Yu-rin had been excited ever since her mother mentioned a boy her age was coming over.
She had playmates at daycare, but it had been a while since she had met someone new.
And when she finally saw him—
A strikingly beautiful boy with sharp yet delicate features, and a small beauty mark under his right eye.
'Wow... he's really pretty. Will he want to be my friend?'
Yu-rin immediately took a liking to him.
After exchanging pleasantries, the families moved to the backyard, where a barbecue had been set up.
As they ate, Seon-ah overheard the conversation between his mother and Park Yu-ra.
Questions about work, discussions about upcoming promotions, reassurances about support from HR—
It was clear that Park Yu-ra was looking out for Min-ah.
'It's obvious she wants Mom in her faction. Corporate politics, huh?'
His thoughts were interrupted by a tug on his sleeve.
"Seon-ah? Seon-ah, answer me~!"
Yu-rin was shaking his arm, trying to get his attention.
"Huh? Sorry, I was thinking about something. Can you repeat that?"
"You don't have to be so formal! We're the same age, so talk casually. Let's go to my room and play!"
Since continuing to listen to the adults wouldn't be very fun, Seon-ah agreed.
"Okay, let's go."
Yu-rin eagerly led him upstairs.
Yu-rin enthusiastically showed Seon-ah her toys, trying to get him interested.
But mentally, he was a grown man. Playing with children's toys felt... wrong.
So instead, he asked her questions about her daycare, her favorite teachers, her friends—anything to keep the conversation going.
After chatting for a while, Yu-rin suddenly scooted closer.
"I like you, Seon-ah. Do you like me?"
Thinking she meant it in a friendly way, he nodded.
"Of course."
"Then let's do what Mommy and Daddy do!"
"Huh? What do they do?"
Before he could react, Yu-rin tackled him onto his back and pressed her lips to his.
Chu!Chuu!Chuuuu!
Her tiny lips clung onto his, sucking forcefully.
'W-what the hell?!'
As Seon-ah flailed helplessly, the door suddenly burst open.
"PARK YU-RIN! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"
Standing at the doorway, eyes wide with shock, was Park Yu-ra.
+
Yurin flinched and stepped away from Seon-ah at the sound of her mother Yura's loud voice.
"Park Yurin, what do you think you're doing? Is it okay to torment a friend who said no?"
Yurin lowered her head, her expression a mix of guilt and fear of being scolded, knowing she had done something wrong.
"I'm sorry, Mother. I won't do it again."
"I heard from the daycare director last time," Yura said. "Your friends aren't your toys. It seems like the scolding you got before wasn't enough, huh?"
Her tone suggested this wasn't the first time something like this had happened.
In truth, it wasn't the first time Yurin had treated her daycare friends like playthings. As an only child, she rarely had the chance to interact with kids her age. Living in a standalone house with no neighbors nearby, she didn't even have playmates in the vicinity. If there had been a nearby house with a child her age, she might have learned how to treat friends properly.
Yura had seen Yurin's father discipline her at home, but his soft, typically masculine voice didn't carry the authority needed to get through to the stubborn Yurin. Considering a young child's comprehension, it was clear that words alone weren't enough—she needed real interaction with peers. That's why they started sending her to daycare. However, even there, her willful behavior couldn't be easily curbed by the teachers.
Yura, Yurin's mother, held a socially prominent position—so much so that she was often featured in the media. This made the daycare teachers hesitant to discipline Yurin, fearing repercussions. If they mishandled even the smallest issue and it got back to Yura, her anger could spell trouble for them, powerless as they were in comparison. As a result, they avoided directly reprimanding Yurin, opting instead to text or call her parents to report incidents and subtly ask them to handle the discipline.
Yura, blaming her busy schedule for neglecting Yurin's upbringing, felt a heavy sense of responsibility for the situation. "Maybe I should've raised her with a firm hand," she thought. Though corporal punishment wasn't common nowadays, Yura had grown up in an era where it was the norm. She believed girls, unlike boys, needed to be raised tough to survive the harsh realities of society. Determined not to emulate her own mother, Yura had vowed never to use physical discipline—until witnessing this incident forced her to reconsider.
She went to the room, picked up an object suitable for punishment, and held it in her hand. Facing the prospect of being spanked for the first time, Yurin burst into tears, rubbing her hands together as she pleaded, "Mother, I'm sorry! I won't do it again, please, please!"
Just then, a voice cut through the tense atmosphere.
"Um… Executive Director? Is it okay if I call you that, like Mother does?" It was Seon-ah.
"You can call me Auntie," Yura replied gently, her expression softening with apology and an intent to reassure Seon-ah.
"Okay, Auntie. It's not what you think," Seon-ah said calmly, a stark contrast to the tearful girl who had been forcibly kissed by Yurin moments earlier.
"Seon-ah, I'm so sorry this happened to you," Yura said. "I've failed to raise my child properly. But this is a parent's duty to educate their child. You might not understand at your age, but if I let this slide, Yurin will keep doing bad things—not just to you, but to other friends too. That's why I need to correct it now. Please try to understand."
Normally, Yura's personality would have led her to send Seon-ah out of the room and discipline Yurin privately. But she also thought that if Seon-ah told her parents about this and mentioned how harshly Yurin was scolded, Mina and Hyun-tae might not react too strongly.
"We were just playing house and got too into it—it was acting," Seon-ah explained. "Look, I'm fine. We were just pretending, like in a drama."
Yurin looked at Seon-ah in surprise, clearly not expecting her to defend her after what she'd done.
Yura considered this. While Yurin had a history of bothering friends at daycare, there had never been anything sexual about it. It was possible this really was just play. Though her resolve to use physical punishment wavered, she still felt the need to educate both children.
"Girls shouldn't suddenly kiss boys like that—it's not okay," Yura said. "And Seon-ah, even if you allowed it, it's not something you should do either. You're too young to understand now, but it's something you should only do with someone you like when you're older."
After delivering a slightly old-fashioned lecture, Yura took the two kids to the backyard garden. Though she believed Seon-ah, she didn't trust leaving them alone in the room again, unsure what might happen.
Originally, Yura had planned to spend the evening bonding with Mina's family, but the neglected family issues weighing on her mind changed her plans. Abruptly ending the gathering might cause misunderstandings, so she claimed a sudden work commitment, apologized for keeping Mina's family too long, and sent them off with gift sets, expressing regret for not spending the evening together.
Mina, relieved to escape the awkward situation, returned home with her family.