The black hair man flickered his eyes towards the person who walking along next to him, her pair of eyes were wandering around to see the surrounding of the place. His lip curved into a small smile, could not wait to see her reaction later when they reached somewhere where he intended to bring and show to her. Not just her but also, to their five years old daughter who seem could not contain her excitement and eagerness as she was seeing the new place where he would be working here after this.

Irene let out a gasp once the three of them arrived at the building where she saw before; the big stadium, the one that how coincidence she wished to see the place, to see by herself the interior of the big building.

“What are we doing here?”

Before Mino could answer, someone’s voice not far away cut their moment, walking closer as he approached closer towards where Mino, Irene and Yumi were – along with a woman following from behind whom Irene felt familiar with by looking at her face at that time.

“Mino!” the man who probably in his mid-thirties or early forties from Irene’s assumption, extended his hand to give a hand shake with Mino which the beastly figure man welcomed warmly. “I was informed by Mr. Kyle that you’ll be joining me also along my visit today. Nice meeting you anyway, Mr. Lee.”

Mr. Lee let out a laugh, nodding his head as he spoke then. “It’s nice meeting with you too, Mino. Well, I just steal some of my time to greet and see you. I’ve assumed that you’re already spoke to Mr. Kyle and settle everything?” Mino nodded his head a little, smiling as he talked towards the man that he’s been seeing for the last few weeks regarding about his decision to become a coach here at this association academy.

“Anyway, I want to introduce you to my family. Meet my dearest wife, Bae Joohyun and also my sweetheart, Song Yumi.” Again, Mino introduced both, Irene and Yumi towards Mr. Lee as the older man smiled at them warmly like a father figure, waving his hand at Yumi friendly. “My pleasure meets with you, Mrs. Song. And also, this cute, little girl, Yumi. How old are you, sweety?” asked him towards Yumi who was staring at her under her big, round shaped eyes.

Yumi showed her five fingers towards Mr. Lee before opened to speak. “I’m five years old, uncle. Are you daddy’s friend?” the little girl asked then. Mr. Lee chuckled before nodding his head, feeling pleased to see the cute and cheerful behavior of Yumi. “Yes, dear. I’m one of your daddy’s friends. I’m happy to see such a bubbly little girl like you.” Yumi chuckled as she was feeling shy, hiding herself behind Irene then.

“Ah, before I forget. Mrs. Song, this is Yewon. She also works here in this association. She’s the one who deal with Mino before regarding his position as a coach here. A profesional one, I must say. We are so glad and happy that your husband agrees to sign a contract with us. It such an honor for our association academy to have someone talented, excellent and such a profesional player like Mino here.”

Mino could not help but to feel embarrass with the compliments showered to him by Mr. Lee. Ever since the first meeting with the man who he already thought as someone respectful and responsible, reminding him about his coach before in the team – Mr. Lee always say nice things about him and praise him nonstop, could not believe that he able to meet someone young like him who have achieved so many things and awards for his skills in the ice rink.

For Mino, Mr. Lee is kind of his older fan who admire him as an ice hockey player. At first, he felt a bit awkward and so down to earth whenever Mr. Lee look upon him as if he just saves a country from a big war. Still, Mino felt thankful to get know such a nice and warm person like Mr. Lee. The beastly figure did feel doubt about his decision before to change his path from ice hockey player to being a coach but thanks to the support and advice from people around him including Mr. Lee, he felt like he’s making a right choice now.

The golden hair woman felt surprised to see the woman that seem very familiar in her eyes, her lip then slowly crept into a small, almost like forcing a smile towards Yewon then. “Nice to meet you, Yewon. Please, call me Irene.” Irene tried to be warm towards the woman who she could not help but to feel jealous as she once the reason why her furious feeling towards Mino, adding up the mess into their problematic situation before.

Yewon pressed her lip together, feeling ashamed with the long stare given by the golden hair woman standing in front of her. Looking at Irene now, she could not deny how beautiful a person could be. Of course, sometimes, she got the praise from people around her about how pretty she is but compared to the woman in front of her – even she as a woman felt threatened with the goddess beauty that she has and not to mention, how lucky Mino is to have her as his wife.

