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What will you do when your daughter doesn't want to go to school on Valentine's Day?

~a valentines special~

-💘-

"Dad, I don't want to go to school."

Junhoe arched a brow, making the teenager squirm on her seat at the dinner table. Goo Chunhee was a lot of positive things (something that she got from her mother mostly), but skipping school wasn't one of them.

It wasn't even a question but a statement. Meaning she was set to do it, without anyone telling her to do otherwise.

"Why?"

"It's Valentines." She said it like he should know why.

"So?"

Chunhee puffed her cheeks, leaning back on her chair. "I hate it."

"Why exactly?"

"I just don't feel like it."

"Young lady, you better stop with these dry responses or I'll cut your allowance in half."

That seemed to do the trick. Junhoe smirked. His wife should be proud of him.

"Well... it's just... I'm jealous. Of my friends. For getting roses. And chocolates. And teddy bears and all those stupid things..."

If he wasn't listening intently enough, he wouldn't hear what his daughter was trying to say.

"That's it? Just because you're jealous, you're not going to school?"

"It makes me feel that I'm not pretty enough."

Junhoe went speechless. Her parents' genes were superior, no doubt, and it was these same genes that provided young Chunhee the admiration she could get from everyone. Her stunning mother along with Junhoe's irresistible looks... with her visuals and height, she could enter Miss Korea at this point!

Junhoe shook his head. He may not know a lot about girl problems (his wife was more of the wordsmith, always knowing the right words to say, something that Junhoe wasn't), but he sure knew that it wasn't something worth skipping school for. "You will go to school today. No excuses."

"But—"

"No buts, young lady. I'll take you to school myself."

His adorable daughter pouted. And he would've caved in. Almost. After all, whose dad had the ability to resist the cuteness of their daughter? "Dad..."

He shrugged as he took a sip of coffee. Not knowing what else to say (at this point, his wife would've said something along the lines of, "You're pretty, even if you don't think so." Then again, Junhoe wasn't her), he uttered, "Who knows? Maybe something good will happen today."

Dear Chunhee looked unconvinced. "Yeah, I highly doubt that..."

With a knowing grin, he added, "You'll see."

-💘-

Chunhee's friends were already giggling the time she came out of her dad's Genesis. She rolled her eyes, perfectly knowing why they were acting like real schoolgirls.

Her dad leaned a little forward for Chunhee to see him from the driver's seat. "Study hard! And stay away from boys! Keep a ten-meter distance from them, are we clear on that?"

"Yeah," she grumbled a response since it was the only thing that would make this conversation short. She didn't know why her dad talked so bad about boys. It wasn't like he wasn't one before.

Still, a cooperative daughter keeps the old man away.

"Good." After smiling in satisfaction, he finally sped away.

"Chunhee!" Jihyo exclaimed as soon as Chunhee met with them.

"What?"

"Did we tell you your dad's too hot for his own good?" Hani was the one who supplied  the sentence for Jihyo.

Chunhee groaned for the second time. Not this again. It was disgusting to hear her friends fawn over her dad. It was so wrong on so many levels!

To avoid the topic, she entered the school, the two following after.

"Chunhee!" Even without turning around, she knew it was Jihyo. Only Jihyo spoke in a baby-like cutesy tone all the time.

"Well, you wouldn't deny that uncle Junhoe is really good-looking at his age," Hani commented.

That made Chunhee face them, her stomach churning at their words. "What the hell are you two talking about?! He's your godfather, for freak's sake!" Directing her glare at Hani, she continued her tirade. "I don't know if you'll still say something like that when uncle Hanbin hears about this."

Hani nervously laughed, probably remembering how her dad cursed Chunhee's dad to infinity whenever he joked he'd marry his sister, Hanbyul. Whenever Chunhee's dad brings it up during family picnics, Hanbin would go all red in the face, chase after her dad, and kick him where he sees fit. It would make sense that if Hanbin heard about his daughter fawning over Junhoe, family picnics would include him being roasted on the barbecue grill.

Now, that would be a sight to see.

Chunhee's next target was Jihyo. "Don't think that this will not go off auntie Jisoo's knowledge either."

Jihyo squealed. "I'll not be naughty anymore, I promise."

"I have a better idea. Why don't I tell uncle BoBo instead?"

"I told you don't call him that," Jihyo groaned.

BoBo was a nickname Chunhee and Hani would use to tease Jihyo about her dad, Bobby. Her dad was stuck on the phase believing that Jihyo was still his little girl (she used to call him daddy BoBo) so he'd speak in sentences like, "Eat your vegetables, Jihyo. Daddy BoBo will be upset if you don't," or "Hug daddy BoBo before you go, hm?"

It was amusing to watch Jihyo squirm under Bobby's suffocating (fatherly) love. Nothing would rile her up more than calling her dad uncle BoBo.

