This is odd.

"Did she leave?" I ask him, and he comes back with the leash. "I told her to get out of the house, and she did," he kneels down in front of Choco to put it around his neck, and for some reason, I do not talk about it more. I do not care. I have dealt with enough today because of her, and I will not let her ruin more of it.

"Here you are, my baby boy," he smiles at how cute he looks and puts his shoes on too, but since he put a hoodie on, he does not take a jacket either, so we both go out, and he locks the door behind us.

"I love your fragrance, it smells so good," he mentions what I would not have expected him to notice, so I thank him, not knowing what to say more. "What movie are you going to watch by the way?" he keeps an eye on Choco who is enjoying the walk with us. "Seobok with the hottest actor ever in the world, Gong Yoo."

Without explaining why, he stops walking, so I peek at him but get a judging look from him. "How many old guys are you gonna simp over?"

"I'm joking! I just know he's an amazing actor, so I made sure I would not waste money on a bad movie," I tell him the truth so that he does not believe I am into many different men, and he walks again. "Are you going there for the movie though?"

I smile at this question, feeling like he knows exactly what I am hoping for by going there. "I don't know...maybe not."

"Hm, I'm not surprised, but I'm maybe going to disappoint you," he ruffles his fluffy hair to comb it back and put his hood on. "He's not going to put his hand on your thigh because you're not close enough unless you become a flirty little brat and do the trick with the popcorn bucket."

I chuckle at the thought of it. "I'll never do that, I'm too much of a coward, and I'm pretty sure this would make him feel so uncomfortable that I'd leave and make sure I get lost so that you never find me again."

"First of all, he wouldn't feel uncomfortable at all. Second of all, you better not ever leave me, you come back no matter what," he does not agree with my joke when I did not mean it, and I bring my eyes up to him. "I know. Don't worry. I'll always be here to hug you."

"Good, I'm relieved," his lips curve up to make him look cute, and he sets his blue eyes on me. "How do you know he wouldn't feel uncomfortable though?" I go back to this sentence I want him to elaborate. "If it's with you, he'll find it cute and won't mind it."

"But how can you be so sure?" I doubt this statement since Mister Jeon has never shown any signs of reciprocity at all, even if, in all honesty, I have never tried to make a move, but I just fear that he might feel uncomfortable and not appreciate it. "He's my dad. I know him, and he told me some stuff, so I know."

That is not the answer I am waiting for.

"And...what stuff did he tell you?" I do not hold back from trying to know since I am comfortable enough with him to let my curiosity take the best of me. "Well, that is a secret," a cocky smile appears on his face, and I grumble. "Come on! Don't tell me that if you cannot give me the details. I wanna know now."

"I can't tell you, don't start begging. I won't give in to you," he believes this will be enough to resist me. "Joonha. I'm gonna be the most annoying version of me for the rest of the walk up there if you don't tell me what stuff it is. So tell me now, be a good boy, please."

He broadly smiles as soon as he hears me say that. "Don't fucking call me that anymore. You wanna be my stepmom so don't say that!" he overreacts as if he was flustered by this nickname, and I giggle but continue. "And? I can call you a good boy even if I'm your stepmom. Don't you call Choco your baby boy when you called me baby girl too?"

"Hey— Don't drag my innocent baby into this, okay? Otherwise, I kidnap you and make sure you never go on that date with my dad," he rudely points his finger at me, but I refuse to submit. "It's not a date, got it? And you're the one who started, but whatever—"

"It is a date, stop acting like it's not. You don't invite a man, who you have a big fat crush on, to the movie theater and then hope for me to believe this is not a date. I'm not dumb," he states facts I cannot even deny, and since I cannot defend my point, I glance away. "Whatever. What was that stuff about?"

"You won't hear it from me," he laughs and shakes his head, not surrendering. "Please...!" I grab his arm and wrap mine around it. "Tell me. I'll keep quiet about it."

"Stop acting cute just to get what you want, this will not work, you brat," he looks at me but fights to not let it out, so I sigh. "You're mean."

"The only thing I can tell you is that I asked him some questions, and he's pretty attached to you, that's all I'll say," he gives me more than I expected, and my heart beats faster at the sound of those words. "Does that mean there's better than that?"

"Keep quiet, I said I won't tell you more than that," he refuses to speak further about it, but since I got pretty happy with this only, I quit annoying him. "Alright. I won't."

"Thanks, by the way," he moves the leash to bring Choco in front of us. "I didn't mean it when I said 'don't call me that anymore', you can still call me a good boy. I love praise."

