As the winter months slipped slowly into the warmer months of spring the tension and frustration was being felt between Joon and Yoon Hee. Soo Jin often studied the two when they were out together and she wondered on many of occasions why her mom didn’t just tell Joon that she liked him because it was even obvious to her seven year old eyes that her mom was crazy about the man. When it came to her Joonie she also knew that he liked her mom a lot too. She could see it in the way he looked at her, in the gentle ways he touched her or held her hand. Soo Jin shook her head as she watched her two favorite people stroll a little ahead of her; adults sure were weird when it came to confessing their feelings.  She vowed that she would never be like that when she was older, when she liked someone she was going to tell them.

Unlike the innocent musings of a little, pixie-like girl the two in question were lost in their own world of thoughts, frustration warring in both their hearts and their bodies yearning for that magical touch of passion, their desire for each other like a blazing fire heating and scorching their blood. They walked hand in hand enjoying the warm breeze as the strolled through the park, occasionally smiling as Soo Jin rushed ahead in a game of catch with the colorful butterflies that had come out to play among spring’s blossoming flowers.

Cherry blossoms flew in a spiral of pretty pink petals as they walked beneath the just blooming trees, weaving through people who had cameras out and posing beneath the beautiful backdrop of trees. Yoon Hee took out her phone and called for Soo Jin. When her daughter came bounding over she pulled Joon further beneath the trees and positioned him and Soo Jin until they suited her before stepping back and observing the pair.

The floating petals were quickly raining down and raining into their hair and on their shoulders. Soo Jin had a brilliant smile on her face as she shifted her face up to grin at Joon from her spot in the “V” of his bent legs as he hunkered down at her level where Yoon Hee had placed him. He had one arm lazily looped around her daughter’s tiny waist and was answering her smile with one of his own. They looked good together, Yoon Hee thought, like father and daughter.

The thought crept into her mind before she could stop it and her heart ached at the picture they made. She had loved Joon in secret all this time and never once had she thought about what kind of father he could be to Soo Jin if they ever made it that far. She riffled through her memories as she took a series of shots with her phone. She thought about all the times he and Soo Jin had interacted; the times they played together, the few times that her daughter had been sick and Joon had cared for her so that Yoon Hee could rest after a long night of nursing her daughter. She thought of all the small little things that Joon did for her daughter, the goofy things, and the loving things. It struck her then that Joon would be a good father to Soo Jin if their relationship were to move past where they currently were.

That was another thing, she thought to herself as she put her phone back in her pocket, their relationship hadn’t progressed quite like she thought it would. After that one kiss in the falling snow they had been almost hesitant around each other, the kisses chaste and passionless and Yoon Hee ached for more than that, wanted so much more.

Joon’s thoughts were a mirror of Yoon Hee’s as he watched Soo Jin take a hold of her mother’s hand and pull her from her thoughts so that she could play with her beneath the cherry blossom trees. They painted a pretty picture together of mother and daughter, smiles bright like the afternoon spring sunshine, eyes twinkling like jewels. He felt left out of the moment even when they beamed their smiles his way and beckoned for him to join them.

He wanted to be in their lives, a complete fixture, immovable as they grew together, shared together, loved together. A fear of losing them both had grown in his heart as time passed and Yoon Hee seemed no closer to accepting him as a part of her. It never occurred to him that maybe she was possibly waiting for him to make the next move, to push them past the step of friendship into something much more beautiful.

As the thought finally occurred his eyes widened and his heart fluttered then raced as he walked towards them to frolic amongst the pretty pink petals. It was in that moment that a plan began forming in his mind. It was past time that he confessed his feelings, took the next step and made Yoon Hee his. A trickle of fear set in that possibly she might reject his heart, but he swallowed don the fear, refused to let it stop him when he knew that this is what he wanted, he only needed to find the right way to tell her.

Soo Jin saw a light spark in her Joonie’s eyes and she hoped that he had finally figured out what she had known all along. A sudden shifting at her side had her turning her eyes towards her mother and she saw the light dawning in her eyes. Soo Jin smiled the smile of a child who knew more than she should, but if either Yoon Hee or Joon saw it they didn’t question her quiet wisdom.

While Joon and her mother stared moony eyed at each other she contented herself with sitting beneath the trees and playing in the petals, watching the butterflies flit around from petal to petal. The sun was shining brightly, warm and calming and it made her eyes droopy as she settled amidst the blossoms. The last thing she saw before she slipped into the peaceful embrace of sleep was Joon’s tender arms holding her mother and his face buried in her hair while her mother locked her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest. Her birthday wish flickered to life in her mind as her eyes slid closed and sleep claimed her for a nap in the sun.

Joon nuzzled into her hair and inhaled the soft scent of her shampoo. It was a calming scent, sweet and spicy at the same time. It was a unique smell and he found that he quite liked it. He held Yoon Hee a little tighter so that he could feel her heartbeat flutter hopelessly against his own as her body melted into him. He liked the feel of her against him, soft and feminine and he wanted so badly to lay claim on her, but all in good time he reminded himself as she pulled away from his arms and glanced around.

Panic surged in her for a moment until her eyes landed on her daughter lying beneath the sun speckled shade of the cherry trees, her eyes closed and face tilted towards the afternoon sun, a spray of pink coating her in a floral blanket. She smiled at the sight, pulled out her phone and snapped a picture. She was aware of Joon shifting to stand beside her as she pocketed her phone and together they gazed at the beautiful portrait Soo Jin made.

“She looks so peaceful as if she doesn’t have a care in the world.” Yoon Hee was amazed at the innocence her daughter projected. “She seems so much happier than she was a year ago.” She smiled up at him. “I think it’s all thanks to you. After we met you, you opened up the world to her, she got to experience things she never had before. She’s grown attached to you.”

Joon felt his heart swell with some sweet emotion at Yoon Hee’s words. He shifted his gaze to land on the tiny child blanketed in petals and a smile tugged at his lips. Joon felt the urge to swoop her up into his arms and cradle her sleeping form against his chest where she could rest assured that she would be protected and her dreams could be filled with nothing but happiness.

She still kept her eyes on his face even after he had turned to gaze at her daughter. Yoon Hee liked the tender love she saw in his eyes, the gentle smile that graced his lips and she felt herself fall even more in love with him for it. She wanted to hold on to him, never let him go, but she feared that it was the fate that she would one day have to face. She was happy now, but the fear lingered at the same time that a voice in her mind nagged and raged at her to tell him how she felt. She was afraid too, was scared that he would turn her away because there was nothing that she had to offer him. That added to the fact that he was still young, still in the prime of his idol years and enjoyed his world of music, why should he saddle himself with a child, let alone someone else’s child?

Unaware of Yoon Hee’s thoughts Joon moved towards the sleeping child and gently lifted her in his arms. Soo Jin shifted so that her arms came around his neck and her face pressed into the curve of his neck and shoulder. He held her close as her soft breath feathered across his skin and it caused his smile to brighten even more. Joon loved the feel of her tiny form snuggled to him. It was a feeling he could definitely get used to.

He turned and aimed his smile at Yoon Hee as he walked back to her and together they continued on their walk, the afternoon slipping into evening, the blossoms still raining around them and one small, little girl nestled in the arms of someone she loved while her dreams were filled with nothing but happiness.