Thursday started way too early for Jaeha. She was peacefully sleeping, wrapped in the warm comforter, when suddenly her phone rang. Groggy from sleep, she just denied the call and didn't even bother looking who was calling. But almost immediately, the device started ringing again, and a third time when she ignored the second call.

Annoyed, she sat up in her bed and picked up.

“What?” she asked coldly with a hoarse voice.

“Im Jaeha!” she instantly recognized Jackson's piercing voice. “Why did you ignore my calls?!”

“I was sleeping.”

“Is that a reason to ignore me? Me, whom you haven't given any news for weeks? I thought you were dead!”

“Dad would have told you if I was.”

“That is why I called him earlier, and I asked about you and do you know what he told me? That you were not home, that you had gone to your father's house! How come you didn't tell me?”

“I would have told you... eventually...”

“How are you? Are you living fine with your father? Is he nice with you? What about his boyfriend? Is he treating you well? You're not starving, are you?”

“I'm perfectly fine,” she sighed. “I eat very well, appa always does more food than necessary, and Mark is nice.”

“Good. You would tell me if there was something wrong, right? Wouldn't you, Jae?”

“I would!” she rolled her eyes at his antics. Usually she would be pleased with him caring so much for her, but because he had dared to interrupt her night she was really slightly mad at him.

“And Jinyoung, how is he?”

“Wanna talk to him?”

“Can I? Isn't he busy?”

“Well I'm not even sure he is awake...”

She stood up and made her way to the kitchen, thinking her father would be here having his breakfast if he was up. But instead, she found Mark behind the stove, cooking what seemed to be pancakes.

“Oh! Jaeha,” he smiled, “you are already awake? You're early.”

“Where is appa?” she asked.

“Sleeping.”

She nodded and went back upstairs but this time directly headed to her father and Mark's bedroom. She had actually never went inside, had only seen it while standing in the doorway. If it had only been her father's room then she wouldn't have minded going in, but it was also Mark's and somehow she felt like intruding the area.

But this time, she didn't really mind about this fact and just walked to the bed, where her father was soundlessly sleeping, resting on his back with one arm thrown over Mark's side.

She slid next to him, under the cover, and glued her body against his – she didn't lay on Mark's side, but instead made sure to awkwardly fit between Jinyoung and the edge of the bed; fortunately she was petite.

She watched as he suddenly open his eyes until they fell on her and a deep frown appeared on his face.

“Jaeha,” he mumbled with a deep voice filled with sleepiness, “what are you doing?”

“Someone wants to talk to you,” she said as she handed him the phone.

He looked at the device first, for a few seconds, before he actually took it and put it against his ear.

“Hello?” he asked, unsure of who'd be answering.

“Jinyoungie!” Jaeha heard Jackson's excited voice echoing through the phone and she smiled.

“Oh, Jack, hello.”

The two of them carried on their conversation while Jaeha laid her head against her father's chest, using it as a pillow (and very comfortable one on top of that) and she managed to fall asleep after a few minutes.

*

It was Mark who found them cuddling when he went back to his bedroom, a tray covered with food in his hands. As both him and Jinyoung had nothing to do today, he had thought he'd bring his boyfriend breakfast in bed. And he had also prepared food for Jaeha which he had left in the kitchen. However, he didn't expect to find Jaeha in their bed, snuggled against her father, both of them fast asleep.

He let the tray on his nightstand and with his phone, snapped a picture of the two of them. Smiling fondly as the sight, he didn't find the courage to wake them up because they looked absolutely adorable and so peaceful together – now that he could have a better look at both father and daughter, he was able to fully see how much Jaeha looked like Jinyoung. She definitely had the same eyes, same full lips and same cute round nose.

As he didn't want to wake them up from their deep slumber, Mark decided to settle in the living room to watch TV while waiting for them to get up on their own.

