"Excuse me, but gaining obedience from a child by promising them gifts isn't the best decision."

Seunghyun's puzzled-annoyed gaze shifts to the speaker and sees a short, skinny guy in tight jeans with big tears on the knees, bright green sneakers and a white t-shirt.

"Sorry, but are you his mentor?" His voice sounds a little too sarcastic, but, hell, Choi's too tired after this week to care about tender feelings of some stranger, sticking his nose into other people's business.

"No."

"Then don't give me advices, if you don't know a damn thing about the subject," Seunghyun turns away from the stranger who, by the looks of it, is still almost a child himself and, folding his arms on his chest, heavily stares at the playground his six year old son is rushing along, to whom he promised to buy an extra portion of ice cream just a minute ago, if he stopped being so capricious.

The guy shifts from one foot to another behind him, adjusts the wide strap of the backpack on his shoulder and walks away towards the nursery. Seunghyun watches him from the corner of his eye, almost mechanically. The guy comes out of the room, leading by the hand a five year old boy, telling him something enthusiastically, his shining eyes staring at the guy's face, and he listens and smiles encouragingly, inserting some of his replicas. Moving away from the playroom, the little boy pulls the guy by the hand and points his finger to the side, coaxing him to go somewhere. The guy goes stubborn, though Seunghyun thinks he has already decided to go on about.

Choi suddenly feels remorse for being rude to the stranger, and jeans-clad of the young father (or older brother? although it's unlikely) has nothing to do with it.

"Hani, come here, " Seunghyun calls his son and even waves his hand to attract his attention, but the boy pays him no attention as always, pretending not to notice the man calling him. "I told you to come here. Hurry," Choi repeats with emphasis, and the boy trudges towards him, barely moving his legs. Seunghyun grasps the boy's hand and pulls him along. "Let's catch up with dad's friend and go to the coffee shop, okay?"

"Will you buy me ice cream?" The boy warms up.

"Of course, I promised you."

The guy with the little boy is back in his sight at the first turn, and Choi is happy he didn't lose them.

"Excuse me," Seunghyun calls, and the guy turns around, looking at him with surprise. "I got carried away when I talked to you. Can I make it up to you by inviting you for a cup of coffee?"

Hani looks at the younger boy, who's shyly clinging to the guy's leg.

"Oh," the guy sheepishly smooth down his hair. "We don't mind, right, Minjung?”

The boy nods and throws a questioning glance at the guy, trying to understand if he did the right thing.

"Then," Seunghyun smiles, "I know one wonderful coffee shop nearby."

The guy's name is Kwon Jiyong, he's almost twenty-five and guardian of his five-year-old nephew.

Seunghyun smirks knowingly. In his twenty-seven years, he has a failed marriage with a woman, who went to the States and left him and his son behind.

"I was a pedagogical university student when Dami died, " Jiyong tells him. "Had to drop out and get a job. Minjung-ah, eat the carrot."

"Don't want to," the boy is playing up, pushing away his plate with shredded vegetable.

"Do you remember what I told you?" Kwon persuades him. "If you don't eat carrots, your eyesight  will deteriorate. You don't want to wear glasses, right?"

The boy huffs resentfully.

"Eat it," Jiyong moves the plate back to the baby. "Once you will eat it, you will have a sweet baked apple."

Seunghyun feels remorse -he immediately ordered an ice cream for his son, not bothering about the healthiness of such dessert.

"You don't let Minjung eat any sweets at all? Like candy, or ice cream?"

"I do, of course," Kwon laughs. "He's a child, how can I forbid him. But we have an agreement."

"No sweets after dinner, right?"

"Right," Jiyong confirms the child's words.

"Why so?"

"Because sugar makes children burst with energy, that's why they behave horribly in the evenings, they are difficult to put to sleep, and their sleep is restless then."

"Really. I would never have thought that," Seunghyun glances doubtfully at Hani eating ice cream. Maybe he should try such a scheme with his restless son?

Seunghyun and Jiyong chat while Hani and Minjung are running along the nearest playground. Kwon is getting ready to leave when he notes his nephew is dozing off.

"We have to go," the guy gently smiles and throws the backpack over his shoulders. "Thanks for the coffee."

Seunghyun stands up, too.

"Jiyong, maybe you can give me your number? So I can consult with you about my son," the reason sounds too far-fetched, Jiyong smiles, dictating the number, says goodbye and goes to pick up Minjung from the playground. They both wave first to Hani, then to Seunghyun, and leave. Choi  watches Kwon, who he even has to slow down to take drowsy nephew on his hands, for a few minutes and doesn't even try to hold back his wide smile.

