As he watched Chae-yoon make the call, Jo Sung-hyun took out Chae-yoon's diary that he had left in his bedroom.
He was going to check the diary while the child was on the phone.
He thought it would help him understand Chae-yoon better if he read what was in it.
Jo Sung-hyun carefully turned the first page.
A small picture and a diary written by Chae-yoon below it.
[There's nothing to do at kindergarten.
So I just stayed still.
The other kids kept talking to me and it was annoying.
I played with the piano.]
He started reading from the opened part, and there was a story about kindergarten right away.
The handwriting that tried to write as correctly as possible.
But still, it was a sight that couldn't escape the limits of a child.
There was no difficulty in reading it.
He smiled softly at the last line, saying he played with the piano.
She seemed to dislike the other kids, but she liked the piano.
It was a relief that she had something she liked.
[Today I went to a restaurant with grandma.
I liked the pork cutlet.
Grandma said dad also likes pork cutlet. I missed him.]
Pork cutlet appeared.
He knew from the memo that Min Eun-jung left earlier that pork cutlet was one of Chae-yoon's favorite foods.
He focused on the last word.
'I missed him.'
What did she miss?
Him not being able to eat more pork cutlet?
Or not being able to eat with Jo Sung-hyun?
He wondered that and continued reading the diary.
[Grandma said dad is busy every day.
When I asked if dad would be less busy after a few nights, grandma said dad is stupid.
Chae-yoon was sad because dad is not stupid.]
He swallowed hard.
He felt like something was about to burst out.
Chae-yoon's diary had a lot of stories about her grandmother and kindergarten, and also about Jo Sung-hyun.
[Is the phone always busy?
Dad left with the phone while eating.
Grandma scolded dad.
The song that the phone plays is amazing.]
She wrote a diary with his smartphone.
[Today it rained from the sky.
It's a sad day for the sky.
I was sad too.]
[At the movie theater, Elisa sang a song.
Elisa sings well.
Do I like Elisa?]
It was the first time someone other than Lee Soo-hyun or Jo Sung-hyun appeared in the diary.
He read on and soon it was the recent date.
And Jo Sung-hyun could feel a slight change.
His appearance frequency increased a lot.
All the recent diaries were about him.
He could feel her emotions well.
[Tomorrow is the day to see mom, but dad didn't say anything about mom.
Dad is not the best.
Grandma said dad is stupid again.]
September 29th.
The day before his wife's anniversary.
Chae-yoon expressed her disappointment by saying 'not the best'.
He was surprised because he had never used a negative expression about himself in his diary.
It also meant that Chae-yoon was very disappointed in him.
[Yesterday kindergarten was closed.
I went to see mom with grandma, but at first I thought dad was stupid because he wasn't there.
But dad came and cried. Dad also misses mom.
I like being with dad.]
The expression 'thought he was stupid' also appeared.
Jo Sung-hyun agreed.
He was really stupid.
At the same time, he felt relieved.
He felt a little bit that he was getting farther away from Chae-yoon in his previous diaries, but this time he said he liked him again.
After that, the atmosphere of the diary changed completely.
[Dad came to kindergarten.
I was happy.
I followed the song that the phone played on piano.
Dad likes green jelly.]
[I like it when dad is not busy.
Dad smiles when I smile.
I like being with dad, but dad doesn't know.]
Thump.
A tear drop fell on the back of his hand.
Jo Sung-hyun quickly closed the diary.
He didn't want the diary to get wet because of his tears.
Trying to calm down his emotions, Jo Sung-hyun put the diary back in the paper bag and took a deep breath.
'I like being with dad.'
'Dad likes green jelly.'
'I like being with dad, but dad doesn't know.'
They might be nothing to someone else, but they were resonant sentences for Jo Sung-hyun.
He was not an expert, but he could tell that Chae-yoon had been greatly disappointed in him once.
Maybe if he hadn't gone to his wife's trial as he did in his previous life, a big wall would have been built in Chae-yoon's heart.
He was so relieved, and so sorry.
He felt like he would cry uncontrollably if someone touched him, so he just bowed his head.
But then, Chae-yoon came into the room carefully with the smartphone in her hand.
"Grandma said kim-bap...!"
She was about to say something excitedly, but she stopped and closed her mouth.
She came up to Jo Sung-hyun with a worried face.
"Dad...? You shouldn't cry...."
-"Huh? Who's crying?"
A small voice came from the other side of the phone.
Jo Sung-hyun swallowed his emotions and lifted his head.
"Grandma! Dad is crying!"
-Why is dad crying?
"Because of kim-bap...?"
-......Chae-yoon. Tell dad it's okay if he can't make kim-bap. Your dad must have never made kim-bap before. Chae-yoon will have to help him a lot.
"Dad, don't cry! It's okay if you can't make kim-bap! Chae-yoon can make kim-bap!"
Chae-yoon said.
Looking at her, Jo Sung-hyun laughed.
He realized today.
The day of his wife's anniversary.
That day was not only the day he returned to his daughter.
But also the day his daughter came back to him.
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Thanks for the chapter aRaion! Just in the nick of time.
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