Seoul, 13 February 2031

It's 5 p.m. and we're bustling inside the kitchen. Today is Friday, but that's not the reason why our kitchen is all messed up. Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. Yes, that's right, the day of love. "Umma, do you think this is smooth enough?" Ga-Young shows me the bowl in her hands. I smile, "hmm, I think you need to mix it for a few more minutes, sweetheart." She frowns at my explanation. Cooking isn't one of her strong points, but I can see that she's trying her best. I chuckle and pat her back, "you're doing great, sweetie. Don't lose hope, the cookies will come out great..."

She sighs heavily. She told me that she wanted to give a bag of chocolate chip cookies to her senior at school. She has a major crush on this guy. I don't know his name or what he looks like, since I've never seen the guy. But, judging by how hard my almost-14-year-old girl is trying, I'm sure that he is great. We had to rush home after I picked her up from school earlier today, because we need to keep this a secret from the big guy; the 'you-know'who'.

"Aigoo... working so hard, huh, Ga-Young noona?" Dae-Hyun says in a mocking tone. "Yah, you need to get out of here! Can't you see how busy I am? Get out of the kitchen!" Ga-Young replies, her face looks so annoyed at the sight of her little brother. He sticks his tongue out, "I live here, too, you know. By the way, noona, do you think that guy will accept your cookies? What if he rejects them? And who is this guy, anyway? Do you like him that much, noona? Hmm? What if he doesn't like you back? What if--" "Dae-Hyun ah," I sternly call out to him and shake my head. The boy is obviously too dense. Can't he see that his sister is already stressed out enough? Dae-Hyun rolls his eyes and sits at the dining table. Kyung-Sun unnie, our maid, chuckles at the scene. She has been working for us since these kids were babies, so she's used to seeing the siblings bicker.

"I'm home!" Ji-Yong comes in and startles all of us. Uh-oh... the devil has arrived. "Omo, what happened to our kitchen?" Ga-Young's eyes almost pop out after seeing her father in the kitchen. She instantly turns her head and looks at me, asking for some backing up. Dae-Hyun smirks, "I smell trouble..." 

"Babe, how come you're home early?" I walk closer to him and try to him out of the kitchen. He doesn't budge, "I finished my work early today. Care to tell me why you're all so busy here in the kitchen? Are you guys cooking dinner or something?" Oh dear, what should I tell him? He strolls towards Ga-Young and takes a peek at what she's holding, "whoa... My daughter is cooking? What are you making, princess?" Ga-Young bends her head down and doesn't say anything. Ji-Yong's eyebrows furrow, "what's wrong?" Our daughter keeps silent, and so are the rest of us in the kitchen. No one dares to say anything, all in fear of how Ji-Yong might react. Until...

"Gosh, I can't stand this anymore!" Dae-Hyun bawls, "noona is baking cookies to give to a guy she likes at school for Valentine's Day!" Aigoo, Kwon Dae-Hyun! Do you really need to make this situation worse? I scold him in my head. Ga-Young is about to open to defend herself, when...

"MWO?!" Ji-Yong yells out. Here it comes... "Kwon Ga-Young..." he puts his hands on his waist; he never calls our kids by their full names unless he's really upset, "since when did I give you permission to date? Stop what you're doing now! You're grounded! Starting Monday, you don't get to go to any afterschool activities. Go home immediately after school ends and--"

"Babe, calm down," I tell him and drags him to the dining table, away from Ga-Young. This man is just as dense as our son, can't he see that Ga-Young is about to burst into tears? "She's not dating anyone, yeobo... She just wanted to give a Valentine's Day gift to her senior at school, so--" I coo at him, but he cuts in, "that is just as bad as dating! She knows that I won't let her date before she turns 30. She's not even 15 years old now, so we're only half way there. Andwae! I won't have it!"

Ga-Young starts sobbing and storms out of the kitchen. I myself am quite shocked at my husband's reaction. I have expected that he was going to throw a fit, but I never imagined he would raise his voice that high at his little princess. I motion my hand at Dae-Hyun, signalling him to leave the kitchen as well. With a shocked expression, he abruptly gets up and runs upstairs.

"Ji-Yong ah, weren't you a being a little too much just now? Our daughter is growing up, yeobo, and you can't change that... Don't act like you were never young once... It's just a little girl's crush, it's not like she's in love with the guy or anything like that..." I try to explain. He furrows his eyebrows, expressing his annoyance, "yeobo, what are you talking about? We're supposed to be a team!" I sigh at his remark; he can be overreacting at times.