“It’s my pleasure also to meet with you, Mrs. Song. I mean, Irene!” she quickly corrected, bowing her head a bit for her small mistake just now. Her pair of eyes fall towards the small girl who was standing behind Irene, hiding her face as she looked both shy and not very comfortable to meet with new people. Yumi, the little girl from what Yewon heard her name before from Mino’s introduction; she looked almost similar to her mother. Except for the pair of eyes which might be coming from Mino. What a perfect small family they are, thought Yewon back in her mind.

It’s been a while probably for Irene since the last time she saw Mino playing in the ice rink. If she remembered, maybe it was few months ago? Mino totally giving her too many surprises for today as he told her before that he will be playing again and at the same time, having a small match with a group which he started to train now.

From what Irene known, Mino is required to teach and train two groups that consist of adolescence. Even though, Mino was also offered to train young kids that still in primary school, the man politely declined the offer, wanting to focus for the two groups first before challenging himself to the next level of coaching.

Irene could not help but to smile looking at Yumi who seem to be in her active mode again, yelling in excitement as she could not help but to feel hype up to see Mino’s playing ice hockey again today. Before, Irene used to bring along Yumi when Mino had a game when he was player and thankfully, their daughter did not feel bored at all watching the game. At least, Yumi showed some interest towards the game which have been Mino’s passionate thing since long time ago.

She was looking at her phone while waiting for the small match to start when she felt someone sat on the same bench she did, not too far or close from here. Irene took a quick glance at her side, did not surprise at all to see it was Yewon the one who sat near to her, probably going to watch Mino’s playing later.

“I want to apologize to you for my behavior the other day.” Irene heard Yewon murmured in low voice, looking at her direction as the woman spoke. “I know that I shouldn’t act like that before. It was rude and a very childish act of me to treat you like that. I’m sorry for that.” Yewon said with sincerity, giving a smile towards Irene.

“I should have known that there’s nothing can change Mr. Song’s love towards you. Even when I know the fact that he’s happily married and have a very cute daughter. That’s why, I really do hope that you will forgive me for my bad act that day before at the café. I felt like I have done something towards you and Mr. Song.” Irene did not say anything though, quietly listening to every word came out from Yewon’s mouth.

Thank God, Yumi wasn’t here near her to hear all about this. For Irene, it would be the best if her daughter knows nothing about problem that Mino and her had before. She did not want Yumi to get involve with the problem that Mino and her have and the last thing that both of them want is that their daughter gets affect by whatever situation that they face.

The golden hair woman turned to look at Yewon before she spoke then. “I appreciate that you apologize to me. That’s very nice of you to do that to me.” She said with a small smile pasted on her lip. “To be honest, I didn’t like you much when we first met. Plus, I don’t think our first meeting went very well, right? And I’m sure you can know the reason why. What I want to say is that, I do forgive you for your mistake. Still, I hope you know your limits after this. I mean – if I ask you, will you like if there’s a woman who knows that your husband is legally married and happy with his marriage and family but still, that woman feels like she has the chance to make a move on the husband? Of course, you’re not that dumb enough to let that happen, right?”

Yewon was a bit taken aback with the straightforward words from Irene, looking at the golden hair woman in startle. “Forgive me if I’m being a bit harsh to you but if you know who I am from the past, I believe you don’t want to mess up with me.” Irene added more, smiling almost like wicked, meaningful smile towards Yewon.

Before the two women could get deeper into their conversation, the sound of whistle and people started to echo in the almost empty stadium. There wasn’t people inside the building though, except the players and also the audience which were Irene, Yumi and Yewon that sitting outside the rink, watching the little match that would take place within few minutes possibly.

“Daddy!” Irene could not help but to let out a small laugh looking at Yumi who was waving hard at Mino who easily skated across the ice rink to where Yumi was before standing at the edge of the ice rink, flashing his smile at their daughter before making a high-five in the air which earned a cute giggle from Yumi. Mino then looked up at Irene’s direction; smiling that signature, killer smile which Irene always feel as if that one smile only appeared specially for her.

