At the mention of Eun-Hye's mother, Jung-kook's thoughts turned to his estranged wife, Min-A. She was something, that woman, her small frame in conflict with her big, robust personality. Pretty much like a little Napoleon, if Napoleon was a girl. She had a very determined look about her face when she's focused, similar to what Eun-Hye was doing now, with lips pursed and brows furrowed in concentration as if she was preparing for a battle.

That was also how Jung-kook remembered his wife when she took the final steps towards the front of their house, slamming the door behind her. The weight on her shoulders, whether from the suitcases she carried or the toll from arguing with her husband, still seemed like a not-so-distant memory.

He had tried, he really did, to dissuade her from walking out of the place she once called home and out of their lives. But his pleas fell on deaf ears.

Jung-kook acknowledged it was mostly his fault his wife took off when Eun-Hye was just a child. She never failed to remind her father that he was the reason she didn't receive her mother's care. Eun-Hye did not understand why Min-A left them alone, but she blamed her dad all the same. Jung-kook had not bothered telling her the details either, presuming it was better not knowing, that ignorance is bliss.

Looking at his daughter now, Jung-kook questioned whether it was the right decision to hold back the truth from Eun-Hye. Or how much longer he could fend off the guilt that was eating up his innards, causing frequent bouts of digestive problems. Despite his own suffering, Jung-kook deliberated it was best to have Eun-hye retain a fond memory of her mother, than have her think poorly of the person who had pushed her out of the womb.

"Mom would have known what to do...," Eun-Hye supposed, "she would have fought for my happiness."

"And how would you know that? She's not here, is she?" Jung-kook questioned. "Did she fight for our family when she abandoned us?"

"And whose fault is that, hmmm?" Eun-Hye retorted. "I bet you didn't even try to hold on to her."

"Don't talk about things you don't know about!" Jung-kook yelled.

"Well, how could I understand when you don't tell me?" Eun-Hye clapped back.

"I told you I can't," Jung-kook replied.

"You can't or you won't?" Eun-Hye looked at her father with imploring eyes.

"Maybe both," Jung-kook answered in resignation.

"Why? Don't you just trust me? What is so horrible that would make you believe I won't accept the truth?" Eun-Hye interrogated, trying to offer an olive branch to the man who had raised her all the years that her mother had been absent. She so desperately wanted her father to open up to her, hoping she would understand him, and therefore recognize where he was coming from when he had told her no, that apparently she's unable to marry the one she loves.

"It's not that I don't trust you, Eun-Hye." Jung-kook countered. "But some things are better left untold."