Taehyung
*many hours ago*

"What's the trouble here?" I ask in a loud voice, trying to snap Jang-Mi out of her angry 'momster' mode. She whips her head in my direction and shoots me a glare that seems like it could set my skin on fire.

Except for the missing fire breath through her nostrils, Jang-Mi actually looks like an agitated dragon.

"What did I do?" I place my bag on the couch and question her, clueless about what's going on.

When I entered the house, I heard her scolding Areum for something, and since Areum wasn't apologizing or responding, Jang-Mi apparently felt irritated and kept raising her volume. So I had to step in to sort the issue out.

But from the angry look on her face, it looks like I might have done something wrong—as always.

"What are you teaching her, Taehyung?" She crosses her arms under her chest and stands facing me.

"To solve the Rubik's cube?" I raise my eyebrows in doubt, shrugging a little.

"Not that!" She retorts back, and Areum runs up to me and hides behind my back.

"Get out of there and get back to your seat now, Areum. I won't say it so nicely once again," Jang-Mi fumes, pointing to where Areum was sitting earlier, a vein popping in her neck and indicating how furious she is.

I safely hold Areum's hands that are wrapped around my waist from behind.
"Let her be. Tell me wha-"

"Did you tell her that it's okay to hug and kiss a friend?" Jang-Mi quirks a brow at me, tilting her head to one side.

SHIT!

"I- yeah, I mean, in a friendly and comforting way, yes. I did," my eyes turn to look at my daughter who is peeping from behind me to look at her mom, terrified.

"Waaah! What a great father you are!" She slow claps dramatically, her tone thick with sarcasm. "Do you know what she did at school today?" Her voice raises once again.

"Tell me what it is, but you don't have to scream. Just speak so that I can hear," I'm trying my best to maintain the decibel levels in the house.

"Stop telling me what to do, Taehyung. I'm so done with you both. She freaking kissed a boy right in front of my eyes, and when I asked her why, she said that appa told me it's okay to hug and kiss a friend," her chest heaves furiously.

My mouth hangs open, and my eyes widen as my mind reels back to that night at the airport.

SHIT! Taking her to the airport was a bad idea. The worst, probably.

"Did she kiss him like-"

"ON THE MOUTH!" Jang-Mi angrily completes the sentence for me, causing my eyes to freeze wide, and my heart to screech to a halt.

"WHAT?? I never told her that it's okay to kiss a boy on the mouth. I swear, I never told her that. AREUM!" I pull her to the front and get on my knees to meet her eyes.

"Did appa tell you that it's okay to kiss a boy on the mouth and hug him at school?" My hands that are holding her shoulders are trembling, and I'm not sure if I'm starting to feel a little guilty to think that I might have been a shitty father.

"But you hugg-" she begins protesting.

"Shhh!" I put a finger on my lips and silence her from revealing anything more and tearing down the little dignity that is left for me to preserve, even though I'm pretty sure about the conversation that she and Jang-Mi must have had earlier because Areum just pours out everything to her mother without her having to ask many questions.

"Listen carefully. A kiss to a friend is never given on the mouth, okay? You can only kiss your friends on their cheeks and give them bear hugs like this," I demonstrate a warm bear hug, and Areum nods in understanding.

"So no more kissing any friends on the mouth, do you understand?" I show her my pinky finger, which is cold out of nervousness now, and she links hers with mine, giving it a tight squeeze.

"Good girl," I press my lips to her cheek in a soft kiss and ruffle her hair before standing back up and watching her disappear into her room.

Turning my focus back to Jang-Mi, I notice that she looks mortified by what she just saw.

So, I decide to explain.

"See, she's just a small kid, and she will be curious about many things. I'm not telling you that what she did is right. But if we react too much to it, it'll only increase her curiosity about it. So it's better to talk it out and make her understand. Next time she wants to kiss someone, she might even ask one of us if it's okay to do it," I speak as I take off my necktie and undo the collar button of my shirt.

But the look she's giving me is so indecipherable.

"So you've become the better parent once again, and I'm the annoying one, once again. But do you know what? The problem is not what she did. It is what you did," she snarls angrily and storms out of the room, leaving me dumbfounded.

What did I do or say wrong? I only told her that the problem is fixed.