For Irene, she used to see Mino gave that quick, small smile or a grin whenever he’s happy or trying to be polite and sometimes when he greeted someone. But, that particular smile that he shot towards her just now, Irene knew right away that smile could only be there for her. The one that never fail to make her heart beating in that slow motion, feeling the love radiated from him and his smile.

She returned him back with a sweet smile, mouthing a ‘fighting’ towards him before seeing him skated back across the ice rink, approaching to where he was supposed to be earlier. Although it’s not an official match, just one friendly, warm up trial that Mino already set up before coming here, Irene could not help but to feel the anticipation to see the game and also Mino’s playing along with others.

Don’t tell me that he’s going to...

Irene’s forehead creased, trying to figure out the game that seem a bit unusual that she used to see. This is not the same kind of game, a normal one that Irene always see whenever she had some time to go and watch Mino’s playing before. The golden hair woman kept on watching, still wondering in her mind what would happen next and when the game started to play, she slowly let out a small gasp, her pair of eyes widen slowly as the realization suddenly hit her.

Wait a minute! Is he going to play all alone by himself, competing with those group of boys?! Irene thought shockingly towards herself, could not believe what she was watching at the moment. No way! Irene could not help but to think the reason why Mino was doing this, playing by himself in the game, trying to compete with a group of teenage boys who Irene assumed probably in high school based on their young faces.

The game just started but the tension could be felt in the air and Irene could not help but to bite her lip, watching Mino almost all the time, pouting sometimes whenever Mino tried to score. Deep inside, the golden hair woman could not help but to feel amaze to see how excellent and skillfully Mino’s playing despite the fact that he just all alone inside the ice rink, having a very intense match with the group of boys. Perhaps, those boys probably the one under his training and this small match that Mino held was just to give his trainees under him a bit warm up.

Who knows, right?

“Go daddy! You can do it! You are my hero!” Yumi screamed loudly, cheering on Mino as she jumped up and down excitedly which earned a chuckle from both, Mino and Irene.

Before the game started, Mino already informed the boys that he’s been training lately to just play like they usually do and never even back up from competing with him. Even though he’s their current coach and trainer now, Mino did not want the boys to feel scare to go hard against him. Plus, the reason why he held this small match was to see the skills from the boys – it will be much easier for him to know the weakness and strength of each player where he could take a note for the next meeting with them.

Mino skated through the two players who tried to block him, easily got through the defense and before they could catch upon him, he saw the opportunity and before they could stop him, Mino took his chance and tried to shoot a score.

“YAY! Daddy scored a goal! Mommy, do you see that?! Daddy just scores a goal! Yes, daddy! I love you, daddy. You are the best!” Yumi could not hide her excitement, clapping her hand loudly as she jumped up and down before running towards where Irene was, holding her mother’s hand then.

“Mommy, do you see that?” Irene laughed then, patting her five years old daughter’s head. “Of course, sweetheart. Isn’t daddy great?” Irene asked which earned a quick nod from Yumi, flashing her teeth towards Irene then. Yumi then took a seat next to Irene, probably feeling tired from standing too long at the edge of the rink before, focusing her attention back towards the game just like Irene as the two of them lost their time watching the game with interest.

Excusing himself and bid his goodbye, Mino then walked himself out along the corridor before reached back towards where the interior of the stadium, wondering his eyes around to search for someone. His lip crept a smile as he saw the person he’s looking for, still at the same spot from before.

Irene gently tapped Yumi’s body, did not want to make any sound as she looked at her daughter sleeping due to exhaustion, too immersed in her sleeping as she did not feel disturb at all although Yumi fall asleep almost at the end of the game. The golden hair woman felt a bit weird when she did not hear any cheer or sound by her side since Yumi seemed so excited and hyped up cheering for Mino before. She wanted to laugh when seeing Yumi who already looked sleepy and half asleep, her eyelids were half opened and closed at that time.

“Did I make you wait long?” Mino asked after giving a quick kiss on Irene’s lip, darting his eyes to fell at his daughter who was sleeping soundly with her head placed on Irene’s lap.

