SEVEN YEARS LATER

Bright blue skies shone under the city of Seoul. Summer was arriving once again. 

In an elementary school, students stayed quietly in their classes as they were busy drawing onto a piece of paper. Earlier, their teacher had asked them to draw their future. One by one, the children presented their drawings. Some drew themselves as a doctor, a policeman, a teacher while others drew things that they wanted to own like a car, a toy or even food. But when it was this little girl's turn to come up, her drawing was a picture of her family.

"My dream is for my family to always be happy together like this. Together with my two moms and my brother, I want us to live forever happy like this." said the girl with a smile.

"But why don't you have a dad Haeun?" asked one of the classmates.

"Isn't it weird that you don't have a dad? Doesn't that make you not human? Are you a robot?" asked another as they started teasing the girl for having two mothers.

All of a sudden, a boy seated at the back stood up in a rage.

"Don't say things like that to my sister!" he shouted.

"Yeah well, you don't have a dad either Haneul. You're not human either. You're not one of us. Get lost." scoffed one of the boys.

It was in that moment, the boy threw a flying punch to his face. The teacher had to stop them before it got out of hand.

"Jung Haneul! Head straight into the principal's room right now!"

However, a scene like this was typical. The infamous boy, Haneul would often punch his schoolmates for insulting him and her sister for being "special" children born from parents of the same gender. The boy hated discrimination and did his best to protect his little sister, who seemed an easier target. He believed in justice and claimed violence was the only answer.

Classes resumed as normal, having the troublemaker out. Jung Haeun always felt grateful yet sorry for her older twin brother, but she couldn't bring herself to express how worried she was as it was difficult for her. She was always a quiet yet innocent little girl who followed lessons strictly and was a good student, unlike her brother Jung Haneul who was the total opposite.

"Looks like you got into trouble again huh, Haneul-ya?" said a voice as a girl walked past the corridor, to see the boy raising his arms up high as a form of punishment, right outside his classroom.

"And what are you doing here Eunha?" eyed the boy as he noticed a bandage over her cheek.

"The usual. People discriminate our parents, we fight back. The only thing that is because I'm a girl. I'm weak." said the girl as she stood beside Haneul and raised her arms as well, recieving the same form of punishment.

"It's funny how we become friends because we're always out here, doing punishments like these." scoffed the boy.

"Glad we are on the same page, Jung Haneul."

"You too, Park Eunha."

Park Eunha was a mysterious girl in the other class, sometimes quiet yet fierce when a bait is taken. However, she can be quite wild too and a little weird. Perhaps, that's why no one makes friends with her, besides her only partner or rather punishment buddies, Jung Haneul. 

But no one knew that these three children including Jung Haeun, knew each other since they were born, because their parents were high school friends. It seemed only fate for them to get close and treated each other like siblings, despite coming from a different family.

"Do you often get nagged a lot by your moms?" asked Eunha.

"My mom is pretty physical on me although my other mom keeps scolding her not to hit me. It's fun to see them argue because Naeun omma always wins." snickered Haneul.

"I'd rather get physical punishments then. My mom nags me far too much, almost to the point where my ears could bleed." sighed Eunha, rubbing her ears.

"How about we run away then?" suggested Haneul.

"J-Just us?" said Eunha as her face flushed for a moment.

"With my sister of course. How about that? Let's run away and live by ourselves, free from our parents?"

"O-Oh. Sounds good. What's the plan?"

That's when, Haneul smirked. "It's super easy actually."

Far deep into the countryside of Gyeongju where endless rows of towering, green mountains lay across the endless horizons in a quiet farmtown that was a three-hours drive away from the busy, bustling cities of Seoul was a lady, wearing a farmer's hat as she took a break, sitting down in a small hut, looking across the rice paddy field.

It's been about seven years since she and her wife made the crazy decision to move over and honestly, she had no regrets. Countryside life was peaceful, had great, friendly people and had so much more privacy, which was great because she wanted all the time together with her wife.

"Sometimes, I'm glad to wake up every morning to this beautiful view." mumbled Hayoung as she caught her breath, wiping her sweat.

"And I'm glad that you and your wife made the decision to live here." said a voice from behind, handing the girl a sweet rice drink.

