For all Yongsun knew, Minhyuk was never this quiet. Never. He definitely has his moment to be silent sometimes, everyone does, but not like today. No matter how he's not in the mood to talk, he never ignored Yongsun. Usually he will play with his friend after school ended, instead today he choose to read alone in the corner. She always accompanying Minhyuk after everyone got home until Moonbyul come to pick him up so there's already bond and trust between the student and teacher. But today, no matter how many times Yongsun tried to coax Minhyuk into small talk, the boy ignored her and keep drawing in his book. Yongsun knew what troubled him, but she can't do anything about it. Not when it isn't her place to do so. The least she can do is stay there and wait for his mother to comfort him. It pained her to see those gloomy looks on the boy, he look the best when he smiles. She just hope that Moonbyul is the one who will pick him up, she's the one needed by Minhyuk the most right now.

"Good evening, Yongsun-ssi."

Gentle and smooth voice snapped her attention back to reality. Before she could respond the greeting, she saw Minhyuk suddenly get up from his chair and ran with all his might to Moonbyul. He crashed right into Moonbyul's leg and hugged her. Yongsun could see the confused look in the cop's eyes before picking her son in his arm.

"Aigoo... do you miss mom so much?"

Minhyuk hugged her so hard like a koala and buried his face in Moonbyul's collarbone, he nods slowly. Moonbyul raised her eyebrow at her son's behavior, it's not like him to be this clingy even if he's tired or sleepy. She mouthed silently 'What happened?' to Yongsun before she feels the boy in her arms started to shakes and sobbing hard.

These took the adults by surprise. Moonbyul cooed and trying to calm the boy by rocking him slowly. Yongsun can't do anything but keep silent and hoping Minhyuk will better after crying. "Why are my baby boy crying? Did you hurt yourself?"

Her eyes scanning for any sign of bruise but Minhyuk only shakes his head furiously and sobbed harder. "Why are you sad, baby? Please tell mom?"

Moonbyul tried to coax his son into talking but to no avail, the boy keep crying. After some time Moonbyul just let him be, crying is better than holding in and she can ask him later when he's calmer. For now, she can only comfort him and patted his back to calm him down.

Moonbyul looked at the teacher, hoping to get some explanation why is her son suddenly crying. Yongsun only shakes her head and mouthed 'Later'. The cop nodded and keep swaying her body slowly to help the boy calm down. After a while, his sob turned to small hiccups and eventually the boy succumbed to exhaustion. Minhyuk feel asleep in her arms, making Moonbyul sighs in relief. It's been a long time since her son throwing a fit like this. He's quite mature and considerate for kid his age, even if he's whiny sometimes, he rarely cried. So whatever made him sad like this must be something serious. Moonbyul turned to look at Yongsun and whispered slowly.

"What happened to him today, Yongsun-ssi?"

Yongsun sighed. She didn't know where to start breaching this topic. It will be quite sensitive to both the mother and son. "It's a long story, I'm... not sure where to start.."

Moonbyul is concerned now. Did her son scolded by one of his teacher? That can happen. Or did Minhyuk have a quarrel with his friend? Moonbyul noticed the sky is getting darker and when Yongsun said the story gonna be long maybe it's better to discuss in another place. Although she looks tough and dependable, she's a bit of scaredy cat. Any school at night is a no-no in her opinion, even if it's just a kindergarten with beautiful teacher to accompany her.

"Do you mind to discuss this on my place? I want to tuck him in properly first."

"I don't mind. Please wait a minute." Yongsun starts to gather her belonging and Minhyuk's before turning off the electronics. "Do you bring any vehicle?"

"No, mine is still on annual check ups in the repair shop."

"Alright then, let's go."

"Please make yourself at home."

Moonbyul opened up the door for Yongsun to pass first. The teacher gave a small smile and took a notice of her surroundings. In the foyer there's a shoe rack and some pairs of slipper which Moonbyul offer her to wear. There's a decent sized kitchen, dining table, spacious living room with a lot of consoles and a lot of little things that decorated the house. Two bedrooms and a room for laundry can be seen from where she stands. It is definitely enough for two people to live in here comfortably.

"I'll tuck him in the bedroom first. You can take a seat anywhere."

