(Reposted)
Jang Joo-hee was baby sitting Hoon for a few hours because the clinic was short-staffed and Cha Mi-jo had to come in to lend a hand. Hoon was currently located at one corner of her coffee shop doing this math and behaving as promised. Bringing a cookie to check on the little boy, Joo-hee asked, "How are you doing, Mr. Hoon? Are you able to work those numbers?"
"Yes, Auntie," he replied. "I listened to Teacher very well today because Agent said that math is his favorite subject. I don't think it's my favorite like coloring but since the Agent likes it maybe it's not so bad."
"You really like the Agent, huh?" Joo-hee noted.
"Yes, Auntie," Hoon confirmed. "He's nice to me. Our teacher also said agents protect us from bad men. I think that's cool."
Joo-hee nodded. "How come you're so smart for a four year old?"
"I'm almost 5, Auntie!" Hoon declared. "Im not a baby anymore but I let Eomma call me that sometimes. It makes her happy."
Joo-hee smiled. "Yes it does. YOU make her happy," Joo-hee told him. "Eat and finish up. I'll take you to your mom soon."
*
"OOOOWWWWW!" Agent Park Dae-sik complained. "Are you sure you're not doing this out of vengeance?"
Cha Mi-jo rolled her eyes. "You never developed a tolerance for the pain of blackhead removal but you didn't complain when someone burned your face with a cigarette light?"
Mi-jo said it lightly but this fact pinched her chest. The agent disclosed this after much hesitation. He did not want her pity and, more importantly, he did not want her to be worried that Hoon would be unsafe in his company. However, Dr. Cha mentioned that she only needed to know how he obtained the scar to be able to correctly diagnose if he was at risk for any infections.
"Well, if those people knew about dermatological procedures, perhaps they would rethink their torture tactics," Dae-sik shot back. "I'm recommending that the NIS should use blackhead removal AND pimple popping as part of our training."
Cha Mi-jo desperately tried to keep her giggles in but failed. If Dae-sik never developed a tolerance for her treatments, Mi-jo never developed a resistance for a pouty agent being so adorable. "You're such a baby."
"You try to be at the receiving end of your procedures," Dae-sik said, continuing to pout.
"For your information, I tried some of these on me if applicable," Mi-jo said. "And I can vouch that it's not that painful."
"Fine," was all Dae-sik said, crossing his arms as he closed his eyes again so that Dr. Cha can resume.
Truthfully, Agent Dae-sik didn't need a lot of work because his skin was still somehow perfect in spite of being on the field.
Truthfully, Cha Mi-jo didn't need to keep accepting his appointment requests and giving him a huge discount.
Truthfully, they didn't need to be in this treatment room alone, bickering. They could just cancel the appointments and be on their merry way.
But they did not want to.
Park Dae-sik's intentions were obvious: he wanted to see her and he had admitted as much.
Cha Mi-jo's intentions were not so obvious: she wanted to see him... but she wasn't ready to admit that even to herself.
As she continued cleaning Dae-sik's pores, they heard Hoon shouting happily in the other room. "I wonder what he and Joo Hee are up to now."
"Probably your love life," Dae-sik said. At Cha Mi-jo's inquiring gaze, he clarified, "Hoon told me. He's very concerned about you and he needs to find you a boyfriend because your break up made you sad."
Cha Mi-jo stopped her treatment and sighed. "I have the sweetest little boy but he shouldn't be so concerned about my love life. I must be doing something wrong if he's this worried."
"You're doing a great job," Dae-sik assured. "It's because you're such a great mother that he's like this. He wants to see his mom happy."
"He wants a complete family," Mi-jo said.
"Every kid dreams of that," Dae-sik said.
"Especially when you were abandoned," Mi-jo added. As soon as she said that, she felt shy blurting that out. She wasn't ashamed of being adopted, her family had been so immensely loving and taught her that her situation was nothing to be ashamed of. Still, she felt some hesitation admitting that to people she wasn't close to.
And, for everything they had been through, there was still that barrier with this agent.
"I'm sorry you and Hoon had to experience that," Dae-sik said. Deciding to tread carefully, he asked, "Dr. Cha? I have something to ask but please don't be offended." When Cha Mi-jo agreed, he continued, "Does... having a good family help in healing those past hurts?"
Cha Mi-jo smiled sadly. "It does, but some things... stay. I don't think there will ever come a time when I will not overreact to the thought that I may have lost Hoon, or that I will never see my family, someone leaving me and not knowing if I will see them again. Just the thought of it..."
Cha Mi-jo rubbed her chest and willed herself to take deep breaths.
"Does that rule out any chance for... us?"
"Dae-sik..."
"A chance. That's all I ask, Dr. Cha. Please? A date."
"I don't know..."
"Hi Eomma!" Hoon called out from the doorway.
"What? Why did you enter when treatment is in progress? Remember, I told you not to that?" Cha Mi-jo reprimanded.
Hoon nodded. "Yes. But you also told me that I can go in when you are done. Auntie Mi-hyun wanted to me remind you that Agent Dae-sik's appointment is over. Will you have a date, Eomma? Auntie Joo-hee says that's where you go to eat at an expensive place and it's nice. Will you, Eomma?"
