F is for Father

Kae adjusted the pretty, blue beanie that HimChan (much too excitedly) bought her recently with a smile on her face as YoungJae slipped his coat on.

“Where are we going, Jae?” she asked as she made faces at herself in the mirror by the door, waiting for YoungJae to put his shoes on. He chuckled at her childish behavior.

“You’ll see when we get there. Stop asking!” he scolded playfully, nudging her head with a bright smile on his face. She pouted at him, rubbing the spot he nudged her. In response to her sulking response, YoungJae patted the “offended” spot as an apology, which Kae accepted with a grin. He announced their departure to the rest of the dorm, earning him a yell of acknowledgement back from HimChan. As they walked out the door, Kae grabbed YoungJae’s hand and clung tightly to his arm. He looked down at her in surprise and noticed the downwards gaze with a hint of shame and embarrassment on her face. With a sad yet understanding smile, he grasped her hand firmly in reassurance and calmly petted her head. His actions seemed to soothe her uneasiness as she lifted her head up, beaming happily at YoungJae. It was the first time Kae was leaving the house after YoungJae found out about her being bullied. So it came as no surprise that the girl was shaky and scared despite her excitement.

After a few blocks clinging tightly to YoungJae’s side, Kae became more comfortable again and slowly drew farther and farther away from YoungJae while still holding his hand. When she saw a pile of puppies on display at a pet shop, she ran a little too fast to the side for YoungJae’s reach and let go of his hand in the process. Instantaneously, her excitement turned into fear as she turned back towards YoungJae. He stared back in concern and immediately grabbed her hand. Like a drug addict recovering from withdrawal, she released a sigh of relief, her smile returning. He smiled back, yet it was disingenuous (not that Kae could tell) in comparison to hers.

The recent bullying really tore down her whole confidence. And it worried YoungJae immensely.

“Kae?”

“Hmm?”

“…never mind.”

She gave him a confused look, which he shook off and told her it was nothing. Uneasy but accepting, Kae turned back to check out the puppies while YoungJae stared blankly forward, reminding himself constantly not to squeeze her hand too tightly as a projection of his anger at the girls that terrorized her. He would have punched them all in the face if it wasn’t for the fact that they all needed to keep a low profile for awhile.

The rest of the walk to their destination was uneventful (much to YoungJae’s relief). As they arrived, Kae gasped in awe at the fancy looking apartment complex they were standing in front of.

“Jae…you know someone that lives here?” she wondered as her eyes shimmered in anticipation. He nodded.

“He’s someone very important.”

“Important?”

YoungJae punched in the numbers to enter the complex and took the elevator up to the top floor. He could only smile at the absolutely ecstatic look on Kae’s face. Gently, he squeezed her hand to get her attention when she became really distracted by the fancy looking elevator. She turned to him with curious eyes as he nudged her to the exit of the elevator when they finally arrived. As she bounded out, YoungJae grabbed her hand so she wouldn’t get lost and led her towards their destination.

Once YoungJae started knocking on the door, Kae stiffened up and hid behind YoungJae without letting go of his hand. The door opened up revealing a kind-looking older male.

“YoungJae-ah! Long time no see!” he greeted warmly as he hugged the boy. “How have you been, my boy?”

“I’ve been good, how was your trip, TaeSung-sshi?” YoungJae asked with a smile.

“Great, I’m sorry for abandoning you boys for so long but it seems you did just fine without me. I’m proud of you boys for not killing Arcane. And like we promised, you must let go of that hatred and move on with your lives,” TaeSung smiled as he patted YoungJae on the head. “You’ve all grown so much…”

After his little spiel, he noticed the timid girl hiding behind YoungJae and chuckled lightly, kneeling down so he was lower than her.

“And this must be our new princess. What is your name, dear?” he inquired.

“Kae…Kim  KaeYeon…Jae…gave me the name…” she explained through a muffled voice, covered by YoungJae’s jacket as her fists curled tightly on his coat.

“KaeYeon, huh? That’s a very pretty name. My name is Kim TaeSung. If you would let me, I would like to be your new Appa,” he offered with a gentle smile as he held out his hand. Kae seemed shocked by his proposal and shot a glance up at YoungJae in confusion. He patted her on the head to reassure her, but she still looked apprehensive. Rather than taking his hand, she hid behind YoungJae even more. Instead of feeling rejected, TaeSung just nodded his head, retracting his hand in understanding.

