Unconditionally (BOOK 3)

Catching Up

"Dad, I'm home." I called out, letting myself into my childhood home. I heard the TV so I knew he was in the living room.

"Hey, kiddo." He smiled. "It's been a while." Almost a year to be exact. "How is everything? How's Wooyoung doing?" Every time we talk, it's one of the first things he asks. His genuine concern is endearing, I'll admit.

"He's getting there." I sighed and took a seat next to him on the couch. "He loves working at the dance studio which is nice."

"You know, I actually ran into his mom the other day. We were both Christmas shopping. Believe it or not, we had a nice conversation."

"Did you really?" I smiled. A well known fact is how much she dislikes my parents so that definitely came as a surprise.

"Yeah, we talked about you, Wooyoung, San, her youngest son - it was a nice conversation. She told me San's family was coming back from Namhae, same as last year."

"That can somewhat correlate with why I'm here." The initiation of anything remotely serious makes him nervous, I can tell. But he was listening intently; if I came all the way here just to talk about this, he knew it had to be incredibly important. "You know Yeji?" He was deeply confused. Not because he didn't know who she was, but because I knew. "I didn't know that was my cousin. She gave me the whole rundown the other day." He looked like he'd just seen a ghost. I'm sure everything in his past haunts him which is why he's trying so hard to salvage what he can.

"How do you know Yeji exactly?"

"We went to school together. She's also my friend's girlfriend. I just saw her on Halloween too; she came over to San and Wooyoung's. Apparently everyone knew except for me because she just assumed I knew. I mean, it would make sense that I'd know who my family is, but apparently not."

I could see the guilt in his eyes. I saw my grandparents occasionally growing up, but they stopped coming around after a while. I never really thought about family. It was always me and my parents. But because of how he's treated everyone in the past, we were alone.

"Then if she told you, I don't need to explain what happened." He sighed. "I was greedy."

"Because of the company or because of mom?"

"Both." He shook his head, ashamed of his actions. "How did Yeji turn out?"

"Gorgeous girl. Super sweet, independent, confident. She's a good person."

"Then she dodged a bullet."

"Hey now, I've been good." I smiled, knowing he was slightly teasing.

"You have pink hair." He laughed.

"It wasn't my idea, it was Yeji's boyfriend's." What a funny coincidence. "Don't worry, I'll have a normal color for the wedding. Either black or blonde, I haven't decided yet...probably blonde. You're invited by the way." His smile dropped, immediately starting to well up with tears. Never in my years of living have I seen him cry. Not a tear, not even a glossy eye. But here he was with steady tear streaming down his cheeks. "You okay?"

"Yeah." He assured with a faint smile, wiping his eyes. "I just didn't expect that, I'm sorry."

"You didn't think I'd invite my own dad to my wedding?" No, I wasn't planning on it. I know how I'm making it sound; it seems like I wanted to invite him the entire time. Obviously that wasn't the case. But Felix was the one that suggested it. Especially after we booked our flight to Sydney. If I'm helping him with his family, he wants to help me with mine.

"No, I guess not. I've just done so many unforgivable things to you in the past to you, your friends, your family...I made life so difficult for everyone. I know I'll never be able to make up for what I put you through growing up, but you know I've been doing what I can."