Ok, pre-author's note time!
This chapter is actually going to focus on Mina, younger Seolhyun, and Tao before Luhan came back into the picture.
Just letting you know so confusion can be avoided.

"I'm so sorry Tao... for dragging you into this." Mina softly cried, her face buried in her hands.

"Don't you dare say that. It's my fault as well." He gently took a seat next to her on the bed they had woken up on in confusion.

"We have so much to do though. We're still in school, we're trying to live with debt following us... and then this happens."

"Stop it, Mina. Stop it, stop it, stop it, it's not your damn fault. We'll get through this. I promise." Tao sighed as he held on her her, her tiny fingers grabbing at his shirt as she sobbed and buried her face in his neck.

"Still nothing?" Mina asked Tao as he tiredly stumbled into the chair across from them at the dining table. She giggled as her baby dribbled some of the gooey food down her chin.

"No. I found his parents' old house, but they'd moved out. How about you?"

"Nothing as well." She had been trying her hardest to find clues and relocate her old home, but there had been no leads so far.

When Mina had first moved, she had sold her phone and her computer, as well as losing the slip of paper with her address on it. She was blind and forgetful at the time, while Tao had always been simply forgetful. He'd often mentally beat himself up for losing connection to their old 'families', which Mina would often attempt to distract him from.

Tao smiled at the infant girl sitting across from him, yellow baby food stained on the pink bib that hung on her chubby neck. "How's Seolhyun? Did she finally talk today?"

"You idiot, she's a few months too young for that." Mina chuckled, dipping the plastic spoon into the tiny jar of food, the baby grabbing at the utensil in adorable hunger.

"I never said I was an expert." The young father smiled.

Tao could hardly control his laughter as he played with his daughter's feet, the baby's eyes widening in a hilarious way every time he would tickle her ankles. Mina bit her lip as she rushed to finish icing the small tray of cookies, the cute giggle of her child teasing her.

"Bahhhh!" The baby playfully waved her arms around, gibberish coming from her clumsy smile. "Babahumf!"

"What in the world was that!?" Tao cooed, kissing the baby's nose, making her high pitched laughter resound.

"Dadada!" The baby lightly slapped Tao's chin.

"Did I just hear dada?" Mina yelled from the kitchen.

"Oh my gosh, yes! She said dada!" Tao cheerfully exclaimed, bragging about his name being her first word.

"Dabadada!"

Mina quickly skipped into the living room, abandoning the deserts. She crouched next to the father of her child and barely pinched the infant's cheeks. "She spoke! Oh my goodness, my baby said dada!" She repeated over and over, unbelievably proud.

"Say it again Seolhyun! Say dada, say dada." Tao tried.

"... da... pa... daaaaa.... paada..."

"Close enough!"

Four year old Seolhyun bit the skin inside her cheek as she pulled at the buns on her head, ruining the work her mother had spent an hour on earlier that morning. She squirmed in her car seat, kicking the back of the passenger seat. She couldn't help but mess with everything in sight.

"Maamee... whaa we goin'?" Seolhyun struggled to speak.

"We're going to the playground!" Mina happily exclaimed, turning around to glance at her child once they stopped at a red light.

"Daadee... whys?" Seolhyun pouted in confusion.

"To have fun of course! You like the playground, remember?" He laughed, keeping his hands on the wheel of the car.

"Ohhs... now I know..."

Tao ruffled his newly dyed red hair, letting the breeze run through it, as he leaned down to Seolhyun's level.

"Do you want some ice cream, Seolhyunnie?" He asked.

"Yaa yaa yaa!" She giddily cheered, frantically clapping her hands.

"What about you, Mina?" He turned to said woman.

"Ahm... sure! Thanks Tao." She nodded her head in thanks.

Tao calmly walked from the park, looking one last time at his little girl and her mother, who were joyfully playing on a small slide. He frowned, however, when he reached the near by ice cream shop, only to see it had been closed down, and he stood still for a moment in shock.

"Yeah, the owners were kicked out a week ago." A young man said from behind Tao.

Tao glanced at the other male, and shrugged. "That then... do you know if there's a book store close by?"

"Yeah, there's a library a block away, and you can buy some of the books as well. I'm actually going there now to get a job."

Tao pushed his grey rimmed glasses up, pressing them firmly against his nose. "Could you show me the way there?"

"Of course!" The stranger grinned warmly.

"Thanks man."

"Oh, look sweetie, it's daddy." Mina chirped, pointing at the tall man strutting back to the two.

"Daadee!" Seolhyun yelped, running at full speed to her father.

She crashed into his arms, and he caught her with a little giggle, picking her up and holding the child in his arms. "Hello Seolhyunnie."

"Whaa the ice cream?"

"Oh sweetie, the ice cream store closed down, but daddy got you something much better!"

"Weally!?"

"Yep." Tao smiled, pulling three books out of a white plastic bag. "Two of them are blank, because I know how much you like to draw and write stories. The other is a book, and mommy and I'll read it for you tonight if you want."

"Daadee!" Seolhyun screamed in joy as she hugged the three books against her chest. "Thank you!"

Mina had by then caught up to the two, her smile wide and bright as usual.

"I got you something as well." Tao smirked, holding the bag out to Mina.

"Oh really?" She raised her eyebrows, taking the bag.

When she slowly opened the bag, there lay a tiny white box at the bottom with a pink ribbon wrapped around it. Pulling the soft ribbon and placing it into her sweater's pocket, she pushed the box open, only to see a silver ring with a heart shaped pink diamond in the middle. She gasped, nearly dropping the gift, her eyes dragging to a similar ring on Tao's finger, but with a blue sapphire gem in the middle.

"Tao..." She managed to whisper, too shocked to say anything.

"Mina, I know that this all started out as a friendship based thing... but I'd be lying if I said that my feelings haven't grown for you. Let me make this clear though, I'm not in love with you, I just feel a connection to you, a close friendship and relationship. I just wanted to get these to show that I care about you." He smiled, his cheeks turning a slight pink.

Mina didn't say a word as she slipped the ring onto her finger, the soft smile on her face never falling, as she skipped closer and hugged her child and the girl's father. Tao wrapped his other arm around Mina's shoulder, and even a confused yet delighted Seolhyun hugged her parents' heads.

From across the street, the stranger from before was walking with a satisfied look on his face, having gotten the job at the library. He stopped dead in his tracks however, when the man from before came into view.

"I'm getting some gifts for my little girl and her mother."

"Oh really? How old is your daughter?"

"She's four, and she likes writing and drawing, so I thought I'd get her some books... do you have any suggestions for my... girlfriend though?"

"I'm guessing it was an accidental pregnancy, so you two are now just friends with a kid?"

"Ha... pretty much."

"Well, I'd suggest rings. Don't get beautiful white diamonds though, get colors. They make the gift friendly yet sweet. Oh, and there's a jewlery store a few blocks down."

"Thank you. You're good with gifts."

"Ah, it's nothing. I hope they like the presents."

The man smiled to himself at the family before him. That must be his kid and the mother... so sweet. The ringing of his phone shook him from the endearing trance.

"Ah... hello? Yes, this is Luhan."