PART 3

The next morning, Kyuhyun drove his car to Sonjae and saw the carnival preparations behind the supermarket. Kyuhyun forgot, first, if it was Saturday and second, this was the July Seven Celebration, a big day celebration for the entire Cho family. The historic date at which Cho Sooman founded Daecheong 500 years ago. There would be picnics and marshmellow in the park, and when it was dark, the fireworks would begin. (Again, I'm just making this up for the sake of the story. Btw, 7 July is my birthday kkk :D)

Grumbling, he grabbed his cell phone and dialed Tae Hee's number in Seonjae. He promised to call Jiyeon last night, so they could plan to spend the weekend together in Daecheong. But because of the situation involving Sungmin and Kim Ryeowook, he forgot about it.

"Daddy!" Jiyeon said impatiently across the phone.

"Hi, sweety." Kyuhyun replied, pulling over to the curb, across from Echo's Books and Gifts, so he could concentrate on talking to his 9-year-old daughter. Currently Kyuhyun had reached the age of 33 years, not too old, but not young as well. "Have you packed up your things? I can be there in forty minutes. "

The little girl did not answer it immediately. "Mom said you forgot about me. That's why you did not call me last night. "

Kyuhyun gripped the steering wheel tightly with one other hand. "I'm busy, Jiyeon," he replied. "And I'm sorry. But you're my best girl and I will not forget you. I'll explain it when I get to Seonjae, okay? "

"Okay." Jiyeon replied, sounding a little more cheerful.

"I will come soon." Kyuhyun replied.

"I'm waiting for you." Jiyeon promised.

And Jiyeon did wait for him. She was sitting on the front porch of Tae Hee's house with a large yellow giraffe bag beside her. Her slender legs outstretched, her tanned black hair already reaching her back half, and she had a big brown eyeball.

Seeing Kyuhyun pulling over, the girl stood up, picked up her giraffe bag and her teddy bear, rushed to the car.

Behind her, the door of the house opened then Tae Hee walked out. She was a beautiful woman and one day Jiyeon would look exactly like her. As a former high-end stewardess specially ordered only by certain people, as well as a former Vogue magazine's main model, Tae Hee had a perfectly categorized face. Unfortunately, not so with her behavior.

, Kyuhyun thought. He hoped to avoid his ex-wife.

And he had been trying to do that since the first hour of their marriage.

Kyuhyun got out of the car to meet with Tae Hee, while Jiyeon put her things in the back seat of the Jaguar, then jumped into the passenger seat in front of her and put on her seat belt.

"She's waiting for your phone all night," Tae Hee said. She was wearing a tight tank top and denim hot pants -the designer's work, though it looked like it had been bought from a discount shop.

Kyuhyun sighed. "You can call me, you know."

"It's not my job to keep an eye on your schedule." Tae Hee argued.

Kyuhyun realized that Jiyeon was watching them from the window, so he tried to control his anger. "I should have called." He said shortly. "But I did not. Just shoot me. Now."

Tae Hee smiled bitterly. "Oh, I'd love to do so, Kyuhyun. If there were not going to be a problem with prison, I might do it. "

Kyuhyun grinding his teeth. "Such an unfortunate thing." he said.

"That's your hope," she replied. "Thanks for our divorce. I'm really happy to be myself again."

"I'm glad to hear that," Kyuhyun said.

The woman grinned. "No, you're not happy," she argued.

"You're not too missed, you know?"

"Bite me, Kyuhyun."

"It's Rain's job, thank God."

Tae Hee's cynical smile turned grim. "Rain and I will live in Paris," she said. "I've searched on the internet and found a good boarding school for Jiyeon.”

This was not the first time Tae Hee had said about moving to Paris, but boarding school was a new thing. " Even though you and Rain live in Africa, I do not care," Kyuhyun said. "But you will not take my daughter out of Korea."

"She's not your daughter." Tae Hee argued.

Kyuhyun did not have any feelings for Tae Hee, but her words attacked him like a rifle. He turned briefly towards Jiyeon. The little girl could not possibly hear it, but all he knew was that children could read lips moving. Thank goodness she was smiling beamingly at the thought of spending the weekend at Daecheong with his cousin Daehan, Minguk, and Mansae.

"We were officially married when Jiyeon was born," he said. "Unless you want to go to a TV station and let the media crew announce Jiyeon's DNA test results throughout the whole country."

Tae Hee looked at him sharply.

"I think Rain can adopt her." Kyuhyun continued, not intending to give up at all. "But it also means the end of the child support allowance, isn’t it?"

"I really hate you, Cho Kyuhyun."

Kyuhyun her chin because he knew it would upset her. "So do I." Jiyeon's gaze said she was worried about him. Kyuhyun smiled at her, then waved at Tae Hee and turned around.

"You bastard, Kyuhyun!" Tae Hee said.

He looked back at her, smiling gently for Jiyeon's sake, and trying to shrink his voice. "We may still be married," he said "if you can limit yourself. Sleep with me, I mean. But that will limit your style, isn’t it Tae-Tae?"

"You aren’t perfect at all!" Tae Hee challenged him.

"Nice to talk to you," Kyuhyun said, then opened the door on the steering wheel and sat behind it. Tae Hee stood on the porch as Kyuhyun and Jiyeon went away, her face looked like she just got into a storm.