Yongsun nodded and watch Moonbyul take a sleeping Minhyuk to his room. She scanned the photo frames that decorated the living room, be it on the wall or beside the television. Little did she know, Moonbyul has done the same thing back in her apartment before one month ago. Majority of the photos are Minhyuk's, ranging from when he's a baby until now, there's a photo when he had his first birthday, posing together in the zoo with his mother and a tiger cub, in the beach with elders which she's assume is Moonbyul's parents. Each memories were framed and captured as it was really important to document every step of his growth. Yongsun smiled and enjoyed watching each photos. ‘that woman really loves her son’. She also noticed how in every photos, there's no father figure beside Moonbyul and Minhyuk. What happened to him?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a coughs from behind her. Yongsun startled and a bit embarrassed, she was caught in action. "Sorry, i didn't mean to snoop around."

"It's okay, their purpose is for display anyway." Moonbyul smiled gently. "Would you like to drink something?"

"Plain water would be nice, thank you." Moonbyul nodded and gestured Yongsun to sit in the couch while she take the water from refrigerator.

Not gone for long, she served a glass for the guest and herself. Both didn't know where to start so there was a few second of awkward silence before Moonbyul take the initiative to talk. "Do you know what happened to Minhyuk?"

Yongsun feel conflicted to approach this subject because she felt it was a sensitive things to mention, but it was needed so Moonbyul can comfort Minhyuk whenever this kind of things happen in the future.

"So... today, the school announced there will be a special occasion to celebrate father's day. We will invite fathers to attend next week and the children will read their essay about their father's job." Yongsun cleared , she can feel the person across her face dropped already. She feel lump in but she has to finish what she has started. "Minhyuk mentioned that he didn't have a father, and what should he do about the essay."

Yongsun take a deep breath to steady herself. She hates it when she has the responsibility to tell parents about things like this, it made her feel very guilty. "Some of the kids kind of about it, asking how come he didn't have a father and who's going to lead the family or teach him sports."

Yongsun can clearly see a lot of emotion swirling in Moonbyul's eyes, but sadness is the most prominent one. Her eyes were glistening and her jaws clenched, trying to hold her emotion in when she heard what happened to her son. Moonbyul took a deep breath and hide her face in her palm as if she tried to compose her emotion. Yongsun felt a failure as a teacher, she felt it was partly her fault that this kind of situation occurred, she was their teacher and yet she can't educate her student properly.

"I'm sorry, Moonbyul-ssi. It's my fault to let this happened. Please don't be angry at the children, they didn't know better and they already apologized to Minhyuk." Yongsun knew even if she has reprimanded the kids and they already apologized to Minhyuk, the damage is already done. His self-esteem was down and she can't do nothing about it. It was her first time handling this kind of situation.

Moonbyul smiled sadly at her and Yongsun didn't like it at all. She hate to see the confident woman she admired so much to broke like this in front of her. "Don't apologize, it's not your fault, Yongsun-ssi." Moonbyul shakes head calmly. "And i'm not mad at the children either, as you said before, kids tend to say insensitive things. If there's someone i should be mad for, it's me."

Moonbyul takes a few moment of silence and let out a deep breath. Yongsun didn't know how to respond, it's like there's no word that can come out from . "This is my biggest concern from the beginning, I never thought this would happened so early in his stage of life. I have no one to blame this but myself."

Yongsun reached her hand to grasp Moonbyul's. It's all she can do, offering her comfort. She feels her own tears started to pool, and her voice constrained in . "Please don't blame yourself for what happened, i beg you."

Moonbyul stares at Yongsun's hand on top on her own, receiving comfort from them. She smiled a little and returned the gesture by doing the same, it made Yongsun blush a little. "Thank you."

Both of them didn't want to release their hand, enjoying the comfort they gave each other. After a while, Yongsun braved herself to ask this question she has been curious this whole time, she hoped this won't offend Moonbyul in any ways.

"Moonbyul-ssi... may i ask something personal?"

Moonbyul hummed and still stare at their conjoined hands, she thinks she know where the conversation going. "Shoot."

"May i know what happened to your husband?"

