well today answered that for him for sure.

i-rae was definitely his daughter, because he had spent his day in the office daydreaming about the way you had spoken to i-rae so gently, the way the edges of your eyes crinkled as you smiled.

today jay had barely buckled i-rae into the car seat before she started her daily chatter.

"appa!" she exclaimed.

jay hums back as he tightened her seat belt snugly. "hm?"

"did you know dinosaurs live in suwon?"

he closed the car door softly before sliding into his drivers seat and glancing at the rearview mirror to reply. "...they..do?"

"that's what seungcheol said!"

"i see."

"but teacher y/n said they don't!"

jay refocused his attention to the road as he pulled out of the parking lot. a small smile appeared on his face, replying "teacher y/n is probably right."

i-rae gasps. "teacher y/n said that too!"

time flew as jay drove them home, the radio silent and i-rae's voice filling the space in the cool volvo. he was very grateful for i-rae and her chatter. it made him laugh. that was rare.

because somewhere between being a father, losing his wife, running a company, managing employees and trying to keep his life together, laughter wasn't something he had space for.

after piling out of the car and showering, jay had set i-rae in her seat at the dining table and was starting dinner. you'd think she'd had spent all of her energy talking about what happened at school already. she wasn't done at all.

in fact she had gotten into a topic that jay was happy to listen to. teacher y/n.

"appa, did you know teacher y/n also likes hello kitty?" i-rae rambles as she fiddled with her hello kitty sticker book that, jake and sunghoon, his college friends had gotten her.

"oh really?" jay listens as he stirs the pot. "what else does she like?"

i-rae's face contorted as she started thinking. "she likes the colour pink!"

he hums along smiling to himself.

"and cats."

"oh iced coffee!"

he blinked. "and how do you know that?"

"teacher y/n has a sippy cup of coffee everyday!"

while i-rae continues chatting away about teacher y/n, jay found himself daydreaming. an image suddenly rolled up.

your sleeves rolled up, hair that fell out of your bun framing your face, glitter stickers stuck to your apron. a face that always seem to have a smile. the laugh you'd let out when i-rae shows off her new stickerbook every monday.

jay was obviously drifting away. "appa?!"

he shook himself out of it and glanced back at i-rae. "yes sweetheart?"

"are you even listening to me?!" she frowned.

turning off the stove he covered the pot and walked over. "yes i am."

she stared at her dad intensely. "teacher y/n's pretty right?"

well you're not just pretty, you were the prettiest thing he had ever laid his eyes on, well aside from his little girl.

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"appa."

"hm?" jay turns to look at his little girl behind him showing all the displeasure her 3ft self could master.

"you said we were leaving 5 minutes ago."

"right."

she stares at him. "your hair looks fine."

"are you sure its not messy?" he sighs turning back to the fridge.

"it looks the same."

"....thank you?"

i-rae shrugs before running off to pick out her clips for the day, while jay rubs his face trying to get a grip before grabbing his briefcase ready to send his little 'judger' to school.

the past few pick ups and drop offs have been nothing short of pathetic. awkward exchanges that were always cut short by the yelling of either i-rae or her classmates or the classic 'meeting' pulled by the beloved principal.

sometimes when he gets back to his car he runs his hands through his hair thinking what the hell has gotten into him.

he owned a god damn company, he has made countless pitches to the richest conglomerates of south korea. yet the moment you were in his line of sight, his palms start to sweat, toes curling in his shoes, eyes started admiring the fucking door frame.

most of the time he spent reassuring himself that you didn't notice but the thing is you did and you found it cute. but strictly professionally cute if you catch the drift...

fastforward a couple weeks and halmoni saying that she wants to stay in busan longer, jay ended up sat in a kiddie chair for the first time since his kindergarten days, opposite you while i-rae plays in a corner.

his palms covered his knees, his eyes darting from the floor to you to the table. one would think that you're his supervisor evaluating him.

you were flipping through your folders, hair being tucked behind your ears with a pen in the other. your pink lips muttering about how you were sorry for the delay but you had trouble finding some things.

was this a kindergarten parent-teacher meeting? didn't seem like it from the way jay was behaving. his thoughts were swirling about how pretty and kind you were, i-rae's voice echoing in his head.