“Don’t fret, KaeYeon. I’m not going to take you away from YoungJae,” he promised as he stood up and patted YoungJae on the shoulder while keeping eye contact with her. “Hmm, I know, how about we go Lotte World? Would you like that?”

“Lotte World?”

“It’s a biiiiig amusement park,” he emphasized with his arms.

“Amusement…park?”

“It’ll be fun, Kae,” YoungJae encouraged.

“Will…Jae be there?” she asked timidly, looking up at YoungJae. He smiled and held her hand.

“Of course.”

~

Kae gasped in astonishment. Her eyes sparkled with bright, childish mirth as hung open in utter awe. YoungJae held in his chuckle as he ruffled her hair.

“It only gets better if you actually go play rather than standing and gawking,” he suggested, knocking her out of her stupor.

“Is this your first time at an amusement park, KaeYeon?” TaeSung asked, earning a shy nod from the young girl. “Well then, there’s no time to waste, let’s go have fun!”

A small smile broke on Kae’s features as YoungJae grabbed her forward towards the spinning teacups. She stared at the ride with much interest as YoungJae teased TaeSung to keep his breakfast down since the little er had every intention of spinning the cup as fast as possible. When it was their turn, the hyperactive boy grabbed Kae’s hand to find the “best” teacup as TaeSung followed after with a fatherly smile on his face. It’s been awhile since he had seen YoungJae so carefree.

“When the ride starts, we get to spin this fast as possible!” YoungJae explained as he sat at one edge. TaeSung took a seat on the other side of Kae, who was sitting in the middle, listening very carefully to YoungJae’s instructions.

“Now, YoungJae, don’t get too carried away especially since KaeYeon has nev-”

His sentence was interrupted by the mad spinning motion YoungJae was causing their teacup. Kae laughed as she helped YoungJae spin it faster and faster. TaeSung could only laugh along despite the promise of an enormous headache he was going to have by the end of this.

“That was fun!” Kae cheered as she jumped out of the ride. Her lack of balance knocked her straight into TaeSung. She apologized and tried to retract herself immediately.

“Whoa, careful,” he advised as he held her up. All her sudden movements weren’t exactly helping her balance. She nodded slowly and smiled up at TaeSung before running after YoungJae, whose inner child had come out and had long bolted for the next ride.

He chuckled, “Was that smile your way of telling me I might be okay for you?”

TaeSung watched with a smile as Kae grabbed YoungJae’s hand to slow down the hyperactive child. However, his eyebrows furrowed in slight concern when he noticed her fingers digging a little too tight for comfort into her own wrist.

~

“Let’s go on that one!”

“Jae…that one looks scary…”

“It’ll be okay. I’m with you, aren’t I?”

Kae smiled and nodded, following YoungJae in line.

“I’m gonna sit this one out, YoungJae. Your level of energy is way too much for my old bones,” TaeSung chuckled. Kae looked up at him curiously as he patted her on the head. “If you want to sit this one out, I’ll be over here, okay?”

Her eyes followed him as he walked over to take a seat by the bench outside of the rollercoaster. YoungJae smiled and nudged her.

“He’s great, isn’t he?”

Kae smiled and nodded. He took her hand once more and reassured.

“Don’t worry. This ride looks scary, but it’s really fun once you’re on it. Once you go zooming down the big hill, you forget everything!”

She froze.

“…Kae? What’s wrong?” YoungJae asked in worry when he felt her stop. But once he snapped her out of her trance, she returned back to smiling up at YoungJae as if nothing happened. He smiled back at her despite the ominous vibe he was getting from Kae.

He told himself it was just his imagination and not to worry about it since today was all about making Kae happy and that’s what he should be concentrating on.

After the momentary lapse of movement from earlier, Kae was back to her old self, excited for the ride. Still, YoungJae kept a wary eye on her while maintaining his happy façade in front of her. He made sure she was secured properly once they got on. He held her hand through the whole ride.

Everything was fine…

…until the end of the ride…

…when YoungJae got out first.

