Ji Yong sat up straighter and looked at my father through the screen.  “Yes, sir?”

            My dad leaned forward, arms locked, hands on his thighs.  He was never not a police officer.  He’d been one since he was eighteen years old.  Even after he retired last year, he never lost the character.  “Jin Yang, is it?”

            “Ji Yong, sir,” he replied.

            “Yes, well, Ji Yong.  You love my daughter?  I’ll know if you’re lying.”  Oh, God, he would too, I thought miserably.

            “Yes, sir.  I love her very much,” Ji Yong answered, relaxed.  I felt my entire body tense up.

            My dad studied Ji Yong’s expression for a second.  The rest stayed silent.

            “Can you take care of her?  Make sure she’s happy?  Because if she ever calls me or misses a call with us, I swear, I have no problem hunting-”

            “Dad,” I whined.

            Ji Yong laughed a little.  “It’s alright, Rian.  I promise I will take very good care of her, sir.  I would never hurt her.  I did quite well for myself when I was in my band and now, as a music producer, I still do well.  I can assure you, she’ll never want for anything.”

            Oh, he’s good.  I nearly believed him myself.

            My dad seemed caught off guard by the answer and the sincerity radiating off Ji Yong.  “I know you’re thinking I’m just some crazy father, but I have connections.  If anything should happen to her, if she’s unhappy even for a moment or if she doesn’t come home when she wants, make no mistake.  I will make sure that no one ever finds any trace of you.”

            “Oh, God,” I mumbled.

            Ji Yong cleared his throat, unsure if my father was kidding or not.  “Sir, I can assure you, I would never do anything to hurt Rian.  I love her very much.  It would hurt me to see her in pain.”

            My mom said something quiet to my father and, at first, he seemed to brush her off, but then he nodded slightly. 

            “Daddy!” a voice came from down the hall.  “Rine!”

            My family looked to each other.  Damn this microphone was good.  “Hang on a second, guys,” I told them.  I looked at Ji Yong.  “I’ll go.”  With that, I jumped off the bed and high tailed it to Chae Yoon’s bedroom.

            “What’s wrong, Chae Yoon?” I asked as I came into her room.  She was coloring on a large sheet of paper on the floor.

            She brightened and sat up.  “I’m sleepy.  Where’s Daddy?  Can I say goodnight to him?”  I nodded.

            “He’s on the phone right now.  Let’s get you into bed and then he’ll come in when he’s finished, ok?”

            Just then, I heard Ji Yong call me from my room.  “Bring Chae Yoon here!” he added.  Chae Yoon jumped up and grabbed me by the hand, already running from the room, without even knowing what was going on.

            “Daddy,” Chae Yoon greeted him as she climbed up onto the bed and sat on his lap.  Already interested by the foreigners on the computer screen.

            “Hey, sweetheart,” he greeted her, letting her make herself comfortable by squirming around a bit, almost head butting him under the chin.  He looked at me.  “Your family asked if it was alright if they could see her.”

            “Oh…” I sounded.  I moved back onto the bed, sitting next to Ji Yong.

            “Chae Yoon, this is Rian’s family back in America,” Ji Yong told the little girl.

            Her little face lit up and she pushed herself out of his lap and crawled in front of the laptop, sticking her face into the screen.  “Hi!”

            My family waved, even my dad and Jason, who were still a little apprehensive about the whole thing.  She stayed on her hands and knees in front of the screen, studying the people.

            “Rine’s mommy and Rine’s daddy,” she began pointing to the people on the screen.  “And Rine’s oppas?” she asked, looking to me.

            “Right, those are my older brothers.  Jason, Nick, and Craig,” I explained pointing each man out on the screen.  Chae Yoon nodded and bent her arms to put her face back in front of the screen, with her knees bent, her was in the air.  My mom laughed at the little girl’s position.

            “My, you are cute,” my mom told her.  Chae Yoon smiled and rested her chin in her hands.

            “Thank you,” she said politely.

            “Your English is very good,” my dad added.  A smile turned up my mouth.  Leave it to a little girl’s charm to soften the most stubborn old man.

            “Thank you!” Chae Yoon chirped pushing herself up into a sitting position.  “My daddy speaks English to me sometimes.  Rine, too!  And I have Chinese class!”  She scrunched her nose.  “Chinese is hard, but Rine is teaching me French now!  At night, she points like this,” she pointed all over the room, “and she tells me French words.”

