Jisoo gave Dabin a light kiss on the little girl's forehead as soon her eyes closed, finally falling into deep slumber after a long day at the café. Jisoo kind of felt sorry for her sister, who stayed with her until her shift ended. As expected, Dabin had a lot of questions when Jinyoung left earlier and she tried her best to answer each and every question. Which lead her to tell the kid to avoid calling Jinyoung as her father. Like every other kids, Dabin was both curious and confused as to why she should avoid it but still made a promise she would stop doing so.

But why? I'm calling you mom but you're not really my mother. Why can't I call him dad then? Those words didn't mean to hurt Jisoo and was just a question the curious Dabin asked but it did kind of hurt her.

Heading inside her own room, Jisoo felt relieved as soon as her back laid on the soft mastress that had been calling her ever since she woke up. After all, she was still the average person who would think about her own bed while working. Just as she was about to close her eyes for good, she heard her phone ringing on the bedside table. For a while, she debated whether or not she should answer it but ended up choosing the former. It would keep on ringing if she wouldn't answer it anyway.

Jisoo didn't bother checking who was calling. She immediately answered it, not caring who would it be. "Hello?"

"Chu!" Jennie's voice was heard at the end of the line.

Jennie's voice was too loud it made Jisoo pull her phone away from her ear. She swore that her eardrum was going to break in any second if she was to keep her phone close to her ear. Breathing out a sigh, she slowly placed her phone back with so much hesitation. "What is it?"

"How's Dabin? She's fine with that?"

Jisoo raised an eyebrow. "Of course, she is. Why wouldn't she?"

Shuffling noises were heard and Jisoo suspected that Jennie was working on her paperworks. "I mean, you know kids nowadays. Especially those raised by a single parent. You can never avoid situations like that."

Jisoo was honestly growing tired of the discussion. Jennie was going on and on about it and it was hurting her ears. She didn't understand why Jennie would care that much, though it wasn't like she never cared about her and Dabin. "Jennie, I'm really tired right now. Can we just talk about this tomorrow?"

"Don't you ever hang up on me, Kim Jisoo."

Tsk. Jisoo couldn't help but slap her forehead with her hand. She knew Jennie so well and she was completely sure that she wouldn't get that deserved sleep unless the discussion was over. She was also sure enough that Jennie would call over and over again if ever she kept on declining her calls. Nobody can stop Jennie. "What exactly do you want me to do? Hire a stranger to act like her father? Want me to hire Jinyoung?"

Jennie was about to answer her question but was stopped by Jisoo. "I can't just let Dabin call someone who I just met her father. And besides, it's not like I'm dating that guy to let him act like her dad 24/7. It's not his job. His job is to give her the best education out there. Dabin isn't stupid, obviously. But the possibility of her expecting Jinyoung to forever be the father figure she needs is what scares me. I don't want someone to enter my sister's life and leave her at the end. I don't want that to happen ever again. All she needs is me. Because I will never ever leave her. Ever."

Jisoo heard Jennie breathe out a sigh. She knew that she sounded selfish but she was only doing the thing she knew was right. And though it might sound harsh, Jennie was out of the picture when it came to her decisions prior to Dabin. And Jennie knew that.

"I understand you, Jisoo. That stuff with your father—

"Please don't bring that up. I already have no energy for this conversation and I certainly don't have one for that too." Jisoo could feel tears already wanting to come out but she held it in. She had been through a lot and there was no way she would be crying over a painful memory.

"I'm sorry. It's just that these kind of situations can't be avoided. It's either you'll keep on running away from them or face them and learn from them. It's all up to you, I'm just here to help you," Jennie said, her voice slowly losing its volume. "And I'm not saying this because of Jinyoung only."

Jisoo stayed silent, not knowing what to say.

"Dabin's still a kid. A kid who will want a father of her own once she started to realize she needs one. And she's starting to, right now. All I'm saying is, you don't need to date that guy to let him be a father. Seems to me that he has grown fond of Dabin and is willing to. Watching them earlier, I can see that he's genuinely happy when he's around her. I might be wrong because we both just met him but who knows unless you try. But you can always find another. There's so many guys out there," Jennie continued.

Jisoo stared at the ceiling for a while, thinking about what her best friend had said. "Jennie, I know I'm selfish but I'm just scared."

"Scared of what?"

"Scared that one day, Dabin will start to think that she doesn't need me. I don't want that thought to ever cross her mind. I don't want her to think that someone out there will be a better parent than me. I don't want to lose her like that." As soon as those words fell from , Jisoo felt tears running down her cheeks and they were unstoppable.

"Jisoo-ya... Dabin would never ever replace you. Haven't you still realize that Dabin loves you very much? You're both each other's world. Don't ever think of her like that. She adores you, she admires you, you've been through thick and thin together, and most importantly, you guys love each other. I'm sounding really cringe-y right now but whatever. Don't think too much. You're still young. No need to be dramatic, you know? We're too pretty for that."

Jisoo couldn't help but let out a slight laugh. Jennie was indeed one of her medicines. "Pretty is an understatement."

"Oh yes, I know. We're too perfect for that. Am I right?"

"Whatever you say, Princess Jendeukie. I gotta sleep now. Need some beauty rest for tomorrow."

Jennie laughed. "Fine, Kim Jisoo. See 'ya tomorrow! Forget about those thoughts and have a good sleep, okay?"

"Okay." Jisoo smiled before hanging up, wiping the tears away with her hand. Just then, her door slightly opened to reveal a sleepy Dabin rubbing both her eyes.

"Mom?"

Jisoo immediately sat up on her bed, surprised to see her little sister standing right in front of her. "Dabin, why are you awake? Come here."

Dabin slowly walked closer to Jisoo, examining her whose eyes looked as if she had just been crying. "Mom, I heard you crying. Were you really crying? Look at your eyes."

"No, I'm not. Did my voice wake you up? Wow, I really am loud." Jisoo kept on wiping her eyes as if it would magically look fine. As if she never cried.

Her joke didn't make Dabin laugh nor smile. The little girl kept on looking straight at her, looking both worried and confused. "Mom, can I sleep beside you?"

"Of course."

Dabin immediately jumped on the bed and laid beside Jisoo, facing her. Her eyes kept on inspecting the expression on Jisoo's face, and though she was still a kid, she knew that Jisoo was feeling down and had been crying. In fact, she heard everything though didn't understand some of it. She was told that it was bad to eavesdrop but she was sleepy and wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. "Mom, don't be sad."

Jisoo's eyebrows furrowed. "But I'm not sad. Wait— did you hear anything?"

Dabin's worried expression was soon replaced by a guilty one. "Yes but I didn't unde