All alone, I'm all alone.

“Dara dear, Jiyong is here.”

Minchan peeked into Dara’s room. She was holding a pile of clothes to be washed since she did not have to go to work today. Minchan smiled to herself to find Dara running around her room, trying to look for her necktie. She put the clothes in front of the door to help her daughter.

“Don’t worry. Go eat your breakfast first. Tell Jiyong to eat too. I’ll find it for you.”

Dara awkwardly nodded at her mom’s suggestion. Hesitantly, she left the room and headed to the kitchen where Jiyong already had himself breakfast without even waiting for her. Since the day at the cemetery, Minchan and Jiyong have started to talk a lot to her. She was still awkward at their gesture since it was always her that talk first, not them. But Dara was grateful for their effort, especially her mom. She was starting to come home frequently than to work overnight. Dara also knew that her mom has quit one of three works that she was currently doing. 

“Morning, Ji,” she greeted happily. He only nodded and pushed the remaining sandwiches on the plate to her. He also poured the milk into a glass and pushed it in her direction.

She was aware that Jiyong had never taken his breakfast at home because it was always her that would buy him milk early in the morning at school. This lately, Jiyong has been coming over to fetch her before going to school. He was earlier than Seungri and Taeyang, something that TOP found annoying because he could not punish him for being late anymore, while Bom praised him almost every day for being earlier.

“I can’t believe we’re going to become a third-year student in a few weeks.” He mumbled. It was actually his effort to talk more with her, which made Dara’s heart flutter. Sometimes, she did not even reply back to what he was saying, making him annoyed because he felt like he was a fool, but he never stop trying.

Right now, he was annoyed again.

Dara heard him huffed. She giggled to herself but didn’t go unnoticed by Jiyong. He flicked the side of her head and quickly get up to go out.

“Have you eaten the breakfast, Jiyong?” Minchan appeared with the same clothes in her hands as she walked through the kitchen to the washing machine. She put them into the machine and turn around just to find Jiyong had taken Dara’s bag and was waiting for her to finish drinking her milk. It was such a nice sight to see her daughter being treated kindly. Something that she wished she had done it first.

“Yes. Thank you.” He said curtly, and walked away, leaving Dara choked on her drink. She quickly finished the milk and hug Minchan, thanking her mother for finding her tie before she dashed away to catch Jiyong.

Something that was new to Minchan, but it also was something that she looked forward to seeing every day.

..

Jihoon sat alone near the window, where he could see his daughter, Dami, working in the kitchen. It had been a while since he come to visit his wife’s workplace. This place was a heaven for him, still was even after they built it new. Dami had same the taste as her mother, so the restaurant still looked like when it’s the first day.

“Excuse me, sir. Are you ready to order?” a sweet voice asked. He averted his eyes from his daughter to stare at the young girl who was standing near his table, holding a piece of paper and a pen. She was smiling politely. But the obvious red skin on her face made him forget what he wanted to order in the first place.

Without him being aware, he was staring almost rudely at the girl. His eyes were focused on the mark on her skin. He knew it was a birthmark.

“Um, sir?” Dara cleared and tried to get his attention again. She was used to that kind of stares people gave her. She knew it was rude, but at least this man wasn’t throwing any words that could hurt her. Or Dami would chase him for being insolent to her workers. She has done that a few times before. When the man looked back to her eyes, Dara asked again. “Are you ready to order, sir?”

Jihoon quickly straight up in his sit. He flashed an uncertain smile to her and apologize. “Please give me orange juice and omelet rice.”

“Is that all, sir?”

Jihoon nodded. He continued to watch as the girl disappeared into the kitchen. Her skin reminded him of his wife, but that girl still looked so pretty and happy. When the girl came to get the orders from other customers again, all he could see was how friendly was everyone to her, smiling and asking about her day. It was different from how his family treated his wife. He suddenly felt a wave of guilty in himself.

“Dara, Dara, lovely Dara!”

The door of the restaurant was pushed open. A group of school students came in, and the restaurant suddenly become noisy. Jihoon continued to watch as the waitress girl quickly welcomed them.

“Where’s Jiyong?”

At the mention of his son, his ears perked again. Jihoon then scanned every student and he just realize he actually knew them. They were Jiyong’s friends. He had seen them playing together ever since his son was still a toddler. Come to think of it, that girl did look around his son’s age. Was she Jiyong’s friend too? But he has never seen her before.

As soon as she mentioned his name, another student came into the restaurant. Recognizing who, Jihoon tried to make himself unnoticeable. He did not want his son to start throwing him daggers like he always does whenever their eyes meet, and Jihoon wanted to see how Jiyong behaved when he was around his circle of friends. The last time he heard Jiyong’s voice was when they were fighting over his attitude in school. That was also the last time the school had been noticing him about his son’s bad behavior. He wondered how he was doing in school now, given the fact that none of his children would talk to him about their life.

Something that he would like to change. But he knew that it was not easy.

The sight of his son smiling almost made him choke on his saliva. The waitress girl was saying something to him, and in response, Jiyong ruffled her hair gently before sitting down next to a boy, Jihoon knew his name was Seungri.

The sound of glass and bowl startled him. His daughter was holding a tray, putting his order onto his table.

“Dami, is that really your little brother?” he voiced out his curiosity. It was such a new sight for him that he was unable to brain it. He heard Dami snickered, making him look up back at her.

“Yes, dad. That’s our Jiyong. It’s rare to see him being happy like that, hm?”

He could feel his mood turn foul, but his dau