T/N: Bonus chapter. Thank you for reading!
Taeyeon had recently fallen hard for a Korean idol group called “The Moon.”
As always, she perched at the head of her bed and kept fangirling, watching their stage clips on her phone.
“Crystal, time to sleep.”
The one who interrupted her precious window of joy was Mom.
“Okay.”
Because Taeyeon was a dutiful daughter, at Mom’s word she set her phone down at once and slipped under the covers.
“Our Crystal takes after me, she’s so good. Sleep well.”
Mom planted a light kiss on her forehead, turned off the light, and left the room.
“I’m not Crystal.”
In the pitch dark room, Taeyeon’s muttering could be heard.
“I’m Taeyeon.”
She still could not get used to being called Crystal.
The truth was, life as a U.S. student itself was hard to adjust to. There were definitely fun moments and times she felt happy.
But there was a vague instability to everyday life.
No wonder.
She had come over before she could even handle Korean properly and had to force herself into a world full of people who looked different from her.
Because Mom wanted it that way.
And so, Taeyeon suddenly lost even her own name and her dad.
Afraid she might even lose her memories of Korea where she was born, she made a habit of listening to K-pop every day and loving Korean idols.
Then these days she was hooked on the idol group The Moon. Especially the leader, Ahn Jiho, who had her utterly smitten.
“Should I hop onto Jiho oppa’s Insta.”
She had said she would sleep, but what could she do if sleep would not come?
Tap, tap.
Taeyeon picked the phone back up and opened Ahn Jiho’s personal social media account.
Contrary to his cynical features, he interacted with fans more than you would think, so he posted almost every other day.
“Oh!”
Sure enough, there was a new post today too.
[Everyone, as you all know, HS has dropped another tremendous track today. It is a song called ‘Villain daddy.’ Since HS made it and senior Moon Beomjae sang it, how could we not give that combo a listen? How about we all listen to this one today, and each give our dads a call?]
[15,594 likes, 4,495 comments]
[rmftmd]: Eung-heon Jiho, you are not crying to this again, are you? (2,391 likes)
↳ Lolol that comment is savage lolololol
↳ I feel like people open Jiho’s account just to roast him
↳ For real, watching that is half the fun
If it was HS, he was practically the composer who had given The Moon a new birth. Without that person, The Moon probably would not have become famous.
Then she would not have known they existed either.
She hated even imagining that.
Taeyeon groped along the bed shelf and found her earbuds.
Right.
If Jiho oppa says to listen, then I should listen.
“I cannot call Dad though.”
Taeyeon played the song “Villain daddy.”
─ ♬ ♬ ♬
Like she was carrying out the mission Jiho had given, she really listened with her ears.
“I was not like that from the beginning either.”
More than anything, Taeyeon was still young, so these lyrics and feelings were not ones she could fully understand.
“I think it was from the time I held those tiny soles in my hand.”
So as she listened, she simply judged the song with one word, “Nice.”
“Because it was my first time.”
I should go leave a comment that I listened on the post!
Just as she thought that and was about to pull out her earbuds.
“Looking at my sleeping daughter, suddenly a thought came to me.”
Apparently, it was not over yet, because over the humming ad-libs another man’s voice overlapped.
“For this child I felt I could die in her place.”
For some reason she did not know, tears suddenly spilled out.
“I think that was the first time I grabbed my sleeping daughter and told her I loved her.”
A rough hand and a gentle voice she had tucked away in a cozy corner of memory suddenly pushed their way out.
“Daughter, just be healthy.”
Even if his mouth was not grinning wide, his eyes would smile when he looked at her.
“If anyone bothers you, you have to tell me right away.”
Though he was too busy to see her often, he would sneak into her room like a thief and sweep back her hair while she pretended to sleep.
“Taeyeon, I love you.”
Then he would always pour out fervent love right next to her sleeping face.
“That, that is exactly what love is.”
Dad’s voice.
“D, Dad…”
When Taeyeon let the forgotten word “Dad” leave her lips, she felt an indescribable swell of emotion.
Yes, she was sure.
This was definitely…
Her dad’s voice.
The day after “Villain daddy” was released arrived.
“Daddy’s here!”
Back from a business trip to the provinces, Kim Woohyun headed for Hyunseung’s studio the moment he returned.
“You are back.”
Even that blank face at this very moment looked welcome and precious.
And with good reason.
“You went and caused another big one.”
“I did not cause anything though.”
“This is what we call causing one.”
“Villain daddy” was shooting up toward the upper ranks of the charts at frightening speed.
On the tablet Kim Woohyun held out, the real-time chart was open.
“No. 19, ‘Villain daddy’ – Moon Beomjae.”
He could see that the song Hyunseung released had seized No. 19 in one go. This was a result achieved with just a single chart refresh.
Truly. Literally an incident.
“Oh, and do you know you just picked up a ton of ahjussi fans?”
“Ahjussi fans? That is not exactly what I was hoping for…”
When Kim Woo-hyun tapped the screen, a café window popped up.
“Papably1.”
Hyunseung mouthed the big font at the top of the café page.
“Papably…?”