*

“I can't! I give up! I'm too exhausted to carry on... just go without me, I'll go home!” Jaeha panted as she put her hands on her knees and loudly and slowly breathed in and out to catch her breath. “Just... go.”

“Jae,” Jinyoung couldn't even hide his laugh as he watched her, “we have only started ridding the bikes five minutes ago, literally five minutes ago.” From their current spot, they could still see their house. “We still have ten kilometers left to reach the lake.”

“Ten kilometers?!” she looked at him in disbelief and sighed loudly. “I will die before we can even reach one kilometer!! I can't do it! Just go without me!”

She dramatically let herself fall on her bottom next to the bike and ran a hand trough her hair. She loved sports, was an athletic girl, but riding bikes had never been her forte. After a lot of falls when Jinyoung had taught her how to properly ride one when she was around five years old – a particular one had resulted with her going to the hospital and getting stitches on her arm – she became traumatized by the thing and was glad she didn't have one back in Seoul.

However, Jinyoung had thought it would be a great idea to buy a bike for Jaeha, since Mark and himself absolutely enjoyed riding bikes; every two weeks, if they weren't busy and if the weather was suitable, they would go on a ride in the surroundings to spend a great time together (as old men, they needed to take care of their healths, Mark kept saying). But before wasting money in a fancy red bike, they should have certainly asked her if she liked riding a bike or not, which was clearly not the case.

“I'm just going to slow you down and ruin the mood, just go without me,” she insisted. “I'll be fine staying home alone.”

“Come on,” her father rolled his eyes. “The sooner you stop complaining the sooner we'll reach the place.”

“But... can't I drive my car instead?”

“A bike ride is much more enjoyable, trust me,” Mark butted in.

“Listen,” she stood up again yet not without groaning in pain – she wasn't exactly in pain yet, but she knew she would be at the end of the ride so she was just anticipating. “I can't do that! Really! It's just too hard! Biking is a big no for me!”

“Jae! This will be fun, trust me!” her father said once again, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

Jaeha prevented herself from coldly answering “I have stopped trusting you years ago” since she didn't want to ruin the mood but hoped he still got the message when she glared at him. She folded her arms over her chest and sternly shook her head.

“I'm not going,” she announced.

“Jaeha pleas-”

“Alright,” Mark cut Jinyoung. “We'll go without you. You go home. It's fine.”

Both father and daughter looked at him but with two different expressions; while Jinyoung was frowning, asking why he was suddenly giving in in her little fuss, Jaeha's eyes widened with satisfaction and she couldn't hide the smile that crept onto her face.

“She's an adult, we can't force her to do something she doesn't want to,” Mark calmly explained and patted Jinyoung's back when the latter starred back and forth between his boyfriend and his daughter with a disappointed expression. He had really been wanting to do something with both of them, he didn't want to let one of them apart: especially not Jaeha! “Go,” Mark gently smiled at her. “We'll be back in the afternoon.”

Jaeha eagerly nodded, hoped back on the bike and quickly took the way back to the house without looking back. She couldn't stop smiling, feeling overly relieved to have avoided the bike ride. Instead, she imagined herself laying on the sofa while watching TV and calling Yugyeom if he was not busy. She indeed wished her father had stayed with her too, because she was here to spend time with him, but she'd rather they spend time together doing something they both enjoyed; meaning, not ridding bikes.

However, her hopes of a peaceful afternoon got crushed when she reached the closed gates of the property and she realized she didn't have the keys. She mentally slapped herself and cursed against her stupid self. Obviously she didn't have the keys, Mark had them.

She took out her phone and tried to call her father and then Mark but none of them answered. Then, she considered climbing the gates but it was way too high for her to do so. For a short while during which she probably sighed over a hundred time, she thought about what to do but facing a serious lack of solutions, she unwillingly got back on the bike for the third time already and decided to go back with her father and Mark.

