My Girlfriend Is Very Good To Me [EN]: Chapter 179

Ep. 178

I wanted to hug and cuddle Sa-rang, who had almost run up to me, but I hesitated. Even though it was just a volunteer activity, I couldn’t take the safety of the children lightly.

Only after the traffic light changed and I lowered the flag, signaling it was safe for the children to cross, did I stroke Sa-rang’s hair with one hand.

“Our Sa-rang, you did so well, just like Mom and Dad taught you! You did so, so well!”

“Hehe! What are you doing here, Daddy? Are you going to do this every day now?!”

“I’m doing it occasionally. Were you surprised?”

“I was surprised! I was sad that Daddy wasn’t here in the morning, but now I’m happy!”

“Aww, you were sad that Daddy wasn’t here?”

“Yeah! I brushed my teeth and came out, but Daddy wasn’t there!”

“I’m sorry Daddy didn’t tell you. But you’re happy to see me now, right?”

“Happy!”

I kept glancing around while talking to Sa-rang, who was clinging to my leg. And next to her, Ju-eun was holding Sa-rang’s sleeve, hiding behind her with a shy face, nodding her head.

“Hello, Mister…”

“Hello, Ju-eun. Did you come with Sa-rang?”

“Yes…”

She’s quite energetic when playing in the playground, but she becomes quite timid when I get close. It doesn’t seem to be discomfort, and it might just be that she’s a little shy around male adults.

And it was a little heartbreaking to be called ‘Mister,’ but it would be too much to be called ‘Oppa’ [Korean term used by younger women to address older men they are close to, like an older brother or friend], and calling me ‘Uncle’ to my daughter’s friend was also a bit much.

After that, two more girls who seemed to be Sa-rang’s classmates greeted me one after another.

“Hello!”

“Hello! Are you Sa-rang’s mister?!”

“Yeah. I’m Sa-rang’s dad. Hello everyone!”

“You look like her older brother!”

“Really!”

“Haha. Older brother, you say.”

“He’s my dad!”

What really kind children, aren’t they?

It’s not just because they thought I was her older brother, but all the kids had their own kind of cuteness. Among them, Sa-rang, who seemed to be raising her nose as if to say, ‘He’s my dad~,’ was the cutest in the universe.

I listened to them chattering around me like chicks for a while, and then I felt it was time to send them off. I had to continue managing traffic safety, and the children shouldn’t be too late either.

“Kids, you have to go now, right? The teacher will be waiting.”

“”Yes!!””

Even the way they answered in unison was so cute.

As I was looking at the children with a satisfied smile, Sa-rang made a sad face.

“Are you coming home late today, Daddy?”

“Um… a little? Why?”

“I want to play with you…”

“I’ll come as soon as possible. Until then, can Sa-rang wash her hands well, eat deliciously, do her homework, and wait?”

“Yeah! Then you have to come quickly!”

“Okay. Now, you have to go with your friends.”

“See you later! Bye-bye, Daddy!”

“Bye-bye~”

I waved to Sa-rang as she walked away, watching the children’s backs. They were chattering around Sa-rang, constantly laughing, as if they were excited about the story about me.

Sa-rang kept glancing at me while she was going. Soon after the children disappeared from sight, I focused on traffic safety again.

It seemed to be the most fun activity in recent times. It was nice to talk to Sa-rang, who was surprised, and to see some of Sa-rang’s friends that I didn’t know.

Besides, the volunteer work itself is rewarding.

And in this short moment, I felt once again that Sa-rang was Hee-na’s, our daughter. While talking to me, she kept wanting to take out the smartphone in her pocket.

I think she wanted to take a picture, but she didn’t take it out to keep her word not to use smartphones on the way to and from school unless it was important.

I can’t praise our daughter enough for being so cute and kind.

—

That’s how the morning volunteer activity, which was much more fun than I thought, ended. However, before leaving for work, I talked a little more with the mothers who came out today.

I had allowed plenty of time because I didn’t know exactly how this day would go, and as a parent, it wasn’t bad to have appropriate exchanges or information sharing.

Of course, most of it was just small talk about the children. What they like these days, what celebrities they are interested in.

“My daughter just imitates idols whenever they come out on TV.”

“Oh my, ours too. Who do they like these days?”

“Among those girl groups, Mountain Star…”

“Our child too! They must be popular these days. My child asked me to find it because they wanted to watch it on YouTube.”

But it wasn’t as easy to jump in as I thought. Somehow, I felt a gap between Sa-rang’s interests and those of the other children. Sa-rang isn’t interested in celebrities.

Well, it was a good opportunity to hear about these minor things. I was also curious about what the other children were like on a regular basis.

Then Se-yeon’s mother brought up Sa-rang’s story.

“How is Sa-rang at home?”

“Sa-rang? Um… she just does her homework, and during breaks, she cooks or plays games with me…”

“Really? What about studying?”

“I’m not making her do it separately yet.”

“Oh my, our child is looking into English academies… They say it’s better to start English early.”

“Still, she must like it because her dad plays with her like that~”

“That’s true. My husband only tries to do strange things, so the child doesn’t want to play with him. He’s trying to take the child fishing, can you believe it?”

“Oh…”

Fishing. I want to try it a little too. Would Sa-rang dislike that?

Sa-rang seems like she would happily go anywhere if I just asked her to go with me, but if I go that deep, I don’t know.

After having such a friendly time, I got up from my seat first because of work. I accepted the offer to meet again and talk more out of courtesy.

