“He’s a shar pei,” Eunjung enunciated slowly and clearly, after half the morning of Jiyong doing the same to make her remember.  “They’re from China.”  The small puppy was wagging his tail in the damp grass, observing the two little girls crouched around him with glassy black eyes.  Their fathers stood to the side, watching over.

“We just brought him home today,” Jiyong was telling Seunghyun.  “I thought this would be a good place to walk him.”  He smiled as Eunjung and Minhee scratched behind the dog’s ears and giggled when he shook their hands away.  “Do you guys come here a lot?”

“Us? Oh, no actually, we’ve never been here before,” Seunghyun said, and looked up at him.  At first glance, Jiyong didn’t seem to be anywhere near 30, but something in the slight laugh-lines that appeared when he smiled betrayed him. 

They were chatting about the unseasonable weather when Minhee and Eunjung informed them that they were going to walk Gaho to the water fountain.  Jiyong began to follow, but they both raised such a fuss about going alone that he threw up his hands in submission.

“You had better not get your clothes soaked, or you’re in for it!  And keep the dog dry too!” Jiyong warned as they ran off, and joined a chuckling Seunghyun on a metal bench under a tree.

“I never would have thought kids started on this independent streak so soon,” Seunghyun said, crossing his legs.  “Kind of makes you sad.”

Jiyong nodded.  “But it’s a relief in some ways too, you know.”

The other father laughed again, and Jiyong’s eyes wandered to the dimples forming in his cheeks.  He reminded himself of his manners and extended a hand.  “I’m Jiyong, by the way.”

“Seunghyun,” he said, and shook on it.  Their eyes each darted to the other’s hand: Jiyong noticing absurdly well-kept fingernails, Seunghyun smirking when he caught sight of a multicolored beaded bracelet.

“I’m gonna guess that was a gift?”

Jiyong furrowed his brows for a moment before he realized what Seunghyun was referring to.  “Oh!  Yeah, Jungie made it.  She’s crazy about that arts and crafts type stuff.”  He tucked it under his sleeve shyly.

“It’s fine, I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve accidentally left the house wearing plastic princess jewelry.”  Seunghyun tugged at his earlobe, just to be sure today wasn’t one of those days.

Jiyong noted with satisfaction that Eunjung held Gaho at bay while Minhee let water from the dog-level faucet pool on the ground for the puppy to lap up.  “She actually listened,” he thought to himself.

“Do you guys live nearby?” Seunghyun asked, pulling Jiyong’s attention back to him.  The latter crinkled his nose.

“Not really.  But there aren’t any parks near our apartment.”  The ground under Jiyong’s feet was bare of grass from frequent sitters, and wet mud held a puddle on the surface.  He stretched his legs further out than was comfortable; the effort it took not to fidget was distracting.  Seunghyun’s long legs seemed to have no problem avoiding the mud, he noted.

“We only live about a block and a half that way,” Seunghyun pointed with his thumb.  He watched as Minhee and her new friend came running past, squealing while chasing a dashing Gaho.  When Minji had suggested taking a trip to the park to encourage his daughter to socialize, he hadn’t actually thought it would work, and certainly not on the first try.  “I think we’ll be coming more often from now on, though.  We could both use the fresh air.”

Jiyong’s thoughts hinged on the word “both,” and he stole a glance at Seunghyun’s bare left hand.  He kept his question to himself, however, mindful of how irritating he found family and marriage questions.

As if on cue, Seunghyun nodded towards Chaerin on her bench across the green where she was talking with the two girls.  “Is that your wife?”

“Ah, no,” Jiyong replied with a slightly pained expression.  “She’s just a friend.  I’m not married.”

“Oh, I just assumed…”

The silver ring on Jiyong’s finger felt oddly heavy; he had gone months without it, only succumbing to nostalgic longing the night before while wrapping Eunjung’s birthday presents.  He wasn’t used to the feel of it, nor the assumptions it led people to make of him.

“No, I’m… I’m a widower.”

Seunghyun flushed a bit, waving a nervous hand.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—“

“It’s okay, it was just a harmless question.”  Jiyong forced a convincing smile to quell the man’s guilt.

“No, I shouldn’t have asked.  I hate when people ask me about my wife.”  Seunghyun thought back to his reunion with an old classmate at the zoo.  “I should know better,” he said.

At least now Jiyong had an excuse.  “Are you married, then?”

“No,” Seunghyun rubbed the back of his neck.  “Divorced about five years now.”  The realization of how oddly personal their conversation had become was creeping into his brain.

Jiyong crossed his ankles and folded his hands in his lap.  “Is it just the two of you then?”

“Yep.”

A bright smile broke across Jiyong’s face, stretching towards his small silver hoop earrings.  “Same here.  It’s nice to meet someone else who gets it.”

The infectious grin compelled Seunghyun to follow suit.  “Yeah, I guess it is.”

Eunjung and Minhee were returning, Chaerin and Gaho in tow, and both fathers stood to meet them.  Jiyong’s daughter was reaching upwards, hands grasping at air, so he scooped her up and kissed her cheek with a loud smacking sound.

Minhee tugged at Seunghyun’s hand, a signal she often used in groups of people, and her father knew it well.  He bent low, and she whispered something in his ear.  The shocked look on his face piqued Jiyong’s curiousity, but before he could think to ask, Eunjung spoke up.

“Daddy, it’s still my birthday, right?”

“What are you two up to?” he replied with skeptical eyes.

Eunjung put on her best cutesy pleading face.  “Can Minhee sleepover tonight?”

