Taekwoon stood still at his spot, staring at the little baby girl in front of him. She was placed on his bed as her hands were punching around the air. Her beautiful dark eyes trailed around a bit before it was fixed on Taekwoon, staring back at him as like she was longing for his father—yes, Taekwoon was his father. Funny, right? He was blurred as well. He was left alone for 10 months ago and now, his girlfriend suddenly popped out of nowhere and gave him the baby girl along with a wedding invitation—isn’t it too cruel?

“I’m breaking up with you and since she’s your daughter, you’re going to raise her. I don’t want her to be an obstacle in my marriage in the future,” was what she said to him as she left the baby with him and walked out from Taekwoon’s apartment forever. She was indeed a cruel woman. How can a mother leave her own baby even after 9 months of keeping her baby in her own womb?

For the whole day, he spent his time locking himself in his room while his daughter was sleeping on his bed. He couldn’t do anything for the whole night as his mind was invaded by the problem—how he should raise her? He was sitting on the floor with his back leaning against his bed. With his legs pinned against his chest, Taekwoon wrapped his arms around himself and hid his face on his knees. He was thinking, why he couldn’t look at his own daughter? Wasn’t he always like kids? He was a kids’ lover but why he couldn’t touch his lovely daughter? Or is it because of the fact that she was that cruel woman’s daughter? But she stills his daughter after all. He didn’t even know why he couldn’t face the little baby girl.

He still glued to the floor like that until a moment, his little girl suddenly let out a soft whimper for the first time that night. It was like she was asking him whether he was okay or not. Taekwoon then slowly turned to her and saw her staring at him while punching and kicking the air again—she was just woke up from her beauty sleep. After a moment of staring at each other, Taekwoon decided to answer her baby by climbing up the bed and crawled to her, taking the cute baby into his embrace. He lied on the bad carefully afterwards, making sure that she was comfortable enough in his arms.

“I’m okay, baby girl. You’ve been lying here for the whole day. You must feel so hungry, right? It’s okay. You’re going to be fine with me. Appa will take care of you. Appa will call your aunt for a moment,” he mumbled softly before reaching a hand to the nightstand beside the bed and took his phone. He immediately dialed his sister’s number, Jung Taehee, and within a few seconds, he got his sister answering his call.

“What do you want? It’s already 10 pm. Go to sleep, little brother,” she said as soon as she picked up her phone. Taekwoon scoffed softly. Her words may seem like she was being a strict older sister but knowing his sister too well, he could catch the slight worry and care in her tone.

“…..can you come to my apartment for a moment? Emergency—” he couldn’t even finish his words as her sister already hung up the phone like she was done with his annoying request, leaving him dumbfounded alone there while staring down at his baby girl.

“What should I do now…?” he asked to her daughter. Or maybe more to himself, actually. Sighing softly, Taekwoon tilted his head behind against the fluffy pillow and stared out of the window blankly.

“Your aunt is abandoning me….” But then he suddenly heard the door bell of his apartment was ringing madly along with some random loud knock against the door. “Or maybe not. Wait here, little peanut.”

Taekwoon placed his baby back onto the bed and immediately got up onto his feet, skipping away to the main door. As he opened the door, his sister quickly stepped inside and pounced on him, checking around his body right away. Somehow, Taekwoon felt like he was a prey for his sister now.

“What happened? Are you okay? What’s with the emergency? Tell me!” she flailed frantically, making the latter stared at him blankly.

“Can you calm down for a moment, noona? I’m fine, totally fine. I just need an emergency on something.” With that being said, she calmed down afterwards and took a deep breath as she looked up at his youngest brother.

“Okay, what is it, maknae?”

“Come on, follow me for a moment.”

Taking her hand in his, Taekwoon pulled her towards his bedroom and pointed to his girl.

“Can you teach me on how to feed her, how to take care of her—everything!” he exclaimed, holding tight onto her sister’s hand in pleading way. She stared at the baby for a while before turning to Taekwoon blankly.

“Whose baby is that?”

“Me. She’s mine. My own flesh and blood.” Taekwoon proudly said, his expression remained calm as like it was the normal thing ever for him to say out loud like that. Taehee narrowed his eyes at him and it took a few minutes for Taekwoon to realize that she was pouncing on him once again, grabbing him by his collar and pulled him closer as he glared at him sharply.

