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"I'm dating your daughter"
Jinu's quiet afternoon with his wife on their living room couch had been nothing short of perfect up until that moment.
"Dating?" All of the sudden the word seemed so foreign to him. Like his brain just decided to shut down the moment he's met with a smirking male version of Mira who now stood nearly the same height as him.
Now all he could think of is that there's about to be a gruesome crime scene on their living room floor if this kid doesn't start talking properly.
"You know you're Yerin's first boyfriend" Rumi excitedly joins in while Jinu just stood there speechless at how his wife is encouraging this topic of conversation.
"First and last boyfriend, Auntie" Kai corrected, making the already amused Rumi smile even more. "Don't worry, she's my first girlfriend too. And certainly....the only one who will ever be."
This could not be happening today
Then the boy had the audacity to smile at his direction and say "I guess I should be calling you 'appa' now too"
He felt his eye twitch at that. Rumi had also been enjoying herself just watching this scene unfold, taking a sip at the plum tea she had been drinking as she sees how her husband is currently 'malfunctioning' at the mere thought of his daughter dating a guy.
"But- but Yerin is still a baby!" Whining, Jinu turns to his wife, appalled at how calmly she had been taking in this new information.
Rumi just shrugs at this. "She's nineteen"
And as if the timing could be anymore perfect, the daughter in question enters the scene, all dressed up to which he can only dread would be for a date. Yerin mindlessly roamed around the room, all three sets of eyes following her every move as she stuffed some things in her bag.
Jinu cleared his throat to get her attention. "Yerin, you have five seconds to explain why is this kid is claiming to be your boyfriend before I throw him out of my house"
"Boyfriend?" His daughter looked confused at the accusation then turned to the teenage boy who had a cheeky smile on him "What did you say to him?"
"I was just joking," Kai muttered under his breath, completely backing off when Yerin gave him a disapproving look.
"Appa he's not my boyfriend. He's just here to drive me to the city. Minji unnie is waiting for us there, she says she'll tour us around Seoul."
"Good cause you're not dating until you turn fifty"
His daughter innocently blinks at him. "Okay?"
"Yerin, let me tell you something." Jinu continues, this time placing both hands on top of her daughter's shoulders just so she's aware how serious this is. "Someday you'll meet a guy who will confess his undying love for you. It is very important that you punch him in the face as hard as you can."
The plum tea Rumi had been drinking turned very sweet. And very spilled. Her husband made sure everyone in the room heard that, including Kai who is currently pinching the bridge of his nose as his shoulders shook, hiding the fits of laughter.
"Right. I'm going to leave now" Yerin calmly tells him, refusing to participate in this agreement at all. She turns to talk to her mother instead, seeing how she's the saner one out of the two at this very moment.
Kai was already laughing when he gave Jinu a gentle, supportive pat on the back. "Don't worry uncle, I'll make sure no guy in the city gets to talk to her"
"Which I bet serves your interest more than mine"
"Ah you know me so well, this is why you're my favorite uncle."
If a man could steal one's soul through glaring alone, Kai would've lost his the moment he stepped into this house.
"Why are you even here? Ran out of parents to annoy? Seriously you have like two dads and you choose to come here and steal my daughter" Jinu says, gritting his teeth to try and be calm about all this, else his daughter would be losing her bestfriend today.
"Mom took a cruise to the Carribean, obviously she needs dad number one and dad number two to carry all her luggage" Kai responds calmly.
"So you came here to bother me instead?"
"I'm not bothering you, just here to send my regards and all...as your future son in law."
Jinu finally had enough. This kid was hopeless, he felt like Kai was born to annoy him. "Please get out of my house." he tells the boy just in time for Yerin to finish up saying goodbye to her mom.
Jinu's daughter suspiciously eyed them both, and sighs deeply when she realizes that he's still worried about all this. She crept up to him and tiptoed to give him a big hug "Don't worry appa, you're still my favorite."
That soothed him for a split second, not until she pulls away from the hug and immediately turns to grab Kai by the hand, dragging him out of the house as quickly as she could.
