We walked outside into the cold air.  The wind moved the dying leaves on the ground in rotating circles.  I tucked my hands into my pockets as I accompanied her to get food.  She walked at a faster pace than I did so I watched her walk along.  Her father was already outside of his car with a bag in his hand.  He looked like a cool dude.                

She approached her father and gave him a hug.  I don’t know why but I found myself smiling.  It’s a good thing to see a functioning family for once.  I approached them and her dad’s attention turned to me.

“Hi, I’m Kris.” I bowed to him…something that I learned on my own; manners.

He seemed shocked at first considering his expression.  I just looked at him and he cut himself out of that trance.

“Uh, I’m Jaeri’s dad.  Thank you for helping my daughter…with her project” he eyed me up and down.

I nodded to him.  Her father’s gaze went from me to her and he held her arm.

“Jaeri, could you please go back to work on your project?  I want a word with Mr. Kris” he gave her a look and she made a face.  I couldn’t help, but to laugh.  They looked at me so I scratched the back and slightly looked away.

“Appa, not now.  Just go back home” She insisted and tried to push her father away, but he didn’t budge.  He was quite young for a man with a daughter that age.

“Jaeri.”  He raised his voice a little bit and huffed.  She took the food bag and stomped away.  Once she left, I turned back to her father.  He looked serious, but I could tell he wasn’t used to being a serious man.  He didn’t have the face of a serious man.

“I want to be civil about this.”  He took a deep breath.  I was amused by him, he is silly.

“Please don’t touch my daughter.” He grabbed my hands, begging me.  I found it very nice of him to be concerned about his daughter like that.

“I won’t” I tried to make myself sound strong and responsible.

“She’s the world to me.  Take care of her.” He gave me a stern glare before retreating to the car.

“I will, Mr. Jung” I followed him to the car.  He nodded to me and drove off.  I waved him off and walked back to the room.  When I got back, Jaeri was already opening up all the boxes of food.  I could smell the strong scent of the dumplings.

She was about to put one into when she saw me enter the door.  I gave her a questioning look as she stared back, with wide open.

“Your expression is…interesting…”

“So is yours” she replied before giving me a box. 

“Ok, did my dad say something weird?  Did he question you about your background?”  She scratched her forehead will closing her eyes a bit.

I opened up the chopsticks and poked around the food.  “He asked me if I was a and if I was gay.”

The moment I said that, she choked on the scoop of rice in .  I tapped her hard on the back once and she spit out the rice.  It landed on her leg and as she tried to regain her breathing patterns, I gingerly wiped up her upchuck. 

“Nasty” I whispered as I tossed the soiled napkin into the bin.

“Did he really ask you that?”  She had an expression; a mixture of embarrassment and horror.

I laughed, “Nah, I’m just joking.  He made me promise that I wouldn’t touch you”, I grabbed onto her arm, “But, I just broke that promise.”

“He is so embarrassing” she face palmed herself.

“I think he is pretty cool.  It’s nice to see a father care so much about his child.” I said with a full mouth.

“Why?  Does your dad do embarrassing things to you too?”  She peered at me while chewing on a side dish.

Oh crap.  What do I tell her?

“Um, I don’t have a father.”  Well now I can say that I wasn’t lying.  He was never really a father to me anyway.

“Sorry to hear about that.”  Her expression softened and she turned away.    “If it’s ok with you, I’m going to eat while I work.”

Within two hours, we finally finished the damn long poster.  I was all dry and it looked really good; unlike one of those cheap and lazy posters.

“I’m going to shower and then crash” she washed her hands in the sink, rinsing off the paint. 

“You got a ride home?”  I looked at her and she looked at me.

“Yeah, thanks for everything.”  She smiled at me and it made me feel good.  To actually help someone out and enjoy helping at the same time made me feel happy.

=========================

OMG, short chapter.  i am so sorry for not updating as sson as i usually do.  For now you guys are left with a short chapter.  I will update asap!

replies:

@ljoesaraghae_11: hahaha yup, i can't imagine kris doing aegyo.

@hunhanwhisper:  thank you for coming across my story!  hope you enjoy

@reddragon: on a rate of 1 to 10, ten being the cutest: how cute are their reactions?

@circee: awww, thanks i am very flattered!  thanks for waiting!

@jinnielee: lol they do seem in good terms yeah?  i feel like i at writing hate things so i usually don't write them!   thanks for comenting!

thanks <3