That was his only mistake.

Kae out.

~

“KAE!”

“KAEYEON!”

YoungJae panted as he ran around frantically. He paused for a moment to search the crowd. Perhaps she got lost in it. TaeSung appeared before him.

“Any sign of her?”

YoungJae shook his head.

“I don’t understand what happened. She was fine…and then she suddenly ran off and got mixed in with the crowd…” he informed TaeSung.

“She was acting a little strange earlier…be careful, YoungJae. Tread lightly if you see her,” he advised the younger male, who understood TaeSung’s ‘coded’ message about Kae’s condition. They separated ways in search of her again.

Just as YoungJae was about to run off, he wandered towards the bathroom. His expression stiffened.

“S-She couldn’t possibly be in there…” he tried to convince himself. With a frozen smile on his face, he turned to leave, only to hear the echoing sound of sniffles coming from the bathroom.

“Kae? Are you in there?” he called out. He cursed under his breath as he looked left and right to make sure that no one was looking. A blush plastered on YoungJae’s face as he tiptoped as quietly as possible into the girls’ restroom, praying that Kae was in there and no one else was. He was thankful that his prayer was answered when he found the girl curled up in a ball, hiding in a corner below the sink counter. He remembered TaeSung’s words.

“Hi,” he greeted in such a soft voice that it almost didn’t even echo despite the acoustics of the room. She gasped, looking up at him in surprise, immediately shying away from him. “Don’t worry…I won’t hurt you…I just want to help.”

“W-Who are you?”

A frightened child’s voice.

Without faltering, he smiled brightly and answered, “My name is YoungJae. What’s yours?”

“Dee…” she answered quietly.

“Dee? What a cute name. How old are you, Dee?” he casually asked.

“I’m…three…”

“Wow, you’re already three?! You’re so grown up!” he gasped out dramatically. “What’s a grown up young lady like yourself hiding under the counters for?”

“I’m…lost…can’t find…Appa and Umma…” she cried out, hiccupping through her tears.

“Oh…you poor thing…there, there, it’ll be okay…I’ll help you find your Appa, okay?” he reassured, wiping her tears gently with his thumbs and patting her head. She brightened ever so slightly at his words before shrinking away again.

“What’s the matter, Dee?”

“It won’t help…Appa and Umma…can’t hear me. They never hear me…my voice won’t reach them…” she muttered into her knees as she hugged her legs to herself.

“Then…I will be Dee’s voice and call out loudly to find them,” he proposed, holding out his hand for her.

“Young…Jae-oppa…will?” she asked with uncertainty.

“Of course, after all, we can’t have our little princess hiding out under the sink all day like this, right?”

“Princess?”

“Yes, Dee is a princess. All little girls are born princesses. Didn’t you know that?” he chuckled, gently pulling her out from under the sink.

“If…Dee is a princess…can…YoungJae-oppa be my prince?”

He bowed in front of her, holding out her hand respectfully.

“Whatever my princess desires.”

She giggled, jumping into YoungJae’s arms, curling her arms around his neck. He picked her up easily and told her, “You aren’t alone anymore. So don’t be afraid. If you need me, I’ll be there.”

“Thank you…YoungJae-oppa…”

With that, she closed her eyes and fell asleep. YoungJae gently Kae’s head.

“What a good girl…”

As he took the sleeping Kae out of the bathroom, he met up with TaeSung so he could take them home. TaeSung automatically took the sleeping Kae from YoungJae’s arms and hugged her tightly against himself. While walking back to the car, Kae hugged TaeSung around the neck and mumbled drowsily, “Appa is warm.”

The older male smiled at her words and patted her head.

~

YoungJae opened the file on his phone as they drove home.

Name: Unknown
Age: Unknown
Possible purpose: Caretaker of all personalities?

Name: Dee
Age: 3
Possible purpose: Traumatic childhood memories

A sigh escaped his lips as he closed the file after updating it.

“Your parents…must have abandoned you…at an amusement park, huh, Kae?”

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I’ M SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING BUT THIS CHAPTER TOOK FOREVER TO WRITE. OTL

I hope…things made sense…as to what’s going on. Things were planned out a little differently from what I wrote but too tired to change it.

/gives up/

~Kira :3