Spitting Image | Jeong Jaehyun

92

"No! That's not how you do it!" Jihye whined, pulling on Hyesun's sleeve as she placed the grilled cheese toastie infront of her.

"What do you mean Jihye? Its such a grilled cheese" Hyesun chuckled

"No it's not..." Jihye said, pushing the plate away from her and her mother sighed

"Jihye you can't waste food" Hyesun sighed, pushing the plate back towards her and Jihye shot her incredibly tired father a look

"Just taste a little bit baby" Jaehyun said, trying to get his daughter to eat the food she had specifically asked for. Thankfully Jihye was quick to listen to him, not wanting to fight with him when his voice was silently communicating that he wasn't in the mood

She took a bite of the grilled sandwich, and there was nothing wrong with it, but it just didn't taste like the ones she was used to, and that was enough for her to dislike it.

"It doesn't taste like Kira's" She said, spitting the food onto the plate making Jaehyun widen his eyes slightly at her behaviour

"Jihye, sweetheart don't spit out your food like that, you're a big girl now, you can't act like this" he said, quickly reaching for a tissue to wipe the sides of her mouth

"Do you want something else?" Hyesun asked and Jihye pouted

"I want Kira to make it for me" She said, looking at Jaehyun with pleading eyes and he sighed

"I know baby but Kira isn't here—"

"Where is she?" She asked

"She's at home—"

"Then why can't she come here?" Jihye question incessantly. Jaehyun fell quiet to her questions as he replayed their fight in his head. The situation was clearly becoming too confusing for Jihye to handle as well.

"One more bite okay?" Hyesun said, trying to appease her daughter but she only turned her head away

"Jihye come o-"

"I said I don't want it!" She screamed shaking Jaehyun out of his trance

"D-did you just...shout at me?" Hyesun asked with disbelief. Of course she was surprised, Jaehyun knew exactly why. She chose to leave when Jihye was a baby who could barely make out a few words, and now the girl was five and had a mind and personality of her own. And that's what happens when a parent leaves, they return back to a child they don't know.

"Jihye!" Hyesun said with anger, slamming the ceramic plate down onto the table

"Daddy I want Kira!" She shouted, pushing her chair away from the table and running away from the adults, slamming her bedroom door making Jaehyun shut his eyes tightly, asking the Lord for strength.

"Oh my god!" Hyesun exclaimed, but Jaehyun stood to his feet and stopped her movements before she make matters worse

"Wait just—give her a minute" Jaehyun said, having learnt a thing or two from Kira who seemed like a much better parents to him than him and his ex girlfriend that actually had a child

"A min— she's five Jaehyun. Is this how you've raised her the whole time?!" Hyesun asked with frustration and Jaehyun felt something switch in him, he was crazy to have even spent the night considering her initiative to take Jihye to America

"At least one of us raised her." He said with a clenched jaw and Hyesun's shoulders slumped at his words

"I've raised her just fine, alright? I don't need to you to randomly appear out of nowhere and tell me I've done it wrong this whole time. Because if you really cared about how she was being raised, you would've been there to do it" Jaehyun spat, each word hitting her like a dagger to the chest

"And do not ever raise your voice at her again" he said before he turned to walk down the hallway.

He stood infront of the closed bedroom door, hearing the silent sniffles from the other side. Kira's words rung through his mind, advising him to relax and talk rationally instead of getting angry. Jihye was overwhelmed and confused, and rightfully so. He just needed to talk to her.

"Jihye, sweetheart...can I come in?" He asked, placing a knock on the wooden door, hearing no response from her.

"I'm coming in" he sighed, opening the door slowly to see her on his old bed, holding her favourite plushie, and Kira's favourite as well, close to her chest.

"You okay?" He asked, closing the door behind him, and his calm voice made her turn her head to him

"No" she choked out and he hummed, walking towards her and sitting down beside her on the bed

"You must be really confused right?" He asked, a hand patting her leg comfortingly as she nodded

"Is she really my mommy?" She asked and Jaehyun's breath hitched in his throat. He had avoided this conversation for so long, but his daughter was so blatantly asking him then and there. He could lie, he could say no and that it was just some crazy woman, but he thought of how it would affect their long term relationship instead.

"Yeah she is" Jaehyun said, taking a deep breath in and pressing his lips into a thin smile

"I don't like her." Jihye said bluntly, completely catching him off guard and he smiled, letting out a laugh

"Really? She said you two got along yesterday" Jaehyun said pulling her leg to get her closer to him and eventually right infront of him.

"No way. She doesn't even know how go draw a cat daddy—A cat! It's not even that hard.." Jihye mumbled picking at the threads of her plushie that a fan had given to Jaehyun about two years ago

"I miss Kira, why can't she be my real mommy instead?" Jihye pouted and Jaehyun chuckled, poking her dimple imprint that matched his

"I thought you said she was the worst mommy ever" he said, narrowing his eyes at her playfully

"No I didn't" she said, shaking her head immediately

"You sure?" He asked, teasing her a little and she decided to stop lying knowing fully well that her father knew everything

"I need to say sorry" Jihye frowned and Jaehyun sighed, kissing the top of her head to see her being so mature at sound a young age

"I need to apologise too" Jaehyun said, swallowing the lump that had started to build in his throat

"Does that mean...?" Jihye looked at him with hopeful eyes and he nodded

"Let's go see mommy, yeah?" He asked and Jihye practically rejoiced, lunging into his arms with a hug making him chuckle, patting her back reassuringly.