40 minutes later...

I go downstairs after being done with everything, now in my pink pajama pants, shirt, and crop top. I peek over the railing to check if my dad is in the living room and catch sight of him on the sofa, wearing a black pajama set. I smile but join him, silently.

I do not make any noise to surprise him as he's browsing on his phone, and once I'm at the end of the stairs, I make my way towards him and lean over the back of the sofa to wrap my arms around his neck.

"Hey," he locks his phone and turns towards me, so I plant a kiss on his cheek, before straightening up. He stands up, leaving his device on the coffee table, I follow him to the kitchen as planned but feel weird around him. I feel like something is going on with him but that he does not dare to talk about it.

"Are you okay?" I encircle his waist with my arms, asking for his attention that seems to be everywhere. "Yes, I missed you a lot," one of his arms hugs me back, but he takes the food out with his other hand, the left one. "I missed you too," I respond but fix my eyes on his fingers, noticing something unusual.

He doesn't wear his ring anymore, only the mark of it is left around his finger. "If you're tired you can tell me, all right? I'll cook for us," I make sure he is fine after those tough days he had to go through. "No, I want to cook with you, I'll sleep after eating."

"Will you sleep in your bed or the sofa?" I ask, wondering where I'm going to be now that he's back. I honestly do not want to be alone in my bedroom and not have him near. "I'll probably sleep on the sofa while watching TV."

"Ok, I'll stay with you," I tighten my clasp around his body, and he presses a kiss on top of my head. "You don't have to be scared anymore, I'm here."

•••

11 pm.

I keep my eyes on the TV but cannot let go of my dad's hand, holding it into both of mine, tracing his veins, passing my fingers over them. Wondering how he feels at this right moment as I assume that he must be tired, I look at him and fix my eyes on his features.

He looks exhausted, and this breaks my heart.

As he must have felt my gaze on him, he turns his head, and we both make eye contact. At first, he does not say anything, but after a few seconds, he smiles at me and strokes the back of my hand. "What's wrong?" he asks in a soothing voice.

I drop my look to his tough hand, but I lean towards him and rest my head on his arm. "I missed you a lot...I hope you're okay...that they didn't hurt you..." I say in a low voice, meaning my words, letting them out to not keep it to myself when I need him to hear them. He doesn't answer or react to it, making me fear that something is not all right, so I peek up at him to check what I caused, but he is already staring at me.

"I'm okay, honey," he claims, smiling. I do not break the eye contact to read the answer his hazelnut eyes give me, but he gulps down and glances away to only look at the TV. His free hand moves up to his face, and he holds his head, some of his fingers covering his mouth. With no need to take a closer look, I notice the glisten in his eyes, and my heart already shatters.

I do not stay like this, I go forth and put my arms around him. "Are you sure, papa?" I stare at him as I know for sure that he is trying to control his emotions and keep some things to himself. Not even a second later, he lowers his chin, hides his face in his hand, and he breaks down in front of me for the first time

I tear up instantly. "Daddy..." I do not have enough strength to stand the sight of him like this. I inch closer and hold him tight, but he wraps both of his arms around me and rests his head on mine. "I love you so much. I'm so sorry that you had to go through all this..." his shaky voice makes me cry even more heavily. "I love you too, and this is not your fault, don't say sorry."

"I was so scared...I never expected this to happen, but I just hope that you are fine," he runs his fingers through my hair. "If you ever feel uncomfortable around me because of this, because of some things that they said, I want you to tell me, all right?" he worries about what I knew would be a problem, but I refuse to let this drift us apart.

I wipe my tears away to move onto him and lie down between his legs, and I cuddle up against him with my head on his chest, never letting go of him. "That will never happen. I want everything to go back to normal, I still love you the same way, I still feel safe and good like before with you, so you don't have to be worried. I promise you."

"I love you so much, honey. You mean the world to me," he sniffles but presses a kiss on my forehead, brushing my hair back while hiding me as if it was the last time. I smile and squeeze him. "You mean even more than that to me," I raise my head up to look into his eyes. "Don't cry, it makes me sad to see you like this, you don't deserve to feel like that," I kiss his wet cheek and wipe the tears away from his face, and he smiles at me. "I'll stop, I don't like to see you cry either."

We both forget about this and leave it in the past, and we hold each other tightly, reminding one another that nothing will break us, nothing will separate us. He is my dad, he is the most amazing, considerate, and kind-hearted person on this earth, and I love him like I've never loved anyone, so I do not care about what other people say.

— Two days later —

Monday, December 21, 2020.

12 pm.

'JUNGKOOK'S P.O.V'

"Hey," Taeyeong drags me out of my daydream as I was sipping on my warm chocolate but thinking about too many things. "Dude, I called you three times. Wake up a little," he doesn't realize how I feel inside, but I don't show my emotions anymore and fake a smile. "I'm sorry, I haven't slept a lot last night."

"Why? What have you done?" he smirks but dares to be nasty in public, in a restaurant. "Shut up," I ignore him and sigh, drifting my look away from him and Hajoon. "Hm, yeah sure."

