Martin Yoon woke up at around 4:30 am, feeling the highest he had felt in years. Matter of fact, the last time he felt that high was after he got married to his ex-wife, Minho’s mother. Martin went to the kitchen and made himself another cup of coffee. He sat at the dining table and thought to himself, how was he going to get to know Yuri better?

He felt young again. He felt like he was 20 years old chasing after a young maiden of 17. Meeting her only sparked his interest in her and knowing that she lived a few steps away from them aroused his mind. Martin felt alive like feeling in love for the first time. But he knew it wasn’t love. He was 45 years old, for crying out loud! He was old enough to know the difference between infatuation and true love and he knew for sure that what he was feeling for Yuri wasn’t anything close to the love he had for Jane. But compared to when he first saw Jane to right now, he’d say his feelings for Yuri were stronger. He had never seen a lady with beauty as striking as Yuri’s.

Minho got up at around 6:30 am and headed to the shower. After getting ready for school, he grabbed his things and went to the kitchen for some breakfast and was greeted by his father, still in his sleepwear sipping coffee.

“Dad! You’re gonna be late! What the heck?” Minho grabbed the cereal box and poured himself a bowl of cereals.

“I told you, son. I’m not going to work today.”

“Dad what the hell?” Martin looked at his son with a frustrated look on his face.

“What is your problem?”

“Dad. You are not going to work. Why?”

“Because I don’t want to, okay? Now sit here and eat your breakfast or leave!” his father was unusually crabby. Martin wasn’t like this to Minho so it came to the young man as a shock.

“I don’t know dad. You’re acting really strange.”

“It’s just your brain that’s strange.”

Minho sighed and ate his cereals. After breakfast, he got up annoyed and went outside the house, refusing to bid his father goodbye.

Yuri studied at the same school but she wasn’t a regular student. Because of her work and her aunt’s health condition, she couldn’t afford to go to school on a regular basis. Today was just one of those days wherein she had to put on a waitress’ uniform instead of her school uniform so she could go to Jin’s Eats to wait tables, sling dishes, and clean up after the customers. Welcome to Kwon Yuri’s life.

On the way to school, Minho felt his phone vibrating. Yuri was calling him!

“Hello?”

“Hello Minho, I’m not going to school today. I have to go to the diner and work.”

“Oh. Okay. I’ll pick you up later?”

“Sure. Be there at around 5:00 pm. My shift ends at 5.”

“Okie dokie. See you. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” they hung up and Minho got on the bus to school.

For some reason, Martin found himself staring right outside the window towards the direction of Yuri’s house. She mentioned that she lived in a peach house right across their house. Since their house was the only peach house near the corner, if not the only peach house on that street, stalking Yuri was easy for Martin. He just waited for her to come out of her house in her school uniform. Much to Martin’s dismay, she didn’t. So he closed the curtains and walked around the house, made hyper because of all the coffee he drank. He’d peek out the window from time to time to check if Yuri would come out. She didn’t come out until 9:00 am. That’s when Martin heard high heels clacking down the pavement of the sidewalk. He peered out the window and saw Yuri in a light blue waitress uniform and light blue pumps walking with a bag on her shoulder. Martin wondered, why was it that instead of a school uniform on a fine Wednesday morning, Yuri was in a waitress’ get up. He then remembered what she said about studying and working. Yuri passed by their house and Martin saw her stop for a while.

“Now’s my chance!” he said to himself. He rushed to the door to open it but too late. Yuri had already walked past their house. Not wanting to give up, Martin rushed out of the house and called Yuri.

“Yuri! Yuri!” Yuri stopped in her tracks and whipped around. She saw Martin standing on their porch. Martin walked to Yuri who was standing as still as a mannequin. Oh to him, she was a living mannequin.

“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I’m going to work”

“You should be at school today. You said only worked on Fridays and Saturdays.”

“Yeah but I really need money right now. We need money. So I’m gonna have to work extra.

“Where’s your working place?” Martin asked. Yuri didn’t feel the least bit suspicious but she sure felt weird.

“I worka t Jin’s Eats. It’s a diner somewhere in the vicinity.”