***

"Oppa! You've been glowing all day, are you in love?"

Jiyong bites his lip, looking into Chaerin's cunning face and beckons the girl closer.

"Junho and I went to the entertainment center this Sunday," Jiyong lowers his voice. "And I met a very handsome guy there."

"Oh, and then what? Did you get his phone number?"

"No," Kwon shakes his head. "He got mine."

"Aww," the girl squeaks, barely audible, and rushes to hug him. "Is he really handsome? Do you have his photo?"

"No," Jiyong pushes his friend away. "He's a few years older than me and he has a son. He's divorced. And he asked me for my number so I can advise him about his upbringing. So," Kwon shrugs, "don't get too excited."

"Yeah, right, he would call you just to talk about kids," Chaerin squints her eyes quizzically. "Do you even believe yourself?"

Jiyong runs his hand through his hair.

"He's the first man who didn't run away as soon as he learned that I have a child. So I'm scared."

"Don't freak out! Your handsome boy will totally call you."

***

Seunghyun calls him the next day. Tells him that after he ceased to give Hani sweets for three days, the boy began to fall asleep faster.

"I'm glad it helped you."

"Listen, could we go to the movies? With children, I mean," Choi clarifies. "To watch some cartoon or something like that."

"I would like that. And Minjung. too," Jiyong bites his lip, smiling happily. "This Saturday?"

"Yes. Saturday sounds great. I'll call you later, to discuss the details, okay?"

"I'll be waiting," Seunghyun hangs up, and Kwon presses the phone to his chest. It seems he has just been invited on a date.

***

On a weekday the afternoon session is almost empty. Children, wanting to show their independence, ask their parents to sit separately. That's how Jiyong and Seunghyun end up sitting next to each other, in a row behind the boys. The cartoon is interesting. Well, for  five to six year old kids - for sure. So interesting that the kids forget about the popcorn and soda, watching the action on the screen with wide eyes. The adults are bored and start chatting, leaning close to each other so as not to raise the voice in the noise surrounding them. Telling a funny story that happened once to Hani, Seunghyun casually touches Jiyong's ear with his lips. The guy twitches and can hardly cope with the impulse to rub the tip between his fingers. Or move closer to Choi. The other doesn't  respond to the fleeting touch at all, as well as to the flushed ear right before his eyes. Kwon smiles bashfully and looks into the guy's eyes in askance, feeling like a schoolboy on his first date. Seunghyun holds his gaze and takes his hand, leaning in close. Jiyong his dry lips and...

"Dad! The cartoon has ended. I want to go to the bathroom."

Jiyong and Seunghyun recoil from each other. Kwon spills the popcorn and begins to gather it frantically, then gives up on it and just stands up, smoothing down his clothes. His eyes search for Minjung.

"Ji," Minjung pulls Kwon by the hand. "Hani has a game console at home, let's go and play."

"Oh," Jiyong looks back at Seunghyun in bewilderment." A game console, you say? Well, I don't know. You should ask Hani dad's permission."

Minjung hesitantly looks at Seunghyun, and how could he deny a child, his uncle and his own son, tugging at his arm.

"I'd love to. We can have a dinner together."

Driving with Seunghyun and boys, rising to the apartment together, helping Choi to cook dinner while the kids play in the living room. Jiyong closes his eyes for a second and imagines what it would be like if they became a real family.

"What are you dreaming about?" Choi gently takes the knife away from the frozen hand and finishes cutting the remaining half of the tomato himself.

"Nothing," Jiyong shrugs and smiles. "Just thinking."

Seunghyun grins and quickly pecks Kwon on his parted lips.

“Dinner is ready, go take the kids away from the console."

 The dinner lasts long. Children finish their portion and fall on the couch, staring at the TV, and the adults eat slowly, savoring wine and enjoying each other's company. At some point, Jiyong realizes that he's totally charmed, and if their children weren't giggling in the next room, he's well aware how this evening could end, but today...

"It's late. Minjung and I have to go home."

"You can stay overnight," Choi offers.

"Sounds appealing," Jiyong smiles, "but I have work tomorrow, and Minjung has to go to kindergarten. So another time."

"When's the next time?" Choi clarifies immediately, cocking his head to one side.

“Mmh," Kwon calculates something in his mind. "If you want us to stay overnight, it's better to do on Friday or Saturday."

" Friday sounds nice," Seunghyun accepts immediately. "This week?"

Hesitating for a moment, Jiyong nods.

"Come on, let me take you home."

"You don't have to. Hani's falling asleep, better put him to bed, and we'll take a cab."

a/n: I'll finish translating the second part tomorrow