“Did it hurt when you got your tattoo?” Jinyoung asked his daughter who was currently cooking (or at least trying) a dish with lots of different ingredients which needed a special preparation. Jaeha was wearing a black tank-top, so her arms were showing and Jinyoung, who was sitting on one of the stools on the other side of the counter, couldn't help staring at her tattoo inked in her right forearm. He had no idea she had a tattoo in first place, he had only discovered it a few weeks ago while browsing through all her instagram pictures, and he had a few questions about it.

“Obviously it did,” she said, not looking up from the recipe book she was reading.

“When did you get it done precisely?”

“A few months after my eighteenth birthday, it was Yugyeom's present.”

“What do you mean?” her father frowned.

“He paid for it.”

“Really? But it must have cost a lot of money!”

“He knew the tattoo artist, so he had a discount.”

Jinyoung's mouth formed a perfect 'o' as he nodded. It wasn't a big piece, he noted, it was a crescent moon covering a part of the sun, or the sun partially covering a full-moon to only let a small part of it shine. As Jaeha had said so herself, the interpretation could depend on the person looking at it though for her, it was more of the first option.

The drawing itself looked like it had been made by a child really, it was just big dark lines, with no shades. But somehow, Jinyoung felt like it represented his daughter very well. He couldn't explain why he had this feeling, but the tattoo just fitted Jaeha.

Plus as a father he wasn't against her having tattoos but he didn't want her to be fully covered of ink either: a small and single tattoo was just fine but more would start to become troubling.

“It means there is always a part of darkness in happiness and always happiness in darkness. I know, kind of lame,” she chuckled, “but I like it.”

“Well all that matters is that you don't regret getting it.”

“I don't,” she assured.

“Good.”

When she struggled to turn up the stove he stood up and calmly explained her how she was supposed to do it, before he let her turn it up to see if she had understood. He couldn't help but do so while smiling. Indeed, he didn't feel like the actor or famous person he was, but he simply felt like a father, Jaeha's father, who was helping her achieving simple things such as cooking. She was no longer a baby, she was a grown-up child and legally an adult, but her age didn't matter: she remained his baby daughter, and it was even more true due to all the years he had spent away from her. And for example, just helping her to turn the stove on made him feel really good and useful.

Finally he was being a father.

And God he had missed it.

“Are you thinking about getting another one?” he asked her once he was back to his seat, “a tattoo, I mean.”

“Not really, at least not now. I haven't really think of it in fact. I'm fine with just one who means a lot to me than a lot who are just pure art.”

Her phone, left in a corner of the counter, suddenly buzzed and both of them looked at it though Jinyoung couldn't see whatever was written on the screen. Jaeha took her time to read but didn't answer and instead, resumed her cooking.

“Something's going on?” he asked, curious.

“Bambam needs some help with an essay.”

“And Bambam is...?”

“Oh, that's right, he is one of my friends, he is Thai,” she explained, “actually he works with Yugyeom at the same café and I help him whenever he needs help with our language.”

“That's really nice of you.”

“That guy pretends he doesn't speak Korean only when he wants to, but when it's to spend his nights into nightclubs to hit on girls believe me his Korean is better than mine,” she shook her head and Jinyoung chuckled a little at her words. “Bambam isn't even his real name, it's Kunpimook Bhuwakul, but it's hard to pronounce so we call him Bambam.”

“Did you go to Thailand with him last year then?” he asked her.

“Yeah, along with Yugyeom too. Bam's mother accepted to host us for two weeks. But how did you know?”

“Instagram.”

“Are you stalking me or what?” she laughed, “is instagram the only way you have to know about my life?”

He opened his mouth to answer positively, but decided it was maybe a bad idea, so instead, he shrugged off.

“Have your called your dad yet?” he switched the topic.

“Yah, I've been here for two days only. Are you already tired of me? I can go home if you want to.”

“No! No that's not what I meant!” he shook his head frantically, “I mean perhaps he worries about you being here, so maybe you should just tell him you're fine.”

“Why would he worry?”

“Well, because you haven't been in my care for a long time now,” he truthfully answered and looked at Jaeha to scan her expression as he was speaking, to see how she would react to his words.

“I'm twenty, I can take care of myself, you know? Even if you weren't here I would be able to live well, just like I've been doing for-”

She suddenly stopped talking, and looked down. Jinyoung didn't need to ask what was the end of her sentence, because he already knew what it was anyway: “just like I've been doing for the past ten years, when you weren't by my sides”.

“Plus I know dad doesn't worry about me being here, he was quite happy I was coming in fact,” Jaeha admitted, “he said it would do both of us good.”

