“And this…” the teacher wittered on, “is a painting by Pablo Picasso, a contemporary artist and you can notice…”

Haru was in the museum with all her classmates as part of a field trip. She didn’t know why some old artifacts were important, they were nothing but dusty old things. But her teacher had really insisted for them to go. Haru liked school because she was with other kids and she liked drawing and learning new things. But she didn’t like fieldtrips because it was always a challenge for her. She was a shy girl and being in a public place without her mother was scaring her the most even if she liked her teacher.

They had been there for 30 minutes and Haru was already starting to fall asleep. She saw a bench and sat down because she was so exhausted from standing up listening to her teacher for so long. When she woke up she looked up suddenly, an alarm going off in her head, it was unusually quiet and she noticed she was the only one in the museum.

She was lost. And she didn’t have any clue where she was. The museum was far from her school and they had to take a bus to head to it. She didn’t know this part of the city. The time was running and she was sure the bus will leave if she didn’t find her way soon. She tried to find some guards but every time she was too shy to speak to them. She rushed outside to see if the bus had left and unfortunately for her, it wasn’t there anymore. They hadn’t wait for her. She sat silently on the stairs of the museum and thought deeply. She only had one solution she thought, finding her way into the big city by herself to join her mother at her work.

But the buildings were so tall! She could hardly see the tops of them, and had to stretch her neck and tilt her head far back to look all the way up. A man in a suit almost knocked her down, he gave a quick look to see if she’s okay and then walked back. Her heart pounds and she throws her gaze everywhere looking for a familiar face of a familiar place she could go. She walked on the sidewalk pushed by busy people not even bothering about her. Then she saw a park and immediately walked in avoiding the stream of people.

Usually she loved the swings. Her mom could get her to go so high she felt she was flying. She also loved the sandbox. She loved the feel of the sand as it fell through her fingers even though her mom told her not to get too dirty. But it wasn’t the same without mommy.

She had walked for what seemed like forever, though it was only about 15 minutes at the most, before her eyes started to develop tears. She rubbed her eyes, trying to deny the tears that started to fall down her pale cheeks. She slumped against a tree wiping her eyes and trying to calm down.

“Yah calm down Gaho!” I shouted as I tried to contain Gaho’s excitement at the entrance of the park.

I loved my morning runs. I always ran the short lane. I first stretched feeling my muscles getting warmer by the second and then I started the real run. The park was silent, there was nothing but the sound of my feet on the pavement and Gaho’s panting. This day I ran for about 35 minutes.

I stopped at the nearest bench. I reached up to take off my cap and wipe the sweat off my forehead as it began to run into my eyes. I got my bottle of water and drank half of it. I let Gaho drink the rest from the palm of my hand.

Then all of sudden, I heard the shrill cry of a little girl and looked in the direction the sound was coming from. He walked towards the sound and as I got behind the tree a pair of hazel eyes shoot straight up at me. The two of us held each other’s gaze for a moment, both wondering what to do next.

The girl was maybe three of four years old and looking extremely lost. She was sat back leaned against the tree. It didn’t look like there was anyone around to claim guardianship of her. I would be a really cold-hearted to let her alone now that I had seen her.

I crouched down reluctantly to her level and swallowed hard. I gently put my hand on the kid’s shoulder and asked, “Hey, are you lost?”

She looked up at me with her big watery brown eyes and nodded her head.

“Fine… Hum, we should look for your mum then.” I say in a very motherly tone, where the did that come from?

“No, mommy is working.”

“Then how did you come here?” I tried to find out what was wrong.

“I was at the museum with my school but I lost them.” The little girl started crying again and the seriousness of the matter hits me. I looked at Gaho that seemed to be oblivious to what was going on. I looked back at the little girl and sighed

“Hey…” Oh yeah I hadn’t asked her name. It’s a little late now. I couldn’t just call her “little girl”. What do kids like to be call? Honey? Sweety? Kiddo? Yeah, kiddo. My dad used to call him that all the time. “Hey kiddo? Where’s your school?”

“I don’t know…” the little girl was gasping for breath as she sobbed again making me even more panicky

Suddenly, the little one fell forward into me crying into my chest grabbing tightly my shirt with her little hands. It was becoming complicated for me. I liked kids well enough but I had very limited experience with them. A good number of my friends had kids now but aside from my little nephew I was just seeing for Christmas I had little interaction with them. I put sheepishly my arms around her and tried to soothe her my best.

