Chapter One

Mina was quietly slicing the ingredients for their food this dinner. She just finished cutting the garlic and now she's working on the onions.

The brunette was tired from work but you could see no expression or any sign of tireness on her face. She was always like that anywhere or to anyone but her daughter and her patients.

She didn't like home-- because it was hell. She prefered calling Hospital as her home. She could do many things in hospital that she couldn't do at home. She would rather stay at work 24/7 and not go home if it wasn't for Jisoo, her daughter.

Well the one who made her, HER now was the only person she loved, her daughter. The reason why she was there, why she married a man she didn't even like, why she had to suffer for the rest of her life, why she didn't have the freedom of choosing the person she'd love until her heart stops beating -- it was all Jisoo. But she had never regret having the kid. In fact, Jisoo was the only reason Mina had to live.

 A tear, literally, almost slipped out from her eye. It had always been like that whenever she's alone , she kept on overthinking about her miserable life, when she suddenly heared the eek-ing of the door. She sighed heavily. Half of her wanted to accept the fact that her own life was meant to be cruel to her and that happily ever after's didn't really exist, but also, half of her wanted to escape from reality and believe that everything would be fine.. even just for a day.

But the goddamn person, who made her stop believing that reality was good, was slowly approaching her with his smile. It wasn't attractive for Mina, it had always pissed her off.

Her grip onto the knife tighten when she felt her husband's arm snaking around her waist, giving her kisses on her nape.

Mina closed her eyes tightly, and stopped what she was doing, "Jaebum, get off me."

Jaebum, thinking that Mina was just trying to play hard-to-get, smirked and replied, "I missed you.." he whispered right into Mina's left ear, feeling her scent creep into his **ing** nose.

The brunette didn't speak and just let her husband play with her ear using his mouth. Times like this really came, when Jaebum would give Mina a sign that he wanted to do 'that' but the girl would always refuse, make excuses or annoy him so he'd be out of the mood.

But Mina didn't stop herself from pushing Jaebum away when his hands started to go down her pants and almost undone its button.

She glared at him and she could also see him doing the same thing.

"Can't you see I'm trying to cook?!" She yelled. Her fists curled into balls, tightly.

Jaebum erased the look he had on his face. He tried to chill, pulling his necktie and  tilting his head firmly to both sides before trapping Mina on the counter. He looked right into her eyes.

"I don't need food to full me tonight. Let me eat you up." He teased, wearing the same smirk he had just earlier.

Mina, though she was insulted and disrespected, she still tried her best to answer calmly, "Be careful of your words, Im."

"Mina, we've been together for 5 long years already and yet we only have one child. Jisoo surely wants a playmate."

"She has lots of them in school." The girl  her husband's right hand away from the counter and freed herself. If only getting her freedom for the rest of her life was that easy, she could've done it before.

"Mina, we're married. What's wrong if we try hav-"

"Just please take note that I didn't marry you because I love you. I did marry you for my daughter," Mina said with a strong tone of anger and sadness in her voice, "I don't love you. So even though we're married, doing that thing with you is wrong and will always be wrong for me."

Mina's husband had always been a short tempered person. And yes, she successfully had pissed him off. He looked at Mina as if he was going to kill her with his sharp looks and even kicked one of the chairs as he passed by the dining table. The girl was left, staring at the knife on the counter. If she didn't have the soft heart she had and if killing was easy, she might have killed her husband already. Or maybe commit suicide. She might be alive literally, but her life was hell so she considered herself dead.

Almost 3 minutes elapsed before Mina went back to reality. She shook her head, shaking off the bad thoughts at the same time, and proceeded what she was doing.

It was exactly 7:30pm when Mina finished cooking and preparing the table. She went up to Jaebum's room and told him that it was time for dinner. Mina didn't want to hear the man's reply so she immediately walked out and went straight to the room she was sharing with Jisoo. Yes, Mina shared a room with her daughter. She had never slept beside Jaebum. And she would never.

"Soo," Mina uttered as soon as she opened the door and saw her daughter doing something.

 The bed was kind of messy, Jisoo's notebooks were scattered and so were her books. Mina unconciously smiled. Jisoo had never asked for help whenever she's doing her homeworks. She's only 8 but already understood how busy her parents were. Especially Mina, because she's a doctor and she would have to leave when there's an emergency no matter what time was it or where they were.

Mina would always be thankful of having Jisoo.

Despite being busy doing her homeworks, Jisoo didn't mind giving her full attention to her mom, "Yes, mom? Is it dindin time already?"

Mina nodded and smiled even wider at her beautiful daughter, "Yes. Dindin time. C'mere." She opened her arms, offering her daughter a hug.

Jisoo laughed softly and ran to her mom's arms. She decided to forget about her homeworks for a while and spend time with her parents even just for an hour.

After a few seconds of a tight hug, Mina and Jisoo let go of each other and went downstairs. When they'd reached the kitchen, Jaebum was already there, doing something with his phone.

"Hello, dad!" the small girl then ran towards her dad and gave him a hug.

"Hey, sweetie. How was school?" Jaebum smiled after kissing the top of her head.

