Tzuyu’s P.O.V

“So here are his clothes and toys. Here’s his school bag. He can only watch for an hour or his eyes will get sore. His bed time is 9:00, you can read a book or sing him a song so he could sleep. His school starts at around 8 in the morning and ends by around 11 so don’t forget to pick him up. He likes peanut butter and jelly as his snack so you should make that in advance. What else?”

“Dude can you chill out? I take care of him from time to time, I know what to do. Why did you bring so many clothes anyway? He’ll only stay here for two weeks!” I scolded my brother. He’ll be away for two weeks for a business meeting so I volunteered to take care of Damin.

“I’m sorry. I’m just really new to this single parent thing. If his mom was around last week she would have been the one to pack.” My brother sighed.

“Where is she anyway?”

“I heard that she’s back in Taiwan with her new boyfriend. She couldn’t come up because the guy is forbidding him to visit Damin.”

“That’s bull.”

“Chou Tzuyu, language! There’s a kid around you,” he scolded me.

“You didn’t hear anything that I said Damin, right?”

He smiled at me and shook his head. “See? He didn’t hear me.” I teased my brother. “Now why don’t you say goodbye to your dad and tell him to stop bothering us?” I carried Damin in my arms so that he could kiss his father goodbye.

“Damini behave okay? I don’t want Chocolate calling me to say that you’re not a good boy,” my brother said and kissed Damin on the forehead. Damin and I watch as my brother leave the room while waving our hands.

“So what do you wanna do kid?”I said once the door closes. I put him down then kneeled do we’re in each other’s eye level.

“Can we go buy some ice cream?” He asked me. “Sure, let me just grab my wallet. We’ll eat dinner then I’d buy you ice cream,” I told him and went back to my room. He followed me to my bedroom.

“Chocolate what do you do for a living?”

“I don’t work yet since I’m still finishing school.”

“What are you studying then?”

“Well since your grandma wants me to become a doctor I am studying to become one,” I told him while leading him back outside.

“You’re going to be called Dr. Chocolate then!”

I laughed at his adorable statement. “Damini, you do realize that Chocolate is not my real name right?” I asked him. “Well, I know that Baba calls you Chou Tzuyu sometimes when he’s mad but most of the time he calls you Chocolate,” he replied.

“They’ll call me Dr. Chou but Dr. Chocolate sounds fun,” I joked and he seemed to like it because he laughed. “Now let’s get you some pizza for dinner then ice cream for dessert,” I held his hand as we leave the apartment building.

“There’s this good pizza place near your school, do you wanna eat there?” I asked Damini. He cutely nodded his head while he hide inside his jacket. “Is it too cold for you? We can ask for delivery and I’d just buy you ice cream tomorrow,” I asked him after noticing his actions.

“I’m good, I really want to eat outside.”

“My brother must be really locking you inside your room while he do his paper works.”

“He does but I understand that he needs to work harder after mama left.”

I rubbed his head playfully. He’s really a smart kid and I’m quite happy that even if he’s still young he understands his situation.

As we were about to get inside the restaurant Damin let go of my hand and rushed to some girl. He then started pulling her into my direction. , that’s the pretty girl I saw a week ago.

“Chocolate this is my teacher!” Damini jumped in excitement as he introduce his teacher to me. “Hello Mrs. Chou, I’m Myoui Mina,” she said in a really soft tone then bowed.

“Well for the record I’m not a Missus yet,” I told her with a chuckle. “But I thought you’re his mother, you two really look alike.” She looked flustered and I can’t help myself to laugh. “I get that a lot but he’s only my nephew. His dad is my brother so yeah,” I explained to her.

“I’m really sorry for my mistake then.”

“It’s okay…”

I didn’t know what to say next so I looked into Damin’s direction hoping he can sense something. He’s really good at this so I hope he understands my situation.

“Teacher, we’re just about to eat dinner would you like to come along? Chocolate will pay for it!” He enthusiastically said. I slightly glared at him but he only gave me a toothy grin.

“I don’t think it is right for me to come along,” Mina said. I quickly shook my head and said, “No, it’s okay if you come along. I won’t mind.”

“Well, maybe next time. It’s getting late and I still need to finish some lesson plans,” she declined again. I nodded my head and smiled.

