Seoul, 15 May 2023

I arrive at Kids Of the Nations International School and park my car. Monday's traffic is really a pain. It's 3 p.m. now, meaning that classes were finished 30 minutes ago. Great, half an hour late. My princess is going to throw a fit. I jump out of the car and sprint into the building.

I see my beautiful princess sitting in the lobby with one of her teachers. She has a big frown on her face and her teacher looks like she's trying to calm her down. "Daddy, you're late!" Ga-Young says in perfect English pronunciation, which proves that the truckloads of money I pay for her early education here in KONIS is well spent. She abruptly gets up from her seat and stomps her foot on the floor, glaring at me. I smile apologetically at her, squat down, and open my arms for a hug. She doesn't budge and just keeps staring at me angrily. This is weird; she's not the type that gets angry very easily, did she get in trouble?

"Annyeonghaseyo, seonsaengnim," I stand up and bow slightly to her teacher. "Annyeonghaseyo! Usually it's Ga-Young's mom who comes and pick her up..." the teacher smiles. "Neh, but our son is at home sick, so she couldn't come. Err... did something happen to my daughter? She looks upset," I ask the teacher. The woman sighs and lets out a tiny smile, "I think you should ask her yourself. She didn't get into any trouble, I can tell you that much. She's one of our best students." I feel relieved after hearing her explanation. Thank goodness, my princess isn't in trouble. I bid the teacher goodbye, hold Ga-Young's hand and lead our way out.

As we walk to the car, the expression on Ga-Young's face gets even worse. She looks like she's about to burst into tears very soon. What the hell happened to her? Did little punks at school bully her or something? Because if they did, I would gladly kick their sorry asses all at once! Ga-Young runs into the passenger's seat and slams the door shut. Good job, princess, take it out on daddy's expensive car. I put her bag in the trunk and get into the driver's seat.

I glance at the little girl beside me. She has her arms folded in front of her chest and her lips are pouting. She looks so cute; she has my eyes, but her nose and lips look just like my wife's. She huffs out her irritation as I start the engine. "Want to tell daddy what's bothering you, princess? Is it because I was late, hmm?" I her hair. She doesn't respond or even look at me. This is really strange, our Ga-Young loves to talk; she talks a lot, sometimes a little too much. Why is she like this? 

I start driving; Our house is not far from KONIS, both are located in Pyeongchang-dong. The drive is filled with utter silence, and I'm not liking this situation. My wife will surely nag me if she finds out that I was late to pick up our daughter. I can't let Ga-Young come home with that frown on her face. "Princess, want to go for some ice cream first?" I take glimpse at her. "Mmm," she mutters under her breath. The first thing she says since we've been driving is 'mmm'? Damn, she must be really pissed off. 

We arrive at the gelato shop our family frequents and Ga-Young orders 3 flavours for herself. I laugh inside my head; she's just like her mother, whose principle is to eat sweet treats whenever she feels down. We sit ourselves down at the corner of the shop, and I can see by the tiny smiles on Ga-Young's face that she's feeling a little better. I praise myself silently for doing an awesome job as a father.

"Appa, do you have a friend who's a lawyer?" she asks while eating her ice cream. "I do, princess. Wae?" "Please give your friend a call. I need a lawyer," she says. I don't know how to react; I want to laugh at her remark, but at the same time I'm worried about why my 5-year-old would ask for a lawyer. "Princess, why do you--" "I have to sue someone from my class!" she slams her hand on the table. I smile at the scene, trying my best to hold my laugh because she's just too cute. I send a message to my wife to share this amusement with her.

To: Colonel Wifey

[Babe, our princess told me that she wants to sue someone... Kekeke~ You should see the look on her face! Too freakin' cute!]

"Why are you smiling, appa? I'm serious!" Ga-Young cries out. I erase my smile, not wanting to make her feel worse, "why do you want to sue your friend, princess?" She ruffles her hair in frustration, "because, appa! Because he... He stole something from me!" "What did the boy steal from you, hmm?" I rub her cheek with my thumb to calm her down. She's probably freaking out over a small matter. Whatever it was that he stole, the thing must've accidentally got mixed with the boy's stuff. Things like that happen all the time to little kids, right?

"My first kiss, appa! He stole my first kiss! He pecked me here," she whines and points at her lips. What the hell! Who is this kid? Where did he get the guts to kiss my little girl? Hell, no! This is war! Ga-Young starts sobbing and her cries wake me up from my angry thoughts. I pick her up and sit her down on my lap. She buries her face in my chest and I run my fingers through her soft hair. I let her cry her eyes out, and gently rock her body from side to side; the trick I learned from my wife. 

When she stops crying and calms down, I cup her small face and look her in the eyes, "who is the boy, princess? We will sue whoever it is that made you cry..." She shakes her head, "he's actually a good friend of mine, appa. He said he wanted to thank me for letting him borrow my crayons, so he kissed me." I sigh in relief. Man, I thought the little punk forcefully smashed his lips on my princess' innocent face. "Are you sure? We can still sue him if you want. My lawyer friend is really good, so we will definitely win the case," I try to cheer her up. She wraps her short arms around my neck and pecks me on the cheek, "I changed my mind, appa."

"Why were you that upset, then?" I wipe the tear stains on her cheeks. She sighs, "because... Uh... I want my first kiss to be like umma's first kiss, appa..." I gasp inwardly, "what do you mean, princess?" She blushes and leans her face in my chest again, "umma told me that her first kiss was with the most special guy in the world, so I want mine to be with my most special guy, too..."

I cover my eyes with my palms after hearing what my princess just said. My face lights up with impish glee. Aigoo yah... Son Ga-In!!!

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Author's Note:

Just an info, 'seonsaengnim' is how you call someone who's an expert in his/her field, like a teacher, a doctor, etc. It's also a way to refer to someone you respect, but not a family member, e.g. a business partner.

Btw, how cute is daddy Ji-Yong? Kekeke~