Both of their tiny hands stayed clasped in his as his wife spoke to the receptionist. He caught a few words: “Still young…place them in kindergarten? That sounds good…”

“Appa.” His little girl tugged sharply on his hand, making him stagger sideways. She pointed unashamedly at another girl who squatted just beside the slide. She held a magnifying glass in her hand as she examined something on the rocks. “Can I go play with her?”

“Just a minute, sweetie,” he mumbled, clutching her hand even tighter. “Let’s wait for your mama…”

She yanked harder. “But she’s busy. I wanna play now.” Before he could protest a second time, she slipped her small hand out of his and bounced over to meet her new friend; as she ran, her backpack jingled with the many keychains he and her “uncles” had attached so long ago. Even from this distance, he could hear their animated conversation turn into a normal girly one: unicorns, puppies, kitties, and princesses.

How could she just…run off like that? He fixed his pout back into a blank look as his wife approached him with two packets of paperwork. “Well?”

Her long, drawn-out sigh clued him in. “They can go into their classrooms, but we still have to fill these out.” She waved the papers in his face. “So…yeah…”

Oh, god. No. He glanced down at his son, who had his eyes locked onto a group of boys kicking a soccer ball around the blacktop. Not him, too…

“…su.”

“Hmm?”

“Hey!” She poked him in the arm. “Let go of his hand. He wants to go play soccer.”

“B-but…” No sooner had he relaxed his grip on his son, the boy took off towards the other boys, laughing and swinging his bag around.

“Oh, Junsu.” His wife reached for his fingers and squeezed them reassuringly. “They had to go to school sooner or later. Better to get it over with.” She rolled her eyes. “I don’t even want to imagine how you’ll be when they go off to college.”

His eyes widened to their fullest extent. “E-e-e-eh?! NO! That’s still years off. Pft.” He shook himself free of the terrifying thoughts. “We still have time.”

“Sometimes, I worry about you, dear…”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his little girl look up from playing with her new friend. He fully turned in her direction with a wistful look on his face; she must have recognized its deeper meaning, for she said something to the other little girl and bounded over to where they stood, backpack still bouncing on her back. He let out a quiet noise when she flung her arms around his leg and smiled big. “Bye-bye, appa!” A tiny giggle followed her words as she let go in order to do the same to her mother. Once that was over and done with, she skipped and hopped back to her friend.

Must. Not. Cry. “See you later, baby girl,” he whispered, hand still clenched—as if the warm and small hand of his daughter was still there, holding on for dear life.