Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.

“Why is daddy not answering ?He’s supposed to be home by now already.” ByulHee asked impatiently with knitted brows. She was standing in front of MinSeok and MinYoung who were watching her calling Chen using MinSeok’s phone but still Chen hadn’t picked up from the other line. ByulHee had been calling twice but still Chen was not picking up and that caused ByulHee to get worried.

The concerned look can be seen clearly on her face as she kept sighing when her daddy wasn’t answering the call. She dialed the number again for the third time and put the phone at her ear with her eyes wandering around, her habit when she was nervous.

“Be patient, love. I’m sure he’s home already or on his way. Maybe he’s showering right now. Who knows ?” MinYoung supplied and looked at MinSeok to give a signal to him to agree with what she said.  

MinSeok nodded his head and threw ByulHee and encouraging smile, “Your mother’s right, love. I think Chen is on his way home or could be still in the library. Why don’t we try again later ? Sometime around another two hours ?” He asked gently but ByulHee shook her head.

“No. He couldn’t still be at the library. His working hours have ended already. Daddy’s supposed to be home by now and eating dinner. If he’s still not home it means he still hasn’t eaten dinner yet. Where could daddy be ? What if something happens to him and I’m not there to help him ?” ByulHee exclaimed and was near to getting frustrated as the call ended without Chen answering, which increased her worry and despair.

MinYoung sighed a little and said patiently while ByulHee’s shoulder, “Why don’t we try just one more time and if he is still not answering, we’ll try again later okay ? I’m sure he’s fine, love. And he’s got friends there too. Your daddy’s not alone. It isn’t that I don’t want you to talk to him but we can’t stay here and keep waiting for him to answer the call. The crowd will be wondering where the three of us have gone.”

Deep down inside, MinYoung too had actually hoped so much that Chen would answer the call this time. Because she was certain that there was no way ByulHee would get back in the hall until she had talked to Chen. And there was no way that MinYoung and MinSeok will leave her alone there too, with a phone and trying to reach Chen.

MinSeok held ByulHee’s free hand and said gently to her, “We’ll try one more time, okay ? Let’s hope that he’ll answer this time,hmm ? I’m sure he’s fine, love. He’s been living there for about a half of his lifetime. I’m pretty sure he is okay.”

Taking the phone from ByulHee and dialing the same numbers again, MinSeok handed her the phone again with a smile. He didn’t show it but he did feel a pang of jealousy inside his heart when ByulHee was so persistent in calling Chen until he answered. The way ByulHee was worrying about him was as if Chen was really her father, and not him who was standing in front of her now.

MinSeok knew it was a little too late to regret the idea of calling Chen, but ByulHee looked so crestfallen and he and MinYoung didn’t know what to do. She kept begging them in her tears to send her back to Chen but they knew that they can’t do it. Hence the least they could do was to let her talk to Chen, hoping that by hearing his voice can make their daughter feel better again.

After seven rings, finally the call was answered and ByulHee’s eyes sparkled when she heard her daddy’s voice. Her lips automatically curved up into a huge smile as she called, “Daddy ?”

“ByulHee ? Is that you, love ?”

“It really is me ! Daddy, where have you been ? This is the fourth time I’m calling you. I started to get worried !” ByulHee exclaimed happily. “Have you eaten dinner yet ? Was there a lot of work at the library ? How many books did you repair today ?” ByulHee bombarded Chen with questions like she usually did when she was still staying with him.

A laughter could be heard from the other line and MinSeok and MinYoung only smiled to themselves listening to their daughter’s conversation with her daddy. After trying a few times and finally able to reach Chen, they felt contented to see the smile and ByulHee’s face and she was no longer crying.

If only we could be the reason for the smile, too. MinYoung thought as she let out a soft sigh. MinSeok turned to her and squeezed her hand, before signaling to ByulHee that they will let her talk to her daddy alone and they’ll be waiting nearby for her.

ByulHee only nodded her head and continued talking to Chen, who had taken the turn of asking her questions about her life.

MinSeok and Minoung stepped away a bit further from ByulHee but still had her in their sights. From where they were they could see her smiling and laughing at the same time and that caused both MinSeok and MinYoung to smile too.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen her smiling and laughing, after a couple of weeks staying with us.” MinYoung muttered as her eyes were still on ByulHee, who was now standing quietly and probably listening to Chen’s story. “But sadly, the reason for that smile and laughter is not because of us. But because of someone else.”

MinSeok hugged his wife’s shoulder as his heart went out to her. As much as it was hard for MinSeok, it was much more harder for MinYoung as she was the mother. Nothing could be worse than the reason for your child’s smile is not because of you, but because of a stranger that had happened to play a huge part in your child’s life.

Patting MinYoung’s shoulder, MinSeok said encouragingly, “I’m sure things will fall into place soon, love. It might take a little while but I’m certain that one day, we’ll be the cause of that smile and laughter too. We just need to give her time. Besides, all of us need time, to be honest. ByulHee, you and me, HeeJun, and even mother.”

MinYoung then turned to MinSeok and looked at him with a worried expression. Tears were glistering in her eyes and her voice quivered a little as she said, “But what would we do if she can never let go of him ? What can we do if she keeps on insisting to go back to him ? How much longer can you and I borne with that request ? From our own daughter, XiuMin. Begging to live with someone else. Not to mention that both HeeJun and Mother do not want her to be here. That just gives her another reason as to why she doesn’t have to stay. She’ll start to think that if her own brother, grandmother, and probably the rest of the family do not want her here, why in the world should she be here in the first place ? It isn’t enough if it’s only you and me, XiuMin. Only the two of us want her here. And to her it’ll mean nothing much. I can already see it now. And I know what will happen in the future if this keeps going.”

MinSeok quickly wrapped his arms around MinYoung as his wife started to weep, and it pained him to hear that. He knew how much she was struggling, how much she was trying to keep it together. And it felt like tonight she can never hold it in anymore. The more he tried to put her at ease, the more MinYoung poured her heart out to him.

“What will the