“Omma, when can Lauren get ice cream? I want ice cream.”

We were having dinner at a nearby restaurant, just the three of us. It was a simple Korean restaurant with quite a number of customers. We had our spot at the corner end of the place, as Lauren insisted.

Yongguk and I enjoyed our meal, jjampong and tofu jigae respectively but that wasn’t the case for our daughter with her kimbap. She had about four pieces of her kimbap before she played with her food and raised the question.

“Lauren, you need to finish your food before you can have ice cream,” I told her.

“But Lauren wants ice cream.” She sulked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Lauren,” Yongguk dropped his chopstick on the table, “Listen to me, it’s not good to waste food. Some people out there doesn’t get to eat like us. Those people are always hungry but have nothing to eat.”

I motioned for her to come closer and she did reluctantly. I her hair then rest a hand on her shoulder. “Appa is right. You shouldn’t waste food, even money. We also don't have that lot of money. We should always be grateful for what we have, okay?”

Lauren looked at the food on the table, turned to me then back at the food and she sighed, “Okay, omma.”

Yongguk's lips curved upwards as he stole a glance towards my direction before speaking to Lauren, “Do you want appa to feed you? I promise to buy your favourite ice cream later.”

Lauren nodded and ran over to Yongguk’s side at the mention of ice cream. He fed her with ease and she liked it. I had a smile glued on my face as I watch Yongguk and her bond impressively. Time sure flew fast, who knew those two could get along well now?

At the beginning, he hated her presence but that didn't seem the case now, I wonder what changed him. “Someone’s being a good daddy tonight,” I teased, wiping my mouth with tissue now that I was done eating.

Yongguk snickered and fed Lauren her last piece of kimbap, “I’m always a good daddy, right Lauren?”

Lauren chuckled cutely, shaking her head. “Not always.” And we laughed at her innocent response.

Yongguk tickled her for not defending him and she burst out in a high pitched laughter that gathered attention. “No ice cream for you then. I’ll just buy mine.” Yongguk stuck his tongue out at Lauren.

“Aniya...” Lauren shook her head. She stops to think for a second then bounced up from her seat and faced Yongguk. “Yongguk appa is the best and most awesome daddy in the whole world,” she proclaimed, drawing a big circular motion in the air.

“Omo, she’s being too cute,” I pressed my palms to my face unable to stop myself from giggling.

Yongguk ended up clapping his hands with a wide grin plastered on his face. He gave her two thumbs up, then points his index finger it to his cheek while pouting his lips. “Kiss?”

Without hesitation she crashed herself into her young daddy’s embrace and kissed him on both sides of his cheeks and landed a surprise peck on his lips, “Muah! I love you, appa.”

I surely loved what I saw with my eyes that moment. They were like a real father and daughter. The way he wrapped her in his arms so securely and how she easily kissed him, his growing red face and her super adorable giggles, I wished time stopped so I could cherished this moment of my two loved ones forever.

What the future would be for the three of us, no one knows it. We might still be together, either all three or not, or might never see each other at all. The thought of it dawned on me like crashing waves. I didn't want to leave them, they're the reason I started to care, to love sincerely. The reason I found my real self.

“Yah, Sohyun,” Yongguk’s voice pulled me back to reality, “Do you have something in your eye? Are you okay?”

I quickly blinked away the tears from dropping and flipped my hair, “Nothing. Shall we go have ice cream, now?”

++++++++++

We stopped by a playground in the neigbourhood, enjoying our ice cream. The playground wasn't entirely dark, there are lamps surrounding it so Lauren quickly finished her ice cream and headed out to play.

Meanwhile, Yongguk and I were still finishing our desert on a bench under the light of a lamp. Yongguk cautiously, without me noticing, placed his free hand on top of mine and it gently.

I diverted my attention from Lauren to him, then lifted my head up watching the sky. I was feeling a bit melancholy thinking of the day when I started moving in with them up to this point. Where would I had went if not with them?

