Min Jeong’s POV

"Not working today?" I asked Seungho as I sipped on my drink.

"Nope." He smiled, feeding Aeri a little bit of cake.

"Is it yummy?" He asked her.

"Yummy!" She exclaimed.

"Aeri can have the whole slice!" I said, ruffling her hair.

Her eyes seem to light up at that.

"Baby, what did Appa say about sharing?" Seungho asked, tapping her cheek.

She pouted slightly, and then grabbed the fork from Seungho. She fed him a tiny bit of the cake, and then surprised me by feeding me some too. Afterwards, she grinned and pulled the plate towards herself.

I laughed at her cute actions. So, this is her form of sharing. She is not wrong, technically. Seungho asked her to share, and she sure did. It is just not equal sharing, but he did not talk about that either.

"You taught well." I giggled at Seungho.

"I cannot tell if this is an insult or compliment." He said, making faces at me.

I shrugged my shoulders.

"It is what you want it to be." I said.

He sighed and kissed Aeri on her temple.

"Why are you so cute?" I heard him say.

"Because her father is cute." I blabbered out.

"What?" He asked, eyes widened.

"Noth... nothing!" I said hurriedly, looking away.

From the corner of my eye, I could see him smile.

"Aeri's cuter though." I muttered.

"That goes without a saying." He said, wiping gently.

"CAKE!!" Aeri exclaimed, raising her fork suddenly, almost jabbing it into Seungho's nostrils.

"Be careful, girl!" I caught her hand.

I instantly regretted my tone of voice when she stared at me with eyes widened.

"I... I..." I stuttered.

"OPPS!!!" She chuckled, and then looked up at Seungho who was a grinning mess.

"Eat up, baby~" He said, smoothing her hair.

"Don't worry, she's a happy girl, even when scolded." He said.

"I didn't mean it." I mumbled.

"I didn't say you did." He said.

He let Aeri sit on her own to feed herself.

"So... you're not working today?" I asked, trying to start a conversation but I had no idea it would sound so awkward.

"Took a day off from the cafe to spend time with her." He said, looking at her with loving eyes.

"How sweet~" I commented.

He smiled, his cheek turning a light shade of pink.

"How about you?" He asked.

"Me? What about me?" I asked.

"How come you're here on a weekday? No work?" He asked.

I shook my head.

"Day off too?" He asked.

"If you count this as a day off, then yea~" I said, showing him my bag of medicine.

"You're sick?" He asked.

"Not dying kind of sick, but yea." I smiled awkwardly.

"And you're still planning on working?" He asked, eyeing my laptop. How sharp; his eyes.

"I can only stop working when I die, or perhaps even when dead, people would be asking stuff from me. Hahaha~" I laughed, but he did not.

"Don't die." He said softly.

"Of course not. Not yet. I mean, we all would die, somehow, someday, right?" I asked.

He nodded.

"What is this talk about dying!!" I exclaimed, trying to change the subject.

"Nom nom!" Aeri raised her fork.

"Yes, nom nom~" I smiled at her, wiping the corner of her lips.

Seungho was a smiling mess.

"Proud father eh?" I .

He shrugged his shoulders, still grinning.

"Who wouldn't be proud of an angel like her." I said, watching her savor the sweet goodness.

"Indeed." He muttered.

We continued talking about random stuff while watching Aeri eat the slice of cake, occasionally feeding us just a tiny bit of cream.

"Oh no!" Seungho exclaimed out of a sudden.

"What!? What!?" I asked, surprised

Aeri looked up at him quizzically too.

"I forgot about my shopping cart in the supermarket!" He said worriedly.

"Have you paid for the stuff yet?" I asked.

He shook his head.

I rolled my eyes at him. Is he really worried over something so minor!?

"We should go eh?" He shook Aeri's arm.

"Noooo~ Eat cake!" She pouted.

"Let the girl eat!" I smacked his hand.

"But my shopping cart?" He asked.

"It'll still be there, or else, we'll take it again!" I said.

"But it's so rude." He mumbled.

I laughed and shook my head. What is wrong with this man?

***
We finally headed back to the supermarket because Seungho could not stop mumbling about how irresponsible it is to make the workers at the supermarket put everything back on his behalf and that how the shopping cart was an obstruction and blah blah blah~

Even Aeri was annoyed with her father's constant mumbling that she slapped her palm over his mouth to shut him up. It was rude of her to do that to the man that she calls Appa, but it was so damn cute I could forgive her actions, and besides, he really needed that, someone just had to be the one to do it.

I pushed Aeri in another cart, 'flying' her all over the supermarket while Seungho did his serious groceries shopping.

"Look at your Appa~" I whispered to Aeri as I pointed at Seungho who was engrossed in staring at the chickens.

"What do you think he is doing?" I asked as I watch him stick his head into the freezer, looking at the chickens a little too closely.

Aeri giggled, shrugging her shoulders.

"Maybe trying to use telepathy with the chicken in hope it will tell him if it is fresh or not." I said.

Aeri laughed, as though she understood me.

"Let's go pull him out before he freezes his head." I said, going towards him.

"What in the world are you trying to do?" I asked, pulling him up.

"Huh?" He looked at me, confused, holding two chickens in his hands.

"Are you trying to make Seungho-pops?" I asked.

"Seungho-pops?" He asked.

"Well, I cannot understand why would anyone want to stick their head into the freezer if not for the reason of freezing themselves." I said.

"I was thinking which to buy!" He raised both hands, holding the chickens.

"I told you~" I muttered to Aeri.

She chuckled, covering cheekily.

"Told what?" Seungho asked.