The golden hair woman shook her head before opened to speak then. “Not really. Are you done?” she asked him back, seeing Mino nodded a little as an answer for her question. “Come on, let’s go home. Can you drive? I’m a bit worn out.” Irene smiled before nodding her head then. She watched Mino carefully scooped Yumi in his arms, carrying their daughter as the two of them walked out from the stadium then, heading back to Mino’s parent home. Besides, tomorrow evening they will head back to their home since it’s been more than a week they left their house.

“That was a great game before. And intense one too.” Irene murmured as she was driving along the highway, glancing at Mino who was sitting at the passenger seat beside her.

A warm smile pasted on Mino’s lip when he heard the words came out from Irene’s mouth. Indeed, he could not deny that the match held before was one intense and a bit tricky for him. Although he did win in the game with only a score different from the teenage boy team, Mino could not be any happier that he could spend some time with his family and at the same time, probably playing as an ice hockey player for the last time.

Maybe he would be playing again but he did not know if that time will be arrived. From now on, he’s not a player anymore and even though he still in the field that he felt passionate about, it was a different career from what he used to do before. Playing and coaching are totally a different thing and that’s why, Mino hoped that he could do his best in coaching and training just like he did when it comes to play ice hockey.

“I didn’t know that you’re planning to have a match by yourself against them. That’s a bit shocking though.” Irene added more, pursing her lip. “At first, I thought I’m going to play just like a normal game but since this is the last time I’m playing, why not make something different to remember? Plus, it’s not about the winning that I care or think about. It just a memory that I want to create and have in my mind. It’s not going to be the same after this because I’m not be playing anymore.” Mino explained, hinting a small smile towards Irene then.

“Are you not going to play anymore even you are a coach? You still can play, right?” Irene asked out of curiosity. “That depends, Joohyun. It’s not like I’m giving up on playing. I’m still interest in doing that but maybe after this, just a hobby or something that I do during my leisure. Maybe I could ask Kai to play or drop a visit on my team. For now, I need to focus myself to coach and train the groups that assign under me. They are my responsibilities now.”

Irene made an ‘O’ form on her thin lip, nodding her head in understatement. “Well, at least now, being a coach, I can manage my time accordingly since I’m the one who in charge of scheduling and everything. I’m grateful for that though. For giving the opportunity to spend more time with the people I love and at the same time, I still could continue the passion that I have in my life; only that in a different way.” Mino added more.

“Baby?”

“Hmm?” Irene hummed, not looking at Mino as she was focusing on the driving.

“Thank you. For this and everything. I want you to know that everything that I’ve achieved before and till now, it’s all thanks to people around me that giving me support and love continuously. My parent, you and your parent, my team and coach, Kai and last but not least, our daughter, Yumi. Every one of you has given me more than enough to make me stand for who I am today.” Mino expressed his grateful towards his wife, looking at Irene with a long gaze.

The golden hair woman slowly crept into a smile, grinning as she spoke then. “We’re both complete each other in our life. You’re the one who always tell me that. I’m also thankful for you. You know why – for everything you’ve done to me and our marriage, for me that the biggest gift and gratitude that I get from you. And most importantly, the love that you shower me. All of that, it’s make me happy that I won’t bother to ask anything more. I’m already grateful for what I have now.”

Irene was a bit startle when Mino’s lip pressed against her cheek which made her blushed out of sudden, surprised with the act coming from Mino. “You know what, one of the things that I always like to see about you is when you’re blushing. Whether you are mad or feeling shy, I always love to see that blush on your cheek.” Mino murmured in teasing voice which made Irene blushed even redder, feeling her face heated up.

“Stop looking and teasing me! You said earlier you’re sleepy, right? Then, go to sleep, have some rest.” Irene said then, trying to avoid from being teased more by Mino.

Mino let out a chuckle then, grinning before he shook his head then. Lowering his seat till half, the beastly figure adjusted his position a bit, trying to make himself comfortable and within few minutes; Irene found both, Mino and Yumi sleeping soundly inside the car, leaving her alone with the voice of DJ accompanying her along the journey back to home.