I chuckle but do not feel surprised at all. He is cute.

5 minutes later...

I enter the car after Joonha and his dad both talked, and I put my seat belt on but look up at Joonha. I wave at him since we are about to leave, and he does it in return but lifts one of Choco's paws to act like he is waving at me too. He can be such a baby sometimes.

I smile, and Mister Jeon honks before driving away. This feels so much more nerve-wracking to be with him right now, we are going towards a place I invited him to, he must know what this means, yet he has not said anything about it. I wonder what he thinks of this.

"Are you doing alright?" he takes me out of my daydream, and I turn my head towards him, breathing his masculine cologne in but already loving the safety he brings me with his presence only. "I am. And you? How was it with your students?"

"I'm doing good. It was fine, one of them had a hard time understanding, but he eventually got it after a few exercises, so I'm glad and satisfied with the work I've done today," he expresses relief and smiles, and I cannot look away anymore, my eyes are attracted to him like magnets. "I'm happy to hear it. Are you not tired though? Because I can just cancel it, and they'll refund me."

"No, I want to go and spend some time with you. Do not cancel it," he slides his hand over the steering wheel to make a sharp turn, and the butterflies already emerge in my stomach. I am so excited but nervous. I wonder how this will go once we are watching the movie.

•••

6 pm.

< I'm watching you both from a corner of the room so don't even try to flirt ]

[ we're not in the room yet-_- >

I smile at this dummy, sitting in front of the large screen and waiting for Mister Jeon to come back from the restroom after he bought all the food and made me pick the seats.

< fuck...I tried ]

[ jk, I'm in the room but your dad's in the restroom >

< oh I know what that means ]

[ what does that mean? >

< he's leaving ]

[ stop trying to break my heart >

< I'm joking, you know he'd never do that<3 ]

[ :( >

< I'm serious. Just enjoy your time with him and don't overthink ]

[ I will, thank you<3 >

< :> ]

The sound of Mister Jeon sitting down next to me makes me put my phone down, and I look up at him. He is still wearing his black suit and tie, with a vest that always makes a man look much hotter to me.

"Their hand soap smell so good here, I want the same at home," he takes his suit jacket off. "Really?" I chuckle. I would not have expected him to say this. "Yes, look," he brings his hand up to me, the one on which my ring still is, so I lean over to smell what he is talking about but agree as soon as the soft honey scent fills my nose. "You're right, this smells so good."

"I told you," he smiles and holds his jacket to look for a way to put it down. "I should have left it in my car," he does not feel comfortable about stucking it behind him, making me feel like he is very attentive to his appearance and cleanness. "Do you want me to keep it for you?" I propose to do, and he leans back without letting go of his precious clothing. "Are you sure it won't bother you?"

"No, I'm a bit cold anyway, so I won't mind," I do not reject him, and he hands me his jacket. "Here then, put it on if you're cold."

I grab it and slide my arms in the sleeves, smelling his cologne that I love more than any other one. "I love your fragrance more than the soap," I do not keep quiet about it but see him chuckle. "I thought exactly the same about your fragrance but didn't say anything because I thought you found it weird," he rolls the sleeves of his black shirt up to reveal his tough tattooed arms. "I mean, I'm very sensitive to smells, so that's why I thought that."

"No, I didn't find it weird at all. I'm sensitive to smells too so whenever I smell something good, it affects me a lot, and I want every one to smell it too," I reassure him about his worries but do not forget the compliment he slipped. "I'm relieved then," he says, but the lights turn off in the whole room, meaning the movie is about to start. "Ah, let's go," he picks up the bucket of popcorn but moves it towards me, so I take it and place it over my lap.

•••

8:20 pm.

The movie now over, everyone leaves the room to go outside, and I lead the way since Mister Jeon is following. Once we are out, I turn my head to check where he is but feel his tall body touch the back of mine, and his hand cups my waist. "I can't remember where you parked the car."

"Do you already want to go home?" he surprises me, my chest feeling warm and fizzy-like as my heart sped up but does not stop pounding because of his touch on me. "I thought you wanted to go home and sleep."

"I don't, I was planning on shopping with you a little, but we can go home if you want," he has no idea how happy this makes me, and I do not think twice before answering. "No. I want to go shopping with you as well," I smile, and he returns the same expression and moves forth to go towards the mall that should close in one hour, but I suddenly remember something. "Oh, wait. Your jacket," I take it off, but he lays his hand over my back to stop me. "No, keep it on. No need to give it back to me."

