I gulped as I stared at my Dad. Time seemed to freeze. A million thoughts went through my head, such as how did he get here? Why did he come? Why did he come after only such a short period of time? And why didn't he tell me?

"Joyce." Appa's expression relaxed, and he gave me a good natured smile.

"You're Joyce's father?" Daehyun asked, and looked inbetween us.

"Yeah, he is." My voice cracked half-way through.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Appa asked Daehyun.

"Jung Daehyun. I'm Jo-"

"He's from B.A.P. Ahjussi's band." I cut in before Daehyun could finish his sentence.

"Oh! You're the blonde guy!" Appa said, and clapped his hands together in realisation.

Daehyun cringed. "One of them, yes. But I'm also Joy-"

"Appa, don't be like that." I told him with a little force, cutting Daehyun off in the process. "That's not a nice thing to say."

"What? He was blonde, wasn't he?" Appa demanded.

"But still, you can't define someone by their hair colour." I told him. "There are six of them in the group! That's like me saying that you're the Lee girl's father. It's such a generic term."

"Well, I'm sorry. Wow, I had no idea that it meant so much to you." Appa said, holding up his hands in defeat.

"Honestly, sir, it's fine." Daehyun assured Appa.

"But . . . where are you coming from? Where the two of you somewhere together?"  Appa asked, and pointed a finger at each of us.

"No, no, no, absoultely not." I said, drowning out Daehyun's 'yes'. Appa gave me a suspicious look, and I took that as my cue to elaborate (or lie) further. "I just met Daehyun on my way back, and I figured that it was safer to walk with him, rather than by myself."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Daehyun don a hurt expression. I didn't even have time to cast him an apologetic look, before Appa's next question came.

"Where were you coming from?" Appa asked me.

"I was visiting Nana." I lied. Appa narrowed his eyes at me for such a brief moment, that when I looked back, I thought that I may have imagined it.

Appa gave me a curt nod, and Daehyun opened his mouth to speak again, but I stopped him.

"Appa, why are you here?" I asked.

"I told you, it was a surprise. I needed to take care of some things here, and I think that it would've been better to come in person rather than do it over the phone." Appa explained.

"What sort of things?" I asked in confusion.

"I think that it may be better to talk about this in private, Joyce." Appa said awkwardly, casting Daehyun a glance.

I nodded, and said and grabbed one of Appa's bags. I said a quick bye to Daehyun and followed begind Appa into the hotel.

I stuffed the key roughly into the lock and turned it. The door bounced off of the wall. I led the way into our modest living quarters, and held the door open for Appa.

I shut the door behind me, and walked into the living room. I was shocked to see Nana sitting down on the couch, her eyes trained on the television, but not really watching it.

"Nana," I half groaned.

"Joyce," Nana said. "You're back early."

She saw Appa standing behind me.

"Oh, you already met your dad?" She asked me, already knowing the answer.

"You knew that he was coming?" I asked her, slightly astounded.

"Yeah, Ahjussi rang me up earlier in the day and asked me to keep an eye out for him." Nana informed me. I winced.

"When did you get home?" I asked her in a whisper.

"Shouldn't you already know, Joyce? Seeing as you were just visiting her?" Appa asked me skeptically.

"Before lunch." Nana told me, ignoring Appa's question.

I wanted to kick myself. I had just dug myself in further, I should have just have been honest from the start, and not try and avoid the issue. It just resulted in being more problematic than it needed to be.

"Wow, I'm tired." I said quickly, stretching my arms in the air and attempting to do a fake yawn.

"Uh huh." Appa said and raised an eyebrow. "Go to bed then, you can have time to think of your excuse."

I did a fake chuckle and wished him goodnight. I quickly went into my room. Nana followed straight behind me, and collapsed on my bed.

I felt like I was four years old again. Appa always told me to think of an excuse when my lie failed to work. I guess he hadn't grown out of that habit. But, it wasn't as if I was complaining. It gave me time to think things over.

"Did your Appa meet Daehyun?" She asked, fiddling with the corner of the duvet.

"In a way." I replied. She gave me a puzzled look, so I continued. "I didn't tell him that we were dating."

"Joyce, I hate to tell you this, but I think that he already knows."

"I know, Daehuyun was going to tell him, but I kind of stopped him."

"No, it's not that, it's just . . ." Nana faltered. "Look at your arm."

I looked down, and this time I didn't want to kick myself, I wanted to beat myself up. My sleeve was rolled up, and Daehyun's drawings were visible. A great thing for Appa to see.

