For the most part, you were a good girl.

Aside from the occasional tantrum, you always managed to make Daddy happy, and in turn, made yourself happy as well. Whether it be eating your meals on time, to not being whiny when the lunch line at school was too long, Daddy’s word was law to you. And try as you might to disobey him, sometimes you truly couldn’t bring yourself to do so. Just like how Daddy wanted to protect you and make you happy, you knew that you could do the same for him. All you had to do was listen to Daddy’s rules.

But every person has his or her off days, and you weren’t an exception to this, either.

It might have been when Daddy started to come home a lot later than he usually did.

It might have been when Daddy started sending you good night texts—sweet words that you wished to have whispered to you, not sent through a screen.

It might have been when daddy wasn’t even there when you woke up.

You had been so scared to wake up and realize that your daddy, your caregiver, your whole entire world, was not in bed next to you. He did not have his arm around you the way that he always did, and he did not pull you back to bed on the weekends like he always did, hushing you, burying you into the warmth of his chest.

Panic had flooded through you, and soon there was a number of voicemails left in Daddy’s inbox.

It wasn’t until you had searched around the room frantically, did you see the sticky note left for you on your bedside table. It was right next to your phone, and in your concerned haste, you must have missed it.

You had breathed a sigh of relief. Daddy wouldn’t abandon you. Daddy wouldn’t do that.

Gingerly, you peeled the note off of the table and read the words Daddy had written out on the piece of paper. You could hear his voice in your head as your eyes scanned the words, head hurting from having to process something so worrying so early in the morning.

Daddy is off to work early today, princess. Go back to bed if you’d like, and dream of me. If my princess doesn’t want to sleep anymore, there are honey waffles on the breakfast table just for you. Don’t worry, alright? Daddy will be home soon. Daddy loves you. <3

You had frowned, your hand falling to rest on the rumpled bedsheets.

Though a part of you was still sleepy, you couldn’t bear the thought of returning to bed without your daddy next to you. Daddy must have foreseen this, which is why there had been waffles on the table.

But now, it seemed like there were waffles on the table every single morning.

You began to hate the waffles.

You wanted to kick and scream and quarrel with the waffles. They had stupid crispy golden edges and stupid fluffy white insides and stupid sweet golden honey drizzled on them—

It was the third morning with waffles, and you wanted to cry.

You did cry.

Every morning when there were waffles on the table, your lower lip couldn’t help but tremble, crystal tears welling up in your eyes.

Did Daddy not want you anymore?

Did Daddy not love you anymore?

Because if he wanted you, and he loved you—

Why were there waffles on the table every morning?

The adult side of you knew that you shouldn’t be complaining. Waffles were great, and considering Daddy’s cooking skill, this was a huge improvement from when he had first tried to make you breakfast. Daddy was busy with work, and as a good girl, you knew that you weren’t supposed to make a fuss. Not during comeback time.

Especially not during comeback time.

But you wanted to make a fuss. You wanted to scream. It wasn’t fair that Daddy always had to be away from you. What had you ever even done?

You glared at the waffles, and with a small huff, you pushed the plate away.

Footsteps heavy but heart light, Taehyung wiped the sweat off of his brow and headed for the apartment.

Though he was exhausted from the constant practices—the whole group was intent on getting every single second absolutely perfect—Kim Taehyung couldn’t wait to head back home.

Just the thought of his princess waiting for him made his heart surge. He smiled sadly to himself as he took out his key, turning the lock and opening the door. He had been negligent, and he admitted it. He hadn’t been fulfilling his duty so well these past few days, these past few weeks. He loved his job, but he loved you more.

Unfortunately, with a job like his, balance didn’t seem to ever be an option.

Taehyung had just slipped off his shoes when he noticed the light coming from the bedroom you and him shared.

It was nearly one in the morning, way past your curfew. The rest of the apartment was dark, all of the hallway lights turned off. The only source of light came from the glass wall on the far side of the room, depicting the glow of South Korea’s city of Seoul. Cars and automobiles honked and made their ways down too-crowded roads, skyscrapers that seemed to reach the sky overlooking everything from heavy traffic to walking pedestrians.

Taehyung tossed his bag onto the couch, figuring he would get it later. On his way to the bedroom, already thinking about taking a shower, perhaps getting you to shower with him, he noticed—

Taehyung stopped in his tracks.

In the dark, he could just barely make out the plate of waffles still on the breakfast table from this morning.

Eyes widening, blood racing, Taehyung ran into the bedroom and frantically pushed the door open.

“Baby?! Baby, are you—”

His voice broke.

You were cuddled on the king sized bed, huge pillows nearly swallowing you up. You had your favorite pajamas on, a fleece nightgown with calico designs that made you feel like a princess, one hand wrapped around your favorite elephant stuffie and the other holding your sippy cup to your mouth. You chewed on the mouthpiece, even though it was one of the things Daddy told you to never do, and sniffed.

Your eyes were glued to the television, the coloring of the lights changing across your face. Taehyung listened carefully, faced the TV, and sighed.

You were watching their concert DVD.

The presence of Daddy perked you up, though.

You sat up hurriedly, hardly believing it to be true. Was it really Daddy? He hadn’t abandoned you? Or were you just going crazy after having watched too many DVD’s?

