A/N: Thank you for all the support guys. I'm borrowing Harang, Sean & Hyeyoung's son dubbed as "Little Taeyang". ㅋㅋㅋㅋ~(*^﹏^*)

Dara sheepishly smiled at Youngbae, she thought she ought to get out of there. He was probably busy and frankly being alone in a room with him wasn’t an option she’d like right now.

“Appa? Did I miss any customers?” A little boy of 3 or 4 years old came out from behind the counter scratching his eyes sleepily.

“I suppose you're done with your you nap now huh?” Youngbae asked the little one with a smile. He turned to Dara whose eyes were questioning, “This is my son, Youngwoo. Youngwoo say hi to Auntie Dara.”

“Annyeonghasaeyo..” the little boy said quietly before bowing then disappearing behind Youngbae’s legs.

He looked so much like Youngbae; he even had the same hairstyle. You could’ve sworn it was him 20 or so odd years ago. Dara was startled by the fact that he had a son at such a young age. For some reason finding that out made her heart heavy.

She shook it off and crouched down to Youngwoo’s level braving a smile;

“What do you mean Auntie Dara? It’s nice to meet you Youngwoo, I’m Dara noona.”

“But appa said you’re an auntie?”

“Your appa was just kidding. Wasn’t he?” Dara said cocking an eyebrow at Youngbae. He stifled a laugh and crouched down himself, “Of course I was kidding. Youngwoo, should we close the shop and spend the afternoon with Dara noona?”

The little one nodded feverishly with a huge smile, “Okay, go and put your shoes on.” Youngbae said as excitedly.

Not that she had plans for the rest of the afternoon but hanging out with a stranger and his son wasn’t the first thing Dara would’ve thought of doing when she woke up. But there she was sitting on the swings with Youngbae as they were watching Youngwoo running around in the park playing with kids of the same age.

“He’s really cute.” Dara smiled.

“Thanks. I’d like to think it’s all thanks to my genes.” Youngbae joked.

“His mom left right after he was born. The day the doctor said they could go home was the same day she never came back.” He didn’t know why, but he felt like he owed Dara an explanation.

It’s not like she was in any position to have to know it nor was he forced to tell her, nevertheless the information to him seemed like something that had to be said. There was a calmative quality to her as soon as she had entered the shop, no words just her presence.

But by the silence that immediately followed; made him reassess why he said anything in the first place.

He was about to make light of things when he saw Dara looking at Youngwoo fondly while he was talking to a little boy handing him fistfuls of sand. That was the moment Youngbae knew he wasn’t wrong in telling her.

Typically when people find out about him being a single parent there were only two things in their eyes, sympathy or judgment, and Dara had neither. In hers she only had kindness.

“He asks about her sometimes and I show him pictures.” he said his eyes falling to the ground, he continued, “Do you think it’s bad that I wish he wouldn’t ask me about her anymore?”

“No. Of course you were hurt; it’s hard to not want, to not talk about it. Youngwoo’s lucky to have a dad who doesn’t mind the pain as long as he’s happy.” Dara said sincerely. Although she didn’t know what to do with what he told her and it had taken her aback by how personal it was, she admired Youngbae even more.

“That’s the thing. I’m scared that in the long run he won’t be happy with me anymore, that he’d rather want to be with his mom than settle for me.” This time it was Youngbae’s turn to be surprised, he’s never admitted this fear of his not to his parents, not even to himself.

“Don’t worry; I don’t think a kid who isn’t happy would smile and laugh like that. As long as you keep surrounding him with love like you do, he isn’t settling; he’s blessed.” Dara encouraged.

It was as though she was no longer talking to just a stranger.

“I’m kind jealous of Youngwoo. Ever since I was his age I never knew my parents, so even just having one would’ve been wonderful.”

There it was; that unspoken trust between them despite knowing each other for only an hour and half.

