merry christmas, meanie

7k !!

9 years later

"Hey Dad..?"

Jieun's timid voice calls for Wonwoo, as she closes the door.

Jieun's seventeen years old now, and she's all grown up. After little resistance from both her dads, she'd been allowed to go for a little getaway with her friends for a few days — to celebrate their last year of high school. Mainly because none of them had any idea of whether they'd be able to see each other ever again.

Wonwoo, who's busy cooking dinner in the kitchen, is surprised to hear his daughter's voice again. "Jieun! Oh my gods, I missed you so much!" He exclaims, coming out of the kitchen to give Jieun a hug. She tentatively returns the hug, and that's when Wonwoo notices something's off.

"Ji? Everything okay?"

Jieun, instead of replying, buries her face in her hands, but nods her head. Those two actions don't go together, Wonwoo thinks. "It's not, Jieun, can you tell me what's wrong?"

"I just have to tell you something..." Her voice trails off; she sounds nervous. It worries Wonwoo, because Jieun's never been one to hesitate before speaking, at least to him and Mingyu. Jieun may speak calculatedly outside, but she's quite the opposite in the house.

"Do you want to sit down, Ji? I'll get you water, one second. Go keep your bag in your room if you want." Wonwoo says, concern lacing his voice.

Muttering a barely-audible 'Okay', Jieun does as Wonwoo told. When she returns, Wonwoo's already at the couch, a glass of water set on the coffee table in front of the seat next to him.

Jieun looks a tiny bit uncomfortable as she sits down next to him. She gulps the water from the glass in one go, chokes a bit, and then ends up in a coughing fit. Wonwoo pats her back, plucking the glass from her hand, and places it back on the table. "Slowly, Ji, there's no hurry,"

Once she calms down, Jieun takes a deep breath before she begins speaking. "Dad... So I've been meaning to tell you this for a while but-"

"It's okay, Ji, go ahead, you're getting me more worried."

"Yeah, sorry. So, uh- Do you remember Houston..?"

"That guy from your class? The only polite one?" Wonwoo playfully rolls his eyes, hoping his light tone would calm some of Jieun's nervousness.

"Yeah, him."

"What about him?"

"He says he would like to meet both of you..."

Wonwoo frowns. Is that what Jieun wanted to tell him? "Sure, I mean, you know you've invited your friends to our house, that's alright."

"As my boyfriend, Dad..."

Oh. Oh! Wonwoo realises. So this is why she'd been so nervous all along. As she should. Wonwoo clearly hadn't expected her to say this, of all things. "Jieun, are you out of your mind? You're too young, good heavens!"

Jieun, almost as if she'd expected Wonwoo to react this way, sighs weakly, shoulders hunched, as she looks down at her lap.

"So I'll let him know then..."

"Jieun, I need you to explain whatever this is, properly."

"What's there to explain?" Jieun suddenly raises her voice, "I just told you everything."

"Watch your tone, Jieun. And I think you missed out the part where you should have told me you have a fucking boyfriend!"

"Fine. You want details, here. He asked me out last year, after his basketball game, and we've been dating since then." Jieun huffs.