Taehyung
I went out of my room after I heard Yiseo say goodbye to her friends.
"I'm surprised you guys don't plan a sleepover," I said, causing Yiseo to turn around.
"Nah, tomorrow's Monday," she said. "We still have some slices of pizza left. Do you want some? You haven't eaten any dinner."
I wanted to refuse at first as I wasn't in the mood to eat, but my stomach had been growling for a while. "Yeah, sure."
Yiseo picked up those slices and put it on the plate, then she cleaned up the mess in the living room her friends and she made while waiting for the pizza to be microwaved.
I poured myself a cup of coffee, then I took a seat on the stool behind the kitchen's counter. My phone buzzed which made my whole body tremble as I looked at the notification that popped up.
[From: Yuna noona]
Hey, Taehyung. I've found it, I've found all of it. Open the attached file, you'll find everything you're looking for. Jimin helped me with this by the way.
My eyes widened when I opened the file. There were Kaori's phone number, social media accounts, home location, work location, family history, education, etc. Sometimes I felt like I was doing something illegal.
My eyes were fixed to my phone that I didn't hear my kid yelling my name. "DAD!!"
"Y-Yes, Yiseo," I said, then I glanced at the pizza in front of me. "Thank you."
She approached me and asked, "What's wrong with you, Dad?"
"What do you mean?"
"You've been acting all weird since you came home," she said. "Did something happen?"
I wanted to tell Yiseo about it, about all of it. But I, myself, didn't even know whether or not that kid was mine. This could ruin Yiseo's life.
"I'm just tired, Yiseo," I said as I took a bite of the pizza.
She sighed, then she took a seat next to me. "Alright. I'll accompany you until you finish eating that pizza."
I chuckled. "You don't have to."
"I want to," she said, "and there is something I have to tell you."
"Sure. What is it?"
She took a deep breath and looked at the ground. She seemed to hesitate about what she was going to talk about.
"I," she said as she held her hands together, "am kind of dating Namgyu."
I kept my mouth quiet to see if there was something she'd like to add, but apparently that was all she said.
"Okay, so?"
"Wait, you're not mad?"
"Wait, why would you think I'd be mad?"
"Well, I don't know," she said. "Who knows that you're not that kind of single dads who are overprotective to their only daughter?"
"Yiseo, you cannot date until you graduate! You have to focus on Harvard," she continued, mimicking an overprotective father with an old man voice.
"That's your image of me?" I said in disbelief. "Ouch, that hurts, Yiseo."
She chuckled seeing me act overdramatic like that. Her laugh really eased all the burden that had been on my mind.
"Your dating life is a personal matter to you, Yiseo," I said, "that's your business. I don't have any rights to interfere."
"Are you sure you're okay with that?" she asked. "I mean, I won't be your little girl anymore and you won't be the only man in my life now."
"I mean, you're best friends with Jaemin, but go off I guess," I said while chuckling, "and you will always be my little girl, no matter what."
"But I want you to promise me one thing," I continued.
"Yes, what is it?"
"You're almost 17 and next year you're gonna live on your own, which means I trust you to make your own decisions," I said, "so I need you to promise me that you won't break the trust I have in you. You're almost an adult now, so you have to know what your priorities are."
"Dating is no big deal for me," I continued, "but I know you're targeting Harvard for your further education and it's not an easy task. I trust that you can balance your responsibilities. Can you promise me that I can keep trusting you?"
She smiled, then nodded. "Yes, dad. You can trust me."
I smiled, then I kissed her forehead, which made her pout. "Ew, dad. You have crumbs all over your mouth and now I have crumbs on my hair!"
Hearing her say that made me put on a smirk. I poured all the crumbs from the plate to her hair, which made her even more furious. She reached for the ketchup and spilled it on my clothes. We bursted into laughter when we saw the mess that we made.
"Alright, I'll go change and probably take a quick shower because of YOU," she said as she stood up and went to the bathroom.
After I made sure she was gone, I opened the file again and scrolled down. I pressed the number that Yuna noona wrote down and brought my phone to my ear, only to be greeted by a voicemail.
"Hey, Kaori, it's Taehyung," I said. "We need to talk."
