When Hyukjae appa would walk me everyday to the bus stop for preschool, I would always wonder why the mothers kept their distance, or held their children tightly, like they were afraid that I was going to bite them. For a while, I did not notice it. Hyukjae and Donghae appa did a great job sheltering me from their vicious gazes. They looked at me like I was some kind of insect you ought to step on. Disgusted...that’s the word.

Hyukjae kneels down in front of Eunhae, and he tightens her coat around her. He also adjusts her scarf, and her beanie, making sure that his daughter is warm. Then he takes her hands, and kisses them.

“Baby, look at me,” Hyukjae said. He smiles at his daughter in that reassuring way. He hopes that Eunhae would not notice how the other mothers look at them.

Eunhae pouts, her lips sticking out in that cute way Donghae would. “I don’t want to go.”

“Why?” Hyukjae asks, raising his eyebrows to let Eunhae know that she can say whatever she wants.

“I want to spend my time with you,” Eunhae reasons. Then she jumps forward in her father’s arms, her small, noodle arms circling around his neck. “And Donghae appa.”

Hyukjae chuckles, and hugs his daughter tightly. He closes his eyes, and kisses the side of her face. “I know. Me too, but you have to go to school and learn.”

“I don’t want to learn.”

“Do you want to grow up knowing nothing?”

“Yes.”

I realized later on that I answered Hyukjae appa’s question correctly, even when I did not know anything. Knowing nothing was bliss. Knowing everything has its consequences.

Hyukjae waits for Eunhae by the bus stop, two cartons of strawberry milk in two hands. In the distance, he spots the yellow bus. It comes to a halt in front of him and the mothers, and the kids flood out of the vehicle. The mothers quickly retrieved their children, and did not bother lingering around. Eunhae was the last to come down, and she greets the teachers and the bus driver goodbye. Then she runs to Hyukjae, unaware that it was just the two of them in the bus stop.

Hyukjae smiles at his daughter, and opens one carton of milk for her. “How w