Kyungsoo was bored out of his mind. It had been 3 weeks since they started living in the Congressman, recently turned Senator, Kris Wu’s apartment. He was bored because it seemed like he was a doting wife who stayed at home to take care of the baby and wait for his husband to come home, which he certainly was not.

He was on leave from his work in the ramyun shop. His boss was gracious enough to allow him to take a leave until they had sorted Soojin’s daddy issues. The ahjumma had been a witness to every struggle in Kyungsoo and Dara’s life especially when the latter got pregnant. So, she had understood how important it was that the baby girl received the care that she deserved from her biological father, more so that the baby girl’s life was at stake.

Living in a luxurious penthouse apartment beats living in a dilapidated, cheap one Kyungsoo was living in. It was great and all however, beyond the luxury was a gnawing sense of loneliness. He had nothing to do except for chores and taking care of Soojin, not that he didn’t love spending more time with the baby, he just felt restless. He was used to being on the go, what with him working in the ramyun shop, he always had something to do.

It was because of that that Kyungsoo found himself convincing Tao to allow him and Soojin to go out, maybe to a park or just anywhere outside of the apartment. The bodyguard had been assigned to look after Kyungsoo and Soojin. Kris said that it was for security but Kyungsoo knew better. Tao had been assigned to them so they wouldn’t escape.

“Please, Tao? We won’t go far and we will be as inconspicuous as how you want us to be. Soojin needs fresh air too, you know.” Kyungsoo was facing Tao holding onto the latter’s crossed arms as he stood by the front door stoically.

Surprisingly, Tao had actually become closer to Kyungsoo as the days passed. The cold, indifferent aura that the bodyguard exuded was all just for keeping up appearances. He was in fact a cute dongsaeng to Kyungsoo. They had gotten closer because Tao was a voracious eater and Kyungsoo had lured him with food that he cooked.

“Hyung, you know I can’t allow you to go out. Kris will kill me if I do.” It was funny how Tao would address him as hyung when he only addressed the Senator, who was older than both of them, with just Kris.

“Well, he can’t kill you if he doesn’t know. It will be our little secret. And besides, I know you wanna get out of here too,” Kyungsoo reasoned. “Please?” Kyungsoo appealed and made a cute imitation of a pleading cat’s eyes ala Puss-in –Boots which he knew he could totally pull off with his big ones.

“Oh, alright!” Tao gave in. “But we can’t be out for long, okay? We have to be back before Kris comes home.”

“Yes! I knew you are on our side.”

Tao just rolled his eyes but couldn’t help and agree with Kyungsoo. He had totally crossed over the fence. He was already on Soojin and Kyungsoo’s side. He wanted Soojin to really be Kris’ daughter because he had also fallen for the angel’s cute charms.

Kyungsoo had hoped that they could actually go and visit the ramyun shop, but Tao found a nearby playground and had them stop at the place. When they got out of the car, Tao grabbed Soojin’s stroller from the trunk and Kyungsoo placed the baby girl in it. As if in cue, Soojin giggled in delight and clapped her small hands, showing anticipation on their little adventure.

They walked around the park next to the playground for a while with Tao pushing Soojin’s stroller and Kyungsoo trailing behind, taking in the sights and greeneries. When they were heading back to the playground, they saw a little boy crying in the middle of the road who may have been lost. Tao, who was ahead of Kyungsoo, just ignored the crying boy along with the other park goers, but Kyungsoo couldn’t do the same. He approached the boy and crouched in front of him so he could ask where his parents were.

“Hi there!” Kyungsoo greeted, trying to sound a little more friendly so the boy wouldn’t be scared. “Why are you crying? Are you lost?”

“I want my Grandpa,” the boy answered in between sobs. It was a relief that the boy answered Kyungsoo instead of being afraid of him. That way, it was easier for Kyungsoo to help him locate his Grandpa.

“Here, take my hand and we’ll find your Grandpa.” Kyungsoo held out his hand and the little boy took it without hesitation.

They hadn’t even gone far when an old man came running towards them, which made the boy let go of Kyungsoo and rushed to meet the man half way. It was a lovely sight to witness; a reunion of a grandson with his grandpa. The old man apologized to the boy, almost in tears, and hugged the latter tightly in gratitude that nothing bad happened to the boy.

Kyungsoo smiled at the scene and made his way back to the playground to give them privacy.

“Young man,” the Grandpa called out before Kyungsoo could move further on.

Kyungsoo turned to face the man and bowed to greet the latter. “Annyeonghasseyo.”

