As promised, Jong Kook arrives slightly earlier for dinner. When he’s walking through the hallway, he can see their neighbor’s apartment door is opened and his little girl is inside. He decides to lean on the wall nearby to watch Jin Joo play.

“Andwae, Oppa! Barbies are not supposed to fight!” He watches Jin Joo yell at their neighbors’ son who’s a year older than Jin Joo.

“Then how are we supposed to play with Barbies?” The little boy replies, whose name if Jong Kook’s not mistaken is Tae Hyun.

Jin Joo snatches the blonde barbie from Tae Hyun’s hand and says, “We change their clothes and we brush their hair. They can have tea parties too!”

“Sounds boring,” Tae Hyun snickers and snatches the barbie away from Jin Joo again. Then he grabs the Optimus Prime robot toy and makes them fight. “This is how they’re supposed to play!”

Jong Kook notices how mad Jin Joo is. He smiles at their silliness until Jin Joo smacks Tae Hyun’s leg and pushes him. “I’m not playing with you!” Tears start to form in her eyes.

The five-year-old boy almost cries too, but when he sees how she tries to hold her tears and stomps away from his apartment, he shouts, “Wait, gajima*, Jin Joo-yah!”

Jin Joo runs past her father straight into their slightly opened apartment and she slams the heavy door. Jong Kook is amazed by how strong this tiny girl is. Then he sees Tae Hyun who’s running after her and knocks on the door. “Jin Joo-yah! Mianhae!”

Jong Kook chuckles. “Tae Hyun-ah, mwo hae*?”

“Samchon*, Jin Joo’s crying because of me. I was wrong. Mianhaeyo.” Tae Hyun looks down, feeling guilty.

Jong Kook smiles in assurance, then he Tae Hyun’s head. “Gwaenchana, Tae Hyun-ah. I’ll talk to her for you, okay? Don’t worry about it.”

“Kamsahamnida, Samchon.” Tae Hyun bows, before he gets back to his apartment.

At that moment he thinks. Men are weak when it comes to women and women are always right. He better learns that lesson.

Jong Kook presses the password and opens the door. He sees Ji Hyo’s caressing Jin Joo’s hair and whispering sweet nothings to their whimpering daughter in the living room. She keeps assuring her that Tae Hyun is nice even though Jin Joo keeps denying it and saying that Tae Hyun is a bad boy, and Jin Joo doesn’t want to play with bad boys. Even in her messy and tired state, she’s still prioritizing their daughter and looks gorgeous.

He’s looking at them adoringly when he meets her gaze, making her startled. She seems to be surprised a lot these days. Is he really that bad at keeping promises?

“Dinner?” He mouths the word.

It’s like something clicks on her brain. “Right, sorry. I haven’t started on dinner, the headache has been bothering me. I’ll start on it now.” Ji Hyo kisses their daughter’s temple and stands up.

“Aniya, relax.” Jong Kook motions her to sit back down. He takes his coat off and puts it on the rack. He smiles as he’s looking at her. Goddamn, those smiley eyes. She breathes out a shaky breath as he’s walking to her side. “Jin Joo-yah, gwaenchana?”

Jin Joo has been keeping her head down but still nods nevertheless. Jong Kook hugs her tiny body and whispers, “How about we play barbie later? What are we gonna do? Tea party?”

Jin Joo looks up with her tired redden face. She cried for a while earlier. “You won’t make her fight with robots?”

“Ani.”

“Promise?” Jin Joo lifts her right pinky up which Jong Kook interlocks with his own, then they kiss to seal it. “Okay, Appa.”

“Now you go wash your face to freshen up, then change your clothes. We’ll have dinner together before we play the tea party.” Jong Kook lifts Jin Joo up from the sofa and sets her down. Jin Joo runs immediately to the bathroom.

Ji Hyo notes that this is the man she once fell in love with. The one that doesn’t yell. The one that takes care of his daughter. The one that keeps his promises. What if-

“How are you feeling now? Do you need to go to the doctor?” Jong Kook cuts o