"appa."

"appa."

oh wait it wasn't a hallucination. i-rae had walked up to him and tugged at his black trousers, big eyes staring at him. that sure does it pulling him out of his daydream.

"oh, yes sorry." he sighs and turns back to see you looking at him concerned. "what were you saying?"

"i just wanted to briefly mention about i-rae's developmental pace and her overall performance in class." you closed the folder in front of you and smiled at him gently, voice calm and polite. "she's very smart and i would even say she might be faster than most of her classmates."

"she's adjusting very well to the change in environments, and has become alot more confident speaking during group discussions and that's an improvement from what i mentioned at the beginning of the year to her halmoni."

"however she can be a little bit stubborn at times, but it can be seen as a good thing." you chuckled smiling as i-rae ran over to you.

"sounds like her for sure." jay smiles, nodding.

well i-rae is not the most easy-going, jay likes to think it came from his late wife but he is no better.

"i'm not sure if i should mention this but," you paused.

jay looks up at you, eyes waiting.

"i think your involvement in her life is making a good impact on her."

you inhaled slowly. "i don't mean to overstep, but i think i-rae's confidence improving recently has something to do with you being there for her more instead of just her halmoni."

the words caught him completely off guard.

"but i understand with your schedule it is pretty hard-"

jay cuts in gently. "no, i understand. i will do my best to spend more time with her."

your eyes softened with a smile.

that. that makes him feel calmer. seems like he's starting to get why i-rae likes you so much.

"anything you'd like to ask?" you looked at him with a smile while ruffling i-rae's hair. his brain turns to mush and to think that a few weeks ago he was getting annoyed with how much his daughter talks about you, now he's about to be i-rae 2.0

his mouth opened and shut with no words coming out before his word vomit starts. "how are you?" his eyes widened in shock, before he fumbles to save himself. "i mean, i hope i-rae's not been bothering you, i hear you stay back to take care of her when i'm late to picking her up."

he heaves a sigh of relief after he saves himself.

"no, not at all. i-rae's very sweet and well-behaved." you grinned as you pinched i-rae's cheeks as she giggles and opens her arms as you picked her up and sat her on your lap.

"halmoni says i'm cute, just like appa!" she announces with a wide toothy grin, eyes squeezing into small crescents.

tilting your head to face her you smiled widely and started tickling i-rae. "oh is that so?"

jay's heart skips a beat hearing the mix of your giggles together. music to his ears. he was literally gonna melt into a puddle when your principal yells for you.

"oh excuse me i have to go. but that's all for the parent teacher meeting. you and i-rae are free to go home and i will email you her progression chart before the weekend." you informed before setting down i-rae and petting her head.

"i'll see you in school next week okay i-rae?" you kissed her temple before bowing politely to jay and running off towards the office.

jay freezes in that moment, words stuck in his throat. what just happened...

i-rae tugs at his trousers again. "appa, why are you a tomato?"

"what?" and he dies a little on the inside.

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well today answered that for him for sure.

i-rae was definitely his daughter, because he had spent his day in the office daydreaming about the way you had spoken to i-rae so gently, the way the edges of your eyes crinkled as you smiled.

today jay had barely buckled i-rae into the car seat before she started her daily chatter.

"appa!" she exclaimed.

jay hums back as he tightened her seat belt snugly. "hm?"

"did you know dinosaurs live in suwon?"

he closed the car door softly before sliding into his drivers seat and glancing at the rearview mirror to reply. "...they..do?"

"that's what seungcheol said!"

"i see."

"but teacher y/n said they don't!"

jay refocused his attention to the road as he pulled out of the parking lot. a small smile appeared on his face, replying "teacher y/n is probably right."

i-rae gasps. "teacher y/n said that too!"

time flew as jay drove them home, the radio silent and i-rae's voice filling the space in the cool volvo. he was very grateful for i-rae and her chatter. it made him laugh. that was rare.

because somewhere between being a father, losing his wife, running a company, managing employees and trying to keep his life together, laughter wasn't something he had space for.

after piling out of the car and showering, jay had set i-rae in her seat at the dining table and was starting dinner. you'd think she'd had spent all of her energy talking about what happened at school already. she wasn't done at all.

in fact she had gotten into a topic that jay was happy to listen to. teacher y/n.

