Choi Young Do was in severe pain. He was lying on his back, in the middle of an empty playground, under the bright sunshine of a late summer sun that had him squeezing his eyes shut and he could feel every muscle on his back protesting under the strain that he had subjected it to. His elbows had connected unceremoniously with the solid ground, jarring all his nerve endings, all the way to the crown of his head. The combined impact of the fall and the pain, that had been a direct result of the same, had made it difficult for him to breathe. He lay there trying to catch his breath, using both his nose and mouth. But in spite of his miseries, his mind recognized the significance of the moment. Sunny was laughing like a loon, clearly enjoying Choi Young Do’s humiliating fall. This was the first time ever that he had heard Sunny laugh. He was sure that even his mother hadn’t been privy to such joyous noise in a while.

Feeling a little in control of his aching body, Choi Young Do slowly sat up and adjusted his pupils to focus on the boy standing a little distance away, almost doubling over in laughter. Only children could derive such pleasure from somebody’s ignominy, especially if it was an adult. The adults do it too but they don’t express it. Oh! To be young and carefree like that again, Choi Young Do lamented in his mind. He decided to see if he could tease the child a little.

“Yah! What’s so funny?” He shouted, careful to sound offended rather than angry.

“You looked….like….an overturned…..cockroach.” Sunny managed to speak between bouts of laughter, which went on even after the sentence was finished.

“Yeah, of course, now you would laugh. Of course, you would laugh your off to see me fall and make a fool of myself. You mischievous imp, you are your father’s son alright. No doubt about it.” Choi Young Do muttered to himself under his breath.

He got up slowly and began to test for any serious damage anywhere. Finally, Sunny stopped laughing and started walking towards him. Belatedly, Choi Young Do remembered his phone and checked its condition. He was dismayed to find that his phone had suffered the worst in the tumble that he had taken since it was in his back pocket. There was a big dent on the back and the screen was cracked. His instinctive reaction was to rush to get a replacement handset. His life revolved around his communication tool, it was his lifeline to the business even though he filtered the number of people, who had exclusive access to his number. He only noticed Sunny when he came to stand before him, holding the soccer ball in the crook of his arm. He looked up at Choi Young Do and for the first time, asked a direct question.

“Are you hurt?” Sunny sounded absolutely sincere and perhaps just a little concerned.

Choi Young Do was speechless at the sudden string of miracles that were taking place right before his eyes in broad daylight, involving the painfully shy and withdrawn boy. He looked at the phone in his left hand and said honestly, “No. But I think my phone died.”

Unimpressed at the plight of the expensive, top of the line phone, Sunny touched a tentative and gentle hand to Choi Young Do’s bandaged palm and asked softly, “Does it hurt here?”

And the one thought that flashed across Choi Young Do’s mind was, “Yep, and you are your mother’s son too.”

However, he could only shake his head in response to Sunny’s question to indicate that his injured palm was fine. Sunny nodded in understanding and immediately his face cleared and lit up with a smile. He carefully took hold of Choi Young Do's wrist above the injured palm and tugged, “Then let’s play again.”

Choi Young Do resisted a bit to see how far the child would go. The boy smiled up at him and showed his dimples in all its glory, putting some force into his pull on Choi Young Do’s wrist. When that did not work, he seemed to remember something from his past encounters with Choi Young Do and put it to work.

“Please, can we play again?” Sunny said with a side order of dimples and smile.

Choi Young Do chuckled at the charm overload. He was going to be a successful man with the ladies too. Choi Young Do nodded at him as Sunny ran ahead with a ‘whoop’. Soon they were playing again, though Choi Young Do did not indulge in any risky moves anymore. He was merely pushing the ball around to give the child a lot of play. Soon, a trickle of children started to pour into the park and some of them stared at their game from the sidelines. Choi Young Do waited till Sunny noticed them too and looked at him uncertainly.

“Do you want to ask them to join?” Choi Young Do opened the conversation.

Sunny seemed unsure, torn between his shyness and eagerness for company. Choi Young Do didn’t want to force him but at the same time he knew he needed a push. The ball was at his feet, so he quickly kicked it over to where the children were gathered. Sunny’s eyes followed the ball’s path and he looked at Choi Young Do again.

