Mother and Father Figures

"I'm sorry omma..." Chaeyoung's tears started to brim in her eyes.
Chaerin somewhat felt a sudden gush of sympathy upon hearing the child's voice."I'm not your omma. I'm the omma of the boy you prank called" she said in a much calmer tone.
Jiyong suddenly appeared from the kitchen and asked, "Who's that?" 
Chaerin overheard his voice and asked, "Is that your dad? Can I talk to him?" 
"No. Please..." Chaeyoung pleaded. Her heart raced as she saw her father walking up to her.
"Why are you crying? Who are you speaking to?" Jiyong stood in front of her.
Chaeyoung clutched the phone tightly, "No one, appa"
"No one? Then why are you crying? Hand me over the phone" Jiyong held out his palm.
"No. It's no one, appa..." She shook her head as she tightened her grip.
"Hand over, Chae" he managed to snatch the phone away. "Hello? Who's this?" He furrowed his brows. If there was one thing he hated, that would be seeing his daughter cry.
Chaerin asked, "Are you that young girl's dad?" 
"Yeah I am. Who's this?"
"I'm the mom of the kid she prank called." She introduced herself.
"Prank called? My daughter will never do that."
"Well she just did. I just want to ask of you from parent to fellow parent, to watch over your child. She taught my son how to... make babies."
"That's ridiculous!" 
"Exactly. It is ridiculous. As a parent, you must know how infuriating it is for me to have him exposed like this. He's only four" Chaerin tried to speak calmly.
Jiyong raised his brow, "My daughter's only seven. I'm pretty sure you went to school so you must know that education isn't taught to children her age yet. So I don't think my daughter told your son that"
"Can you be a bit unbiased and see the wider picture here?! Just because she's your daughter doesn't mean you don't have to listen to the offended side and just take her side right away! She apologized to me a while ago. Meaning she did it. Just watch over her. Like you said, she's only seven. So she needs to be sought after. That's my only advice and tell her it's not right to prank call someone."
Jiyong retaliated, "No YOU watch over your child. Probably you need to look after your son more. You said he's just a baby so why are you letting him answer the phone?! And if my daughter already apologized what are you fussing about?"
"I just want to say that you should look after her! And my son probably didn't want to wake me up that's why he answered the phone for me." Chaerin stated defensively.
"Aww. So caring. Congratulations. You're the better parent" he sarcastically replied. 
"You know what?! You're immature. I feel so sorry for your daughter and for your wife!" she exclaimed with her tone becoming harsher at every word.
"Guess what? My wife and I split up ages ago. You wanna know why? ‘Cause she was exactly like you. Accusative, naggy and always thinks she's right"
"Well you sir are not any better than my EX-husband. You’re also a narrow-minded jerk! Your daughter is wrong yet you refuse to accept it. Remind me not to find guys like you again! I will block this number so please tell your daughter not to call us again. Nice talking to you!” she slammed the phone down.

"Geez! Why do all annoying women sound exactly like her?" Jiyong let out an exasperated sigh and turned to his daughter. "Chaeyoung-ah, explain." 
"Appa...don't hate me." his daughter looked down as more tears flowed out of her eyes.
He pulled her in for a tight hug, "If you keep being like this, I won't really get mad at you! You spoiled brat."
"You don't hate me?" she asked softly.
"No I don't hate you but I am disappointed in you. Tell me what happened. No lying!"
"I wasn't really talking to Dayoung a while ago." She muttered as she held on to his father's arm.
"I've come to realize that. So who was that?"
"No one..." she mumbled.
"No one? Hmm. Tell me, did you really prank call the kid?"
Chaeyoung immediately answered, "No! I didn't! It wasn't a prank call."
"Okay so do you know him?"
She dodged the question, "Appa, please don't be mad at them. It was my fault"
"What did you tell her son? Did you really tell him how to make babies?"
She nodded slowly.
Jiyong’s eyes widened, "Chaeyoung-ah! How did you know such thing?!"
"I-it was my classmate. She told me! And I don't see anything wrong with knowing it. We should know how we were made, shouldn't we?..." She defended.
"But this is not the right time. There are some things kids shouldn't know about yet!" 
"I'm sorry "
Jiyong sighed, "I guess since you already knew, I can't exactly erase it from your brain. Just... Next time don't lie to me ever again. And don't phone up random people."
She nodded. "But appa...are you mad at her?"
"She yelled at my baby and she made her cry. Of course I'm mad at that ahjumma."
"Omma’s not an ahjumma.” She blurted and she quickly covered .
"Huh? Omma?" Jiyong asked in shock. He thought that the lady really sounded a lot like his ex-wife. 'She couldn't be pertaining to HER could she?'
Chaeyoung remained quiet.
"Chaeyoung, tell me, who was that?"
---
"Hyung. I-i can explain" Seungri stuttered as he talked to the clearly annoyed Jiyong on the other line. 
"Go ahead. Your explanation better be good"
"I-it was your fault! Why did you let me babysit such a cute child? You know I'm a softie!" He explained.
Jiyong rolled his eyes, "That's gotta be the lamest excuse I have ever heard. Can you do better? Do you really want to-"
"No I don't want to die. Okay. You might think this is just an excuse but what I'm about to tell you is the truth. 
I really felt sorry for her. I know you don't intend to - since I know how you love your daughter - but she needs her mom. I couldn't help but pity her. I don't want her to feel neglected. I think we all deserve some motherly love. I'm really sorry. I know it was wrong of me to give her Chaerin's number without your knowledge"
A minute had passed and Seungri had not got any response from Jiyong resulting him to feel queasy. He knows how scary it is to deal with the angry 'dragon' "H-Hyung? Are you still there? You're not plotting murder are you?" 
Jiyong sighed, "You know I really hate it when you're right you wise punk. Give me her number" 
---

