Spitting Image | Jeong Jaehyun

42

To: Dad & Mom

Merry Christmas

From: Jihye

Jaehyun couldn't tear his eyes away from the Christmas card that was handmade by his daughter at school sitting at the bottom of her bag. In the front, a colourful picture of stick-like characters that she drew covered the black page, a man, a woman and a small child. Jaehyun's throat almost ran dry as his breath hitched in his throat. For the last two years, he only saw the Christmas cards come with two stick characters, and the image of the long black haired figure on the paper now had him panicking almost.

He knew his little girl was fond of the older one, but he didn't think she would be this quick to see her as a mother figure. His palms grew sweaty almost as he read the word 'mom' again. He was almost so sure that Kira would not see this coming either, it would even make her uncomfortable almost.

"Jihye...can you come in here for a second" he called from her bedroom and she took her time coming to him, not wanting to tear hey eyes away from the cartoon that was playing on the TV

"What daddy? I want to watch tayo!" She whined, walking towards him as he sat on her bed, looking at her with slight concern

"Come here" he said, patting the space on her bed and she didn't give it much thought before hopping on the mattress beside him. Her eyes immediately landed on the Christmas card she had decorated for him and Kira, which she was meant to give along with the painting Jaehyun still had no idea about.

"Daddy why did you look at that! You weren't supposed to see that-"

"Jihye just listen to me for second okay" he said sternly, making her look at him with confusion along with slight disappointment. His tone was unsettling for her as she had no idea what she was doing wrong to get such an aura from him.

"Who is this?" He asked, trying to keep himself calm even though the situation was overwhelming for him.

"Mom" Jihye shrugged simply and Jaehyun bit the inside of his lip, before continuing

"Who's mom?" Jaehyun asked again

"Kira...did I do something bad?" She asked with wide eyes and he parted his lips open slightly. He knew it wasn't exactly bad behaviour, she was too young to understand the consequences, but she was putting him in a tough spot.

"Jihye you can't call Kira your mom...she's just your babysitter" he said, trying to speak rationally with his daughter, but he could tell she had an earful for him already

"She's my friend daddy" Jihye corrected and he sighed

"Okay friend then..but she's not your mom so you can't just call her m-"

"She said I can call her whatever I want! It makes sense because she calls me baby, why can't I call her mommy?" She questioned and Jaehyun wished he didn't have to explain and ruin the young girl's innocence but he couldn't bear the idea of Jihye getting her hopes up and putting such responsibility on Kira. If Kira left, Jihye would be crushed, and it would be 'why don't I have a mommy anymore?' all over again, he couldn't handle that again.

"I don't think she meant it like that baby...she's not your real mom-"

"Then where's my real mom?" Jihye huffed, and Jaehyun struggled to think of a viable answer to satiate her curiosity, but he was always stuck when it came to this question