We turned away from the counter.
And that was when I noticed two pairs of eyes watching us.
A young couple.
Probably in their early twenties. Sitting not too far away in the waiting area. They were whispering far too loudly for it to be considered a secret.
"He’s so young..."
"Yeah... and his kid is already so big..."
"People move fast in life, huh..."
I stopped.
Yuna stopped with me.
I slowly turned my head toward them.
"We can hear you," I said flatly.
They flinched immediately.
"Oh—sorry! We were just... uh..."
The man smiled awkwardly. The woman beside him lightly smacked his arm.
"We were just surprised. I mean... you’re so young, but you already—"
"The administrative system does not recognize emotional age," I said.
"As long as the forms are complete, everything is legal."
They fell silent.
Yuna gave the hem of my jacket a gentle tug.
I continued in the same even tone.
"And for the record, I’m her guardian."
"Oh!"
The woman instantly looked relieved.
"We thought—"
"Many people think many things," I replied.
The man nodded rapidly.
"Right, right... sorry about that."
"It’s fine. Gossip is society’s favorite light exercise."
We walked away before they could formulate any new theories.
Once we stepped out of the building.
Yuna looked up at me.
"Papa was a bit sarcastic."
"Just a bit. If I used any more, I’d end up a university professor."
She let out a small laugh. Not a loud laugh, but an honest one.
I glanced back down at the documents in my hand.
Everything was official.
Airtight.
Whoever was behind this had thoroughly paved over all the legal avenues.
I gave a slight shrug.
"Well then."
I muttered.
"If it’s this official, I suppose I can’t pretend to be ignorant anymore."
Yuna watched me carefully.
"Does Papa regret it?"
"No."
My answer was instantaneous.
I slipped the papers into a folder.
"Problems that other people have already solved are the best kind. All we have to do is execute them."
She looked a little more at ease.
We began our walk home.
At a red light.
Yuna suddenly asked in a quiet voice.
"Papa... if someone asks again later... are we still going to say guardian?"
I stared straight ahead.
Legally, I was the head of the household.
In reality, I had only been a father for two days.
Emotionally... I hadn’t done the math yet.
"We’ll see what the situation calls for," I finally said.
The light turned green.
And for the first time, a realization dawned on me.
Being a guardian was far easier than being a father.
The only question was—
would I keep choosing the safer word?