Detached | Seungjin

Thirty-Six

Kim Minji.

Hyunjin finally recognized that the teenage girl she talked to is actually his daughter. He couldn't even believe himself that he didn't recognize her sooner. No wonder he felt so connected with her. Because she is, indeed, his and Seungmin's daughter.

Looking at his daughter who was right in front of him, he realized how much Minji has grown already. She has grown into a teenage girl, and yet her personality stays the same. She's still the same nice, outgoing person from years ago. 

He just wanted to engulf her to a hug right at that moment. He has been experiencing anxieties ever since they went back to Korea and nothing good has happened to his life yet. Just one hug from his daughter was all he need to feel some comfort. 

He couldn't even comprehend that ten years had already passed. He realized so many years had passed and what hurted him more is the fact that he wasn't even able to spend time with his family for those years. A lot of time has been wasted, and Hyunjin couldn't help but feel even more guilty and heartbroken.

He just wanted to cry it all out on his daughter's shoulder and tell them how much he misses them and love them. Several years had passed without them, but it never escaped Hyunjin's heart on how much he treasured and loved Seungmin and Minji.

"Mister?" Minji called out.

Hyunjin clenched his fist as he gulped. "Minji—"

"Minji!"

But then he was interrupted. A guy with the same school uniform came running towards her, handing her a strawberry-flavored waffle.

"Oh, am I... interrupting something?" He slowly asked.

Hyunjin gave him a smile and shook his head, "No, we were just having a normal conversation, that's all."

Minji stood from her seat and faced Hyunjin, "Well Mister, I'll be going now." She said before grabbing both Hyunjin's hands with a positive expression. "Don't feel down, Mister! Everything will be okay!" She said in a positive vibe earning a smile from Hyunjin.

"I'll keep that in mind."

And so Minji lets go of Hyunjin's hands and walked away with Yongbin. Hyunjin stayed in his place, watching his daughter walk further and further away from him.

A tear escaped his eye.

"It seems to me that the two of you are doing fine now." He stated, a smile in his lips with tears slowly falling from his eyes. "Seungmin, Minji... I'm sorry for not being with you for the past years. I'm sorry for being such a coward. Please... be happy."

* * * * *

"Minji—"

Minji stopped in her tracks as the voice of the man he just talked to echoed in her mind. She turned around but the man was already gone, he was nowhere to be found.

"Minji?" Yongbin called out.

"What was he supposed to tell me?" She muttered underneath her breath.

For some reason, the way he said my name felt familiar...

"Minji? What's wrong?" Yongbin questioned.

His name... I never got to know his name...

"Minji?"

Daddy Jinnie?

"Hellooo? Earth to Minji?"

No, that's probably not possible.

Minji turned back to Yongbin and shook her head with a smile, "It's nothing, let's go home."

Unless...

* * * * *

He fixed his tie as he looked at himself in the mirror. He took a deep breath before grabbing his bag and going downstairs. He saw his daughter sitting at the dining room, eating her breakfast as he went down. 

"Papa, you're leaving already?"

"Yeah." He answered, walking towards his daughter's direction and placing a kiss on her head. "I might not be home later, okay? I'll be having a surgery and that's gonna take long."

Minji nodded with a reassuring smile, "Good luck with your surgery, Papa!"

And so Seungmin made his way to the hospital. One hour had passed and it was finally time for him to do the surgery. He took a deep breath, sliding his hand inside the pocket of his lab coat and gripping his hand on a certain item. Later on, he puts out his hand from his pocket and removes his lab coat before heading towards the operating room.

He washed his hands with soap, all the way to his arms and made his way inside. The nurse had put on his surgical attire for him while the others put on the surgical gloves in his hands.

Seungmin slowly approached the patient lying by the operating bed. He looked up and met the eyes of Dr. Yang, the same friend he went to med school with.

"You ready?" Jeongin questioned.

Seungmin took a deep breath before giving him a nod.

"Let's begin."

* * * * *

"Okay seriously, where is it?!" 

Minji has been rummaging through her stuffs in her room since god knows when and has been panicking so bad.

"Where did Minnie go?!"

She was looking for her puppy plushie. 

She fell to the ground and huffed, "I literally just left in in my room so why is he not here?!"

She stood from her position and headed towards Seungmin's room. She started opening the cabinets and drawers, hoping that her plushie would be somewhere around his room.

She opened the last cabinet and finally, she saw her plushie.

"Aha! There you are!" She exclaimed, grabbing the plushie and hugging it tight.

Suddenly, a photo slipped out and fell to the ground as she got her plushie. She crouched to the ground and grabbed the photo. 

It was a photo of Seungmin when he was still in high school, a photo of Seungmin with another guy... who seemed familiar in Minji's eyes.

Minji furrowed his brows in confusion, "Daddy Jinnie?" Then she realized, Hyunjin was indeed the person who was with Seungmin in the photo. They were in each other's arms, a smile present in their faces, as if they were such a happy couple back in their high school life.

Minji's eyes softened as she finally connected the dots. "Daddy Jinnie... as I've thought, you really are my father..."

But then her eyes widened as the image of the man she talked to back in the hospital flashed in her mind.

And so she realized.

"That man... is Daddy Jinnie."

* * * * *

A few more chapters to go and it's finally a bye bye for this book— and the author :'))

Lots of love! <3