"appa, did you know teacher y/n also likes hello kitty?" i-rae rambles as she fiddled with her hello kitty sticker book that, jake and sunghoon, his college friends had gotten her.

"oh really?" jay listens as he stirs the pot. "what else does she like?"

i-rae's face contorted as she started thinking. "she likes the colour pink!"

he hums along smiling to himself.

"and cats."

"oh iced coffee!"

he blinked. "and how do you know that?"

"teacher y/n has a sippy cup of coffee everyday!"

while i-rae continues chatting away about teacher y/n, jay found himself daydreaming. an image suddenly rolled up.

your sleeves rolled up, hair that fell out of your bun framing your face, glitter stickers stuck to your apron. a face that always seem to have a smile. the laugh you'd let out when i-rae shows off her new stickerbook every monday.

jay was obviously drifting away. "appa?!"

he shook himself out of it and glanced back at i-rae. "yes sweetheart?"

"are you even listening to me?!" she frowned.

turning off the stove he covered the pot and walked over. "yes i am."

she stared at her dad intensely. "teacher y/n's pretty right?"

well you're not just pretty, you were the prettiest thing he had ever laid his eyes on, well aside from his little girl.

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some people misunderstand the job scope. often labelling it as a glorified nanny, babysitter. much of which actually paid way more in all honesty.

it seemed easy, but it takes alot of work to be patient, to get on your knees a hundred times a day to tie shoe laces, coaxing them to try new things, foods, give comfort, mediate tiny tiny disagreements over how many blocks someone has, how much attention someone gets. all this will seem pointless and just annoy an average human being. but not you. you saw magic, learning opportunities in every second of the day— even in spilt milk, leaky diapers, finger paint disasters.

it was enough— until recently, at a monthly gathering, your friends began teasing you about your empty evenings. "you spend so much time loving other people's kids," they said. "when are you going to have your own."

you'd laughed it off, but honestly, you'd started wondering the same thing. you weren't getting any younger.

still, where was the time? between parent-teacher conferences, laminated worksheets, and spontaneous glitter explosions, your dating life remained a figment of your imagination.

but seems like fate has a plan in motion for you. specifically, sending a specific single dad your way.

the classroom smelt like anticeptic solution and honey stars, a familiar smell to the start of your morning. warm light spilled through the big windows as soft music played in the background, and you crouched beside minji, helping put her bag in the cubby hole. just then the front door chimed. you glanced over as minji wandered over to the assembly room.

and for a second your breath caught.

not because of the sharply tailored man who stepped in— though, admittedly, he was handsome in that clean, quiet way. it was the contrast; the sleek black tailored suit with his slicked back hair juxtaposed with the tiny pink glitter princess backpack slung over his shoulder naturally, and the sleepy girl clinging to his loose hand.

"i-rae!" you greeted brightly, recognising the little girl, her eyes springing open as she ran to you. "teacher y/n!"

you crouched to greet her before glancing back up. "are you i-rae's dad?" you stood back up, hand resting on i-rae's head as she stood beside you.

"ah, yes." his voice low and smooth. "i'm jay. you must be the teacher she's been babbling about after school, its nice to meet you."

"same here. i was surprised to see someone else instead of her halmoni." you casually mentioned.

"my mum's in busan visiting family." he adjusted the pink backpack on his shoulder. "she usually takes care of the little one since i can get quite busy, but..i rearranged."

you caught the flick of his gaze— subtle, but deliberate— travelling over your chosen outfit of the day.

"ah, its great to finally meet you. the famous appa." you chuckled.

his brow quirked. "famous..?"