“Calm down, everything will be alright.” I said as I rubbed her back my eyes looking around quickly and I suddenly found an idea.

“Hey do you like dogs? This one is mine, his name is Gaho. He’s the kindest dog I ever I saw and the laziest too.” I smiled pointing at Gaho who was sitting next to us silently since the beginning.

The little girl looked around at Gaho and she tried to wipe the tears rolling down her face as she was still in my arms. Gaho who had heard his name came closer to us but then the little girl seemed to be afraid as she hide her face into the corner of my neck. This dog liked kids, it always took me all my strength to force him not to go play with kids when we would hang up in parks like today. As if I was already too old for him!

“Look, you can touch him” I show her as I patting his head

The little girl blinked and stared at Gaho again before slowly reaching over. It flinched and withdrew a little but she held her hand midair. She slowly but surely made her way over and finally scratched Gaho on his head. She smiled when she saw Gaho started pushing back against her hand.

It was the first time I saw her smiling. I didn’t know I would be stupidly in love with a beautiful doll of a girl with porcelain features, deep dark hair and bright big eyes. Good job Gaho.

“Do you like dogs?”

The child pursed her lips and nodded,

“Yes, but mommy doesn’t want me to have one.” She whispered keeping scratching Gaho’s head. This one was really enjoying as he tried to her hand several times. He at least reached enough to the little girl’s face making her laugh.

“Gaho seems to like you too. By the way, my name is Jiyong. Kwon Jiyong.” I smiled and extended my hand.

The girl looked at the extended hand and up at me. After a moment she slapped my hand playfully.

“Great. So… We really should find your way back. Do you know where you live?”

“I don’t know but mommy wrote it here!” the little girl declared as she took off her bag from her back and show a little notice on it.

That was probably the first thing I should have done. Looking in her bag. Sometimes my brilliance amazed me. So did my ability to direct sarcasm at myself.

My eyes widened as I read the notice.

“Oh… You’re lucky because I perfectly know this place. I live in the same building!” I exclaimed

What a coincidence! Well, it had just been a week since I had moved in this building with Gaho and Seungri because it was closer to my actual job and way way less expensive than my last apartment. But I had never seen this girl before.

“You could stay at my apartment until your mother comes back, don’t you think?” I stood up keeping a tight grip on Gaho’s leash so he doesn’t do a runner.

The little girl nodded again. She put her hand trustingly inside of mine and stood up. Gaho seemed frustrated that the little girl had stopped playing with him and barked loudly.

This was quite possibly one of the most surreal experiences of my life. For the first time in my life, I was taking care of a child.

“Fine… You can remove your jacket… and your shoes and sit on the sofa if you want. I’m sorry my apartment is a total mess! It’s my roommate, Seungri, he’s such a brat!” I stammered as I finally freed Gaho from his leash.

I glanced at the living room. , it was a total mess! There was junk mail and bills that I didn’t have money to pay piled high on the table along with coffee cups, beer cans and cereal bowls from last week. I quickly picked up the dirty dishes and trash and dropped everything in the sink of the kitchen. Well, I would let Seungri clean all of this later.

 “By the way, what’s your name?” I asked coming back from the kitchen as I took of my cap and shook my blue hair with my hand

“My mommy told me not to tell my name to strangers. Because strangers can be mean.” The little girl mumbled looking down at her shoes

“But I’m not a stranger anymore right? My name is Jiyong, I live in the same building as you, I’m single, leaving with Gaho. I love music and food… You know everything about me now!” I sat next to her on the sofa

“No, I don’t know everything about you!” she pouted looking at me from the corner of her eyes. She didn’t seem to be that excited to be with me anymore.

“Then what else do you want to know then?”

“I don’t know…” she pucker her brows looking for a question, “Why your hair is blue?”

Kids always had weird questions really! But I understood her, it wasn’t really usual to see men with blue hair in the streets!

“I dyed them, actually my hair is dark just like yours.” I explained grinning and tilted my head toward her to show her

“Like mine?”

“Yep. I tried blue but I’m not really satisfied with it. Which color should I try?” I asked

“Blond.” The little girl said straightly

“Why?” I frowned at her sudden answer

“Because my mother dyed her hair in blond.”

“What does your mommy look like?” I asked curiously trying to get some information on her mother. Maybe I had already seen her in the building.

The little girl started to frown and her nose crinkled.

“Hum… She… Is pretty!”

Wow, that narrowed it down, not to self never ask a small child to give a description of their mother.

