you huffed in annoyance when your little brother kept jumping up and down; telling you to hurry up because he wants to see the cute swimming instructor’s daughter; who apparently is his new best friend. “i have to bring my laptop to the club, wait for a bit.” he mumbled an irritated okay and goes out to the front porch; putting his shoes on. 

you place your laptop beside him and start to tie his shoes. “why are you so excited to go?” he shrugs and drags your hand, rushing you. he was pulling on your sleeves like an eager little puppy. you had to tell him to slow down so you wouldn't drop your laptop. all your assignments and even your thesis is in it. usually, he was the one that would take faster steps because of his shorter legs; but now it’s you that needs to keep up with his. “you’re too excited.” he smiles, ignores what you said, and continues to pull you to the swimming pool club. 

“teacher!” your little brother calls when he sees the familiar face of his teacher. but his face beams when he sees his daughter. she’s showing the same amount of interest as they hug tightly, making you and baekhyun look at them with curiosity. “when did the two of you become so close?” 

they pout; as if they’re thinking; eyebrows furrowed in concentration. you thought they were going to answer, only for them to run towards the pool to get ready for the lesson. baekhyun and you blinked in confusion. “she kept asking what day it was because she wanted friday to come faster. she asked me how to fast forward the time too. can you believe?” 

you giggle at baekhyun’s frustrated face. “she’s growing up too fast. she’s only 6. why is she holding hands with a boy already?” you break into a fit of laughter. “they’re still young, let them play.” baekhyun puffs his cheeks; not liking the fact that his daughter’s eyes are already on another boy. "let’s just start the lesson then. before i start crying.” you rolled your eyes at his silliness. 

the two of you walk together to the pool. this time, baekhyun is only wearing a swimming trunk; a much more comfortable article of clothing than the swimsuit he wore last week; but nevertheless more distracting. you can’t believe he hid all that under his outfit last week; both the swimsuit and the oversized white shirt. you could obviously see how broad he was; his shoulders were wide; but now that he's wearing no top, you have to make sure you don't stare for too long. he’s wearing his chains too; the necklace just laying against his broad chest. 

you decided to focus on your laptop instead of the y swimming instructor; yes that’s who he is now; so you could finish your university load a bit faster. baekhyun carries on with his lesson, teaching them some leg work. he holds the kids by their stomachs and legs; guiding them to kick against the water so they could move forward. You could hear some excited screams from the crowd of little kids. 

-

the lesson ends and everyone has headed back already. your little brother asks to say back for a bit and you only allowed it because you lived ten minutes away from the swimming pool club. he seems to be talking to the y swimming instructor’s daughter. you turned off your laptop and shoved it inside your bag as you walk your way towards them. 

“aren’t the two of you cold? you should wear some clothes.” the two of them stood up and she s her pink my little pony backpack, pulling out a strawberry-patterned red shirt. she puts it on along with her black skirt. “look how pretty you are,” you complimented; loving her adorable outfit. her shoes were cute mary-janes as well. “thank you! daddy picked it out for me! he likes to dress me up with clothes with strawberries on them!” 

“there you are, my princess,” baekhyun says, hauling her up on his back for a piggyback ride. “daddy, i want to be able to call my best friend please!” she says. baekhyun looks back at her as much as he could from their angle; it was the softest moment ever. “call him? you don’t have a phone, princess!” his daughter exhales as if she can’t believe her dad’s answer. 

“daddy is being stupid!” you and baekhyun simultaneously gasp, his jaw dropping a bit wider than yours. “where did you learn that word?” she explains that your little brother taught her the word; who learned that word from you when you accidentally cursed and baekhyun tried to save you; only for it to bite back. baekhyun looks at you for a bit, eyes pleading for you to help him. 

“you can give my big sister your number, teacher!” your little brother suggests, to which baekhyun’s daughter agreed. “yes! that way we can talk and text too!” with pleading eyes, they begged for the two of you exchange numbers. baekhyun pulls out his phone and hands it to you after he unlocks it. 

