"About her..." he does not surprise me at all. "Tell me," I nod and puff on my cigarette, but he walks towards the swinging bench and sits down, seeming worried again. I remain silent to let him decide when he wants to start, hoping for it to not be as serious as it was earlier.

He applies some pressure against the ground with one foot to swing the bench in a slow manner. "I thought about what we said earlier..." he mentions the worst, appearing to be extremely distressed about this. "And I don't know, I thought that maybe you could help her a lot as a father. She trusts you, she loves being with you, so don't you think you could try to make her understand it yourself?"

"What do you mean by that?" I frown, standing on my spot and looking at him going back and forth. "You're a dad. You're a man, you're mature. If you talk about the abuse and the fact that she should not be—"

"Joonha," I lift my hand up to put a stop, and I close my eyes for longer seconds. "I won't do that. I know how she will react, and she will drift apart from us."

"No, you don't know that," he does not want to listen to my words. "What if tomorrow is too late?! What if that bitch hurts her but makes it the last hit because she couldn't control herself?! I'm scared—"

"Making her face it will not change anything, Joonha! You need to understand that she has been manipulated, and there are many things you do not know. We both are having this talk when you do not even know if Harin is the one truly harming her, if she even is doing so—"

"She is!" he shouts at me, losing his temper once again. "I saw those fucking bruises! I know she starves her, I know all the things y/n tells me about her, how she feels and unconsciously behaves around her! Staying quiet and waiting is not the right thing to do! It's like waiting for the worst to happen, this is exactly what people need to stop doing because that leads to people dying under their fucking eyes!"

"You're going way too far right now," I do not tolerate this behavior, those words he is using. "You told me you understood earlier, why are you doing this again?"

"Because I can't stand it anymore. I know what is happening to her, and if no one does anything to help her now, she's gonna end up in a hospital, if not worst," he does not think rationally, thinking about the worst when nothing has been proven yet. All of those are assumptions only, and he does not realize how damaging this could be if he is wrong.

"Let's talk about it after we saw her, we will decide what we do, okay? You are a child, but I am a father, and as a parent, you have no idea how hurtful it can be to be accused of abuse on your own children. I would never want to know someone thinks that of me, but I do understand that it is much better than not preventing more harm to happen to someone, but y/n will be with us tomorrow, so she'll be safe, and you won't have to worry," I attempt to put his mind at rest so that he stops worrying himself sick. "I told you. I'm taking care of this."

"Convince her to stay here this weekend," he tells me with despair, but knowing how important it is for him, as much as it is for me, I give him my word. "I will."

"I'm sorry for speaking to you that way...I'm just scared for her..." he apologizes without me telling him to do it, but I do not make a big deal or blame him. "It's okay. I understand," I stub my cigarette out and put my glasses back on. "I'll make sure she's safe. Alright? I want the same as you do. I don't want her to get hurt, so I'll do my best."

He nods, finally being calm, and I ruffle my hair but check on Choco, who is having a good time in the grass.

"You always have an effect on every girl or woman you meet, I wonder how you do that," he gazes up at me. "She's always so shy when you're around or that you talk to her, you're way too much of a main character," he chuckles, quietly. "Stop. You know what effect you have on girls."

"If you say so," he acts like he is not aware of it. "You should be more affectionate with her though. It's going to make her feel so good that she'll come back all the time," he smiles at the thought, talking about this as if I was the one she is the closest to when we both know that she must be into him. "She probably feels that way around me because I'm older. I'm like a more powerful figure. I don't know how to explain."

"Yeah, I could give you the exact reason, but I shouldn't," he stands up, not telling me what he means by this. "Well, come on. I want to know," I ask him to let it out, but he laughs and shakes his out. "Remember when you used to tell me 'you're too young for that'? Well, now it's the other way around,  you're too old for that."

"No, young man," I step to the side to block his way, chuckling at his good reply. "I can never be too old for anything. I'm still young, y/n told me."

"It's just because she has hearts in her eyes when she sees you or talks to you, you shouldn't trust her. She's too blinded by your powerful attractiveness," he mentions my physical appearance again as if this was enough to make a woman do or say whatever I want them to. "That's not even true. I'm just like an authoritative figure as I said, and she's a respectful young girl, so she's more easily 'intimidated'. Stop making me look like a womanizer."

"You are a womanizer, a ladies' man but without the ladies," he does not make sense at all, laughing at his own falsehood. "It's like, you love women, you love flirting with them, but you don't get with them."

"You know more than anyone that it's not true, little brat," I kick his ass to make him regret what he is saying about me, but he giggles and rushes towards the sliding doors right behind me. "I'm gonna tell y/n about it, like this, she'll like me more," he opens the door to go back inside and avoid me, but I follow him. "I'm not asking for her to like me more, so I won't even be mad. The thing is that, she won't believe you," I watch behind me to make sure Choco is coming too, and once he steps inside with his small paws, I lock the door and close the curtains. "How can you be sure of that?"

