Sarang had woken up the next day, feeling refreshed. It had been forever since she’s slept at home and while she loved having freedom, living in her own place, she did miss her childhood home often. Sarang wasn’t going to sulk all day, she vowed to herself as she did her morning routine. No, she’s done enough of that. She was going to go out and do something. What exactly, she wasn’t sure, but she was going to go out.

“Sarang, I know you’re off and everything but I was wondering if you could help me.” Hyun Ho had texted her during breakfast.

“Sure. What do you need help with?” Sarang instantly replied, ready to do anything just as long as she didn’t stay home.

“Gift shopping.”

And that’s how Sarang ended up walking around Gangnam with her manager/friend who was looking for a gift for his girlfriend.

“How did I not know you were seeing someone?” Sarang questioned. Hyun Ho broke his gaze away from the necklace he had been eyeing just to see Sarang with a slight pout. He laughed before going back to the jewelry but decided that what he was looking for, wasn’t there and began to walk away, Sarang following after.

“She never came up. If we’re not discussing work, then we’re discussing you or just things related to you.” Hyun Ho answered honestly.

“Well, you never want to talk about yourself. It’s like pulling teeth to get you to talk about yourself.” Sarang sassed, causing Hyun Ho to laugh even harder.

“Someone’s a firecracker today. What’s with you?” Hyun Ho wondered.

“Don’t change the subject. Who’s the girl and how long have you two been dating?” Sarang pushed.

“This won’t end, will it?” Sarang shook her head. “Fine. Well, her name is Ayeon and you two actually worked on a couple photo shoots together. That’s how we met and we’ve been dating since early this year.” Hyun Ho explained.

“Now was that so hard?” Sarang sarcastically said. Hyun Ho shot her a look before chuckling.

“So I need your help. My mom is busy and my sister is too young.”

The two friends went into different shops, trying to find something for Hyun Ho’s girlfriend. Sarang tried to remember an Ayeon but her memory was fuzzy. From what she could recall though was that Ayeon had been nice and efficient with work. She hoped there was another shoot that they had to work together so Sarang can properly meet her and actually remember her this time.

“All I can say is that I’m glad you have a life outside of work.” Sarang chuckled as her and Hyun Ho took a break from window shopping to get a bite to eat.

“What did you think I did when I wasn’t with you?” Hyun Ho balked. Sarang shrugged her shoulders.

“Manager things? I don’t know. But treat this girl right, oppa.”

Meanwhile, Jiwoo and Sanggyun were stuck spending the day with Stacey, Samantha, and Harold. It was their last full day in the country and since Sanggyun didn’t want Jiwoo taken away from him, he was following her every wish with no complaint. Hence why he had to take a day off work since Stacy wanted a day of ‘family time’. Taeyang hadn’t been able to get a day off, which both he and Stacy were glad of and Sanggyun couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of his hyung.

“Goldewin, are you excited to come live with us?” Samantha chirped as the group of five walked the streets of Seoul. Jiwoo just grumbled instead of answering, moving closer to his dad who was using a lot of effort to hold back his remarks.

“Answer your aunt, Jiwoo.” Stacey tugged his hand slightly to get his attention, both her and Sanggyun holding one of his hands.

“You need to answer every time an adult speaks to you, Goldewin. It would do you good if learned that.” Harold lectured. Sanggyun dug his nails into the palm of his free hand, making sure he didn’t say something that would ruin Jiwoo’s chances of staying with him.

“No! I’m not excited since I’m not going to live with you and my name is Jiwoo.” Jiwoo snapped, not caring if he was coming off as rude. But Sanggyun cared so he squeezed Jiwoo’s hand.

“Jiwoo, don’t be rude.” Sanggyun reprimanded in Korean. Jiwoo hunched his shoulders, upset but he muttered an apology anyways.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. This is what happens when a child is raised without a mother. Stacey, why don’t you just have them both come with us?” Samantha grinned.

“My home is here with my son. Nowhere else.” Sanggyun firmly said, coming to an abrupt stop.

“Sanggyun, let’s not start.” Stacey sighed as she spoke in Korean.

“No. They obviously can’t get it through their thick heads that I am not leaving South Korea and neither is Jiwoo.” Sanggyun snapped, letting out his pent-up anger and frustration.

“Not now, Sanggyun.” Stacey bit out.

“If not now, then when?!” Stacey huffed angrily before pulling Jiwoo towards her and then shoving him towards Harold who was closest.

“Take him somewhere.” She ordered before rounding on Sanggyun who seemed ready for this argument. “Now listen here, Sanggyun~!”

“No! You shut up for once and listen to me!”

Harold did as his girlfriend instructed and took a struggling Jiwoo off to a bench that was nearby. He picked Jiwoo up who took to kicking his legs and wriggling around, trying to get back to his dad and he sat him on the bench.

“Let me go! My appa needs me!” Jiwoo yelled.