I do not listen to them anymore but take my phone to check what's new. I read the text I received from Ruby, who was supposed to join us just to see Hajoon, but who had to decline at the last minute. I give a quick answer since I'm not in the mood to talk, but one of my best friends asks for my attention again. "Kook."

"What?" I don't raise my head up but keep my eyes on the screen, watching a story. "What are you going to wear for tonight's party?" he mentions the school one that does not even make me excited. "I don't know..." I exit the video that I cannot bear to see since it includes Korain and the girl I haven't been able to talk to again since the fight. "I know what I'm gonna wear though, that will be a black dress shirt, with a pair of black trousers. I'm gonna hook up tonight."

"With who?" Taeyeong chuckles, not taking it seriously, but Hajoon smirks and drinks. "The girls or guys I want to get."

"Ruby?" he teases him about this, but this guy doesn't appreciate it and clicks his tongue, sending him a glare. "Shut up already, I don't like her. She's just a friend."

"But I'm pretty sure she likes you," he betrays her by revealing what he was supposed to keep to himself, however, Hajoon only answers with a shrug. "We're just friends."

Just friends, that's what she used to tell me even after having sex with me, multiple times. I glance away to help my mind to think about something else but find it terribly hard. Why does she remain on my mind after all those weeks when she does not even care about me anymore? She has a new toy now, I don't mean anything to her, and I probably never did. She spends her time with Korain whenever she can, they both kiss in front of me, he touches her all the time, she looks happy with him, she never came back next to me in class, she never looks at me, she never pays attention to me as if we never knew each other. I'm the only one hurt, and that deepens the pain like ever.

Why can't my feelings just go away for good and stop the ache?

"What are you thinking about?" Hajoon never leaves me alone, not giving me a break to dive any further down in my distress. "The girl I'm gonna hook up with tonight," I ridiculously try to make my lie probable, but they both see how obvious I am. "You haven't looked at a single girl these last weeks, stop taking us for fools."

"Hm," I don't joke but stay focused on my thoughts, those that destroy me little by little every day. "Let's drink at that party and just hook up with the first girl that comes up to us, uh? That will maybe help you to finally forget her."

"Having sex with a girl won't make me feel better," I raise my eyebrows and avert my eyes from them. "Kook, you need to move on...I swear. Your depressed mood rubs off on us...We want to have fun with you like we used to do it before."

"Talk about something else," I tell them to not carry on but change of topic. I can feel the physical pain whenever they mention her, when I hear or see her. "Avoiding the subject won't help, you need to just face—"

"I'm fine," I cut him off to put an end to it, staring into his eyes but not caring about how harsh I am lately. They don't understand or know how it feels.

Hajoon heaves a sigh and looks back at Taeyeong to finally let me be. I know I'm rude, but I can't control it.

"You know..." Taeyeong clears his throat as if he was scared to confront me. "She maybe liked you at first but couldn't be honest—"

"She never liked me, stop saying bullshit," I correct his stupid belief. "And she's with this asshole of Korain now, so stop talking about her, you're wasting your time."

"How do you know she's with him? Maybe they're just friends with benefits..." he shrugs but does not have any idea what goes on between them two when I do. "Are you kidding me? Haven't you seen what this son of a bitch posted on her account the other day?"

"No...What was it?"

/ flasback \

Tuesday, December 15, 2020.

7 am.

I wake up after sleeping for a short time only, these past nights never helping me to feel restful. I yawn but grab my phone that I left under my blanket, and I check the messages, the notifications. I unplug the charger but notice one notification in particular, something that is from y/n.

My heart sinks once I realize this is not a text from her but just a message that warns me she posted something new on her story. I pretend not to care but unlock my phone, I open the app and check what it is about, even though I know she will see I watched it, even though I know this won't brighten up my mood.

I get ready to be hurt, but at the exact second that the video fills the screen, a bump in my chest heightens the agonizing sensation inside of me. This is not her, this is him, smoking a cigarette while lying down, no top on, messy hair, red eyes of a junkie, I turn the volume up but hear a song play in the background, and he smirks before gazing down. The camera drifts down to something, and y/n comes within sight. She's sleeping, with her head on his chest, under a blanket that they both share with no clothes on for sure. I know this bed well, this is y/n's one.

The crushing wave, that some sadness only can cause, drowns me, and all the emotions crash onto me to let the tears fill my eyes.

I can't believe what I'm seeing and hearing, the song makes it even more evident. This asshole just had sex with her, and he posted a video to make everyone know about it. This can't be real. I truly believed she would not do this with him or with another guy, but I was dead wrong.

I throw my phone on the bed and allow myself to cry, either from pain, wrath, or grief, I just let this go.

/ end of flashback \

"Oh...I didn't see it...but maybe you misunderstood this—"

"Taeyeong," I never let him end his sentences. "Just stop...I don't wanna hear you say something more about that. I'm fine..." the lie escapes me, and they do not say something else. They give up.