“you can put your name in the contacts.” you search for the contact application on his phone but you can’t help but stare at the wallpaper of his phone; it was him and his daughter; she’s on his back just like she is now; at a park. no sign of a wife. oh, maybe she’s the one that took the picture, you thought. 

you hand him his phone after putting your number in the contact list. you realize that he’s not wearing his wedding ring. again. maybe he doesn’t want to wear it outside; afraid of losing it; afraid it will accidentally drop in the pool. guess the wedding ring is just too precious to him. “well, it’s getting too late. we should head home.” 

the two of you separated in the main lobby. once again, your friend at the receptionist smiles at you suggestively. “i can’t believe someone wearing a gray shirt and black cap could look as good as he is,” she exclaims in fake disbelief. “i just want to do things with him, you know?” you furrow your eyebrows at her and shake your head. “my little brother’s here, you thirsty girl.” 

your friend laughs as she hands you back your membership card. waving goodbye at her, you try to talk to your little brother on the way home. “any reason why the two of you want to call or text each other outside of the lessons?” your little brother takes a few seconds to answer. “she’s shy but she trusts me! she wants to talk to me as much as she can!” 

“at least that’s what she said,” he finishes. 

-

that same night, you lend your little brother your phone so he could text the y swimming instructor’s daughter. they started as soon as your little brother got out of his bath, talking for hours. not going to lie, you’re a bit curious to what their conversation is about. what could a six-year-old possibly talk about? it's not like they're talking about how hard kindergarten is??

is baekhyun aware of this? should you be worried? you wanted to peak at their texts later, but you didn’t want your little brother to hate you. he’ll tell you if it’s serious, you affirm to yourself. but the curiosity is killing you. you contemplate on what to do, but you were shocked then your little brother hands you back your phone. 

“uncle baekhyun said he wants to talk to you.” is it even okay for you to get excited over it? get yourself together, for 's sake. you're starting to act like a teenager, god damn it. get a grip! you look at the phone and see a hi! appear in your notifications. you opened the message and start to type a response. hi. good evening, mr. byun.  

a little bit more than a minute later, a reply comes. no need to call me mr. byun. baekhyun is okay. i’m going to put soyeong to sleep soon, but i want to thank you and your little brother for being such a big help to her. i'm very thankful for you both. you feel guilty down to your bones for enjoying this conversation way too much. you should definitely not get what he said out of context. he’s a married man. a married man. with a wife. it's really hard to not feel bad when you keep wishing he wasn't wedded to another woman. 

-

every day your little brother and the y swimming instructor’s daughter text, occasionally calling, even video calling. you'd catch glimpses of baekhyun in the background, peaking at the screen. he always smiles at you when he sees you. despite knowing that your little brother’s swimming instructor is married with a daughter, you find yourself enjoying every second baekhyun would text you before you go to sleep too. sometimes it’s just a thank you; sometimes when soyeong has gone to sleep, he takes a bit more time to ask you about your day. 

it’s a guilty pleasure; like eating the frosting off of an unfinished cake; you want the decorations to be set up yet you can’t stop taking a of the frosting. texting with baekhyun and joking around with him felt like that. it’s wrong; incredibly wrong. you know you’re getting yourself involved in someone else’s marriage yet nothing could stop you. 

that’s why friday is the day you look forward to the most. especially the afternoon of every fridays. you get to see the y swimming instructor that has been playing around with your heart for the past few weeks. the two of you have gotten closer as well. it’s just unfair that he’s someone else’s husband. 

it has been almost two months of baekhyun’s swimming lessons. there is nothing separating your little brother and his daughter; they’re always together like a designated pair of chopsticks. they have gotten closer than ever as well. you have to internally thank your little brother for giving you the opportunity to interact regularly with baekhyun. 

it didn’t surprise you anymore when your little brother would run to the pool as soon as you arrived at the swimming pool club; immediately hugging soyeong and telling her how much he misses her. actually, you got over it the third week they’ve done it; after you and baekhyun exchanged numbers. it's such a familiar sight now and that time when they didn't hug, you thought they had a fight. turns out your little brother had a mild cold and didn't want to infect soyeong. 

