Mission: TaeKook ¦ MiJay_V1995

1

“One more time, Appa! Please one more time!”

The furniture was pushed against the walls, the rug was rolled up. It was snowing heavily outside and 12 year old Yeona was desperate to score a goal against her Father, Jungkook.

"Okay, okay, one more, then we should start cooking dinner."

The young girl jumped and cheered. She was just as sporty and competitive as her Father so games always lasted a while when neither of them could accept defeat.

"I'm definitely going to win this one, Appa." She says as she kicks the ball.

When Jungkook stopped the ball from hitting the wall, Yeona was determined to score. Ten minutes later she still hadn't got anywhere and she'd managed to talk her Father into ten minutes more.

"Two minute break. Drink some water." Jungkook says to his Daughter.

"It's so hot in here. Can we open a window?"

Jungkook laughs, "You can open one window and I'll turn the thermostat down."

Yeona opens a small window, one that doesn't allow snow in with a gust of wind. She glugs back a cup of water and removes her jumper. The next ten minutes are crucial and she's ready. She makes sure her t-shirt is neatly tucked into her sweatpants and waits for her Appa to start the game.

"You look so serious." Jungkook laughs as he removes his hoodie.

"This is serious, Appa… now come on!"

"I think you should cook dinner for being so bossy."

"Appa! Come on! I'll cook dinner but can we please play this game?"

Jungkook laughs a bit more then finally puts the football on the ground. He kicks it towards his daughter who is poised, pulling her foot back and making contact with it as it reaches her. The ball rebounds off the wall and as it comes back at her, Yeona swings her leg again and this time, the contact is heard loudly. Her booted foot makes a thumping sound and the ball ricochets off the wall, crashing into the thermostat before hitting a lamp which sends shattered glass to the floor. Jungkook dives to catch the ball to stop it from hitting the shelf but he's too late, managing to catch it as it rebounds without breaking anything else in its wake.

"Stay back, Yeona." He says as he scans the lounge for damage.

"Appa, I'm sorry." The young girl says, tears in her eyes as she looks at the shattered glass.

"It's just a lamp, it can be replaced. Yeona, it doesn't matter." Jungkook sends his daughter for a shower while he cleans up the glass and makes a start on dinner.

By the time the Father and Daughter have finished dinner and cleared up afterwards, the evening has drawn in and Yeona has apologised for the hundredth time.

“Yeona, you can stop apologising now. We can buy a replacement, it isn’t a problem. No harm was done apart from dinner being late.” He nudges his Daughter and smiles, hoping to cheer her up.

“I still smashed the lamp though. Christmas will be here soon, Appa and you don’t need to be spending extra money.”

“Will more apologies change what happened?” Jungkook asks his daughter who has glassy eyes.

“No, I suppose not.”

“Let’s not worry about it then. The lamp isn’t vital to our living standards so it can wait until the new year. Let's just enjoy Christmas and try and eat all the food we have, huh?"

Yeona snuggles up to her Father as they sit on the sofa watching the TV. "You got a lot of food!"

"Yeah but I bought all that food when I thought your Grandparents would be coming over."

"That's what happens when you don't have a boy." Yeona mutters.

“Is that what you think?”

“Eomma runs off with someone else and has a boy and then jobumonim stops visiting so much. I’m nearly 13, not 4, Appa.”

Jungkook looks at the girl sitting pressed to his side. It’s been five years since his ex left. He spent a couple of years in a state of disbelief, trapped in an endless cycle of trying to work out what happened and if he could have changed anything. He thought they were happy. In fact, they had been planning their wedding so he was none the wiser and the day he’d arrived home from work to find her gone was a complete shock. When he finally managed to get a hold of her, she’d told him that she couldn’t ignore the attraction she felt with her manager at work and that she was moving with him as he’d been transferred to another city. Jungkook knew in that moment that she was leaving him for money and the lure of a luxury lifestyle had obviously been an offer that she couldn’t refuse. He could deal with that but he’s never understood how a parent walks away from their child and still now, it’s something he will never understand. To start with she made an effort to keep in touch with Yeona but even that came to a stop after a while.

Jungkook kisses the top of his Daughter’s head. Her beautifully soft, dark hair is a reminder of her Mother whose hair was always sleek and shiny. Yeona looks like her sometimes, usually when she's upset about something which was a challenge to deal with at first. But Jungkook dedicated everything to raising his daughter well and he's never hidden anything from her.

"We don't know that's the reason, Yee."

"It doesn't really matter… think of all that food, it's their loss, Appa."

"It isn't the food they are missing out on." He says with his cheek resting on the top of Yeona's head.

"They are missing out on you after too many beers, too." She giggles.

"Appa… do you want to watch another episode of that drama?"

"The gross one with all the romance?"

Yeona digs him with her elbow and laughs, "You won't meet another woman if you can't find that romance switch."

"I'm sure that meeting someone isn't dependent on whether I'm romantic or not, besides, I think I've had my fill of women, thank you."

"I'm going to keep choosing romance until you admit that you like it."

"You'll have a long wait."

"You'll give in eventually."

"I won't."

Yeona giggles and presses some buttons on the TV remote before cuddling into her Father's side. She gets her stubbornness from this man so it's just a matter of who will give I'm first.