"Babe, listen to me, will you? This is our daughter we're talking about. Don't you--"

"Which is exactly why I'm doing this! Have you seen how boys her age act these days, huh? They're basically punks who act like they got it all just to get into girls' pants! I--"

"Kwon Ji-Yong! Can't you let me finish what I have to say first? Don't you trust our daughter? We know what kind of crowd she hangs with, you've interviewed all of her friends who have shown their faces in front of us. We enrolled our kids in a good school so they would have good surrounding and influence. You can't treat them like babies anymore! We need to wrap our heads around the fact that they're growing up... Did you see how you made our daughter cry?" I chide angrily. He's worried, alright, but his silly over-concern is starting to give me a headache.

He lets out a heavy sigh after being quiet for a while. He holds my hand on the table, "yeobo yah, mianhae. I overreacted..." I smile softly at him, "you don't have to apologize to me. It was Ga-Young's feelings you hurt." He sighs again, making his frustration even more clear. "I'm too ashamed to face her right now. Can you please talk to her for me?" he asks with a guilty expression on his face. I nod my head, "arasseo, I'll talk to her. Go take a shower now so we can have dinner." We both walk upstairs and I knock on Ga-Young's bedroom.

"Go away," I hear her mumble from outside the room. "Ga-Young ah, it's umma," I say as I knock again. The door soon opens, revealing Ga-Young with red and slightly swollen eyes. I feel like pinching my husband's arm after I look at her state. She walks away from me and sits down on her bed. I sit myself next to her. "Why is appa so angry at me, umma? I know that he won't let me date until I'm 30 years old, but is it so wrong if I want to give something to someone I like on Valentine's Day? Jae-Sung sunbae has been so nice to me, umma. He's helped my with homework, so I just want to do something nice for him..." Ga-Young starts talking. Her voice sounds so sad, and I don't like listening to her sad voice. 

I hold her by her shoulders, "Ga-Young ah, appa was just overreacting. He snapped at you, and trust me, he feels sorry about that. I had a talk with him, he agreed to let you bake cookies. So, don't worry about it, ok?" She wipes her tears and smiles, "really, umma? I can give cookies to Jae-Sung sunbae and appa won't be mad? Thank you, umma!" I chuckle at her sudden change of mood. "Yeah. So, you can continue cooking now, sweetie," I coo at her and her hair.

"But, umma... Does appa hate me or something?" she asks. My eyes widen in shock, "who gave you that idea? Appa will never hate you, sweetie. You're his little princess..." "Then why won't he give me permission to date before I turn 30? I'm not saying I want to start dating, but all my girl friends don't have that kind of rule from their dads..." she asks curiously. I smile at her because I know very well what the reason is, "Ga-Young ah, appa is just afraid to lose his little princess, that's why he's so overprotective of you." She looks puzzled, "eh? Why does he feel that way? I'm not going anywhere..." I chuckle, "I'll tell you the reason another time, ok? Now go and bake those cookies." 

I walk into my bedroom to find Ji-Yong. The curtain is blown by the wind, indicating that the door to the balcony is open. I peek outside and see him looking up at the sky with a cigarette in his hand, his back is facing me. I walk out to the balcony and hug him from behind, wrapping my arms around his waist. "Why are you out here?" I ask gently as I lean my head on his broad back. He only lets out a sigh in response. I slip my hands under his shirt and rub his tummy, something I always do when he's feeling down. "You should stop smoking, yeobo. Don't you want to live to see your grandchildren, hmm?" I whisper, but he keeps his mouth shut.

After he's finished with the cigarette, he turns around and puts his hands on my shoulders, "I know i promised you only one cigarette a week, and that was my first and only one this week." I smile and peck his lips. "Did you talk to her?" he asks. "Mmm... She was happy when I told her that you would let her give a Valentine's Day gift to her sunbae," I reply. He sighs in relief. "She asked me if you hate her because of your stupid 'no-dating-before-30' rule," I add. A sad smile appears on his face, "I just don't want my little princess to leave me so quickly. It was difficult for me to win her heart in the first place..."

We embrace each other for a long while before he goes to the bathroom to take a shower. I lie on the bed, thinking about the way my husband reacted over a simple matter like our daughter giving cookies to some guy for Valentine's Day. Most dads are overprotective of their daughters, but Kwon Ji-Yong is on a whole other level...