Nana scooched over on the bed, as I fell face down on the mattress, bouncing slightly. I buried my face in the pillow and resisted the urge to scream in frustration.

After a while, I calmed down somewhat. I looked at Nana seriously. Her expression was a mixture of amusement and sympathy.

"Do you think that he saw?" I asked her. Nana laughed at me.

"Of course he saw! How could he miss that colourful drawing? It looks like you used about fifty colours!" Nana exclaimed.

"It wasn't that many. Maybe twenty or so?" I defended Daehyun's artwork.

"The amount you used doesn't matter, Joyce. What matters is that it is highly visble. Especially with your sleeve pushed up." Nana told me laughingly.

I buried my face in my hands, and gave Nana an exapserated look. I frowned when I saw what she was wearing.

"Whose is that?" I asked, pointing to her over sized cardigan.

Nana pulled the edges of the jacket more firmly around her. I barely caught the murmer of "Zelo" that escaped her lips. I smiled. So the girl that never got cold wanted Zelo's jacket because she was cold? Or was there something else that she had neglected to tell me. 

I eventually wriggled the story out of Nana, though it was a long and tough process. It turns out that since I was abscent from meeting her at the hospital and taking her home, Zelo had been there instead. 

Whether or not Zelo had been there already, or he had only come after he had heard that I wasn't around to take Nana home, was still in doubt. However, by the look on Nana's face as she was telling me, I highly suspected that he was there already.

Zelo had taken her home, and because she was "cold" (Nana never ever gets cold, so I can't understand her logic), Zelo had given her his jacket to warm her up.

*                          *                       *

The waitress put the cups down in front of us. Appa and I quickly thanked her as she left to deal with more customers, who were becoming increasingly impatient with the slow service.

"So, Appa, why are you here?" I asked him. I had avoided asking him the question this morning, mainly because I was afraid that he was here to take me back to England.

Appa didn't reply, but gave me a stern look.

"Joy, you know that I trust and love you unconditionally, but-" Appa began.

"Please don't make me go back to England." I cut across him. "Appa, I really like it here. I haven't been here that long, and I made great friends-"

"Such as that Daehyun fellow?" It was Appa's turn to cut across me. I gave him half of a smile.

"Well, yeah." I said, trying not to be discouraged by Appa's expression. "Actually, Appa, there is something that I want to tell you about that . . ."

"Go on." Appa nodded his head.

"Well, you see, Daehyun and I are actually . . . dating." I said slowly, enunciating each letter of the last word slowly. I hesitated, waiting to see Appa's expression.

Appa said nothing for a few moments. I began to get nervous. I think that getting worried has become a habit of mine. Funny though, before I moved to Seoul the first time, I wasn't that much of a worrier. I always believed that everything happened for a reason.

Most people couldn't see the logic in it, but I used to be able to see it clearly. Now, however, it was a different story. I was questioning every single event that lead up to everything.

"Where were you coming back from last night?" Appa asked, betraying no emotion.

"We, um, went to Busan, and he introduced me to his family." I said, keeping my head low.

"His family?" Appa asked, and if I wasn't mistaken, I think he sounded a little hurt. However, he quickly covered the sour note in his voice up. "Do I get to meet him, seeing as his family got to meet you?"

"I can call him, I suppose." I said awkwardly. "But he is an idol, Appa, he might not be able to make it."

"I'm sure that he can spare several minutes out of his day to meet me." Appa snapped at me.

One phone call later, and it was all arranged. Daehyun was going to try and get over here as fast as possible. He had something to take care of before he could meet us, though.

Appa and I sat in silence. We ate the food that was delivered to us, but I accidently let my tea go cold. I drank some of it once I remembered it, and nearly spat it out. As much as I love tea, I wasn't at the stage where I could drink it cold yet. I wasn't that much of a tea fanatic.

Once Daehyun arrived, looking out of breath and exhausted (he had bags under his eyes), Appa just surveyed him, like a piece of meat at the supermarket.

"Hello," Daehyun said respectfully as soon as he arrived. He took the seat beside me. "I'm sorry that I made you wait for so long, I had to go over a few things with my manager."

"It's alright." Appa and I said at the same time.

"We weren't waiting for that long." I finished for the two of us.

"So, Daehyun . . ." Appa said slowly, surveying him. "I hear you are dating my daughter."

I cringed at Appa's bluntness. Did he have to say it like that.

"Yes, sir, I am." Daehyun said, as if he were talking to a military officer. I wasn't the only one to pick up on it, either, as Appa said something to Daehyun along the lines of, "I'm not a general".