The conversation from then on was more cheerful with stories of Dara failing at the pottery class with the kids at the Foster Home so she ended up taking them to the amusement park instead. Youngbae told her of how Youngwoo cried on his first birthday because he dressed up as Pororo and the little boy couldn’t find his dad making him sad and scared. He may have possibly ruined the cartoon character for his son.

“Are you sure you don’t have any plans for the rest of the afternoon?” Youngbae asked, “We may end up holding you up because any minute now we’re gonna hear –”

“Appa! Appa! It’s ice cream time!” Youngwoo came running towards them and straight into Youngbae’s arms.

“Is Dara noona coming with us?” he asked as soon as his dad lifted him up. It was the second time puppy dog eyes were used on her but this time she didn’t feel coerced into saying yes. Although after spending time with Youngbae she was looking forward to going to the pub tonight.

“Of course I will.” Dara said affirmatively.

Youngbae’s phone suddenly began ringing so he put Youngwoo down and excused himself advising that they’ll head to the ice cream shop after he finished the call. Dara joked that if it was either Jiyong or Chaerin that she was still there and not missing.

“Noona, come here. Help me up the slide.” Youngwoo tugged her by her hand eagerly before running off again so she followed him. But half way there Youngwoo tripped and fell down making him burst into tears.

“Oh no! No, no, no. Youngwoo don’t cry.” Dara said standing him up and dusting him off. She saw that he had scrapped his knee. “It’s all right. It’s just a tiny cut.”

Then like impulse she did the first thing she knew to stop him from crying, she blew a raspberry at him. She followed it up with more funny faces and even a funny dance. Slowly a smile began reappearing on the little boy’s face and in the end the silly gestures were worth it because Youngwoo started laughing and squishing Dara’s cheeks.

Youngbae had come running when he heard Youngwoo crying, but he slowed down when he saw that Dara had everything in control.

“There. That wasn’t so bad now was it?” Dara pronounced placing a band aid on the just disinfected cut.

“Not bad. Do you always carry Kiiroitori band aids around?” Youngbae teased Dara holding Youngwoo in his arms, who was still sniffing. She nudged Youngbae a little then secured the child’s hat with a laugh; “A little trick I’ve learned at the Foster Home and before you ask, the dance plus the funny faces are included.”

The rest of the afternoon wore on even more comfortably and relaxed than either party anticipated. And after 2 vanilla ice cream sundaes and a banana split later Youngbae insisted that he and Youngwoo walk Dara back to the hotel. He’ll be dropping the little youngster off at his grandparents’ place a couple of blocks away anyway.

“Thanks for walking me to the hotel.” Dara said as soon as they had arrived at the hotel entrance.

“Are you kidding? I should thank you for hanging out with us. I guess I’ll see you later yeah?” Youngbae asked expectant.

When their eyes met the things that Dara had early on felt when she met Youngbae were suddenly coming back. The weightlessness, her fast heartbeats, her sweaty palms but it looks as if it wasn’t as scary as it was before. It felt like it was something that was just fitting; she nodded with a meaningful smile.

“Youngwoo say bye-bye to Dara noona.” Youngbae urged his son, who was on his back, to say farewell. The little one was tired by now which is why Youngbae gave him a piggy-back ride. Surprisingly he reached out for Dara indicating that she take him in her arms.

“You’re saying bye already?” Youngwoo asked with a pout. “Yes, I’m afraid I have to.”

“Bye-bye Dara noona. I’ll miss you.” said Youngwoo before giving Dara a kiss on the cheek and the best hug he could muster with his cute short arms. In the short amount of time, she has grown to care for the little ball of energy. Hearing him say he’ll miss her made her feel like her heart was about to burst with both happiness and guilt.

“Bye Youngwoo. I’ll see you soon.” She hugged him back and reciprocated with a kiss on his cheek as well. It was clear his son was attached and Youngbae knew he, himself, was too.

Then without warning a new fear bubbled inside of him. Youngbae with an apologetic and utmost sad expression scooped up a yawning Youngwoo from Dara;

“Please don’t make promises you can’t keep.”