The meeting took longer than you expected and the moment everyone was dismissed, you literally jumped out of your seat, dashed out of the bank and into the parking lot towards your car. You didn’t like making Meili wait, especially on Wednesdays since it was supposed to be your mother-daughter bonding time and you usually went out for ice cream after school. You knew how excited she gets on Wednesday and you didn’t want to disappoint by picking her up late. 

When you arrived, the more anxious you got and it wasn’t because you might disappoint your daughter. Kneeling in front of Meili was a man and your heart thumped at the realization that your daughter was actually talking to a stranger. That is until you called her name and the man turned—

And when you saw that familiar face, you wished Meili was talking to a stranger instead and that you hadn’t went to that meeting at all. From all the days, you just had to be late today.

Kris’ eyes bore into yours and he openly stared at you with disbelief in his eyes. Meili, upon hearing your call, bounded up to you and hugged you tightly by the waist. “Umma! What took you so long?”

You willed yourself to avert your gaze from Kris to look down at your daughter. “Mianhe. I got caught up at work—“ your words faltered when you felt Kris moving towards the two of you. 

Meili’s eyes sparkled when she saw him and she tugged you closer to meet him. “Umma! Oppa helped me put back my shoe!”

“Huh?” You said as you stared at him. He looked different from the last time you’d seen him. Perhaps it was his hair which was now a dark brown instead of blonde. His face was still beautiful as if he hasn’t aged at all in the last four years but his eyes were different. They didn’t have that light anymore. It almost looked sad—tired, even. 

“Y/N.” Kris finally breathed and your heart hammered in your chest as your name left his mouth. 

“K—Kris.” You stuttered, looking anywhere but at him. Kris continued to stare at you and it was becoming unnerving.

“Oppa?” The two of you snapped up at Meili’s call. Kris averted his gaze from you to look at her. “Hmm?”

“Do you think my umma is pretty?” She asked and you wanted to cover your daughter’s mouth and drag her towards the car. 

Kris was slightly taken aback by the question but being his usual smooth and expressionless self, he answered. “Very.”

You felt your cheeks heat up at his answer and you cleared your throat. “Meili, why don’t you get inside the car? I’ll be right there.” The little girl nodded before waving goodbye to Kris. “Annyeong oppa!”

Kris waved back, smiling; the sight surprising you. It’s been a while since you’ve seen him really smile. And not just the smile he shows on camera but a genuine smile. “Annyeong… Meili.”

When your daughter got in, you whirled to face him. “What are you doing here?”

Kris jumped at your sudden question. “I—“

“You’re not supposed to be here...” You muttered to yourself.

“Excuse me?”

Realizing you just said that out loud, you bit your lip. “Sorry—“I—” you sighed. “I have to go.”

“Wait!” He held your arm and your breath hitched at the contact. You gave him a disapproving look and he let go immediately, his arms hanging limply at his sides. “Just wait… I just found you.”

Found me? You thought as you heard a hint of desperation in his voice. He sounded almost scared… “Kris—“

“Is that—“ his eyes glanced towards your car. “H—her?”

You remained silent, letting his question sink in. You wanted to tell him: Yes that’s her. You’re daughter, the one you wanted to get rid off. The one you chose your career over. But instead you just nodded. 

“She’s beautiful.” He said, his eyes softening. 

“She’s—“

“She looks just like you.” He added and you tried not to blush at the compliment. “Her eyes… I recognized it when I saw her but I didn’t want to believe it.” You remained silent as you let him continue. “How old is she?”

“She just turned four last month.” You said. “Look, Kris I really have to go.”

Kris’ gaze landed back to you and he looked like he just might cry. “But—“

“It was nice seeing you.” You lied though it was also a truth you didn’t want to admit. “Bye.” You turned around and little did you know that Kris was following you like a lost puppy. “Oppa!” Meili said brightly when you reached your car.

“What—?” You whirled to find Kris standing right behind you. “Are you coming to get ice cream too?”

“He’s not Mei—“

“I’d love to.” He said and he looked down at you with a victorious gaze as if saying: you heard the kid.

You groaned inwardly and told yourself to scold your daughter about talking to strangers later on. You looked at her smiling face and wondered whatever did Kris do to make her smile like that. You sighed, defeated. “Get in.”

The three of you drove to Meili’s favorite ice cream place downtown, with Kris sitting on the passenger seat and Meili at the back. Your daughter talked nonstop and Kris happily listened to her, drinking every single word. He answered her questions and obliged to her requests, and you couldn’t help but think, when did they even get so well acquainted all of a sudden?

“Oppa, what is your favorite ice cream flavor?”

“Why don’t you ask your umma?” He said and your grip on the steering wheel tightened as your daughter loomed over you, asking with her big curious eyes. “Umma? You know?”

