❝ I want her to be my umma! ❞
❝ I want her to be my umma! ❞
"Joohyun-ah..." I whispered and caressed the woman's cheeks softly. "I love you." Joohyun gazed into my eyes and gave me her signature eyesmile. "I love you too, Luhan oppa," she said before pecking my forehead. "Promise to never leave me, Joohyun? No matter what happens?" I softly asked her. She slightly hesitated, but replied, "I promise, Luhan."
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Four years ago... the woman I thought was the love of my life, abandoned me.
She left me with nothing- no letters, goodbye, anything.
The one thing Joohyun had left me, however, was a baby blue basket, filled with soft, fluffy blankets.
At first I speculated it was a really late Easter present, seeing as it was so beautifully decorated and all. But what I didn't notice? There was a small, baby girl underneath all the blankets.
Convinced that the basket was just a late Easter present, I left it on my kitchen counter before heading out for an outing which was scheduled with my eleven other friends. When I returned home, however, there this irritating noise- as if a baby was wailing. I remember the shock I recieved from seeing that a baby girl- who looked so much like Joohyun- was inside the 'Easter basket'. Looking back on the events of that day, four years ago, it seems pretty funny right? What I wasn't aware of until much later was that the baby girl belonged to Joohyun and I.
"Xi Luhan, I congratulate you for the birth of your beautiful daughter," the doctor said as he held out Yiahn to me. "What is her name?" "Yiahn. Xi Yiahn," I replied without any second thoughts. "Ah... what a beautiful name," the man in front absentmindedly remarked. "She reminds me so much of my friend's cousin's daughter's brother-in-law's second cousin." It was a while before I could comprehend what the doctor had said. "I-Is that so?" I stammered. He nodded. "Seo Joohyun."
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"Crap!" I yelled. "What is your problem, Xi Luhan?" I heard Yifan question from behind me. I turned to glare at him before being interrupted by Sehun, who grabbed my arm and pointed his finger at a distant figure. "Luhan hyung! I think I see her!" "Thank goodness!" I cried in relief before running right toward the direction, ignoring Sehun's yells and Yifan's complaints.
"Yiahn!" I scolded once I reached the area which Sehun had pointed to earlier. "What are you-" I stopped mid-sentence when I saw a doe-eyed girl seated with Yiahn in her lap. "Um, hi?" the girl who had Yiahn in her lap greeted. I turned to face her properly; my jaw dropped the second I met her gaze. She had bouncy, long dark brown hair and big, doe-like eyes.
It was like seeing a goddess.
"Hello? Annyeong? Dude!" she yelled, causing me to snap out of my dream world. "Wait- what?" I blurted out, confused by the situation we were in. "Appa!" Yiahn exclaimed. "Yiahn-ah!" I said before scooping her out of the girl's lap and into a big hug. "I was worried sick, you know?" I softly scolded her as I her hair. "Hold up!" I heard the girl yelling.
Forget about the 'goddess' thing I was talking about earlier.
"What?" I scoffed. "She's your daughter?" the girl exclaimed, pointing her finger at Yiahn. I rolled my eyes. "No, she's my girlfriend." The girl gasped. "Pedo much?" "It was sarcasm!" I retorted back before beginning to drag Yiahn back the way I had came from. "Goddess my ," I muttered to no one in particular. "I heard that! And, I have a name you know- it's Im Yoona!"
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"Appa," Yiahn began. I looked up from texting on my phone and at her. "Yes, Yiahn-ah?" "I have a question I'd like to know the answer to!" Yiahn finished, smiling up at me.
Her smile reminded me so much of Joohyun's.
"Well... What is the question?" I slowly asked. Her smile faded slightly as she continously opened and closed . I saw a small tear slide down her cheek before hearing her ask, "W-what... What is it like to have an umma, appa?" Slightly taken aback by her question, I looked back at my phone, then to Yiahn again. "Umm..."
Truthfully, I never spared a thought thinking about Yiahn asking me anything related to Joohyun in the four years since her disappearance. It never crossed my mind that she'd ask about it whatsoever. But now that I think about it... I've always seen envy in her eyes whenever she looked at the other children in the daycare going home with their mothers every afternoon I went there to pick her up. Was I stupid to not confront or do anything about Yiahn not having a mother?
"It's..." I desperately looked around the room, hoping that luck was on my side and something could get us off the topic of Yiahn's abrupt question. "It's past your bedtime," I finished, hiding an inner grin. I saw Yiahn puff her cheeks but oblige to what I just said. I grabbed her hand and lead her toward her bed.
"Will appa promise to tell Yiahn tomorrow?" she sleepily asked. "Of course," I lied. "Mmmm," she mumbled before closing her eyes. I tapped my fingers on the bed sliently for five minutes, just to make sure she was fully asleep. Soon enough, I stood up and walked out of Yiahn's room to go to Joohyun and I's room- or should I say- my room.