“Mind if I take you there. I don’t want you walking all by yourself all dressed up. You don’t know who could get you or what could happen.” Martin warned with a hint of concern. If only Yuri knew what his intentions were.

“So you’re giving me a free ride to the diner?” asked Yuri relieved. Martin nodded.

“Yes. Come with me.” he led her to his car. His car was a beautiful black Mercedes Benz-a car Yuri knew she would never have.

“Your car is beautiful. I’ve never rode in one of these before. All we have is my beat up Cadillac.”

“Well step right in and I’ll take you there.” Martin drove Yuri all the way to her working place which was Jin’s Eats.

“Well, we’re here.” Yuri and Martin stepped out of the car.

“Thank you so much for the ride, Mr. Yoon-”

“Martin. Call me Martin, sweetheart.”

“Martin. Thank you so much for the ride.”

“No problem. Oh and by the way, since you’re part of the family now, mind if I get your number?”

“Sure.” Yuri said without hesitation. She didn’t really suspect anything. All she thought of Martin’s kindness was fatherly concern, which felt good because Yuri never knew what the feeling of having a father was like. And besides, why should she feel awkward and doubt? Martin was Minho’s father and Minho was her boyfriend. Knowing this, she gave him her number with confidence and took his, too. Martin bade her goodbye and drove away in his car.

At Jin’s Eats, Yuri was always as busy as a bee. It was order after order after order and she was expected to memorize all these foods on the menu and to get the orders right. Good thing Yuri was good at memorization and was a quick thinker so taking orders wasn’t a problem for her. At 5’5” with a supermodel-like built, walking and balancing foods on trays was easy for Yuri. At only 17 years old, she was the restaurant’s most valued waitress because of the quality of her job and the determination she had. Though she didn’t earn that much from waiting tables, she worked herself out to the bone and held on to that job like it was the only occupation left for her in the world.

During her break, she stopped to get some juice when her phone rang. It surprised her because when she checked the clock, it was only 11:00 am and it couldn’t be Minho. Minho was in class and was therefore not allowed to use his phone. Her other friends couldn’t be calling because they were also in their respective classes. So who could this be? Yuri hurriedly grabbed her phone before the number gets listed on the missed calls.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Yuri. This is Martin. How are you?” Yuri’s heart skipped at beat. Martin? Why? Why did he call?

“Martin. Sir…I’m fine.” Yuri said with fear and respect for her boyfriend’s father.

“That’s good. Are you having a hard time now?”

“No. I’m just fine. Why did you call?”

“Minho just wanted me to check on you.” Martin lied. It wasn’t Minho. It was him. He just wanted to hear from the young girl he was starting to like.

“Oh. Okay. That’s very…sweet. Please thank him on my behalf, sir. Thank you.”

“Say I’ll pick you up later, alright? I want you get home safely.” Martin said.

“Minho will pick me up.”

“I told him not to.” Martin said. “Because you’re having dinner at our house tonight.”

“But I will not eat dinner there…I will eat dinner out here with Minho.”

“I’ll tell him to cancel it. I don’t want the two of you roaming around at night. What time are you going home, tell me.”

“At 5.”

“5. Stay where you are I’ll pick you up. Don’t worry about Minho. I’ll him not to pick you up.”

“Okay.” since Yuri was innocent, she was oblivious to Martin’s intentions and being ever respectful to her elders, she always agreed with him.

The afternoon wore on and Yuri was busy all day yet she showed no signs of fatigue or haggardness. Yuri made it a point to always look neat and presentable. If there’s one thing she learned from having Minho as her boyfriend, it was to always look pretty. Though she had her mindset on work, Yuri couldn’t stop thinking about Martin, periodically. She still wondered why Martin called her up that morning and offered to pick her up. She still wondered why Martin even offered her a ride to the restaurant in the first place. A erted thought was starting to creep up in her mind but she pushed it aside and thought that it was dirty to think that an older man was attracted to her. It didn’t fit right. He had a son and his son was her boyfriend, it would be disrespectful to have thoughts like this.

