puzzle piece | jeong jaehyun

6

"Daddy, I don't know how to say this one" Jinah said from the seat in the shopping cart as Jaehyun did his grocery shopping in the local supermarket

"Let me see" he said, tearing his eyes away from looking for something else, disturbing his train of thought as she held up the list to his face

"Thyme" he said simply

"Time" she repeated and he chuckled

"Thyme, with a 'th' sound, not 't'. Say it again" he corrected

"Time" she said again, and he shook his head watching her pout

"What's time for?" She asked out of curiosity

"Thyme...and I'm not too sure, the recipe says to use it" he shrugged simply, pushing the cart to the next aisle in search for the herb that his daughter couldn't quite pronounce

"So what else happened at school today? Did you learn anything cool?" He asked, keeping her entertained as he finished his shopping

"We learned about farm animals. Daddy, I really like tigers! Can we get a tiger?" She asked excitedly and Jaehyun smiled as he shook his head

"First of all, tigers are not farm animals. And second of all, they can't live in an apartment" Jaehyun said

"Why not?" She pouted

"They could eat you!" He said, his hand tickling her stomach and making her burst into a fit of giggles

"But they're so fluffy" she said and he hummed

"Maybe we can get a cat, when you're older and you're able to take care of it" he said and she smiled widely

"Cats go meow" she said, imitating and cat and he nodded, queuing up at the checkout

"Yes they do, smart girl" he praised, ruffling her hair lightly

"What sound do tigers make?" She asked and he hummed

"They roar really loudly—but don't do it here" he said quickly, making sure they didn't cause a commotion

"Why not?" She asked again, being naturally curious about everything at this age

"Because people will think there's a tiger in here and they'll get scared" Jaehyun reasoned and she pouted

"But why can't the tiger just eat the food in the supermarket? That way it won't be hungry anymore and we can play with it" she said, and for a five year old, she did make a pretty fair point

"Remind me to never take you to the zoo" Jaehyun chuckled, fixing the collar of her uniform that had folded in slightly

"The zoo? Is that where tigers live?" She asked with hopeful eyes

"They actually live in the wild. But there's a few in the tiger cage in the zoo so people can look at them" he said, not thinking too deeply like the five year old

"That's not very nice" she pouted, a little saddened by that fact

"No...it's not" Jaehyun said, pursing his lips into a small smile and realising how emotionally intelligent the young girl was for her age

"We should go to the zoo and let them out of the cage! That way they can go back to their tiger friends!" Jinah said

"Yeah...we're never going to the zoo" Jaehyun laughed, smiling at the cashier who heard the last bit of their conversation before he started emptying the cart.

The drive home was a short one, with Jinah singing some random song from cocomelon from her car seat. And it wasn't until he was at the front door that he realised he forgot to buy buttermilk.