For a while Namjoo only seemed to stare at his hand as she clutched onto the dress.   

She would take his hand, wouldn't she?  

She had to. 

The corner of his lips helplessly protruded up when her slim fingers touched his hand. Quickly catching himself he fought not to look too overly happy in case Namjoo might misunderstand. It was too late when he realized just grabbing her hand wasn't enough to help her step down from the platform. In the end, a flurry of wind whipped out between them as she roughly jumped down with hand hastily gripping his shoulder to keep balance. In the quick moment to catch her if she got hurt he instinctively wrapped an arm around her waist.  

His heart stampeded when Namjoo pressed her face into his shoulder from the surprise. Warmth transmitted from her body as it hugged his. Readjusting his fingers around her dress he tried not to gulp for the sake of awkwardness. They'd never touched like this before...it was the very first time they ever hugged.  

Those very emotions of a shy school boy and his first love flooded back through him. He'd hugged other women before, but this was Namjoo he was talking about. While dating her he'd never laid a hand on her, but now she was suddenly in his arms. Caught in the moment he became curious if she was feeling shy too, if she was feeling anything at all.  

Soo Ae's giggles from the sidelines broke the impact of the moment and Namjoo quickly stepped back, leaving an armful of wind in his empty hold. Namjoo's eyes were elsewhere again when he shot a glance at her.  

"Over here, mommy," Soo Ae grabbed her mom's hand to help lead her toward the couch.  

Another smile of exhilaration passed through Soo Ae's face when she helped carry the back of Namjoo's dress. Prettily setting it around Namjoo's feet she jumped onto the couch between them.  

"Mom, you have to absolutely wear this dress," Soo Ae tilted her head back to talk to Namjoo.  

"All right," Namjoo placed a hand on the back of her head to her hair. "Lets take your picture so we can go."  

Locking an arm tightly around Soo Ae and clutching her hand with the other, they both turned to look at the phone Sehun had readied.  

"Smile, Soo Ae," he called.  

The girl giggled and fidgeted before Sehun counted down to three and snapped their first ever family picture. After Namjoo changed back into her clothes they hopped down the road toward a department store, walked through an aisle of flourishing toys, and shortly arrived at a section of bed sheets all in various designs.  

Soo Ae busied herself with exploring while he and Namjoo debated about what to get. While they talked he wondered at the back of his head if this was what it was like to be married, have a family. He'd indulge into deep conversation with his wife about prices and the quality of the products while their children ran around the store noisily. If it was to be like that he didn't mind living this kind of married life so early. It gave him a sense of security, contentment.  

After talking and failing to convince Namjoo that he'd redecorate Soo Ae's room he called her over.  

"Soo Ae, do you like this blanket set? It's pretty, isn't it? But your mommy wants you to keep your old one. What do you say? Should we get this one?" Sehun asked.  

With innocence on her face she stared up at him then over to Namjoo, who shot her an expression not to say exactly what Sehun wanted. In the end a smile flickered across her face and she shot her arm out to point at the blanket set.  

"I want that." Soo Ae replied.  

"You do?" Sehun smiled victoriously. "I knew it! I'll get it for you."  

"Soo Ae," Namjoo strictly called and turned to look at him with a tiny glare. "You're just wasting a lot of money, don't you know that?" 

"I'm not," Sehun shook his head and placed his hand atop Soo Ae's head. "She's my daughter too."  

"I'm daddy's girl," Soo Ae happily agreed and hugged him in return.  

Like always, he watched Namjoo roll her eyes in helplessness.  

"Want to go eat somewhere?" Sehun suggested when they returned to the car.  

"Lets not." As expected, Namjoo opposed.  

"What about you, Soo Ae?" Sehun called back.  

"I want to!"  

"I want to too."  

Twisting in her seat Namjoo shot him another one of her identical glares from earlier. 

"Looks like majority rules," Sehun smirked smugly and starting the engine, drove off.  

It was late in the evening when they finally arrived back to Namjoo's house. Along with the grocery they'd picked up along the way he insisted on walking them up. Upon opening the door Namjoo handed the bags to Soo Ae who took them after giving him a hug and bidding him farewell. That daughter of Namjoo's was surely his brightest light.  

With a smile he waved after her before turning to look at Namjoo. That slight tranquility of awkwardness and shyness they'd experienced earlier in the day seemed long gone. Namjoo was suddenly all cool and gruff again, which he thought, was just like her. 

"Thanks," was all she said, "for today. Get back safe."  

The door began caking in as she turned to head inside. Drawn by a sudden urge he grabbed the door to keep it open. It didn't feel quite right to just leave yet. However, when Namjoo turned he found himself darting his eyes away embarrassed.  

