"Let's see here. Milk, cheese, coffee beans, and—"

"Papa, here's the cereal!"

Jungsoo turned his head to the right and saw his little angel run with her tiny feet, hugging two boxes of cereal. His smile bloomed as he immediately jogged to help his daughter carrying the not-so-heavy load. Haeun trailed behind her father like a little duckling.

"Haeunie tired? Do you want Papa to carry you?"

Haeun stopped midtrack, pondering for a while before she timidly shook her head.

"No. Papa is also tired."

On that, Jungsoo frowned, "I'm not, sweetheart. Why do you say so? Here, lemme hold you."

Jungsoo crouched down and opened his arms for Haeun to hug. Once he thought his daughter was settled, he heaved her body in one go. Just then, he finally realized that his little princess had gotten bigger since the last time he ever carried her. He sighed in contentment and smooched Haeun's chubby cheek before he adjusted the beret she was wearing.

"Papa is always tired when you come home from work. Haeunie wants to play with you but you're always sleeping."

It hit straight at his heart. Jungsoo did not expect his daughter to be saying that to him. It was true; working back and forth between Seoul and Jeju to manage the resort was zapping his energy. Well, he was not always supposed to be in Jeju twenty-four-seven, but when he was, it was super tiring. Had he known it would affect his relationship with his daughter, he would have accepted Hyukjae's offer to help him run the main hotel here in Seoul. But one thing stopped him, even until now. One thing he never wanted to discuss—

"Where's Mama?"

—his mother. He still could not forgive her and no one around them seemed to have the guts to reconcile them so they kind of grew apart.

But one day perhaps—

"He's still working in the office, baby. We'll meet him at home."

—he might want to talk to her again.

Jungsoo pushed the cart and looked around to tick all of the items on the shopping list. So far, they had got them all. They just needed to buy some pastry from the bakery a few shops away from this convenience store and they were set to go. He smiled a little as Haeun cautiously rested her head on his shoulder, playing with the strings of his jacket.

"Haeunie, if you want to play with me, you can always say that. Papa is not tired to play with you."

Haeun nodded and circled her chubby arm around his neck. He could not be happier than bonding with his precious daughter. They were strolling around the alleys for a little while until Jungsoo was sure they had all items they needed and headed to the cashier. The queue line was not too long, fortunately.

"What are you buying, Grandma?"

Jungsoo, who was originally busy texting Heechul, snapped at the direction of Haeun's voice and saw that the little girl was talking to a middle-aged lady in front of him. The woman looked down and beamed widely, "Vegetables. I have carrots, beans, lettuces, do you like vegetables?"

Haeun shyly shook her head. Jungsoo could not help but be amused by her daughter's development. Coming from a very timid girl, Haeun bloomed like a flower to be a social butterfly, much like her Mama.

"You should eat your vegetables. They make us healthy."

Haeun puffed her cheeks and nodded in defeat.

"Mama also says the same. Haeunie likes carrots in the carrot soup Mama makes, but I don't like celery. Bleh, bitter."

"Well, you have to try my chicken salad with celery. It's delicious."

"Really? Haeun will tell Mama to cook it."

The lady smiled, "Where's she?"

"Mama is working. We will meet him at home."

"Him?"

— Jungsoo immediately jolted his body and came to his daughter's side. The middle-aged woman was looking at him rather intently before he returned the gaze and smiled politely.

"Nice to meet you, Ma'am."

The woman eventually smiled back.

"Nice to meet you too, young man. So," she paused and glanced at Haeun.

"Where's your husband?"

Jungsoo was momentarily stunned at the unexpected question. The fact that this woman seemed to have no problem with it still felt strange to him. He gulped nervously and answered a little stuttering.

"He's— He's working. I... I'm—"

"Relax. I understand. I just wanna say that you both are doing a great job in raising this little sweetheart. She's very well-mannered, sweet, and happy."

His chest felt strangely full with a surge of relief and pride from the heartfelt compliment. His genuine smile naturally appeared as he bowed to the woman.

The line was getting shorter and it was already the woman's turn. Even then, Haeun still talked animatedly to her. Watching their cross-age friendship bloomed from a small interaction here, Jungsoo could not help but wonder if Haeun and his mother met, would they also develop the same beautiful bond?

-❀-

Jungsoo felt that his forehead started to be sweaty. And he knew he could only maintain his unbothered expression in front of his daughter. But how could he? Haeun suddenly pulled his hand to stop by the pet shop next door and it seems that she was fixated with the animals. Once or twice, he and Heechul did consider getting a pet, but if it was this sudden and unprepared, he bet his fortune that Heechul would not be pleased.

"Papa. Papa, here."

Please. Let it be a cat like what Heechul wanted or a dog like what he wanted. It would be so much easier. Finger cross