jangmi (장미) ● taejoon

t w o .

the first time he ever noticed.

The little girl wore the angel clip to school every single day. The maids at the mansion praised and squished her cheeks for they've been hidden under her hair for so long. Her eye have always been the same, innocent yet carried the same colored eyes as her father - who always just seemed to glare.

She wished she had the eyes of her teacher; Mr. Kim had chocolate sweet eyes, soft like a doe-eyed deer. They complimented his smile because they always seemed to turn into crescent moons with his star-like dimples that always came out when he was joyed. His smile always came out in front of the kids: when her classmates draw him a picture of himself, when he greets his students in the morning, and even when he's trying to calm down a wailing kid - a sense of comfort came in his smile.

"What is that cheap thing in your hair, Jangmi?" Oh, her father was the opposite. Vicious. Blunt.

Her sharp eyebrows creased as she poked at her dinner with the silverware. "Present," she simply says.

The man at the end of the table stopped eating, dropping his fork and frowning with the similar eyebrows as her. He propped his elbows on the table, and with his fierce eyes: he burned his glaze onto the little child. The rings on his fingers grazed his palms as he cups them. "What did I say about talking to me like that?"

She sighs, picking at the plate. "I got it as a present, Papa." Same eyes, same venom.

"I don't remember giving you that," says Papa. "Throw that thing away, you're perfectly fine as you are."

"No!" Jangmi objects, jerking her head up to look at the man. "I like it! I wanna keep it! It's mine! My hair is too long."

"If you can't even see under all that hair, I'll tell the maids to accompany you to get your hair cut. I told you, you shouldn't grow out," he says, "And that thing ain't even gold, Jangmi. It's fake."

Her small fists clenched and she pushes her plate away, no longer feeling the hunger she felt earlier. "No, I don't want that!" She huffs, stomping her feet against the marble tiles. "I don't care if you think it's ugly!"

"Your hair will grow out into a mop, and you think that clip will still help you?" He says, cocking his head to the side. "C'mon now, be reasonable."

"My daddy gave it to me!" She declares.

He furrows his eyebrows. "I would never give you such thing-"

"No! Mr. Kim is my daddy!" She exclaims, puffing her cheeks angrily. "He's the best, best best daddy in the world! I like him better."

"I hate you!" Her cheeks dampen as tears fall. Jangmi sniffles before running out of the room, leaving the man alone.

First it was shock then it was anger.

Who dares to teach his daughter to be disrespectful like that?

[unedited]