“Hon?” Mrs. Kim peers into Taeyeon’s room and finds her daughter lying down with her headphones blasting music on high volume. With a sigh, she walks over to her and disconnects the headphones from the phone. “School called.”

Taeyeon lets out a sigh as she takes off her headphones and sits up on her bed. Mrs. Kim crosses her arms as Taeyeon waits idly on her bed for her scolding. “They said you were causing a commotion at school with two other girls and wouldn’t respond when they told you repeatedly to stop and talk to either the teacher or the security there. What’s wrong hon? You’re not one to do this.”

Mrs. Kim is worried about her daughter's sudden behavior. Taeyeon’s never been one to cause a commotion or lash out at anyone. Her daughter is not like this.

“Hon?”

A sigh leaves her lips. “Tiffany just lost her mom.”

The older woman doesn't expect Taeyeon’s reply. She's taken completely by surprise. “W-Well…. What does that have to do with your behavior at school?”

Taeyeon plays with her shirt as she speaks. “No one told me about her mom, and I haven’t talked to her in weeks.”

Mrs. Kim knows right off the bat that something more is bothering Taeyeon. Her motherly instincts were screaming at her. “You know I’m always here for you hon.” Her hand squeezes Taeyeon’s shoulder softly as she sits next to her.

Taeyeon nods, but her eyes still remain on the floor.

Mrs. Kim notices the way her daughter bites the inner side of her lip as she tries to scramble her thoughts together. “How about we start off with why you and Tiffany aren’t speaking to one another?”

“I….” A frustrated sigh leaves Taeyeon’s lips, “It’s my fault. I’m the one who’s been avoiding her.”

“And why is that?” Mrs. Kim asks as she traces small circles on her daughter’s shoulder.

“I… Because I-” Too many thoughts pass through Taeyeon’s head as she tries her best to conjure up the best explanation, “Because Tiffany’s best friend, Jessica, threatened me to stay away from her.”

Mrs. Kim stops drawing circles on her daughter’s shoulder when Taeyeon confesses her reason to why she and Tiffany aren't speaking to one another. ‘Taeyeon didn’t speak to her only friend because some jealous friend of Tiffany’s forbade my daughter to do so?’ She thought to herself as she felt some form of anger subtly crawl upon her. “Is she one of the girl’s you were supposedly harassing?”

The younger Kim slowly nods her head.

“Why–How….” Mrs. Kim pinches the bridge of her nose as she tries to digest her daughter’s words, “Did she seriously threaten you to stay away from poor Tiffany because she was jealous of your friendship with Tiffany?”

“Kid’s these days,” Mrs. Kim tells herself, “What’s wrong with this generation’s way of thinking?”

“Well, sort of….” With every word, Taeyeon let her tone of voice come to a whisper.

“Sort of?” Was she missing something?

“She…” Taeyeon tries her best to vocalize her thoughts, “She wasn’t just jealous because Tiffany befriended me.” This makes Mrs. Kim confused, and Taeyeon realizes that she had to explain herself, but there's just one problem with that. Taeyeon doesn't know how to tell her mom that she likes Tiffany, that she likes another girl….

“I…” Just as she starts to muster up enough courage to confess to her mom, the words die in as she remembers the times when one of her aunts would come over, and her mom would chat with her about “those disgusting gay people” and how they are the sin of humanity.

How could Taeyeon tell her? What would she think of her?

Taeyeon already has a family that accepts her, so why would she ruin it now? “Nevermind.”

Mrs. Kim is baffled that Taeyeon drops the subject just like that. She can usually have Taeyeon tell her what’s on her mind. She knows there's something going on that Taeyeon's trying so hard to cover up… but why?

“Hon, you know I’m here for you no matter what.” Mrs. Kim presses as she tries her best to comfort her daughter. If she could, she would wipe away all of her daughter's problems, but she could only do so if Taeyeon would let her.

“... I know.”

It's a mere whisper, but it's enough for Mrs. Kim to know that Taeyeon truly does want to tell her what's on her mind. Just the sound of Taeyeon scared voice just doesn't sit well within her.

“Talk to me, hon. What’s wrong? If it’s not your friendship with Tiffany, then why is it that Jessica’s so persistent to keep you away from her?”

“I just…” Taeyeon finally looks at her mother with these wide eyes. She's scared. Scared that Mrs. Kim will leave her too. She doesn't know if she could ever live with Mr. and Mrs. Kim ever abandoning her because of the way she feels towards the same . “Mom I-” Tears built on the corners of Taeyeon’s eyes as she looks at her adoptive mother in the eyes.

“What’s wrong hon? Why are you crying?” Mrs. Kim caresses Taeyeon’s face with her two hands, trying her best to wipe away her daughter's tears, her worries.

“You won’t leave me right?” As Mrs. Kim looks into her daughter's eyes, she sees this scared little girl once more. She sees that same scared little Taeyeon that wouldn’t speak to anyone because she thought that she didn’t deserve anyone’s love and affection. “Not like her?” Mrs. Kim knows all too well that what Taeyeon's about to say next will either make Taeyeon as a whole or break her completely.

“Taeyeon, baby, you know that I would never leave you. You’re my daughter, blood or not. I still love you the same, and I wouldn’t dare ever think about leaving you.”

Taeyeon takes comfort in Mrs. Kim’s words. She was still scared and nervous about telling her mom, but she found herself a little relieved to know that her adoptive mom wouldn’t leave her. “I….” She let out in a ragged breath, “ I don’t like Tiffany like I would for any other normal girl.” Her words were edged with so much fear, that Taeyeon choked on her words as they came out pouring from .

“You don’t like Tiffany like any other normal girl? Hon, that’s nonsense. How could you.. not… like….” It hit Mrs. Kim the meaning behind her daughter’s words like a bat would at a baseball. Hard and with full force.

Taeyeon sat there staring at her mom, waiting anxiously as she watched her mom sit there in shock as her words digested in her mom’s head. She sat there waiting for the screaming, for the shoving, and maybe even for a hit, but she never did. Instead, Taeyeon found herself wrapped in her mother’s long arms that tightly embarrassed her.

“Oh, hon!” Mrs. Kim sported a wide grin as she held her daughter in her arms, “You love Tiffany!”

Taeyeon sat there stiff as a board. Her mom’s reaction was one she was not expecting. “You’re not mad?” Her words were muffled by her mother’s sweater.

“Hon, that’s great news. Why would I ever be mad at you for loving someone?!” Mrs. Kim lets go of her daughter as she came face to face with her. “Christ! I thought––– Nevermind what I thought. I’m just so happy.” There was a wide grin on Mrs. Kim as she held Taeyeon.

Taeyeon’s old therapist had told Mrs. Kim that there was a probability that Taeyeon may not be able to open her heart so freely to others due to her rough childhood. The therapist had told her that it may take years before Taeyeon ever does decide to truly open her heart.

It was like a load of bricks were suddenly knocked off of Taeyeon’s shoulders when Mrs. Kim told her that she was happy for her. Taeyeon had never felt so relieved and accepted. It made her world that Mrs. Kim was happy to accept the fact that she liked another girl, Tiffany.

With a smile, Taeyeon openly hugged her mother, blood or not she was the best mother Taeyeon has ever had. “I love you, mom.”

Shocked, Mrs. Kim stayed frozen for a moment before she snapped out of it and hugged her daughter tightly. “I love you too, Hon.” Happy tears ran down her face. “I love you too.”

–––

Sorry for the wait! Work and school have been up to my neck these past few days. The Holidays are here and it's just a busy time of the year. See you next time!