It kind of sounded like a restaurant name, or the name of a cheesy game.
Then with a rather solemn face, Kim Woohyun put a hand over his left chest and added,
“If Korea’s moms have the mom cafés, then us dads have Papably.”
“Why us? You are a lifelong bachelor. You have not even dated.”
“I am raising one golden boy these days, you know. And who said that? I am not some never-dated type.”
“Everyone says so. You nail the job and cannot date, so you are a lifelong single.”
“No, I am not. I have dated.”
They bickered for a beat.
“Anyway. Right now, this song is not just hot among Korean fathers, it is blazing. Look at this.”
“I am a gireogi2 father of five years. After peeling my five-year-old from my arms and, because finances were tight, failing to go over, I finally went for her tenth birthday, only for my daughter to act awkward and say she hated me for not coming on her last birthday… On the way back I felt so empty and bitter, but listening to HS’s ‘Villain daddy’ I decided to try finding strength. Because I am a dad.”
↳ “Nice to meet you. I am a gireogi of fourteen years. Now the kids do not even contact me, but hearing that one is entering law school this time, I am going to push myself harder. Let’s hang in there. Because we are dads.”
↳ “I am not gireogi, but this resonated so I am leaving a few words. I am raising my fourteen-year-old daughter alone. Maybe because puberty hit, she will not even talk to me. Every time, my insides collapse, but what can I do. A dad has to not collapse and raise them well. Let us keep going. Villain daddy, fighting.”
↳ “My heart is not that way, but why do I always end up the bad dad in front of my kids… Try calling your kids today to say you are sorry and that you love them.”
Hyunseung skimmed the posts and nodded.
“That is a relief.”
“Honestly, I cannot tell if you are stoic or just indifferent.”
“Both?” Hyunseung quipped with a playful grin.
Originally, the song was made for fathers, so it was good news.
It was a song that needed to reach Executive Managing Director Park’s child. It could not end as a song merely famous among dads.
No. Do not get antsy. Right, if it stacks up in fame like this step by step…
It will certainly reach there too, right?
“By the way, Hyunseung.”
Suddenly, Kim Woohyun broached it carefully.
“That voice at the end of ‘Villain daddy.’”
“Yes.”
“I am really asking just in case.”
“Yes.”
“Is it Executive Managing Director Park?”
“Ye… no?”
He instinctively answered yes, then immediately corrected himself.
“Probably not.”
“Come on, give me a straight answer.”
“Why, why.”
“There is a pool going among the staff about whether that voice is the Managing Director or not.”
“People here really do love their bets.”
“You do too. Always tagging along like a bratty kid.”
“When do I ever tag along like a kid.”
Smirking, Kim Woohyun tried coaxing him again, gently,
“Anyway, just be honest with me. I will never act like I know or show any sign in front of the Managing Director.”
“Which side did you bet on?”
“Me, I have heard the Managing Director mad, flattering, excited, haughty, all sorts of voices, so the moment I listened I thought, ah, that is the Managing Director’s voice, and I was convinced.”
Then, scratching his jaw as if a bit unsure too, he added,
“But honestly it does not make sense. Since when were you and the Managing Director close enough to have that kind of talk…”
“Then it is not the Managing Director.”
“What do you mean, then.”
“I will answer the opposite of the side you bet on.”
“You little golden boy…”
Feeling his impishness, Hyunseung flicked his tongue in and out, a quick tease, as the other feigned a knuckle rap to his head.
Ah. He had heard “golden boy” so much he was starting to act like one.
“Anyway, that is his privacy, so if you are really that curious, ask the Managing Director yourself.”
Sensing that if he kept talking he would only get more childish, Hyunseung shoved him toward the door.
“Are you going to be petty like this?”
“Yes, I am.”
“The moment I ask him, you know I will be writing a statement of apology.”
“Then do not ask.”
Even as he was being pushed step by step, Kim Woo-hyun tried one last deal.
“Ten meal tickets.”
“No.”
“Twenty meal tickets.”
“Do not need them.”
At the threshold, making a final desperate shout, he yelled,
“Make it thirty meal tickets, and I will double it with one month of coffee and snack tributes.”
“Deal.”
“Huh… Deal?”
He had thrown it out in pure desperation, so it startled him when the other bit right away.
And the answer that came back was…
“It is the Managing Director.”
Exactly what he had expected to hear.
“You just promised thirty meal tickets and a month of coffee and snacks.”
Watching Hyunseung grin and add, “Coffee venti,” Kim Woohyun realized something had gone wrong.
Somehow, it felt like more money would be going out than the pool would bring in.
Well, what could he do?
He would endure.
Because he was Kim Appa.
- 파파블리 is a cute coined name: 파파 (papa/dad) + -블리 (from “lovely,” a Korean nickname suffix). It can also be “Lovely Dads” but I thought Papably is cute. ↩︎
- gireogi (기러기) literally means “wild goose.”
In everyday Korean, it’s shorthand for gireogi appa (기러기 아빠, “goose dad”)—a father who stays in Korea to work while his wife and children live abroad for the kids’ education. He visits when he can, “migrating” like a goose. ↩︎
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