"Um, it's fun!" Jisoo replied excitedly and sat on her usual seat. "We played many games for our activity. Rose and I even bumped to each other." She laughed, remembering the things that happened in school earlier.

"Rose? Ohh, the one with the beautiful voice?" He asked his daughter. Not that he really wanted to ask but he wanted that conversation to last long.

"Yes. Her voice is really amazing, dad! She dances well, too and she's really beautiful." Jisoo complimented her classmate. "You know what, dad? I think I like her."

Mina, the one who hadn't spoke the whole time, choked because of what her daughter just said. Jaebum eyed Mina and put his look back to Jisoo.

"You mean, like.. as a friend."

"Hm.. no."

The loud silence suddenly covered the dining area. When suddenly, for the first time, Mina talked.

"What's wrong?" She looked at Jisoo, "It's fine." then smiled.

"It's wrong." Jaebum strongly said before taking a sip pf water. He suddenly was serious, the smile he was wearing earlier had faded away.

"Why?" The small girl asked, confusion was written on her face. Her mom said it's fine, but her dad said otherwise.

"Don't mind it. Just finish your dinner so you can continue doing your homeworks and sleep early." Mina changed the topic right away before Jaebum could say more things about it.

Mina wanted to smile, remembering her memories when she was still in junior high school. She remembered someone who had done everything to make her happy, someone who was always there for her through her ups and downs, that someone who she even had as her "suitor" though it seemed so impossible for Mina to feel the same way.

Mina shook her head, "that puppy love." She mentally told herself. She didn't even notice she was just playing with the food and the fork.

She got back to her senses when Jaebum got up from his seat, anger was noticed in the way he pushed the chair, strong enough for the screech noise to echo in the area.

Mina and Jisoo looked at each other when Jaebum walked out of the dining. Jisoo asked, "What happened to him, mom?" concerned anf worried tone was noticed in her voice.

The older one just smiled at the small girl and rubbed the girl's shoulder, "Maybe he just remembered he has to do something. Just don't mind it."

Jisoo just nodded and they both continued eating their dinner.


**
Days passed. It's always a typical day. Mina would go to work, go home and cook their dinner. Sometimes she would be the one to pick Jisoo up from school if Jaebum didn't have the time.

Just like then, Mina was the one who picked her daughter up. Jaebum had said it in the morning that he'd be busy 'til the next week.

"Mom!" Jisoo ran to Mina as soon as she saw her. Mina could discern the wide smile on her daughter's face even though she was still two rooms away from the little girl. Of course, Mina smiled back.

The small girl hugged her mom's waist. Mina then pressed a kiss on Jisoo's head, taking the girl's backpack and carried it herself.

"Got some homeworks to do, dear?" Mina glanced at her daughter before they started walking.

"Yes. In math." the girl replied quickly with a nod. She was playing, hopping, while holding onto Mina's left arm causing Mina to walk a little bit faster.

"Oh.. you need help?" Mina offered. It's been so long since the girl asked for help in her homeworks. And since Mina wasn't that busy, she decided to spend more time with her daughter tonight.

"Hm.. it's ok if you help me but I already know what to do." Jisoo gave her mom a wink and a playful smile, which Mina chuckled in response.

"That's good then." She ruffled the kid's hair, "your teacher must be really good, huh?"

"Hm.. no mom. I'm just really smart." Jisoo joked and they both laughed.

They continued the chitchat til they reached their car. Mina opened the door for her daughter, Jisoo then hopped in the passenger's seat right away and gave Mina a smile before Mina got in the driver's seat. The ride was quiet. Maybe because they're both tired? Until Mina's phone rang, her heart almost jumped because of the sudden noise in the quiet car.

She answered the phone in a snap that she didn't even get to see the caller's id, "yeah? This is Mina, speaking."

"Heeey!" The small, cute voice was familiar. Her brows met in confusion and a bit of excitement.

"Uhm, wait.." Mina tried her best to remember. And suddenly, a picture of a squirrel-like girl flashed in her mind. "Mina..tozaki?"

The girl on the other line squealed, her voice got even smaller causing Mina to get her phone a bit away from her but pressing it back to her ear after a couple of seconds. Mina's daughter, Jisoo, shot her mom a confused look on the rear view mirror. Mina noticed it and gave her daughter a smile, enough for the kid to understand that she's trying to say she's okay.

"That's right! It's me; Sana! I'm baaaaaack!"

Mina closed her eyes but couldn't stop the giggle that went out of , "Hey! How are you?" She asked happily.

"doing fine here, uhm, with Tzuyu." Sana laughed cutely and even though Mina couldn't really see her, she could tell how happy the girl was. She even thought Sana was blushing.

"Tzuyu, huh? Our junior? You, e." Mina teased then smirked.

She wasn't lying tho. Tzuyu was like, 2 years younger than them. But it's only 2 years. She believed in the saying, "age doesn't matter" and apparently, Sana did believe in it, too.

"Whatever you say, straightie." Sana fired back but Mina didn't seem to take it as a joke. The smile on her face was slowly fading away but she eventually put on a fake smile.

She get it. Sana called her a straightie because she married a guy; a guy she didn't even love.