Moonbyul sighs and finally letting go of Solar's hand to take a sip of her water. Solar can't help but to feel disappointed when they separated. "Umm.. where do i start..." Moonbyul ruffles her own hair. "Firstly... there's no husband since the beginning."

Yongsun eyes widens. That's explain a lot about the lack of wedding rings.

"His father and i broke up shortly after we knew i'm pregnant with Minhyuk." She reminisced her past, where she just transitioned from teenager to early twenties. Where she believe love can go through it all. How naive.

"He asked me to abort the baby. He said he's not ready to be a father."

Yongsun clenched her fist until she feels her nails almost tore the skin. She hates them. She ing hates that kind of people who do ual recklessly when they're not ready to bear the responsibilities. The babies are innocent and deserve a chance to be in this world, not discarded as trash.

"I rejected the idea, i'm a police and i swore to protect people no matter what their race, gender, or orientation. How can i protect them if i can't protect my own child?" She sighed. "We argued a lot and reached a conclusion that we better part ways. His principles and mine was too different."

Yongsun felt really glad that Moonbyul didn't abort the child, because she won't meet the adorable child and his mother if she do that. Yongsun grabbed Moonbyul hand again to give her some kind of comfort. "I'm glad."

She can see Moonbyul's expression brighter. "Yeah, me too."

"My parents are furious at first. Who won't? Their eldest child who have a bright future in Korean Police National Agency in Seoul branch suddenly got pregnant without a husband." She shakes her head, reminded of disappointment in her parent's eyes. "Even so, i didn't give up on my baby. I'm working as long as i can until it time to give birth to my son."

Moonbyul smiled so wide right now. "And i'm glad i did. He's the best thing that ever happened to my life." Yongsun can hear how much adoration she had for her son. "When i hear his cries the first time, i feel like all my worries has gone. He's the only thing that matters to me."

Yongsun hummed and draw circles in the back of Moonbyul's hand. She think it was already enough, but the respect she had for the woman increased even more.

"I moved from Seoul back to my hometown in Bucheon to take a break from my job. He's still a newborn and it's important to give him my full attention. Luckily the ice in my parents heart started to melt and they accepted us. After my maternity leave ended i started to work again in Bucheon branch, my parents and my sisters helped me to take care of him.”

"Now that my parents getting older, i feel sorry for them if they had to take care of Minhyuk, so i moved out to here recently." Moonbyul takes a sip of her water again before clears . Her eyes exudes sadness again. "I was expecting case like today will happen to Minhyuk eventually, and i'm afraid that it won't be the last."

Yongsun shares the same worries with Moonbyul. What if Minhyuk face the same thing like today? He's just a little kid with sensitive feeling. She worried it can affect him in any ways.

"Sometimes i feel like a failure, as a mother i can't give him the time he deserve like other kids with their mom. I didn't give him the chance to have a father figure too..." Moonbyul looks down and stare at her legs. She felt ashamed. Yongsun feel frustated at Moonbyul self-blaming. The woman doesn't what she's capable of and think too little for herself.

"Moonbyul-ssi."

Yongsun stern and determined voice made the cop flicker her eyes back to meet her gaze. Yongsun grasped Moonbyul's hand more firmly this time and steady her gaze at the person across her.

"Don't ever belittle yourself like that. You're an amazing woman." Yongsun starts. "You have been through a lot and i respected you for that, i can't imagine what i would do if i were in your shoes. Being judged by your parents, broke up with your loved one, hindered in your career and facing the consequences of being a single mother, yet you stay strong with your decision." Yongsun still held her eye contact with Moonbyul, determined to convey her thoughts.

"Furthermore, you have raised a really kind-hearted boy whom everybody loves. You did your best to provide for your son and make time with him. There's a limit for a person can do, you've done well to be both of mother and father figure. You're a very admirable woman, Moonbyul-ssi."

Moonbyul almost choked up with tears when Yongsun finished her speech. She can feel a warm hand erasing the tears that have trailed down to her cheeks. Her eyes blurred but she can still see the warm gaze directed to her, comforting her. She never had anyone else to understand nor listen to her struggles all these time, not even her parents. This woman in front of her said all the things she needed to hear, when no one else does.

