*Chapter 18 - Interlude

Kim Jongin rushes to the basement and quickly reaches his car. The man steals a glance to his wristwatch. He is really late. It still doesn’t change. The piles of work on his desk simply don’t let him to go from there. But he spontaneously gets his out of from his chair when Kim Jongdae, his cousin, telling him that he couldn’t do the errand since the younger suddenly needed to go to a class this afternoon.  He steps on the gas pedal, joining other cars which are already on the lane reaching their own destination.

The car slows down when it reach a crowded neighborhood. He drove half kilometers before turning the wheel, passing through a gate, and parking the car on the wide yard. Jongin goes out from his car, making sure that he already locked it before leaving to the building.

It’s so quiet, people already left since it is almost lunch time. Jongin knocks on a door before he slides it open, only to find that it is already empty. A worried feeling crawls inside him. Then he quickly walks straight to the other room at the other end of the hall. The door is slightly opened. He takes a peek on the inside to see if he could see someone. He’s so relieved when he saw the one he is looking for is calmly sitting in one of the chair, beside a middle aged woman. Jongin knocks on the door.

A boy turns his head towards his direction. Tiny boy with dark straight hair, his hazel eyes are shiny, resembling his mother a lot. He jumps off of the chair and runs to Jongin as soon as he saw the older smiling and waving to him. “Daddy!” He shouts. Jongin squats down, waiting for the boy with his arm wide open. The little boy throws himself to hug his father. “Dad, why are you taking too long? My friends are all go home already.” He starts to burst into tears.

“Hey, champ! Are you crying? You won’t be able to defeat the monsters if you cry. Come on, don’t cry.” Jongin says as he pinches the boy’s cheek lightly. The boy rubs his eyes, trying to hide the tears.

“Is it true that I cannot defeat the monsters if I cry?” He asks cutely. The older couldn’t hide his chuckle. He lifts up the boy, and carries him with his right hand. The boy circled his hands on his father’s neck.

Jongin apologizes to the woman who is already standing beside them, his son’s teacher. “I’m really sorry if I troubled you, Teacher Mina.” He bows to her.

After exchanging some words with the teacher, talking about his son, Kim Chanwoo, Jongin excuse himself to bring him home.

"Dad, where is Uncle Jongdae? Why he didn't pick me up and I had to wait for you?" The boy asks him on their way home.

"Dad is so sorry for picking you up really late, little prince. Uncle Jongdae had a class to go, so he couldn't come." Jongin answers. "Because Dad is sorry, let's choose your lunch. You can eat anything you want."

His face suddenly turns bright. "Really? Daddy I want to eat seasoned chicken!" Jongin laughs hearing those words coming from his son. The son is totally his duplicate, in this case, chicken is his favorite food. "Dad, don't buy that one with vegetable, hm?" He says. Jongin couldn't help but ruffles the boy’s hair. Another similarity.

His phone keeps ringing, Luhan already called him to attend the meeting. That means he can't bring his son home or he would be late. It's an important meeting so he doesn't want to risk it. In the end, Jongin brings the boy with him to the office after making sure that Jongdae can come to bring him home. The man gives the boy his tablet to play with. He also doesn’t forget to prepare his bottle of milk, sweets, and biscuits. Well, he knows giving too many sweets and snacks, is not really good for the boy, but for now