Seoul, 11 December 2026

"Welcome back, ma'am," the maid greets me when I step inside the house. I smile at the 45-year-old woman and wear my house slippers before walking farther inside. My son runs to the dining room and sloppily takes off his coat before sitting down. "Dae-Hyunnie, what do I always tell you? Don't--" "Don't lay my clothes in the dining room, or the living room, or the kitchen, or any other places in the house besides my bedroom, my bathroom and the laundry room. I remember. You've told me a thousand times, umma," he cuts me and I let out a laugh. My 5-year-old son is good at talking. Too good that, in a situation like this, it gets annoying. He can talk fast, too. He learns that from his father. 

"Lunch will be served soon, deoryeonim," our maid, Kyung Mi-Sun, tells him as she picks up his backpack from the floor. "Unnie, don't do that," I tell her and raise my eyebrows at my son, "Dae-Hyun ah?" He sighs loudly and rolls his eyes. He gathers his things and stomps off upstairs to his bedroom. After a minute, he comes back, still in his school uniform. The lunch is now laid on the table. "No food if you don't change your clothes," I say in a serious tone and his shoulders immediately drop. He rolls his eyes again and stomps back upstairs while grunting incoherently. Aigoo... that boy rolled his eyes at me twice already. I grab my mobile phone out of my handbag and type a message.

To: Captain Hubby

[Babe, are you coming home soon? Lunch is ready and your son is in a bad mood today... T,T]

A reply comes right away.

From: Captain Hubby

[Hey, hon, the princess just finished her class. You guys should go ahead and eat... What did the boy do now? Did he punch his teacher again at school? Keke~]

I smile reading his message. Our son gets his temper from me. He punched a teacher at school once, which made the principal demand me and my husband to come and see him at his office. The funny thing is, the reason our son threw a punch at his music teacher was because he had told the class: 'hip-hop isn't music'. In front of us, our son told his principal that his teacher's statement offended him. He even refused to apologize before his teacher promised to apologize to my husband and not to repeat the same statement in the future. The looks on his principal's, his teacher's, and my husband's faces were priceless.

To: Captain Hubby

[Puhaha...! Hopefully, he didn't get into another trouble. But he hasn't said anything yet. Drive safely and come home soon, baby...]

"Umma, can we eat now? You and appa always say no phones while eating, yet you're busy texting," my son's whine startles me. He rolls his eyes again. "Kwon Dae-Hyun, roll your eyes one more time and they will stay that way forever," I say. He huffs out loudly. His clothes are now changed. He grabs a plate and waits for me to put food on my plate before putting any on his. That's one of many good things about Kwon Dae-Hyun. Even when he's upset, he's still a gentleman. His father taught him that. We then say a prayer in gratitude like we always do before eating. 

He begins devouring his food, making quite a bit of mess on the table. "Slow down, sweetheart," I tell him gently, "you're going to choke if you keep doing that." Like I expected, he gags and bits of food fly out of his mouth. I pat his back and hand him a glass of water. He coughs endlessly as he tilts his head down, "sorry, mom." I frown at what I see. Did he get into trouble again? It's rare for me to see our Dae-Hyunnie act this way. He's a happy kid, always cheerful and loves to joke around. He's had that gloomy look on his face since I picked him up from school. "Wae geurae, hmm, sweetheart?" I ask softly, silently preparing myself for another invitation letter from his school's principal. He shakes his head while still looking down. "You know you can tell umma anything, right?" I coax. He nods and runs off upstairs. Did I push him too much and make him lose his appetite? I sigh as I look at his food that's only half-eaten.

I hear footsteps nearing and see him holding a white piece of paper. Oh God, here it comes, another note from the principal... "What's that, Dae-Hyunnie?" He sits down and flips over the paper, it's a photo of him and his classmates - all 7 of them. He points at a cute little girl with a ponytail, "this, is what's wrong, umma." I furrow my eyebrows, something I've been doing a lot today, "what are you saying, sweetheart?" He sighs and pouts sullenly, "her name is Yoon Hye-Rin, and she's driving me nuts." I chuckle slightly at his explanation, not wanting to make him feel like I'm making fun of him.

"Why is she driving you nuts, sweetie? Does she bully you?" I ask while caressing his hair. "Huh, I wish she was bullying me... I like her, umma! But she never talks to me. Every time I say something to her she just nods or shakes her head. I want to get her attention but she never looks at me! Shireo~" he whines in frustration. Oh, my goodness. So this was about a girl, huh? I laugh inwardly as what he just said replays on my mind. I feel relieved that our son isn't in trouble while at the same time concerned about his feelings. He's only 6 years old; 6 years, 6 months, 1 week, and 2 days to be exact. And he's already stressing this much over a girl he likes?

"Come here, sweetie," I open my arms. He gets up from his chair and sits on my lap, wrapping his short arms around my waist. "Umma, how do I make her notice me? I even tried to trick her into talking to me by pulling her hair, but she still wouldn't say anything. She talks to everyone else but me, umma... Do I look ugly? Or do I smell bad, umma?" he mumbles with his head buried in my shoulder. I hug him tighter and draw circles on his back, "you're very handsome, Dae-Hyun ah, and you smell heavenly... Maybe this Hye-Rin girl is just shy around you," I coo at him. We sit like that in silence for a while.

"What's going on here, honey?" my husband, Kwon Ji-Yong, asks with a questioning look on his face. I'm a bit surprised because I didn't hear him come in. I smile, "oh, you're here." He leans down and kisses my forehead. "Umma!!!" a bubbly voice fills the air. I look to my right and see our daughter in her uniform, her hair looks messy. "Hey, sweetie, how was school?" I ask her while she pecks on my cheek. "It was great, umma! I had gym class today. Super fun! I'm going to get changed now," she answers before rushing upstairs. 