I plopped myself down on my bed, resting my arm at the back of my head. I stared up at the ceiling, the thoughts of my daughter's question still lingering in my mind. "I should do something about it, shouldn't I?" I muttered while flipping over onto my stomach and gazing at the empty space on the bed. Sighing, I closed the light beside me on the bedstand and drifted off into a deep sleep.
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"Yiahn! Are you finished?!" I yelled from downstairs, one of my hands clutching onto her backpack and the other latched on the doorknob. "You're going to be late!" I heard footsteps padding the upstairs corridor before finally making their way to the bottom level where I stood. "Here I am, appa!" she breathed as I placed the backpack onto her back and opened the front door. I picked her up in a hurried manner before getting into the car and driving toward her daycare.
What I didn't know was that someone was watching our every move.
"Luhan..." the female whispered while I drove out of the driveway and down the road, completely oblivious to the female.
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"If it isn't you," the girl from yesterday- Yoona- smirked. I glared at Yoona. "You work here? At Byeol Daycare?" I asked in an exasperated tone. Yoona nodded as a response, still smirking. "Why?" she said. "Missed me that much?" I felt myself redden at her words. "W-why would I?" I defended. She laughed before glancing over at my daughter. "Yiyi!" she squealed and nuzzled Yiahn's neck. "Annyeong, unnie~" Yiahn greeted. I mentally facepalmed at Yoona's change of attitude before pulling Yiahn away from her. "Okay, Yiahn-ah," I hissed. "Let's go and put your bag-"
"I can do that!" Yoona interrupted, breaking into a smile. "It would be-" "Nah uh!" She snatched the bag from my hands and shook her head at me. "As a carer for the beloved children at Byeol Daycare, I insist I do it," Yoona insisted. Unknowingly, I smirked as Yoona made her way toward the area where the children's bags are kept and placed Yiahn's one at an appropiate reach for her. Yoona skipped back and stuck her tongue out at me. I did the same before making my way toward the exit.
"Bye, Yiahn-ah!" I called. She scurried over to where I stood and hugged my legs. "Bye bye, appa!" I patted her head before motioning for her to go and play with her other friends. Before I left, however, I tapped the back of Yoona's shoulder. "What do you want?" she asked, throwing a glare at me when she had recognised I was the one who tapped her. "Take care of my daughter, or I'll personally kill you, Im Yoona," I seethed and turned around to walk out of the daycare.
"Whatever you say, Xi Luhan," Yoona yelled after me. I stopped in my tracks and turned around. "How do you know my name-" A loud honk from a car overpowered my words, resulting in Yoona not being able to hear what I had said back to her. "Get out of the way!" The driver irritatedly yelled at me. I rolled my eyes as a response to the driver's yelling. and began the walk to my car. Once I opened the door to the car, however, I felt as if someone were watching me- resulting in me to turning around and looking around the carpark.
But no one was there.
I shrugged my shoulders, thinking I was just imagining things before hopping into the car and driving off to work.
"He already moved on, I see..." the female from earlier said, watching me with her crestfallen eyes. She bitterly laughed. "It's my fault after all... I was the one who left him, anyway."
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"Appa, appa!"
The moment I stepped into Byeol Daycare, Yiahn jumped into my arms in an excited manner and hugged me. I chuckled at her actions before placing her onto the floor again. "Why the excitement, Yiahn-ah?" I questioned her. Yoona then approached the two of us, holding Yiahn's backpack in her hands. "Here you are," she gestured for me to take the backpack. I obliged and slung one strap over my shoulder. "I guess, thanks?" I mumbled, slightly embarrassed. "No problem," Yoona coolly said and smiled.
Her smile...
I blinked a few times, trying to get the image of Yoona smiling out of my head. What's going on with me? Am I going crazy? I rubbed my temples before absentmindedly taking Yiahn's hand, before hearing a giggle which caused me to snap into the reality. "What's so funny-" I stared at the owner of the hand, which I thought was Yiahn's, but was instead... Yoona's. I looked up into her eyes and could see we were both flustered by the action I had just done. Quickly, I released her from my grasp and took Yiahn out of the daycare.
"Appa, you and Yoona unnie look good together!" Yiahn squealed once we got into the car. It was as if she was watching her favourite boy band on TV. "I highly doubt that," I replied, deadpanned.
"You know what, appa?" Yiahn added. "I think Yoona unnie would make a great match for appa and a perfect umma for Yiahn!" I roughly parked the car onto our house's driveway. "I-Is that so?" I stuttered, feeling myself go slightly red. Why was I blushing?! I slapped my cheek lightly before exiting the car and dragging Yiahn out of the back seat as well.
"I want her to be my umma!"
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