Part. 7

The donkey stood contentedly in a cage designed for an animal that was three times bigger than him, chewing the grass cheerfully. Brenn seemed to like Kyuhyun's house, at least so far.

Jiyeon, sitting on a wooden chair at the cage’s door with Kyuhyun standing beside her, sighed.

"He has a lot of urine," Jiyeon said.

Kyuhyun, who had bathed, shaved, and changed into a plain jeans and blue Polo shirt, after picking up his daughter at Donghae's house, chuckled at her comment.

"Yes." He agreed. "We'd better grab a fork and a wheelbarrow."

"You look really tired, Dad." Jiyeon told him grimly, studying his face. "I do not mind if you go inside and take a break."

Kyuhyun, if only could, too tired to sleep. And maybe too scared. Once, he accidentally fell asleep on a chair beside Sungmin's bed in the hospital last night, he fell forward, wet with sticky sweats and breathing heavily through a dream he had not seen for years.

In his dream, he saw a plane spinning towards the ground with the front side first. Kyuhyun knew his parents were in the plane. He heard an explosion, saw a fireball bulge against a tranquil blue sky, feeling his skin blister from heat. He tried to get past it, though he knew there was nothing he could do –he could not save his mother and father– but the explosion was hardened like a wall.

"Dad?" Jiyeon said.

Kyuhyun smiled. "Your Mom will come to pick you up in a few hours," he said. "I can sleep later."

Jiyeon's shoulders slumped slightly under her yellow jersey. "I hope I can stay here," she said to Kyuhyun. "Stay here forever. I can do some work like sweeping and washing dishes. I'll be on duty to feed Brenn and clean his cage."

Kyuhyun put his hand behind Jiyeon's neck, squeezed it softly. Sunday afternoon became a bitter but also sweet moment for them. Kyuhyun enjoyed every single minute with Jiyeon and he still realized that their togetherness would soon be over. This also made Kyuhyun worried, the fact that Jiyeon thought she could get a gift from her attitude for cleaning up Brenn’s cage diligently.

"I'm sorry that I often leave you this time," he said. Many things that Kyuhyun wanted and should have said but he could not find the right words.

Jiyeon jumped down from the door and stood closer to Kyuhyun, leaning her head against Kyuhyun's body. "Dad, I can’t do anything to cheer you up," she told Kyuhyun. "Your friend is sick."

Before Kyuhyun could answer, he heard a car came near them outside, then the sound of a car’s door that was being pushed twice.

He pursed his face, looked at his watch.

Jiyeon stood stiff, clinging to Kyuhyun even tighter. "It's still too early for Mom to come pick me up."

"It could be someone else." Kyuhyun gave a reason, but he knew, just like Jiyeon, when they came out of the cage’s door, Tae Hee's Lexus car was parked there. The hum of the engine had a distinctive sound.

"Let's pretend we're not here." Jiyeon whispered. "Maybe she'll leave."

Kyuhyun ruffled his daughter's hair, slowly keeping Jiyeon away from him. "Don’t act like that, sweety." And he walked out.

For several moments the sunlight blinded his eyes, but his eyes quickly focused on Tae Hee, who was walking past the courtyard with her heels. Her hair was clamped and she was wearing a gray trousers suit –unlike her usual y outfit while visiting Daecheong.

Seeing Kyuhyun, she smiled triumphantly.

Kyuhyun was curious –just like what always happened when they meet– what did he see from that woman in the very beginning. How could he not be aware of her shameless, calculating, cold, and merciful nature? will be the easiest reason –but actually, that's not enough to be a reason either.

Their was not that great.

"You're still too early." Kyuhyun blamed her, realizing that Jiyeon stood silent behind him.

Tae Hee looked at him with regret, opening both her hands.

What exactly did she plan to do?

Kyuhyun waiting for her.

Tae Hee tilted her head sideways, looking for Jiyeon who was trying to hide. "Talking to Rain, honey." Tae Hee said to her. "I wanna talk to your Dad for a while."

"I don’t wanna talk to Rain." Jiyeon rejected.

"It's okay, Jiy" Kyuhyun told her. Rain was inside the Lexus, like a shadow, no doubt he hoped he would not be seen.

Reluctantly, Jiyeon walked past the grass between the cage and the Lexus. The driver's window buzzed open.

Tae Hee looked back, saw her for a moment and then returned to Kyuhyun. Her bright smile still appeared like a very bright light.

Kyuhyun folded his arms.

Tae Hee's face flushed. "Rain surprised me with a trip ticket to Paris," she said. "For my birthday."

"I bet it must really surprise you," Kyuhyun said slowly.