“Fine. It’s almost time for lunch, what do you want to eat?” I asked as I ransacked my brain for any simple recipe to work on.

I wasn’t really a good cook. I either ate at my work or bought some instant food. I had never had someone to take care like a child so I had never cooked for someone in my life.

“I want French fries! And lasagna! And meatloaf! And…” I smiled at the little girl’s cheerful reaction

“All for lunch?” I interrupted the little girl who seemed to list all her favorite dishes.

“I know! I want ramen!” she finally declared excited

“Good, I’m the king of ramen!” I stood up fiercely

Ramen was easy to make right?

One hour after…

I looked intently at the girl who was sat in front of me at the table of the kitchen. It took me almost an hour to cook what the little girl had asked me to do but I did wonder whether I did okay or not. Unfortunately not. The little girl suddenly formed a frown, as she, with difficulty chewed on the noodles.

“What’s wrong?” I was worried

“It tastes… Bad.” The little girl grimaced

I arched an eyebrow, my pride was a bit hurt by her sudden comment. I took the bowl from her, took some noodles with my baguettes and stuffed it into my mouth. It tasted normal. Until I chewed and the hidden taste of my cooking burst out. Ramen surely did not taste this salty!

“What are we going to eat? My tummy is already making noises!” the little girl whined

“Fine…” I put the rest of our meal in the sink and took my phone, “Do you like pizza?”

Thirty minutes after…

Indeed, I ordered a pizza for the both of us and we ate it while watching tv in the sofa. Well, even if I had failed making ramen I found it quite easy to take care of a child. These little things are actually simple to understand. All you have to do was giving them food and a tv screen. Indeed, the little girl was silent and seemed engrossed by the tv.

“How old are you?” I finally asked looking at her as she was sitting next to me

“I’m four years old. And you?” She stated still looking at the tv screen

“I’m 27 years old.” I told her as she asked.

“You’re old.”

My eyes widened. I was silent for a moment, my mouth working like I wanted to speak but not sure how to form words. She hurt my ego again!

“Really? You think I’m old?” I forced a smile

Okay, I wasn’t a teenager anymore. I was an adult but I wasn’t old old, right? I was athletic, I barely had any winkles and surely I didn’t have grey hair! I tried to comfort my ego thinking that I still had some success with girls even if it happened that they preferred young dudes over me!

“Yes, mommy is 24 years old. She’s still young.”

“Aish, this kiddo…” I released a small breathy laugh, “I may be old but it means I have a lot of experiences you don’t have!”

“Like what?” the little girl raised an eyebrow in question

“I can… Play guitar for example!” I smirked as I stood up and headed to my room leaving the little girl without any clue

I came back with my guitar and sat on the edge of the sofa.

“What do you want me to play?” I asked adjusting the guitar onto my left leg.

“Haru Haru by Bigbang. I like the song!”

“Fine!” I smiled as I knew it perfectly

Indeed, I was the one who wrote it six years ago. I had been a song writer since a while, it was my actual job and Haru Haru was actually the first song I’d written. I used to be a singer first as I really didn’t know what to do in life and haru Haru was my first song but one day as I performed it in a small bar people from the staff of the music label YGE heard it and I signed a contract with them as a sonwriter. Haru Haru became a record hit and I, I continued writing songs for artists. Simple as that. Even if I always dreamed I was the one singing these songs.

I started to pick out the chords moving through the quick notes slowing down at parts to let the vibrations fill the room with a sound. I looked at the little girl who was staring at the guitar with bright eyes. She was fascinated by the sound which was coming from the guitar. It looked like she liked music too as she was tilting her head in rhythm with the song.

I played other songs for the little after Haru Haru, most where songs I had written for famous bands. But of course the little girl didn’t know it.

“Teach me!” she said simply as I finished the last song a few minutes later.

“It takes a long time, Kiddo. It took me five years to even get the chords right. You’re way too young to learn anyway. Your hands are too small.”

“My hands are not small!” she pouted crossing her arms on her chest

“You’re too small!” I argued back with a bright smile

“I’m not!”

“Yes you are!”

“No, I’m not!”

“You are!”

“Stop being childish!” the little girl finally pouted

I whined, “Fine, fine. It’s almost six o’clock. I think we should start to head to your apartment to find your mother!” I pointed at the clock in the kitchen.

I helped the little girl to put on her shoes and her jacket back on her and I picked her up and left the apartment.

