"Appa! Appa! Ireonayo, appa! Come on, we're gonna be late for our flight!", the little girl screamed. She shook her dad over and over, trying to wake him up from his sleep. The man rolled to his side to see his 6-year old daughter staring at him with anticipation in her eyes. He smiled at her, and placed her on his belly.

"Young Jae-ah, what are you so excited about? Come on, lay down with appa and let's go back to sleep."

The young girl crawled out of her dad's grip and laughed at him. She kissed his cheek and told him good morning. She hopped out of his bed and ran to the kitchen to bring his breakfast. She ran back to his room and gave him a breakfast-in-bed. He looked down and smiled the brightest smile in the world.

"Here you go, daddy! I made this just for you!" she smiled.

On the pate in front of him was a stack of pancakes with a strip of bacon for a smile, and 2 sunny-side up styled eggs for eyes. On the side was a little plate of whipped cream, and on the other had a little note that said: "Breakfast for the best daddy in the world! (:"

"Gamsahamnida, Young Jae-ah! This looks so good! Did you make this all on your own?"

"Ne~"

"Well I love it, honey. You're the best daughter ever! Why don't you go and see if Umma wants some?"

She ran off to visit the family shrine, and bent down in front of her mothers grave.

"Annyong, Umma. I know I haven't talked to you in a while. Mianhae~. But me and appa have been so busy lately. You know what, Mom? We just got back from Paris, and we're on our way to the airport to go to another place right now! Guess where appa's taking me now, Mom. We're going to Tahiti!"

"Young Jae, are you ready? Come on, we gotta go to the airport before we miss the plane!", Kangin called out.

"Okay Daddy! Mommy, we have to go now. I love you so much, I promise I'll take pictures, so I can show you when we come back!" and she ran off to grab her suitcase. Kangin  entered the room and bent down in front of his deceased wife's grave, cleaning the dust away from her picture. Young Jae looked exactly like her mother. Dark brown, little squinted eyes, pale white skin, pouted lips, and rosy cheeks. A tear fell from his eye, and he quickly wiped it, afraid that Young Jae might see him cry.

"Yeobo, annyong~. I know it's been awhile since I stopped by to talk to you, and I'm sorry. Forgive me? I've been trying to keep our little ball of energy there busy, just so she could keep her mind off of what happened. I know it seems like I'm keeping her from you, but you should know me. I never really knew how to deal with the emotional stuff, right? Anyway, love, we have to go now. I'm always thinking of you, please know that. I love you.", and he kissed her picture.

They left their apartment and drove to the airport, Young Jae taking a quick nap in the car. Kangin looked in the rear-view mirror to see his little girl dreaming away. He could tell that she missed her mother, and why wouldn't she? Her mom was always the one who took care of her emotionally, and they connected on a level no other mother and daughter have ever connected before. He missed his wife, too. Her smile always seemed to brighten up the most depressing or upsetting situations. But for Kangin, as long as his daughter was happy, that's all that mattered to him. As long as she kept her smile on her face, Kangin felt like he was actually doing something right.

They pulled into the airport parking lot, grabbed their suitcases, and made their way to the gateway. Luckily, Kangin always booked them a private plane, so that way it would be just the two of them. They boarded the plane, and buckled themselves in. Young Jae kept bouncing up and down on the sand-colored leather seats of the plane, for it was their first time to such a tropical island.

"Daddy, how far is it from Korea to Tahiti? Daddy, what time is it there? Is it hot over there? What do the people look like, do they have their own language? Can you speak Tahitian, daddy?" over and over with questions asked from Young Jae. She was just too excited, she couldn't even sit still. About half way through the flight, she fell asleep next to him, and Kangin couldn't be happier. He too fell asleep, but asked the flight attendant to wake them up about 15 minutes before they landed.

Like he asked, the flight attendant woke them up 15 minutes before they landed. Young Jae rubbed her eyes and looked up at Kangin, asking if they arrived yet.

"Not yet baby girl, but we will soon. Look outside the window, you can see the island already, sweety!"

"Wow! Daddy, it's so pretty!"

15 minutes later, they landed at the airport. They unloaded their bags from the plane and entered the taxi that drove them to their hotel. Once they got there, two of the hotel attendants greeted them and handed them leis, along with a plumeria flower for Young Jae. They took them to their private suite on the 10th floor, and allowed them to relax.

"Daddy, can we go to the ocean and go swimming?"

"Okay, honey. But put on your sunscreen first!"

"Yes, appa!"

After Kangin finished rubbing sunscreen on his daughter, he grabbed the towels and room key, and went downstairs. They walked through the hotel lobby and down a few stairs that passed the pools. They reached the grass area that was right in front of the beach. Young Jae took off and started playing in the sand. Kangin set up a few of the hotel's lawn chairs and set their stuff down. He joined her in the sand, making sand castles and sand balls with his daughter. Her smile lit up her entire face, and she looked so happy to be having fun on the beach with her dad.

"Daddy, let's go swimming!"

They got up and walked to the water's edge. The water was crystal clear, literally! You could see everything! A school of little fishes swam by, and into the reefs. There was so much colors! Green, purple, an off-pinkish color of corals. Even the fishes were so colorful. They were bright and playful, some were even jumping out of the water, entertaining the father and daughter pair. The water was a beautiful teal color, that sparkled under the sunlight.

"Catch me if you can, Daddy!"

She jumped into the water and started splashing around, running away from Kangin. Luckily it was shallow straight across. You could walk to the next islands if you wanted to! Kangin laughed and joined his daughter in the water, quickly swimming after her. Young Jae stood still, looking for where he went. Then, out of nowhere, Kangin stood up out of the water, carrying her on his shoulders. She screamed and laughed so hard, and said

"WOW~ Appa! Look at the mountain, it looks so pretty from up here!"

Kangin loved seeing his daughter like this. So happy and excited, that's the main reason why he kept taking her on all of these extravagant trips.

They played down at the water for about 2 hours. After that, they went to get dressed back up at the room and went down to eat dinner. Kangin had steamed lobster tails with a side of mixed vegetables. Young Jae had a little grilled cheese sandwich with a side of fries. For dessert they shared a little scoop of vanilla ice cream, nothing fancy. On the way back up to their room, Young Jae fell asleep in Kangin's arms. They entered their room, and Kangin put his daughter on the bed and tucked her in. He rubbed her back soothingly, assuring that she was fast asleep.

"Dream well, my beautiful princess. Dream of all the places we visited together, and all the places we have yet to see. Dream of your Umma, and pretend she'll be by your side, traveling the world with us. Good night, my baby girl. Appa loves you."

And Kangin too fell fast asleep, his daughter curled up against his body, as he dreamt of another wonderful vacation with his family.