"Thank you Sojin unnie. I really needed a cold drink." smiled Hayoung as she dunked the can straight down . Sojin was the couple's caretaker, welcoming them with open arms as she gave them a small house to live in, often cooked them food and was also their relationship advisor during their seven years stay at the farm, in return for all their hardwork. It had been difficult for the old lady to keep up a large farm by herself and was relieved when the couple applied for the volunteer programme. Since then, Sojin treated the girls like her own children even though they probably were only 30 years apart.

"Your wife is cooking dinner tonight. She wanted me to rest because an old lady like me shouldn't be doing so much work. She's a kind girl." said Sojin as the two sat down.

"Of course unnie, we can't let you work so much. Let us young blood take over. Who knows, we might take over your farm next time." the girl joked.

"Silly, I won't die anytime soon."

"I-I didn't mean that unnie! I want you to live a very long and healthy life!"

"The two of you are indeed such kind girls. It's lovely to have more married couples like you around. But I wonder...."

"What is it Sojin unnie?"

"Why don't the two of you have children?" the elderly asked with much curiousity.

Hayoung gulped at that question. In fact, she had been getting that question many times, not just from Sojin herself. But also from her high school mates, who are also now mothers. Almost nine years into their marriage and the couple just preferred living a life with just the two of them. They were still so happily in love that they didn't want a change. They didn't want an addition to the family.

"Well, let's just say we're just happy by ourselves." laughed Hayoung awkwardly. "It's not like I can tell her that we love ing each other more than becoming parents and taking responsibilities"

"Oh, that reminds me. The two of you are returning back to Seoul to meet up with your old friends right?"

"Ah yes, but we'll come back in two days! After all, we can't have you doing all the work alone."

"No, no. I want the two of you to enjoy your break so I'm letting you have a whole week off." said Sojin with a smile.

"But unnie...."

"No buts. You two have worked hard and you deserve a good break. Buy me back some souvenirs when you return at least." laughed the older girl.

Things had always been so busy in the now famous, chicken feet restaurant under the Parks. They now had more money, enough to renovate their new restaurant, hire more staff and even have a new apartment home by themselves that was much larger and spacious. But of course, their loyal employee, now known as Manager Bae, Irene still stuck around even after so many years.

"Two sets of Signature Spicy Chicken Feet for table 14!" shouted Bomi.

"Got it!" said Irene as she rushed through the kitchen.

"Seungwoo-ya! There's no one at the cashier!" shouted Bomi again as she was busy placing orders.

"Heochan-ah! Clean table 8 and 19 please!"

"Seungsik-ah! Please take table 20's order!"

A scene like this was typical. The once, peaceful and slow days of the restaurant were long gone as there were long queues outside especially during the lunch rush hour and dinner everyday. It was to the point where they even opened the restaurant on a Saturday but still close on Sunday as they felt the need for a moment of rest and family time with their only daughter.

"Bom-ah, remember that we're closing early tonight because our friends are coming over." reminded Chorong as she was busy in the kitchen, tasting her set of sauces.

"Right....wait, then who's going to fetch Eunha from school today? Want me to go fetch her?" asked Bomi.

"No worries. I'll handle that. After all, she calls me aunt now." smiled Irene as she headed to the counter, took her bag and car keys out.

Irene had since, became a family friend. When Eunha was born, she had been her babysitter and took care of her during the times where Chorong and Bomi were busy. Sometimes, she was a chauffeur and on other days, an aunt.

"Really? Are you sure Irene unnie?" asked Bomi. She had been more comfortable around Irene to the point of calling her "unnie".

"Of course. Don't worry about it." said Irene.

Inside a small, florist's shop tucked away in the corners of Mapo that was a distance from the main city, a lady quietly assembled a bouquet of flowers as music played softly in the store. It was an hour where there were no customers and honestly, it didn't bother her at all as she liked being alone in moments like this. Occasionally, she would also paint during her free time and have her artworks up on display. They were also available for sale.

Since she no longer worked at her father's company and it was too boring to stay at home doing nothing, the lady became a florist.

That's when a ring echoed the shop, signalling an arrival of a customer.

"Welcome!" greeted the lady as she went to the entrance to see who it was. Instead, she smiled. "You're here pretty early unnie."

"Of course Naeun-ah." the lady said as she suddenly pushed her to the wall and crashed her lips inside.

"N-Not now, customers might come in...." she said shyly.

"But we can't even kiss at home anymore. The kids are around." pouted Eunji.

"Control yourself." smiled Naeun as she playfully pinched her nose and headed back to her workroom. Her wife followed her.

"I got a call from the school again." Eunji sighed.