“See you tomorrow Damini,” she smiled at Damin. “It was nice meeting you Ms. Chou. It was fun finally seeing the Chocolate, Damin talks about a lot while at school,” she looked at me before saying her goodbye.

“Let’s stuff you with some pizza while I interrogate you, young man,” I said and led him inside the establishment.

_____

“Is she the teacher down the street you were telling me about over the phone?” Damini asked while he stuff his mouth with some pepperoni pizza. “You knew she was the one I told you about that’s why you introduced her to me!” I accused my 5-year old nephew.

“I had a hunch, there were a lot of pretty girls who work in our center. I mean there’s Ms. Minatozaki, Ms. Im, Ms. Park and a bunch more. It’s kismet that I saw her leaving the school just as we’re about to eat,” Damin answered.

“You were planning to introduce me to every girl teacher you have!”

He nodded his head enthusiastically. “You’re such a brat sometimes,” I told him but he only laughed at me. “Aren’t you gonna ask stuff about Ms. Myoui?” He asked.

“Ask what?”

“Like, does he have a boyfriend? How old is she? Where does she live? Is she gay?”

“Young man! Where did you learn to say the word ‘gay’?” I scolded him. “I hear Elkie saying it all the time whenever I stay in your place so I asked her,” he answered.

“I should really scold her for that.”

“There is nothing wrong with me expanding my vocabulary,” he defended himself. “So aren’t you curious about Ms. Myoui?” He asked yet again.

“Look, even if I do like her I don’t have any plans on pursuing her. I have med school to worry about, then the wrath of your grandparents once they found out I’m dating your teacher and finally my stupidity when it comes to dating.”

“I could help you with that!”

“Kid, you don’t even know how to read yet how can I ask you to do my research paper?”

“Not about that!”

“You rarely see your grandparents so how can you explain stuff to them huh?”

“Chocolate that’s not it either! Also it’s not like Ye Ye and Nai Nai would kill you. They’ve long accepted the fact that you’re gay!”

“Shut up kiddo.”

“Anyway what I’m trying to say here is that I can help you fix you stupidity when it comes to dating.”

“Damini, just finish your food so we can have that ice cream I promised you,” I said to shut him up.

_____

I woke up with someone screaming and bouncing on my bed.

“Chocolate! I’m gonna be late for school! Wake up!!!”

After realizing that it was Damin, I quickly rolled off away from my sheets. It resulted of me falling from my bed. Damin is laughing hysterically while still bouncing off the bed.

“Wh-what time is it?”

I looked at my phone and saw that it’s only 6:30. I glared at the young man and tackled him onto the bed.

“You brat!” I said as I tickled him with no mercy.

“Yah Chocolate!”

I only stopped tickling him once he’s almost out of breath. “That was mean Chocolate.” He whined then pout but I ignored his cute face.

“You’re the one who’s mean! I already fell and you just laughed at me.”

“But it was funny.”

“You really are like me I used to do this to my dad.”

“Well you’re my chocolate after all!” He grinned and I pinched his nose just because he’s so cute. “Go brush your teeth and meet my outside. I’ll make pancakes so you better hurry.” He ran quickly to the bathroom while I went out to prepare his stuff.

Damin and I slept so late last night since he wanted to play video games. He was really cute when he begged me to let him play so we ended up eating junk foods and playing up until 11 in the evening.

There are still some mess from last night like a bag of chips on the couch and the remote controllers by the table. I cleaned it up quickly then proceeded to do my task.

There’s a premade pancake batter in my ref courtesy of Dahyun’s last visit. She made pancakes for herself leaving me with only a piece of bread and some jam the other day. I made the pancakes quite fast so I had a lot of time left to make his sandwiches and prepare for my 9:30 am class.

I went back to my room and saw that Damin is already dressed up in his uniform.

“Why did you take a bath without me?”

“My dad taught me that I should learn to take care of myself when he’s not around. I just did what he said.” Damin reasoned with a proud smile. “You could have slipped and hit your head!” I scolded him.

“I didn’t so don’t worry. You should take a bath now by the way so we won’t be late,” Damin patted my leg then he walked out. I was left standing there for a few seconds but quickly gathered my bearings and took a bath.

