POHANG

“I Seul-ah…” Jong Kook looks at his room but doesn’t find him. “I Seul-ah…” He calls him for the fifth time, and yet still no replies. “Eomma, have you seen I Seul?” Jong Kook asks in desperation after failing to find him.

Hye Seon smiles. “Aren’t you playing hide and seek? It’s not fair if I tell you where he is.”

“But I can’t find him.” Jong Kook sighs but continues looking around.

“Appa!” Ha Neul calls him from the front door.

He checks on the clock and realizes it’s a half-hour past three already. Jong Kook walks to the front door first to greet his little girl with an ice cream tub on one of her hands. Ji Hyo follows from behind with a cover lid of the ice cream tub.

“Ha Neul-ah, how was your day?” Jong Kook hugs Ha Neul tightly.

“Good! See what I made!” Ha Neul shows him the combination of a purple and white crown with her right hand because her left hand is holding a tub of ice cream. “I made it myself!”

Jong Kook pretends to gasp. “Really? My little girl is growing too much.” He blows raspberries on her ears, making her giggle loudly.

Ji Hyo smiles in relief seeing how happy her daughter is spending time together with her. She feels hopeful. Then, she looks around for I Seul.

“Is I Seul here?” Ji Hyo asks Jong Kook.

“Oh, right!” Jong Kook exclaims. “I Seul-ah…”

Ji Hyo’s face morphs into panic immediately.

“We’re playing hide and seek.” Jong Kook quickly explains before she enters her panic mode, even though he doesn’t know where their son is.

“Hide and seek? Appa, I want to play too!” Ha Neul jumps up and down.

“Okay, let’s go find I Seul.” Jong Kook replies with a hint for help.

Ji Hyo realizes that Jong Kook doesn’t know where I Seul is, and she’s still in a panic mode. “Are you sure I Seul is inside?”

“Yes, Ji Hyo-yah, definitely. The boy is just hiding somewhere.” Hye Seon answers her this time.

Ji Hyo sighs in relief. “Okay, thank you.”

“We can’t find I Seul anywhere.” Jong Kook says worriedly, walking back from the bathroom after a couple of minutes of thoroughly searching. “Eomma, you’re sure he didn’t go outside, right?”

“A hundred percent.” Hye Seon nods firmly. “I saw where he’s hiding myself.”

“And where is it?” Ji Hyo asks with a small voice.

“You’re going to lose, Jong Kook-ah.” Hye Seon jokingly tells him.

Jong Kook winces. “I don’t care, Eomma. I need to find him.”

“He’s in there.” Hye Seon points at a small cupboard behind a desk in the kitchen. “Didn’t you notice? I even opened the door slightly so he would get some oxygen.”

Ji Hyo proceeds towards the cupboard quickly and when she opens it, she finds him sleeping soundly with his thumb in his mouth.

“He fell asleep.” Jong Kook murmurs from behind.

Ji Hyo smiles at her son, before running her hand through his hair.

“He’s so cute!” Ha Neul gushes, speaking the exact same thing that their parents are thinking.

Ji Hyo carefully picks him up and settles him on her arms. “I’ll bring I Seul back to the house. Please visit us for dinner.”

“I should make you something, Ji Hyo-yah.” Hye Seon offers. “We went to the market earlier before going to the park.”

“Sure, Eomeoni. You can cook at my house or we can have dinner here.” Ji Hyo agrees with her former mother-in-law.

“Let’s have dinner here. We haven’t done that, have we?” Hye Seon suggests. “Ask So Min to join too, Ji Hyo-yah.”

“Of course.”

“You enjoyed your day out with Eomma?” Jong Kook asks once they’re done having dinner and Ji Hyo, So Min, and I Seul have retreated back into their home.

Ha Neul adjusts her head on his shoulder. “It’s a very pretty place, Appa.”

“Is it? What do you love the most about the shop?”

Ha Neul stays silent for a second, thinking, before she answers, “Everything about the place is beautiful. I love seeing all the colorful flowers. And she also named the shop after me.” Amazement is heard in her voice.

“I know.” Jong Kook puts an arm on her shoulder. “What do you think about it?”

“I like it.” Ha Neul shrugs. “But why did she name the shop after me?”

“You should ask Eomma about that.”

“I did.”

Jong Kook raises an eyebrow. “And what did Eomma say?”

“She said it’s because she loves me.” Ha Neul can’t help but form a small smile.

Jong Kook can note the happiness in her voice. “She does. No doubt in that.” He answers, running a hand through her hair locks.

“But why did she leave us?” Ha Neul asks, tilting her head up to see her Appa’s face. It's a question she has been wanting to ask ever since she was young but too afraid to do so. “Is it because of the doctor?”

Jong Kook is alarmed. “What doctor?”

“Dong Wook Samchon. The man who was with them at the beach.” Ha Neul replies. “He visited us earlier at the shop.”

“He did?” Jong Kook narrows. “What did he say?”

“Not a lot, we just had some fun.” Ha Neul shrugs.

Jong Kook sighs. “It’s not because of the doctor. It’s because- remember I told you that I did a very bad thing? She was very angry with me. That’s the reason.”

Ha Neul is still contemplating if she should