyong spit out, remembering that Hojin was listening.

"Female dog?" Dara echoed, losing part of her anger.

"Feh! If you're so smart, you figure it out." He made one last stab at winning the argument. "I come home after a hard morning, no Hojin, no babysitter, and no note. What am I supposed to think?"

Dara fumed, the fire returning to her eyes. "I did leave a note!" She pointed to where a scrawled message was pinned to the refrigerator by a magnet shaped like a cow. "If you weren't so quick to accuse, then you would have seen it."

Jiyong stared at the note, which stated clearly where Dara and Hojin had gone. "Oh."

"Is that all you have to say?" Dara demanded.

"I don't have anything else to say." Jiyong huffed and turned away from her. She bent to retrieve the groceries from the floor. He watched her out of the corner of his eye. He remembered how soft her cheek felt beneath his lips, no matter how brief and unintentional the kiss was.

"Would you like to stay for lunch?" The question was so quiet that Dara almost didn't hear it. She looked up; Jiyong's back was still toward her. Hojin had managed to rip the pocky box open and had crammed three sticks in his mouth at once. She smiled when she heard Jiyong add, "I'm sure Hojin would like it if you would. After all, you bought the groceries."

"I'll stay, but only because it will make Hojin happy," she said and carried the bag into the kitchen. Hojin came too, still munching his pocky. After a moment, Jiyong followed.

 

--------- Btw, here are some informations you guys might wanna know:

Jiyong is 24. That gives him enough time to have graduated high school, gotten married, and have a son who is now 4 years old.

TOP is also 24. He and Jiyong went to school together.

Bom is 20. She is graduated from school and working a full-time job to support herself and her little brother. I just haven't decided where yet. She also does odd jobs like babysitting to raise extra money.

Dara is 19. She will graduate at the end of the school year.

Mir and Sanghyun are both 11.

 

I hope you like this chapter! As usual, comments are always loved! :)