By Zephyria “A dragon is guarding the castle? Dragons are villains, aren’t they?”
Grant’s daughter, Phoebe, asked, puzzled. Angela nodded and added an explanation.
“This dragon is a good dragon. So, he’s the princess’s guardian knight. It’s because the princess’s father, the king, once saved the dragon. So the dragon decided to protect the palace.”
“I know, I saw it in a book.”
When Phoebe nodded in agreement, Angela’s eyes sparkled.
“A book? Which book?”
Phoebe said quickly, as if she had been waiting for the question.
“Children of November!”
The two shouted almost simultaneously and then burst into laughter.”So you know too.”
“Of course!”
Phoebe, having found common ground, spoke excitedly, and Angela nodded, equally thrilled.
“That’s a book my daddy wrote. That person is my daddy.”
“What? Really?”
“Really!”
“Wow!”
Phoebe’s eyes grew as big as her mouth. Angela, puffing out her chest with pride, was met with Phoebe’s continued questions.
“Really? Your daddy is the one who wrote that book?”
“Yep!”
“Daddy!”
As soon as Angela nodded emphatically, Phoebe suddenly called out to Grant and ran to him. While a surprised Angela blinked, Phoebe dashed to Grant, who was sitting in the living room talking.
“Daddy, Daddy!”
“Whoa.”
Grant, reflexively catching his daughter in his arms, looked at her with a puzzled expression as Phoebe asked in an excited voice.
“Daddy, is it true? Is this where ‘Children of November’ came from?”
At the heightened tone, Grant looked at Yu-jin with a troubled expression.
“Ah, well, you didn’t write it here… right?”
“Uh, no.”
Yu-jin answered, caught off guard.
“I wrote that piece somewhere else.”
“Instead, the person who wrote that piece is this gentleman.”
Grant quickly changed the subject, turning the child’s body towards Yu-jin. Yu-jin gave an awkward smile at the sudden situation, and Phoebe once again widened her eyes and exclaimed, “Wow.” Seeing this, Angela suddenly got up and clung to Yu-jin’s leg. Was it the jealousy unique to children that had been triggered? Angela had never done this before, but conversely, she hadn’t had the chance. Angela, who had been trying her best to imitate an adult, was perhaps only now finally starting to act like a child. Thinking that, Yu-jin felt even more sorry for his daughter. Deliberately pulling Angela up and placing her on his lap, Yu-jin looked at Grant and said.
“Angela helped me a lot while I was writing that piece. I got a lot of inspiration from my daughter.”
Angela looked up at Yu-jin as if hearing it for the first time. Really? As Yu-jin smiled, his daughter’s face lit up as if she had heard his thoughts. He hugged his daughter, who was clinging tightly to his neck, just as strongly, and Phoebe, who was staring intently at the scene, whispered something to Grant. Soon, Grant nodded and asked Yu-jin with a smile, who was looking at them with a puzzled expression.
“Writer, my daughter wants to take a picture with you, would that be alright?”
“A picture?”
At the unexpected words, Yu-jin was momentarily flustered. He wasn’t used to taking pictures, and this was the first time something like this had happened, so he was feeling bewildered. Grant continued.
“She wants to take one with you and her new friend. Is that alright, Angie?”
Phoebe looked at Angela with an expectant face. Angela’s wariness crumbled at once at the pure goodwill.
“Okay!”
Angela readily nodded and added a condition.
“We have to take one too, with Daddy’s phone.”
Angela didn’t have a cell phone, and the one Yu-jin had was a prepaid phone. He could send the picture by email and delete it right away. Thinking that, Yu-jin nodded.
“Alright, let’s take it then.”
Grant took Phoebe’s cell phone and took a picture of the three of them, then took another picture of them with Yu-jin’s cell phone.
“Send me the picture. You don’t have a cell phone? Do you have email?”
Seeing the child skillfully tapping on the phone, Yu-jin quickly replied.
“Not yet. I’ll get you one later, Angie.”
“Okay.”
Angela nodded. He should get Angie a cell phone when things get better, he thought, and cautiously observed her, but fortunately, the child seemed to be in a good mood. Relieved, he stroked his daughter’s hair, and Grant said.