"I, uh..." Cha Mi-jo gazed at Hoon's innocent face, to Dae-sik's drop-dead gorgeous one, to Joo Hee's thrilled, grinning one and, as if Chan-young wanted to get a word in from the heavens, she heard a whisper.
Yes.
Taking a deep breath, Cha Mi-jo nodded and said, "Yes."
"WOOOOOOOOOO!" Hoon started jumping around the small room. "We're going on a date!!!!"
Dae-sik chuckled, Cha Mi-jo giggled and Joo Hee hugged the little boy, clarifying, "Hoonie, the date is just between Agent Dae-sik and your Eomma this time."
"Why can't I go?" Hoon asked.
"How else with Eomma get laid?" Joo Hee whispered to Mi-jo, earning her an elbow in the rib.
Park Dae-sik ruffled the boy's hair. "Auntie Joo Hee is right, the date is for me and Eomma. Is that okay? I promise to make it up to you. We'll have a Dae-sik and Hoon day next."
"Okay, Agent! That's perfect! WOOOOHOOOO! Dae-sik and Hoon day! AWESOME!" Hoon celebrated.
"I'll babysit," Joo Hee offered. "Just tell me when. I can babysit for a few hours, overnight, a week?"
Cha Mi-jo elbowed her again. Shyly turning to Dae-sik, she said, "It would be best to set a date now because I need to make arrangements with a babysitter who won't flood my son's head with ideas about falling in love."
"Your babysitter obviously hasn't met the agent," Joo Hee muttered. After another elbowing, she complained, "YAH! Stop doing that or I will have to retaliate."
"You're going to pinch me?" Mi-jo teased.
"No." Joo Hee narrowed her eyes at Mi-jo. "But I will tell Dae-sik that you have a crush on him."
"I DO NOT!" Cha Mi-jo lied.
Hoon spoke up. "No, it's not. I heard you say it, Eomma. I have a crush, too. She's in my class and she gave me candies."
"Hoonie!"
"It's not nice to lie, Eomma," Hoon reminded her. The three of them continued to argue, until Cha Mi-jo realized there was another person in the room, staying quiet but looking suspiciously smug.
"Aren't you going to say anything?" Cha Mi-jo dared.
Park Dae-sik held his hands up in surrender. "Oh no, no. I know enough to stay out of this."
"Wise man," Mi-jo agreed.
"Your crush is smart!" Joo Hee teased. That brought Hoon to laugh again and declare, "Eomma has a crush! Eomma has a crush!"
Not content to keep his news in the small room this time, Hoon ran out to the main clinic and told all the nurses and his Auntie Mi-hyun, "EOMMA HAS A CRUSH! EOMMA HAS A CRUSH!"
"What have you done to my son?" Cha Mi-jo said to Jang Joo Hee.
"Nothing," Joo Hee replied. "You're the one talking to yourself saying you had a crush on Dae-sik."
Dae-sik snorted, while Mi-jo growled. "Ugh!" Mi-jo complained. "You're lucky I love you."
"I love you, too," Joo Hee said. "Now, tell me when you guys want to have your date."
Cha Mi-jo turned to Dae-sik, but said nothing, allowing him to propose a day and time. "Would this weekend work? 6pm?"
"Saturday is in two days!" Cha Mi-jo noted, surprised.
"Right, that's too far. How about tomorrow then?" Dae-sik corrected.
"I like you!" Joo Hee affirmed. At Cha Mi-jo's glare, she added, "I like him for YOU. Geesh. You're not together yet and you're so possessive." To Dae-sik, Joo said, "Are you sure you want to date her? I mean, I'm here."
"YAH. You have a boyfriend," Cha Mi-jo reminded her.
"Oh yeah. Dae-sik will have to live with you then," Joo Hee teased. "Don't worry, Agent. She's very pretty even when she just woke up."
Cha Mi-hyun came barging in, hands on her chest. "Is it true? Are you going on a date with my Agent Dae-sik?"
"YOUR agent?" Cha Mi-jo asked.
"My heart is breaking but, if he ends up with you, I will understand," Mi-hyun said, dramatically, making Dae-sik laugh.
"These two annoying women around me are my non-negotiables. Anyone who I date must accept them along with my son," Cha Mi-jo declared.
"I accept," Dae-sik replied. "They seem to be fun to be around."
"I LIKE HIM!" Mi-hyun and Joo Hee said in unison.
Cha Mi-jo narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You just like them because they think you're handsome."
Dae-sik pursed his lips. "Don't YOU find me handsome, Dr. Cha?"
"I, uh," Cha Mi-jo stammered.
Without waiting for her to verbalise the response they both knew, Dae-sik leaned in, whispering, "Then, I like you, too... but a little differently," making Cha Mi-jo's whole body tingle. Pulling back, Dae-sik asked, "So... tomorrow?"
Cha Mi-jo nodded, exhaling shakily. "Tomorrow."
When Dae-sik left, Joo Hee and Mi-hyun crowded her. With Joo Hee asking, "Do you need me to buy you a 100-piece pack of condoms or are you on the pill?"
Cha Mi-jo rolled her eyes. Then, remembering something, "Hang on. HOON! WHO IS THIS CLASSMATE OF YOURS GIVING YOU CANDIES?"