"Um..." he quietly stumbled over his words mentally unsure if he really had the guts to say what had been on his mind. "Just..."  

Shooting his eyes up to look at her as if to ask her to lend him some of her courageousness. Realizing he was stalling and looking like a fool he proceeded as his breath slid out, "You were very pretty today."  

The cool shine in Namjoo's eyes didn't look swayed by his words. So cool was she. Looking at him once, she said before closing the door, "Goodnight."  

A small smile perked his lips before he turned to walk away. At least Namjoo wasn't cold toward him.  

Jumping onto his bed when he arrived home he immediately pulled his phone out. Pulling out the picture they'd taking together that morning he glazed his eyes over it. Sehun couldn't say he wasn't happy, because he was. Yet, he couldn't say where the happiness was coming from. Soo Ae or that he was getting a family of his own? Or something else? 

Deciding not to wonder any further he pressed some buttons before turning the picture into his homescreen wallpaper.  

***** 

"Mommy, when you and daddy dated, did you like him?" Soo Ae twisted around so Namjoo could dry her hair with a towel.  

"Oh...yea..." she blankly replied.  

"What did you like about him?" Soo Ae was curious.  

"Why are you talking about such old stuff," Namjoo asked. "That's not important right now." 

"But I want to know," Soo Ae prodded. "You said you and daddy dated, so it means you two were lovers. I want to know why mom liked daddy and how he was like. Can I not know?"  

"Geez, you," Namjoo mumbled before pulling her back and hugged her. "You really want to know?"  

Soo Ae excitedly nodded and smiled back at Namjoo.  

"Lets see," she began, "your dad was just a normal boy, he was a goody-goody."  

"What's a goody-goody?"  

"Someone who always listens to his parents and does the good things," Namjoo explained. "He never got in trouble at school."  

"What about you?"  

"Me?" Namjoo repeated. "I got in trouble a lot."  

Soo Ae giggled, "Mommy you were bad."  

"Of course, so you shouldn't be like me," Namjoo shook her teasingly.  

"Then what about daddy? Did you like him because he was a goody-goody?"  

"No," she went on, "I don't know why I liked him. He was just fun to be around, because he was so innocent..."  

When she thought about it, she'd just purposely dragged Sehun around with her for the heck of it. At first he'd sat with her in the quiet alley behind school while she smoked, then other times he'd follow her to the game center and play with her there even when she hadn't invited him. Sometimes it was thrilling with him at her tail when she entered clubs and twenty-one plus areas because they were underage but never caught. Avoiding trouble had been fun and she had been curious about how Sehun would react when he was in trouble. She'd wanted him to get in trouble. At first she'd just played around with him. Then at some point she started liking him.  

That had just been it. 

There hadn't been anything too special, too serious between them.  

"Daddy always makes you have fun," Soo Ae exclaimed proudly. "Do you still like him mommy?" 

No, she didn't quite like Sehun the same way she had in high school. Now was all too different for her to see him in that kind of light. 

"Your daddy is just like a friend," Namjoo lied.  

"Then your heart didn't thump today?" Soo Ae asked with a shake of her head. "What a pity...I thought I was finally seeing mommy shy when daddy hugged you."  

Soo Ae giggled at the memory but Namjoo just calmly ran her fingers through her daughter's hair. As long as Sehun would be a good father to her daughter, she didn't really care about what feelings there were.         

*****

"Married?!" Chanyeol barely choked on his water.  

"That's what I said."  

Dry coughing, Chanyeol patted his chest, "Are you serious?!"  

"We already have everything prepared," Sehun explained. "It's going to be a small wedding, so nothing extravagant is included, just some close family members and a few friends."  

"Whoa..." Chanyeol explained. "You...you're really something."  

"What?" Sehun was confused.  

"I mean, you said she isn't your daughter, but you're still getting married?" Chanyeol narrowed an eye. "Is there something about this I'm not getting? Cause I'm way confused." 

"What's wrong with that?" Sehun innocently wondered.  

"And Namjoo agrees to this?" Chanyeol asked at the absurd news.  

Sehun slightly lowered his eyes. 

Letting out a loud awe Chanyeol exclaimed, "I'm speechless. You're really going to just give everything up and get married? I mean, you probably don't even love Namjoo and that little girl...isn't even yours. Wow...this is totally a new breed of marriage. I've heard of people who marry each other for money and all, but this..." 

Staring at the waxed floor of the lounge Sehun explained, "I actually don't feel too bad about it."  

He listened to Chanyeol gasp shocked.  

