“Oppa, did you hear the single thing I say just now?” Hyemi stared at Taecyeon.

            “Yeah sure…” Taecyeon fiddled something on his phone.

            “Oppa!” Hyemi shrieked and snatched Taecyeon’s phone away.

            “What the…”

Hyemi looked at the screen only to find Taecyeon was looking at Khun’s pictures.

            “Don’t you think you’re being a little inconsiderate here?” Hyemi said almost tearing.

Taecyeon snatched his phone back and shoved it into his pocket.

            “You’re with me now oppa…why would you still looking at his picture?”

            “Hyemi ah…I just…”

            “Oppa, you’re not gay! Guys sometimes experiment with this kind of stuff…I get it…but please…two men just can’t be together…”

            “Neither can a man and a woman…” Taecyeon muttered.

Then…

            “What’s the commotion I heard from the back?” Taecyeon’s mom said and sat the table.

            “Nothing omonim…” Hyemi wiped her eyes.

            “Hyemi ah…are you crying?” she asked pulling Hyemi into a hug.

            “No omonim…it’s just dust…” she denied.

            “Ok Taecyeon! What have you done to this lovely girl?” His mom stared at Taecyeon.

            “It’s okay omonim…it’s not oppa’s fault…I was pestering him…and I guess I went overboard…”

Taecyeon got up and left the table.

*************************

            “Okay Khun ah…I’ve left the key on the table…thank you so much for doing this…” Mrs. Kwon said.

            “It’s okay…I’m glad that I could help…”

            “You’re an angel…” she tapped Khun’s cheek. “I’ll be back tomorrow night…”

            “Have a good trip Mrs. Kwon…”

            “Nae…” she smiled and get into her car.

It’s almost 3 o clock and most of the kids has gone home. Khun walked into the music room and saw little Minseo sitting by the windowsill looking outside.

            “Minseo ah…”

The girl turned around. Her pigtails swayed and she smiled.

            “Songsaenim…”

            “What are you still doing here?  Everyone is gone…” Khun crouched in front of her.

            “I’m waiting for my appa…”

            “Your appa? I thought your grandmother would pick you up…”

            “She’s busy…”

Then…

            “Minseo ah…” a male voice echoed from the front of the kindergarten.

            “Appa!” Minseo quickly ran out of the room.

Khun followed her footstep and then saw Minseo already in the hand of a young man.

            “Hi…” he said.

The guy was about Khun’s height, with brown short hair and he have the same set of eyes as Minseo.

            “Hi…I’m Wooyoung…Minseo’s father…”the guy extended his hand for a shake.

            “I’m Khun…music teacher here…”

            “Nice to meet you Khun ssi…” Wooyoung smiled.

The man in front of him is extremely good looking. He can’t help but checking out the fine specimen of human being displayed before his eyes.

            “Appa, I want ice cream…”Minseo said wrapping her tiny arms around Wooyoung’s neck.

            “Ice cream? Grandma will get mad if I give you ice cream….”

            “I won’t tell her…please…” she pouted.

            “Fine…you want to join us for ice cream?” Wooyoung asked.

            “It’s okay…I got a lot of work to do here…”

            “Maybe some other time then…say goodbye to your teacher Minseo ah…”

            “Goodbye songsaenim…”

Khun watched as the pair left.

That night…

Khun was at his usual spot at the pier drinking by himself.

          “Yes Vicky…I’m doing fine here…everything is great…why don’t you come for a visit? You do? Cool…I’ll be waiting…okay…I’ll talk to you again…bye…love ya…” he hung up.

            “I thought I saw someone familiar…”

Someone sat next to Khun.

            “Jeez!” Khun rubbed his chest. “You almost killed me just now…” he said still in shock.

Wooyoung smiled. He was on his way back from his mother’s restaurant when he saw someone at the small pier. He went closer and it was Khun, the man he met earlier at Minseo’s kindergarten.

            “I’m sorry Khun ssi…I didn’t mean to scare you like that...”

            “Thank god I don’t have heart attack or Minseo would have a new music teacher tomorrow…”

            “We wouldn’t want that to happen now would we?”

They laughed.

            “Minseo told me about her new pretty teacher...but I didn’t know it’s was a guy…” Wooyoung said swaying his legs over the ledge.

            “Sorry to disappoint you…want one?” Khun offered a can of beer to Wooyoung.

            “Thanks…”

            “No problem…”

            “So, I guess you’re not from around here…” Wooyoung took a sip of his drink.

            “Yeah…from Seoul actually…”

            “Cool…been there but nothing beat this small little town by the sea…”

Khun nodded.

            “It’s great here…so, what did you for living? There’s a few young people here…most of them fled to the big city…” Khun looked at Wooyoung.

            “Me? I worked at the local town hall…I used to managed a gallery in Seoul but decided to come home so I could get to see my daughter all the time and my mom is getting older to take care a 5 year old alone…”

            “Where’s your wife?”

            “No wife…had a partner but we broke up when I made the decision moving back here…couldn’t stand the idea leaving the big city…”

            “Sorry…I shouldn’t ask…” Khun apologize.

            “It’s okay…I get to see the real man that he is…”

            “Man? Your partner was a guy?”

            “Yeah…”

            “But you said Minseo was your daughter…was she adopted?”

            “Nope…” Wooyoung giggled. “She’s mine…I used surrogate…”

            “I see…”

            “What about you? What brings you here?”

            “Getting away from things I don’t want to see…” Khun said looking over the dark sea.

            “Really?”

They two of them sat on the pier talking through the night. Wooyoung found that they have several things in common and soccer is their favourite sport.

            “Thanks for walking home Wooyoung ssi…” Khun said as they arrived at his small rooftop house.

            “No problem…my house is on this way anyway…so, can we meet again next time?”

            “Sure…it was fun to hang out with someone of your own age…” Khun nodded.

            “Yeah…haven’t had this lot of fun talking…I hope we can be friends…”

            “Me too…”

            “I’ll be going then…good night…” Wooyoung waved and went down the narrow stairs.

The smiles plastered on Wooyoung’s face lay a few meaning that to be identified…but one thing for sure, he knew there’s a long bond of friendship is about to bloom soon.

Another update since the idea hit me!