Yongguk glanced down at his daughter and bit back a smile. Unlike the other children who were jumping out of the cars and running into the playground, she huddled near his legs. Her older brother had long waved goodbye and disappeared into the mass of children but she was shielding herself behind him.

            Yongguk bent down and smoothed back her hair. “Kyuri, you’re going to have to go to school. You can’t stay by my side forever. Come, I’ll walk you to where your class is lining up.”

            She shook her head and refused to speak to him. “Oppa already went inside. You’re going to need to be a big girl and go to school too. It’ll be fun. Your classmates will be nice and you can learn and play and you have mommy’s lunch. And once you’re done, daddy will be here to pick you up, okay?”

            Kyuri leaned into Yongguk and shook her head, still mum. Her two hands clutched the handles of her lunchbox tightly and she was on the verge of tears. Yongguk clucked his tongue and hugged her. He smelled the softener on her new clothes and the scent that was forever his baby girl.

            “I’ll go with you, okay?”

            She looked up at him fearfully and finally in a small voice, said, “Daddy will you stay with me?”

            Yongguk was torn. He didn’t want to lie but he knew that if he told the truth, the likelihood of Kyuri going with him would drop down to zero. He decided that honesty was the best policy. “I can only stay until the teacher takes you in. Then you’re going to have to learn and do well at school. Remember, we bought brand new notebooks for this too.”

            Yongguk stood up and held out his hand. She slowly unfurled one hand from her lunchbox and looked at him with large trusting eyes. Glistening, unshed tears were still in her eyes and Yongguk had her close her eyes, kissing the water away. “Okay, let’s go.”

            After a few steps, she stopped and held on tightly. “Daddy, will I be okay?”

            He smiled at her. “Yes. You will be more than okay. You’re going to have so much fun, you’re going to forget about daddy.”

            She shook her head earnestly. “No I won’t! I won’t!” She side stepped closer to him again and Yongguk patted her head.

            “Well, you won’t but you won’t be sad either. Are you ready to conquer kindergarten?” Kyuri was hesitant and Yongguk swung her arm in encouragement until she gave a slow nod. He brightened and they walked up the steps together. The father-daughter pair walked towards the mass of little kids and immediately, there was a loud cry.

            Another girl was holding tightly onto her father, refusing to let go even with the teacher coaxing her. The other students watched the spectacle and Kyuri turned to her dad. “Daddy, I’m going to go now. I’ll eat the lunch mommy made me and I’ll be waiting right here when school ends, okay?”

            Yongguk smiled and kissed his daughter’s forehead. “Have fun, honey, and stay safe.” Kyuri gave her father one last wave goodbye before slipping among the crowd of children and disappearing. He stayed there and watched until her class was lined up and marched in. Just before she walked into the school, Kyuri turned around again and gave him a brave smile.

            Yongguk was waiting for her at the place where they had promised to meet. He saw the doors burst open and one class after another was let out. His vision blurred as he tried to pick out his daughter from the many other dark-haired children jumping up and down. Finding Kyuri was like trying to find a bent straw in a haystack; nearly impossible.

            Out of nowhere, a figure attacked his legs and Yongguk laughed. “Daddy!” Kyuri was smiling up at him and in her hand was a nametag. “You’re here!”

            Yongguk held out his hand for her to take. “How was school?”

            His daughter looked almost shy as she answered, “A lot of fun.”

            He her head and picked her up as they waited for Yongwon to come out. “So you think tomorrow you can just go to the line by yourself? Daddy doesn’t have to wait with you?”

            He saw her hesitate and she bit her lip as she thought about it. What made Yongguk’s heart melt was the little shake of her head as she finally answered. “No, I still want daddy to be with me.” 

sorry this one is a little short ><

Just an announcement regarding requests, this edition will be ending with the completion of the current list of requests. I will be opening requests (and starting the third edition) either July 23rd or 25th, depending on when I can finish.