"Because I'm Mister Jeon, she knows I'm a good man," I cannot help feeling some disdain for myself after hearing my words. "I hate the fact that you're right, so I'm leaving."

"I know you're using an excuse to go back to your crush," I move towards the kitchen to get a bottle of water but hear him yell. "I swear she's not my crush!"

"Sure," I grin at this lie, and he walks up the stairs, so I move to the living room and sit down on the sofa to take a moment to relax and be on my phone.

I have received a text. From someone I was expecting to hear about tonight.

< Good evening! How are you doing? I hope I'm not bothering or disturbing, but I wanted to ask if you'd like to hang out tomorrow and dine at my house? Y/n said she'd be at a friend's house for the night, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to spend time together after work ]

At a friend's house? I see. She does not want her to know she spends time here. There must be a reason.

[ Good evening, I'm doing good and you? I don't know if Joonha has any plans, so I'll tell you if I can come or not tomorrow at work, is that okay? >

I put my phone down to take another sip of my cold and refreshing drink. Maybe I could leave Joonha and y/n alone tomorrow, they would have the whole house for them only. I would rather stay here and be near him than away at her house, but I could also get some more information about y/n's father or her past.

At the sight of a text appearing on my screen, I bring my bottle down to my legs and read what it says.

< Sure! Tell me whenever you know, there's no rush. I'm doing good too, I hope you had a good evening ]

[ I did, hope you did too >

— Next day —

Friday, August 6th, 2021.

6:20 pm.

Finally going back home after a long day at work, I slide the key into the lock and open the door to get in. Unsurprisingly, the first one to greet me is Choco, so I take my shoes off, put my bag down and give him all my attention with a hug and kiss.

Knowing that Joonha is for sure with y/n in his room, I do not shout his name to tell him I am home. I put Choco down and take my suit jacket off to leave it on the back of a chair, and I walk to the kitchen, feeling thirsty and wanting my glass of wine earlier today.

I get my favorite glass out, open a bottle of wine that I always leave here, and pour it in but notice some unusual rumpus upstairs.

What is happening above me?

Feeling like it would be disrespectful of me to eavesdrop, I only pay some close attention to the noise and take hold of my phone to text Harin.

[ I'll text you as soon as I am leaving the house. The meal won't take too long >

I send it to make sure she knows I have not forgotten about the invitation, and I drop my phone to hurry to cook dinner for the young people in my house.

What are they doing though? They are not doing what I think they are? Are they? My son would not do that after only a short time knowing her. On top of that, he knew I would be back around this hour, so if things went a certain way that made it happen, he would still have waited for me to leave for dinner at Harin's house.

This is occupying my mind way too much. I cannot think of anything else, but I have to.

I clear my thoughts as much as possible to not get overwhelmed by my curiosity, and I fill the cooker with water and rice to let it cook and focus on the chicken I have to fry.

However, the rumpus suddenly stops, making this even more odd, but I do not allow myself to question what they are doing under my roof.

"Leave me alone!" y/n's voice echoes through the house after a door was slammed open, but her giggles make it obvious that they are playfully annoying each other again. "I told you, I stuck to my promise and bought you the buns, so stick to yours too!" he shouts back at her as they are running down the stairs and being way too noisy. "Stop— You get on your knees and su—" he interrupts himself once I turn around and that they both acknowledge my presence, but this sentence he just said but did not finish takes me aback.

"And do what?" I cannot continue my actions at all, seeing y/n, who is wearing a pretty red floral dress,  stand right in front of my son, who is nearly two heads taller than her and gripping the sides of her arms. "Surrender..." he picks a better word than the word I was fearing to hear, both staring at me.

"Uh. Surrender," I pretend to have swallowed this lie without casting doubts on it, and I fix my eyes on y/n, who is looking adorable in this new dress I have not seen her in before. "Good evening, y/n. How are you?"

"I'm fine, how about you, Mister Jeon?" her features brighten as if I had brought a big amount of joy inside her with a simple sentence, and she comes towards me. "I'm fine too. Joonha's bugging you again, isn't he?" I put the bottle of oil, which I used to fill a pan with, down on the counter, and she peeks at my son but teases him with a smile. "He is."

"You can stay with me, I won't let anyone annoy you," I provoke Joonha, who I know is going to use the same dramatic point to cry. "Of course, it's your pet. I'm not even gonna feel hurt about it, but look," he goes right behind her to trap her against the counter with his arm at each side of her, and he presses his lips on her cheekbone. "I'm still annoying her," he kisses the same spot of her face once more, but she does not show any signs of discomfort, she is giggling and not seeming bothered at all.

They both are so adorable.

"Let her decide who she wants to go to, don't be like that," I watch the oil that is boiling to not make a mistake, but he wraps his arms around her. "She'd go to me. What do you think?"

