Lemon Girl's First True Love

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Young bae... wake up. You need to get some rest. I can take it from here..."

 

"Uncle...! Are you sure you're okay now? I think she'd feel comfortable if I'm here when she wakes up."

 

"I'm sorry for all the trouble, but I'm alright now. I want to be here for my little girl..."

 

"Okay. I'll be back tomorrow. I hope you two can settle this."

 

"Thank you for watching over her for me. You're a good boy."

 

"It's no problem. I'll do anything for your little girl."

 

"I'm sorry for being a bad father-in-law."

 

"You're a good man, Uncle. Good night."

 

 

 

These two voices have been disturbing my dream for a while now. Chae Bom was giving birth to her baby and the baby was a baby panda. It came out of it's mother's womb carrying a pistol and a familiar looking smirk. I was washing the blood off of the baby panda when I felt fingers unlacing themselves from my own and a new set of fingers taking over that felt bigger and rough. I grunt as I feel the rough hand touch my swollen cheek. By now, I'm already awake and fully aware that I'm with Appa. I'm too tired to open my eyes though. This afternoon has been too eventful. I'm tired but I want to say something. 

 

"AAAAHHHHHH!"

 

I open my eyes and give Appa an evil stare. 

 

"Aisshh... stay still!" he whisks my hand away from my face, trying to lay the super cold ice pack back down again while fighting off my hands. 

 

"But Appa! It hurts!" I cry out. 

 

"It'll numb it out in a second," he assures me, holding up an index finger. "I promise."

 

I whimper but I nod to let him. I hiss from the pain. Ouch. It stings. But just as Appa had promised, my swollen cheek numbed out sooner than I expected. I look at him. When I did that I realized that my eyes are as swollen as my cheek too. I blink a few times so I can get used to the pressure. 

 

"Appa..." I touch his hand with mine. "I'm sorry..."

 

He shakes his head.  

 

"My Hyun Ok... Appa is sorry. Forgive me," he smiles down at me, his eyes as sad as the full moon hanging outside my window. "I can't control my temper like I used to."

 

I look at his face, trying to trace all the wrinkles and spots as much as the shallow light will let me. Stories I haven't heard of and pain I haven't felt had etched their way into my father's face. But even through all of that, I can see. My father really is handsome. 

 

"Something is going on right now, am I right?" I ask him. I think back on what Jae Hwa had told me earlier this afternoon. Listen to everything your Appa will say... 

 

"Yes. I've got to hide you as much as I can..." he answers. He lets the ice pack hang by itself on my cheek and holds my left hand with both of his hands. "You can't be near him or communicate with him. If you can find it in yourself to respect my command, please do. I don't know when this thing is going to end, but I do know that it's going to end badly. You've been exposed much more than I can approve of..."

 

"I'll do as you say, Appa," I smile up at him.

 

I hand him the ice pack as I get up and walk over to my closet. I take out the fishing rod I've been saving for Jae Hwa and hand it over to my father. He takes the fishing rod and gives me a disgusted look.

 

"It won't be in a few more hours but Happy Birthday, Appa," I smile, feeling very proud of myself. "I'll give you your second present tomorrow."

 

He scoffs, clearly baffled at the present I just handed him. "What do you plan I do with this thing?"

 

"Something very relaxing. Something men your age will find enjoyable," I answer him. I already know that he'll act like this but after all he is my father. He won't disregard anything with a value. 

 

He starts to nod his head, giving my present a little more acknowledgment than he was showing earlier. He flicks at the end of the rod with his fingers, testing it's quality.

 

"You're right. Now that I think about it, this will be perfect for even distribution of fertilizer at our garden. It's very long, very sturdy." 

 

"Appa!" I can't believe this man! I stomp my foot on the floor. "You'd rather play with poop than fish? That's for fishing, not for spreading poop!" 

 

"Says who?" he raises an eyebrow at me. "As I recall, you gave this to ME as a PRESENT. Therefore, I can do whatever I want with it." Putting an emphasis on every 'I'.

 

"Give that back to me!" I try to snatch the fishing rod from him. He blocks me with his back, stretching his arms to get the fishing rod as far away from me as possible. I stepped on something hard which made me jerk back and fall on my bed. He took this opportunity to make a mad dash out of my room, chuckling with all his might while raising up the fishing rod like it was some kind of trophy. 

 

And some people still wonder why I'm part idiot. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------