When I got outside Damin is by the table and he seems to be waiting for me. I sat on the chair and signaled him to eat.

“I can’t pick you up till noon and I still have classes till three so you’d be alone for a while here or you can come with me to school.” I said after the first bite.

“I’d go to your school.”

“Cool, we’ll have lunch with my pals.”

“I can stay with Ms. Myoui while you’re away and then we can invite her to lunch.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, let’s just eat with my friends at school.”

“But I want to teach you to be not stupid with love.”

I was almost done with my pancakes so I just stood up and shove my plate in the dishwasher instead of replying to him.

“Finish your milk so we can go.”

I said then handed him his bag. I grabbed mine too from the couch.

____

“Hello Ms. Chou! Hello Damini!”

Ms. Myoui greeted us by the door. I was quite surprised to see her but then I just shrugged it off.

“Hi Ms. Myoui! Also, Chocolate wants to say that you’re very pretty this morning.”

After hearing what Damin has to say I covered his mouth.

“Uh, please just ignore his weird antics but then you’re indeed looking good. Did you see your boyfriend this morning?”

“Smooth Chocolate, smooth.” I heard Damin mumble.

“Thanks for the compliment Ms. Chou but no. I didn’t see my boyfriend since I don’t have one.”

“Oh, I see. By the way I’d be picking up Damin an hour late since I have a class to attend to until noon hope you can look after him?”

“No problem Ms. Chou.”

“Thanks, Ms. Myoui.”

I then faced at Damin’s direction. “You be a good boy or your dad will kill me. Call me when you need me. I’ll see you for lunch.” I patted his head.

“Bye Chocolate!” Damin waved at me while Ms. Myoui leads him inside his classroom.

____

Noon came by and I’m really starving. Dahyun and Chaeyoung bailed at meeting me for lunch. Elkie is on a date with some chick she found on the internet. Somi is not answering my calls and I’m therefore left alone with my nephew for lunch.

I’m whistling to a song while I walk up to Damin’s classroom. I opened the door and was welcomed by the sight of Damin drawing on a piece of paper while Ms. Myoui assists him.

He probably noticed my presence because he suddenly screamed, “Chocolate look at my drawing!”

“Hello Ms. Chou,” Ms. Myoui greeted me. I greeted her back before taking Damin’s stuff from his chair.

“Damin, let’s go feed you some fried chicken,” I offered him.

“Sure, let me just ask Ms. Myoui if she wants to eat with us!” Damin looked at his teacher.

“Damin, I think she still has another session after this.”

I’m hoping she’d say yes but at the same time I’m hoping she’d decline like last night.

“Um, sure. Let me just pick my bag.”

I don’t know if it’s just me or she really did smile at me as she picked her bag up.

____

I decided to bring them to the chicken place a few blocks away from Damin’s school. They serve really good chicken and I’ve made friends with the owner after the sleepless nights I spent there. The walk was fine until Damin forced me to go closer to Ms. Myoui’s side.

“Chocolate can you move a little more I need my personal space.” Damin pushed me away harshly with his tiny hands. I ended up stumbling to the side a little bit and brushed my arms with Ms. Myoui’s.

“I’m sorry.” I apologized for Damin’s sudden antics. “It’s okay, I’m used to Damin’s antics.” Ms. Myoui said with her soft voice.

“Is this the place?” Ms. Myoui asked once I abruptly stopped in front of a small shop. “It is.” I nodded my head enthusiastically before sliding the door open. One of the workers greeted me and I greeted him back.

“Should I get half and half?” I asked to Mina after we settled into the table. “Sure.” Ms. Myoui smiled and I quickly called the worker who greeted me earlier.

“Hello Jackson oppa!”

“Yo Tzuyu!”

“I’ll order one serving of half and half. Two sodas and---“

I looked at Mina for her to order her drink. “Give me soda too,” Ms. Myoui said. “Okay so one serving of half and half then three sodas.” Jackson oppa repeated.

“I’ll be back in 10 with your orders.” Jackson oppa smiled and I smiled back at him out of respect. He’s a friend of the owner and he speaks Chinese too so that’s a bonus.

“You seem to be