I am the worst mother on earth. 

Or maybe, my boss is the worst employer ever alive. I mean, who would be evil enough to call an emergency meeting during lunch break when she knows half of her employees have kids to pick up from kindergarten? 

I dashed out of the elevator and ran to my car while my hands fumbled in my purse in search of my phone. I dialed Yoogeun's number. (Yes, I know he's only five. But he needs a phone so I can reach him anytime and vice-versa) 
 

I jumped into the car and drove as fast as I could...without going over the speed limit. 

I was worried sick about him. It was already 2:30, and he probably hasn't eaten yet. He might be all alone now in his school since all the other kids had probably been picked up already.  

My poor son was all alone and hungry because I'm picking him up late. I am such an awful person.  

"Yeobosayo~!" Yoogeun answered with his usual cheerful voice.

I was quite surprised since I was quite expecting him to be in tears after waiting for me for hours. 

"Yoogeunnie! Omma is on her way to school. Just stay there, okay? I'm so sorry I'm so late. I'm really near your school now. Don't talk to strangers! You must me really hungry now! Omona, this is all my fault. I..." 

"Omma," Yougeun interrupted. "I ate already. And I'm not alone here.". 

"Who are you with!?" I asked, more worried. What if some kidnapper was with him? 

"With Mr. Lee," he answered calmly. I started to calm down too. 

"Tell him Omma says thank you for taking care of you. I'll be there in five minutes." 

"Neh," Yoogeun replied. "Saranghaeyo, Omma~" he added sweetly. 

"I love you too, son." It's the sweet moments like these that I just know that having Yoogeun is the best thing that ever happened to me. 

 

My phone rang again. It was my dad this time. You see, a few months after giving birth to Yoogeun, I reconciled with my parents. They wanted to take me in again, along with my son, but I refused since I already caused them too much trouble and I wanted to stand on my own feet. But either Omma or Appa would go to the apartment on weekday afternoons to watch over Yoogeun while I was at work. 

 

"_____-ah! I'm sorry I only called now. There was an emergency at the farm," Appa said. 

"It's fine, Appa," I replied. "I'm taking the afternoon off from work." 

"Arasseo, take care, _____" 

"You too, Appa." 


I arrived in Yoogeun's classroom seeing Jinki carrying Yoogeun on his back.  Yoogeun's eyes were slowly shutting to sleep. I remembered it was already his nap time. 

As I came closer, I realized that Jinki was singing softly to Yoogeun.  

Ne gin saengmeori nan hwangholhae
Nal seuchyeogal ddae ajjil han geol nan
Geureol ddaemada nan nee yeppeun eereumeul
Bulleobogo shipeo ireokhae

His voice was warm and angelic. I could've spent an entire day just listening to him sing. He looked so fatherly carrying Yoogeun. He looked my way and smiled. 

"Annyeong," he said in a whisper. "Come in." 

I went into the room and helped Jinki lay Yoogeun down on the mat. Jinki placed a blanket over Yoogeun to keep him warm. Both of us sat beside Yoogeun and watched him sleep. 

"Kamsamnida," I told Jinki. 

"Wae?" 

"You took care of Yoogeun," I answered. 

He smiled. I could've melted on the spot, "I'm sorry I came so late."

"It's okay," he told me. "You must have been busy at work. Oh, by the way, have you eaten yet?" 

"Yeah, I already did." My stomach grumbled in contradiction. 

"Let's eat," he said trying not to laugh at my embarrassed expression. He stood up, took my hand and led me to a table in the corner of the room. "You can eat this," he said cutely as he held out a half empty bucket of Mexicana Chicken. "I'm sorry there's only a little left. Yoogeun and I ate most for lunch."

How did this man manage to be so fatherly at one moment, and so adorable in the next? 

We chatted as I ate. We talked about random things, and we eventually ended up talking about ourselves. 

"So what do you do other than teaching?" I asked. 

"Well, I'm a part time computer programmer and piano teacher," he answered modestly. 

"Woah, so many jobs!" I said, quite amused. "You must be really hard working."

"I have to work to send my dongsaeng to college."

"I see," I said nodding in approval. This guy couldn't get any more perfect. 

I finished eating and washed my hands. I followed Jinki as he carried Yoogeun, who was still asleep, to the car. I opened the door and he carefully set Yoogeun down on the backseat. 

"Ah, ____-ssi, about last time, why did Yoogeun say that he wants me to be his dad? What about his real father?" Jinki asked as he walked me to the driver's seat.

"Umm...actually....I don't really...I mean, I had Yoogeun when I was really young and I don't know who his father is," I said looking away in embarrassment. I sighed. "You must think I'm a now."

He lifted my chin up and looked at me in the eye and said, "I don't. I think you're amazing. You've been raising a child on your own though you're still young. You're a good mom. I look up to you." He smiled. I couldn't help but smile too. 

"Thanks," I said to him. He opened the door for me, and I got in the car. "Take care," he said. 

I stretched my arm to close the door. "Ah! ____-ssi," Jinki called out making me pause for a moment. "Neh?"

"Let's spend time again together soon," he said with a shy smile. 

I blushed. "Yeah, let's do that." 

I drove away smiling like a fool. When Yoogeun woke up, he reminded me about his Christmas wish: the one about having Jinki as his dad. I explained to him that it wasn't that simple. 

He just shook his head ignoring what I said and started singing, "Mr. Lee will be my daddy~daddy~daddy!" 

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I am so sorry for not updatibg for a really long time. I was so busy with school >.< but school's over now :D We're just practicing for graduation next week which means I can update more often.  

Did you like this chapter? I hope you did ^^ Thanks to all those who subscribed and commented

And to those TRAXians out there, I hope you'll have time to check out this oneshot