"None of your business. Continue talking to your chickens, but don't stick your head into the freezer, please~" I laughed as I pushed Aeri away.

When I turned back to look, he was still engrossed in the chickens.

"Aren't your Appa cute?" I asked, pinching her cheek lightly.

"Aeri cute!!" She exclaimed.

"HAHAHAHA! Aigoo~ Is someone jealous? Nothing to be jealous about. Aeri is of course the cutest!" I said, kissing her on her chubby cheek.

"I want to bite you!!" I grabbed onto her wrists gently, pretending to want to bite her.

We continued playing around the supermarket while Seungho did serious stuff.

"I could hear the both of you from the other end." He commented when he came to us.

"Really?" I asked, poking Aeri, earning laughter from her.

"Look at you~" He smiled lovingly at her while wiping away the perspiration from her forehead.

"Are you ready to go?" I asked.

"Yup." He said.

I took a glance at his cart.

"Only these?" I asked, surprised.

Inside the cart was just a packet of vegetables, cereal, waffles and some baby biscuits.

"You took so long just to get all these?" I asked.

He shrugged his shoulders.

I smacked myself inwardly for speaking so insensitively.

"Then... where's the chicken?" I asked.

"No chicken." He said.

"Alright, let's go then." I said.

While checking out his items, he was staring at the price indicator.

"15,000 won" The cashier said.

"15...?" He muttered, looking into his wallet.

I pulled out two 10,000 won notes and handed it to the cashier.

"Hey!" He grabbed my wrist.

"Pay me later! I need the small change anyway." I said, pulling away from his grip.

He looked at me, not saying anything.

“I could pay for it on my own.” I heard him mumble when we headed out.

“Sorry, what?” I asked.

“I said, I could have paid for it on my own.” He said.

“I said, I needed the small change.” I said.

But in fact, I took a glance at his wallet and noticed that he did not have much money left. I guess the reason why he bought so little was not because he had nothing to buy, but because the pricing in supermarkets is indeed slightly higher than usual.

“I may be poor, but I could afford to feed both myself and Aeri. There’s no need for pity. We don’t need that.” He said harshly.

“I don’t mean it that way.” I said, taken aback by his statement.

He looked a little confused for a moment.

“I really don’t.” I said.

“Sor… sorry. I just…” He mumbled.

“It’s fine!” I smiled, smacking him on his arm.

He jumped a little, but let out a small smile.

“I just don’t like the feeling of being looked down on, although I understand you don’t mean it that way.” He said.

“I’ll never be able to look down on you. Only you can do that.” I said.

“Eh?” He looked at me, confused.

“Because you’re much taller than me. I can’t even see the top of your head!” I tiptoed.

He looked at me with a blank expression.

“Not funny?” I asked awkwardly.

“Gosh~” He mumbled, looking away to giggle.

“Aye~!!” I shoved his shoulder.

“You need to work on being funny.” He commented.

“I know, right!” I laughed.

“Where’s Aeri?” He asked suddenly.

We looked around to find the girl seated on the floor, looking at us.

“Sweetheart! What are you doing on the floor?” Seungho asked.

“Aeri tired!” She stretched out her legs, pouting.

“Aigooo~ Tired already?” Seungho laughed as he carried her up.

“Little Princess is tired?” I asked, poking her cheek.

Seungho looked at her, and then kissed her on her lips. I could only stare at them enviously.

“Come on, I’ll send you guys back.” I said.

“Send?” Seungho asked.

“I drove today.” I said.

“Drove?” He asked, sounding surprise.

“I drive safely, I assure you that!” I said.

“I know, but just…” He muttered.

“Come on! It’s on the way. I live near you, anyway~” I said.

“We do?” He asked.

“Yes.” I smiled.

“CAR!!!” Aeri exclaimed when she saw the car.

“I don’t have a baby seat, so I guess it’s safer if you sit behind with Aeri.” I said.

“Okay.” He nodded obediently.

The moment he let Aeri down, she started jumping all over the seat excitedly.

“Aeri! NO!” He yelled.

“It’s okay! Let her!” I said.

“She’ll destroy your car.” He said.

“A car is just a mode of transport to me. But perhaps, she might remember having so much fun for the rest of her life.” I said.

He looked at me as though I am mad.

“Go on in!” I pushed him into the car, laughing at his expression.

On the way back, Aeri seemed to be fascinated by everything happening outside. She kept blabbering to the point Seungho did not bother to respond to her anymore. All he did was smile and nod. Aeri got tired awhile later. She crawled onto Seungho’s lap and fell asleep.

“Asleep already?” I asked.

“Yea~” He smiled, smoothing her hair.

“Babies~” I said.

The rest of the ride was quiet. I looked at him through the mirror occasionally and realized he did not stop smiling.

“Thank you for the ride.” He said softly as he got out of the car, cradling Aeri in his arms.

“Let me help you.” I said.

“I’m good. No worries.” He said.

“Alright. Go on up.” I waved to him.

“Thank you.” He said again.

“Got it. Go, go~” I said.

Just as I was about to wind up the window, he turned back.

“Yea?” I asked.

“I… erm…” He his lips.

“You?” I asked.

“I’ll be going back to work at the carnival tomorrow.” He said.

“What?” I asked, looking at him in shock.

“I’ll be going back to work at the carnival. Tomorrow.” He repeated.

“Oh. I see.” I nodded.

“Just letting you know. I mean… I don’t know why. But yea~ Bye.” He said hurriedly before heading off.

I felt a pang in my heart thinking back at his words. Going back to the carnival means all that ridiculous torture would start again. Why, Seungho? Why?