It was the day of the filming.

Jihyo and Jiyoung bade their goodbyes to Gary and Ji-ohn.

“Annyeong, Ji-ohnnie. Be a good girl and listen to your samchon okay?” Jihyo said, hugging her daughter at her waist and kissing her cheeks. She nodded, her eyes getting red. “See you later,” Jihyo added, reluctant to let go. Again, Ji-ohn nodded, although she was pouting now.

After their goodbyes, Gary brought Ji-ohn out for breakfast, as a little compensation for letting her film alone. They went to a nearby café. He chose a caramel macchiato and an apple pie for himself, and hot chocolate and strawberry cheesecake for Ji-ohn.

It got Ji-ohn excited already; she rarely had her father all to herself. Most of the time, it was her and Jiyoung. Gary carried her all the way, from their home to their car to the café, even as they decided on their breakfast. When they were finally done choosing, they got a seat. Ji-ohn wanted to sit on Gary’s leg, and he let her be. She was going to be by herself for almost the entire day. It pained him too, not just Jihyo. She was his beloved daughter too. But he knew there would always be a first time. And he wanted to let their daughter learn to be independent and this would be a good chance.

Ji-ohn sat comfortably on Gary’s leg, leaning against his chest and eating her cheesecake. Most of the times, she fed herself, but for one or two bites, Gary fed her. He fed her a bite of his apple pie as well, but she didn’t seemed to like the crust.

“Ji-ohn ah, masisseo?” he asked, looking at her enjoying her cheesecake and couldn’t help but smile.

“Ne!” she answered, and fed her father a bite. It made a mess over his mouth, causing Gary to laugh.

They enjoyed a bit of father-daughter bonding time, before Gwang Soo came over to join them.

“Hyung!” Gwang Soo greeted as he walked over to their table.

“Eo, Gwang Soo ah!” Gary replied. “Greet your samchon,” he nudged Ji-ohn.

“Gwang Soo samchon...” she greeted, smiling in his direction. Gwang Soo ruffled her hair and she let him. It has been about two months since he came back to Korea from all his advertisement and endorsement projects overseas. They have meet up regularly since then, because he always drops by to visit Jihyo. He always acted silly and goofy, and was always willing to give in to the kid’s requests, and it didn’t take long for Ji-ohn and Jiyoung to warm up to him.

“Have you eaten your breakfast? Choose something, it’s my treat.”

“Eyyyy hyung, kwenchana,” he said, brushing him off.

Ignoring him, Gary turned to Ji-ohn. “Ji-ohn ah, can you follow samchon and get something for him?” he asked her, giving her some money.

“Ne,” she replied, confidently, reaching out for Gwang Soo’s hands. He let her hold his hand and guided her to the counter.

“Hmm, what should I eat?” he asked Ji-ohn, bending down to her height.

“What food is there?” she asked him back, and he recited the menu for her.

“Chocolate cake!” she said, as if choosing for herself. He laughed, saying that it would be too sweet for him, but bought it nonetheless. He also got himself some iced-tea to reduce the sweetness.

Gary watch the two of them interact, and hoped that Ji-ohn would be fine with him. Like Jihyo, he trusted Gwang Soo to look after his child well, it’s just that he was afraid Ji-ohn might get whiny, or even cry. Although she was comfortable with him, either Jihyo or Gary was around whenever they met. So he was quite worried.

Soon after, the two came back and Ji-ohn climbed back up Gary’s legs.

Alas, the chocolate cake was indeed too sweet for Gwang Soo’s liking and Ji-ohn ended up having most of it, to her delight of course.

“Why did you buy it then?” Gary laughed.

“She chose it, hyung!” Gwang Soo protested. Gary sighed and playfully pressed his daughter’s cheeks.

“How do you make everyone always give in to you!” he asked, pretending to be exasperated. She giggled and push his hands away.

While she was busying herself with eating, Gary briefed Gwang Soo on what to do.

“There will be missions, sometimes, so just follow the instructions.”

Gwang Soo’s face darkened at the word missions, but Gary laughed. “Don’t worry, the missions are most of the times quite brainless, nothing like what we received on running man!”

Gwang Soo then sighed in relief.

“Most of the times, it would just be playing, so just make sure she plays safe. For lunch, usually they would provide, but sometimes if we are separated doing missions then we just settle it ourselves. Then you can let her choose what she wants, but make sure it’s not too sweet or oily or full of fried stuffs.”

“Eyy hyung, you’re sounding like Jong Kook hyung you know!”

