Seunghyun sits at his desk, writing in his leather bound journal. There’s a gentle knock at the door and he knows who it is before she says anything. Chaerin is the only one who bothers to kock anymore, the other residents usually just barged in without warning. Hayi was the only other one who would knock sometimes but since she’s at school he knows it’s not her.

“It’s Chaerin,” She announces and he’s not surprised. “May I come in?”

“Go ahead.” He answers as the door slowly opens.

“Were you busy?” She asks when she sees him sitting at his desk.

“No, I wasn’t busy.” He closes his journal before putting it away to give her his full attention. She’s wearing a grey cardigan with a white shirt tucked into a denim skirt. “Oh, we’re matching today.”

Chaerin looks at him in surprise as he stands up. He’s wearing a grey sweater over a white collared shirt and a pair of jeans.

“I didn’t even know you owned a pair of jeans.” She laughs as she notices that they really are matching. “It’s the countryside but I’ve only ever seen you wear a suit.”

He’s been living in the house for over two weeks now. Though he’s not part of the family yet, everyone has gotten used to his presence. The meal times that used to unsettle him and make him uncomfortable had become his favorite times of the day. Being able to laugh and spend time with others had become precious to him. While he was living on his own he could go weeks without seeing another human being but now he couldn’t go an hour without someone knocking on his door or wandering into his room.

“If you’re not busy, would you like to go the market with me?” She asks as she absentmindedly plays with the hem of her sweater. “I need someone to help me carry the bags, Youngbae and Seungri are helping Mrs. Kim build a new chicken coop so they aren’t able to come along. I thought you might enjoy it since you’ve never been before.”

“Is Song Mino coming along?” Seunghyun wonders and Chaerin shakes her head.

“He’s probably out with his friends.”

“I’m not busy, I will go with you.” He offers casually but on the inside he’s excited to finally see the market.

He follows Chaerin out to the back of the house where the rusty old truck is parked. She gets into the drivers side and he gets in on the other side. He tries to close the door but it swings back open slowly.

“You have to really slam it,” She tells him as she leans over him, her body pressing against his as she slams the door shut.

He leans back in surprise at her contact and she goes back to her seat. He’s noticed that she doesn’t mind physical contact but it’s something that he’s not used to. She takes care of so many people that he guess it’s become nothing to her.

Chaerin puts the key in the ignition and the truck comes alive with a loud roar. She drives around onto the path leading to the main road and he watches her determined face in amazement.

“Do you know how to drive?” She asks after a long moment of silent.

“No, I never learned.” He answers. “I’ve always lived in big cities so I never had to know how to drive.”

“I had to learn fairly young.” She tells him and he can imagine why. “Actually, this one time my mother had taken the train to one of the bigger cities. I don’t know why but when she was there she impulsively bought a piano. I had to drive out to this city I had never been to before and pick up this piano and my mother and take them back to the country. That was before Youngbae and Seungri had even come to live with us.”

“Your mother is very beautiful, I’ve seen the picture that Lee seonsang keeps of her in his office.” Seunghyun comments as he watches the scenery around them. “I thought that she lived in Korea but she isn’t living in the house?”

“My mother is no longer with us.” She says quietly. Seunghyun looks at her before nodding in understanding.

“I’m sorry for mentioning it.”

“It’s fine.” She reassures him as she pulls up behind a small building and parks in a dirt lot. She takes out the key and hops down from the truck.

Seunghyun gets out of the truck and slams the door shut just as she had showed him. He looks startled as paint flicks off from the exterior, revealing rust and metal. Chaerin laughs at his surprised face.

“Don’t worry,” She tells him as she walks toward the market.

He follows behind her, holding onto a cloth bag that she fills with each stall she stops at. Each time they stop Chaerin has to introduce him to a curious ahjumma or ahjussi. A sweet smell reaches Chaerin’s nose and she notices a bungeoppang cart with steam rising into the air.

“Noona! Over here,” A boy calls out to her and Chaerin smiles as she walks up to him. Seungyoon turns to another boy putting dough into a cast iron fryer. “Mino hyung, look, it’s our noona.”

“Kang Seungyoon,” Chaerin greets happily as the pianist follows up behind her, looking at the bungeoppang curiously.

“Is this the man living with you now?” Seungyoon asks as he notices the older man and Chaerin nods.

“This is Choi Seunghyun,” She introduces as Mino hands them each a fish shaped pastry and she frowns at him. “Are you having fun, Mino-yah? Working hard here instead of at home.”

“I’m sorry for taking him away, noona.” Seungyoon says with a laugh. “I would send him back right away but it’s so nice not having to do all of the work.”

Seunghyun bites into his pastry and immediately jerks away, his face twisting funnily.

“Are you alright?” Chaerin asks in shock, wiping at the side of his mouth with a napkin. “Be careful, it’s really hot. You didn’t burn yourself, did you?”   

He shakes his head and she looks relieved. It’s strange being treated like a child when he’s nearly thirty years old but in a way it’s also nice. She doesn’t treat him like a man and just takes care of him the way a mother would. He wonders if she’s around too many men to see any of them as actual men. He watches as Chaerin reaches into her purse to pay the boy.

“No, noona, it’s on the house.” He tries to tell her but she shakes her head.

“I’m not going to steal from your business. Just take it.” She hands him the money and he takes it with a nod. “Song Mino, make sure to bring some home for everyone else at the end of the day. I’ll kill you if you aren’t home in time for dinner tonight, you crazy bastard.”

Seunghyun and Chaerin walk side by side as they eat their pastries.

“It’s good, isn’t it?” She asks him as he nods and eats the last bite, his fingers.