You sighed, hating how you do know. “It’s vanilla…” You started and Kris gave you a challenging gaze as if saying, I know you can do better than that. You huffed as you made a left turn. “And Green tea.”

You wanted to wipe the smirk off Kris’ face as you answered the question perfectly. “Is that true, oppa?”

“A 100%!” he grinned. 

“Do you know what’s umma’s favorite?”

“It’s Cookies and Cream.” He answered almost instantly, surprising you that he still remembered. “And sometimes Chocolate but never Strawberry.”

Meili clapped up and down on her seat and you wanted to cover your face and hide. “Yes yes! Oppa so good! Oppa guessed right!”

Kris chuckled at her excitement and you couldn’t help but smile at her cuteness too. He glanced at you but when you caught his eye, your smile faltered. 

That definitely wasn’t a guess.

~~~

At the ice cream parlor, you all order ice creams, with Kris insisting to pay for everything. Knowing that he wouldn’t let you argue, you just stood there silently and let him do what he wanted. 

“Here’s your change.” The old woman by the counter said as she handed Kris some coins. Meili was looking at the ice cream freezer, standing on her toes. Kris saw this and chuckled. “Yah, you wanna see?”

Meili looked up at him, nodding with a smile, as she reached out her arms toward him. Kris carried her so she could see their ice cream being made. You stood beside Kris watching as Meili talked animatedly about how she tasted every single flavor displayed on each tub. You switched your gaze to Kris and saw him nodding and listening attentively and you couldn’t help but think how good they actually looked. Her daughter in his arms…

Well, his daughter in his arms, for that fact. 

“What a nice family.” The lady on the counter said all of a sudden and Kris and you looked at each other. You were about to say that you weren’t together but Kris beat you to it. He smiled at the woman, “Kamsahamnida.”

What?! You gave him an incredulous look and he only smirked at you as he carried Meili off to a table near the window. You grabbed your ice cream and his before following in suit. 

Upon finishing her ice cream, Meili asked to go play in the mini playground inside the store. You wanted to tell her no since she just ate but Kris said, “Let her go. We can watch her from here.” Meili bounded happily to the playground, going straight to the slides. Since when did she take orders from him?!

The reason why you didn’t want her to go was not because of the reason you just told her but because you didn’t want to be alone with him. “Y/N?”

You looked up at him and he smiled. The sight made your heart flutter and you hated it. He continued to stare at you as if you were a miracle he just witnessed. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?

“You’ve changed.” He said. “In a good way. You’re more…” He searched for a word. “Mature? Beautiful.” He murmured the latter and you bit down the blush that threatened to come. “Becoming a mom changes you, I guess.”

Kris looked back at Meili and sighed, “You raised her well. She’s a great girl.”

You looked at your daughter and smiled. “She is.”

The silence stretched between the two of you but it wasn’t awkward. In fact, it was actually quite comfortable. After a moment, Kris said, “Beautiful.”

“Hmm?”

“Meili means beautiful.” He smiled at you as he tilted his head to the right. “You gave her a Chinese name. Why?” 

You averted your gaze, not wanting him to know that you did so because he was Chinese and you thought how he would’ve loved it. “She’s my daughter and I can name her whatever I want.” The way you said it almost seemed harsh and Kris couldn’t shake off the feeling of guilt as you emphasized the part that she was your daughter. He knew he didn’t have the right to call Meili his. “It’s a great name. I like it.”

You nodded, secretly happy that he liked the name, and that was the last of your conversation as you ignored him for the rest of the night. 

~~~

The next two days, Kris followed you around and you couldn’t understand why. He went to Meili’s school, even getting there before you picked her up. You couldn’t help noticing the growing bond between them and it scared you; simply because you had no idea how on earth you were going to tell your daughter that her “oppa" was actually her "appa”. For all a she knew, her appa was out of the country and nowhere to be found. That was the lie you told her: that her father left them before she was even born and moved to another country. 

Friday morning, you took Meili to school and to your surprise (well not really) Kris was already at the front entrance. You wondered what on earth he was doing there. How long till he goes back to Seoul?, you wondered.

“Oppa!” Meili ran to him and Kris caught her in an embrace. “Hey you.”

“Meili, you’ll be late. Run along now.” You said and your daughter smiled at you. “Okayumma.” She gave Kris a high five before running inside the gates. 

“What are you doing here?” You asked almost harshly when your daughter was out of earshot. 

Kris looked at you, “I wanted to see Meili… and you.”

“Well, we don’t want to see you.” You spat and he winced. You ignored it as you walked past him, back to the parking lot. 

“Y/N.”

“Don’t you have work? Aren’t your fans missing you by now?” You said. “When are you going back to Seoul?”

Kris sighed, placing his hands in his pockets. “You really want me to leave?”

No, you