"Aren't you cold?" I do not insist to not be annoying, and he shakes his head but rubs my back. "I'm not. It will keep you warm."

"Okay then," I put it back properly since I love wearing it, and he glides his fingers up to my neck to hold it while walking up to the mall. It always seems so possessive and controlling when a man does that, but since it is him, I love it. I love when he grabs me, and even if I was telling otherwise, my body would make me understand I am denying the truth.

It makes me feel so much stuff inside, this is like if butterflies were flying through my stomach and chest, which is pretty disgusting to think about, but I have no other explanations to picture it. He has yaoi hands, literally, and they are very powerful.

"Is there something you want to buy?" I ask him once we enter the place, and he caresses the side of my throat with his fingers but drifts his hand away from me, unfortunately. "Yes. I could look for something since I'm here. I never have time to shop if it's not to buy food."

"Oh, let's enjoy it then," I take this as the best opportunity I will probably not have any time soon.

20 minutes later...

"Come here, sweetheart," he calls me as I was looking at a pretty summer dress that could be added to my collection at home, and I turn around to know where he is but see he is standing in front of a mirror, so I walk up to him but wonder what he is going to do. "I'm here."

"Wait," he positions me right before him to face the tall mirror, so I do not move, but he lifts something up that he has been holding in his hand.

Fluffy cat ears.

He puts them on my head, the small bells attached to it ringing at every little move he makes. "Aw, I knew you would look adorable with them," he fixes my hair in one of the most delicate manners, and I feel my body temperature rise. "I look dumb, what do you mean...?"

"No, you don't," he contradicts me when I cannot believe the opposite. "Don't say such a thing. You're so cute," he skims my cheek with his thumb and looks at my reflection, and his fingers slide over my warm skin to reach out for my chin and touch the area underneath. "Shake your head a little."

I do it to make the bells ring but giggle out of embarrassment, and he laughs as well but holds my jawline, and he drops a kiss on my cheekbone, heating my body up even more. "You're so cute."

"Hm," I do not know how to react to it, feeling flustered and hot. "I'm not bothering you anymore," he notices how shy he made me but mistakes it for some annoyance, so I put my hands over his larger ones to not let him take the cat ears off. "You're not bothering, I love them too and can wear them for you."

He stares at me to make eye contact through the mirror, and he combs my hair back for one side to be behind my shoulder. "So if I buy them, you'll wear them for me?"

"Well, if you find me cute with them, I will," I smile, but he shakes his head. "I find you cute without them, no need to wear that for me to think so, but it adds something...that I love."

To not have to see myself anymore, I turn around and look up at him. "What if I run out with them on? There's no tag."

"Does that mean you're trying to steal?" he lowers his voice but plays along. "It's very discreet, so why not?"

"Of course, it's so discreet. I mean, everyone has cat ears on, you see that everywhere," he sarcastically answers, and I laugh but walk back to the dress. "I'm going to look at something, so wait for me here or text me if you want to know where I am, okay?"

"Are you leaving the store?" I stand on my spot. "No, no. I'm staying here, but I saw something I'd love to take a closer look at."

"Oh, alright. I'll wait here then," I do not follow since he seems to want to be alone to look at it, and he smiles before stepping away. I hope he has not seen anyone, but I need to stop overthinking.

I should check the texts that Joonha sent me by the way.

< how is it going? ]

< I hope it went well:> ]

[ it did go well, we're shopping right now >

< "well"? That's all? ]

[ yes, what do you want me to say? We watched the movie and it was good >

< you didn't flirt? °-° ]

[ Why would I flirt with a man I do not date? >

< then how the fuck do you date a man?-_- ]

[ I don't flirt, I'm myself and that's all >

< sure, you don't flirt-_- ]

[ yes sure:< >

[ btw, your dad said I looked cute with cat ears:3 >

< cat ears? Why did you try that on with him around? ]

[ he's the one who found them and put them on me >

< oh I see c: ]

[ what do you see lmao? >

< I see, that's all. I didn't expect my dad to do that and want to see you with cat ears on, thats a side of him I didn't know about but would probably not want to know about...:) ]

[ lmaoo wtf does that mean? It's just cat ears >

< yeah just cat ears. Then you put the collar around the throat, the leash, some chains and I will not go any further bcs this is about my dad ]

[ your mind is the problem-_- >

< I fucking know and I hate it:) ]

< you'd look great with cat ears and a leash though, if it was me I'd make you meow for me and beg for some pets:> ]

[ shut up! I'm leaving >

< :c ]

I smile at how adorable he became after being a nasty pervert, and I look up from my screen to see where Mister Jeon is.