Tae Hee let Kyuhyun's taunts. "First class." Tae Hee said. "His sister works at a travel agency."

"And there's always my Korean Express credit card for small incidents like food and hotel rooms for you to borrow." Kyuhyun said flatly, but inwardly he was struck by the suddenly flowing adrenaline, his heart beating faster, tapping his ears.

"Well, it's my birthday." Tae Hee said. "Not that I wish you'd remember."

"We've been talking about this, Tae Hee." he reminded her. "You will not take Jiyeon out of this country."

Tae Hee lowered her voice solemnly, almost like a desperate whisper after glancing back towards Jiyeon. "That's what I wanna talk to you about. Rain can only get two tickets ... "

That was it, the reason for his sudden adrenaline flowing so fast.

Tae Hee would ask Jiyeon to stay with him. Kyuhyun felt excited, but he did not let himself show it and he would not let Tae Hee off his bait just like that. Not that easy.

"I hope Jiyeon can stay here until we get back." Tae Hee said. "Stay with you, I mean."

"And when will you be back?"

"I –I'm not sure." Tae Hee said. Kyuhyun knew Tae Hee was desperate to cut off his head now, but she could not do that casually. Kyuhyun liked this situation.

"You're not sure."

"It's an open ticket. Rain and I will be looking for an apartment when we go there and Jiyeon is still on summer vacation, so –"

"Okay." Kyuhyun said.

"Okay?" Tae Hee’s bright smile that was as bright as the stadium's lights was a bit wobbly, and Kyuhyun could see Tae Hee struggling to keep her anger in her eyes. It just came out. "What do you mean by that?" she asked.

"Jiyeon can stay here."

The real Tae Hee showed up. She squinted and waisted. "You're enjoying this, right? You wanna make me nervous!"

"Oh, that’s a great point." Kyuhyun replied.

"." Tae Hee said.

Kyuhyun smiled. "Now that's an opinion I can think of."

"You have to keep paying child support allowance."

"No problem." Kyuhyun said.

"And you'd better not take my credit card after I leave from here."

"I won’t do that."

"Bull you wouldn’t do that. I am kind enough to you, Kyuhyun, by letting Jiyeon to stay here. I could have taken her to my mother's house, you know."

"Your mother lives in Yeonpyeong. I guess, the flight schedule that headed to Paris departed from Incheon International Airport at eight o'clock tonight. You don’t have enough time to leave Jiyeon in your mother's doorstep."

Tae Hee's face flushed with frustration. "Why don’t you just blow it all out?" She urged in a furious whisper.

Kyuhyun let his eyes lead to Rain, then back on Tae Hee. "You're easy for both of us," he said. "You have to tattoo it on your ."

"I don’t have to stand here and listen to all this, Kyuhyun!"

"No," he said. "You don’t have to listen to this. You can get in the car, leave for the airport and fly into the city full of lights along with your lover."

"And I'm not easy." Tae Hee grumbled as usual. "Rain and I are in love. You'll never understand love concept."

Kyuhyun put his hand on his chest. "Love is a wonderful thing to look at," he said.

"Damn you, Kyuhyun!"

"Oh, I truly am."

Rain had definitely told about their trip to Paris to Jiyeon and told her that she would not be invited, because she started jumping up and down. That muscled man got out of the car, tried not to look at Kyuhyun and opened the trunk of the car, pulled two small suitcases and threw them to the ground.

Meanwhile, Tae Hee stared at Kyuhyun once more, then turned around and walked towards Jiyeon.

Kyuhyun watched as the two of them hugged each other.

Rain reentered the car, started the engine.

Kyuhyun enjoyed the thought of him walked towards Rain, pulling him from behind the steering wheel and beating him all out. But he did not do it, of course, because Jiyeon was there, and a Cho would not behave like that, because deep down he was grateful to be left alone with Jiyeon –without someone like Tae Hee around.

The day Kyuhyun caught Rain and Tae Hee –caught them enjoying their time together in the rehearsal studio behind their house in Seonjae, he felt like he would be angry.

However, he was very happy and excited. He felt a little bit headache but also relief.

Tae Hee held Jiyeon for the last time, then entered the car. She and Rain left in a hurry, leaving the girl who looked at them with joy as she circled and made the dust flutter.

Kyuhyun walked towards Jiyeon, smiling. He picked up the two suitcases and started walking to the house.

Jiyeon quickly followed him, dancing happily. "May I cross the river and tell Daehan, Minguk, and Mansae if I stay here?" She immediately rattled quickly. "Dad, can we have a hot dog dinner? And if I feed Brenn and clean his cage every day, will you raise my pocket money so that I can buy an ice cream?"