“hey,” baekhyun greeted with a pretty smile; as always; eyes creating crescent moons on his face; cheeks looking a little bit more round; like a baby. he’s wearing another one of his simple outfits today, a white shirt with green plaid and jeans. He looks…. great. “going somewhere later?” 

“no, laundry has been piling up and these are the only ones clean.” you find his answer weird but pay no attention to it. “what’s the lesson today?” is it too obvious you never want to stop talking to him? you’re elongating each conversation with topic after topic. you just wish you didn’t bore him. that would be such a nightmare. 

“they’re going to have their free time today. i think i've told your little brother. did he not tell you?” well, he didn’t, you thought. maybe because he didn’t want to stay at home if you knew the lesson was basically canceled and replaced with free time. or you'd prefer to stay home and do chores or any university homework. even though you'd rather stay up a little bit if you could see baekhyun just once a week. “he probably didn’t want to tell me because he wanted to meet soyeong," you answered instead. 

baekhyun’s laugh served as an response. the two of you sit next to each other in front of the little store; where you can see the kids. not a lot of them came, in fact, it was just your little brother, baekhyun’s daughter, and two other kids. compared to the previous lessons, all their laughter is much more muted and subtle. 

“you’re a really good swimming instructor,” you muttered out of nowhere; catching baekhyun’s attention. he has his chin on his hand, looking at his daughter playing with your little brother; his heart fulfilled at the sight. “i'm really thankful for your little brother.” he makes eye contact with you now. 

you try so hard not to divert your eyes from him; something about the way he looks back at you makes you feel small. “that’s just his personality. he likes being a friend to everyone.” seeing your little brother be so playful with the y swimming instructor’s daughter makes you happy. “she hasn’t cried at all ever since she met him. a part of me is jealous but another part of me wants him to stay in her life forever.” 

silence followed after his words; not the awkward kind that would change the atmosphere but the comfortable kind; you don’t talk but the mood of the conversation is still there. you don’t want this moment to end. once again it feels wrong to hope for something more with baekhyun but you wish you could stop it. 

“you live around here? i never see you drive a car,” baekhyun talks with a cute pout; you had to stop yourself from smiling. you're going to sound delusional if you thought that he had been paying attention to you.  “we live ten minutes away so we just walk here,” you explained; to which baekhyun nods. “i used to go here all the time when i was a kid. i had a membership and everything. the place is still the same,” you ramble; baekhyun’s lips tight shut. 

“the only thing different is the people in it.” you remember the old woman that used to take care of the reception. since you visited too often, she’d often treat you ice cream. that’s how you discovered the little store's ice cream in the first place. but now her daughter runs it along with her grandchild. 

you wrap your arms around your legs, feeling the cold breeze of the afternoon. it was the middle of september; which explains the wind. but you still see the kids playing in the shallow pool and the slides that the swimming pool club provides just beside the little store. “here, wear this.” baekhyun drapes his plaid over your shoulders. 

heart. stop it. don’t start beating faster now. i'm scared he can hear how loud you're beating right now. he’s just being kind. repaying the favor. “you’ll get cold,” you mutter quietly yet your hands are holding tighter onto the fragrant piece of clothing. “it’s fine, i'm not that cold.” you nod slowly; holding the ends of the plaid shirt so it can wrap around your exposed shoulders better. “i used to go here a lot too when I was a kid. but i moved to the capital city. now that i have a daughter, i want to go back to my hometown. raise her where i was raised too.” 

“how come you never swim during lessons?” he questions; since you’re always either on your laptop or watching over the others. “my little brother can be a little clumsy and you’re watching over a lot of kids on your own. i wanted to help.” baekhyun grins at your answer and pays attention to the kids again, noticing the moms of the two other kids have arrived to pick them up. 