What if Joonha is not just dirty-minded but right about this cat ears thing?

No matter what this means, whether this is innocent or not, I would not mind getting on my knees and meowing for him. I would totally throw my pride away for this man. This is just out of love. Love and devotion, maybe more.

Not seeing him anywhere, I leave my spot and send him a text to ask where he went, and I walk around the store. I am very curious to know what he is doing.

< I am coming back ]

[ wait, I left the spot. I'm at the baby section >

< Didn't I tell you to stay there and wait for me? I'm coming, so don't move ]

[ I'm sorry but I wanted to be with you >

< Do not play with my emotions to be forgiven so easily, it won't work ]

It seems to work all the time when my stepmother manipulates him though, but maybe her model body and face are what works on him.

[ hm:c >

Not receiving any more replies, I look around me but see him come back with a bag. I smile as soon as he sets his eyes on me, and he does it too. "You're a bad girl, you know that? I told you not to move."

"I didn't move, I stayed here," I try hard to not let my body react to this 'bad girl' he just said in an attractive voice, and he scoffs. "Sure. You'll get a kiss for that because you're cute," he leans in to press his soft and warm lips on my forehead and holds the back of my head. "What have you bought?"

"Some stuff for Joonha, he's been talking about buying this specific cologne and two new rings that he kept on looking at when we came here some weeks ago," he tells me, and I feel soft at how generous he is. That is so considerate of him. "What about for yourself?"

"I don't want any other rings, I have this pretty one," he draws attention to the one I gave him and that I never saw him take off, and I uncontrollably express way too much delight. "And I got you the cat ears, by the way, so you can take those off."

"You did?" I gape with joy, and he grins. "I did. I love how you look with them."

"I'm taking them off then, I'll just want to go and buy something, and we can leave," I get the accessory off of me and put them back where they are while he is following me, and I make my way to the man section. I stop right in front of the bracelets, pick a chain one that I know would look incredibly hot on his big, tattooed arm, and I gaze up at him. "Lift your arm up," I try to make him do as I want, but he slides his free hand into his pocket. "No, you won't waste money on me, sweetheart."

"Lift your arm up..." I repeat, not listening to this, and I stare at him. "Please."

He chuckles and glances away to give in to me, and he does as told, so I smile with satisfaction and put the bracelet around his arm. The silver lining looks so amazing on his tanned skin. I touch his forearm to hold it up and look down at it, and I peek up at him to see how he feels about this. "What do you think? It looks good, right?"

He does not agree.

"Are you lying just so that I don't buy it?" I suspect him to do, and the curve in the corner of his lips tells me that I am right. "That is mean to lie to me, Mister Jeon, but I will buy it no matter what," I take it off of him and check for another one for Joonha. "You really don't have to."

"But I want to," I pick a similar one but which is black for Joonha since he will love this more, and I look up at him. "You're done here, right?"

He stretches his hand out to me. "Give them to me."

"Why?" I do not do it, feeling like he is going to pay for me which means this will not be a gift anymore. "Because," he answers like his son would, and I laugh but walk towards the checkout. I hear him call my name, but I do not stop, I get ready to pay with my phone, and since no one is before me, I already pay for my items.

After a few seconds, I go away with my own bag, and I reach Mister Jeon, who was waiting for me at the entrance. "Here," I beam at him, staring at each other as I can tell that he is desperately attempting to not smile back at me. "You love being a bad girl tonight, don't you?"

"That's not true, I wanted to buy you something," I take his bracelet out and remove the tag from it, and I open it. "But still. I told you not to do it, no matter how happy it makes me. I don't like to know that you're wasting your money on me."

"It's not wasting," I touch the inner part of his forearm to lift it up and put the bracelet around his wrist. "It's using it in a very smart way, and for a very good reason," I slide my fingers over his warm and veiny skin but see some goosebumps cover it. "You're not going to be mad at me for fifteen dollars, right?"

"I'll never be mad at you. You're making me feel spoiled. Fifteen dollars for a single bracelet is expensive to me, but thank you, I love it a lot," he does not complain anymore but finally accepts this gift, so I make a move and hold his hand. "Let's go eat something, you haven't eaten dinner."

"I'm paying the bill then," he already insists on doing so, but since I know he will not be okay with the opposite, I nod and give him what he wants. "Good, I like this better," he smiles and slides his fingers between mine.