"Not for long-" Kai mouths at him before leaving to which he just completely lost it.
"See? See how annoying that kid is!" He turns to his wife again, almost begging her to take his side this time.
...
Inside the house, just beyond the front door, Rumi and Jinu watched as their youngest daughter waved at them before entering the car's passenger seat.
Jinu stepped behind his wife and wrapped his arms gently around her waist. She didn’t turn around. She simply placed her hands over his, holding them there.
"I can't believe I would let that kid drive my daughter all alone to the city" he grumbled, slightly skeptical about this whole arrangement.
"I like that Kai, he's very polite. So different from that little troublemaker he used to be when he was only three." Rumi, of course, always defended her friends' kids if need be. "Seems like our daughter had that good of an influence on him"
They watched as the engine started, as the car slowly backed out of the driveway, and their daughter waved through the window.
“Do you remember the day we brought her home?” he asked quietly.
His wife nodded, her voice soft. “She was so tiny in that car seat.”
"And now she's leaving us too"
"Of course they're bound to leave the nest at some point"
There was a long halt in that conversation, and then her husband suggested the unthinkable.
"Let's make another one" His suggestion that lacked finesse piqued her interest, leaning her head back to look and was met with his nervous expression.
"Another what?"
"Another baby"
She couldn't help but burst into laughter, calling him insane for suggesting something so preposterous. But Jinu wouldn't back down.
"Come on! They grow up so fast. Remember how fun it was to be taking care of little babies?"
And no boys to steal them away.
"Hmmm" she hums in agreement, smiling when he starts to pepper her cheeks with light pecks. "Hey! I have a better idea. How about you wait a few years then we could be taking care of our grandchildren!"
He stilled at that, face going blank. And she dared call his 'making another baby' suggestion preposterous when she's the one suggesting something so outrageous.
"Please tell me you're joking"
Rumi shakes her head 'no', trying to control another string of laughter from spilling out. He's adorable when he'd been rendered speechless. It's always been touching how much he loves his daughters.
"I can assure you that I'm not. One of them is bound to get married and have kids of her own" she continues to tease.
Oh she just knew how much her husband hated the idea. And what she would've given to have a camera on her right now and capture this almost comical look on him.
"None of them are getting married and none of them are having kids!" He groans, storming into the house in frustration.
Rumi smiled in victory. It's always nice seeing him so worked up over a small matter. "Oh we'll see about that."
...
Amidst the soft hum of the car engine that drove steadily towards the city, Yerin from the passenger seat had just started to reprimand her best friend who had this permanent grin on his face.
"Why would you even joke about that? You know how appa feels about dating"
"Your dad makes funny faces when he's mad" Kai laughed boisterously, remembering how much his mom used to encourage him to play with Yerin when they were younger because it drove Uncle Jinu insane.
"He means well. He's just overprotective that's all."
"Yeah and I feel like if I stayed there a second longer, he would've actually murdered me"
For stealing his precious baby girl.
"He won't murder you, eomma would be really upset if he tried to murder Aunt Mira's only child"
And Kai couldn't agree with her more. "Your mom really has that man wrapped around her finger"
"Yeah" Yerin laughs along with him, resting her chin on the palm of her hand as she starts quoting all that had been said about her parents' sort of fairytale-like romance. "Rumi and Jinu are perfect for each other. They were the great love story. We all heard it before"
He felt for her. It's hard to form any negative opinion about love when you grew up surrounded by too much of it.
"Do you not want that for yourself as well?" He asks, slightly anxious that she might read through his real intention with that question.
"All the love and dating?" An unamused smile played on her lips when she said that. "I have no plans for that...I barely have time to sleep because of all the schoolwork"
"Yeah?" He confirms, stealing glances at her direction every once in a while. As expected, she already had her nose in a book, engrossed with flipping through the pages while giving half-hearted answers to his plethora of questions.
"Maybe after college"
"Right" Kai says, a small smile finally breaking through once he realizes Yerin's sane enough not to follow through the fifty-year dating ban her appa laid out for her. "After college then…”