“Daddy, will you read me a bed time story? Pleeeease?” Sunggyu’s four year old daughter, Soeun, begged with her best puppy-dog face.

Sunggyu couldn’t tear his eyes away from his beautiful child. “Of course. Which story do you want to hear today?” He ran his hand along the spines of her collection of picture books.

She leaned out of her bed, dangerously close to falling out, to scan the books. Sunggyu had to hold her arm to make sure she wouldn’t fall out. He thought she would know all the stories by now because he was sure that he had read all of them at least thrice each.

“I want you to read the story about the princess who had to sleep on so many beds and still felt the pea!” She reached for the book, but it lay just a few centimeters too far from her reach. He pulled it out and tucked his daughter back in bed.

“Okay, but you have to promise to go to sleep right after I read it. Pinky promise?” He stuck out his pinky.

She eagerly wrapped her small finger around his. “Promise!”

“There was once a prince, and he wanted a princess…”

---//---

“Is she asleep?” Sunggyu’s wife asked as he slipped into bed.

“Yeah.”

Her back was facing him, so he scooted closer and wrapped an arm around her. He felt her tense up slightly under his touch, and it bothered him. She had been doing that a lot recently. Their relationship was like that too. She was becoming aloof. Sunggyu would ask her how her day was, and she would give an ambiguous reply. Before, she would go into great details about her co-workers and the recent gossip of the office and whatnot.

When he asked her about why she was acting differently, she would avoid the subject. He wasn’t dumb, but he decided to act so for her. He assumed she was just having a hard time at work.

But still. Shouldn’t she depend more on him during these kinds of time?”

“Heejung? Honey?” He removed his arm from her waist, and as soon as he did, she tried to subtly move away from him.

“Yes?”

“I love you. Good night.”

She hesitated for a few seconds. “I love you too.”

Tears welled up in Sunggyu’s eyes as he realized that the love of his life was slipping away.

---//---

“Go wake up your father, Soeun.” Sunggyu heard Heejung cooking in the kitchen, smelt it too.

When his daughter cautiously walked into her parents’ bedroom, Sunggyu acted like he was asleep. As soon as she was close enough, he suddenly sat up and roared, pulling Soeun into a big hug.

“Daddy! You scared me!” She wrapped her fragile arms around his neck, laughing into his shoulder. “Mommy said you should come out and eat breakfast. She said I could eat first, but I wanted to wait and eat with you!”

“Well, let’s not keep your stomach waiting.” He lifted Soeun up and walked out to the kitchen. “Good morning, honey,” he said softly, leaning in for a quick peck. He was a little surprised that she didn’t avoid the kiss.

Soeun wriggled in Sunggyu’s arms. “Put me down, Daddy!” He lightly put her in her chair at the table.

“Do you need help with anything?”

“No, everything’s almost done. You can go sit, Sunggyu.”

They chatted about the most irrelevant subjects during breakfast. Soeun happily munched on her breakfast, but Sunggyu knew they were only acting happy for their oblivious daughter.

---//---

They decided they needed to talk things out, and they couldn’t do it with Soeun around. He had asked his friend since high school, Dongwoo, to watch over her for the night.

They each had a glass of wine in front of them, something to do during those moments of awkwardness. They had been sitting there, silently, across from each other, for the past 10 minutes.

Sunggyu cleared his throat and opened his mouth to say something, but he didn’t know how to start the conversation. There were so many thoughts running through his mind. He just didn’t know which one to address first.

In the end, his wife was the one to speak first. “Sunggyu, I have something to confess.” She looked down at her hands, avoiding Sunggyu’s eyes.

“Hmm?”

“I… Actually, I… The thing is…” She sighed, trying to organize her thoughts. “I’m meeting someone.”

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He felt confused, betrayed, lied to, and so much more. He could only shake his head. “What?” he managed to say.

“There’s this guy at work. I don’t really know what happened, but I don’t think I can be with you any longer.”

“You’re kidding, right?” He reached for her hands. She pulled back.

“No. No. I’m so sorry,” she whispered. She covered her face with her hands, and Sunggyu just wanted to reach over and wipe her tears. He refrained from doing so, just in case she rejected his touch again.

“What about Soeun? What about us? Our family?”

“He’s willing to provide for us,” she said, her voice muffled by her hands.

“I need some time. Okay? I just—I need some time.”

He retreated to their bedroom and only then did he let his tears fall.

---//---

Months later, they decided to file for divorce. Sunggyu tried to explain the whole process to Soeun so that she would understand.

“Well, mommy and daddy are going to live separately from now on.”

“Why?” She climbed up and sat on his lap, leaning on his chest.

“Because we want to be happier.”

“You’re not happy right now?”

“No, I’m very happy.”

“So you’re going to live in two houses?”

“Yes. You will have two rooms now! Isn’t that exciting?”

“Will I have two of everything? Two beds, two toothbrushes, two everything?” Her eyes glistened with excitement.

“Of course! And you’ll have two daddies too.”

“Two daddies?” She looked confused. “How?”

“Mommy is going to get married again, and your other daddy is going to love you just as much as I do.”

“Pinky promise?”

“I pinky promise.” He kissed the top of her head. “I promise. I love you, Soeun.”

“I love you too, daddy!” She grabbed his face with her tiny hands and gave him a kiss on the lips. He ruffled her hair and held her tightly.

“It’s time to go, Soeun.” Heejung had Soeun’s luggage in her hands, her purse hanging from her shoulders. She glanced at Sunggyu briefly before reaching out a hand to her daughter who was running towards her.

“Okay! Oh, wait! I forgot something.” Soeun ran back to Sunggyu, gave him another kiss except on the cheek this time, and said ‘goodbye’ before running back to her mother.

“Bye, Soeun. Bye, honey—Heejung.” He was too used to calling his ex-wife “honey.” She turned around, but this time told Soeun to wait for her as she came to give Sunggyu a hug.

“I’m so sorry it has turned out this way, Sunggyu. Thank you for everything.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” He wrapped his arms around her, taking in everything of her that he could in those last final moments together. “Can you promise me one thing?”

“Yes?”

“Can you smile? For me and for our daughter?”

She pulled back and smiled. “Of course.”

He nodded and waved at the two most beautiful women in his life as they walked away.

“Please, smile.”