“Alright, girls, here is $50 dollars. I want you guys to go to the store and find a nice little present for your little sister okay? It’s almost her birthday so find something that she likes. Irene, I’m going to give it to you, because you’re older, okay? This is the money for your sister’s present. Don’t spend it all on candy. Do you understand? And look after Seulgi for me.”

Irene nodded with a smile. The 8 year old quickly grabbed hold of her childhood friend and sped off to the toy store. Taeyeon shook her head. It was a bad idea to just give that amount of money to the girls, but she had grocery to do and no time to shop for presents. She picked up the basket and hung it on her arm. Surely the girls would be fine, right?

“Look Irene! It’s a minion!”

“Oh, oh, I found the unicorn! It’s so fluffy!” Irene squealed in her best Agnes impression.

“Irene! Don’t do that! You know how much I hate your aegyo impressions.”

Irene puffed up her face and arched her arms against her waist.

“Liar. You know you love my aegyo.” The girl quickly dodged to the side to prevent a life-sized plush from hitting her.

“You missed. You have such a bad aim. You will never hit me even if I stood in front of you.” The older girl stuck her tongue and quickly turned around, knowing fully well that Seulgi would chase after her.

“Come back here!”

Irene’s grin quickly grew wider until it covered from ear to ear.

“And you’re slow too!” she continued to tease.

Plush toys were flying around the store, knocking down the various merchandise that were carefully placed on top of the shelves.

Seulgi quickly made her way around the corner, ready to pounce on the older girl, when she stopped in her tracks and stared at the big shadow hanging over her small presence. An angry man was staring at the two, his face red as a tomato. Seulgi imagined steam to come out from his ears and nose and chuckled at her silly imagination.

Irene quickly turned around, her eyes conveying a life and death warning for Seulgi to stop laughing, but it only made matters worse. Seulgi never could hold a straight face when Irene was angry. The girl was too adorable when she pouted.

“What do you scoundrels think you’re doing in my store? Where are your parents?! Look at what you did!”

The two turned around and stared with an open mouth the ruckus and chaos they had caused inside the store. All the chocolate bunnies that were meant for Easter were lying on the floor in a million inedible pieces.

“You’re going to have to pay for this.”

“B-b-but, this money is mine.” Tears began to well up inside the older girl. Taeyeon mommy had told her to be careful with the food and now she is forced to use it to pay for the damage, money that’s not even hers. In her mind, the dreadful scenario had already started playing of being grounded. Not to mention she’ll probably have a massive punishment too.

“I don’t care. You destroy it, you pay for it.”

The two girls began to cry. They were uncertain of what they had to do and the fear of being punished had long overtaken their abilities to think rationally. They didn’t know what was going to happen.

The owner didn’t know what to do. The two were too young to know better, but at the same time the wasted chocolate wasn’t going to pay for itself. He sighed deeply and rubbed his head.

“I-I’m sorry. These children are mine. Did something happen? I’m sorry.”

A woman stormed into the store, her posture small. Irene couldn’t see clearly through her blurry watery eyes, but she knew someone was standing up for them.

“You should really learn to control your children, ma’am.”

“I’m really sorry,” the woman bowed deeply in front of the store owner. “It is my mistake. I should have looked after them more carefully.”

The fire within the owner quickly stilled after seeing the woman apologize so sincerely.

“It’s okay. You can just pay for it. I’ll forget about it.”

The woman quickly pulled out her purse. “How much is it?”

“How about I make you a deal? I can’t sell the remaining half-broken chocolate anymore. So if you can take them off my hands and pay another $30 I’ll call it even. How is that?”

The woman flashed him a grateful smile.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“It must be tough taking care of two on your own.”

The lady shook her head. “They are the most beautiful gifts I have received. I wouldn’t know what to do without them.” she said as she beamed towards the man.

The lady quickly turned around and looked at two, both their eyes sensitive and red from crying.

Seulgi quickly jumped into Taeyeon’s arms. “Mommy!”

Irene quickly joined the two, smiling brightly to being comforted in hugs by her mother.

“There, there. Let’s go home, okay?”

The store owner wiped away his tears from the emotional reunion.

“B-But what about the present for Joy?”

Taeyeon’s smile quickly faded. “I’m sorry girls, but mommy simply doesn’t have the money right now. I’ll get a present for her the next time, okay?”

The girls quickly looked down at their feet. They both knew it was because of them that mommy didn’t have the money to buy their youngest sister a present.

“Let’s go home for now okay?” The two nodded. As the two held onto mommy’s blue-checkered shirt, they slowly made their way to the exit.

“Missus, Missus, I’m sorry. Could you hold on?”

Taeyeon turned around and saw the owner slowly approaching her and she began to panic.

“I’m very sorry, sir. But if this is about any additional damage, could you write me a i-owe-you? I don’t have the money right now.”

The man shook his head. From behind his back, he pulled out a box that was carefully wrapped in blue paper and red curly ribbons.

“I would like to give you this.”

Taeyeon’s eyes grew wide. “W-Wait. Why are you giving me this? I can’t take this, sir.”

The man shook his head once again. “It’s a gift from me.”

Taeyeon was puzzled. She didn’t understand why the man would give her a present when her children just destroyed half his store.

The man smiled at the mother, knowing that she didn’t understand the situation.

“It’s my wife. She recently passed away. Today is our one year anniversary. She always told me that I had to take care of children whenever I can because they are the future of our world. We should treasure children’s lives and carefully nurture them so that one day they may follow their dreams.”

Taeyeon was still unsure about the sudden gesture.

“I overheard you saying that you didn’t have a present for your youngest child. I’m guessing you’re a single mom. I know how tough that can be. Let me fulfill my promise to my wife and at least give this present to your child. That way she won’t be disappointed either.”

Taeyeon felt guilty about taking the gift, but right now that does seem to be the best solution.

“T-Thank you.” she replied as she bowed deeply again to show her gratitude to the man.

“What’s your child’s name if I may ask?”

Taeyeon looked up at the man. “It’s Joy Kim. I named her that to remind me how much joy I have being around my three precious.” The woman chuckled.

“Well, congratulations, Mrs. Kim. I wish your child a wonderful birthday.”

A warm motherly smile appeared on her face. “Thank you, sir. Oh and it is miss. I’ve been divorced for several months now.”

“You have yourself a nice day Ms. Kim.”

Taeyeon bowed a final time before she turned her back and made her way to the exit.

Seulgi looked back to see the man wave at her.

The scary man is scary no more.

The girl smiled at the man and quickly waved back.

“Bye Mister!"