The following morning...

A red haired girl impatiently tapped her foot on the elevator floor as she waited to be brought to the fifth level of an apartment building. She just arrived from the States and she was really looking forward to see her bestfriend, Chaerin who she had not seen for three years.

She rang the door bell several times out of sheer excitement. 
Chaerin opened the door, "I heard you the first time okay?"
“Sorry I was just reaaally excited!” she squealed.
Chaerin gasped as she realized who was at her door, "Bommie-unnieee!" 
"Chaerinnie! I missed you so much!"
"I missed you more. Oh my god. You didn't tell me you're back!" Chaerin held her hand and pulled her in her apartment
"You know how I love to surprise people" she grinned.
"How have you been? You look y!" Chaerin pointed out. 
She giggled at the compliment and twirled around. "Really? Thanks! You’re gorgeous yourself! I've been very well. God, I missed Korea so much! Where's my Jiwoonie? The pictures you sent on my email were adorable! He grew up so quickly!" 
"He's with Mingkki at the moment. She got a new puppy and Jiwoon wanted to play with it. Again, you should have told me you’re coming!" 
"Aww! I have to see him. Let's go to Minji's later. I wanted to see that woman too. By the way, speaking of people I want to see, when can I meet the future husband? He doesn’t live far from here does he? I need to meet him!"
"Well, your timing was great. He's here now. He's just in the bath-"
 

"OH...MY...GOD...Girl! Are those the limited edition 20th anniv Loubies?! How did you get a pair?! Can I take a picture. I need to post this up my blog!" Seunghyun approached Bom with wide eyes.
"I-i'm sorry. You are?" Bom asked a bit dazed by the sudden friendly approach of the stranger.
"Choi Seunghyun. Chaerin's fiancé" he held out his hand.
Bom turned to her bestfriend, "Chaerin. H-he's your fiancé? Really?"
"I know what you're thinking. I'm a manly man okay? Okay maybe not so manly but I'm a straight man. I just so happened to appreciate women's fashion" Seunghyun defended.
"Ah. That's...that's nice! I mean...that's really nice...Can I talk to Chae for a minute?"
"Yeah sure." Seunghyun nodded.

Bom pulled Chaerin to the kitchen and whispered, "Chae, I thought you want a father figure for Jiwoon? Why did you get another mother?!"
"Unnie! He's just like that but when it comes to Jiwoon, he's really fatherly" Chaerin smiled.
"Fine. I'm in no position to judge yet." she sighed.

The two ladies returned to Seunghyun who was already settled on the couch.
"Seunghyun, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Park Bom. Chaerin's bestfriend" Bom shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Bom. I hope we get along" he smiled.
"He's my bestfriend too, unnie. He's joining our 'sisterhood'." Chaerin added with a little chuckle.
Bom beamed, "Oh. So your relationship is like that? Lovers that are like bestfriends? That's cool. That's my ideal relationship you know? I'm jealous!"
"No we're not lovers at all. We're just bestfriends" Chaerin reassured.
"But I thought you two are getting married?" Bom asked.
"Yeah we are!" The couple said in unison.
Bom scratched her head, "I'm confused. So, you don't really like each other?"
"I like Seunghyun. He likes me. But we don't see each other in a romantic sense" Chaerin waved her hand.
"So why the hell are you two getting married?" Bom folded her arms.
Seunghyun answered, "Because, Jiwoon needs a father and I need a wife. My grandpa is very old and he's rushing me to get married. They are all setting me up to horrible girls. I'd rather get married to Chaerin. She's the only one who sees me beyond my breathtaking looks. She's perfect."
"Don't you guys want to meet the person who is really destined for you? I mean, look at me. I'm in my late twenties already. But I'm not rushing. I know the guy for me is just out there. I'm willing to wait"
The couple just gave her a blank look.
"Ah! Fine. I'm not gonna say any more. Just go with whatever floats your boat, guys"

Chaerin's phone suddenly rang. "Excuse me for a moment, you two."
Bom and Seunghyun nodded.

"Hello?" She answered.
"Hello. Lee Chaerin?" 
"Yeah. Speaking. Who's this?" She asked.
"It's me, Jiyong. It's been a while"

----

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