"she draws you every week in art period," you teased gently, patting i-rae's head as she nods. "with a green glitter cape! appa's favourite color!"

his chuckle echoed in the small entrance. "well, i guess getting her to bed is considered a heroic act."

there was a brief pause, a moment of mutual understanding.

jay cleared his throat, pulling her backpack off his shoulder, checking the time off his watch. "i think i should go, i'm gonna be late for a meeting."

he bent down and passed the backpack to i-rae. "be good for appa in class today okay?"

she nodded as jay gave you a small smile and left.

hours at work always flew by with your kids, just because they were your sole focus. it was easy to brush the image of him and his sparkly pink backpack from your mind.

after all attractive parents weren't exactly rarity. well yes normally one wouldn't notice such things in the education industry after all parent-teacher relationships were to be strictly profesh at least that's what your millenial principal had reiterated the day you joined them.

its not like you could control the fact that you were around the age of majority of the children's parents, and being the youngest in the teaching roster too.

in fact your fellow colleagues had developed a rather annoying habit of subtly trying to set you up with every eligible single parent that walked through the classroom doors.

at this point it was like 솔로지옥 but set in preschool with divorcees and or widows. you always laughed it off while busying yourself with your kids.

there just simply wasn't time to think about who's dad was handsome or rich. there were attendance sheets to mark, child profiles to fill up, water bottles to refill.

and surely approximately seventeen 3-year-olds capable of generating enough chaos to rival an entire multinational corporation before nine in the morning was a good enough distraction.

one moment everyone was peacefully seated for assembly.

the next, minji had somehow gotten oatmeal in her hair, jimin was crying because his banana had broken in half, and seungcheol was passionately insisting that dinosaurs were, in fact, still alive and living in suwon.

it was barely 12.

time flew though, and everyone was down for naptime. you were settled in a corner patting jimin to sleep. usually during this time you'd be happy to have a chance to close your eyes and rest a little while.

instead you found your thoughts drifting elsewhere.

"i-rae ah, appa's here!"

soon pick-up time came, i-rae was called to go home, however the principal had you cornered asking questions about next terms preparations and the open house event.

in the corner of your eye, jay crouched down beside i-rae helping her put on her shoes, while she was waving her hands around animatedly probably talking about the dinosaur story they went through in class today.

when the principal got distracted by another senior teacher, you turned back hoping to catch a glimpse of them, but they were gone.

yunah smoothly slid up beside you, arm around your shoulders. "i see you."

you chuckled and nudged her ribs gently. "see what."

"i-rae is really cute. so is her dad."

"yunah!"

"i meant for you. i'm already engaged." she waved her bedazzled ring finger.

"its just the first time we're seeing i-rae's dad in person."

"yadda yadda yadda, whatever floats your boat honey." yunah grinned as she slid off, avoiding your nudging.

you sighed watching the entrance, feeling a sense of anticipation tomorrow. will he be coming tomorrow?

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some people misunderstand the job scope. often labelling it as a glorified nanny, babysitter. much of which actually paid way more in all honesty.

it seemed easy, but it takes alot of work to be patient, to get on your knees a hundred times a day to tie shoe laces, coaxing them to try new things, foods, give comfort, mediate tiny tiny disagreements over how many blocks someone has, how much attention someone gets. all this will seem pointless and just annoy an average human being. but not you. you saw magic, learning opportunities in every second of the day— even in spilt milk, leaky diapers, finger paint disasters.

it was enough— until recently, at a monthly gathering, your friends began teasing you about your empty evenings. "you spend so much time loving other people's kids," they said. "when are you going to have your own."

you'd laughed it off, but honestly, you'd started wondering the same thing. you weren't getting any younger.

still, where was the time? between parent-teacher conferences, laminated worksheets, and spontaneous glitter explosions, your dating life remained a figment of your imagination.

but seems like fate has a plan in motion for you. specifically, sending a specific single dad your way.

the classroom smelt like anticeptic solution and honey stars, a familiar smell to the start of your morning. warm light spilled through the big windows as soft music played in the background, and you crouched beside minji, helping put her bag in the cubby hole. just then the front door chimed. you glanced over as minji wandered over to the assembly room.

and for a second your breath caught.

not because of the sharply tailored man who stepped in— though, admittedly, he was handsome in that clean, quiet way. it was the contrast; the sleek black tailored suit with his slicked back hair juxtaposed with the tiny pink glitter princess backpack slung over his shoulder naturally, and the sleepy girl clinging to his loose hand.