“Is there anything else you need? Feel free to tell me anytime, I’ll send it right over.”
“Thank you for the thought, but we’re fine for now.”
As the formal words were exchanged, Yu-jin felt unnecessarily awkward.
“Um, if you’re alright with it, would you like to have dinner with us…”
As he formally offered dinner, Phoebe answered before Grant could.
“No, Mom is waiting.”
Angela’s gaze turned to Phoebe, and the child continued in a clear voice.
“We’re going to have dinner together. Sorry, Angie.”
It would have been good if it had ended there. Just as Yu-jin was about to wrap up the greetings, Phoebe suddenly spoke up.
“When is your mom coming? Do you have dinner with your mom too?”
“Huh?”
At the sudden question, Angela stammered, momentarily flustered. Yu-jin was just as flustered. A surprised Grant quickly stepped in to smooth things over.
“Phoebe, you shouldn’t ask things like that.”
“Why?”
The child didn’t understand the adult’s words and tilted her head, then looked at Angela again.
“Ah, you have a Papa instead of a Mom. Right?”
Phoebe proudly puffed out her chest and added.
“I learned it at kindergarten. Daddy and Papa, Daddy and Mommy, Mommy and Mom, there are many different couples in the world.”
Finally, the child couldn’t hide her joy at the fact that the opportunity to use what she had learned had come, and continued to ask.
“So? Is your other parent Papa? Mommy? Mom? Which one is it?”
“Phoebe.”
Grant hurriedly intervened at the sight of Yu-jin and Angela, who were at a loss and frozen.
“Let’s go now, Mom will be waiting.”
“But.”
“Come on, Phoebe. Writer, we’ll be going now then. Take care, Angie. See you again.”
Grant practically fled the house. Yu-jin stood by the window and watched him hurriedly put the child in the car and drive away.
After the bolt from the blue situation ended in an instant, silence fell. This quietness was a frequent occurrence after he started living alone with Angela, but this time it was different. Feeling a precarious tension, Yu-jin glanced at Angela.
The child was stuck to the window, looking into the distance. What if Angela asks about Papa? The child had never asked such a question before. Of course, he knew that such a day would definitely come. But not now. It was too soon. He knew that day would come, but Yu-jin was not at all prepared.
“Angie, shall we have dinner too? What do you want to eat?”
Yu-jin hurriedly changed the subject to avoid reality. He was aware that he was being cowardly, but there was no other way. He was about to escape to the kitchen when Angela suddenly stopped him.
“Daddy.”
“Uh, yeah?”
Surprised, he turned around, and Angela, still looking out the window, asked.
“My Papa is dead, right?”
“…What?”
Yu-jin blinked in confusion. Only then did he realize why Angela had never asked about Papa until now. The child thought Papa was dead.
That’s not it, he’s alive.
“Angie…”
Yu-jin opened his mouth, but no words came out. A taut tension filled the living room.
* * *
“Hum hum hum, hum hum hum.”
Grant sighed softly at the sight of the child humming. Recalling what had happened earlier made his chest feel cold. After all, you never know what kids will do. Anyway, he relaxed his shoulders, thinking that he had fortunately averted the crisis, and suddenly looked at Phoebe’s cell phone screen.
“What are you doing? Are you sending a picture to Angie?”
“Daddy, how can I send it to Angie when she doesn’t have a cell phone.”
“Ah, that’s right.”
Grant, reminded by his daughter’s rebuke, smiled awkwardly and asked again.
“Then what are you doing now?”
“Just.”
Phoebe answered, quickly typing on the keyboard.
“I’m bragging about having a new friend.”
“The writer’s personal information is secret. You can’t say you met the writer.”
“I know, Daddy has said it so many times.”
Phoebe pouted, thinking to herself. As long as I don’t say it’s the ‘Children of November’ writer, it’s okay.
The child pressed the upload button with a satisfied smile. And a new photo was uploaded to Phoebe’s account. A photo of Yu-jin and Angela with her, along with the tags ‘My new friend’ ‘Angela’ ‘Yu-jin’ ‘What’s the relationship with Daddy? lol’.