"Is it about Haneul again?" 

"It's not that it's wrong. But he shouldn't resort to violence like that at such a young age."

"But weren't you like that too, back in high school?" smiled Naeun. "Haneul resembles you a lot."

"And didn't I tell you how Haeun is an exact copy of you? She's always finding it hard to express herself well and she's so shy around people, it makes me want to protect her a lot. Plus, I'm glad she took the features from you. I'm so proud to have such a beautiful daughter as beautiful as you"

"But that doesn't mean you can be biased to Haeun alone. You should give some love to Haneul too."

"O-of course I do, I'm not a mother who ignores the other twin!"

"It looks that way to me..." frowned the girl.

"Do you want to start another round of arguing and see who wins?" asked Eunji as she wrapped her arms around Naeun's waist.

"But I'll always win in the end." giggled Naeun.

"That's true. Cause I love you so much that's why I let you win." said Eunji as she pecked her cheeks from behind.

Getting out of the car after a long day at school, Eunha got off the car and thanked her "aunt" for driving her back home.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay alone? Do you want me to stay until your parents come back home? They'll be late tonight." asked Irene in worry.

"Typical" Eunha smiled. "I'll be alright aunt. You can leave, I'll just stay at home and do my homework."

"Okay. I trust you Eunha. Aunt will leave now." said Irene as she soon, pushed the handbrake down and started driving away.

With the girl all alone, she looked around to make sure that Irene really left. Immediately, the girl headed inside her home, emptied her bag, tossing away her heavy textbooks and stationary, replacing them with spare clothes inside, sneaked in some money from her mom's savings and some snacks, got out and locked back the door. "Sorry mom. I'm running away from home."

Eunha left her apartment home, stuffed bag over her shoulder as she walked off into the distance, heading to the Jung's apartment that wasn't quite far away.

"Oh! Eunha-ya! Did you get everything?" asked Haneul as he saw the girl from a distance, waving at her with excitement while his other hand held on tightly to his twin sister, Haeun.

"Yup. I even got some food and cash in."

"Alright! Nice job!" said Haneul as he high-fived the girl.

"Where are we going?" asked Haeun confused. Clearly, she wasn't informed of the plan.

"It's alright Haeun-ah. We're going to live a better life from now on." smiled Eunha.

"That's right. Just follow me. We'll be fine." said Haneul as he ruffled the hair of his sister.

"Let's head for the train station first." suggested Eunha.

"Where are we gonna go? Shall we take the KTX and head for Busan?" grinned Haneul.

"I want to eat spicy rice cakes...." mumbled Haeun.

"Let's feed Haeun first." laughed Eunha.

"We're all too hungry." agreed Haneul as the three children walked along the crowded streets, sticking close like glue as they browsed through the food stalls. Using their allowance money, they were able to buy themselves simple snacks as they sat down in a corner and ate quietly. They were excited, thinking about a freedom that they had never dreamt of because their parents had always been so harsh on their studies. They hated being at home, forced to study, forced to attend extra lessons while their parents always came home late. Even if they did something at school, they would get scolded or beaten up. They wanted to be free.

They couldn't wait to be adults.

"Aunt, can we have another set of spicy rice cake please?" asked Eunha, after noticing that Haeun finished the whole thing by herself and was still hungry.

"Crap, I don't have extra change!" said Haneul as he checked his wallet.

It was then, a strange, tall man came over and paid the remaining balance. The boy looked up and somehow froze at how tall he was. 

"T-Thank you sir...." gulped Haneul.

"Hello. You must be Jung Haneul. And you must be Jung Haeun." asked the man to which the two kids nodded. "But you are...?"

"Park Eunha...." said the girl nervously as she noticed a group of men in black suits heading over. Something was strange.

"It hurts my heart to see children like you eat food like these. Don't you know it's unhealthy?"

"It's yummy, I don't care." said Haneul as he kept eating his rice cakes.

"How about uncle here, will take you to a wonderful restaurant? You don't need to eat any of these junk. Have you tried steak? Or perhaps a high quality carbonara pasta?" said the man, pulling in the attention of the three children.

"S-Steak?" gulped Haneul and Eunha. The two were similiar in a way, when it came to food.

"Follow me. Uncle will treat you to good food." smiled the man as the three children blindly followed him into the black van that was parked nearby. 

There was a loud cheer into the hours of night. With a sign closed over the famous chicken feet restaurant, the place was booked just for that day. A reunion with the six high schoolers who have now become adults, and some, mothers.