"i-rae!" you greeted brightly, recognising the little girl, her eyes springing open as she ran to you. "teacher y/n!"

you crouched to greet her before glancing back up. "are you i-rae's dad?" you stood back up, hand resting on i-rae's head as she stood beside you.

"ah, yes." his voice low and smooth. "i'm jay. you must be the teacher she's been babbling about after school, its nice to meet you."

"same here. i was surprised to see someone else instead of her halmoni." you casually mentioned.

"my mum's in busan visiting family." he adjusted the pink backpack on his shoulder. "she usually takes care of the little one since i can get quite busy, but..i rearranged."

you caught the flick of his gaze— subtle, but deliberate— travelling over your chosen outfit of the day.

"ah, its great to finally meet you. the famous appa." you chuckled.

his brow quirked. "famous..?"

"she draws you every week in art period," you teased gently, patting i-rae's head as she nods. "with a green glitter cape! appa's favourite color!"

his chuckle echoed in the small entrance. "well, i guess getting her to bed is considered a heroic act."

there was a brief pause, a moment of mutual understanding.

jay cleared his throat, pulling her backpack off his shoulder, checking the time off his watch. "i think i should go, i'm gonna be late for a meeting."

he bent down and passed the backpack to i-rae. "be good for appa in class today okay?"

she nodded as jay gave you a small smile and left.

hours at work always flew by with your kids, just because they were your sole focus. it was easy to brush the image of him and his sparkly pink backpack from your mind.

after all attractive parents weren't exactly rarity. well yes normally one wouldn't notice such things in the education industry after all parent-teacher relationships were to be strictly profesh at least that's what your millenial principal had reiterated the day you joined them.

its not like you could control the fact that you were around the age of majority of the children's parents, and being the youngest in the teaching roster too.

in fact your fellow colleagues had developed a rather annoying habit of subtly trying to set you up with every eligible single parent that walked through the classroom doors.

at this point it was like 솔로지옥 but set in preschool with divorcees and or widows. you always laughed it off while busying yourself with your kids.

there just simply wasn't time to think about who's dad was handsome or rich. there were attendance sheets to mark, child profiles to fill up, water bottles to refill.

and surely approximately seventeen 3-year-olds capable of generating enough chaos to rival an entire multinational corporation before nine in the morning was a good enough distraction.

one moment everyone was peacefully seated for assembly.

the next, minji had somehow gotten oatmeal in her hair, jimin was crying because his banana had broken in half, and seungcheol was passionately insisting that dinosaurs were, in fact, still alive and living in suwon.

it was barely 12.

time flew though, and everyone was down for naptime. you were settled in a corner patting jimin to sleep. usually during this time you'd be happy to have a chance to close your eyes and rest a little while.

instead you found your thoughts drifting elsewhere.

"i-rae ah, appa's here!"

soon pick-up time came, i-rae was called to go home, however the principal had you cornered asking questions about next terms preparations and the open house event.

in the corner of your eye, jay crouched down beside i-rae helping her put on her shoes, while she was waving her hands around animatedly probably talking about the dinosaur story they went through in class today.

when the principal got distracted by another senior teacher, you turned back hoping to catch a glimpse of them, but they were gone.

yunah smoothly slid up beside you, arm around your shoulders. "i see you."

you chuckled and nudged her ribs gently. "see what."

"i-rae is really cute. so is her dad."

"yunah!"

"i meant for you. i'm already engaged." she waved her bedazzled ring finger.

"its just the first time we're seeing i-rae's dad in person."

"yadda yadda yadda, whatever floats your boat honey." yunah grinned as she slid off, avoiding your nudging.

you sighed watching the entrance, feeling a sense of anticipation tomorrow. will he be coming tomorrow?

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