"Excuse me..."

Chunhee's counterattack stopped short when someone outscretched a hand in front of her, holding a box of chocolates. She raised her sight and came eye-to-eye with Lee Hyuk, a tall senior who was a year above them.

She knew him. He was the school paper's editor-in-chief, famous for his devilishly good looks. Her classmates would talk about him whenever he passes their room to call Hani (she was also a member of the school paper).

Now that he was in front of her, everything made sense. Maybe the reason why he always went to their room was to see Chunhee, perhaps?

Omo. Omo. Omo.

"For you..."

The butterflies in her stomach were doing somersaults at the moment. Is it really for her?

"Hani."

Oh. Well, that made sense.

Chunhee stepped aside for Hyuk to give it to Hani. As much as Jihyo was squealing like she received the chocolates herself, Hani merely smiled. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Drop by at the club room, alright? We have a meeting later."

Jihyo repeatedly nudged Hani on the arm as soon as Hyuk left them on their own devices. "He so has a crush on you!"

In which, Hani replied with a, "He does not."

Chunhee meanwhile, after witnessing the scene in front of her (and expecting that it'd be her), grumbled, "I so hate Valentine's day."

-💘-

As soon as the trio arrived on their classroom, Chunhee felt her irritation towards the day spike up through the roof. Her sight was bombarded with sights of pinks and reds everywhere, either in the form of boxes, teddy bears, flowers, or envelopes. Everyone seemed to have one.

Jihyo, understanding what Chunhee must've been feeling right now, patted her on the back. "Aww, Chunhee, don't look so sad. Look at me, I don't have something either, don't I?"

Chunhee smiled. "Nah, this is nothing. I'm alright."

Jihyo sent her one last look. Since the teacher wasn't around yet, they sat on the available seats at the back row to gossip about something else, this time, their conversation going towards how one prepared Valentine's for a classmate and whatnot.

They were interrupted with a knock on the door. "Package for Kim Jihyo?"

Only one by the name of Kim Jihyo existed in that room and that was Chunhee's bestfriend. Their classmates became a giggling mess, looking over their shoulders to send Jihyo knowing looks. Frankly, Chunhee felt that they were sending her looks, pitying her for the only one in the group left out with all these Valentine's shenanigans.

Jihyo stood up to get the package from the delivery man. After signing a form, she received a bouquet of roses. When she came back to her seat in the middle of Hani and Chunhee, the giver was none other than her boyfriend studying from the neighboring school.

Chunhee tried to be really happy for her bestfriends but she couldn't help the jealousy gnawing her chest. For once, she wanted to feel what it'd be like if she received something like that.

"I'm jealous... I wish I'm as pretty as you guys..."

Jihyo and Hani exchanged looks and giggled about something that Chunhee wouldn't know about.

"You wanna know why you don't receive gifts on Valentines? It's because Jiho makes all guys back off! I'm telling you, he has the hots for you," Jihyo said.

Chunhee's forehead creased. "Jiho? Uncle Mino and auntie Jennie's eldest son?"

Hani rolled her eyes. "Who else?"

"You're all lying. Jiho treats me like crap."

"You mean, teases you to no end," Hani calmly explained.

"What's the difference?"

"Psychology says that boys are likely to tease the girl they like more!" Jihyo giggled.

"Whatever. You're just saying these things to make me feel better."

Another knock interrupted the class. Chunhee knew better than not to look or else it'll make her feel more sick during this day.

There it goes again, the hushed whispers coming from her classmates. However, compared to when Jihyo received a gift, it was a lot louder, more excited. It took everything in her body to restrain herself from having a look. It seemed that it was a big deal. Did a heartthrob go to their class to give someone something?

"Package for Goo Chunhee?"

Wait. Did she hear that right?

"Is there anyone going by the name of Goo Chunhee?"

Murmurs were filling the classroom space, its main topic shifting towards the gigantic violet package sitting by the door.

"Chunhee!" Jihyo excitedly hissed. "It's for you. Take it!"

When she hesitantly stood up, the murmurs turned into exclaims of admiration for Chunhee must've gotten the biggest package of them all. The box was around stomach-height. It was that big.

After Chunhee signed the papers confirming that she received the package, the deliverer gave her an expensive-looking bouquet of flowers (it was also included in the delivery). Right then, she felt all eyes on her, some eyeing her with enviousness. Curiosity filled her up more as she opened the lid. Inside was a peach teddy bear, and tons of chocolates from different brands.

She felt her heart racing in a manner she couldn't express in words. It was a mix of everything she was feeling right now. At the back of her mind, she knew who would send something like this. After all, boys their age wouldn't afford a grand gesture like this, right?

