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“I’m sorry. She’s long gone from the orphanage,” the caretaker said. “Would you like to contact the-”

“No… never mind. I’ll go ahead.” The woman lowered her head, slumping her shoulders in disappointment as she left the reception area. She hit herself hard for expecting too much. “It’s been years. What was I thinking?” She hit herself again.

At the exit, she bumped into a tall woman with short hair.

“Sorry… I wasn’t looking.” She bowed in apology and walked straight outside.

“Who was that?” The tall woman scratched her head.

“One moment please,” the caretaker said on the phone as she entertained the woman who just arrived. “Hayoung-ah, you’re here early. It’s very unlikely of you to come in the morning. Aren’t you usually still sleeping at this time of the day?” the caretaker teased. “You here to take care of the kids?”

“Ahh, yes… you know me too well…” Hayoung blushed from the remark. “I’ll work until past midnight today and there’s a place I want to go later after that so I decided to go this morning.”

“Alright, night owl. You already know the drill,” the caretaker said before she returned to her call. “Feel free to start without me.”

“M’kay.”

-----

“Whiskey on the rocks, please,” the two women ordered in unison by the bar table. Finding the coincidence funny, they turned their swivel chairs facing each other and laughed it off.

“Alone?” the eye-smiling woman asked.

“Are you hitting on me?” The brunette found it amusing that she couldn’t contain the smile on her face.

“No.” The eye-smiling woman scoffed. “Gosh. You’re too full of yourself.”

“I was joking.” The brunette laughed heartily. “I’m alone by the way, and you’re not my type.”

“I’m alone too, and you’re not my type either,” the eye-smiling woman replied cheekily. “I just wanted to talk with someone. It’s been a week since I had a proper conversation.”

“And you’re hoping to find a proper conversation here?” The brunette was weirded out. “In a club? Really?”

“Because it’s nice talking with strangers.”

“You’re weird.”

“I know, and I bet you are too.” The eye-smiling woman smirked. “Because a weirdo understands a fellow weirdo.”

“Now where did you get that quote?” The brunette chuckled, finding the eye-smiling woman amusing. The latter just shrugged in reply with a smug smile on her lips.

“Whiskey on the rocks for the two of you.” The bartender left them with their drinks.

The two clinked their glasses and drank their whiskey in one go. They waited for each other, but both of them hesitated to speak. The brunette broke the silence and gave it a try.

“It’s about someone important to me,” she said, fiddling with the glass on her hands.

“What are the odds? It’s the same case for me.” The eye-smiling woman gently placed the glass she was holding on the table. “Go ahead.”

“My wife wants to end our marriage, and she wants to have full custody on our daughter.” The brunette bit her lip.

The eye-smiling woman knew what the other woman needed was a companion. She remained mum, lending an ear as the latter continued with her story.

“Earlier, my wife gave me the divorce papers again.” Her expression was becoming dark and serious. “She already found someone else since I have been away for so long, working my off just to feed my ing family that’s now about to abandon me.”

She gritted her teeth as anger rushed into her body. She facepalmed herself so hard it made a sound. After taking slow, deep breaths, her raging emotions eventually subsided. But the pang in her heart made an even more intense, distinct feeling that she couldn’t shake off.

“In the end, it’s not about the material things I give,” she said as a somber smile traced on her lips. “It’s about spending my time with the people I love. I should have spent time with my family instead…”

The brunette stared at the ceiling, trying to stop her tears from falling. Her expression was still brooding.

“I have nothing against my wife. It’s all my fault anyway. However, I was thinking of our four-year-old daughter. Imagining my life without her… I-I-” She clenched her chest. “I-I don’t think I can live anymore. She’s the greatest thing that happened in my life. I can’t lose her.”

Tears finally coursed through her cheeks at the thought of lifelessly moving on by herself. The moment she closed her eyes, she saw the images of her loving daughter smiling and waving at her—these precious memories forever imprinted in her mind.

The woman who was listening patted the back of the sobbing woman, humming a subtle yet comforting tune. She knew it was better not to speak as this was the solemn moment when reality hits a person at their most vulnerable state.

For a long time, she cried and cried until her eyes felt like they ran out of tears. Tiringly, she sat up straight and faced the eye-smiling woman. “Thank you. You’re right. It’s nice talking to strangers, and I think I now know why.”

The eye-smiling woman replied with a warm smile. She was happy the other woman was already flashing her smile.

“How about you? What’s your story?” the brunette asked.

The eye-smiling woman was taken aback from the sudden shift of atten