“Go get the ball Sunny. And ask them if they want to play.” He said in a casual tone.

Sunny finally started walking and then running towards the ball. A boy from the sideline ventured to kick the ball softly towards Sunny before he could reach the ball. Sunny stopped the ball and then seemed to speak to the other child. He got a nod in response, which must have bolstered his confidence because he side stepped the other boy and spoke to the rest of the group behind him as well. The other boys seemed eager but just a tad shy themselves. Sunny looked back at Choi Young Do, who still stood where he was originally and was keenly observing the exchange. Then Sunny, to the utter surprise and pride of Choi Young Do, took a leaf out of his book and kicked the ball towards the undecided lot. This was better than any spoken invitation and soon he had engaged them in a back and forth ‘kick the ball’ game.

“That’s my boy!” Choi Young Do exclaimed without thinking, as a proud smile broke upon his face.

He clapped to get the whole lot’s attention and pointed to the ground where he stood, asking them to move into the middle of the playground. He backed up slowly to the sideline as he saw Sunny leading the group to the middle of the field. Ten minutes into the game, somebody kicked the ball a little hard and it was about to shoot past Choi Young Do, out of the playground. Choi Young Do moved quickly and intercepted the ball and kicked it back to the children. He noticed that another male guardian, presumably one of the children’s father, stood at the other side and played linesman of sorts, just like Choi Young Do.

He felt a strange connection with that other man, standing on the other side of the field. They hadn’t exchanged a single greeting or word but had bonded over the single, unspoken aim of keeping the children confined to the safety of the playground, away from the running trail and the bike path. He suddenly felt free of the chips that he carried on his shoulders all the time. He was not an up and coming businessman, he was not an heir to a business empire or a miserable young man with a dark past and a failed love life. For that day, a little boy had considered him worthy enough to learn from, a stranger had entrusted him with the safety of his child and a bunch of others, he had made Sunny laugh and was the recipient of his unadulterated and simple charm. He was thankful for his decision to spend the day outside.

Around five in the evening, the boys started leaving, one by one, sometimes in two’s and three’s. Even the guardian at the other end of the field, waved to Choi Young Do in acknowledgement before collecting his charge and leaving. Choi Young Do waved back without any hesitation. Finally, Sunny trudged back to him with the ball clasped in his hand. His face was sweaty and his sweater was dirty in several places. He dropped the ball at Choi Young Do’s feet and grabbed the bottle of water that Choi Young Do was holding open for him. Choi Young Do held fast and only allowed him small sips. Soon, they were tracing their way back to the café. They came upon the convenience store on their way back and Choi Young Do stopped. He had missed lunch and if he had managed to spend a day outside, then he was going to give in to another wish for the day. He looked down at the child next to him and asked, “Do you want a drink?”

Sunny looked at the convenience store and nodded. Something was odd about the way he was looking at the store so Choi Young Do cocked his head and asked, “Sunny, have you ever been to one of these stores?”

Sunny’s eyes were still fixed on the colorful display that was clearly visible through the big glass frontage but he managed to shake his head to denote he hadn’t. Choi Young Do was amused. A commoner’s lifestyle, that’s what his mother wanted for him. Well, Choi Young Do was only going to help her. He ushered the child inside, dumped the plastic bag and the football on a small table with two chairs by the window and guided him to the row of refrigerators with clear glass front panels. Sunny stood there with wide eyes, taking in the rows of colorful packages in various shapes and sizes. Choi Young Do watched him with pure amusement. Kid in a convenience store comes pretty close to kid in a candy store, he deduced in his head.

“What do you want, Sunny?” He decided to bring him out of the spell.

Sunny looked at him uncertainly and half answered, half questioned, “Chocolate milk?”

Years of experience in surfing various convenience store shelving formats had left indelible imprints on Choi Young Do’s mind. He located the plastic bottle of chocolate milk in a flash and grabbed it. He handed it to the visibly impressed Sunny, like a king bestowing a nugget of gold on a simple farmer, with a cocky smile. He pushed the child ahead and followed him till they reached the ramen section and he unerringly picked out his favorite from the multiple shelves’ display. They made their way to the register and paid for their snacks. Sunny looked on curiously as Choi Young Do prepared his ramen with a minimum effort and a rhythm of movement that he had by heart. Finally, they were seated at their table and enjoying their snack. Sunny finished his drink in a couple of minutes.

