“Thank you, Youngjae. It’s been an amazing night. Thank you for asking me out again, actually. I’m really not used to dates nowadays but I have to pick Minjae up,” you stood up and pushed your chair in.

            Youngjae followed suit and held out a hand. “Tell her I said hi. I want to meet her soon.”

            You swallowed and almost felt the undigested food start to rise again. “You wouldn’t want to.” A wave of insecurity washed over you and you hung your head. “I don’t understand why you would even want to go out with- I really need to go.” You wrenched your hand away from his and briskly left the restaurant before your insecurities could get the better of you.

            It was rare for you to let your hair down. Ever since you had Minjae four years ago, you’ve only been focused on providing for her. Your then husband had left you for a younger woman, barely out of college, and had never given your daughter a second glance. You found a job at an investing company and had worked hard to be a manager while taking care of her.

            When Youngjae, your fellow manager from another department, had asked you out, you were hesitant. But your friends had insisted, wanting to see you finally go out after so long of being sheltered.

            “If you don’t go, I swear, I’m going to personally let him into your house just so you can have some male companionship,” they had threatened.

            So you agreed. It was easy because all of them volunteered gladly to take care of Minjae. The only problem was that you worried about her constantly. You weren’t sure if your baby girl would cry and ask for you. She was fine, though and that enabled you to agree on a second date, and a third.

            By the eighth date, yes you were keeping count, you finally had the courage to tell him about your daughter. It was dumb of you to do it when you had feelings for him but you told him anyway. His reaction was not what you expected.

            “She must look like you! What’s her name? How old is she?” he threw all his questions at you and you were surprised, expecting him to cringe away.

            “I’m told she looks like me. Minjae’s four.”

            He rolled her name in his tongue. “Minjae. Keke, I’m Youngjae. I feel like I’m going to like her. She must be adorable.”

            You blushed. “She’s the light of my life.”

            Then he had surprised you. “I would like to meet her one day.” That had scared you. It was different, letting a man into your lives. You never heard from your ex and Minjae was too young. You had stalled for time over and over again. Until now.

            The moment you got home, you thanked your friend for watching over her. Minjae was already sleeping in bed and you smiled at your little angel.

            “Hey, I have something to ask you.” You uttered and your friend settled onto the couch next to you.

            “Go.”

            “Youngjae wants to meet Minjae. I feel like everything’s progressing so fast and what if he judges?”

            “Judge?” she wrinkled her nose. “He knows about Minjae and has asked you out over and over again. He keeps asking about her, I think he’s pretty darn interested in knowing her. You’re being insecure. Let him meet her. Really.”

            You agreed to think it over. The next morning before you went to work, you left Minjae with your mother and handed her her coloring books. “Minjae, would you like to meet an uncle tonight?”

            Your daughter beamed up at you. “Neh, I like making friends.”

            When you passed by Youngjae’s office, you dropped in, ignoring the stares of your colleagues. The two of you have never made your relationship known at the workplace. “Would you like to come over tonight?”

            His face lit up. “Yes! I’m going to go on my lunch break now. I’ll pick you up after.” His face still beaming, he walked past you and hurried out. You wondered at his weird behavior.

            When Youngjae came to pick you up, you noticed he had changed out from his suit and was dressed comfortably.

            “What’s with the change in outfits?”

            He winked. “We don’t want Minjae thinking I’m a stuffy old suit, you know? Kids need good first impressions. Let’s go.”

            You were nervous as he pulled into your driveway. “My mom’s taking care of her but I think she should be eating dinner now.”

            He got out of the car and pulled out several bags with him. Before you could stop him, he had already rang the bell and your mother had answered. Youngjae greeted your mother graciously when she opened the door. The elderly woman smiled and nodded towards the kitchen. “I’ll leave you two now. Minjae’s having spaghetti.”

            “Minjae?” you called.

            “Mommy!” Your daughter raced out and slammed into you. You laughed and kissed her.

            “How was my baby today?”

            “Hello, Minjae. I’m Youngjae, how are you?” Youngjae knelt to your daugher’s eye level.

            “Youngjae ahjussi?” She cocked her head in wonder. “We both have jae in our name!” She unpeeled herself from you and went to hug him. Youngjae laughed and picked her up, carrying her back to the dining room, looking as natural as if he had been doing this since she was born. Minjae clung onto him and he motioned for you to take the bags he had dropped.

            “What do you have here? It’s heavy!” You complained.

            He sat your daughter down in her chair and pulled out the items. “I hope you like bears because I got you a lot of bears. I brought board games, a doll house and I heard from your mom that you liked Arielle? I got you the entire collection of the characters.”

            Toys littered the floor as Minjae dived among them, playing and exploring. “Thank you! I like you. Mommy,” she said, turning to you. “Can Youngjae ahjussi come back again?”

            You looked over at the man next to you and he grinned in a hopeful manner. “Yeah, mommy, can I come back again?”

            Following his pose, Minjae also pouted and gave you her puppy eyes. “Please?”

            Laughing, you nodded. “Only if he wants to.”

            Later that evening, Youngjae picked a sleepy Minjae off the floor and brought her to bed. “She’s an angel. Thank you for letting me into your life.”

            You tiptoed to kiss him. “No. Thank you for accepting us into yours.” 

plot requested