“Jinni-ah, did you find your star yet?”

That was the question she asked the same morning she went to see Byunghee.

Hearing her daughter talk in her sleep last night made her wonder if she found out who her father was. A part of her was hoping that she did and having to discover him, she wouldn't be mad at her mother while the other part was still hoping that she wouldn't have to face a new world so early in her life.

“I don't know… But I did find someone else who can be my star, is it okay?”

“Who is it?”

“Hmm… Byunghee-shi”

“Oh…”

“Mommy… Can he be my Daddy?”

The question took her by surprise.

Without even knowing it she did find her father and from the looks of it, she grew fond if him. She softly her daughters hair, while they were both sitting in Jinni's bed. She looked down at her daughter while she was looking back up her eyes wide of anticipation waiting for her mother's answer.

“Jinni-ah… Mommy has a story to tell you about your star… Do you want to hear it?”

“About Byunghee-Appa?”

“Yes”

“Okay!”

“Honey… Mommy loves you very much, you know that, right?”

“Are you in trouble again mommy?”

“I don't know, you'll have to tell me once the story is done, okay?”

“Mhmm.”

By the end of her story, Hannah was holding her tears not wanting to break in front of her three years old.

As one tear was able to escape, her little girl was quick to wipe it away, hugging her mother tight. All Jinni wanted was to have a father and now that she found him, she was only thinking about that. Even though she was still young, she could see that her mother was in pain and wanting to comfort her, she hugged it out letting out words that made Hannah chuckle.

“You're not in trouble mommy. I love you”

“I love you too sweetheart.”

And now she was back in his arms, breaking away from the worries and the insecurities she had over the past three years.

She was lying in his embrace, still hearing the quicken pace of his heartbeat. With his arms around her, he was her arms, his skin tingling at the contact with her heated skin not seeming to have cooled down after their little intimacy a few minutes ago. A last kiss on her forehead made her look up at him, gaining her attention as he was ready to spill out his feelings about wanting to be part of her life.

“I can't promise you that I'll be there every time you'll wake up in the morning or when you'll sleep at night, nor can I promise that I'll be able to pick up Jinni after school or attend every recital or even every one of her birthday parties, but one thing that I can promise you is that I'll still be here. I'm not walking away from this. It's going to be hard trying to adjust to this new life but I know it's going to be worth it… I'm not going to leave you alone anymore. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere, whether you like it or not. I'll be here for our baby princess and for you as the mother of my child and hopefully my future wife. I've lived my whole life with you by my side and it's only recently that I realized that my feelings for you grew. Those three years that we spent apart were almost unbearable since I didn't have my best friend by my side to support me anymore, but it was also hard because the woman I love was raising our child on the other side of the ocean, all by herself... I'm not letting you run away. You mean to much to me to let you escape like you did last time. I'm going to be the father our Jinni needs and the man you need me to be.”

Those words were engraved in her heart and her mind. From the beginning she knew it would be difficult, but hearing the sincerity in his voice, she wanted to give it a try, she wanted to give what Jinni wanted, which was her own father.  She also wanted him as the man she wanted, needed and loved and from the looks of it, he wanted this too.

“Let's give this a try Hannah. For her and for us. Will figure out the rest along the way, but just for now, let me be by your side. I love you Hannah and I don't want to let you go nor I want to leave Jinni without her father. Having spent the day with her yesterday, I got the taste of a life I wanted and all this because of you. So please, don't leave me. I'll prove to you that we can make this work.”

“Okay.”

“Really?”

“Byunghee… I'm sorry for putting you through this. I just didn't want to push your dream away because I know how hard you worked on making it come true. If I had told you from the start, I was afraid that you would resent me from pushing your dream further away and that you would hate me… or even worse, abandoned me. I didn't want this for you… I was there from the start and seeing how much you love what you do… I mean who am I to make you live a life you'll probably be hating?”

“I don't hate you Hannah, I never did. Now that it's over, let me stay by your side. We'll look for a place together and move in so we can start to live together as a family. You, me and Jinni… No matter what it takes, we'll make it work.”

“Sweetheart, what if I told you that the star you found was the one you were searching for?”

“I don't understand…”

“Do you know what is Byunghee's job?”

“He is a singer?”

“Yes and a very popular one. He is so popular that people get really curious about his private life.”

“Private life?”

“People get more curious about him. They want to know everything about him and because of that it becomes a little bit difficult to live a… hmm… normal life, like you and me. It's like if there were… spies that were secretly walking around him without him knowing about them and follow his every move… Do you know what I mean?”

“I think I do… Does it mean that the spies are like ninjas if he can't see them?”

“You can say that and because of those spies, it becomes difficult for him to do whatever he wants, it also becomes more difficult for him to be able to keep a secret because those spies will do everything in their power to find out if he is hiding something.”

“Oh~ Do you know his secret?”

“Yes. We are actually sharing that same secret”

“Really? Can you tell me? I promise I won't tell anyone! Not even Grandpa and Grandma, please?”

“Well Grandpa and Grandma already know this secret -”

“Then I won't tell anybody else, not even the spies!”

“I know you won't honey, I'm just afraid to tell you because once I do, I'm afraid that you'll get hurt…”

“I'll be very, very careful Mommy, I promise!”

“I know you will sweetheart, I know you will… Jinni… Do you really want Byunghee to be your Dad?

“Yes!”

“Can you tell me why?”

“Hmm… Because he was holding your hand and I know that parents hold each other's hands like Grandpa and Grandma do sometimes and they are your parents. Oh! And also because you told me that daddy was a star and Byunghee is a star so I wanted Byunghee to be Byunghee-Appa!”

With the sudden cracked voice, The confession was finally spoke out.

 “Jinni-ah… He's the only star that you'll get to see because he's your true star, the one you want…”

“Does that mean he can be my Daddy? Can I call him Daddy?”

“Yes, he can and yes, you can.”

“Is that the secret Mommy?”

“Mhmm. I hope you're not mad at mommy, Jinni-ah. I did this to keep you safe, because you're too precious for me, you know that, right?”

“If I have a daddy, then why would I be mad at mommy?”

~A/N~