i felt a little regret after asking, but i really wanted to know. he seemed tense so i leaned against him, hoping it would make him feel comfortable.
"you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," i said and grabbed his hand.
"remember that girl i used to date, the one i was telling you about? well, we had a kid together. she didn't want to deal with it so left to do drugs with some other guy. i didn't care, i only cared about the kid. so i kept her. she's three now. i know this makes me sound so irresponsible and i'm sorry. you don't have to see me anymore if you don't want to."
i was shocked by his explanation, but tried to hide it. i got myself together.
"c'mon, minhyuk. i want to meet her." i stood up and pulled on minhyuk's arm to get him up.
"are you sure?" he asked and stood.
"yes i'm sure. let's go."
i picked up our towels and walked back to minhyuk's car.
"she's at my moms house right now. i'm sure she'll like you, but i doubt she'll even notice we're there. she focuses on cooking a lot."
minhyuk and i got into his car, staying silent the whole way.
———
we arrived at minhyuk's mothers house. it looked very nice.
"welp, here goes nothing," minhyuk said and unlocked the door to his moms house with an extra key.
once we unlocked the door, minhyuk's child came running. he picked her up and snuggled his face onto hers.
"haewon, this is ji hae."
i smiled at ji hae and she stared at me.
"say hi, ji hae," minhyuk said.
ji hae waved and me and i waved back. she started to squirm in minhyuk's arms, so he put her down.
"go get something to eat," minhyuk said and ruffled her hair. she ran away into the kitchen.
"so, what do you think?" he asked and scratched the back of his neck.
"she's so sweet! if you ever need a babysitter, i'm here."
"thanks, haewon."
without thinking, i hugged minhyuk. and i hugged him tight. he did the same for me, and i smiled. he let go of me when we heard ji hae whining beside us.
"what's wrong?" he asked her.
"open," she said and handed minhyuk a juice box and a straw. he opened it, then handed it back.
"tank you!" she excitedly took the juice box from minhyuk's hand and sipped it. she sat her juice box down and climbed on the couch, grabbing her juice box again.
"tv!" she shouted. minhyuk lifted her up and sat himself on the couch, then sat her on his lap. he turned on the television to some quite annoying cartoon.
"this good?" he asked her.
"yes."
she leaned against minhyuk. he looked at me and stretched his arm out, telling me to come sit with them.
i sat by minhyuk, leaning against him and letting his arm lay over my shoulder. i looked up a little and saw ji hae asleep already, her juice box barely hanging onto her hand. i then saw minhyuk with his eyes closed. it was only eight-thirty, but i knew he needed the sleep. i snuggled into minhyuk some more, closing my eyes myself.