Beautiful

9 - Family Bonding

Her acceptance letter had come right at the end of the winter months, stating she would start during the fall semester. She was excited, showing her mother immediately who engulfed her in a tight embrace.

"I'm so proud of you Mina." She whispered.

"I know mom... Thank you." Mina smiled. When she showed her father, he just grunted, looking away from the papers.

"David." Her mother warned.

"It's great." He mumbled. Mina frowned, seeing her father react the way he did, made her feel uncertain about everything. She backed away from him, slowly retreating to her room. When her mother heard the soft click on the door shutting upstairs she turned to her husband and glared at him.

"You upset her." She snapped. David shrugged his shoulders, his attention on the tv in front of him. "David." She growled. He let out a sigh, turning off the tv.

"I don't want her to go. She'll be with all sorts of people and what happens if she gets attacked again?!" He snapped. Eve stared at him, seeing him lash out like this, not in anger.. Because he was scared. "She... She grew up too fast." He whispered. "All of them did." He sighed.

"Nayeon and Jeongyeon are both taking classes at the same university. I'm sure they'll keep an eye on Mina for us." Eve sighed. "Why do you think I agreed to that?" She asked him. David nodded, knowing his wife was right. "Now, you should apologize to her. Tell her how proud you are." She pointed. David let out a groan, getting up from his chair and dragging his body up the stairs.

"Mina?" David knocked on her door. "Can I come in?" He asked, reaching for the knob. He waited until he heard quiet approval from his daughter. He frowned at the sight of her nest, seeing her curled up with a thick, fluffy blanket wrapped around her, her red penguin sitting in her lap with her.

He shut the door behind him, carefully stepping around her many things that were thrown on the floor. Obviously in a rush to clean her nest when she got home. He sat on her bed, seeing her sitting in the corner of her room was a terrifying thing honestly. Whenever she nested like this, it was almost like she was in a trance.

"I'm not upset with you.." He sighed. "I... I'm actually quite proud of you." He smiled at her, seeing her looking down at her penguin. "It's... It's just the fact that..." He sighed again, "you're all grown up." He frowned. Mina looked up at her father, seeing him looking at the ground, avoiding her. She had never seen him like this. She tilted her head at him, waiting for him to continue speaking. "It... It seems like only yesterday you were this little girl.." He sniffed. Mina had really never seen her father like this. Showing feelings.... She shifted in her nest, setting her penguin down. She grabbed her father's hand and pulled him into her nest.

"You're not upset with me?" Mina whispered.

"Just upset that you grew up." He chuckled slightly. "Can I see the paper?" He asked quietly. Mina nodded, walking over to get her acceptance letter. She handed it to him, watching him read through the documents. "Culinary program? Planning on stealing your aunt's bakery?" He smirked at her.

"Auntie told me I should be a master baker." Mina smiled at him.

"I think you'll be very good at it." He smiled, handing her back her papers. Mina thanked him, setting her papers back on her desk. She curled herself back into her blankets, still afraid of everything. "So... This is what your nest feels like?" He asked while running his fingers over the plush blankets. Mina nodded slowly, tightening her grip on her blanket. "It's nice." He smiled. "Nice and soft." He chuckled. "And you have your little friends here too." He reached out to touch her red penguin, but stopped when he heard a low growl coming from Mina.

"Sorry!" Mina immediately snapped out of her trance, seeing her father's wide eyes.

"I forgot how protective you were over the penguins." He chuckled.

The next few days, Mina was still upset with her father, but now knew why he had reacted the way he did. She would ask for his help in the kitchen, teaching him different recipes and having him be her designated taste tester.

"Tastes too much like... Butter." He frowned.

"It's a butter cookie..." Mina frowned.

"Oh." Her father laughed. "Then I guess you nailed it." He chuckled. "You should add these to the book. Maybe it'll get butter in time." He smirked.

"Dad." Mina tried to suppress a laugh, seeing him laugh at his own joke was the funny part and the funny part only.

"Oh come on, I was just hoping to bake your day better." He continued with his terrible food related puns, causing Mina to laugh in embarrassment. No one was around to hear him, so it was just her. "Be careful, don't want to end up on my chip list." He smirked.

"That's it. I'm out." Mina laughed while turning off the oven and cleaning up her things. Her dad was in a fit of laughter with his own jokes. Mina just shook her head while cleaning. Sometimes she wondered how he was an alpha with that sense of humor. But now it made sense where her sister's sense of humor came from.