Actually, I don’t care if I meet, but Hee-na probably won’t like it very much. Maybe she’ll be okay if Hee-na goes with me.

—

A tough day passed, and it was time to go home from work.

Because I came to work late, and the development schedule was brought forward, I left work later than expected.

I hurried home. These late departures were quite common, but today I promised to play with Sa-rang.

However, since it was already close to 10 o’clock, I would only be able to play for 30 minutes to an hour at most.

After arriving at the company and roughly grasping the work I had to do today, I thought it would be difficult to leave on time, so I sent Sa-rang a message around lunchtime to apologize.

[ Sa-rang♡ : Daddy, cheer up! Sa-rang loves you! ]

[ Me : Thank you, Sa-rang! Daddy will cheer up! Daddy loves you too! ]

What came back was Sa-rang’s cheering message. It was so lovely that any dad would be 100% energized.

That’s why I could be sure. I was sure that Sa-rang would greet me with a smile. She wouldn’t say anything regretful about not being able to play with me. But I felt even more sorry for having such a daughter.

Anyway, I arrived home as quickly as possible.

And when I opened the door and went inside.

“Daddy, welcome home…”

“Oh, yeah… I’m home.”

I naturally thought that a pretty smile would greet me, but Sa-rang had a somewhat sulky face. I was momentarily embarrassed, but fortunately, the dissatisfaction didn’t seem to be directed at me.

So I quickly washed my hands and feet and came out, and whispered to Hee-na.

“Hee-na, what happened to Sa-rang? She doesn’t look good.”

“It’s all because of you.”

“Because of me? Why? I was good with Sa-rang today?”

“Anyway, it’s because of you.”

“No, what’s going on.”

I couldn’t help but put a question mark on Hee-na’s answer, who was shouting the reason for everything. Hee-na didn’t seem like she was going to tell me the answer, so I had no choice but to approach Sa-rang.

Sa-rang’s appearance, looking at her smartphone with a sulky face, felt somehow unfamiliar. She was looking at her phone instead of me, even though I had come.

I gently hugged Sa-rang and asked her in a soft voice.

“Our Sa-rang, why are you so angry?”

“I’m not angry.”

“Really? Then did something bad happen?”

“No…”

“Will you tell Daddy why? Daddy really wants to see Sa-rang’s smiling face.”

“Okay…”

Fortunately, Sa-rang seemed like she would answer without hiding anything. I quietly listened.

“My friends saw Daddy this morning…”

“I greeted Daddy too.”

“But Si-yoon said Daddy is so handsome. She said she wished Daddy was her dad.”

Oh, thank you. Is it because I’m getting a youth buff compared to other dads?

I felt very uplifted, but I suppressed the laughter that was about to come out because Sa-rang was still sulky, and asked again.

“Really? She said she wished I was Si-yoon’s dad?”

“Yeah. And she said she was going to play in the playground, and she wanted Daddy to play with her too.”

“Really? Then shall we go to the playground with Daddy on the weekend and play with your friends?”

“…Okay…”

Sa-rang’s reaction wasn’t very enthusiastic at this part. It’s not like Sa-rang, who wouldn’t like to go to the playground with me, even if her friends were there.

“Do you not like going with Daddy?”

“I like playing with Daddy.”

“Then? What does Sa-rang dislike?”

“Si-yoon keeps texting me that she wishes Daddy was her dad! She keeps saying she wants to play with Daddy!”

-Thud! Thud!

Sa-rang expresses her dissatisfaction even to the point of hitting the sofa. Was it that bad?

“Did you hate that?”

“Yeah! Daddy is Sa-rang’s dad! I’m only going to play with you! She keeps saying she wants to play too!”

“I see~”

After listening, it was a serious but not at all serious story. In short, Sa-rang’s possessiveness was burning.

And I could realize that Hee-na’s answer wasn’t very enthusiastic either. Hee-na’s possessiveness was also burning.

People say there are three times in their lives when they are popular, and I felt like all three times had come now.

The first time was when I met Hee-na.

The second time is Sa-rang.

And the third time is now.

Ha.

What am I supposed to do with this overflowing popularity? Sorry for being so handsome!

Thinking about how my friends would beat me up and ridicule me if they heard me, I spoke kindly.

“Daddy is unconditionally Sa-rang’s dad. But you didn’t fight with your friend, did you?”

“I didn’t fight… But Ju-eun, when we were coming home earlier.”

“What about Ju-eun?”

“She got angry for me! She said Daddy is Sa-rang’s dad, and she keeps saying strange things!”

“Oh~ Ju-eun is kind.”

“Yeah! I like Ju-eun so much!”

Sa-rang’s face was smiling again, as if she was happy to hear Ju-eun’s story.

Is this the power of a long-time neighborhood friend, a real friend? I should buy something delicious for Ju-eun later.

Anyway, I should wrap up the story soon.

“But Daddy also wants to play in the playground with Sa-rang, so can I play with Sa-rang’s friend a little bit then? Of course, I’ll play with Sa-rang the most.”

“Okay… But I’m number one!”

“Of course. Sa-rang is unconditionally number one!”

“Then it’s okay!”

“I’m going too.”

And while I was making a playground appointment with Sa-rang, Hee-na suddenly jumped in.

What is it? Well, it doesn’t matter if you go together.

“Didn’t you say you had something to do on the weekend?”

“That’s true, but it’s okay to get some fresh air for a while.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. And you know I’m also tied for first place with Sa-rang, right?”

“Haha… I know, of course.”

Of course, I know.

But you’re not going to give Si-yoon a knuckle sandwich when you go, are you?