It was the next day, Ara waited for the pair to come to school, but neither of them showed up. She was beginning to think Jimin was going to run away from this problem. And all she wanted to do was talk to him. But she had decided to give him some time and space so that he could think everything over and process what had happened.

She couldn't help but feel her heart ache every time she thought back to what he'd said to her, however. He knew he was hurting when he'd learnt about Eunji's mistreatment. But did he need to lash out at her like that?

It just didn't seem right.

In the meantime, however, Ara made it her responsibility to educate and remind every child at the preschool that bullying and name calling is not okay just through her way of interacting with them, and after talking with Eunji's friend she found out who it was that made her feel that way. She made sure to speak to the child responsible and ask them why they said what they did, and she gave him a long talk about why what he did was wrong. She knew he was only a kid and that he didn't see the weight behind his words, but she needed him to learn so he wouldn't carry this on for any longer.

That night was the same as the one before, and the one before that. She would sit by her window and watch the lights turn off one by one at the house across the street. He hurt her, but she still needed to know he was okay. 

He still needed more time.

But she needed more. 

--

Jimin walked back into the room where he had tucked Eunji into bed, sitting down next to her. He bit his lip as he watched her beautiful form rise up and down as she quietly breathed, wondering why did she have to go through that? Sure it was just a few preschoolers spitting nonsense without thinking, but he couldn't help but think, if she had her mom would it be different? If he tried to make it work if he had begged and begged her to stay with him and raise Eunji together, would none of this have happened?

He lifted his hand and started to stroke her head, tears slowly falling, one by one, and he couldn't stop them. It was his fault. Not Eunji's. She didn't deserve to be feeling like she didn't have people who loved her; just being Jimin didn't do enough to make Seolhyun stay.

He paused when Eunji twitched then, scrunching her nose a little and snuggling closer to the pillow. That's when Jimin burst into a louder cry, and couldn't contain the noise he made, which caused Eunji's eyes to shoot open and gasp at her father.

"Dad!"

"Hey baby," he hiccuped, eyebrows furrowed as he reached forward and pulled his daughter into a hug. He thought back to when she was born, and Seolhyun gave her to him, when he promised himself he was going to give her four times the love she would have had otherwise with two parents.

"Daddy, what's wrong?" her voice was full of worry, and he wondered how such a small four year old could have that much maturity packed inside of her. This made him sob harder; why did she have to experience so many characters of a dysfunctional family at the age of just four? He wanted to give her the whole world, but he could only ever do so much.

"Daddy loves you. You know that, right?"

"Yes!" she giggled, taking her little fingers and starting to tickle his sides. "I'll never forget that."

He bit his lip. He could only smile at her with content. "You're so beautiful, love," he kissed her forehead, "my beautiful baby."

"You really think so?"

"Yes, honey, who do you take after, anyway?"

"You," she answered, kissing Jimin's cheek, "Of course, I look good then."

"Correct," Jimin nodded, pecking her nose, and then her cheek, making her laugh again.

"I love you too, daddy!"

"What is the one thing I've always taught you when it comes to other people?"

"Don't judge other people," she recited.

"Good girl, and you are?"

"Worthy of being loved and respected," she grinned up at him.

"That's right," he ruffled her hair, "I'm so proud of you."

She purred into his touch before yawning, "I'm tired."

"I can see that," he got up and kissed her forehead, "Alright, go to sleep love."

"Daddy, can I ask you something really quickly?"

"Of course."

"When am I going to school again?"

He bit his lip, "Uhm, y- I-" he heaved a deep sigh, "You want to go back to school tomorrow?"

"Yes! Yes yes yes, please!"

Nodding, he stroked her hair, "Okay, let's go back tomorrow, let's finally go back."

--

The next day Min Hee dropped off Eunji at school in the morning, and although Ara was disappointed Jimin wasn't the one walking through those doors, she was ecstatic Eunji was skipping through it.

"Hi sweetheart!" Ara chimed, kneeling down in front of her as she jumped on her.

"Ara! I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, beautiful. I'm so glad you're back!"

"Me too! Me too!" she cheered when they parted and she waddled over to hang her bag on the hook.

Ara stood up as Min Hee approached her, "Hey."

"I'm sorry Jimin wasn't the on-"

"Don't apologise," she shook her head, "I get it, he's m-"

"It's not right for him to be mad at you, Ara, it wasn't your fa-"

"He's a dad," Ara said simply, cutting her off, "He's a dad who loves his daughter dearly, over anyone else. When he heard what happened, it's only natural for him to get mad, at anything, at anyone, even if that was me."

"Ara you don't hav-"

"It's okay, Min Hee, thank you so much for being so supportive of me, but I understand him. I can't blame him for what he feels."

Ara pursed her lips together, "It still hurt though, like so fucking much."

Min Hee didn't bother to argue with her further, and instead reached forward and gave Ara a big hug, "Nonetheless, thank you so much for everything you've done for them. For both Eunji and JImin. You're truly exactly who they both needed; thank you."

"I-It's okay. I didn't really do anything."

"Exactly," Min Hee tapped her back, "You were you, and that was all it took to bring all that happiness into their lives."

When they tore from each other, Ara smiled at her, "That's so sweet of you to say, thank you, Min Hee."

--

Before she knew it, it was night time again, and Ara was back at her windowsill, observing how long the lights would stay on at the Park Jimin household.

This time, however, the light to Eunji's room never turned on, and instead, just the living room light was left the whole time. She found that weird but tried not to overthink of it because she would land at so many dumb conclusions and she didn't have the time or heart for that.

Instead, she decided to take a book from her shelf and settled on her couch to read it. Lighting a scented candle and playing a record she tried to set the mood to calm her heart.

But half an hour into her reading session, the doorbell rang. The loud sound interrupted her serene atmosphere, making her drop her book on her face and almost knock the candle off the side table as she stood up.

Who would be at her house at this time of the night?

Without even bothering to check if her hair was presentable through her bewilderment, she shuffled over to the front door and opened it.

And it would have been a lie if she said she wasn't utterly shocked to see Jimin standing there.

Without a single word, she took a small step back and closed the door back again.

Before Ara had walked away from the entrance, however, she heard a small voice utter from the other side.

"I deserved that."

She wasn't ready yet.