"I think you're wrong," I lay one hand on the flat surface to slide the other into my pocket, y/n's eyes remaining on me. "Alright, show him I'm right," he comes right next to me to give her the two options, but she touches the rim of the counter, nervously. "Give a hug to the one you go to, which means the one you love the most," he tells her to do, so I do not move, but she picks in less than a second and steps towards me to put her arms around my waist and even rest her face on my chest, doing it in one of the softest manners.

"Aw, I knew it," I encircle her body that feels frail in my embrace, and hold her tight but look at Joonha's reaction, who is for sure going to be jealous. "Wow. Alright. After all the things I've done for you...that's how you treat me..." he pretends to be joking about the offense but cannot hide the truthfulness of it to me. No matter how stupid this is, I know he would have wanted her to get in his arms.

"It's okay, since you're me, she indirectly picks you," I rub my thumb over her ribs, her arms not letting go of me. "Sure, try to heal the cut she gave to my heart," he walks away and literally leaves to not see us anymore. I smile at his reaction but take my hands off of her to not retreat, and she drifts her arms away from me as well. "Go and comfort this little boy for me," I whisper to her, the sparkles in her eyes melting me, and I lean in to speak in her ear. "Tell him you just wanted to prove that he wants a hug from you."

"I will," her soft expression hits me in the heart to make me weak for her, and she walks away. "And don't hesitate to come back to hug me when he's not here, okay?" I raise my voice for him to hear me and discreetly check his reaction, but he leaves, and y/n runs after him to jump on his back.

40 minutes later...

[ dinners ready >

I send the text to Joonha to not have to shout, and I step out to get in the backyard and light my cigarette up. Just one before going to Harin's house, I am extremely stressed out right now, I need it.

Once I breathe the smoke out, I peek down at my phone screen to read Joonha's response.

< we're coming ]

[ alright, make sure you're the only one reading this though. I'm going to try to talk about y/n's father to Harin and get some info about her or her past >

< good. I hope you'll get to know some stuff. Ask the right questions ]

[ I will. Have you seen anything odd on y/n's body? Some bruises? >

< wait, I'm coming while y/n is playing a game. Get in the backyard ]

[ I already am >

< ok ]

I lock my phone once he is done, and I look up to see if he is here. He must have seen something, otherwise, he would have said a simple 'no'. I am worried.

Once he steps out of the house to join me, I let the smoke out, and he closes the door. "It happened only a few minutes ago when I carried her up to my bedroom. I dropped her on my bed but kinda purposely dropped her on her side, and she complained about some pain, so I asked her what was wrong," he whispers everything to me. "But she said that she fell while trying to skate at her house the other day, but I'm pretty sure she hasn't bought a skateboard, so try to get to know from her mom if she started skating. Okay?"

"Okay, I will ask her about it," I nod, hoping for y/n to have said the truth. "This better be the cause of those bruises...but if all the things that y/n said so far about her mom, and which I do not doubt, is true, Harin must be good at manipulating people."

"No one can manipulate Mister Jeon Jungkook, so I have no worries about that," he smiles but turns around, and we both notice y/n coming back from upstairs. "I'm going back inside."

"Yeah," I nod without saying anything more but take a long drag on the cigarette, and I stub it out to follow him and close the door. "Eat as much as you want and feel at home, y/n. Alright?" I move up to them as they sat down at the table, and she gazes up at me to nod. "Thank you, Mister Jeon."

"Make her feel at home, Joonha," I put my shoes on to get ready to leave, and he agrees to it. "She already feels at home. No need to do anything."

"If you want to use the guest room to sleep, tell him, and he'll do the bed for you," I treat her as if she was a part of my family, willing to make her feel good and special with us. "I'll do it, don't worry, Mister Jeon."

"Yeah because I'm not a maid," Joonha digs in without waiting when y/n has not even tasted the food yet, looking at what I am doing. "You treat her like a princess. If I come back to her complaining about you not giving her all the things she wants, I'll burn your whole gaming setup," I open the door and step out before he could shout but still hear him from behind the walls.

•••

9:40 pm.

The ice cream melting in my mouth to fill it with the strong vanilla flavor, I gaze down at my dish, nervously thinking about a way to broach the most important topic.

"Do you like it?" Harin asks me in a delicate voice, and I raise my head up to look at her smoky eyes. I nod, smiling at her. "I do. It's delicious."

"I'm relieved," she licks her red lips, and I drift my eyes down to one of the two candles between us, those which make this very romantic, too much to my liking. 

The vibration of my phone buzzes in a pocket of my trousers, making noise through the silence in the house. I clear my throat, and with some discomfort, take my phone out to check who is calling me.

Once I see that it is not my son but ex-wife, I ignore it. This must not be urgent, and as long as it is not Joonha, I do not have to worry.

"You can pick up the call if you want, don't feel uncomfortable," she understands that I do not know how to behave with her. "It's fine. This is not important," I take a sip of the red wine she served me to moisten my throat, and I bring the glass down to lay my eyes on her. "I heard from Joonha that y/n has been practicing skating lately, did you know about it?"