I knew the moment I took my eyes off her that it would be the biggest mistake of my life. I looked away for a second to admire the sea hitting against the boardwalk and my daughter ripped herself from my hands. She let out a loud yell and ran down the docks.

            “Jaylie!” I called and started to run after her when she slammed into someone.

            The mysterious stranger bent down and helped her as she rubbed her eye. “Ow, you hurt me,” she was complaining as I tried to recover myself.

            “I’m quite sorry, sir.” I apologized but he only smiled and then I realized he wasn’t smiling at me; he was smiling at my wife. Well, won’t you look at that? I looked at her and was shocked to see that she was blushing. I haven’t seen her blush since…. Well last night, when I told her I loved her, but that’s another story. Why was she blushing now?

            “Oh, hey!” she even sounded like a giddy school girl. “This is Myungsoo. Myungsoo, this is Daehyun. Myungsoo and I used to date.”

            Oh. I looked at him critically. I suppose he wasn’t that bad looking. I’d say her taste improved significantly so in her later years though. The man looked at me and I held out a hand. “Nice to meet you.”

            He smiled back. “Same here. Now who is this pretty girl?” He knelt so he was at Jaylie’s height and she turned red.

            “I’m Jaylie,” she introduced herself shyly.

            Myungsoo beamed. “Jaylie is such a pretty name! I’m Uncle Myungsoo. You can call me Uncle Soo. If your mom lets me, do you want to come and take a walk down to the beach with me?”

            I shot her an incredulous look when she replied. “Ah, we were just going there. We can all go together.”

            Myungsoo smiled, quite unnecessarily brightly at her in my opinion, and stood. “Who is this?” He indicated the baby carrier my wife had on.

            She turned around so Myungsoo could see our son and for a second, they almost looked like a couple, doting over their newborn. Well, I see how it is. I cleared my throat and took Jaylie’s hands. “Jaylie, do you want to go see the tidal pools with appa?” I cocked my head and smiled at her.

            She pursed her lips and stole a glance at Myungsoo, who was now Daemin’s cheeks. “Uh, I wanna go to the beach with Uncle Soo.”

            Oh. I straightened and tried to hide the hurt that was spreading through me. Fine. I see how it was. First my wife, and now my daughter. When Myungsoo walked away and took Jaylie’s hand, without my permission, may I say, I sidled up to her and reached my arms out.

            She was still red and looked at me. “What?”

            “Give me the baby.”

            She raised her eyebrows. “Why? He’s not heavy. I can hold him. It’s okay.”

            “Give me Daemin.”

            puckered slightly. “Are you okay, Dae?”

            “Yep. I’m absolutely fine. Thank you for asking. Now, can I please have my son and you can go after Jaylie to make sure that she’s okay?”

            “Or I can take Daemin and you can go after Jaylie. She’s getting further away by the second.” I turned to look and she was right. My daughter was being led away by Myungsoo at five miles an hour.

            “You can go after her. He’s your ex.” I swear, I wasn’t jealous. There was absolutely no reason to be. I just didn’t really feel like interacting with a man I didn’t know.

            Her lips furled into a smile and she bumped my hip. “Is my Daehyunnie jealous?”

            I snorted and gave her an incredulous look. I tugged the straps of the baby carrier off of her and held my son instead. “Absolutely not. You and Jaylie may not need you, but my son does. I’m going to take him to see the tidal waves.” And I turned around before she could say anything else.

            “Look, Daemin. There’s a starfish. Right now your noona is probably getting hit by waves but you get to see the seashells. Look at how pretty they are.” I squatted and held him in my arms and he waved his arms around, almost hitting me in the face.

            “Appa!” there was a shout behind me and I saw Jaylie running up with Myungsoo in tow. “Uncle Soo found a big oyster shell for me!” Myungsoo was laughing and my wife stood a little to the back. I smiled at my daughter.

            “It looks really nice. Daemin’s having fun too.” But she had already turned away. My heart fell and I sighed, shifting slightly so the water wouldn’t rush into my shoes. “I guess we’ll look at the anemone and sea urchins by ourselves.”

            The baby nuzzled his face into my chest and I felt slightly better. Here was someone who needed me. There was a hand on my shoulder and I looked up to find the love of my life looking at me. was turned down in the way it usually was when she was upset.

            “Dae, don’t be sad.”

            I cleared my throat and stood up. “Who’s sad?”

            She wrapped her arms around my neck and rested her head on my chest and absentmindedly played with Daemin’s cheeks. “I know you’re upset about Jaylie and Myungsoo but I swear he’s just a one day distraction.”

            I looked at her and saw that she was climbing over him, pointing at the starfish I was supposed to show her. “I guess daddy’s just someone she’s used to.”

            She made a little noise with and kissed my cheek. “I can talk to her?”

            I shook my head. “She’s having her fun. It’s okay. One day, they’ll be boyfriends and then she’ll forget all about me anyway.”

            My wife laughed and Daemin chuckled too. “You’re so silly. Watch. Tonight, she’ll be all over you, wanting daddy to sing for her. You don’t worry your handsome head about it.”

            I looked at her and a small smile spread across my face. “You think I’m handsome?”

            She rolled my eyes and poked me. “Yes, stupid. It’s why I married you, isn’t it? To provide my children with excellent genes.”

            That night, after Myungsoo rejected dinner with us, I tucked Jaylie into bed and she grabbed onto my hand. “Daddy, tomorrow, can you show me more starfish?” She smiled happily and I kissed her forehead.

            “Are you sure? Don’t you want Uncle Soo to be there?” I smiled at her and she giggled.

            “Silly appa. I love you better.” And in a gesture very much like her mother, she brought the palm of her hand to and blew me a kiss. 

This is for MokpoStar

ugh. Daddy Dae feels :( I really. Really. Want to hug Daehyun right now.