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Hansol just started to take a big bite of a slice of an avocado toast as he heard loud clank from outside. He put the avocado toast back to the plate, and turned to the front door. His heart was pounding, yet he tried to be composed. He counted to four. What happened this time?
Then the front door slammed open. There she was; her dress was a mess. Her braided brown hair was disheveled. Her face was flustered red. The unkempt appearance of his daughter made him jolted from the chair. He bolted to his daughter. He kneeled in front of her and landed his hand to his daughter’s face. Her body temperature was okay, a little warm from biking in the hot June weather perhaps.
“W-w-what happened to you?,” finally, Hansol managed to say something. He even didn’t recognized himself from his voice. He knows that he’s always managed to be composed every time, even in precarious situation too.
She stared back at him. Then, all of sudden, she burst into tears. “Y-y-younghee –,” she said. She sobbed hard after that.
Hansol peeked into the door that she left ajar. The bike was parked in front of the house but it was not parked properly. He looked back to his daughter again, he brushed the strand of the brown hair on her forehead. “What happened to Younghee?”
“Younghee –,” she sobbed again. “Told me that I’m ugly!”
Hansol sighed, it felt like all his horror by the sight of her daughter went out of the window. He thought the worst but oh, thank God.
Hansol embraced his daughter. His daughter was weeping louder than before in his embrace. Then, he took a look at his daughter again. “What did she say to you?”
“Younghee said my nose is ugly, it looks like double ‘O’ in Google logo,” she answered. “Then – “ she hiccupped. “She made fun of my Korean pronunciation and told me that I should go back to America.”
Hansol knew that a little girl can’t make that malicious remarks. It must be came from a family discussion – but Hansol shrugged that thoughts away. “Okay,” Hansol cooed. “And then?”
“She told me that my name doesn’t suit my look,” she resumed. “My name’s a pretty flower but my look is u-u-u-ugly – “ then she wailed. Hansol embraced her again. Sometimes he wants to homeschool his daughter, but this has been what his deceased wife wants. Daisy is very vibrant kid, she will initiate a conversation first and asked them to play with her. Daisy was more like his deceased wife rather than him in the middle school; bubbly and outgoing. While Hansol has always been a misfit.
Hansol looked at his daughter again. Her brown hair, her lines, doe eyes, and thin lips are very exquisite and resembled to his deceased wife. “Daisy-ya,” Hansol said. “Your name was named after the prettiest flower in the world. A long-long-long-time ago, a nymph will disguise herself as a Daisy to protect herself.”
“What’s the name of the nymph?”
“Belides, honeybun.”
“Do you know her?”
Hansol giggled. Oh the innocence! Oh how Hansol wanted to gathered all the goodness in the world and give it to his daughter, and protecting her from the bad things in the world. “I know her from the story book, honeybun. Just like the story of Thor and Loki that I told you.”
Daisy nodded, her mouth formed “O”. Hansol held her hand and squeezed it. It was smaller than his hand and fragile. “So,” Hansol resumed. “You, Daisy,” he cupped her face in his hands. “You are a strong nymph. You have a strong nymph lived inside you and you are as pretty as those flowers. And you can’t let people hurt you.”
Daisy nodded. Then, she looked at her Nike Force and said, “but dad, how can I face Younghee tomorrow? What should I say to her?”
“Treat her with kindness, honeybun,” Hansol said. Daisy looked at him. “Treat her like usual. But if you have some time alone with her, tell her that what she said today made you hurt. But, don’t raise your voice. Raise your words. Arasseo?”
Daisy nodded. Now the sadness had gone from her face and she gave Hansol that sweet smile again. It warmed his heart a lot. “Arasseo, daddy.”
“Good girl,” he said. “So, Daisy-ya. I made you some avocado toasts in the kitchen. Do you want to have some?”
Daisy nodded enthusiastically. Without further ado, she sprinted to the kitchen while screaming “apocado!” on the top of her lungs.