Shaking my head, I proceed to take a shower. My head was already hurting with the lack of replies from Maya all day long, and this argument and drama tonight only worsened the ache, almost turning it into a borderline migraine.

I pop in some migraine medication and hit the bed, totally disappointed to be ignored and forgotten by Maya, also feeling like a complete failure of a father, not to mention the useless husband who is also a big zero in parenting—at least in my wife's eyes.

Sleep decides to give me company when everyone else abandoned me, and I finally fall asleep much earlier than usual—thanks to the medication.

***

This morning, since it is Saturday, Areum has gone to her ballet class, and Jang-Mi has gone with her, as usual. Waking up, the first thing I do is to check my phone for any messages, and I see a string of reply text messages from Maya from early this morning.

She must be worried about my lack of replies, and another text message pings in just as I'm about to type out a reply to her.

Maya:
Baby...need you now

Me:
Maya, can I call you on video? I'm alone at home.

Before I could receive a reply, I rush to make sure that the front door is locked, and that I'm actually alone at home.

Maya:
Yes

Without wasting another second, I place a video call to Maya's phone, and she answers it, lying in bed. The moment my eyes fall on her, a broad smile creeps up my lips, and it decides to sit there.

"Hey, Maya. How are you?" I lie back on the couch and place my feet on the coffee table in front of me.

"Baby, I'm super," she giggles, rolling over to her side and blowing a kiss to me.

"Are you drunk?" I ask her, laughing a little when I notice her unusually hyper smiles and hooded eyes.

"Very," she nods with a big grin, again.

"Are you wearing my shirt again?" I try to peer at her clothes, but then she pulls the camera a little back to give me a clear view of her shirt, which is in fact mine.

Maya sits up cross-legged on the bed, placing her phone straight against a pillow, and pinches the fabric of the T-shirt with both hands, pulling it away from her body.
"Do you want me to take it off, baby?" She wiggles her eyebrows at me.

"Take it off for me, baby," my voice drops an octave.

"You take off yours too," she says before lifting the T-shirt off her body and tossing it aside, and I do the same, already turned on by the mere thought of dirty talking on a video call with her.

She's dressed in her skin-colored inner garments, which actually make her look so hot, but I like it better when she's dressed in nothing but her own skin.

"Maya, this is unfair, baby. I'm wearing just one piece of clothing. But you have two on you. Take off one," I urge her to strip a little more while she smirks naughtily.

Maya snakes one hand to her back and snaps off the hook of her strapless bra, and it falls down on her lap, setting her perky breasts free and exposing them to me.

"We're even now, Taehyung," she kisses her index and middle fingers and touches the screen of her phone with those fingers, indirectly passing on the kiss to me.

"Touch yourself, Maya, imagine your hands are mine," I instruct her as I lie down on the couch, holding the phone up in one hand and firmly rubbing the palm of my other hand over the growing bulge inside my shorts.

And then she begins kneading her breasts with both her hands, rubbing circles on her hardened nipples with the pad of her thumbs, her head thrown back as she moans softly.

I bite down on my lower lip while I watch her drowning in pleasure, wishing my hands and lips were on her.

"Fuck! You look so hot, Maya," the tent in my shorts is fully formed now, my erection standing upright, my whole body craving for release.

"I wish you were here, baby," Maya speaks in a seductive whisper and teases me by bringing both her breasts close together and squishing them in her small hands that barely cover half of her assets.

I almost pull down my shorts to free myself and have some fun, but just then I hear a jingling of keys at the front door, and it makes me bolt up in my seat; my heart hammering wildly, and my eyelids flying wide in horror.

"Hey, shhh, hold on, hold on," I whisper, desperately grabbing my T-shirt and running into Areum's bedroom, where I place the phone on the bed and quickly wear my shirt.

I hear the front door creaking open just when I pick up the phone in my hand to look at Maya. She's giggling with her hands covering her mouth.

"I'm switching over to a voice call," I whisper to her once again while putting a finger on my lips, letting her know that she should remain quiet. She puts a finger on her lips too and nods over and over, laughing to herself while I quickly turn off the video and switch to a voice call.

The boner is killed, and I walk back into the living room with the phone pressed to my ear, my eyes landing on Jang-Mi and Areum as they take off their shoes and walk in. They've returned much earlier than usual, and it definitely took me by surprise.