A violet envelope sat on the lap of the teddy bear. She picked it up. When she was reading it, she felt her friends, and some classmates too, behind her, trying to see who was it from.

Happy Valentines. It's from a secret admirer. I'm your first love, right?

- from the handsomest man in the world

Chunhee's lips spread out in a smile. This person... she knew only one man in her life who was smug enough to call himself the handsomest man in the world.

"Who's it from?" Hani asked.

Chunhee unknowingly smiled, hugging the envelope close to her chest. "A secret admirer."

-💘-

Junhoe smiled as soon as he received the notification that the package was already received. He closed the notification and texted his daughter.

'Will pick you up after school. Surely, you can't go home lugging that big box by yourself, right?'

After a while, a reply was received. 'This is the best day ever. Thank you dad!'

Junhoe smirked. 'Anything for you, my princess.'

'Anything to keep you off that Jiho boy's clutches,' he initially wanted to say.

As soon as he saw Mino and Jennie's son looking at his daughter like a starstruck boy at the age of seven, he knew the boy had a crush on his daughter. This will surely set that boy on fire after knowing that Chunhee received a gift from a 'secret admirer'.

His reverie was cut short. Mino was calling.

"Hey, hyung. What's up?"

An elegant female replied. "Care to tell me why Jiho's asking a big sum of money for Valentines?"

"Good morning to you too, Jennie noona," Junhoe greeted, amused.

"Well?" Jennie asked impatiently.

"How am I supposed to know? He's your boy."

"I know for a fact that Chunhee received something very special at school today. It's from you isn't it?"

"How is that connected with this?"

This time, a deep voice interrupted, "I'm telling you, nothing will stop the Song's charms. My boy will get the girl he loves in the end, ya hear me?"

"Nothing will stop me from stopping you to become our in-laws. Do you imagine how that'll look?!"

Jennie scoffed. "It would've been a perfect plan if Chaeyoung didn't choose you in the first place."

"Chaeyoung chose good and she chose well. Do you see how pretty our daughter looks?"

"Whatever. This conversation isn't going anywhere."

"Goo Junhoe! I swear, Jiho will get her—" The already ended before Mino could continue that sentence.

Junhoe glared at the screen. What the hell was Mino talking about? If anything, his boy couldn't even get through ten meters near Chunhee. That boy was bound to be doomed for sure.

He got out of his car already parked in the garage of their house, not forgetting to grab the pink paper bag sitting on the passenger seat. He swirled the set of keys he had around his index finger before using one to open their house.

After changing his footwear to his house slippers, he went to the gigantic space of the kitchen where he knew his wife would be in. He was right as he saw her washing the dishes, silently humming to herself.

It was an image so simple, yet could make him feel like he won the lottery. He must've saved a nation in his past life to deserve someone like her. She was a blessing and so much more.

A curl of a smile from his lips arrived as he approached her behind, wrapping his strong arms around her small waist. She let out a yelp, probably wondering who was the person behind. Leaving a chaste kiss on her cheek, he whispered, "Happy Valentines, Chae."

Chaeyoung turned around. "Junhoe, what are you doing here?"

Junhoe frowned. "You didn't say it back. Are you having an affair with someone else?"

She chuckled in return. "Don't be silly." As consolation, she pecked his lips. "Happy Valentine's, honey."

Just like that, the sound of her wonderful voice, lifted his mood in a heartbeat.

"You didn't get me anything for Valentines?"

He opened his arms wide. "Isn't my presence enough of a gift for you?"

She rolled her eyes, used to this side of Junhoe. "Why are you still here? I thought you have work to do?"

"I did have work to do," Junhoe replied, remembering about dropping by stores to buy his wife and daughter gifts for today.

"Then why are you still here?"

He was unaffected by Chaeyoung's lack of happiness for seeing him around this day. Instead, he replied in a Junhoe-esque kind of way, "Because it's Valentine's and because it's Valentine's, I should spend the day with you."

Chaeyoung was happy that he was here. It was that she was worried that he was skipping work just for this. His career should be placed with importance too after all.

"Come on. Don't look so sad. Is it because you thought I didn't get you something for Valentine's? You know... I do got you something, a new lingerie." He lifted the pink paper bag he was holding. "—Something that I know will look great on you..."

"Junhoe... you're a naughty one, are you?" Chaeyoung giggled.

Junhoe enveloped his wife again under his embrace, a grin adoring his lips. "Don't you think we should have another child at this point?"

"You should go to work."

He gingerly kissed her neck. "I'm the boss. I can leave as I damn well please."

"Are you sure? Because it doesn't take me much to persuade me if you're being like this..."

Now Junhoe had a full smirk on, perfectly understanding her language. He swept Chaeyoung off her feet and strode towards their bedroom, his wife's giggles echoing into the living room before being muffled as he closed the door.

end.