"So, Daehyun, are you the reason that my daughter doesn't want to leave Korea?" Appa asked him.

"Honestly? I don't know." Daehyun replied easily. I guess all the interviews from being an idol paid off.

"Appa, can't you just accept that I don't want to leave Korea for a lot of reasons? Look, even my Korean got better! Don't you remember how you used to scold me about my pronunciation sometimes? Well, I can now pronounce words with no bother." I told him proudly.

I heard Daehyun scoff and mutter something about "the shoe being on the other foot". Probably in reference to me being strict with their English pronunciation, but my Korean wasn't half as bad as theirs. It was just a few words, and they weren't even noticeable, seeing as no one ever called me out on it.

"How long has this been going on between you two?" Appa asked, ignoring me completely.

"Since Joyce was teaching my group and I English. Then she left without another word, and we recently got back together again when she came back." Daehyun explained.

"And your manager, CEO, owner, whatever you call them, is okay with this?" Appa asked.

"Yes, in fact they all like Joyce." Daehyun told him. "And even my family like her."

Appa continued to quiz Daehyun for a while, by asking him questions about his band, his old school, idol life. It got a bit awkward when they got to Daehyun's family. Daehyun tentatively explained about his mother being in hospital and that he no longer saw his father. Thankfully, Appa took that his cue not to press the issue any further.

"Hold on a moment, Joyce, when I met Daehyun yesterday, why didn't you tell me that he was your boyfriend?" Appa asked. I think that he had already taken a shine to Daehyun. It was hard not to, though. Who could resist Daehyun's smile?

I faltered, "Because I was afraid that if I told you straight off the bat, you'd get angry."

"Angry?" Appa asked, slightly incredulous. "I'm just glad that you have a boyfriend and won't end up an old spinister now."

Daehyun snorted and my eyes widened in shock. "What? Appa!" I complained.

Was it a rule that your family had to embarrass you in front of friends and people that you are dating. Of course Appa tried to embarrass me in front of Nana, but Nana was Nana - a part of the furniture. It was impossible to be embarrassed in front of her.

"But, Appa . . ." I hesitated, did I want to know the answer to my burning question? Yes, I did. "Why did you come to Korea?"

"Dongyul came home a while ago." Appa said, and Daehyun pursed his lips. "I thought that you might come back home with him."

"Why?" I asked, ignoring Daehyun's look of fierce disapproval. "You told me that I could stay here, I didn't think that there was any cause to go back home. To be honest, I didn't even know that Dongyul had gone back."

"Good thing as well." Daehyun muttered under his breath, and I gave him a sharp kick under the table.

"Excuse me?" Appa asked, and Daehyun was momentarily flustered. I could tell that he didn't expect this question.

"Well, I just . . . didn't like Dongyul. We didn't get along. At all." Daehyun explained. "We never did."

"Why?" Appa asked, curious. I glared at Daehyun. Did he really have to say anything. "Speaking of which, Joyce, what happened to your arm?"

I groaned. "I fell?" I tried, but I knew that it was no use. Appa gave me a look, that basically told me that I had to tell him the full truth. I winced, and began to tell Appa the truth about the creep that Dongyul really was.

He was shocked to say the least when I had finished my story. However, he did something unexpected after I had finished my story. He patted Daehyun on the shoulder.

"Thanks, son, for keeping her safe." Appa told him sincerely.

I had a feeling that everything was going to be okay. I think that Dad was perfectly okay with Daehyun, and who knows, maybe everything will work out.

"Appa, you never answered my question." I reminded him. "Why did you come to Seoul?"

"Oh, that. It's nothing really. It's just a distant relative's funeral. I wouldn't have bothered coming, but I wanted to enroll you in school, and I was looking at some property." Appa told me, smiling. He took a swig of his beverage, trying to hide his grin. However, he forgot about the staleness of the cold drink, and he made a sour face.

"Property?" Daehyun and I asked at the same time.

"I was thinking of buying a place for you here in Seoul." Appa said, but added on when he saw my jubilant expression, "Of course Nana can stay there as well, and I'll be visiting regularly, so I expect the house to constantly be in tip-top condition."

"Appa . . ." I said slowly, my expression full of disbelief. "I love you . . . way more than Daehyun."

"Yah!" Daehyun said indignantly beside me.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A/N; This is really winding down. I hope that you'll all continue to support me in the future, I am thinking of doing another Daehyun fic after I get a few things sorted with the other stories :)

He's just too hard to resist :)

Please comment ^^

~* Fighting *~