"It's been awhile since I've drank. Been holding back myself a lot." said Eunji with a grin, glad to have a reunion with her old companion, alcohol.

"Don't drink too much unnie." frowned Naeun.

"It's alright. Just....two cups." winked Eunji.

"Hey, you too." said Chorong, nudging her wife.

"O-Of course. I'll control my intake too." gulped Bomi nervously.

"So, how are all your kids doing unnies?" asked Namjoo as she stuffed food into .

"Eunha's doing well in school. She studies hard but creates trouble too. She hangs out with Haneul too much that's why." sighed Chorong eyeing at Eunji.

"W-What did I do?" asked Eunji, taken aback.

"Eunha is like a fusion of Chorong and Bomi unnie together." laughed Hayoung. "She can be pretty serious at times but also quite wild like Bomi unnie."

"You don't have to compare my daughter like that." frowned Chorong.

"Haeun is so cute, I want to pinch her cheeks so badly." said Bomi.

"Bom-ah, are you saying you like Haeun more than your own daughter?" asked Eunji with a joke.

"NO WAY HOW DARE YOU ASK ME THAT, I LOVE EUNHA WITH ALL MY HEART!"

"Okay calm down." said Chorong, pulling her wife back to her seat to which Eunji laughed.

"I still don't understand why the two of you don't want any children." asked Naeun as she looked at the couple who just came from the countryside.

"Unnie, you've asked me that question hundreds of times." sighed Hayoung.

"Eunha, Haneul and Haeun would love to have a new dongsaeng to take care of y'know?" smiled Bomi with a wink.

"I would love to see my cute Haeun being an older sister to someone." said Eunji proudly.

"Unnies, you don't have to pressure us like that." laughed Namjoo nervously as she held Hayoung's hands under the table, clearly slightly uncomfortable with the questions.

The group of friends spent hours like that chatting away, laughing in between as they talked about their stories, their life into parenthood and the maknae's adventure into the countryside.

Looking at the time on her phone, Namjoo suddenly stood up. "Sorry unnies, I have to leave early today."

"Why? Where are you going?" The girls asked.

"I'm meeting an old friend of mine."

"But you have the whole week off." asked Chorong.

"Apparently, he only has time for today. It's okay, we'll have another meeting this week." smiled Namjoo as she headed to the door only to be stopped by her wife, hands holding her wrists.

"I'm going with you." whispered Hayoung.

"No, it's okay. I'll be fine going alone. After all, it's just a friend Hayoung-ah. You'll be bored. Why don't you stay with the unnies and catch up with them?" 

"But...." pouted Hayoung. 

Namjoo smiled as she gently pecked her forehead. "It won't be long. I'll be back real quick." 

"Alright...." said the younger girl as she hesitantly let go of her hand, watching her take the cab.

For some reason, the girl didn't felt good leaving her wife alone like that. Yet, she trusted her.

She trusted Namjoo.

Taking a cab to a nearby hotel, Namjoo was going to meet an old friend of hers. It felt rather strange as to how, he suggested a fancy restaurant which was quite unusual for him. But the girl simply thought it was because it had been a long time since she returned to Seoul and wanted to treat her to a good meal.

"Sorry Sungjae-ah, I was a bit late! You don't need to order too much, I kinda ate already." said Namjoo as she sat down, after finding her friend seated at a table right next to the window.

"It's okay. It's late and we can just get some drinks to chit chat for a bit. What would you like?" asked Sungjae.

"Just water would be fine."

"Are you sure? No alcohol? Like wine perhaps?"

"Come on Sungjae, you know I can't take alcohol."

"Right. Let's just have two glasses of water and just an appetizer. A salad maybe."

"Sounds good."

As they waited for their order to arrived, Namjoo looked at her friend with worry. It had been seven years since that incident and Sungjae changed a lot. Yet, he held no grudge or hatred towards Hayoung because he simply blamed it as his own fault for not realising his wife's sins. But his life had been going downhill. Three years ago, his wife, Joy took her own life after nurses found her hanging in the mental hospital. Namjoo did all she could, to comfort her friend who has been around since her university days. She had hoped that now, after her death, Sungjae would be able to move on to a happier life instead of tying himself down with regrets.

"Are you sure you're okay Sungjae-ah? Everything doing fine?"

"Yes. I'm doing well. Don't worry." The man smiled, yet he could not hide his obvious eyebags.

