"Mom?" I ask nervously, half my body in the doorway to her office, and half my body out. 

She looks up from her computer. "What is it dear? And come in."

"Uh," I say, walking into the sunlit room, but still hovering anxiously by the door. "I broke up with Wonwoo." 

"Oh," she says, sounding surprised and a little sad. "I have to say, I wasn’t expecting that."

"Yeah," I say. "We, uh, had a disagreement about gay people." I shoot a quick glance at her, trying to read her thoughts. 

I’ve never talked to my mom about her feelings on this issue. 

"Did you now?" she asks. "And what side were you on?"

"Supporting them," I say softly. 

She smiles. "Well," she says with a wry smile, "it seems I’ve raised you right then."

I feel like a massive weight has been taken off my shoulders. I’m still not prepared to tell her about Mina, but . . . at least I now know that my mom won’t judge me. She may be surprised, perhaps even shocked, as I’ve only been interested in guys before. But, she’ll be fine with my choice. 

On impulse, I go and hug her. She hugs me back. "Hey now, what’s this about?" she asks. "Still upset over Wonwoo?"

"Hmm? Oh – yeah," I answer. 

She pats me on the back. "How about we watch a DVD together, just you and me?" 

I smile. "That would be awesome."

I really love my mom.

It’s during the closing scene that the doorbell rings. Neither of us move for a full minute, and it rings again. "You go get it," I say. 

"It’s eight o clock on a Saturday night. Who would be paying an unexpected visit at this hour?"

I shrug. "Why don’t you go find out?" 

She sighs, but gets up off the couch. I hear her walk down the hall, open the door, and – "Hey! You must be Momo’s mum –" I bolt up off the couch and run towards the door. I get there just in time to hear, "I’m Mina, Momo’s girlfriend."

I freeze in place, just in view of Mina. 

My mom is silent. I am waiting to hear what she says with dread but I also really want her to say something – I really can’t stand this, frozen here with no idea what’s coming next. 

"Well," she says at last, very slowly. "It’s very nice to meet you. Ah – Momo hasn’t mentioned you. In fact to the best of my knowledge, she was dating a boy until very recently."

"Um, yeah," Mina says, her eyes flicking to me. "She just broke up with Wonwoo this morning."

My mom turns around to me. "Is this the girl you went to a sleepover with last weekend?"

"Um, yeah," I say, echoing Mina. "But it wasn’t like that then." 

"I see."

There is an awkward moment where we all say nothing. Actually, scratch that. All of this is awkward. 

"Uh," Mina finally says, looking a little uncertain, swiping her hair out of her face in a messy motion. "It was actually really stupid of me to come around at this time. It’s pretty late. I should be getting home." She starts backing away from the door, into the darkness, looking a little upset. "So, see you?" 

"No, no," my mom says immediately, almost soothingly. "You must come in." 

Mina's face lights up. "Really?"

"Yes, of course, I’d love to get to know you properly," mom smiles. 

Mina steps through the door, practically bouncing with happy energy again, and I let out a sigh of relief. That didn’t go as badly as it could have done. 

My mom and Mina bond immediately. Like, really. They start prattling about science and stuff and can't seem to stop.

"And I mean," Mina is saying, her hands wrapped around a coffee. "wouldn't be so amazing? We could actually grow organs in a laboratory, from DNA from any part of someone's body. We could save lives. That's the kind of career I'd love to have."

My mom smiles, evidently impressed. And I have to say I am too. Biology doesn't really interest me, but... the passion Mina has in her voice when she talks about it. Her sparkling eyes, and infectious smile. She's incredible. I really do believe that one day she'll do something amazing. And it looks like my mom likes her too. I can't believe how well this is going. It's almost going too well.

"Hey, Wonwoo!" I call, when he passes me in the corridor next Monday morning. I need to say something to him face to face, just to make sure everything is alright between us. But he shoulders past me like he didn’t see me. 

I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut. 

"Wonwoo, wait up! What’s wrong?" I mean, I know that we broke up. But I thought it was on pretty good terms, all things considered. I thought he would at least acknowledge me when he passed. 

I try to catch up with him, but he has soon disappeared in the crowd. 

"Damnit," I say, to no one in particular. I’ll have to go find him after school. 

At least I know where he’ll be. Football field, as always. How often have I sat on the bleachers, watching him train for afternoons on end? 

Yeah, that’s what I’ll do. I’ll go talk to him after school, sort this thing out once and for all.