“see you next week, teacher!” the two kids shouted as they waved goodbye at baekhyun, not forgetting to wave at you too since you always come to the lessons and liked to talk to the other kids as well. “be careful!” bekhyun shouts back before sitting beside you again. 

“well if the two of us used to come here a lot, how come we don’t recognize each other?” you shrug, not knowing the exact answer to that. “maybe we went at different times of the day? who knows? there were a lot of kids too since everyone in the neighborhood was young back then.” baekhyun nods in agreement. 

“you should be my partner next week.” you shook your head violently. you have never responded so quickly to reject an offer. “why not? you know the kids and you know your stuff. i’ll pay you ice cream.” you scoff at the form of payment. you just wished he knew that the reason you wanted to say no to him was that you didn’t want your feelings to grow even stronger. just that. 

but you find yourself agreeing in the end. 

-

turns out being baekhyun’s partner wasn’t such a bad thing. somehow you made the lesson more fun, the kids said; when all you did was stand there and mock the faces baekhyun makes or repeat what he said in a funny manner. despite all the joking around, the kids still managed to learn whatever baekhyun taught them; which impressed you. 

somehow Baekhyun wasn’t as energetic as he usually is. he looks paler too; lips chapped and dark circles a little bit more prominent. he still pushed himself to finish the lesson with all the spirit he has left. When all the kids have gotten out of the pool, you choose to approach him; trying to ask what’s wrong. 

“it’s just been hard. busy with work. i feel like I’m neglecting soyeong.” yur eyes widen almost too quickly; shaking your head; since to you, baekhyun is the most perfect dad you have ever had the pleasure of knowing. “soyeong is a kind daughter. she will understand. my little brother keeps her company too.” 

baekhyun didn’t respond; like he’s hesitant to say something. you wanted him to trust you, to spill his worries and concerns; whatever it is. it would make you feel good about yourself. or you were hoping for something else? for baekhyun to look at you more than as a friend but as a woman? but you knew that was impossible. 

you were disgusted with yourself. 

“i guess so. i owe you so much.” you stood up abruptly and start to pack your stuff. baekhyun finds it odd; like you’re trying to run away from him. his chest feels uncomfortable at the sight. he just hopes his expression does not reflect what he’s feeling on the inside. “you want me to take you home?” 

“no, i don’t want to bother you,” you respond, still not looking at baekhyun. baekhyun taps on your shoulder. “you want to carry your little brother back home?” he points at your little brother and his own daughter that is sleeping on the bench heads leaning against each other as support. you sigh. you would feel horrible if you woke him up. 

“okay, I’ll go home with you.” . that’s not the sentence. “you mean you’ll let me take you home?” baekhyun chuckles at your flustered face; loving the way your cheeks redden in embarrassment and fingers fidgeting without you realizing. “y-yeah, that’s what i meant!” 

baekhyun tells you to sit beside them so he could place his daughter’s head against your shoulder, carrying your little brother on his back. he makes his way to his car. you stare at his back as he disappears into the building. you look down at soyeong, the way her lips resembles her dad’s, the big ears reminding you of him as well. 

soyeong is a beautiful child. she can’t be this pretty only because of baekhyun, right? even though baekhyun holds his own kind of ethereal beauty, surely the mother would be pretty as well, right? why are you even thinking like this? this is self-destructive behavior. you didn’t know months of knowing baekhyun would bring you so much….. confusion. 

baekhyun stops his footsteps when he sees you playing with his daughter’s hair. you look at her with affection and sadness at the same time. baekhyun approaches the two of you slowly. “i’ll take her to the car.” baekhyun places the sleeping girl carefully on his back and walks in front of you. you could only watch them. 

after placing his daughter beside your little brother at the back seat, you made your way to the passenger seat beside baekhyun. strapping the seatbelt, the sounds of the attached belts are the only noises in the car. the radio was playing some random pop songs the two of you didn’t know. 

five minutes have never felt so long. and you don't know if it's because you wanted to be with him for longer or you wanted to leave immediately because of the stabbing pain in your chest. either of those.