"I don’t wanna go to Paris." Jiyeon told Kyuhyun.

Surprised, Kyuhyun looked at her from the side. Maybe she heard all or part of their conversation. God, I hope not.

"Don’t worry," he said.

They entered the sweeping lane with trees lined up on one of the finest residential areas of Seonjae. Though Tae Hee was a former high-end stewardess and a former model magazine, she still had to rent a small apartment to live in if not for Kyuhyun who bought Tae Hee's current house for Jiyeon so that his daughter could live in a better place. Tae Hee had the instinct to destroy his financial side.

"I can’t speak French," Jiyeon told him.

Kyuhyun reached out and squeezed Jiyeon's shoulders, feeling her stiffness. "You're not going to Paris," he said.

"Mom says it's romantic. Paris, I mean. She always imagined it when talking to me. She and Rain will hold hands under the rain."

Kyuhyun restrained himself from snorting. Rain worked as a fitness trainer. Tae Hee was not at all working if there's no call to her. If she and Rain got married, she would not get any money from him anymore, and she had to sell the house to share with her troubling ex-husband as a solution.

"I've been thinking about this, Jiy," he said, raising this sensitive topic carefully. "How do you think if we live together in Daecheong? With Daddy, permanently? "

"Mom won’t allow it." Jiyeon replied and from the corner of his eyes, Kyuhyun could see her body shrinking, her shoulders stiff, her chin resting on the head of her teddy doll. She hugged the doll tightly with both hands. "Mom needs the child support allowance from Daddy." (Little information, in Korea even though the couple is divorced, if they have children, the head of the household (father) is obliged to pay child support allowance every month.)

Kyuhyun's stomach was twisted. "She told you that?"

"I heard her talking with Rain."

Kyuhyun condemned his ex-wife and her stupid lover in his mind. "She loves you, baby. You know that."

Jiyeon shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever." After a pause, she added, "They often fight."

Kyuhyun tried to keep himself from turning around in the middle of the road, and returned to the house to swear at Tae Hee. "Is that true?" He asked cautiously and gently.

Inside, he was churning. Angry.

He was already talking to Shim Changmin, his lawyer and friend, to sue Tae Hee for imprisonment. According to Changmin, things would get worse if he did that and Jiyeon would be more affected in the end.

"About money," Jiyeon continued, adding turmoil inside Kyuhyun. "They often fight about it. Rain wants to get married, but Mom says they'll bankrupt if they do it. "

Kyuhyun's eyes were burned and stung from the inside. He took a deep breath. "Do you like this Rain?"

Jiyeon again shrugged her little shoulders that were too heavy to bear the burden of her parents who hate each other, plus the presence of a third person. "He's good," she said.

"You will not go to a dorm in Paris," Kyuhyun told him. That's not enough to cheer her up but that's all he can say at the moment.

"Promise?"

"I swear to God," Kyuhyun replied.

Jiyeon grinned. "Scarlett O'Hara says it in Gone with the Wind." (Note: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell is one of my favorite old novels.The novel is a Pulitzer Prize-winner as well.The novel was first published in 1937. Gone with the Wind is one of the most popular novel of all time and until now the story is still published. Just for your info, the novel had also already filmed.The version of the film successfully won an Oscar.)

"Okay." It’s time to be honest. "I've never watched the movie."

"There's the book, Dad." She shared the information gently.

"I know."

"Have you read it?"

He laughed. God, it felt so good to laugh. How long had he not laughed? "Is this a quiz?"

Jiyeon unleashed her embrace from the teddy and touched Kyuhyun's upper arm lovingly. "No," she said. Then, like a confused girl who directing her emotions in one direction and suddenly turning a hundred and eighty degrees, her eyes filled with tears. "Why did Daddy not like Mommy?"

For the second time that day Kyuhyun pulled over to the side of the road. He let go of the steering wheel, spreading his hands so he did not clench them. After all the things Tae Hee did to him, it's time for Kyuhyun to release everything. "We've talked about this before, Jiy." He said. "When people get divorce, they will be angry about this topic for a while."

"You and Eomma got mad before you got divorced." Jiyeon reminded him.

Kyuhyun sighed. It was true. He was twenty-four years old when he married Tae Hee –stupid and lustful, after arguing with Sungmin. God knows the reason.

"I'm sorry, Jiy," he said. "I'm really sorry about everything we've done to you."

"People should not get married if they do not like each other."

For whatever reason, Ryeowook's face flashed in his mind. "You're right." Kyuhyun replied. "They should like each other first. Become friends."

"Did Uncle Siwon like Uncle Heechul?"

Kyuhyun weighing. "I think so."

"Not when they first met?"

Once again the shadow of Ryeowook's face appeared in his mind. Soon he diverted it. Why that beautiful but annoying face again? "They sometimes have trouble, but, well, I think they're good friends."

"Before they fall in love?"

"Before they fall in love."

"Uncle Donghae and Uncle Eunhyuk too?"

Gloomy feeling appeared in Kyuhyun, cold and empty. "They too."

Jiyeon beamed. "So Daddy just needs to find a woman or guy you like, then make friends with her or him, then fall in love, and you can get married."

"It's not that easy, Jiy."

"Of cou