It took her ten minutes to reach them and none of them was surprised to see her coming back. In fact, they were both smiling playfully as they saw her coming their way – they were obviously waiting for her by the entrance of the village, as they knew she'd be back anyway.

“What a surprise,” Mark chuckled. “I thought you didn't want to come with us.”

“You think you're funny?” she tsked. “That's why you told me to go, right? Because you knew I didn't have the keys.”

“You're right,” he answered with a proud smirk. “Shall we go now? You're not going back, are you? You've already come so far it would be a waste to leave now.”

She took the road first and ignored Jinyoung telling her to wait for them. She could also hear Mark's laugh and even when he caught back with her, reaching her level, he didn't stop laughing. Instead of a forty-something-year-old adult, he looked like a mischievous teenager proud of his own foolishness.

As a result, Jaeha didn't say a word to them during the whole ride – it was only once they arrived near the lake and finally took a rest that she asked for them to give her food.

*

“Jae? Jaeha? Are you alright?” Jinyoung asked with a frown as he took a glimpse of his daughter's figure sitting still on the sofa.

Since she didn't answer (they had gone back from the ride around five pm and it was already eight pm, Jinyoung didn't expect her to be still mad at him), he got closer to the sofa and couldn't help but be a bit apprehensive about Jaeha's reaction toward him. He nervously bit on his lower lips, toyed with the ring he worn around his ring-finger but then he realized his reaction was excessive when he saw Jaeha was just asleep in a sitting position. He chuckled at the sight and carefully sat next to her so as to not wake her up.

They hadn't even had diner yet, Mark was busy preparing it, and yet she was already fast asleep. Their not-so-little trip must have surely tired her out and Jackson's early call which had put an end to her night were probably the reasons of her fatigue.

Gently, he pushed a strand of her hair which had fallen in front of her face behind her ear. Her head was danging on the right and slightly was parted. For an unknown reason, her cheeks were red and she was slightly frowning in her sleep. Jinyoung urgently reached for his mobile phone to take a picture for she was absolutely adorable and he didn't want her to wake up before capturing the moment and preciously saving it in his phone.

It reminded him of his younger days, when Jaeha was still a baby and was sleeping between him and Jaebum; he would spent hours at night watching her sleeping and admiring her. Jinyoung had always been completely enamored and fond of his daughter, and even twenty years later, and despite all the things that had happened, he still was. And now that he was once again witnessing her sleeping, he felt like some things had never changed – even if he knew it would never be the same as before, it could never be. But it didn't mean they couldn't try to strive for the happiness they both once shared.

“Jin, you can come now, the food is-” Mark stepped out of the kitchen, towel thrown over one shoulder, and shut up the moment he caught a glimpse of Jinyoung and Jaeha on the sofa. Jinyoung looked at him, put one finger on his lips to tell him to remain silent and then slowly stood up to come his way.

“Jaeha is sleeping,” Jinyoung said. “I don't want to wake her up.”

“But she has not eaten yet, she should-”

“She'll eat later,” the father assured. “It's better to let her sleep for now.”

Mark nodded in understanding. As he went back into the kitchen, Jinyoung decided he would let Jaeha rest on the sofa even if it wasn't as comfortable as the mattress she used as a bed; it was just because he couldn't lift her, she was slightly too heavy for the old man he was. He placed a pillow near the armrest, then ever so slowly and gently laid her slump body over the sofa and then covered her under a light blanket. With a smile, he kissed her temple then joined his boyfriend.

Hello guys! How are you all doing?

Here's another chapter for you :) I hope you like it and enjoy sharing Jaeha's and Jinyoung's adventures. There's more to come. Don't hesitate to tell me what you think of it, feedbacks are always appreciated! 

As usual, a big thanks to all of you who commented, who subscribed and upvoted (thank you fylana and Lyn_68). It means a lot to me and encourages me to write :)

Ps: there will be a chapter about Jaebum's and Youngjae's meeting, for those who want it :)

xx

Mae