“And do you agree with him?”

“Well, it's only Tuesday, I've only been here for two days, so I can't tell yet.”

“Oh... alright...”

She finally put her dish into the stove. She was about to do the dishes and clean the mess she had made (just like her dad had taught her), but her father told her to forget about it. Instead, they settled in the living room, on the sofa to watch TV while waiting for the food to be ready. Mark was soon going to be back from his work appointment in Seoul, so they were also going for him to be back to eat.

“Do you, your dad and his boyfriend eat together sometimes?”

“Why are you asking?” Jaeha answered with a raised brow.

“I'm just curious.”

“Well... it happens,” she admitted, “Youngjae is a good cook, better than dad that is. But most of the time we eat fried chicken, because we all love it.”

“And do you enjoy those moments?”

“Well I love food so...”

He chuckled. That was exactly the answer he should have expected from Jaeha. Even from a young age she had always loved food and loved eating. Jinyoung had often heard people complaining about their kids being picky eaters, but he was lucky he had never met this problem with his daughter.

“Does Youngjae live with you?”

“Hum... well,” she nervously scratched her cheek, “now he does, I think? Dad was supposed to find people to help move Youngjae's stuff in on Saturday, so I guess now he lives with us, yes.”

“And... don't you mind?”

“I do mind, I guess?” she said, unsure of herself, and looked at him almost as if she hopped he would help her give the answer to his own question himself. “I don't know, in fact, if I really mind or not. It's complicated.”

“Why is that?” he then asked.

“It's just... well, even if they have been dating for three years now and Youngjae spends a lot of time at home, but for seven years, it has only been dad and I's house, it's where we both live. And... I'm used to it only being our house. I guess I don't want someone intruding it.”

“But what if you wanted to start living with Yugyeom then?”

“Well we would probably live together in a flat or house or whatsoever, but we wouldn't live with dad and Youngjae.”

“Why?”

“To have our privacy of course,” she scoffed, “I mean if I live with my boyfriend it's for us to be alone and not have dad constantly watching us. Plus Yugyeom wouldn't handle the pressure of living with dad around, he already doesn't want to sleep at our house, it's always me who has to go and sleep at his place.”

“Sleep at his place, huh?” Jinyoung playfully wriggled his brow which had Jaeha blushing hard.

“I mean, you know, sleeping, as in sleeping and just... s-sleeping, and well...” she tried hard to give a proper explanation, if she had some to give, and in the end she just gave up as she couldn't find the right words.

“I don't care Jae,” Jinyoung gently pinched her cheek, “you're old enough now, it's fine. Just protect yourself alright? I think I'm a bit too young to become a grand-pa.”

“Oh appa please!” she frowned, “stop! Don't say things like that! It's so awkward!”

He laughed and moved closer to her and hugged her tightly against his chest. At first he felt her tensed up at his touch, but soon she relaxed and leaned against him. They silently watched the random program being broadcast at the moment, though Jinyoung was more concentrated on the fact that he was holding his daughter; his precious and lovely daughter he had been away from for years was now back in his arms and he loved it. He wished he would now be able to hold her or just have her around more often, now that he was back in Korea.

“Are you ever going to accept Mark?” Jinyoung asked, knowing he was asking a risky question but he felt the need to ask it nonetheless; he needed an answer from Jaeha, loud and clear. “I mean... just be nice with him, and don't reject him either, please? He really doesn't want to hurt you in any way, he'll always do his very best to be the nicest as possible with you. I am not asking you to accept him as a member of your family, but just consider and treat him as my boyfriend, alright? As much as I respect your boyfriend, please respect mine.”

Jinyoung didn't know if what he was saying made sense, since it didn't in his mind, but he hoped his message was clear enough for Jaeha to get it, and he also wished she was not going to get mad.

Which fortunately didn't happen. She didn't even move away from his embrace, she just remained here and nodded.

“I won't,” she cleared , “reject him, I mean. I won't do it.”

And as his heart went wild in his chest, he tightened his embrace on her, bringing her even closer as if it was possible and kissed her temple.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

Hey guys! How are you? I'm posting this chapter a long time after the previous one but you had been warned. The good news is that my exams are soon to be over so I will have more time to write and to update this story!

This chapter is just a moment of Jinyoung and Jaeha's life, a very random moment they shared as father and daughter. I hope you will like it, it's in a way the strating point of the things that will happen in the following chapters~

Thank you for reading and commenting it really means a lot to me (having feedbacks is always great!). Big thanks to all of you who have subscribed and upvoted (special thanks to Little-hope) 

thx

xx

Mae