4 The punishment came eventually.

The next morning Jeni wakes up in her father's arms. She snuggles into his chest feeling like everything is right in the world. Slowly sleep puts her under its spell and Jeni is lulled into her dreams once more.

When Taehyung rose from his slumber it was well past noon. He looked around to see Jeni sleeping beside him. He laughed at the drool coming out of her mouth. 'She's way too cute' He thought.

Taehyung gets up from the bed to go wash up. He takes a shower with the strawberry-scented body wash. He squeezed it, trying to get the soap out. Looking at the small amount of soap in his hand Taehyung sighs. He rubs his hands together to make some bubbles before rubbing it all over himself. Taehyung finishes showering quickly and steps out.

He stepped out in all his naked glory. It was an alluring sight, Taehyung's gorgeous body and the steam surrounding him, it would cause any person to sin. It was such a shame that no one was here to appreciate this scene.

Taehyung wrapped a towel around his waist loosely. He exited the bathroom and headed to the kitchen. "hmm.... what to make for breakfast today?" He muttered under his breath while looking into the fridge. By cook, Taehyung meant either toast or microwave. For if he touches the stove all sorts of things will go wrong. Taehyung saw that the fridge was mostly empty. He let out a sigh at that. He looked further to see if there was any milk in there. He found a small carton of milk deep in the fridge. He checked the expiration date. Knowing full well that he hasn't gone grocery shopping in quite a while.

'October first... It's three months past its expiration date.' Taehyung wonders how he and Jeni survive without proper food in the house.

Taehyung hears soft little footsteps behind him. He instantly turns around to shock his little girl.

"Eek! Tae-Tae why'd you move like that. You scared Jeni." Jeni complained softly, sleep still evident in her voice

Taehyung looked at Jeni's wide eyes and messy hair and smiled. He picked her up and gave her big kisses on her face.

"Good morning beautiful," Taehyung said in between kisses. Jeni giggles as she let Taehyung rain kisses on her. "Tae-Tae stop, Jeni had enough kisses," Jeni said laughingly. She pushed Taehyung's face away and showed that she wanted to go down.

Taehyung put Jeni down and asked, "Did you sleep well, princess?" Jeni shook her head, making her messy curls messier. Taehyung lifted the corner of his lips and said: "The drool that you left all over my bed says otherwise, dear." Jeni flushed at her father's teasing and denied it. "No, Jeni doesn't drool."

"Oh really?" Taehyung asked whilst chuckling.

"Then I wonder why my bed was oh so wet this morning. It was so wet that I felt the need to shower," Taehyung mused.

"Tae-Tae you try to shower every morning. You can't put that on Jeni," Jeni pouted. She felt embarrassed thinking that she drooled as she slept. "Anyway Tae-Tae, Jeni is hungry what's for breakfast?" Jeni questioned.

Taehyung thought a bit and checked the time. He rubbed Jeni's head and told her, "Go and get dressed, we'll eat and Ms. Mary's house. " Upon hearing that Jeni cheered and rushed to her room.

....

"Knock knock." Taehyung tapped on Ms. Mary's front door of her apartment.

"Ms. Mary, Jeni is here to eat some of your yummy muffins, " Jeni called out cheerfully. She adored the muffins that Ms. Mary made. They made her feel all warm and gooey inside. Plus they were very sweet!

Taehyung looked down at his little angel. He fluffed her pretty curls and continued to wait on Ms. Mary to let them in. He heard the door unlock and saw his favorite old lady.

"Oh, now that's a shame. I didn't make my muffins today."

Jeni pouted ar Ms. Mary's words. She hugged her before bouncing into her apartment. Taehyung and Ms. Mary chatted a bit about the weather while Jeni headed straight to the kitchen. She smelled something familiar but wasn't too sure what it was.

"How have you been Ms. Mary?" Taehyung asked casually. Ms. Mary shrugged and said: "Molly hasn't been here all week so it's quiet around here."

Molly is Ms.Mary's granddaughter. She is a year older than Jeni. Molly and Jeni get along rather well. The only downside is Taehyung having to deal with the naughty things that Molly teaches Jeni.

Taehyung looked at Ms. Mary closely and noticed the dark circles under her eyes. "You haven't been sleeping well lately have you," He stated. Ms. Mary simply sighed in acknowledgment of what he said.

"Is it insomnia again? Do you need me to set up a doctor's appointment for you? Or maybe would you like Jeni and me to stay with you at night?" Taehyung bombarded the old lady with questions.

Ms. Mary laughed at Taehyung's anxious expression. "Oh, there's no need to stress yourself out like that. You already have too much on your plate, I couldn't bear to burden you."

"You know you could never be a burden to me," Taehyung said while shaking his head. He parted his lips to say more but Ms. Mary cut him off before he could speak.

"Alright don't fret too much I'm fine. Now, let's go inside and eat before the food gets cold." She said and placed her hand gently on his arm.

Taehyung watched as she turned on her heel and went to the table. He looked at her straight back and sighed.