"Single mothers have it hard in our society. You don't need to ask about the kind of things they've gone through, but just thinking about how Namjoo raised Soo Ae on her own, it must have been difficult. Even though she never talks about those hard times, sometimes you can see the exhaustion on her face," Sehun told. "Soo Ae has Namjoo to protect her, but do you think that's enough? It might not sound like much, I mean even I didn't expect to come this far. When I heard that little girl call me dad for the first time it made me feel like I'm finally important enough to be someone. When she calls me daddy I finally have a word that belongs to only me and something about that melts my heart. That little girl, she's adorable, but if no one is there to protect them, who will?" 

"So you're marrying her because you pity them?" His friend raised a critiquing brow.  

Flustered, Sehun only managed to excuse, "That's not it. Why do you make it sound so bad?"  

"You've completely turned this into some kind of drama," Chanyeol applauded. "If you're sure you won't be miserable, then good luck."  

"I'm pretty good with turning things in my favor." Sehun boasted. "As long as my kid is on my side."  

"Then that means I get to finally meet Namjoo at the wedding?"  

"Of course."  

Clamping his long arm around Sehun and grasping his shoulder Chanyeol said proudly, "Someone's finally a grown man! Not only do you get a wife, but you get a kid in one go!"  

Slightly embarrassed, Sehun laughed and shrugged Chanyeol off.  

***** 

Namjoo just finished taping the last box closed when she turned upon the knock at the door. The end of the month had come too soon and as already promised they'd move in the day before the wedding. Without telling her to, Soo Ae jumped up from where she was currently stacking her books and ran to the door. A moment later she recognized Sehun's footsteps.  

"Are you done?" He started. "Need any help?"  

"Soo Ae just needs to put her books away," Namjoo explained. "We don't have much anyway."  

"Are you sure you got everything?" Sehun walked around, opened and closed the kitchen drawers and cabinets, even the fridge.  

Getting to her feet Namjoo moved over to place Soo Ae's books into an empty box then taped it shut. That was the last Namjoo saw of the apartment before they were inside Sehun's house moments later. She wanted to decline dinner, but because of his dad's urging she had to sit at the kitchen table as family for the very first time.  

"Tomorrow's going to be a long day, so get lots of rest tonight," his father kindly told before patting Soo Ae's head. "Eat a lot."  

"Yes!" Soo Ae happily answered while picking at her food.  

"It finally feels like a full house," his father commented.  

"What full house," his mother mumbled underneath her breath. "Look who said he wasn't getting married because he was too young, and now look at this. There's a full grown kid and some woman we don't even know in the house."  

"Mom," Sehun called. 

His mother shot him a stern glance, "I'm only saying the truth. If you knew the consequences you shouldn't have done what you did in the first place."  

She shot Namjoo a short glance of discontent, as if to put her at blame.  

"I don't like it, I just don't like it." The woman rambled on.

"Would you stop it?" His father asked with a depth of heaviness. "How can you say that in front of your granddaughter?"  

"Granddaughter?" The woman repeated offended.  

"Of course she's your granddaughter!"  

Trying with effort not to bite her tongue she loudly placed the utensils in her hand down. "I'm done. What should I do? Wash dishes?"  

His mother snorted as if even more bewildered by her.  

"Don't worry about it," his father kindly said, "go upstairs, unpack, and rest. Sehun, take them upstairs." 

"Come on, Soo Ae," he held his hand out for her and led them out of the kitchen. As they made their way up Namjoo could hear the two elders quietly arguing in the kitchen. A heavy strain weighed in her chest before forcing herself up.  

At the top she could hear Soo Ae's excited screaming over the new toys Sehun had filled her room with. Walking further in she spotted stuffed animals on the bed, a doll house in the corner of the room, a pink lamp with pretty shades, and newly made bed furnished with fluffy pillows. They were all things Soo Ae never had before.

A smile tugged at Namjoo's lips as she watched from the doorway. The moment Sehun turned back to catch sight of her she quickly looked away.  

"Don't play too late," Sehun reminded before walking out and opened the door to what they would call 'their bedroom' from now on.  

For a moment Namjoo hesitated to step in and when she did she noticed the bed sheets and pillow covers had been changed. There was a stench of clean laundry swelling in the room.  

"Thanks," Namjoo said, "for everything you've done for Soo Ae so far. And sorry for making your parents argue." 

"Don't apologize," he assured. "She's just like that. Why don't you shower first and get some rest? I'll take care of Soo Ae."  

When he walked out Namjoo's eyes drifted toward the bed.  

It was really happening. For the entirety of her lifetime she would spend sharing this room with him.