the sun filters through, illuminating her play area in a way that dae sentimentally considers as angelic, though the noises she makes prove she is anything but. she squeals, squeaks, yelps and giggles her way through her toys, sometimes throwing, sometimes biting with pre-teething fury. he should be using this blessed hour to do something useful and yet he is, as always, weak to the sight of his daughter. he sits on the couch with a book on his chest and a cold cup of tea by his side and watches her as she bobs her head, wobbling side to side, with chubby arms flung out at her sides.

she is, of course, beautiful. he won't hear a word otherwise. with her big eyes and bigger cheeks she's a perfect mochi baby, dimpled and happy. he's heard sweet remarks of how similar they look and he smiles, pleased, yet also secretly delighted when the slightly larger than normal ears are a dead giveaway as to who she is more biologically descended from.

still.

still.

she's his daughter, his junhee, and when she screams he is tuned into her frequency well enough to know it's pure joy as chubface appears in the doorway.

chubface huffs and puffs. he pads over to junhee and sniffs at her toys, at her back, much to her continued delight. she reaches for him with greedy hands but he evades her, always careful, and moves over to dae instead for less attacking pats to his head.

"where have you been hiding, hm?" dae asks, scritching between his ears where he knows chubface likes it the most, his purple tongue lolling out. "where are your siblings?"

junhee screams again and this time dae has to laugh. she's jealous. he can see it all over her reddening face and in the way her arms are still outstretched, hands grabbing at air where there should be a cuddly chow to pester. she looks just like her father, and dae being the wonderful dad that he is immediately grabs at his phone to take a picture of her so he can send it off. caption: chubface picked me. doesn't this face look familiar?

and yet chubface abandons him shortly after. he's patient with junhee and utterly uninterested in her loud noises, never startling but instead always investigating to make sure she's okay. it is, in a word, adorable, and dae considers clutching at his chest dramatically when junhee's pout turns into a smile so wide it makes her eyes begin to crinkle up.

he loves her more and more every day, with a force that seems unimaginable. from the moment they were able to bring her home and lay her between them on their bed, taking turns to tearfully watch her tiny hand grab at their fingers, she had shoved her way into his junsu filled heart and carved out a space bigger than her.

his phone buzzes. he imagines without even looking at it there will be another buzz a few seconds later with a demand for more pictures, as greedy as ever, and dae takes it with him as he finally leaves the couch to crawl onto the floor, abandoning his alone time for family time.

"little one, do you miss daddy? shall we facetime him?"

junhee bounces at the word daddy and lunges forward, easily caught in dae's arms before she can land face first on the floor. she's getting heavier by the day but he still relishes in the way he can scoop her up against him, kissing her all over her face as she giggles and wriggles. he waits until she's settled against his chest before he opens his phone again and there it is, exactly what he predicted.

cute.

"alright, let's see if we can charm daddy into bringing food home so i don't have to cook. be extra adorable, alright?" as if he even needs to ask when he sees their image reflecting back, her curious eyes watching every movement with three fingers stuck in her mouth.

he's older now, a little more tired looking, yet happy, truly, as he hits call and kisses his daughter's cheek while waiting for his husband to pick up.

not the life he would've expected for himself, and yet every piece fits to make it the life he wants.