Gary shook his head. “When you become a parent of a young child, you’d understand.”

Gwang Soo just laughed.

“After lunch, she’d always whine for strawberries,” Gary warned, passing him a small container. “So give this to her after lunch. Only AFTER lunch okay?” he emphasised. “If you allow her to finish it before lunch and she starts whining… then I can’t help you.”

Gwang Soo noted it down on his phone.

“And around 4 would be her naptime, so she might get grumpy. Give her some milk or snacks to appease her. But most of the time, if she’s playing she won’t get sleepy. You can get her to nap in the car, if there’s any travelling. Oh and let her hug this when she naps,” Gary instructed, passing him a yellow toy dog. “And most important thing, she’s not fully toilet trained yet, so she’s wearing diapers now. Usually she would tell, though, if she needs the toilet. If you don’t know how to help her, just ask some ahjummas to help. Haha!”

“Ye, hyung,” he said, nodding seriously. “Then does she have any allergies or anything?”

“Nope…” Gary answered. “Gwang Soo ah… jjinja gomapta,” he added, looking at Gwang Soo gratefully.

“Eyyy hyung! Kwenchana! Noona and you always look after me and help me out too. Ji-ohnnie is my niece too,” he said, petting the little girl’s head gently.

Soon, it was time to leave. They parted ways at the carpark. Ji-ohn was reluctant to leave Gary and held onto his hands tightly. Her eyes became red and teary. Gary bent down to her height and gently pulled her tiny hands away.

“Ji-ohn ah, appa must leave now. Can you promise to be a brave girl?”

“Appa…”

“Mianhae…” he said guiltily. “Stay with samchon for the day, okay?”

She nodded a weak nod, and Gary hugged her tightly. Then they went to separate cars, with Ji-ohn following Gwang Soo.

Gwang Soo carried Ji-ohn to his car. She was holding back her tears. He buckled her seatbelt on the passenger seat and went to the driver’s seat himself. While he drove, he occasionally glanced over at Ji-ohn, who looked moody.

“Do you miss eomma? Do you want to call her?” he asked, preparing his phone.

She shook her head weakly. Gwang Soo was surprised. “Eo? Why not? You don’t miss her?” he asked. He knew Ji-ohn was attached to her mother.

“I miss eomma…” she said softly.

“Then you can call her,” Gwang Soo smiled. “Samchon can help you,” he offered, thinking that she refused because she didn’t know how to use his phone.

Again she shook her head. Gwang Soo was now confused. “I don’t want eomma to cry again,” she said.

Now, Gwang Soo was even more confused. “Why would she cry because you call her?” he asked.

She shook her head, not knowing how to explain. Gwang Soo guessed something must have happened, but he didn’t want to ask Jihyo or Gary either. He watched his niece struggling to hold back her tears.

“Ji-ohn ah… you can cry if you want to,” he finally said. It wasn’t that he wanted her to cry, but he hated seeing her trying so hard to control herself. It would be more comfortable for her if she let it all out.

At his words, Ji-ohn burst into tears. Gwang Soo hurriedly parked his car at the side of the road. He carried her over and patted he back. “Kwenchana, kwenchana…” he said, comforting her. “Let’s have fun together later, okay?”

She nodded, still in tears. After a while, she stopped crying. He sat her back in her seat and asked her again, “Do you want to call eomma or appa now?”

She still shook her head, so he didn’t probe further. The drive continued in silence until Kwang Soo decided to play some children songs. It did get her hyped up a little, but she was still moody.

They finally arrived at the filming location. They were the latest, but the rest understood. Like always, Jae Suk started the opening.

“And so today, we have a special guest with us! Lee Gwang Soo! Whoa it has been so long since you filmed with us!”

The rest cheered on cue. They were happy to have him back, but it’s a pity Jihyo and Gary couldn’t join them. Otherwise, this could be the first time they reunited on screen!

Gwang Soo bowed. “Ye hyung. Today, Gary hyung and Jihyo noona couldn’t make it for this filming, so I am here to take their place,” he explained, for the viewers.

“Aigoo, and our Ji-ohnnie is alone today. Where’s your oppa?”

“He’s sick,” she said, and shied away behind Gwang Soo.

“Keulae… today our Ji-youngie is sick. So Jihyo is at home looking after him. As for Gary, he has been busy preparing for his album, so he can’t come today. Everyone please do support our Gary!”