No. It had to be real.

“...Daddy?”

He walked slowly towards you, seating himself next to you on the bed. Not quite sure what he wanted, you let him wrap his arms around you and, and…

Pull you flush against his chest.

“I’m so sorry, baby. Daddy’s so sorry.”

You sniffed again, throwing down your sippy cup and your stuffed elephant and flinging your arms around Daddy, burrowing your face into his warmth. Your breathing became shaky, uneven, face gross and disgusting because you couldn’t help it. You couldn’t stop crying.

It was one thing to break the rules on purpose, or just to spite Daddy.

But it was a whole other thing to break the rules because you didn’t have Daddy to guide you.

You wailed. You didn’t want waffles anymore. You didn’t want to wake up to an empty bed anymore. You didn’t want to go to sleep alone anymore.

“Daddy!”

You understood that his work meant the world to him, and you understood that it wasn’t something that you should interfere with. You loved him for what he did—your vast collection of merchandise and DVD’s proved so—but sometimes, you had to admit, you wished that Daddy could just have a normal, nine to five job.

Especially during comeback times.

Especially during concert tour times.

Especially during fansigning times.

Nobody should have been allowed to steal your daddy away from you, and yet most nights, you found yourself alone.

“It’s all Daddy’s fault, baby. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Taehyung whispered, his own eyes growing wet. He clutched you against him, breathing in the sweet scent of your shampoo. Just from your fragrance, he could tell that you had tried to do things today, to keep your mind off of his absence. You must have taken a long bath, pampered yourself with a face mask and put on a nice face of makeup and braided your hair into little pigtails, decorating your cheeks with those stickers that Taehyung had gotten you the last time that he had gone to Japan on tour because he was so sorry, so sorry that he had to leave his precious little baby behind.

“It’s okay.”

Taehyung nearly thought that he had heard you wrong.

“What, baby?”

“It’s okay,” you mumbled into his t-shirt. “I know you have work.”

“No. No no no,” Taehyung poured out. He cupped your cheeks from both sides, bringing your face upwards to look at him. “You come before work. You’re more important than work. You know this.”

You just averted your eyes sadly.

“Baby?”

His voice cracked.

“Baby, you know this. You know this! You’re more important than work! You always come before my—”

Taehyung stopped.

You always come before my work.

It was what he wanted to say.

But was it actually true?

When he left for comeback practices, did you come first?

When he was gone on tour, did you come first?

When he had to go to fansigns, knowing that you hated the idea of anybody even so much as looking at your daddy for more than five seconds, did you come first?

“I’m so sorry, baby.”

He could apologize a thousand times, and it still wouldn’t be enough.

“Daddy’s sorry, baby girl.”

And yet, you still managed to smile.

You cupped Daddy’s cheeks the same way he did to you, looking into his eyes even through the tears that wouldn’t stop leaking out.

He was so handsome.

He was tired, you could tell. Even in the dark, with just the light of the TV, you could see the heavy dark circles ringing his eyes, the sweaty hair stuck to his skin. You could see that he was so exhausted, and even though he was on the brink of passing out from so much practicing, he still made time for you. Even if it was just making waffles. Even if it was just leaving post-its for you to find around the house, scribbles in his handwriting of, “Smile for Daddy!”, and, “Have you eaten yet? If you look carefully enough, you might find cookies in the pantry! :)”

Taehyung’s heart surged, seeing you being so strong. You managed to curl your sweet lips up into a crescent, eyes never leaving his for a second.

“It’s okay, Daddy. I can survive.”

“I don’t want you to survive,” Taehyung breathed, wondering where in the world he found such a precious girl to be his. “I want you to live.”

“The only way I will truly live is if I’m with Daddy.”

The sentence made Taehyung’s heart ache.

You believed in him.

Even after you had rejected his waffles, even after he had left you alone for so long, you still were so supportive, despite knowing that supporting him meant the absence of him.

“I love you, princess.”

You giggled, flushed. Shy and timid you were, as Daddy took your hands off of his cheeks, choosing to intertwine them together instead.

Quickly, before you could even blink, he leaned down and kissed you.

Your heart played hopscotch as he kissed you. Again and again. Sometimes sweet and sensitive, another time consistent pecks in beats of one, two, three, coupled with a smile and a few more kisses on the dimples of your cheeks, another on the bridge of your nose, and another on the top of your forehead.

“I love you. I love you I love you I love you—”

“Daddy, stop it!” you protested. “It’s embarrassing!”

“And how so?” Taehyung leaned forward to nuzzle his nose with yours. “Is it that blush you get when I say it? Or about how your heart that races too fast? Hm.”

He looked you in the eye, teasing.

“Perhaps it’s the way your lips subconsciously pucker up again. Greedy for Daddy’s kisses, aren’t you, princess?”

You screeched at his cheesiness.

“Come on, baby girl.” He stood up, hiking you up along with him. “How does a bath sound? I’ll even let you pick out one of those bath bombs that you love so much.”

“But I already took one today!”

“I know.” Taehyung put his hands behind his back, smiling tauntingly.

He bopped you on the nose.

“But you didn’t take one with me, did you?”