04 | The 4th Step

“Gaho, it’s time for your bath,” I said.

“Woof!” he barked, wiggling his tail in protest.

My child had always hated taking a bath, that filthy being.

He ran around the house and I followed suit trying to catch him but he was just too quick. He hid under the table, at the far end which is too far out of my reach. I tried to coax him gently to come out but he refused as he stared at me with his puppy eyes. After a few minutes of coaxing, I was beyond irritated.

Everyone knows how scary G Dragon is when he’s irritated.

“YAH KWON GAHO! COME HERE RIGHT NOW!” I yelled.

“Woof?” Gaho barked in uncertainty as he slowly came out from under the table.

“That’s a good boy!”

I scooped him up in my arms and brought him to the sink in the kitchen, the place where I had always bathed him. Since Gaho is a Sharpei breed, he has many wrinkles which needed extra time and dedication to wash. He’s lucky he’s got me as his daddy. God knows what would happen if SeungRi was his dad.

Now, that would be disastrous!

“Gaho, you want to know what happened with your future mommy yesterday?” I asked him.

“Woof?”

I told him all about the date and the pickup line that I said last night. Gaho was listening attentively, blinking rapidly as he wiggled his tail.

“So, she said, ‘Of course, Oppa’ and I was about to dance, Gaho yah! But then, she laughed and sang ‘To the left, to the left’. Get it? Get it? She was singing a Beyonce song!”

Gaho gave me a look.

“You don’t get it?” I shrieked as I scrubbed his back with the soapy sponge, “I asked her the direction to her heart and she sang a Beyonce song as a joke. Hahahaha. Oh, she’s so funny, Gaho-ah! She's playing hard to get.”

Gaho was still giving me a look.

“She’s going to be mine, Gaho. Don’t you try to underestimate your Daddy.”

After I rinsed him and patted him dry with a towel, I decided to call TaeYang to share the good news, just to annoy the hell out of him.

“What do you want?” he muttered in annoyance.

“Nothing. Can’t a guy call his bestie?!!” I said.

I heard TaeYang heaved a deep sigh before saying, “Knowing you JiYong, I know you call me just to annoy me! But nevermind, I guess I’m used to it. So, what’s up? What do you want to brag to me about ChaeRin this time?”

I told him all about the date and he was listening attentively. He’s back to becoming his old self; my sweet loving friend TaeYang. Then, after I had finished telling him, I heard some guys’ laughter in the background.

“Who are you with?”

“The hyungs, Teddy and Se7en.”

“What? You guys hang out without me?!!!”

“We thought you’d be busy with your girlfriend.”

“Whatever! That reminds me, I need to talk to Teddy hyung.”

There was some commotion in the background as TaeYang passed the cellphone to Teddy. Teddy was our senior and we had become friends after meeting him at a local songwriting competition.

“What’s up? What’s up? I heard you’ve got a girl?”

“Yup, she’s the baddest female Seoul city ever had. Hyung, what c