Baekhyun sighs for the nth time. Haeun is being difficult again.

He massages his temple weakly; he can feel a series of headaches attacking soon.

Why is Haeun acting up today out of all the days? He has way too many works to do instead of catering to her request of playing with Mochi in the garden. It’s not like they haven’t been out in the garden since an hour ago; Baekhyun has been accompanying her since they had finished breakfast earlier.

But, It’s almost noon and Grandpa Park will come back home soon for lunch.

Baekhyun has to help out in the kitchen but he cannot just leave Haeun alone in the spacious garden. As a parent, like any other parents out there, of course, he would never leave his child unsupervised. God forbid the possibilities that could happen.

“Haeun… papa has work to do, baby… Do you want to go inside and watch cartoons instead?” he tries coaxing her, brushing her long hair away from her sweaty face.

“No!” comes the firm answer.

This won’t do… he thinks. He gathers his strength and picks her up into his hold.

And soon, her shrill cries fill the entire garden and it is apparently loud enough that Chanyeol, who is busy doing something on his laptop at the table in the glass garden, looks up at the sudden cry, alarmed.

He furrows his eyebrows when he sees Haeun wiggling with all her strength in Baekhyun’s hold, and her small papa looking like he is struggling to not let her fall to the ground.

Quickly getting up from the chair, he makes his way outside and approaches the father and daughter duo with a worried look.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, Haeun is just acting up. You can go back to work, young master.”

Chanyeol puts his arm on his hips, looking mildly annoyed at the title. “I told you to drop the title.”

Before Baekhyun could retort back, the baby girl in his arms cries harder, sobbing her heart out as she gestures to the puppy at her papa’s foot.

“Eunnie wants to play with pu-puppy! Haeunnie wants Mochi, pa— papa!” she sobs. Her little doe eyes look at the tall uncle in front of her as if asking for help.

“Un-uncle please help H-haeunnie… Eunnie wants to play with Mo-mochi,” she pleads in between her tears.

Not believing his ears (and eyes), Baekhyun looks at his daughter as if she had grown another head. Byun Haeun asking someone else for help? When she couldn’t even look at the newcomer in the eyes before this? And with her attitude of always shying away from a stranger?

It took her months to open up to Grandpa Park and Secretary Kim when she meets them almost every day for the past month.

Chanyeol, feeling weak at the teary eyes looking up at him with full of hope, rubs his head unsurely. He contemplates whether he should listen to the little girl or not, especially feeling the deep gaze from the shorter male, looking at him as if silently saying “Don’t you dare.”

“How about… you go work, Baekhyun, and I’ll look after her here?”

“Yeol!” Baekhyun impulsively calls and froze in his spot when he realises he calls his ex-lover in such an intimate way— he used to call him that all the time back then.

Chanyeol cannot conceal his surprise and raises one eyebrow brazenly. “Wow… I haven’t heard that in two years… I really miss you calling me like that…”

“That’s not the point— I’ll take her inside, and please go and continue your work, we won’t bother you.”

Chanyeol stops him from leaving, extending his long arms in front of the smaller male. “Let her play, Baek. I can take care of her too.”

Haeun who is too exhausted from bawling her eyes out, weakly raises her head from Baekhyun’s shoulders and pleads in a soft voice. “Pwish… papa…”

Her crestfallen face tugs his heart and Baekhyun, finally realising that he has been overpowered, carefully puts her down on the grass. He wipes her tears away with his thumbs and pats her on her chubby cheeks twice.

“Okay, you can play— but remember Haeun, behave or papa won’t let you play in the garden again.”

Then, he hesitantly stands up and spares Chanyeol a look for a second only before averting his eyes away. This stupid heart of him decides that at this exact moment it wants to beat so loudly!

Please calm down, dear heart. Why are you behaving this way?

“Please look after her, young master,” he says before leaving.

Chanyeol grabs him by the arm, gently and stops him from moving away. “Not so fast, dear— what happens to Yeol?”

“I apologised, I was too rash earlier… and w-we’re not in that kind of relationship a-anymore…” Baekhyun stuttered. “Please let go of my arm.”

“Not until you change that hideous way of calling me, Baek.”

Baekhyun bits his lips nervously and glances at his watch. It’s almost lunchtime already. Grandpa Park will be back in any minute.

Damn his slip of tongue earlier!

Inhaling deeply, he sighs out a defeated, “Please… let go, Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol grins, pleased and loosens his grip on the smaller arm. Baekhyun, without looking back, dashes away from the latter at lightning speed.

Chanyeol turns to look at the little girl and softly smiles when she cackles loudly at the Maltese her hand sloppily.

He takes a seat next to her and caresses her dark brown hair. “Haeun likes to play with… Mochi, is it?”

“Yes!” she claps eagerly.

He looks at her adoringly and takes his chance to scan her face.

He could see the resemblance with himself. Is she really his? But why did Baekhyun move away when they could’ve raised her together like any other couples in love?

Whatever they had back then, was it even real? Chanyeol really couldn’t help but wonder.