At around 4:30, a familiar looking Mercedes Benz parked at the parking lot of Jin’s Eats. It was Martin! And he was ready to pick Yuri up. Yuri was cleaning the tables and getting ready to go home as she only had 30 minutes left for her shift. As she was wiping the table next to the window clean, she noticed the Mercedes Benz and the middle aged man in a yellow shirt and denim pants, standing with his arm resting on his Mercedes’ roof. His shades were clipped on to the collar of his shirt and he watched Yuri as she cleaned the tables. Martin looked to a different direction so Yuri didn’t quite recognize him and thought it was just another man. Martin, deciding that there was still 30 minutes left of her shift, wanted get even closer with her and grab some coffee, if she didn’t mind serving her future “father-in-law” as he would put it. Martin entered the restaurant and approached Yuri who was busy cleaning up.

“Hello, Yuri.” he tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around surprised and saw him. Her heart nearly fell as he was 30 minutes ahead of time.

“H-Hello. Why have you come?”

“I’ve come to pick you up but since there’s still 30 minutes, how’s about we get some coffee? Care to whip up two cups?” there weren’t that many people around so Yuri thought it was okay to have coffee with Martin.

“Oh. Alright.” Yuri walked to the kitchen and grabbed a pot of brewed coffee for her and Martin. What Martin liked about the game was Yuri was so docile and respectful to her elders that when he asked her to do something she’d do it without questioning. She wasn’t a thing like Minho or the other girls Minho brought in the past.

“Here you go.” Yuri came back with two cups of coffee on her tray. She set one down for Martin and one for herself. She sat on the couch adjacent to Martin’s and their conversation began.

“May I ask you a question, if you don’t mind?” Martin said. Yuri felt nervous and took a small sip of coffee and tried to swallow it down.

“Y-Yes?” she stammered.

“Why has Minho been acting weirdly lately? He’s been really cold to me since the day I invited you to our house. Why is this so?” asked Martin.

“I-I don’t…know.” Yuri found it hard to answer. She felt an awkward energy envelope her and she didn’t like it.

“Hmm. My son’s never been like that before.”

“I didn’t notice any change in him.” Yuri felt the band that was holding her hair up slide down so she raised her arms, removed the band and re-tied her hair. Martin hated to admit it to himself but simple things as such made his blood warm up. It disturbed him so he tried to shake it off but when he saw Yuri with her hair neatly tied up in a ponytail with two strands of hair hanging on either side, his blood’s temperature began to rise and he found himself tugging on his collar often.

“Is it hot? Would you like me to ask them to lower the temperature?” asked Yuri, being very accomodating to Martin.

“No. No it’s alright. I just came from outside and I’m drinking some coffee so yeah. Thanks, though.” Martin tried hard to control himself but Yuri sitting right in front of him wasn’t helping. In fact, it was only making the atmosphere even hotter. The coffee was of no help, either.

“Oh. Okay.” Yuri checked her watch. “Minho should be around here any minute…” she mumbled to herself, hoping that this would ease the uncomfortable feeling she was feeling with Martin, hoping to make him forget that she was gonna have dinner at his place. Unfortunately, Minho heard her mumble and said,

“You’re coming with me, remember? You’re eating at my place tonight.” Martin insisted. Yuri felt powerless and just agreed since she saw no point in talking him out of it. “Matter of fact, I think we should go now.”

“But what about Minho? He might come here.” Yuri insisted. Martin put his eyeglasses on and leaned closer to Yuri.

“Minho won’t come. I’m telling you.” Martin said.

“Are you sure? I don’t want him to wait on nothing. He might come here and wait for me.”

“Yuri, don’t you trust me?” asked Martin out of the blue. Yuri’s eyes widened and her breath sped up. She shut her eyes for a while and tried to ingest what he had just told her.

“Okay.”

“You need to get home. Come on now.” Martin stood up but remembered the coffee cups. “How much are these?”

