He was two days late. As much as Taemin was trying not to, he was starting to worry.

Sometimes his father would be a little late coming back from the market. Things would distract him, he'd lose track of time, and he'd show up at home eight hours later than he was supposed to. It happened often. Two days was a little ridiculous though. His father wasn't that absent-minded.

He had tried to assure his brother and sister that everything was fine, but even he wasn't believing it anymore. Something must have happened to their father. Good or bad, something happened.

"That's it!" Jongin said, breaking the uncomfortable silence that was between the three. They were trying to act like everything was normal, which resulted in them not speaking to each other. After all, they couldn't speak without mentioning the fact that their father was missing.

Taemin turned from the stove to face his younger brother, and his sister who was setting the table.

"One of us needs to go find him," Jongin said, "Something could have happened to him on the road. We need to find out."

"But it's almost night," Taemin said.

"All the more reason we should go," Naeun replied, "I don't think I can stand another night worrying over dad. What if he's hurt? Or worse?"

"Even if it was safe out there, how could we find him in the dark? We could travel the entire road to the market and miss him."

"Taemin, we have to do something," Jongin said, even more adamant now that he had the support of their sister. "Naeun's right, we can't sit around and wait another night."

Taemin knew how strongly they felt and how strongly they were worried. He felt the same, but as much as he wanted to find their father, he was more worried about his siblings' safety. That was why he wouldn't let them travel the road at night with him. He would go to find their father alone.

He was about to tell them as much, when a loud knock sounded at their door.

Naeun immediately went to answer it and her brothers followed behind. She unlocked the door and, as if in answer to their prayers, their father came walking inside.

"Dad!" Naeun exclaimed in relief and joy. She grabbed him in a warm embrace, despite how bedraggled and dirty he was. She only cared that he was home safe.

"Oh sweetie," he said softly as he returned her hug.

"Dad, what happened?" Taemin asked, "It's been two days. We were worried about you."

He didn't answer him. Naeun drew back from their embrace and offered him her loving smile. Daevy father looked at her like he couldn't pull away. Taemin immediately noticed something about him was off.

"I'm alright, kids," he said in the end, despite the sorrow in his expression. "I'm alright."

"What happened?" Jongin asked that time.

"A band of robbers attacked me on the road, the night of the storm."

"Are you alright?" Naeun asked fretfully, looking him over once again just to make sure he wasn't injured. She pulled him away from the door into the kitchen, despite his reassurances.

"A...a man chased them away and was kind enough to put me up for a few nights, till I recovered. They took the wares I was bringing back home, but they didn't get my money." As he said that, he pulled his coin purse from his belt and set it before his children on the table.

"Thank goodness," Jongin said, "The landlord has been buzzing around since you've been gone."

"I made more than enough. You kids will be fine," Daevy said, though Taemin wasn't comforted by the tone he used.

"Get him some soup, Taemin, he's shivering," Naeun ordered. He went to do as she said, while she continued to fret over their father - always acting so much like the mother they had recently lost.

"We'll have to report the robbers to the police," Jongin said, "It shouldn't be too hard to find a bunch of guys with a huge cart of wares, will it?"

"And we'll have to send a gift to the man who helped you," Naeun added, "I could make him a few loaves of bread. You could give them to him on your next trip."

Daevy laughed uncomfortably. "I won't be going to the market for a while, sweetie. They took all my wares, remember?"

"We'll get them back," Jongin assured, "If not, we'll help you make more."

"Yeah," Naeun agreed, "As long as you're here, that's all that matters. We'll all survive."

"Yeah..." Daevy said, looking between all three of his children, as Taemin dished him out a bowl of soup. "You'll all be fine."

And Taemin still couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling that something was wrong.

A/N: Thanks for reading and subscribing. Reviews are appreciated. ^_^