"Sohyun-ah," his deep voice tugged my heart, "you're being unusual after that dinner. Was the food bad?"

"No, it was delicious."

"Hey, what's wrong?" Yongguk no longer my hand but instead intertwined our fingers together.

I inhaled deeply, this would be my first time opening up to a guy. But I trust him enough to let him know my feelings. Would this be his first time someone open up to him?

I adjusted myself to face him. “Oppa, what will happen to Lauren once your uncle gets back? What will happen to me?”

Yongguk hung his head low, probably at one point he did thought of it but he was also clueless. “I don’t know. I really don’t.”

Since my father disappeared after kicking me out, there was a possibility that I would stay with the boys longer than I thought but I didn’t mind that. They were like family. But what I mind was that whether or not Lauren would be in the picture. “I love Lauren, Yongguk.”

“I know you do. The boys love her...I do too.” He confessed.

“We’re a really weird couple aren’t we? The queenka and the gangster.” I laughed to lighten the mood.

Yongguk pulled me close to him and wrapped an arm around me. “Why did you become such a girl?”

That question probably got him wondering since he witnessed that I wasn’t all cold-hearted.

“My mom left me when I was around Lauren’s age, an age where you needed love to grow. Dad was the reason why. He cheated on mom and that was when everything turned upside down. Dad raised me up by showering me with artificial luxury which to him was his way of showing love but you know, it doesn’t work that way.”

“You played the guys because of what your dad did?” Yongguk asked.

I nodded. “That and because I want to feel loved by someone. All the previous guys dated me because of my status or other pleasures. Although some was actually sincere but I broke their hearts. Now that I thought about it, I am sorry to the sincere ones.”

“You’re cruel, you know that?” Yongguk’s comment was one I cannot deny.

“Then what about you? Going around messing with people.” I asked.

Yongguk stared ahead. “I grew up in an area where almost all my neighbour have debts they owed to loan sharks, including my family. These loan sharks don’t really have mercy, they would just hurt anyone. The boys and I were brave enough to fight against the loan sharks.”

“So you guys are like heroes?” I joked.

Yongguk smirked, “Do we look like one? We grow to love fighting but we didn’t hurt others who doesn’t deserve to be hurt. That was what uncle taught us. He was responsible for helping our families. Although sometimes I do admit, we like getting into fights with the boys at our school.”

We stayed the way we are for some time, digesting the stories we exchanged. At the age of 18, we had experienced life differently from normal people. We are still growing and plenty of mistakes are necessary to find ourselves. The person I am at this age might not be the person I will be later.

I rested my head on Yongguk’s shoulder and hugged his arm. “What would become of us?”

“Sohyun, you think too much.” He brushed my hair that covered my face. “I won’t promise anything with you but for now, I try my best for us.”

“Wow, who knew someone like you could be sentimental?” I .

He poked my sides and I held back my laugh. “Says the emo girl.”

“Oppa,” I whined and slapped him on his back, “stop bullying your wife.”

“You’re the one bullying me first, Park Sohyun!”

We ended up in a childish fight that caught Lauren’s attention. She stopped playing and ran to us, distancing his mom and dad apart from each other. “Omma, appa, don’t fight.”

Yongguk and I laughed. "We're just joking around, Lauren," Yongguk told her. He carried his daughter in his arms and pinched her cheek. “Are you done playing? Should we go home now?”

She nodded. Lauren rubbed her eyes and yawned; a sign that she was tired and what she needed was sleep. The three of us walked home with a sleeping Lauren who slept along the way. We reached home safely. The other boys were still awake, hanging out in the living room.

Yongguk climbed upstairs to put Lauren to bed while I was left behind to lock the door. As I was about to close the door, someone stopped me from doing so. I raised my head from the knob and froze with eyes wide open at the figure standing in front of me.

“Sohyun-ah...” 

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