The opening continued for a while, with the PDs introducing the missions and all. Eventually, they were separated into teams. Kwang Soo, HaHa, Ji-ohn and Dream in a team; Jong Kook, Suk Jin and their children, and Jae Suk with his two children.  Each team were tasked to buy a list of 15 items from different shopping malls. But the catch is this, the children must be the one to do the buying. The parents can only guide them.

Jong Kook laughed, as he carried his 14 month old son. “Aigoo, Hyun Woo ah, then you have to do all the work already!”

The boy smiled shyly.

The teams went their separate ways. For Ji-ohn’s team, they used Gwang Soo’s car, because Ji-ohn had all her stuffs inside.

HaHa and Gwang Soo sat in front, while the two children were at the back.

“Ji-ohn ah, eomma oppa bogoshipeo?” HaHa asked. “Your appa told me you can’t play with your oppa because he’s sick, and eomma has to look after him”

“Eomma bogoshipeo,” she answered sadly. “Oppa-do.”

“Kwenchana, Jiyoungie will get better soon, and you can play together again,” HaHa said, trying to cheer her up. She shrugged.

Dream reached out to her. “Kwenchana. For today, I’ll be your oppa.”

“Really?” she asked.

He nodded, then realised that she couldn’t see, so he said, “Yes.”

“So you will look after me like my oppa?”

“Eo…”

“You can’t leave me behind like in the past,” she said, reminded of the time in the maze.

“I didn’t!” he protested.

“You did, at the start.”

“Okayyy I won’t,” he said.

“Promise?” she asked, holding out her pinky.

“Promise,” he said, hooking his tiny pinky with hers.

Haha smiled, glad that his son was looking after his dongsaeng well.

Soon, they reached they mall they were assigned to. They went into the supermarket to buy the items. Just as the mission required, Haha and Kwang Soo lagged behind, letting the kids take the lead. True to his promise, Dream held Ji-ohn’s hand and led the way.

They walked around, trying to find the things they required. It wasn’t too hard, and they managed to get most of it by themselves. Only for one or two they has to ask for help from some adults. Still, they managed to succeed the mission without any hiccups.

After that, they had lunch together. Ji-ohn shared her strawberries with Dream, and also pestered Gwang Soo for ice cream. He of course gave in to her, despite Gary’s instruction of ‘nothing too sweet’.

Seeing that she had ice-cream, Dream wanted it too, but Haha refused.

“You already had fish and chips for lunch! And even coke! Your mother will slaughter me if I get you ice-cream you know?!” he joked. Gwang Soo laughed, but Dream was upset. He wanted his ice cream and started to whine. HaHa covered his ears and playfully sang, “Andeulleoyo, andeullleoyo, andeulleoyo~”

“Appa! Ice cream juseyo,” he cried, pulling his father’s hands away from his ears.

Haha was still adamant about not giving him ice-cream, and it got him really upset.

Eventually, Ji-ohn offered to share. “Oppa, ahh…” she said, giving him a mouthful.

He smiled at ate it gratefully, and even asked for more. Ji-ohn willingly gave it to him.

“Gomawo,” he said, as she gave him the last mouth.

“Kwenchana. Because you are my oppa today,” she answered.

“So you are going to share with me only for today?”

She shrugged. “I’ll have to share with my real oppa when he comes back.”

Dream smiled cheekily. “I’m still your oppa when Jiyoungie comes back. I’m still older than you, so I will always be your oppa yah.”

“So you will always look after me?”

“Keuleomyo! Because I’m you oppa ya,” he said, slipping his hands into hers.

She smiled and he smiled back.

(A/N: Who sees another ship sailing in the sea?

Hahaha!!! I hope you liked the surge of updates this week. No, scratch that, I’m SURE you enjoyed it, right? I enjoyed writing too, but in life there are more important things to do like….. reports, essays projects and school work. So I’ll be gone for a while, and maybe just an update or two in a month. Don’t worry! I wont forget this story. Afterall, I didn’t forget it even after stopping for so long the previous time. (Has it been 3 months already? haha) Meanwhile, do keep yourselves updated with all the Monday couple moments on and off screen! There have been a lot recently I can’t even list all, but I suppose you know the highlight! Jihyo kissed Gary for some fanmeeting nawwwwwww I’m dying. And then there’s the Monday couple moment on healing camp, as well as in this china variety show and many more.

Okay with that, I’ll take my leave (for now). Stay happy, stay safe, stay healthy and most importantly… continue shipping our sweetest otp! Hahaha!)