Heck! I almost got caught.

Waving to my daughter, I head back into her room.
"Yeah, so Mr. Harris, what are you doing tomorrow?" My voice is unnecessarily high, as if I'm trying to prove to my family that I'm actually speaking to someone from work—a male co-worker, to be precise.

"I might go shopping, and then take the tube to Manchester to meet up with some of Jae-Eun's friends," Maya replies, yawning, her words punctuated by the faint rustle of sheets.

"A tube? What's that?" I'm confused what that means, and Maya laughs softly.

"It's the London subway's nickname," she educates me, and my mouth forms into an 'o'.

"Enjoy, but stay safe," I pause speaking when Areum walks into the room. "And keep us posted with the latest updates, Mr. Harris," I awkwardly clear my throat and speak with exaggerated hand movements when my daughter decides to sit down next to me.

"I will. I love you so much, Taehyung," Maya's voice is barely audible.

"Same. I'll talk to you later," I end the call first because I know that Maya has already blacked out.

"Hey, bubba. You're back early today. What happened?" I put my phone aside and tighten the hair-tie of her pigtail that has slid down a little.

"My teacher hurt her foot, and she canceled today's class," she informs me, bouncing up and down in her seat.

"Oh, okay. So today let's go get some ice-cream," I flick under her chin with my finger, which would usually make her scrunch her little nose and giggle cutely, but today she just shakes her head sadly, keeping her eyes on the floor.

"What happened? Are you not feeling well, bubba?" I pull her little body into a side hug and place my hand on her forehead to feel up her body temperature.

"I'm feeling well, appa. But eomma said no more sweets for the week," Areum puts on a sadder face and speaks as if she might cry any moment.

"Ahh, is it so? Why? Did you already eat too many this week?" I turn her around to sit facing me, and I do the same.

"Only four," she holds up four fingers, pouting cutely.

"That's not too many... bubba, let's make a small deal. Are you in?" I lower my voice and dip my neck to meet her eyes.

"Will I get an ice-cream?" She fires back, her eyes flying to meet mine.

"I'll get you three scoops. I promise. But you need to promise me something too, will you?" I extend my right hand in the space between us.

"What's it?" My daughter whispers sneakily.

She's not so little anymore, is she?

My eyes briefly move to the doorway just to be sure, before they come back to an eager Areum.

"I want you to promise me that hereafter you will not speak about my friend we met at the airport, at least when eomma is around"

"Why? But I already told eomma," she pouts cutely, but I'm pretty sure she must have missed some details like her name.

"I know. But don't say anything more, okay?"

"Why, appa? Does eomma not like your friend?" Areum whispers as she drags herself closer to me, keeping her eyes fixed on me.

"I guess she might not," I give a small shrug.

"Appa, eomma doesn't like my friends too. She always says Soo-Jin is bad... but how can he be bad? He's my best friend, appa," my daughter rants with animated hand movements, yet still speaking in a whisper.

I bring an elbow to rest on my knee and stroke my chin with my forefinger, quirking an eyebrow at the little me.

"Is he the boy who got a kiss from you?"

She nods, giggling as she covers her mouth with both hands.

She's definitely growing up faster than I thought.

I clear my throat and straighten up, and she does the same, putting up a stern and stoic face just like mine.

"Alright, Soo-Jin is not part of our deal. Do you promise what I asked of you?" I ask her again, and she slams her tiny palm on mine, nodding aggressively.

"Yes, appa. I promise. I will never talk about that airport ahjumma if you buy me three scoops of ice-cream," Areum confirms her promise, clapping her palm on mine once again and making her point clear.

"Wait, it's the other way around. I'll get you the ice-cream if you promise," I protest.

"I promised, appa," she laughs, pressing her palm more firmly, earning a big grin from me.

We fist-bump each other and plan how to sneak out for getting the ice-creams.

I can't believe I just bribed my own daughter to keep a secret from her mother. Even though it's not actually a secret anymore, and Jang-Mi probably knows for a fact that it was a female friend that I met at the airport.

Sometimes I wonder how long it would be before she actually finds out that it's not just a friend that I met.

Thinking about that inevitable moment scares me.

The biggest trouble of keeping secrets is the constant fear of getting caught.

Published on : 05/16/2022