“Now you’re saying that you had impregnated a girl? Yah! I thought we raised you care and love—how can you grown up like this?!” she started to yell, strangling Taekwoon by his neck.

“Calm down, noona….calm down.” He tried to hold her, wanting to calm her down from her rage but she kept on yelling and strangling him like a very crazy girl. Like the way he usually was, he remained calm. He kept his calm stay put in his self. He was expecting that kind of reaction after all, knowing that this kind of mistake is something that can damage a family’s good image. But she didn’t seemed like she was going to cool off anytime soon and she made it slowly got into his nerves. So then, Taekwoon gripped tightly on both of Taehee’s wrists and detached themselves from each other before yelling towards her, “calm down!”

She froze right on her spot. Taekwoon’s daughter immediately woke up and cried due to her father’s anger. His sister couldn’t believe it. Taekwoon never shout to anyone before especially to his own family. For some reasons, she thought maybe, just maybe, he was fully grown up and matured now. To the fact that he was already 25 years old, she always thought of him as his little baby. But right in that moment, Taekwoon proved that she was totally wrong. Taekwoon didn’t even have a heart to yell at his family’s members but now, in order to defend his own flesh and blood, he shouted to his sister. Maybe one day, Taekwoon would abandon his own family just because he wants to be with his daughter.

“I know it’s a mistake. I know this is wrong. But you don’t have any right to judge me when I decided to raise her! Listen to me well, she’s my daughter. She came from my own blood. I’m the one who brought her to this world so it’s my responsibility to raise her if her mother no longer wants her anymore. I won’t abandon her just because I want to protect our family’s image. I have to protect her as well. She just got to this world, just give her a chance to grow up properly with her father’s love so she could go out and watch what kind of this world is. I don’t want to throw her away. I will keep her with me. That’s my decision, you couldn’t change me.”

He was really confident with his decision—his final decision. And Taehee believed that that was the first time she ever heard Taekwoon talks so much. Walking away to his bed, Taekwoon glared at the latter for the last time as he slowly picked up his little girl, cradling her in his protective arms. From the way he held her, he did look like a father that wants to protect his baby from the dangerous and scary world. But Taehee won’t give up yet.

“Okay, okay. I respect your decision, Taek. But are you really sure that she’s your daughter? What if that woman just wants to fool you and make you live in miserable?” she fired back, not wanting to lose against the younger yet. The latter slowly turned around and stared sharp into her soul with his usual cold gaze.

“I thought you’re a mother to your baby, noona. I thought you once said that if you lost your baby one day, and if you found him when he’s grown up, you will recognize him right away because of what? Because of your motherly instinct. Don’t underestimate a father’s instinct, noona. For someone like me, I know that I’ve a bond with her the moment I held her in my arms for the first time ever. I’ve my instinct on her as well, just like other parents. Because I’m her father.”

For the second time in that night, she froze in fascinated at her brother’s words. First, because she was amused on how a small baby could change her little brother 360^o into someone that talk so much and second, because he was damn right. How can she suddenly forget about that parents’ instinct towards their children? She was indeed a fool. Taekwoon was now turning his back against Taehee as he patted his baby gently, drifting her back into her sleep. She watched him for a moment, her heart slowly melted at how sweet Taekwoon was when he lulled her to sleep. In the end, she sighed softly and turned to walk to the bedroom’s door.

“I’ll go to the baby store for awhile. I’ll buy all the things that she might need. She must be really hungry. I’ll teach you on how to make her milk and feed her later. Keep on lulling her to sleep for the time being so she wouldn’t cry because of hungriness. I’ll come back as soon as possible.”

Taehee then walked out from Taekwoon’s apartment and made her way to the nearby store. He was smiling now—he was happy with his daughter’s presence in his life. He was glad that his sister had accepted his daughter into the family and for the next step, he will going to ask for his parents’ blessings on raising her up alone. Placing her back on the bed as gentle as he can, Taekwoon made sure she was warm enough before he took his chance to lie down as well beside her.

