Jong Kook blindly jutted his key, unlocking the door to his brother's apartment, the one in Ji Hyo's apartment complex that she had arranged for his brother to obtain. Jong Kook sighed, deep in thought about their... date? Ugh. That was the whole problem, see? He wasn't sure what that was. 

Ji Hyo had made one small joke over text about how he should have to go on a date with her for every blind date he set up for her that failed as a punishment, and he had half-joked that that wasn't a punishment at all.

And then he had went and set her up on a date that didn't show up and he had offered to take her out on a date, because he had felt so guilty and it broke him to see Ji Hyo looking so sad and disappointed.

But did he also take her on a date because he wanted to?  

Jong Kook had had so much fun on the date with Ji Hyo, it had literally hurt to watch her walk away when it was over, and the hours had flown by much too quickly. 

In fact, that was why he was at his brother's house. He had no time to prepare dinner on his own and had asked if it was alright for him to come over for dinner. Thankfully, Seo Young had overcooked that day and there was more than enough food for a dinner guest. 

Opening the door, Jong Kook walked into the large apartment and saw Seo Young setting the table. She smiled at him.

"Ah, Jong Kook-ah you're here. Could you help me call the kids out for dinner? They're in the study."

"Sure Noona. Thanks for having me over on such short notice!" Jong Kook thanked.

"Not a problem at all. The kids have been asking for your whereabouts, they got really excited when they found out you were coming over."

Jong Kook nodded his head politely. "Is that so? I should stay over for the night then."

Jong Kook opened the door to the study and greeted his niece and nephew. Hoya and Seung Ho were deeply engaged in a video game.

"Guess who's here?"

Hoya and Seung Ho turned away from the screen and immediately paused their game to rush happily towards their favorite uncle. Their only uncle, but still. 

"Jong Kook Samchon!" The two kids chorused in perfect harmony, glad to see him after a long time. He spun them around.

"Good kids. Come along now, dinner's ready! Help your mother set the table."

Hoya and Seung Ho ran out the room as if they had instinctively agreed to race each other to the dinner table. They must've been hungry; Jong Kook was too, all remnants of his amazing lunch with Ji Hyo completely digested leaving his stomach empty and growling again. 

"Umma, when's Appa coming home?" Hoya asked as she set a plate on every placemat Seo Young had laid out on the table.

Just then, the sound of keys jangling was heard and the front door opened with Jong Myung coming through the entrance, answering Hoya's question.

"Appa!" Hoya and Seung Ho screamed again, dropping whatever they were doing to rush into their father's embrace. 

"Oh, you two. Have you greeted your uncle?"

"Yes they have Hyung." Jong Kook answered as he finished helping Seo Young set the table.

"Yeobo, is dinner ready?" Jong Myung asked his wife. He was starving after a hard day's work. Okay not really. He didn't have to perform any surgery today. So today was not exactly a hard day's work. But he was still hungry. 

"Have I ever set the table before I finished cooking?" Seo Young replied rhetorically and teasingly. It made Jong Myung smile and plant a kiss on her cheek. 

"You've never done that. Let's eat dinner everyone!" Jong Myung declared.

Hoya and Seung Ho each took a seat on either side of Jong Kook, whilst Jong Myung and Seo Young sat side by side across from them. Everyone tucked into the food heartily.

"So what brings you here today Jong Kook-ah?" Jong Myung asked casually when his hunger had subsided enough to allow him to eat at a slower pace.

"Can't I visit my brother and his family?" Jong Kook replied innocently. 

"Not without reason." Jong Myung replied, just as innocently. 

"I had no time to cook today." Jong Kook said as casually as he could. He knew it was an excuse; the real reason why he was at his brother's home was to take his mind off of Ji Hyo. 

And Jong Myung saw through that completely. 

"And why is that?"

Jong Kook swallowed hard. "I was- I was out."

Jong Myung saw Jong Kook's nervous demeanor. Something was up. 

"For?"

"It was for work."

Jong Kook couldn't help but gulp at the way Jong Myung narrowed his eyes at him. Why couldn't he relax and just lie to his brother? 

"Was it really?" 

Now, everyone was staring at Jong Kook, not just Jong Myung.

"Maybe it was work, maybe it wasn't. Does that matter?" Jong Kook felt warm and uncomfortable all of a sudden. Was he sweating? Maybe the thermostat was broken. He awkwardly shoved rice into his mouth.

"I think-" Hoya said speculatively. "Jong Kook Samchon was out on a date."

Jong Kook choked on his rice and had to resort to gulping down his entire cup of water.

Jong Myung looked proudly at his daughter. She was such a genius! He couldn't resist the urge to high five her.

"Good job Hoya, you got it!" Hoya giggled, liking that she was right and that she was getting praised.

"Appa, I want a high five too!" Seung Ho complained, jealous that he did not get praised.

"Only if you manage to correctly guess something about your uncle's afternoon. Your sister guessed what he was doing, what can you guess?"

Seung Ho seemed to be deep in thought. "Hmm, I think I can guess who he was with then! I guess Song Ji Hyo-ssi!"

Jong Kook choked on the water he was drinking and Jong Myung cheered, immediately awarding Seung Ho with a high five.

"That's it Seung Ho-yah! Appa's so proud of the two of you!" 

And he really was. What was Seo Young feeding them during the day, for them to be such geniuses? 

When Jong Kook finally regained some of his composure, he tried to absolve himself of the accusations thrown at him.

"Fine, I was with Song Ji Hyo-ssi. But I didn't meet her to go on a date, I had set her up with a blind date for the afternoon." 

"So why were you unable to go home and cook on your own then? Matchmakers don't have to stay for the blind dates they set up." Seo Young interjected. She didn't want to meddle with her brother-in-law's life too much, but she called bull out when she heard it.

Jong Myung looked lovingly at his wife. He was loving her and his children so much right now.

"I-I... Her date never showed up. He had a f-family emergency."

"So what did you do? You took his place and went on a date with Song Ji Hyo-ssi?" Jong Myung asked. This was very interesting.

"I don't know! I didn't want her to be sad and lonely so I offered to take her on a 'date' as my punishment. It was probably not a date to her anyway, just lunch and shopping."

"Sure." Hoya said as she slurped her soup loudly for much