He stood up from his place on the ground, leaning forward to brush off his knees. When he straightened up, his eyes found mine with a smile, and he extended his hand.
Trying to tamp down the blush threatening to crawl up my neck, I took it.
"I'm Yeonjun," he told me, shaking my hand once.
His hand was warm, fingers around mine, and I hoped my hand wasn't sweaty. How embarrassing it would be if he wiped his hand on his pants once I pulled away.
"I'm Adelaide," I replied, smiling. "Nice to meet you." I realized I was still holding his hand, and let go.
"Nice to meet you too, although I wish it wasn't under these circumstances," Yeonjun said with a smile. After a moment, I realized it was a joke.
"I'm so sorry about Alia," I apologized, sitting back down on the bench I had been on earlier. I picked up my book, flipping through to find my page. "She's not usually like that. I hope your daughter's okay."
Yeonjun sat down next to me, a safe distance away. We were at both edges of the bench now, and I was glad. If he was any closer in proximity, I'd probably spontaneously combust. "It's alright, Jiho's a tough one. I'm sure she'll be fine."
We were silent for a moment, watching the little girls play, when Yeonjun spoke again. "I'm sure you've heard this before, but Alia looks just like you. Except her eyes, they're different. She's very cute." He smiled at me, and I looked away, avoiding his eyes.
My mind was spinning. We'd only spoken to each other for a total of five minutes, yet he'd already noticed my eyes were different from hers? And maybe I was overthinking it, but he said she was cute, and that she looked like me, so did that mean he thought I was cute?
I shot back to the conversation once I realized I hadn't spoken. "You're right, she has her fathers eyes." I didn't want to talk about Josh, but it felt rude to not say anything. "Apparently if only one of your parents has blue eyes, you can't be born with them."
"Genetics, always messing things up," he joked. "So, is her dad at work?"
My eyebrows raised. "I'm not sure. Maybe. He's... not exactly in the picture."
Yeonjun's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, I'm sorry, that was probably insensitive of me."
"It's okay, don't worry about it. I don't mind. She sees him most weeks, it's been like that since she was little," I replied. "Well, littler."
"If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?" Yeonjun asked. "I mean, you seem pretty young, but obviously she's not, like, a newborn baby."
I cocked my head to the side, smiling a pitying smile, lips pressed into a thin line. "Oh, Yeonjun. Don't you know better than to ask a woman's age?"
The look on his face at that moment was priceless. His face shifted from shock, to fear, to embarrassment. He rubbed his nape shyly, drawing my attention to his arms.
His muscles were well defined, the curl of his arm made them tense. He was wearing a wide-sleeved tank top, tucked into his jeans. It was a look I knew I'd never be able to pull off, but he did, perfectly.
I snapped back to attention when I realized he'd been speaking. "Sorry, what'd you say?" I asked shyly, embarrassed.
"I was apologizing, for asking," Yeonjun repeated, hands tangled in his lap.
It was cute, how he was so worried about making a good impression.
"Oh, don't worry, I was only joking, couldn't you tell?" I teased, seizing every opportunity to make him fidget.
A slight embarrassed blush covered his cheeks, and I laughed, hitting him lightly on the shoulder. "Look, it's alright! I'm just messing with you. I'm twenty-two, how about you?"
"Twenty-three." It was obvious he had another question, and I nudged his knee gently with my foot.
"Cool. What is it? You've got this look on your face, your eyebrows are all scrunched together like you're trying to figure something out." I tapped him between his eyebrows and he smiled, moving my hand away.
"Wow, am I that easy to read?" When I nodded, he continued. "I was just wondering, how old is Alia?"
I knew where he was going with this. It was where everyone went. "She's five. I got pregnant when I was sixteen." I wasn't embarrassed to say it. At first I wasn't sure how I'd manage, but I was lucky enough to have grown up in a financially stable family, and Alia was one of the best things to ever happen to me.
Yeonjun let out a disbelieving laugh, shaking his head. "You must've been one horny child, messing around like that at sixteen."
I rolled my eyes. "You don't seem much better. How old's Jiho?"
He pressed his lips together in a look of defeat. "She's five also..."
I stood up, pointing to him jokingly, a grin on my face. "So you can't talk about me being a horny child, you were one too!" When I was done gloating, I sat back down, much closer to him than before. "So, is Jiho's mom around?"
He shook his head. "No. She had some... issues, so as soon as Jiho was old enough I took her and left. Her mom made no protest. She was fine with it, as if she hadn't spent nine months pregnant, labored for 36 hours, and raised her until she was two."
Yeonjun was quiet then, and although I wanted to know more, I didn't press further.
"You wanna know a secret?" I asked, a playful smile on my face.
His eyes narrowed in a smile, lips pulled into a smirk. "Of course."
I gestured him closer, and he leaned in, until my lips were practically against his ear. Oh god, I hoped he couldn't hear how my breath caught when he got so close. "I think I'm going to be seeing a lot of you, mister Yeonjun." My gaze switched to the playground, where Jiho and Alia were playing happily.
It was obviously not what he had been expecting me to say, but he smiled wide, tilting his head so his lips were now by my ear. I closed my eyes, praying to every divine being in this universe that the warmth on my face wasn't visible to him. "Want me to tell you one?" Yeonjun asked. His lips touched my ear as he spoke, and I stifled a gasp. I nodded. "I think I'll be seeing a lot of you as well."
Was he flirting? (if ykyk) With me? Of all people, this man right here was flirting with me?
Before I could embarrass myself, Alia and Jiho ran over, hands clasped. "Mom!" Alia cried happily. "Can you give Mister Choi your phone number so me and Jiho can have a play date?"
So. His name was Yeonjun Choi. I liked that.
Yeonjun laughed. "You don't have to be so formal. Just Yeonjun is fine," he assured her.
Alia smiled. "Okay!" She turned back to me. "Mom, can you give Yeonjun your phone number so me and Jiho can have a play date?"
I couldn't help but smile. I was about to answer, when I remembered how my phone had fallen off the balcony when Alia and I were playing a few days ago. It had shattered the screen, and I was afraid I'd cut myself if I tried to use it.
Quickly, I thought of a response. "Oh, Alia, remember, my phone is broken? I need to replace it." I looked over at Yeonjun, apology written all over my face, when I remembered something. "I could give you my email though, right?" I smiled hopefully.
Yeonjun smiled back. "Sounds good." He handed me his phone, warm from sitting in his front pocket, and I carefully took it, typing out an email to myself. I sent it and handed it back to him. Yeonjun looked at his phone.
"Adelaide May, huh?" He asked. I smiled.
"That is my name, yes, mister Yeonjun Choi," I teased.
"Say the last name first. It sounds so much better," he requested.
I obliged. "Choi Yeonjun?"
"See? It's better like that, isn't it?"
I had to agree, it did.
"Now," he said. "I think it's time for me and Jiho to head home, it's getting late."
I internally frowned, checking my watch. 5PM. Alia and I had been there for 2 hours, and if I didn't start dinner soon, Alia would end up in bed too late, and that couldn't happen. She had another long day of kindergarten tomorrow, and she was cranky she'd be mean.
"Yeah, us too. I'll email you, okay?" I replied. We stood there for a moment, unsure of what the next movement should be, but as I stepped closer to him he hugged me. It caught me by surprise, heart pounding in my ears. Yeonjun lowered his head down to my ear.
"I look forward to seeing you soon, miss Adelaide May."