She fixed her pair of eyes at the reflection of herself inside the big mirror of the walk-in-closet that she shared along with Mino. The walk-in-closet is big enough when Irene first entered it – having four wings wings and also a center that connected all the wings together where three mirrors were placed on the wall, giving an illusion for the room to be much bigger. Of course, it wasn’t a denial that a woman needs her own room that specifically for her clothes, shoes and other stuffs.

The navy-blue A-line evening dress with floor length cut and off shoulder neckline that she was wearing at that time really did a good job in making her stood out and not to mention, emphasizing her fair skin with the dark shade of the color. There a bit of sparkle coming from the touch of beads spattered at the upper of the dress. Irene let her now black pitch chest length hair fall in loose curls for the night, not having the idea to style it up. Tonight, she just wanted to keep it simple and elegant because tonight wasn’t about her but someone else.

Checking herself for the last time, Irene then carefully walked herself out from the closet – clutching her small purse in one hand while the other one, holding to her silver four and half inch open toe heels that she would wear for tonight to match with her dress for the event later. It’s been a while since the last time Irene remembered she wore such a high heels shoes. Even when she goes to her firm and has any formal meeting with her clients, Irene basically just wear something that comfortable for her to walk around without difficulties or a footwear that is not high enough for her to walk in those pair for the whole day.

When she stepped out from the bedroom, Irene went to the living room where Mino probably waited for her. He was sitting on the couch alone inside the living room, facing down as he looked at his phone at the moment, did not even realize Irene’s presence inside the same room with him.

Irene could not help but to feel her breath was taken away as her pair of eyes fall towards Mino. He was wearing a midnight blue suit that matched with her navy-blue dress for tonight, his also black, silk hair styled to the back, making him looked dashing in his own way and so damn irresistible to leave out from anyone’s sight. A pang of jealousy suddenly hit her thinking about the possibilities of her husband becoming the center of attraction for tonight’s event. It won’t be a surprise if there will be few females that drool over him because tonight was about him.

His celebration.

“Are you done, baby?” Mino’s voice pulled her thoughts back to reality, her eyes darted to look at him who now standing right in front of her.

She nodded her head a bit, giving him a small smile then. Irene could not help but to feel embarrassed when Mino’s eyes staring her up and down, eyeing every inch of her making her blushed in crimson red, trying to look away from his strong gaze. “No, Joohyun. Look at me when I’m watching you.” His deep voice sounded, gently tucking her chin with his thumb and forefinger, locking their gazes together.

“I want you to know that tonight isn’t just about me. It for both of us. I’m happy and feeling grateful at the same time because you are here with me tonight and grateful because we’re both could have some time together just for tonight and tomorrow.” Mino murmured, caressing Irene’s cheek with his thumb, making circle motion on the fair skin.

Too bad that Yumi wasn’t with the two of them tonight and tomorrow to celebrate the event tonight for Mino. Their five years old daughter went along with Irene’s parent to have a five days camping trip at a nearby waterfall outside the town. At first, Irene was hesitated to let her daughter to go along with her parent, afraid that Yumi might disturb the quality time between her parent and also their schedule activities during the five days camping trip but her mother reassured that everything will be fine and under the control. Plus, it’s not always that Yumi followed them along to a camping trip and Yumi seemed more than excited when Irene gave the permission to her as long her daughter promised to behave and not giving trouble to her grandparent.

“You’re ready?”

Irene drew a breath out, pressing her lip together as she linked her arms with Mino then. “Sure. Just feeling a bit nervous.” She confessed, did not know why she felt the nerve-wrecking feel. It’s not like she’s going to war or something but still, Irene could not help but to feel butterflies in her stomach. Hopefully, she will be okay as soon as they arrived at the event later because the last thing Irene wanted at the moment was to be sick on Mino’s celebration night.

Tonight, Mino along with Irene was invited to an event to celebrate Mino and also his departure from his previous ice hockey team before. It’s been few months passed since the beastly figure man decided to withdraw from the group and departed to focus more on his personal life. Who knows that he now becoming a coach under an elite and huge association academy for training and coaching potential playe