"In her eyes, he is the closest thing to God; in her eyes he is a King. To her father, she means the world, she means everything."

*Italics are Yuri's thoughts.

The light sent me here in a bedroom before it vanished. A lone yellow lamp lit up the room. I looked around and closed my eyes as sudden rush of

nostalgia came over me. This room was filled with many laughter, smiles, and happy memories. There was her bedroom window, where we used to 

count the number of birds flying during the day and the stars shining at night; There was her wooden desk table that I bought for her almost 10 years

ago, when she cutely whined to me about colouring her books on the carpet floor; There was her bedroom wall, where we used to stick posters or

hang pictures; and then there was her bed, where I used to tickle her when she wouldn’t wake up in the mornings, cuddle with her when she couldn’t

sleep, read her bedtime stories and kiss her goodnight.

I walked quietly towards her. I was about to smile at the familiar scene of her sleeping, but sadness quickly filled me as I saw her with puffy eyes. 

She must have cried herself to sleep. I swallowed a sob threatening to force its way out of my throat, as I thought of the scenes from the hospital earlier. 

I saw Yoona, my ever strong Yoona, sobbing and insisting to stay with her Umma as Taeyeon tried to take her home; and then there was my Soojung,

my innocent Soojung, inconsolable on Tiffany’s arms – crying her desires to go to Heaven if her Umma goes there too. My poor daughters… 

Appa is terribly sorry.

I knelt down to get a better view of my Angel’s lovely face. Signs of tears she shed were evident, and I cursed myself for being the cause of it, but 

watching her sleeping... instantly put a smile on my face. I reached out and gently Yoona’s cheek. I felt her warm melting my cold hand.

She flinched a bit from the sudden contact, but rubbed her cheek against it once my cold hand turned warm. How cute. I chuckled quietly.

My Yoona… The apple of my eye, who kept praying to see me... my daughter, who still smiled despite all the responsibilities that suddenly befell

her... and my daughter, whose unconditional love for me never waivered despite all her sufferings that my death had caused. Don’t worry, Yoong…

Appa is now here to make things better.

I called out her name softly and saw her eyes slowly fluttering. The moment she opened her eyes, I felt myself being sad, for her eyes were red and

sore. Despite the sadness in my heart, I gave her a weak smile when I saw her narrowing her eyes at me, trying to see who was the person in front of

her. She must have realised who I was, as she gasped and quickly sat up.

“Appa? Is that you?” She whispered with her eyes wide-open.

“Yes, sweetie. It’s appa.” She choked up as she reached out to touch my face, trying to find out if I was real.

The instant I saw her tears starting to fall down her cheeks, my smile turned into a frown. I felt my heart hurt – it always hurt whenever I see her

tears. I never did like seeing my little girl sad and crying.

She suddenly threw her arms around my neck. Sweetie… She buried her face in the crook of my neck and cried. Let it all out… I wrapped my arms

around her, rubbing her back lightly. Appa knows you’ve been hurting a lot. The last time a similar scene like this happened was ten years ago, when I

had to leave for a three-day business trip in Japan, and after finding that out, little Yoona was inconsolable. I never went to any business trips after

that – if it meant that my daughter wouldn’t shed her precious tears over me again. But just this once… just this once, I would let her tears flow,

knowing that this daughter of mine has so many heartaches hidden in her that needed to be let out.

“Appa… everything is bad here.” My soul was crying in Heaven when I saw the three loves of my life in pain.

“Appa knows, Yoong. That’s why I’m here.”

“I wish you were alive, Appa. It has been very hard for me since you were gone.” I wish that too, so all of you wouldn’t suffer because of me.

“I promise you, when you wake up, even though I won’t be here, your Umma will be better and stay here with you and Soojung. Everything will be

better… you’ll see.” I felt her calming down and heard her sniffling. She removed her head from the crook of neck, and my fingers instantly wiped

her tears away. She stared at me with so much sadness in her eyes, and I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Yoong, please