But he quickly tosses the thoughts away from his mind. From the way Baekhyun is behaving at this moment, he still looks pretty much in love with him— he won’t move away without any core reason, Chanyeol rationalises.

“Does Haeun know how old Mochi is?” Chanyeol strikes a conversation.

Haeun stops petting her pet before looking up and scratches her chin as if thinking.

“Mochi is… Mochi is— hmm... many years old!” she shows her stubby fingers excitedly and Chanyeol laughs.

He knows that the pet dog is only a little over a year old and he is just teasing her. He finds it hilarious when she puts six fingers up so confidently.

“Haeun is so smart... “

Suddenly, a voice from behind interrupts the two from their conversation.

“How are my favourite people doing?” Grandpa Park greets.

Haeun immediately gets up from seating and sprints towards the old man.

“Grandpa!!”

Grandpa Park crouches to welcome her into a hug and almost topples over from the sudden weight in his embrace. Haeun is by all means not heavy, his old age is just taking a toll on his knees.

Chanyeol approaches the two with his arms crossed and bows his head to greet the elder. Grandpa Park pats him on the back and beckons them to sit on the chair inside the air-conditioned glass garden.

Once they have taken a seat, Chanyeol asks. “How was your work, grandpa?”

Haeun on Grandpa Park’s lap extends her hand to the old man, asking for cartoons on his phone and the latter rubs her head affectionately while shaking his head.

“Grandpa’s phone is out of battery, sweetie.”

Haeun pouts at the answer. She doesn’t like what she is hearing clearly.

As the little girl looks a second away from tears, Chanyeol comes to the rescue by offering her his phone instead.

Happily, she hops off Grandpa Park’s legs and clings onto Chanyeol’s instead, asking him to pick her up. When she is settled on his lap, only then both adults look relieved.

“Better if the future president of the company can get to work soon,” the old man answers with an eyebrow raised.

Chanyeol snorts at his grandpa’s passive-aggressive answer. “I just got back— let me rest some more, grandpa.”

Grandpa Park has been managing the company alone for almost a year, monitoring the company closely as Chanyeol’s father is now handling the branch in Europe.

He was managing the company alone and it is now time for Chanyeol to take over, especially with his great business-handling skills and he has had enough time getting accustomed to the business world.

“I’ve been managing it alone, Chanyeol— it’s time to give this old man a break,” Grandpa Park rubs his temple playfully, acting as if a headache is coming.

Chanyeol laughs before nodding his head in understanding. Of course, he will surely help the old man manage the company but there are some things he has to settle first.

“Soon, grandpa… I have something to do first…”

Grandpa Park looks at his grandson knowingly and nods his head. He understands.

“Don’t take too long, Chanyeol.”

Baekhyun furrows his brow and rubs his eyes a few times in disbelief at the sight he is seeing. Is his daughter sitting on Chanyeol’s lap or are his eyes playing a trick on him?

He steps closer to the grandfather and grandson duo with a tray of warm tea and a cup of orange juice for Chanyeol, behind him, a few other maids follow with a plate of dishes each.

It is the first time that Grandpa Park had asked to dine somewhere else other than the dining room.

Putting down the tray, he eyes Haeun in disbelief. She is really watching her cartoons on Chanyeol’s lap— and she dares to snuggle one of his arm’s like a bolster too!

Has it always been that easy for her to open up to strangers?!

“Haeun, come to papa— let’s not bother grandpa and young master’s lunch. We’ll continue the cartoons upstairs, alright?” Baekhyun beckons, offering his arm to carry her up.

“I thought we agreed to drop the title, Baek— we’re not strangers,” Chanyeol intervenes monotonously.

Before Baekhyun could bite back, Grandpa Park butts in. “Sit down, Hyun. Have lunch with us.”

Baekhyun can never argue with the old man who had basically sheltered him and Haeun from the dangerous outside, so he takes a seat beside Grandpa kit without saying much— though his eyes pan away from looking at Chanyeol and Haeun sitting in front of him.

“I believe we also have to talk, Hyun…”

Baekhyun breaks out in a cold sweat at Grandpa’s words, afraid of getting fired.

Chanyeol didn’t tell him about us, did he?

His question is soon answered when Grandpa Park nods his head as if understanding what was going on inside his mind.

Baekhyun ducks his head down in embarrassment— of course, Chanyeol would tell Grandpa Park. He’s a part of his family.

Baekhyun is so ashamed of himself he didn’t even want to look up for a second.

Grandpa Park knows how terrible of a human being he is now— he left his fiance without a reason and suddenly he’s back and living together with him and his daughter too.

Grandpa Park rubs his back and asks him to look up. “I won’t fire you, Hyun, if that’s what you’re thinking…”

“I adore both of you, Chanyeol, you’re my grandson and Hyun— I’ve also considered you and Haeun as a family. I don’t want both of you to get hurt— so I hope both of you can come up with a conclusion— a solution soon… it hurts me when you’re both hurting…” Grandpa Park adds.