“Daddy, daddy, can we go to the library now?” ByulHee asked, tugging Chen’s sleeves excitedly. The man only laughed said with a slight frown on his forehead. “Right now? But you just got here, ByulHee. Why don’t you freshen yourself up a bit while I reheat the lunch? It’s hot outside, isn’t it? You must be sweaty and smelly.”

ByulHee whined when her daddy said that, but did as she was told nevertheless. Indeed, she felt very sticky and knew that a shower would do the trick. She took her bag pack inside her room and once the sound of water running could be heard from the bathroom, Chen turned to MinYoung with a serious expression. “So, how are things coming along with her?” He asked with no time to lose.

Hearing that question, MinYoung’s expression changed completely from the happy façade she put on earlier to something completely opposite. Chen had noticed that, since he’d knew MinYoung for so long hence he was aware whenever MinYoung was trying to hide her real feelings.

From the minute he opened the door, he knew something was up but he was overcome with the joy of seeing ByulHee again that it slipped his mind. Now that they had a chance to talk privately, Chen decided not to beat around the bush.

MinYoung sighed and just shook her head, staring at the untouched mug of coffee Chen had made for her. He took a sharp breath and prepared himself for what was to come. He told himself that no matter what the issue was, it couldn’t be that bad.

And so, MinYoung began filling him in on all the previous episodes that took place, without missing a single thing and at the same time keeping her voice at a very minimum level, so that ByulHee wouldn’t hear any of it. MinYoung tried to simplify her story as much as possible, because ByulHee would be done any minute. She couldn’t imagine if ByulHee overheard the whole thing, because that would upset her.

By the time she was finished, Chen shook his head furiously, as he felt incredulous with the whole thing. Now, he knew the reason why they sent ByulHee to his place all of a sudden. For weeks, he hadn’t heard from ByulHee and now they decided to let her spend the weekend there.

It seemed funny to him, as to why he didn’t feel anything suspicious about this when MinYoung informed him just the day earlier that ByulHee was coming. He was too excited about seeing ByulHee that none of this ever occurred to him, that they were having troubles with her.

And he only knew that now, after seeing that look on MinYoung’s face. She was a bad actor in trying to mask her feelings. And Chen wished that it were due to the pressure at work and not because of his daughter.

“So yeah, we decided to send her here for a short respite, to make it simply, and not only for her but also to the rest of us.”

“So you send her here because you believe that she was protesting due to feeling homesick?” Chen asked angrily while crossing his arms, still finding this issue preposterous. Or rather, he found that his friends’ actions were unacceptable.

MinYoung looked at Chen with a perplexed expression, as if not getting why he was so angry. “I thought you’re happy to see ByulHee again. Don’t you want her here right now?”

This time, Chen returned the baffled look to MinYoung. “What are you talking about? Of course, I’m happy to see her again. That is my child we’re discussing right now. The only thing I don’t get is that you people seem to have the idea that ByulHee has done something wrong, or that she did those things you said on purpose, and send her to me so that I can what, fix her?”

MinYoung lifted her shoulders nonchalantly, and the gesture made Chen have mixed feelings. He wasn’t sure whether to feel angry about it or what but he knew that he didn’t like it when MinYoung seemed to be indifferent about it. As if, she’d given up.

“I really don’t know what to think about it right now, so I can’t even give you an answer to that. At the moment, the only thing we could do is to give every one of us a break. Who knows, after two days, our minds will be clearer about this whole thing and maybe we can figure out a way out to the problem. For now, maybe it’s best if we take a breathing space from ByulHee for a while, and she us.”

“MinYoung, you can’t be serious.” Chen said incredulously, and since no answer seemed forthcoming, his heart broke. They’d really sounded like they’d given up on ByulHee, and it had only been just a few months.

But what made him livid the most was the fact that they didn’t believe her.

Even though he wasn’t there when the whole thing happened, Chen knew that ByulHee wouldn’t do such a thing. He knew his daughter, and he believed that no matter how bad things were or how much she missed home, she would never do things like that.

“I’m sorry, JongDae.” MinYoung whispered, and Chen sighed while shaking his head.

“I think I have to ask you to leave. I only have two days to spend with my daughter and only God knows when I could ever see her again. Hearing from her is hard enough, let alone having the chance to see her. You can see yourself out, I believe.” Chen said, and MinYoung’s jaw dropped in surprise at the sharpness of his tone of voice.

She really didn’t foreknow that coming, and Chen had never spoken to anyone like that before. But seeing how Chen was now avoiding her and busying himself with heating the lunch, MinYoung knew that it was best if she leave.

Grabbing her bag, MinYoung walked towards the door and said loud enough for only Chen to hear, “Tell ByulHee that something urgent came up so that’s why I’m not staying, and that I’ll pick her up tomorrow.”

She opened the door and quickly put on her shoes, but right before she closed the door again, Chen said, “You don’t have to worry about what I should tell her, and keep this at the back of your mind too, MinYoung,” MinYoung gulped, and waited for what was coming.

Chen came out from the kitchen and stood at the front door, and both of them then knew that ByulHee was done showering, as she was singing in her room now while unpacking her bag pack.

Turning to MinYoung again, Chen made it quick and clear, “This is ByulHee’s home, no matter how many times you take her away from me. Keep in mind that this house isn’t a place for her to get remedy or fixed where you can drop her off whenever you want each time she creates a trouble. You don’t pick her up; nor do you send her here for a holiday. When you come back tomorrow, you’re simply taking her out on a long vacation, and you will return her to me. I know that you and XiuMin are her parents, but so are SuBin and I.”

“Goodness me, just look at you! You’ve grown!” Mrs. Jung said, enveloping ByulHee in a very tight hug that the girl couldn’t help but to squeal in delight. She hugged the older lady back, as ByulHee missed her so much and already considered her as family.

Well, in fact, she really was family.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Jung came to their house, just in time for lunch and ab