Chapter 6

Hello Daddy

Within a deep breath, I found myself inside the small house.

I was looking around to see if I could find him but it seemed as if he wasn't home. I walked further inside, carefully placing my eyes around the apartment

Nothing seemed to be out of place, but I felt as if this scenery was about to change anytime now.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

At that moment I heard the lock of the doors, making me turn around only to see my father coming in, his appearance in a complete mess. I don't know if I should be surprised or not since I haven't seen him in over five years, after my mom's funeral. Back then, he didn't seem to be phased at all by her death but I guess it shouldn't really matter to him since he's the one that walked out on us…

Now that I think about it, I don't even know what the hell I'm doing here. I should be with Mir right now, or at least somewhere else, but I couldn't. I don't know why, but I wanted to stay and watch over him.

Even though I hated him.

I watched him walk towards his couch, letting himself fall onto it. What caught me by surprise were the muffled sound that were escaping his mouth. I got closer and sat next to him only to see a tear fall out on his unshaved cheek, slowly breaking down as he let soft sobs out.

My dad was crying and even though I was right next to him, I couldn't comfort him.

I hated him, but it was killing me seeing him so weak like this.

And out of nowhere the coffee table that was in front of the couch was flipped over, sudden anger taking over him. It scared me and for one second, I was afraid that he will hurt me but when I heard him cry out my name, I remembered that I was invisible to him, and that's when I knew that he had find out about my state.

I'm sorry dad…

I simply sat on the couch and watched him throw things from left to right, venting his anger and frustration out of his system while he let his tears blur his vision, the pain from his voice reaching out to me and breaking my heart from the sight I had in front of me.

I couldn't help myself but cry with him.

In the end, the whole room looked like a battlefield having lamps and photo frames thrown across the rooms, along with broken pots where the plants were resting lifelessly on the floor with the dirt covering them and the TV screen being completely shattered. I never thought that he would be so affected by what was happening to me, I thought he didn't even care at all about me or my mom, but I guess I was wrong…

I saw him fall down on his knees. I got up from the couch and walked to him, crouching down and gently place my hand on his shoulder hoping he could feel something but he only cried harder, grabbing onto a picture frame and hugging it close to his chest as he rocked his body from front to back, constantly apologizing for running away from me.

I couldn't take it anymore.

In all the years I've known my dad, I've never seen him so broken up like this. I don't even remember seeing him like this when my mother died.

I could feel my cheeks getting wet as I wiped my tears away, trying to regain some kind of control over my emotions, but it was becoming to hard. I broke down next to him, laying my head on his shoulder, just trying to have a small father-daughter moment even though I wasn't even here with him.

The only thing that was good about it was that I could touch him. Because he's my father and because I forgive him, I could let myself hug him, even though he couldn't feel a thing.

x    x    x

The room was still upside down with the man still on his knees, hugging the frame close to his heart. The tears were still falling down his cheeks as he tried to remember about a happier life he used to know at least ten years ago, before he became a coward and ran away.

"Hea Jung-ah, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Oh honey, please forgive me, I'm so sorry"

His chanting went on in on as he poured his heart out, the guilt making him come out of his cold shell the moment he found out about his dying daughter.

He failed as a father and the proof was right in front of his eyes.

He couldn't protect his own daughter and it was slowly eating him up.

After a moment, he picked himself up, still holding onto the frame and gently placed it above the fireplace. He walked into the kitchen and came back holding a lighter and a small candle, placing it next to the picture. He lighten it and placed a flower that was on the floor in front of the picture.

The picture revealed to be one of a family, a long time ago, before the father was the one that ran away, breaking everything apart. He grazed over the frame, sudden memories coming flooding in his mind as he let another set of tears escape his moist eyes, not able to hold back anymore.

His thoughts got interrupted with a sudden knock on his front door. Wiping his tears away, he walked to the entrance and opened the door only to see two police officers standing in front of him. "How may I help you, officers?"

"We are here to question you about your daughter, sir. Hea Jung? Lee Hea Jung?"

"Y-yes…"

"From your state, we assume that you have heard about what happened to her?"

"I just came back from the hospital… Did you catch the one who did this to her?"

"Actually, we were wondering if we could ask you a couple of questions"

"What for?"

"An investigation regarding an attempted murder on your daughter"

"M-murder?"

x    x    x

"Daddy! Daddy!"

"Yes sweetheart?" The father let out a chuckle watching his five years old daughter running to him. Sitting on the couch, he caught her and lifted her up so she could be sitting on his lap, as she held onto to a small package. "What is this honey?"

The little girl placed the package in front of him as she gave him a peck on the cheek, wishing him a happy birthday. "Happy birthday Daddy!" Once he held onto the gift, she clapped her hands, excited to see her father's reaction.

Once he unwrapped it, the gift turned out to be a picture, placed inside a beautiful silver frame, capturing a precious moment between the small Lee family. "I picked out the picture Daddy! Do you like it?"

With a gentle kiss on the top of her head, the father admired the photograph with a smile on his face, proud to see the accomplishment that he was able to create. "I love it sweetheart, thank you."

x

"Daddy?"

The little girl walked down the stairs of her home at the sound coming from the living room, thinking that her father might be back home. Wearing her pj's and holding onto her teddy bear, she rubbed her eye as she has just woken up form her sleep when the noise drove her away from her dream.

Standing at the entrance of the living room, she saw her father sitting on the couch holding onto a full bottle, gulping it down without a care in the world. His hair was in a mess as well as his clothes, looking completely lost and also angry. She didn't say a word, afraid to get yelled at for being out of bed at this time of night.

She knew not to bother him when he was like this since it wasn't the first time it was happening, but she missed her father so much she couldn't help herself but worry for him even though she was barely ten years old. Before leaving him be, she walked to the little table by the couch and took a hold on the family picture she gave him five years ago and placed it in front of him, while he was busy looking down. As she walked away without a word, he looked up and saw his little girl walking away, leaving behind her teddy bear along with the frame.

He placed the bottle on the table and picked both items in each of his hands, carefully looking at them. A single tear escaped his tired eyes trying to remember how his whole life has turned upside down, from being a great business man to have lost it all, making him fall into the depth of alcoholism and gambling.

Nothing was the same anymore and he felt guilty about it. He wasn't the husband he promised to be to his wife anymore and he wasn't the father Hea Jung needed anymore. He became a stranger into his own house, not even being a home anymore.

He got up, still holding onto the two objects and walked out of the house, leaving behind a simple note that he took out from the pocket of his jacket and placing it on the kitchen table.

"I'm sorry Hea Jung-ah… Please forgive me"

The only thing he didn't know was that his own little girl was standing by the stair case, watching her father walk away from his life, making her silently cry as she pictured him for the last time.

"Daddy… come back… please"

Next: Die Young