She didn't want any of it.

Sana, on the other line, noticed the older girl's silence and apologized right away, "hey I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say it I thought--"

"It's okay." Mina nodded, "why did you call by the way?" She tried changing the topic.

Sana answered, "ah yes. I called to let you know that, yeah I'm finally back and.. I want to visit my godchild."

Mina stopped the car because of the red light she saw in her peripheral vision then eyed her daughter, who was humming quietly at the back, on the rear view mirror.

"Alright then. Tonight?"

"Yes. Tonight. Tzuyu's gonna pick me up then we'll go shopping and we head straight to your house. We might get there at 7pm." Sana explained excitedly.

"Mhm.. okay I'm gonna go now and buy something for dinner then."

"Sure! And oh, please don't tell Soo we're coming, huh? I wanna surprise her. I'm hanging up now!"

*toot toot toot*

Mina put her phone back in her opened bag placed on the shotgun seat, smiling and shaking her head.

Sana was her bestfriend, and would always be her bestest friend. They had the same age, maybe that's one of the reasons why they were that close. And Sana.. she was always there when Mina needed someone to cry to or express her happiness. Basically, Sana was there for better or for worse.

"Mom, it's not the way to house." Jisoo said, observing the road her mother was going to.

"Ah. Because we're going to have a special dinner tonight so we have to buy special ingredients for special foods!" Mina answered with a pure, real smile and happiness on her face.



**
"Mom, I want ice cream." Jisoo pouted, pushing the cart slowly as they pass by the ice cream station.

"Huh? But it's.. night and kinda cold. You sure you want this?"

The kid nodded, causing Mina to sigh then smile, "Okay. But let's just take one once we're already paying these at the counter. It might melt if we-"

"Mom can't we just pay it now? I can do it by myself." Jisoo smiled proudly.

Mina bent down on one knee so she could be just as tall as her daughter, "Remember what I always tell you?" Jisoo pouted, she just knew where her mom was going, "Best things-"

"-come to those who wait. I know, mom."

"That's my girl." Mina nodded with a smile.

She then continued walking, looking for something good to cook. She grabbed a piece of cabbage, checked if it was fresh and put it in the cart. Mina was busy grabbing vegetables and other ingredients here and there that she didn't notice Jisoo wasn't following her anymore.

"Jisoo, dear, do you want some fresh-" she was cut off as soon as she turned her head, seeing no Jisoo at her back. Her heart started to beat faster, worried look could easily be seen on her face. She didn't hesitate to leave the cart and go find her daughter.

Mina suddenly remembered when they were at the amusement park, it was Sunday and they went to church when Jisoo said she wanted to go to an amusement park and have some fun with her parents. Of course, they didn't say no. They could never say no to their daughter's request. But because it was Sunday, the amusement park was full and they nearly lost Jisoo. Good thing someone had found her and helped her search for Mina and Jaebum.

She didn't know where her feet were taking her, she didn't even care. All she wanted was to find Jisoo. What if a bad person just grabbed her daughter away and do something to her? She shook her head, shaking off the bad thoughts. No. It wouldn't happen. She wouldn't let it happen.

She felt her stomach turn upside-down and her heart stop when her eyes finally caught the child. Jisoo was still there, near the ice cream freezer, holding an ice cream and eating it happily. She even had a chocolate on the right side of her lip making it more obvious that she was really enjoying the ice cream.

She breathed heavily before running to her daughter. Mina hugged Jisoo very tightly and the small girl was just blinking, confused of her mom's sudden action.

"M-mommy? What happened?"

Mina remained silent, her eyes were tightly closed, thanking all the Gods. After a while, she let go of the hug and faced her daughter with mixed emotions. She's mad because Jisoo almost gave her a heart attack, but happy that Jisoo was safe.

"You-" Mina bit her lower lip. She thought of what to say carefully before talking again, "Thank God you're safe! What kind of spirit did suddenly enter your mind and you did something insane like that?! I told you to wait and I'd buy you your ice cream. Why-"

"Relax, mom." Jisoo smiled, making Mina's heart calm down completely, "I'm okay and alive."

"This," Mina pointed the ice cream Jisoo was holding, "who gave this to you?"

"Honestly, I don't know her but she said you're-"

"Dr. Myoui," A small, cute voice interrupted Jisoo. It wasn't Sana tho. But it was familiar too.

Mina slowly looked up, starting from the unknown girl's heels up to her face. Her eyes widen, she's surprised but she had guessed who it was by just hearing the voice.. and her guess was right.

She got up, looking straight into the other girl's eyes. Mina couldn't stop herself from smiling.

The girl's lips curled upward slightly, looking back at Mina, "it's Atty. Hirai right here. How are you doing?"




**
a/n: Hellllloooooo i dont know how i ended up with this too im sorry for the wrong grammars, poor vocab and other mistakes djcjdddkkkjxcidkox DONT FITE ME


Also, lemme thank my squad on twitter who pushed and convinced me to continue writing this. Idk if i'll be able to finish this bc i get tired of my fics whenever i reach chapt. 2-3 so yeah djjjxsjskkks IM FUCING NERVOUS OMG WHATS DIS