The little girl’s apartment was just the next floor up so I took my time in the stairs. Arrived in front of the apartment I knocked at the door, but no one answered. I frowned. Maybe her mother was still on her way I thought. I didn’t know the office hours as I rarely went in an office but well I supposed she would be here at six. The little girl was still in my arms. She even seemed to be sleepy as she rested her little head on my shoulder. She didn’t look panicky unlike me.

Indeed, what to do if the mother didn’t reappear? Should I take the girl with me for the night?

“What on earth do you think you’re doing with my child!” I suddenly turned around and I met with an extraordinary catlike eyes on an extremely pissed of woman. The little girl wriggles from my grip and ran towards the pissed off blonde.

“Mommy!” the little girl shrieked as her mother scooped her peppering little kisses on her face.

“What are you doing here Haru, you should be with Dara unni!!” the blonde said looking seriously at the little girl.

Haru, what a cute name. It suited her as well. It’s got a cute little girl sense to the name… If that doesn’t sound creepy. I was broke from my train of thought by the pissed off blonde’s words.

“I’m going to ask you again! What on earth were you doing with my child!”

Damn this blonde was feisty, it’s kinda hot. Her blonde hair was up in a ponytail and she was wearing a white shirt and a black skirt.

“Excuse me? While you were at work I was looking after your child making sure that she found her mother safely!” I snapped back but her eyes narrowed

Wow easy Jiyong, this girl could kill you with her feline eyes! Just as the blonde was about to say something the little girl, named Haru, beat her to it.

“Mommy, Yong-Yong and his dog helped me find you. I was lost in the museum this morning. I tried to find our home then he found me.”

The little girl finished her sentence with the biggest grin ever. Yong Yong? So it was her surname for me? I usually hated surnames but well I could make an exception for Haru. Moreover I have to admit, that smile warmed my so called cold heart that people remark on me.

I looked at the blonde and she seemed to have the same though. The little girl was right saying her mom was pretty, in fact she was ven gorgeous. I couldn’t pick out one flaw about her. Oh god shut up Jiyong your brain was turning to mush!

“Fine. Look, I’m sorry I snapped at you. But you don’t understand how scared I was when I saw Haru in the hands of some men.” She paused and looked at Haru with a stern look, Haru looked away and bowed her head in shame, “It’s just it’s not the first time she’s gone missing. Thank you.”

I looked at her, trying to think of words to say to her. God, why does she make me so nervous for crying out loud.

“You’re welcome.” You’re welcome? You’re welcome? Are you serious Jiyong that’s all you can say? I cleared my throat and tried to salvage what was no doubt a terrible first impression.

“I’m Jiyong by the way. I just moved in this building last week with my friend Seungri.” I patted the back of my neck uneasy

“He has a dog too mommy!” Haru interrupted me excited

I chuckled and bite my lip in thought. She really liked Gaho!

“Yeah, it’s an honor to meet you miss…” I trailed off purposefully wanting to know the name of this mysterious blonde. Not that I was curious.

But she gave me a look that all too clearly said Really?

I shrugged. Yup. I knew it was a very old cheesy strategy to get her name but it was the only solution I had found!

Finally, she answered, “Chaerin. Lee Chaerin.”

Cute I thought. My lips splited into a huge grin. I must look like an idiot right now.

“I hope we’ll see each other more often. I-I mean as your neighbor of course!” I mentally slap myself. Jesus Jiyong you sound like a fog horn!

We stared at each other for another long moment and I found myself thinking that I could get lost in her eyes for forever. Her eyes were mysterious and held me captive. My gaze drifted briefly to graze across her high cheekbones and little nose then down to her lips that just begged to be tasted and treasured. I gulped. She was the first to look away.

Jesus what the hell was that? I’d never even been hit so hard with a single look before.

“Maybe.” She cleared , “Thank you again Mr. Kwon. Let’s go Haru now!” she opened her door and took her daughter with her

Haru turned to leave before calling out,

“Bye Yong Yong!” she waved at me

“Bye Haru!” I smirked at her.

This was the most surreal experiences of my life and it may be the best after all. I realized I liked taking care of children. Well, especially Haru.

So Haru met Jiyong and particularly loved Gaho. And Jiyong met a protective badass mother (well I would act like her if I was seeing my child with a punk like Jiyong XD). Chaerin will surely forget this little incident but she doesn't know that she made a good impression on her new neighbor. Worst, Haru has already decided to see him again!

See what happen in the next chapter!

Chu ~~

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