"Don't lie."

"Excuse me sir, madam, your water." said the waiter, interrupting in between as he served the glasses.

"I'm not a baby who needs to be told what to do Namjoo-ya. I'm just a lonely man in his thirties." sighed Sungjae as he looked at Namjoo drinking the water.

The moment the girl gulped down, she felt something strange. That's when she looked at Sungjae.

"S-Sungjae-ah....did you....." said Namjoo as she suddenly felt herself being paralyzed, as if a poison was injected into her.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Namjoo-ya." said Sungjae as he stood up from his seat.

That was the last Namjoo could remember, before she fell into darkness.

Back at the chicken feet restaurant, there was still quite a boisterious atmosphere deep into the night. However, Hayoung couldn't help but to feel uneasy as she had been quiet the whole time, since Namjoo left. Naeun noticed this and headed over to her side.

"You're worried about her aren't you?" asked Naeun in the midst of all the noise thanks to the still hyperactive Bomi and Eunji who were apparently seeing who would win in an arm-wrestle battle. They were indeed, still kids at heart.

"I should go right?" asked Hayoung in worry. "But she's just meeting her friend. It's not like it's anything dangerous right?"

"Follow your heart Hayoung-ah." smiled Naeun.

"That's right Hayoung-ah. Go." said Chorong, managing to hear their conversation.

It was at that point, Hayoung nodded. "Thank you unnies. I can always rely on the two of you." the girl said as she suddenly stood up from her seat.

"Oh? Hayoung-ah? Are you leaving already?" asked Eunji.

"Mm. I'm gonna get Namjoo unnie." said Hayoung. "Sorry, let's have another meetup later this week." before heading out.

Taking her phone out, she called her wife. There was no answer. This made her heart feel anxious. It was like the same thing over again.

"This is why I hate living in the city." 

Just when she was able to dial her number again, she recieved a call. It wasn't from Namjoo but someone totally unexpected.

"Hello? It's been awhile Yerin-ah. What's up?" The girl asked.

"Hayoung-ah. I'm sorry for disturbing you out on a day like this. I know you've quit your job and everything but I think you should come over to the office quick."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"It's about Sungjae and Joy. They're-"

Hayoung hung up and immediately called for a taxi.

"Those ers." cussed the girl.

The reunion was cut short as the remaining couples had children waiting for them at home. Eunji and Naeun insisted on helping the couple to clean and close up the restaurant as their houses were honestly, not far from each other. In fact, they pretty much lived in the same neighbourhood.

"You two should stop drinking often. You guys aren't getting any younger." nagged Chorong.

"And you ain't going be in your thirties anymore." said Bomi, eventually recieving a hit on the shoulder.

"Hey, do you think maybe our children might marry each other one day?" asked Eunji all of sudden.

"Well, if they like each other then why not? Isn't that a little too early to think about that?" laughed Chorong.

"We shouldn't force them to love each other unnie." said Naeun.

"I know, I know." said Eunji laughing the crazy idea off. It was then, she recieved a phone call. But her eyebrows furrowed. It was an unknown number.

"Hello Miss Eunji-ssi." said the caller.

"Um, who is this?" asked the girl, losing her smile.

"My identity does not concern you. But perhaps, this would ring a bell."

"W-What do you mean?" said Eunji. She did not have a good feeling about this.

"Do you perhaps, remember someone called Lee Taemin?"

Immediately, Eunji's face darkened.

"What the do you want?"

"I want to watch you suffer. After all, you wouldn't want me to hurt your precious daughter and son now, would you? Thought you could protect them by changing their surnames to Jung when in actuality, they are part of the Son line." said the caller as he suddenly moved the phone over, to hear muffled sounds of Haneul struggling to shout.

"You little er." cursed Eunji as she looked at her friends who wondered what was wrong.

--

A/N: Seven years later and when we thought there will be a happy ending for all couples, seems like the rollercoaster ride has yet to end. Old enemies return? Wasn't Lee Taemin dead? Sungjae, what happened to you?! Have you gone crazy after Joy's death? Let's hope the kids are totally fine. Jung Haneul, Jung Haeun and Park Eunha, these naughty kids are totally in big trouble for trying to run away from home. Do share your thoughts about this 7-year timeskip and I will try update soon, it will be a little slower than usual >< (honestly, i wanted to end Maturity with 2eun's wedding but I had a new idea to continue it with a final arc surrounding their children haha)