Chapter 17

                “Aboji! Aboji! Are you okay?” you exclaimed as you rushed into his room with Daesung and the kids trailing behind you. The two other men in the room jumped slightly, but you ignored them and rushed right to your father’s bed. “I’m fine, I’m fine,” he said with a small smile. Junghwa was stood next to you and the twins rushed for the only free chair in the room while Ahrin sat on the bed. “What happened?” you asked, grasping onto one of his rough, callused hands.

                He took a deep breath, the breathing tubes in his nose only worrying you further.  “Nothing serious,” he said after a moment, “I’ve just been overworking myself. I’m not the young pup I used to be.” His sun beaten face broke into a smile, but soon faded as he took another deep breath. “Aboji,” you began, but he cut you off and pulled Ahrin up onto his lap to play instead.

                Daesung slipped his hand into yours and you gripped onto him tightly. “Who’s this?” your father asked after glancing at your clasped hands. “That’s her new boyfriend,” Junghwa said before taking a seat at the foot of the bed. “What happened to Seunghyun?”

                “That’s what I said.”

                “Yah!” you glared at Junghwa who stuck his tongue out at you, making your father chuckle softly. “Well it’s nice to meet you…” he trailed off as he realized he didn’t actually know Daesung’s name. “Daesung,” he said before bowing, “I’m sorry that I didn’t introduce myself sooner.”

                “It’s partially my fault as well. I’m not really around enough for my daughter to get time to introduce me to you.” Before Daesung could reply, the doctor walked in and stood at the foot of your father’s bed to check his chart. ‘Is he okay?” you asked as Daesung gave your hand a gentle squeeze. The doctor smiled at you before saying, “Yes, he’ll be fine. He just overworked himself. One night here along with a couple days off work and he’ll be fine.”

                “Thank goodness,” you said, leaning against Daesung slightly. It was nice to have him there. He stayed with you and your family until visiting hours were over, then he drove you all back to your house. “You’re the best boyfriend ever,” you said as he carried Ahrin’s car seat into the apartment. “No, this is just normal stuff,” he said with a shrug before setting it down in the living room. “Do you…Maybe do you want to stay for some food?” you asked, “Since we really didn’t get to eat our pork buns and all.”

                “Sure,” he said and began entertaining your siblings while you cooked an extremely late dinner. The entire time, you kept a smile on your face, trying not to show how worried you were about your father. There was no way he was going to listen to the doctor. As soon as he was discharged, you knew he’d be back to work. Your family couldn’t afford for him to miss a day, but he couldn’t afford to work that hard anymore.

                A sigh escaped as you washed dishes while your siblings were hypnotized by the magic of Pororo. “It’s okay,” Daesung said, drying the dishes as you handed them to him. “What is?” you asked, biting your lip as you worked on trying to get some grime off of one of the plates. “To be worried about him. It’s okay for you to be worried or scared or any emotion between the two.”

                “No it’s not okay,” you rubbed the speck of dirt harder, “If Junghwa sees me upset, he’ll worry. If he worries, the twins will worry. If they worry, they’re going to get scared and upset which will only make Ahrin cry and-” The plate broke in half. Daesung grabbed your hands and held them up out of the soapy water to make sure that you weren’t hurt.

                “It’s okay to be upset. You don’t always have to be strong.”

                “Yes I do,” you replied, but your voice cracked. “I’m here for you. You can lean on me, I’ll be strong for you for a while,” he whispered before pulling you into a hug, not caring at all that your hands were going to get his shirt wet. “I’m fine,” you tried to protest and push away from him, but he only held you tighter.

                “I may not know you as well as Seungri,” he said, “but I know you well enough to know that’s a lie.” You struggled against his hold for a few more seconds, trying not to give in. If you cried now, you weren’t going to be able to make it through the night alone. You’d want him here to be with you and hold you like this. “I’m fine,” you hiccupped as tears slowly but surely began to descend down your cheeks.

                He didn’t say anything; he just held you.

                Once the crying had subsided, he let you pull away a little, but his arms remained loosely around your waist. “I’m strong,” you said, seemingly out of nowhere. “I know,” he whispered back. “It’ll be fine.”

                “It’ll be fine,” he repeated. “You can go home,” you said, rubbing at your red, puffy eyes, “I’ll be fine.” He pulled your hands away from your eyes, “I’ll stay through the night.”

                “You should go home.”

                “I’m going to stay.”

                “Your mom will get worried.”

                “I’ll say I’m at Seungri’s house.”

                “You shouldn’t lie.”

                “But I shouldn’t go either.” The words were whispered as he slowly leaned in. He paused in front of your lips, both of your breaths mingling together before he took the final step and gently pressed his lips against yours. His lips were soft but firm against yours in a brief kiss. He pulled back, but you grabbed onto his shirt and leaned up to kiss him again.

                This time, when he pulled back you let him go. “I don’t think your brother would approve of much more of this,” he said, making you snort with laughter before hugging him even more tightly. “Don’t go,” you said, burying your head in his clean smelling shirt. “I wasn’t planning to.”

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hey guys sorry that i haven't been able to update but college is CRAZY!!!

i had two tests for the same class all within a week so...crazy "OTL