Choi Young Do saw Sunny cast curious glances at his container of ramen.

“Have you ever eaten ramen from a plastic bowl before?” Choi Young Do asked though he knew the probable answer.

Sunny shook his head, still staring at the colorful bowl. Choi Young Do waved him over and when Sunny come to stand next to him, he picked him up and sat him down on his left thigh. Though he was straddled securely, Choi Young Do instinctively wrapped his left forearm around him for better safety. He picked up some steaming ramen with his chopsticks but wasn’t sure whether the child could tolerate the temperature. Children are supposed to be delicate all around, right? He debated in his mind. Sunny was looking expectantly at the ramen, so Choi Young Do decided to test the temperature first. He brought the ramen to touch his lower lip and flinched. It was still too hot, for him, never mind the child. Sunny gave him an impatient look.

“Wait. We have to cool it down a bit. Your mom will tear me apart if you manage to even singe your tongue.” Choi Young Do explained to him.

Choi Young Do started blowing on the ramen in an attempt to cool it down sufficiently. Sunny was quick on the uptake and soon joined in his efforts. Choi Young Do had to try and suppress a laughter that bubbled up inside him for the child was so intent in his attempts that his eyes crossed as he blew hard. It was high time to reward him. Sunny didn’t chew but kind of inhaled the first bite. Choi Young Do waited to see the boy’s reaction to the first taste of convenience store ramen.

“Do you like it?” He asked the boy, who was trying to manage a mouthful. Sunny nodded vigorously and grabbed Choi Young Do’s wrist to guide it to his mouth to get at the rest of the first scoop. Choi Young smiled at the boy over his head. Together, they made short work of the bowl of ramen and continued on their way back to the café.

Madame Yoo looked aghast at Sunny’s dirt smeared clothes. She looked at Choi Young Do and confided her fears, “His mother will have a heart attack if she sees him like this.”

Choi Young Do felt oddly thrilled that his mom and he were in such synch, when it came to predicting Cha Eun Sang’s reaction. He pretended to look at Sunny critically and stage whispered to his mom, “I think, we can fit him in the washer, clothes and all. He will be as good as new.”

His mom was not amused but Sunny giggled at his atrocious suggestion. Mother and son decided to throw Sunny under the shower and his clothes in the washer instead. They couldn’t leave Sunny in the bathroom alone so as a compromise, Sunny agreed to Young Do’s presence in the bathroom after much persuasion and cajoling. But still he insisted on the curtain being drawn as he showered, so Choi Young Do adjusted the water temperature and stood aside. He was vastly amused but impressed with the little boy’s streak of independence that he had witnessed before as well. He handed the little man a hand towel to wrap around his waist before he drew the curtain aside, allowing Choi Young Do to dry him with a bath towel. Sunny was bundled into an old t-shirt of Madame Yoo that was tied around him, using a small scarf like a belt. Choi Young Do allowed him to walk but after he stumbled on the too long hem, he simply picked him up despite his protesting squeals and dumped him on the sofa. With a stern instruction to him not to move from that position, Choi Young Do quickly jumped into the shower himself. He would have liked to soak his sore muscles but he knew that the stubborn and over stimulated child might trip and fall if he moved around.

He stepped outside the bathroom wrapped in a towel, too anxious to even wear his clothes without checking on Sunny first. He felt a sense of dread as he spotted the empty sofa. His voice rose as he called out Sunny’s name, already striding towards the living space. But he sighed with relief as the boy popped his head up from behind the coffee table and his mother looked up askance from her task in the kitchen area. Choi Young Do felt a little embarrassed at his overreaction……like a new parent! He dressed in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt that he kept along with some clothes at his mother’s place and came out just in time to hear a bewildered cry tear out of Cha Eun Sang, who had just stepped into the living space. She stared shocked at her strangely dressed son, who was wearing a smug smile of satisfaction at his mother’s