“Your dad is fine. I think you and me need to have a talk, Goldewin.” Harold said, seeming unfazed by it all.

“My name is Jiwoo!” Jiwoo all but screamed.

“Fine, Jiwoo. Now I love your mommy very much and I plan to marry her eventually and it seems your mommy wants to bring you back with us.” Harold ignored Jiwoo’s loud ‘No!’ and carried on.

“I’m fine with that. I knew about her past before I decided to date her and knew that she came with baggage. And I knew that the there was a chance of her deciding for full custody now this can be easy for you or it can be hard. It all depends on your behavior. Her and I both have the money to send you to the finest schools, be it near to us or as far as her and I please. We can hire all the nannies needed to take care of you and when her and I have children of our own, you would help with their upbringing, being the big brother. You can live a very good life, Jiwoo but it all depends on you. We can take you away from that shoebox of an apartment and failure of a father and you can have a life much better than this one.” Harold took notice of the tears in the little boy’s eyes and rolled his eyes.

“What now, Jiwoo?”

“My appa is not a failure and I love the place I live in now! I’m not going anywhere with you or my mom!” Jiwoo screamed, putting a stop to the screaming match that Stacey and Sanggyun had been in. Samantha had been a little grateful since she had been trying to calm them down.

Jiwoo quickly hopped off the bench and took off running into the crowd, ignoring his parents that were telling him to stop. Jiwoo didn’t care where he was going, he just wanted to get away from them.

“Thank you so much, Sarang. You were a lot of help.” Hyun Ho said as him and Sarang walked out of the store that held what Hyun Ho had been looking for.

“It’s no problem, oppa. And try making something for her too. It would be nice.” Sarang suggested.

“You make it sound so easy.” Hyun Ho groaned, earning a raised eyebrow from Sarang.

“You can literally find anything on Pinterest or even Instagram. You just look for DIY gifts and you can find thousands of ideas. Do you not know how the internet works, oppa?” Hyun Ho let out an exaggerated sigh before giving Sarang a one-armed hug.

“Fine, fine, fine. You win. You sure you don’t want a ride?” Hyun Ho asked.

“No, I’m fine. I think I’ll walk around some more. See you next week, oppa. Let me know what she thinks of the gift.” Sarang said. The two said goodbye before going their separate ways.

Sarang came to a stop, taking a deep breath as she tried to figure out what to do. She could go shopping but what would she buy? Sarang wasn’t in the mood to see anyone, Hyun Ho being enough social interaction for the day. She could go for a drive somewhere. Sarang decided that a drive sounded nice and was getting ready to turn the opposite direction to start walking to where she had left her car but stopped when she heard a familiar voice yell ‘noona’.

“Jiwoo?” Sarang looked around, trying to find where the voice was coming from but it was hard to see in the crowded street.

“Noona!” The voice sounded closer now and Sarang decided it would be best to walk in the direction that the voice was coming from. She didn’t have to walk much though before a small body was crashing into hers, the small arms wrapping around her in a tight hug.

“Noona, don’t let them take me away from my appa.” Jiwoo sobbed into Sarang’s shirt. Sarang was taken aback by the little boy’s tears. For as long as she known him, Jiwoo has been nothing but smiles and it broke her heart to see him so destroyed.

“Jiwoo, what’s wrong?” Sarang took his arms so she could unwrap them from around her and kneel down so she was more leveled with him. But Jiwoo just wrapped his small arms around her neck and sobbed into her shoulder. All Sarang could do was console the little boy so she stood up, Jiwoo wrapping his legs around her as she carried him into a nearby café.

Sarang sat with the boy in her arms, rocking side to side as she rubbed his back and quietly muttered words of comfort. When he had calmed down enough, Sarang ordered them some food and drinks. Jiwoo refused to move from her lap so that’s where he stayed, his head resting on her shoulder.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong, Jiwoo?” Sarang asked, hugging the boy close to her.

“My mom and her family want to take me away from my appa.” Jiwoo whimpered.

“Why do they want to take you away?” Sarang wondered, grabbing a napkin from the table so she could wipe away the few tears she knew Jiwoo was beginning to shed.

“My mom doesn’t like you, noona. She said you were trashy but you’re nice. You love me more than my mom does and you take me to the movies and you make my appa happy too.” Jiwoo explained.

“So if I weren’t around, your mom wouldn’t take you away?” Sarang quietly asked, hugging Jiwoo a little tighter. If it were to bring him comfort or herself, she wasn’t too sure.

“I don’t know. But I want you to be around, noona. Don’t let my mom take you away too.” Jiwoo pleaded. “Promise you won’t ever go away, noona.” Jiwoo held up one of his hands, his pinky out. Sarang hesitated before slowly wrapping her own pinky around Jiwoo’s, stamping their thumbs together.

“I promise, Jiwoo.”

A/N I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Comments make me very happy!!!