[TaroTre] My Blind Date is My Childhood Friend - Chapter 8

Calling it a “heart-to-heart” was a bit of a stretch; in reality, the father and son just spent the time playing together in their room.

Taiga didn’t have any particularly strong feelings about his father remarrying. Although he cared about his biological mother, it was a concern based solely on blood relation. After all, she had spent very little time with him, and they lacked a deep emotional bond. Furthermore, Taiga was a kind-hearted child who had received plenty of love from his father, so he didn’t mind someone else sharing that affection.

As for Taro, he felt neither excitement nor resistance. Once he confirmed that Taiga didn’t object, he approached the idea of a blind date with a casual “might as well try” attitude.

“Dad, Dad! Watch out! Don’t just rush forward, we don’t have vision there!” Taiga was focused on the game, barking orders at Taro.

“It’s fine. I just saw the enemy marksman show up in the middle lane. There’s only a healer on this path; I can get the kill,” Taro replied, maneuvering his character across the line based on the intel he’d just gathered.

This was the father-son “heart-to-heart.”

After an hour of play and a victory in their third match, it was Taiga’s usual bedtime. Taro took the boy’s phone away and waited in the room until Taiga fell asleep before returning to his own quarters.

Marie didn’t rush to arrange the date immediately. Given how poorly Taro’s first marriage had turned out, she was determined to choose carefully. At the very least, the candidate had to be family-oriented.

Initially, when Marie discussed it with Ken, she thought about crossing anyone with a busy job off the list.

However, Ken pointed out, “Being busy doesn’t mean they won’t care for a child. Isn’t Taro busy? Yet he looks after Taiga quite meticulously. Even if they have a demanding job, as long as they are willing to take leave to pick up the child or attend parent-teacher meetings, they could still be a great candidate.”

Marie reconsidered and realized Ken was right. So, she added those names back to the shortlist.

After careful selection, Marie finalized the order of the meetings. Just as Taro and Taiga were beginning to forget about the whole ordeal, Marie made an announcement at the dinner table. “Taro, tomorrow is the weekend and Taiga doesn’t have school, so you two are going to meet this person. She’s a young lady from our medical corps. In my daily interactions with her, she’s quite pleasant and very patient with children. I’ve asked her, and she has agreed to meet.”

Taiga curiously took the photo Marie had placed on the table, and Taro leaned in to look as well.

“Dad, this auntie is actually pretty good-looking,” Taiga concluded. Though she isn’t exactly Dad’s type, he added internally.

Taro looked at the person in the photo and echoed his son’s words without much thought: “She is indeed.” He wondered silently if this was his son’s standard for beauty.

On the weekend, Taro and Taiga appeared punctually at the designated restaurant. The agreed-upon time was 11:00 AM, but after thirty minutes of waiting, the woman had still not arrived.

Taro glanced at his watch and asked his son, who was slumped on the table boredly playing with his fingers, “Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something first?”

“Yes!” Taiga sat bolt upright, his eyes instantly lighting up. “I’m starving! I feel like I could eat everything on the menu.”

“Don’t exaggerate,” Taro said, amused. He called a waiter over to order, letting Taiga eat a bit first. He wasn’t sure how much longer it would take for his date to arrive, and he couldn’t let his son go hungry. He, however, would keep waiting.

Another half hour passed. Taiga had gone through several dishes, and Taro was beginning to space out. If it weren’t for the sake of politeness, Taro would have ordered everything on the menu himself by now. Unfortunately, because his date hadn’t arrived, he felt obligated to keep waiting.

As hunger began to cloud his mind, Taro suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.

Ah, his ex-wife used to say similar things when bragging to others about how “considerate” he was.

“I’m telling you, Taro is incredibly thoughtful. One time we agreed to have dinner, and I was an hour late because of my makeup. Taro was still waiting at the door for me, and he hadn’t even gone in to order. When I asked why he didn’t eat something to tide him over, he said that if I wasn’t there, eating would be meaningless.”

Taro had been standing right there when she said that, knowing full well that wasn’t the case at all.

Of course Taro had wanted to eat when he was hungry, but if he had, she would have accused him of not loving her enough. Since they were already together, Taro didn’t want to fight, so he would endure the hunger. On a few occasions where she was excessively late, Taro had actually gone somewhere else to eat a full meal before coming back to wait for her.

The first time, Taro was afraid he’d be caught, but when he walked back after finishing his meal, she still hadn’t arrived. After that, whenever he couldn’t stand the wait, he would go eat something else and simply tell her he hadn’t eaten when she finally showed up. Fortunately, Taro had a large appetite, so he never slipped up during their actual dinner.

Taro’s left eyelid gave a sudden twitch. An untimely thought crossed his mind: The date Mom arranged… she wouldn’t be like my ex-wife and enjoy making people wait for her, would she?

Taro couldn’t help but shudder. That would be a nightmare.

“Dad, do you need to go to the bathroom?” Taiga noticed his father’s shiver and asked with concern.

“No,” Taro rubbed his forehead. “I just have a feeling that this one isn’t going to work out.”