            “Hey,” Nick laughed.  “She’s smarter than you, Craigy.”

            Craig scoffed and gave his older brother a shove.

            “You spend a lot of time with Rian, don’t you, sweetie?” my mom asked.

            Chae Yoon nodded enthusiastically.  “She takes me to the park!  And she got me a tutu for my ballet class!”

            “Ah, you’re a ballerina,” my mom said.  Chae Yoon again nodded.

            “Rine’s daddy,” she began pointing to my dad’s image.  “Are you angry?”

            The whole family looked to my father.  “No,” he answered.  “Why do you ask, honey?”

            Chae Yoon looked thoughtful.  “Your face is like this,” she answered, frowning her brow, making her forehead crease.  “My daddy looks like that when he gets mad.  Sometimes, on the phone, he makes his face like this.”  She pointed to her forehead.  She turned and leaned on Ji Yong’s shoulder.  She ran her finger down his forehead.  “Right here,” she added.

            Even my dad had to laugh at that explanation.

            Chae Yoon, I was sure, didn’t understand why everyone was laughing, but she knew they sounded happy so she sat there smiling.

            “Rine’s oppa,” she began when the laughter died down.  She pointed to Jason.

            “What’s oppa?” Nick asked.

            “It means older brother,” I explained.  “She’s being respectful.”

            “Yes, Chae Yoon?”  Jason looked at her.

            “Your face is angry, too.”

            He smiled.  “I’m not angry.  I’m just…surprised.  Rian just told us she married your dad.”  Chae Yoon bounced closer to the screen again.

            “Yes!  It means Rine can kiss my daddy now,” she informed him cheerfully.

            Craig laughed the loudest at that one.  “Yup, that’s what marriage means,” he added.  Chae Yoon was nodding in agreement.

            “Are you happy Rian married your dad?” Nick asked.

            “Yes, I am happy.  My daddy likes her, too.  Don’t you like her?  She’s nice to me.”

            Nick laughed.  “Yeah, Chae Yoon.  We like Rian, too.”  She yawned just then.  “Are you sleepy?”

            Chae Yoon nodded slowly.  “Yes, you are not sleepy?  It’s bed time.”

            “Actually, Chae Yoon, it’s morning in America,” Nick told her.

            Her eyes widened.  “Really?”

            “Yes,” Craig piped in.  He pointed to the window behind the couch where my parents sat.  Sunlight was pouring in.  “Look, it’s sunny out.”

            Chae Yoon gasped.  “It is!   But it’s nighttime in Seoul!”

            This brought out more laughter from my family.  My father actually began to look a little less tense.

            “Chae Yoon, say goodbye to my family and go to your room.  I’ll come in in a minute to tuck you in,” I said, patting her back.  “Daddy will come in and say goodnight, too, ok?”

            She nodded to me and turned to face the computer.  She bowed her upper half until her forehead touched the mattress.  “Bye, Rine’s mommy and daddy.  Bye, Rine’s oppas!”  She waved excitedly at the computer screen.

            My family all waved back.  Chae Yoon smacked her hand against to blow kisses like how I taught her.  I almost fell off the bed laughing when even my father blew her a kiss back.

            She scrambled off the bed, over her dad’s lap, and sped off to her room.

            “Ji Yong, you’ve got the sweetest little girl,” my mom told him.  Ji Yong smiled shyly and bowed his head to her.

            “Yes, thank you.”

            “We look forward to meeting her at Christmas,” my father added with a slight nod.

            I sighed with relief.  “Thanks, Dad.”

            “Don’t underestimate me, rock star.  It doesn’t mean I like you yet, but seeing your daughter, I have a newfound respect for you,” my father added.  Ji Yong nodded and bowed his head.

            “I understand.  Please, don’t worry, though.  I will take good care of Rian.”

            “Well, I think that was enough for today,” my mom interrupted.  “Rian, go tuck in that cute little girl.  Teach her some more French words.”

            I laughed.  “Yeah, talk to you guys next week.”

            “Do you need anything?  Do you need us to mail you anything?” my dad asked, slipping back into protective father mode.

            “Dad,” Craig laughed.  “I think she’s good.”  My dad grumbled something under his breath, but nodded.

            “I’ll let you know if I need anything, Dad,” I told him.  He was still grumbling.  “I love you, guys.  Talk to you next week.”

            After Ji Yong and I said our goodbyes, I closed the laptop.

            Mission ‘get the family to buy our story’ Accomplished.