“Nevermind.” Yuri was in a trance. “I won’t charge you for it.” Martin nodded and smiled. He waited for Yuri to stand up and the whole time they were together, he couldn’t get his eyes off her. The way her hair was tied up, her waitress dress that was a little above the knee, and her blue pumps that made noise whenever she walked. It attracted Martin and made him want her even more. He lied about Minho. Minho was coming to the diner to pick Yuri up but since Martin came before his son with the desire to spend more alone time with Yuri, he decided that he should be the one to pick her up. And there they were in the car, speeding off to his house.

At exactly 5:00 pm, Minho dropped by the diner to pick Yuri up. Usually, Yuri would wait for him at one of the tables, sipping a cup of coffee or tea but today was different. Minho couldn’t find Yuri from outside so he decided to go in the diner and look for her. While walking, he bumped into a waiter, Yuri’s co-worker.

“I’m sorry.” he said.

“Oh that’s alright. Say, you’re looking for Yuri, am I right?”

“Yes. Have you seen her?”

“She came this morning but after 3, I never saw her again.” this shot Minho straight in the heart. His exterior was calm but inside, he was going nuts. “Don’t get me wrong man, maybe I was busy but last time I saw her was around 3 pm.”

“Alright. Thanks man. I think she went home early.” Minho left the restaurant and walked all the way to their subdivision. Since their street was the 3rd street from the entrance, it took him quite a while to reach his destination. At Yuri’s house, he rang the doorbell.

“Yuri! Yuri!” he called when no one answered. “Dammit! If she was going home early she should’ve called me or told me so I won’t be worrying like this.”

“Yuri! It’s Minho! Aunt Myung Ji!” he called Yuri’s aunt. Nobody was home, he guessed. Or maybe Hwang Myung Ji was just sleeping and couldn’t hear him. With no hope at her house, Minho started to worry even more. He took his phone out and called Yuri.

“Hello?” came a feminine voice from the other line.

“Yuri! Where are you?”

“I’m here in your house.” Minho nearly dropped the phone in shock. What the hell was Yuri doing in his house? Who let her in? His dad was the first person to come into his mind but he thought that his father went to work though he didn’t want to in the morning but he was positive that there was no one home.

“How? Wha-” Minho ran all the way from her house to his house. Once he reached their house, he hung up and rang the doorbell furiously. Inside, Martin and Yuri were sitting on the sofa, talking, waiting for Minho to come.

“The doorbell! I’ll get it!” Yuri stood up and tried to answer the door but a huge shock greeted her when Martin held her hand and placed his hands on her shoulders, setting her back down to stand up and answer the door. It was his son, Minho looking more furious and worried than ever.

“Son! You’re home!”

“Don’t think I don’t know what you did because I do!” Minho angrily said in between gritted teeth. “Come out here and shut that door. I need to talk to you!“ He didn’t want to flip out because his girlfriend was there and he didn’t want to give her the impression that he was a hot-headed, elder-disrespecting man. As much as he didn’t want to shame himself, he didn’t want to humiliate his father in front of his girlfriend because he knew that his father made lots of money for their living and to embarrass him in front of someone else was just very immoral.

“What? What are you trying to imply, young man?” asked Martin, closing the door behind him.
“You picked Yuri up from the restaurant! How did you know she was there?!” Minho said in between gritted teeth. He was not only angry, he was extremely humiliated. For himself and Yuri. Most of all for Yuri. He didn’t want a crazy stalker-like secret admirer in the form of his father following his girlfriend around.

“Son, it was an act of fatherly love. This morning I saw her walking down the street by herself and I thought it was safe to give her a ride to the restaurant.”

“And you picked her up?”

“Yes.”

“Dad. Please.”

“What? You want her to walk all the way home from the diner?”

“You could’ve at least told me or let me know that she was gonna come over.” Minho ran his hand through his scruffy hair. “Next time, dad, if she’s not asking for a ride home don’t give her one. Okay?”

“I was only treating her like a family member.”

“Well she’s not a family member yet so stop stalking her like that. It makes her feel uncomfortable.”

Martin refused to speak and just nodded. His son led him back into the house and since Yuri was already there, they opted to have dinner with the young girl again. This time while eating, Minho made sure Yuri was extra close to him and that his father’s eyes weren’t roaming again.