“I really admire that you’re so motherly.” He tells her and she looks at him curiously. “We don’t even know each other very well but you wipe my mouth like I’m a child.”

“I’m so sorry about that. It’s a habit,” She apologizes, looking embarrassed. “You seem like someone who doesn’t really like touching, I’ll try to be considerate of you in the future.”

“You don’t need to do that,” He says and immediately regrets it. She looks at him strangely and he waves his hands at her wildly as he shakes his head. “That’s not what I meant. I understand that it’s a habit so I don’t mind, I don’t want you to go out of your way to accommodate me. Just be comfortable.”

She covers a laugh with her hand at his overreaction.

“I’m alone a lot so it’s nice to be cared for sometimes.” He tells her as they head back to the truck but Chaerin stops suddenly. He looks up wondering what made her stop and sees two men.

“Ah, if it isn’t Lee Chaerin.” One of the men says happily as he loads supplies onto his truck. His friend helping him looks over at Chaerin and at Seunghyun behind her holding their bags.

“Kim Woobin.” She greets stiffly as she walks toward her truck.

“That skirt looks good on you, Chae!” He shouts after her. “I’ll miss seeing your legs when the weather gets colder.”

She helps Seunghyun put everything in the back of the truck, ignoring Woobin. They get back into the truck and she starts to drive away, her expression annoyed.

“Who were those men?” He asks her, noticing her less than happy face.

“The one with the eyebrows is Kim Woobin and his friend is Kwon Jiyong. Jiyong isn’t that bad but Woobin is actually the worst human being in the world.” She says with a sigh. She grumbles under her breath and he almost doesn’t hear her. “Kim Woobin acts like he would really love another punch to the face.”

Seunghyun laughs out loud as he realizes who Kim Woobin is and Chaerin smiles shyly as she drives back to the house.

When Seunghyun wakes up one morning it’s particularly cold and the light shining through the curtainless window seems brighter. He gets up to look out the window only to be amazed. The yard is covered in snow and the mountain is covered in snow as well. He touches the glass with his fingers in awe at the scene. He goes to get ready for the day and bumps into Chaerin in the hallway.

She’s wearing a coat with a scarf and ear muffs with her cheeks tinted cheek. She smiles brightly and he can tell that she’s already been outside.

“I was just about to wake you up.” She tells him. “Everyone is outside playing in the snow. I know that it’s childish but do you want to join us?”

“It’s not childish at all,” He says, almost offended. “I was just about to go outside myself so I will you join you all.”

She looks at him for a moment with a strange expression.

“Would you like to borrow my father’s snow boots? You don’t seem as if you would have any.”

“Ah, yes please. You’re right, I didn’t think to get any of my own.” He answers sheepishly.

She goes to get the boots and waits for him downstairs. When he comes down he’s wearing a coat and gloves with a scarf wrapped around his neck. She stops him and he looks at her in confusion as she runs back upstairs before bringing down a hat. Standing on the stairs so that she’s tall enough, she puts the hat on for him and she pats him gently on the head.

“Now you’ll be all warm and cozy.” She tells him with a smile. He’s learned to love her genuine and bright smile and the way her eyes crinkle into little crescent moons. No one has ever smiled at him like this, no one has ever made him feel as special as she does.

“Hyung!” Hayi yells for Chaerin as the door whooshes open.

“I’ll be there in a moment, Hayi.” She reassures the younger girl as she turns to look at Seunghyun with a mischievous smile. “I’ll race you!”

She turns to run out the door, slipping on her boots before she jumps out into the snow covered yard. Seunghyun follows after her but has difficulty putting on the heavy snow boots. Once he gets the boots on he goes outside but he doesn’t see her. He looks around but he can’t see anyone.

“Chaerin?” He calls out to her and suddenly feels something hit his chest.

Youngbae and Seungri hop out from behind the barn and start throwing snow balls. He tries to duck for cover but he continues to get hit until Chaerin appears. She throws snow balls from behind the side of the house, hitting Seungri in the head as he falls dramatically to the ground. Youngbae disappears again and Chaerin pulls Seunghyun down into hiding, crouching behind the firewood pile to strategize. They hear yelling and Hayi pops out on top of Youngbae’s shoulders throwing snowballs as Chaerin and Seunghyun attempt to retaliate. They run away laughing as they’re chased, getting pelted with snowballs until finally giving up.

Chaerin looks up from where she’s fallen on the ground to see Mino rolling a big ball of snow and goes to him.

“Are you building a snowman?” She asks curiously.

“What else would I be doing?” He asks as he pats the pile of snow.

The others join Mino in snowman building until there are six snowmen in the yard.

“Youngbae oppa, why is your snowman so tall?” Chaerin teases and he throws a handful of snow at her as she laughs.

Seunghyun looks at the snow family and smiles happily to himself. He doesn’t think he’s ever played like this, not even as a child.

When they get back inside the house, Seungri puts fire in the stove as they all gather around in blankets holding onto mugs of hot chocolate made by Chaerin. Chaerin sets up a clothes line across the room, clothing and socks clipped along the line to dry.

“Here,” Chaerin offers as she hands Seunghyun a thick flannel shirt. “I bought this for you a while ago at the market. It’ll be warmer than what you have now.”

“Thank you,” He says in surprise as he puts on the shirt.

Smiling to himself as he sits in his plaid flannel in front of wood stove, he wonders why he feels so warm even though the weather outside is so cold.

- - -

Author's Note: Hi! Thank you to everyone who has subscribed and commented, I really appreciate it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I really love writing about the cute family moments as Chae and Tabi start to get closer! Please leave a comment to let me know what you think of the story so far, I really look forward to reading them because they make me smile! xo