Eun Bi’s POV

“Unni!”

“Noona!”

Seung Min, Young Ho, and Ra Jin called out my name the instant they heard me opening the door. I was met with the sound of their laughter and the sounds coming from the television. I smiled at the kids while putting down my purse and books on the countertop. Then I turned around to see a wreck of the living room with toys, dog poop, remnants of chip bags, and pillows littering the area. An inaudible sigh came from under my breath at the sight.

“I bet you guys are starving. I’ll just wash my hands, clean up, and then get started on dinner.” I told them, washing my hands at the sink. “Did you guys feed Fluffy?” I asked them, glancing at Fluffy’s food bowls.

“Don’t worry, Noona. We fed her around an hour ago.” Young Ho told me over the sound of the television playing. I entered the living room prepped with plastic gloves and a black plastic bag to discard Fluffy’s poop. I stepped carefully over their feet and the pillows to reach where the pile of poop was. Mentally I thanked the fact that it was on the wooden floor and instead of on the carpet. I folded the bag over the pile and tied the bag off to throw it into the garbage, then made sure to wipe that specific area of the floor.

After scrubbing my hands for the second time I decided to start cooking right away instead of even bothering to change out of my clothes. Fostering three kids compelled me to practice self-abnegation for their sake.

Dinner was unfortunately slap-dashy put together due to the lack of ingredients available in the refrigerator. But I compensated with a fried egg on top of each bowl. Seeing their sanguine expressions induced a small smile to appear upon my own lips. That was everything I ever wanted for them.   

Later that night when the kids were fast asleep in their rooms, I sat up in my bed on my laptop, reading over the adoption policies. I has already submitted the applications for them along with all the incumbent paperwork.

I grabbed my pen and began jotting the plans for the following week. One of them was to find a part-time job in Seoul that I could work when I was in the city. The savings Mrs. Kim left us with were running out fast. Getting stressed in circumstances like this one is easy, but for my sake and the kids’ I had to keep it bay or else. My fingers uncapped the white cap off the orange bottle and a deep breath left my dry lips.

It was half past midnight and I was lying in bed, waiting for the drugs to kick in when Tae Kwang called.

“Hey. Sorry if I woke you. It’s just that right now I’m so ing happy.” The moment I registered his choice of words, everything became static.

“If only I could be with you in person. Tae Kwang. Have you thought about going back?” I finally spoke after experiencing my heart drop down to my stomach. In that moment I wished I were only a couple minutes away, so that I could reach him.

“After my practic