Although they weren't related, Ms. Mary always treated Taehyung like her son. She's helped Taehyung when he was struggling to keep Jeni alive as an infant. Through the years Taehyung has grown fond of her and treats her like his mother. So the concern he felt for her was intense.

When Taehyung reached the table he saw that Jeni wasn't there. He also saw that there were pancakes. He smirked and took a seat, waiting.

Jeni had been wandering around the place, looking for the drawing she and Molly had made for Ms. Mary before. She only remembered breakfast when she was called for. Jeni ran to the table with haste. When she saw the pancakes Jeni squealed.

"Ah, pancakes!" Jeni clapped her hands excitedly as she sat down right in front of Taehyung.

"Tae-Tae, look there are pancakes," Jeni stated.

"Yes princess I can see the pancakes," Taehyung replied dully.

Jeni pouted at his lack of excitement. 'He should be more excited, he loves pancakes more than me.' She thought. "Tae-Tae don't pretend to be cool. It's okay to show that you're happy to eat pancakes ya know," Jeni said sassily.

Taehyung's hand that was making a pretty plate of pancakes froze. He looked at Jeni a minute and resumed what he was doing.

Jeni saw how he ignored what she said and eyed the plate that he was holding. ' Since he wants to act like he doesn't care for pancakes, then he should be making that plate for me then.' Jeni thought of a way to mess with Taehyung.

"Tae-Tae~." When Jeni called Taehyung again he felt a sense of foreboding. With her next words, Jeni proved his bad feeling right.

"You forgot my chocolate sauce."

"Huh? What chocolate sauce?" He asked knowing that Jeni was up to no good.

"The chocolate sauce that you're supposed to put on my pancakes." Jeni pointed at the plate in Taehyung's hand.

"These pancakes?" He asked pointing at the plate of pancakes in his hands. Jeni nodded her little head seriously.

Taehyung looked at Ms. Mary who was seated beside him. "Is she lusting after my pancakes?"

Ms. Mary was shocked at his word choice, she then pinched his arm.

"Ow! Why was I pinched?" Taehyung whined while rubbing his arm.

"Why are you using such words in front of a three-year-old. This is a very sensitive time for her upbringing. You have to mind your language," Ms. Mary scolded Taehyung very seriously.

Jeni saw her dad get in trouble and giggled mischievously. She tried to hide her mirth but Taehyung still noticed her.

"Ms. Mary this brat did it on purpose! You see how conniving she is at such a tender age. And you worry about my language, she has the makings to be a vixen." Taehyung pointed at Jeni and said loudly.

And once more Taehyung was pinched for his improper words.

"Ow! Ms. Mary, what did I say wrong?" Taehyung didn't know his question further dug his grave.

"Ms. Mary, what do lusting and vixen mean?" Jeni added innocently.

Ms. Mary had never wanted Jeni to ask these types of questions. That's why she tried to correct Taehyung's vocabulary since long ago but to no avail.

Ms. Mary fixed Taehyung a hard look before answering Jeni. "Don't worry about what your father said sweetie, just eat." Jeni nodded to show that she understood.

Ms. Mary then took the plate of pancakes that Taehyung had in his hand and gave it to Jeni. Jeni dug in right away. Not even giving Taehyung a chance to react.

"Wait, Ms. Mary, those are my pancakes. Why'd you give them to her? That's not fair." Taehyung felt wronged and pouted.

"Alright alright, look I'll fix a plate for you don't cry now," Ms. Mary tried to placate Taehyung. He made the most pitiful expression, Ms. Mary almost couldn't look at him.

"But why are you more of a handful than your child huh?" Ms. Mary chided him softly and handed him some pretty pancakes. She felt that she had spoiled Taehyung to the point that he had become willful over these four years.

Looking at her father who had dropped his aloof facade and was acting childishly, Jeni felt that these pancakes were especially delicious.

Once they had finished eating Taehyung and Jeni cleared the table. Before Taehyung left Jeni to her own devices he pulled her to the sofa to talk. For every action, there was a reaction. And the reaction for what Jeni had done the day prior came with a punishment.

Taehyung took a deep breath before saying what he had to say.

"Princess?" He called for Jeni making sure he had her attention.

"Yeah?" When he heard her response Taehyung continued.

"Because of what happened yesterday I'll have to cancel the sleepover."

"What? No, you can't cancel sleepover." Jeni frowned as she spoke. She found this all wrong. Jeni felt that her punishment shouldn't go in this direction.

"Oh, I can't? Then what should I do?" Taehyung said.

Jeni bit her small lips and thought of the lightest and most reasonable punishment. "um... ground me?" She said softly. Taehyung heard what she said and nodded slowly.

"Ah, but canceling the sleepover is me grounding you. And the sleepover isn't all there is too."

"Tae-Tae there's more?" Jeni whined.

"Yup," Taehyung said while nodding. He thought of his small friend who will be in town soon and grinned.

"You're going to have to stay with your Uncle Chim for a while." He said with an evil smile on his face.

Jeni swayed dramatically and pretended to faint when she heard the words "Uncle Chim".