“Annyeonghasseyo,” the old man greeted back. “I just would like to thank you for taking care of Jinwoo. I don’t really know what I will do if something bad happened to him.”

“Oh no, that was nothing, you’re welcome. Glad I could help. Well, I should be heading back to the playground now. It was nice meeting you. My name is Do Kyungsoo.”

“Nice meeting you too. You can call me Mr. Lee.” The man held out his hand for a handshake and Kyungsoo took it in both of his. “If you’re heading to the playground, we’re going to that direction too. We can go together.”

“Sure,” Kyungsoo nodded.

On the way to the playground, Mr. Lee told Kyungsoo that Jinwoo was the former’s only grandchild from his only son, so, he was extra affectionate towards the boy. Kyungsoo had also shared his story with the old man but not up to the point where he was living with Senator Wu, just the part where he was trying to locate the biological father of his niece.

When they reached the playground, they said goodbye and the old man had given Kyungsoo his business card. Mr. Lee told him to call if in case he needed more help in locating Soojin’s father. It was some sort of a favor in exchange for taking care of Jinwoo. Kyungsoo accepted the card but was not really planning on involving the old man in his trouble. He bowed and turned to head towards the direction of Tao who was busy pushing Soojin on a swing.

They have just about settled back into the apartment when the doorbell rang and a smiling Yixing greeted Kyungsoo by the door. The older male did not even properly say hello to Kyungsoo when he came bursting in and looked for Soojin right away. Kyungsoo just shook his head and grinned in disbelief. If Tao had fallen for Soojin’s charms, Yixing had it bad. The latter was totally whipped by the baby girl he could totally pass as Soojin’s fool.

Yixing and Tao were arguing in the living room on whose turn was it to hold Soojin, while Kyungsoo just silently laughed on the sidelines, when Kris and Chanyeol arrived.

“Xing, what are you doing here?” It was the first thing that came out of Kris’ mouth upon seeing his best friend raised Soojin above his head and cooing at the little girl.

“I came to visit Soojin,” was Yixing’s short reply. He did not even bother turning his attention to Kris.

The Senator did not like what was going on. His best friend and his most trusted bodyguard were a fool for Soojin. Chanyeol may have not shown the same actions as what the other two were, but Kris could still see Chanyeol’s smile as he looked at the little girl. It was unacceptable! The people around him were already too attached to the baby while he, on the other hand, was trying so hard to prevent that to happen. He was still at war with the cunning little angel!

What was also unacceptable to Kris was that Soojin didn’t have a problem about Yixing and Tao touching her when she would cry by only having been left with only Kris in the room. But he couldn’t deny the fact that it tugged a heartstring in him when he saw Soojin giggle when Yixing played with her. It had been like that, him smiling over cute things that Soojin did, ever since that time when he arrived home to a sleeping Soojin on Kyungsoo’s chest.

Speaking of Kyungsoo, Kris diverted his attention to the small male who was leaning against the kitchen door, smiling at the scene that Yixing and Soojin created. Kris’ breath hitched. Kyungsoo’s lips formed a beautiful heart shape when he smiled. The Senator found himself unable to take his attention away from the younger male and his heart was making that weird erratic thump again.

“Do you need anything?” Kyungsoo asked for the third time before Kris showed any sign that he was listening.

“Huh?” Kris confusedly inquired.

“I asked if you need anything. You were staring at me as if there was something you needed me to do.”

“Oh. Um, no, I don’t need anything,” other than your lips on mine.

Kris freaked out inside upon realizing what he had just admitted. He wanted to kiss Kyungsoo. And that was more bothersome than imagining the latter in a ual circumstance with him. In a ual fantasy, only his was doing the talk, but in a kiss, it was more intimate. It was something that two people in love would do. He was not falling for Do Kyungsoo, was he?

To be continued…

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Noona’s Notes:

Do you think that this story is so slow? I mean, is it taking too long for Kyungsoo and Kris’ love to develop? Or is it way too fast? Tell me at the comments section.

And oh, Mr. Lee will play a significant role in Kris’ political career. You’ll know eventually. And tbh, I wanna make this story as cliché and as Korean drama-ish as possible. You’ll notice that eventually if you haven’t noticed it yet.

This story is significantly a manifestation of my experience. I was part of a local politician’s legal team (sadly, no, I am not a lawyer, just a legislative aide doing the research and drafting speeches and preparing the paperwork, basically leg work) and it was a fun and educational experience that is why I’m sharing it with you.