“Daddy,” a small girl pulled on her father’s pant leg, “How much longer?”

“A few more minutes, sweetheart,” he patted her on the head before allowing his eyes to wander around the park once again.

Life and laughter filled the small local park as children run around free and parents carefully light fountain fireworks, curious eyes staring at the bright lights and colors in wonder.

Jihoon scans the crowd and allows his eyes to slowly come to a stop on a young woman and a small boy. All the noise and commotion melted away as he watched you stand behind the small boy and slowly guide his arm back and forth, waving a sparkler in the air and creating unrecognizable shapes.

As you laughed and giggled with the little boy, a small smile started to form on his own face.

“Daddy,” the small girl whined, hanging onto her father’s hand.

Jihoon knelt down in front of the little girl and placed his hands gently on the sides of her arms.

“Just be a little more patient Jiyoung-ah,” he told his daughter gently, “It should be starting in a few minutes.”

“Can’t you make them start sooner?” she wigged her arms around cutely, “I want ot see the fireworks already!”

Jihoon sighed and scooped her up into his arms, lifting her into the air.

“You know I can’t control time,” he laughed and poked her stomach, causing her to let out a loud giggle, “If I could, I definitely would make the fireworks start right now.”

Jiyoung let out a frustrated groan and abruptly rested her head on her father’s shoulder, giving up on the world completely.

Jihoon shook his head and patted her on the back.

He started to stare into space and found his eyes wandering back to the same person in the park he was once gazing at.

But a small crease between his eyebrows formed when he saw you talking to another man. The glint in the other man’s eyes didn’t get past Jihoon even though you seemed oblivious to the situation.

Jihoon closed his eyes and looked away, taking a deep breath and convinced himself not to storm over there and make scene.

‘She’s fine,’ he told himself, ‘She can take care of herself, she wouldn’t let some random guy just hit on her right? Right. She must know and is just being nice.’

As he continued to try and convince himself that you were in no way attracted to that random guy who seemed to appear out of thin air, he still felt his body start to tense.

He had to remind himself that his daughter was currently resting on his shoulder and the stop fidgeting.

As he burned holes through a nearby tree trunk with his eyes, a melodious laugh drifted to his ears with the wind and he almost instantly felt his body start to relax.

Musing over your laugh that was like music to his ears, Jihoon almost didn’t feel something collide with his legs.

He snapped out of his thoughts and looked down to see a small boy, the same one that laughed with you a few minutes ago, looking up at him with large eyes.

“Oh excuse me,” Jihoon heard you say quickly to the man you were talking to before making your way over to him and the small boy.

Jihoon stared at you with an indifferent expression, trying to hide the sigh of relief when he looked over your shoulder at the man who shrugged his shoulders and walked off to a different area of the park.

The little boy tore his eyes away from Jihoon when you bent down to his level and looked him straight in the eye.

“Jonghwan, you need to watch where you’re going,” you said with stern tone, “You can’t go bumping into people like that.”

“Sorry, mommy,” the little boy pouted a little.

Jiyoung lifted her head off of Jihoon’s shoulder when

You took your son by the shoulders and turned him to face Jihoon, “What do you say?”

“Sorry, daddy,” Jonghwan looked up at his dad with large eyes.

A large smile stretched across Jihoon’s lips as he bent down and placed Jiyoung on the grass next to her brother.

“It’s okay, little guy,” he ruffled his hair, “Thank you for apologizing.”

Jonghwan sent him a bashful smile and coiled away from him, patting his hair down with his tiny hands.

Jihoon looked between his son and daughter, “Why don’t you two go play with the other kids? I need to talk to mommy.”

They nodded and Jiyoung took her younger brother’s hand in hers before running off to join the other kids their age.

“So,” Jihoon started as the two of you returned to a standing position and your kids were out of earshot, “Who was that?”

“Who was who?” you tilted your head to the side.

“You know,” he stared down at his feet, “That guy you were talking to.”

You stared at your husband in confusion for a few moments before realization set it and a snarky smirk appeared on your face.

“Were you … jealous?” you tried to contain your laughter.

“What?!” Jihoon shot his head up, “Why would I be jealous?! That’s crazy!”

You crossed your arms over your chest and gave him a look.

“Okay,” he sighed, “Maybe I was a little jealous.”

You dropped your arms back to your side and took a step closer Jihoon.

“Why?” you asked softly.

“Well, he was showing a lot of interest,” he mumbled.

“He was?”

“You didn’t notice?” he raised an eyebrow.

You shook your head.

“Of course you wouldn’t,” Jihoon let out a tired laugh and shook his head.

“But what do you have to worry about?” you asked, “Were you afraid that I would have a sudden change in heart that I would leave behind two amazing kids and one perfect husband and dad? Does that even make any sense?”

Jihoon opened his mouth to rebuttal but closed it when he realized how ridiculous he was being.

“I guess that does seem a little far fetched,” he bit his lip and let out a sigh.

“That’s what I thought,” you nodded and wrapped your arms around his neck, getting on your toes to place a simple kiss on his lips.

“Mommy! Daddy!”

The two of you pulled away and looked down to see your daughter and son running towards the two of you.

“It’s starting!” Jiyoung squealed and jumped into her father’s arms.

Jonghwan silently walked over to your side and grabbed onto your hand as he stared up at the black sky.

Everything seemed to go silent before a single boom echoed throughout the park. A burst of color suddenly lit up the sky, causing a chorus of Ooh’s and Ahh’s.

Jihoon looked over at you as you glanced at him. Smiles graced both of your lips when your eyes met.

“Happy New Year,” you smiled.

“Happy New Year,” he responded.

“HAPPY NEW YEAR!” your kids shouted at the top of their lungs as colorful explosions continued to light up the winter sky.