Sterns Father's Gentle Embrace.

The world often spoke of mothers as the heart of a home, the gentle hands that soothed, the warm embrace that comforted. But for five-year-old Chohwa, her world had only ever known the love of her father-Jungkook.

A single father at twenty-seven, Jungkook balanced two roles: the firm voice of discipline and the soft arms that held his daughter when she cried. He scolded her when needed but spoiled her just as easily, unable to deny the little girl who had him wrapped around her tiny fingers.

Chohwa was bright-eyed and mischievous, her stubborn streak a mirror of her father's. She tested limits, knowing exactly when she had pushed too far-when his deep voice turned serious, reminding her that he was not just her playful, doting father but also the one who set the rules.

She had never known her mother, taken from this world the day Chohwa entered it. Jungkook rarely spoke of her, but in quiet moments, when he thought his daughter was asleep, he would sit by the window, lost in memories.

Chohwa didn't fully understand loss, but she understood longing. She saw other children run into their mothers' arms, fussed over and scolded in a way only mothers could. And though she never voiced it, a tiny part of her wondered-would she ever have that too?

Jungkook had given his daughter everything he could, but there were things he couldn't replace. Perhaps fate had plans of its own-perhaps, one day, someone would walk into their lives. Not to replace the mother Chohwa had lost, but to give her a love she had never known. And maybe-just maybe-Jungkook's guarded heart would find warmth once more.

But for now, their story continued-a father who loved too fiercely and a daughter who knew she was his whole world.