puzzle piece | jeong jaehyun

17

"Fuck—Yunhui open up!" Jaehyun said loudly, fists still lightly pounding against her front door with urgency as he stood outside her apartment door half dressed

"I'm coming Jesus!" The grumpy voice was finally heard from the other side making him sigh of relief as he heard the lock click open. Her eyes widened immediately at the sight of her neighbour exposing his, perfectly carved out by the Gods, abs as he pulled a white button up shirt onto his body, lazily buttoning it as quickly as he possibly could

"What do you want? It's 8 in the morn—"

"I need you to look after Jinah today, okay please? My babysitter bailed on me and I'm already late to meet this client" he said, running his hands through his hair before disappearing back into his house to get a blazer, leaving his door wide open for the young and incredibly sleepy girl to waddle out

"What? I have errands to run today like—"

"She loves running errands, here's the car seat. Have fun kiddo, thanks Yunhui—I owe you one!" Jaehyun shouted along the corridor before rushing towards the elevator

"Lock your door!" She said with a slight scowl, letting the girl enter her house and sending him a slight glare for the last minute babysitting job she was left with

"I'm tired" Jinah said, rubbing her eyes with one hand, with her bunny plushie in the other

"Me too cutie, let's go to bed" she said, holding out her hands to pick her up and take her towards the bedroom

"Why can't I sleep with Hyuk?" She asked innocently, wondering why the walked past the kid's room

"Hyuk gets really grumpy when he doesn't sleep properly. If you both sleep well, you can play more later" she said, turning off the light and cursing a little at the morning sun that was staring to slowly peek through the curtains before crawling into her bed with Jinah

"Why is your hair like that?" Jinah asked curiously and Yunhui sighed, digging herself into the covers and pulling them up for Jinah as well

"It keeps my hair curly while I sleep" she said with a small smile

"I like your hair" Jinah said, snuggling in closer to her, her eyes practically admiring the older woman in awe, not ever having been this close with a mother like figure that wasn't her grandmother, atleast not that she could remember.

"Thanks...I like your hair too" Yunhui said, her eyes softening as she watched the girls dimples form on her cheek before disappearing again

"You have a pretty smile...like your dad's" Yunhui said, her fingers moving away the thin strands of hair that covered her eyes

"My daddy says I look like him but I have mommy's eyes" she said, regurgitating everything her father ever said to her innocently

"Really? I bet she's very pretty then" Yunhui said with a calm tone, feeling herself start to relax into the covers again, although the little girl seemed to keep her company

"She looks pretty in the pictures but I never saw her" the kid admitted with a slight pout moving in much closer to Yunhui until her head was practically digging into her neck

"Daddy says she's an angel now and she'll always be with us but I never see her" she said and Yunhui sighed, realising the silver bad Jaehyun wore on his right hand wasn't some accessory piece but his wedding ring, worn on the opposite hand to signal that he was widowed.

"I think if you close your eyes and think of her, you'll see her in your dreams. That was you can talk to her and tell her you love her every night" Yunhui whispered, her hand slowly patting the girl's back to aid her back to sleep

"But I don't know her" Jinah said with small voice and Yunhui hummed

"But she knows you...and I bet she really misses you" She reasoned, letting the girl snuggle in close to her and get the warmth she was craving, without realising what the child next to her was really craving, was a mother.

"Is Hyuk's daddy an angel too?" She asked and Yunhui sighed

Far from it.

"No he's not, he's just not in the picture anymore" she explained

"So then what is he?" The girl asked

"He's a bad guy" Yunhui said, hoping the girl would stop her incessant questioning

"Like in the movies?" She asked and Yunhui chuckled, her chest vibrating against the small girl

"Less cooler than that" she said with a small smile, shaking the thoughts of her ex-husband out of her head

"Why don't you wear a ring like my daddy? Are you not meant to wear a ring if you have a baby?" She asked, continuing her line of questioning and Yunhui hummed, not being used to this amount of conversation from her son. It was new, it was definitely a little tiring, but it was wholesome. So much curiosity and knowledge already instilled in a young girl that was a lot more observant than Yunhui thought she was.

"You wear a ring on your left hand if you're married to someone. I'm not married to him anymore so I don't wear it. Your daddy wears his on his right hand because your mom is an angel" she explained, hoping the little girl could grasp a vast topic that even Minhyuk doesn't question her on

"What did you do with the ring?" Jinah asked, poking her head up as soon as she heard shuffling

"I still have it" Yunhui said, rooting through her somewhat empty nightstand until her fingers gripped the small metal band with a teardrop diamond in its centrepiece

"It's so pretty" Jinah said with a beaming smile. Yunhui almost remembered the days when she would cuddle up to her own mother and ask questions like this as well. From a young age girls are taught to romanticise marriage, as if it's the best thing that will ever happen to them. No one tells them about some of the horrors they might actually face.

"Yeah...it is" Yunhui agreed, slipping on the ring that was more perfect and beautiful than her actual marriage ever was

"You'll get your own ring some day, and it'll be much prettier than this one" she said, looking at the girl with a smile as she returned one before her fingers worked to take it off

"Oh dear..." Yunhui said with the slow realisation that her fingers weren't as petite as they once were before she had a child

"What's wrong?" Jinah asked, noticing the shift in her demeanour

"It won't come off."