I didn’t know what I was thinking at that time, but seeing the moms embrace their children after school, it got to me. Where was mine? Why can’t she pick me up and walk me home like the normal mothers do? For a while, my dads had a hard time explaining this to me. I remember this part so clearly, because Hyukjae appa sounded so hurt.

Hyukjae whips his head around, searching frantically for his daughter. She did not come down with the other kids.

“Excuse me?” He calls for one of the mothers.

They don’t even look at him, they quickly hurried out of the scene.

“Please? I can’t find my daughter!” Hyukjae’s heart dropped. If anything happened to his baby girl…

“Baek Jihwan!” One of the women called in a harsh voice. “Come back here this instant!”

A little boy runs up to Hyukjae and smiles at him. “Eunhae got off one stop earlier.” The little boy runs back to his mom, who grabbed his arm forcefully.

Hyukjae thanks the little boy mentally, and he runs with his sprained ankle to the last bus stop. Usually, he can handle stressful situations well. He is a calm person with a reasonable mind, but with Eunhae, he is worried out of his head. There are dangers lurking out there, and Hyukjae can only do so much to protect her. So he runs, with desperation and fear creeping up his heart.

Finally, after running down a few blocks, he found Eunhae’s familiar frame.

“Lee Eunhae!” Hyukjae bellows.

His daughter froze. Something about her face makes Hyukjae stop in his place.

Then she crouches down and bursts out crying. Hyukjae stays rooted for a few seconds before walking slowly towards his six-year-old daughter