Ji-Yong squats down next to my chair and gently tugs at Dae-Hyun's chin, making the child face him. With a worried look, he asks, "hey, champ, what's the matter?" Dae-Hyun stays silent. He wiggles out of my embrace and goes back to his chair. Ji-Yong just sighs and sits down on his chair, too. A few moments pass by and Dae-Hyun suddenly blurts out, "appa, how do I ask a girl out?" The older man chokes on his water when he hears the question. I giggle and shake my head at the funny scene. "M-Mworago?" he asks Dae-Hyun who's sitting in front of him. The little guy doesn't flinch and keeps his face straight. "How do I ask a girl out?" he repeats, this time louder. "Out where, champ?" "Out on a date, of course," Dae-Hyun replies, leaving his father's eyes open wide.

"Who's going out on a date? Dae-Hyunnie is going out on a date? Appa, this is unfair! You told me I can start dating only after I turn 30, and now you're letting my dongsaeng date a girl?" Ga-Young, who's back from her room, whines as she walks in. She glares at her father with her arms crossed. Ji-Yong smirks, while raising an eyebrow, "want to make it 35, princess?" "E-Eh? That's not what I--" she tries to defend herself but Ji-Yong cuts her, "sit down so we can eat." Hearing a stern voice out of her father's mouth, which doesn't happen on a regular basis, she shuts up and sits down.

After saying grace, Ji-Yong and Ga-Young start eating. When we all finish, Ji-Yong clears his throat, "son, who do you want to ask out on a date?" Dae-Hyun grabs his class photo and points at Yoon Hye-Rin, "that's her, appa. Yoon Hye-Rin." Ji-Yong looks closely at the photo, "son, it's a little too early for you to start dating a girl. You should focus on making as many friends as you can right now," he tells our son. "A little too early? Try 24 years too early!" our daughter remarks. Gosh, she's so clueless. Can't she sense the atmosphere and see how her father's not in the mood for jokes? She's going to get it from Ji-Yong. "Ga-Youngie--" I coo and shake my head, trying to signal her not to say anything else. "No, yeobo, let her talk," Ji-Yong says and pats my hand as he turns to look at our daughter, "young lady, you just earned yourself another 5 years. No dating until 40 for you. You're always welcome to stay here until all your hair turns gray. Got anything more to say, princess?" Our daughter just pouts after that.

"I can't be friends with her, appa. She doesn't talk to me at school so I'm going to ask her out on a date. When we go out on a date, she's at least going to say something, right? She won't be silent the whole time. So, tell me appa, how do I ask her out?" Dae-Hyun says. I let out a small laugh, realizing that our son may have a slight misunderstanding of how a date works. "Dae-Hyun ah, you can't force her into going out with you. What if she says no?" Ji-Yong says. Our son's straight face suddenly transforms into a frown. Maybe he's realizing there's a high possibility that Hye-Rin will say no, considering she doesn't even talk to him at school. "What should I do, then, appa? I have to ask her out before we have our winter break!" our son looks like he's about to cry. "What's with the rush, sweetie?" I ask. He sighs and leans his elbows on the edge of the dining table, hands covering his face, "I'm never going to see her again. This is her last year at kindergarten, she starts primary school next year... She turns 7 in January," he replies sadly. An older girl, huh? Like father like son, I giggle inside.

"Son, just because she's going to a different school, it doesn't mean you'll never see her again. I have an idea, why don't you give her a Christmas present? She will say thank you and that can be a start for you both to talk to each other." A tiny smile appears on Dae-Hyun's face, "ok, appa. I'll try that." He walks to his father and hugs him, "thanks, appa." He then turns to me and kisses me on the cheek, "thanks, umma. I love you." "Don't I get a kiss and an 'I love you' as well?" Ji-Yong asks playfully while nudging our son. "Don't push it, appa." Our son's reply makes us laugh out loud. 

I walk into the kitchen and take a tub of ice cream out of the freezer. "Let's eat dessert!" I hand out small spoons and we eat the ice cream happily. "Appa, are you mad at me? Sorry I interrupted you earlier," Ga-Young says while cutely hugging her father's arm. "Well, a little mad. But a little kiss will wash down my anger," Ji-Yong leans his face towards her. She gives him a long kiss on his cheek and giggles, "can I go back to 30 now, appa? I will still have 21 years left, and that's a long time. Please~?" Ji-Yong and I laugh as he ruffles her hair without answering.

We decide to put up a Christmas tree after lunch. Our Dae-Hyun's old mischievous self is back. He and Ga-Young bicker over where to put the ornaments, competing that each is better than the other at decorating. I tell our maid to have a weekend off so she can spend it with her sister. I make 4 cups of hot chocolate and we sit around the Christmas tree. I lean on Ji-Yong's shoulder. He brushes his thumb on the corner of my mouth and whispers, "you messy girl." We've been married for 11 years and he's still able to make my heart flutter with his small gestures.

He wrap his left arm around my shoulders. The lovely sound of Christmas tunes fills the room. "Appa, umma, you've never told us about your first date," Ga-Young says. "We have, sweetheart," I reply. She shakes her head in disagreement, "no, you've only told us about how it went. When did appa first ask you out, umma? The VERY first time?" Ji-Yong and I look at each other before he answers, "princess, it was... a long time ago."

__________

Author's Note:

Whoa... I just jumped 18 years after the last chapter. Hehehe... You'll see why ^^