TOUGH ROMANCE || scoups || BOOK ONE

13

After the dinner we were outside near the creek.

"Doing okay?" Jeonghan came up to me on the grass. He had a nice calming presence. I didn't feel the exasperation around him that I did with Seungcheol.

"I think so" I turned to look at him. "Thank you. For everything. It's been a stressful day. You and Jennie and I guess even your brother made it better for Mimi and me."

"Mi's a good kid." He said. "She's smart. Independent. A lot of us in town know that."

"I hope you're right. And I hope I can do right by her until we get things figured out."

"That reminds me. I bought this for you." He said, handing over a brochure that was too dark to read. "It's about kinship custody arrangements."

"Oh. Thanks."

"Basically, you're looking at an application process with a few legal hoops to jump through. If all that goes well, you'll have six months to decide if you want to make it permanent."

Permanent? That word sent me reeling.

I stared unseeing as Mimi and Seungcheol took turns throwing a tennis ball for the dogs.

"I asked around about Chae." Jeonghan continued. "Rumour has it she got herself a new man a few weeks back, and there were whispers about some big score."

A new man and a big score were both painfully on brand for my sister. "Do you really think she might not come back?"

Jeonghan edged into my line of sight and dipped down until I looked him in the eye. "That's the thing Hani. She does come back, she's in a lot of trouble. No court's gonna be thrilled with the idea of letting her retain custody."

"And..if its not me..its foster care." I said, filling in the unspoken blanks.

"That's the long and the short of it." He said. "I know it's a big decision and I'm not asking you to make it right this second. Get to know her. Get to know the town. Think on it. I've got a friend who does casework. She can help you get started with the application process."

He was asking me to put the next six months of my life on hold for a little girl I'd just met. Yep. It was safe to say my bruised and battered life plan had officially disintegrated.

I blew out a sigh and decided tomorrow was as good a day as any for panicking over the future.

"Mimi! It's time to go!" I called.

"Do we have to?" Mimi whined, dragging her feet as if they were encased in concrete. I shared similar sentiments.

Seungcheol put his hand on the top of her head and guided her in my direction. "Get used to it. Sometimes we've all got to do things we don't want to."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I found the cottage's back porch to be a lovely little spot for organising my daily to do list by priority as I waited for the pot of coffee to brew. I'd slept. Like a coma patient. And when my eyelids popped open at 6:15 on the dot, I'd tip toed across the hall to Mimi's room and peeked in to make sure my niece was still there.

She was. Tucked between fresh sheets in a white four poster bed.

I stared down at my list and tapped the end of a blue highlighter against the page. I needed to contact my parents and let them know I was alive and not having some kind of breakdown. But I wasn't sure how much else to tell them.

Hey guys! You remember your other daughter? The one who gave you migraines for twenty years before she vanished from our lives? Yeah, well, she has a daughter who has no idea you exist!

They'd disembark from their cruise ship in a hot minute and be on the first plane headed in our direction. Mimi had just been abandoned by her own mother and was now under the roof of an aunt she'd never met. Introducing grandparents into a mix might not be the best idea this soon out of the gate.

Plus, it was my parents first vacation together in ten years. They deserved three weeks of peace and quiet.

The choice was only partially weighted in favour of the fact that I wouldn't have to come up with a diplomatic way to explain that they had missed out on the first eleven years of their only grandchild's life. Yet.

I didn't like doing things until I knew the exact right way to do them. So I would wait until I knew Mimi a little better and my parents were back from their anniversary cruise, well rested and ready for crazy news.

Satisfied, I collected my notebook and highlighters and was just about ready to stand when I heard the distant squeak of a screen door.

Next door, Kkuma trotted down the back stairs into the yard where he promptly lifted his leg on a dead spot he clearly enjoyed using as a toilet. I smiled, and then the muscles of my face froze when another movement caught my eye.

Seungcheol. Choi Seungcheol. Strolled off the deck in nothing but a pair of grey sweatpants. He was all man. Muscles, chest, hair, tattoos. He stretched one arm lazily overhead and scratched the back of his neck.

I was open mouth ogling too much. My highlighters flying made a rapid fire racket as they hit the wooden planks beneath me. Time froze as Seungcheol turned in my direction.

The man was too fine.

I left my highlighters where they were and fled for safety of the cottage, all while congratulating myself for not trying to get a better look at Cheol.

"Why's your face so red? Did you get sunburnt?"

I let out a shreik and crashed against the screen door, nearly falling out onto the porch.

Mimi was standing on a chair trying to reach the Pop-Tarts I'd hidden above the fridge.

"You're so jumpy" She accused.

Carefully, I closed the door, leaving all thoughts of sleepy shirtless men. "Put the pop tarts down. We're having eggs for breakfast."

"Awww man!"

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A bit short today I apologise yall