“From now on, I will call you Jung Chaewon, Jung Taekwoon’s cute and chubby daughter,” he muttered softly under his breath and chuckled lightly when she moved slightly, punching her hands again in the air as if she was agreeing with his father’s decision. Somehow, when Taekwoon called her by her name, it gave him a strange vibe as ‘Won’ slipped off of his tongue. It felt like there was something that remained forgotten in his mind—something that he wants to remember yet he forgot it. But he just shrugged it off after a moment of thinking.

That night, just after Taekwoon’s sister came back from her shopping session at the baby store, they immediately made a move to bath the little Chaewon and changed her clothes into something that can keep her warm enough to sleep peacefully in the cold night. Taekwoon also learned on how to feed Chaewon using the milk bottle that his sister bought from the store. He failed for the first time but he was indeed a fast learner. Within the 2 weeks, Taekwoon already knew what he had to do with Chaewon’s daily needs and what he should give when she cries or else.

Seeing that their son was doing well, Taekwoon’s parents slowly reassured that he wouldn’t live in miserable with Chaewon in his life—he won’t feel burdened at all. He had also proved to everyone that his life was getting better after he got Chaewon. From a waiter, he got a chance to take a class for the barista certificate. And due to his fast learning brain, he finished his class within 3 hours, not only for the basics but also for the additional and creating the arts and else. He also immediately ranked up from an ordinary waiter and cleaner to a proper barista. Maybe if he works harder than usual, he might have the chance from the branch’s boss on managing that café as well.

In the first 3 months of living his life with his little baby girl, he was doing really great without any problem. When he got out for his works, he will send Chaewon to his parents’ house first. And when he got home, he will fetch his girl back. He already got used to it as it was his life’s routine now. One day, when he went to fetch his daughter from his parents’ house, his sister was there alone without her husband or her baby boy. She said that she was actually waiting for him as she sat at the living room with their parents.

“Yes, noona? Why you want to meet me?” Taekwoon asked as he took a seat opposite to Taehee who got excited as soon as she saw her beloved brother’s face.

“I got news from my friend that there would be a seminar special for single parents. You should go to join that seminar, Taek.” He blinked a bit, not sure what to reply as he stared at his sister blankly.

“But I’ve works to do.”

“Just take a day-off. It won’t hurt, though. Furthermore, you always work hard there at the café. I’m sure your boss will not going to get mad or hold you from taking the day-off. Right?” she tried once again, this time she did it with a cute pleading look while clasping her hands together. Taekwoon was about to say something but he halted himself when she cut him off with Chaewon’s name, “do it for Chaewon! You will get more skills in raising her if you go to the seminar. You don’t have to worry about anything, I will handle everything. What you need to do is just go there, learn something and come back with an overload confidence that you can raise Chaewon into a very fine, pretty, generous and whatsoever lady. Okay?”

Her words were long but to Taekwoon, it didn’t have any points for him to get. As he still remembered, he already had the overload confidence that she was saying in order to raise her own daughter up. His skills also were not that bad either. But the more he heard ‘for Chaewon’ from Taehee, the more he started to think whether he should go or not to the seminar.

Somehow, he thought that maybe this seminar would be a great chance for him to learn on how to create Chaewon into someone that is useful not only for him but to her family, society and country in the future. It wasn’t all about raising her with full of love and care, but also shaping her so she won’t fall to the bad side when she grown up in the future. He did want to watch Chaewon grown up into a fine young lady.

“I will think about it,” he muttered softly. Once again, Taehee tried to persuade him but he immediately cut her off, “I will call you when I make up my mind. I’m tired and I’m sure that everyone is tired as well. Let’s go back home first, noona. Good night.” And with that, he got up from the couch and turned to take Chaewon from his mother as he made her way out from the house to set his baby girl on the front passenger seat of his car.

“We’re going back home now, my Chaewonnie—”

Once again, that strong strange yet unfamiliar vibe passed through him like a cold wind as he called his baby’s name. He still couldn’t understand it. What did he had forgotten all this time? It felt like he lost something precious and what he could only remember is something in blonde—or was it silver? His mind was messed up. His memories were randomly running around his mind like a mad tornado but nothing could be pulled out from it. He still couldn’t remember.

And to be honest, he didn’t know that actually….he couldn’t remember about him.

[A/N]

So....is it hot? #slapped I mean, how is it? Is it boring or lame like I've expected? orz Like usual, I don't really know what to say over here so- bye!