Jiyong blinked.  “Honey, I don’t think… I mean nothing against—“  He looked at Seunghyun with wide-eyes, hoping for backup from the near stranger.  But the fellow father was already waiting with the assist.

“No, I know it’s not like that.”  He cupped Minhee’s face under her small chin, trying to ignore her pouting bottom lip.  “You just met the girl, sweetheart!  Maybe some other time.”

Both Seunghyun and Jiyong expected more of a fight: high pitched whining, feet stomping, anything except the silent stare the two girls exchanged, ending with defeated nods.

“What was that?” Chaerin spoke up.

“I don’t know, but I think it’s time for us to head home,” Jiyong answered, letting Eunjung down and taking Gaho’s leash.

“Us too.”  Seunghyun took Minhee’s hand and shook it apologetically.  “But maybe you can come back tomorrow, eh?”

Eunjung gave Jiyong a wide, partially toothless smile, and he had to consent.  “We’ll see.”

“Same time same place?”  Seunghyun asked.

“Sounds great,” Chaerin chimed in again.  Jiyong set his jaw and resisted the urge to shoot her a piercing glare.

The two families parted ways at that, Seunghyun headed for Minji’s bench and Jiyong and Chaerin making for their car parked along the street.

“It looks like you made a new friend today,” Chaerin mused.

“She sure did.”  Jiyong pinched at Eunjung’s cheek.  She pulled his hand away, but held to it as they walked.

“I was talking about you,” Chaerin muttered under her breath.

Jiyong kept his eyes ahead, determined not to show annoyance; it would only feed her teasing.  “Seemed like a nice enough guy.”

“Seemed like a cute enough guy too.”

“Chae.”

She crossed her arms behind her head, elbows pointed to the sky.  “What?”

“Please don’t.”  Jiyong’s voice was soft, but stern, and she relented with a sigh.

“Fine.”

They reached the car with little more said, and Jiyong buckled Eunjung in her seat, opening the hatchback trunk to let Gaho in.  Just before ducking into the driver’s seat, he caught Chaerin’s eye over the hood.  “He was kind of cute though, wasn’t he?”

~~~

Minji was leaning into the window of a car in the small parking lot when Seunghyun and Minhee found her.  A boy in his late teens sat in the passenger seat; he pointed to the pair as they approached, a lit cigarette between his fingers.

She turned, nonchalant, stuffing her hands in her hoodie pockets.  “Ready to go?”

“Who is this?” Seunghyun asked, disapproval written all over his face.

Minji shrugged.  “Just a friend from school.”

“What’s up?!” the boy called out the window, hooded eyes above a smug up-turned mouth.

Seunghyun snatched the cigarette from his hand without a word, flicking it into a puddle near the tire.  “Let’s go.”

“What the hell, man!” Minji’s acquaintance exclaimed, but remained in his car.

The babysitter jogged to catch up to them.  “What was that for?”

“Does your mother know you hang out with boys like that?” Seunghyun asked, halfway in the backseat as he strapped Minhee in.

“Oh so what, you can flirt with guys but I can’t?”

The back of Seunghyun’s head collided with the door frame as he tried to stand again.  A yell that resembled the first half of a curse escaped him.

“Careful there!” Minji laughed behind her hand, darting around to the passenger side to escape any backlash.

He rubbed the back of his head as he climbed behind the wheel, scowling.  “I wasn’t flirting.  We were just talking.”

“Sure you were.”  Minji pulled a bottle of body spray from her purse, spritzing herself in a fruity-smelling mist.

“Please tell me that isn’t so your mother won’t smell smoke on you.”

“Alright, I won’t tell you.”

Seunghyun shook his head as he started the car, but kept his comments to himself.

“What?  Are you going to ‘tell on me’?” she mocked.

“No, I’m not.  You’re old enough to make your own decisions about who you hang around with, and live with the consequences.  …Plus I need a favor.”

“I know, Daesung texted me too.”

They pulled out onto the street and into a line of stalled cars waiting their turn at the intersection.  “I’ll be home by 11.  There’s plenty of leftovers in the fridge for dinner.”

“And bedtime at 8, I know the routine.  Just remind my dipstick brother to pick me up on his way home.”

“That’s kind of out of his way, isn’t it?”

Minji frowned at the jingling charms hanging from her phone, and the small plastic cupcake with a broken string in her other hand.  “It would be, if he weren’t using Dad’s car.”

Seunghyun stole a quick aghast stare at his passenger.  “What’s wrong with his car this time?”

“Carburetor?  Alternator?  I don’t know, they said it’d be a week in the shop.”

“Man, that guy really has the worst luck with cars.”  “And women…” he thought.

“Well we can’t all be raking in head chef cash,” Minji teased, hitting Seunghyun lightly with her fist.

Seunghyun massaged the assaulted spot on his arm.  “It’s not like that!  I told them to pick him, I begged them to.  I’m terrible at giving people orders.”

“You think Daesung could do any better?  You two are the biggest push-overs I ever met.”

Their vehicle chugged up the steep hill to Seunghyun’s home, and he did his best not to embarrass himself parallel parking in front of Minji.  Once free of her car seat, Minhee dashed up the stone stoop to the red front door.

Minji took the moment of privacy to corner Seunghyun as he checked the mail box.  “Did you at least get his name?”

“Whose name?” he asked, faking ignorance as he flipped through letters.

“The cute guy in the blue turtleneck.”

“It was red,” Seunghyun corrected, wincing when he realized the trap he’d fallen into.  Minji only laughed at his flushed face as they ascended the steps and went inside.