"Thank you... thanks for listening to me, to the encouragement you have given to me." She sniffles, she do feel little embarrassed after crying in the front of other people. What she received is not a stare of pity nor mocking, but of admiration and smiles brighter than the sun. She felt her heart jump and beats faster when she looks at the woman in front of her smiles. She reminded of that night one month ago. They sat in comfortable silence, neither want to let go of their conjoined hands. After a few minutes, Yongsun stared at the clock on the wall, it's almost time for her to go home, she haven't feed Jjing Jjing.

"Go take a rest, Moonbyul-ssi. You need time to clear your mind."

Moonbyul nodded and stood up from the couch, letting go of their hand. "Sorry for taking up your time today. Thank you for being there with Minhyuk when i can't."

"It's not a problem at all. If you need someone to talk, i'll be here."

Yongsun smiled brightly and it's looks so blinding to Moonbyul. She felt that she always depended on the teacher from the beginning. She will repay her kindness someday, for sure.

"Seeing both of us haven’t eat yet, I'd love to take you for dinner… but i can't leave Minhyuk alone today.” She paused. “Would you like to have dinner with me sometime?"

Yongsun felt heat rising up to her cheeks. Did Moonbyul just asked her to date? 'No no no! Don't overthink too much, Kim Yongsun! She's just asking you for friendly dinner!'. She shyly put hairs behind her ear before nodded.

"Yeah, i'd love to." Moonbyul grinned until her nose scrunched up adorably.

"Great! I'll send you home."

"No need to do that, Moonbyul-ssi. I can take the subway from here, it's not that far."

Yongsun waving her hand to dismiss the offer, making Moonbyul frowned and overprotective side came out. "You don't know how dangerous it is for a woman to walk alone at night, Yongsun-ssi. There’s so much robbery and cases nowadays."

What Moonbyul said was right, but she feel reluctant to have Moonbyul leave Minhyuk alone here just to herself home. And the subway station is pretty near anyway. Their home is only three stations away. "It's okay, i have my pepper spray ready in purse."

"No. I insist." Yongsun can't reject the offer again when she heard Moonbyul stern tone. She sighed. "Okay."

Moonbyul smiled and grabbed her car keys, not forgetting to peek at Minhyuk's room to make sure he's still deep in slumber. She will stay there with her son until morning later. He will need comfort from his mother. Suddenly an idea popped up in her head, she's not sure if that will work but it can't hurt to try.

"Say... it's a celebration for father day, but can mothers attend too?"

Yongsun think for a while. "I don't see why not, there are mothers there to substitute for the fathers last year because they can't take a day off from work."

"Great. Let's go home."

Both of them know there's something that changed in their relationship tonight. Something they hope will blossom into a special things.

Minhyuk stared at the essay he made yesterday. It's the essay they had to read today for their fathers, but what's the point of writing it if he didn't have one? He's not even sad anymore like last week because his mother is always be there for him. When he woke up from his slumber, his mother hugged him tightly while she sleeps, it gives him the comfort he needed. He did still feel upset at times, but he has Yongsun-ssaem and his mother to distract him from straying thoughts. Yongsun-ssaem made him to write the essay for his mother instead of father, she said if his mother couldn't make it, he can keep the essay for mother’s day later. She told him that his mother would appreciate his hard work so much. He agreed and now he's sitting in the classroom with the other like any normal day. Their fathers stood in the back of class while waiting for their kids to read them essay. He can see some of their mothers also attend the meeting alongside the fathers, not much though.

"You ok there, Hyuk-ah?"

Minhyuk nodded when he saw his favorite teacher showed up beside him, smiling warmly. "You've done well on your essay, Hyuk-ah. Ssaem can't wait to show that to your mom. She'll be very proud of you."

Yongsun patted his head and turned to welcome the parents into class. The celebration is starting and the first kid starting to explain what their father's job is and what they want to do in the future. Minhyuk's interest piqued at those jobs the fathers has, some are really cool in his opinion. There are doctors, architects, engineers, businessmen, etc. It's almost the fifth turn for kids to read their essay when there's a little knock on the door, making the attention shift to the distraction. The door slides and a charismatic and gorgeous looking cop bowing her head.

"I'm sorry for my tardiness and distracting the class."

Yongsun smiled and ushered the cop to stand in the back of class, standing with other parents. Moonbyul stood in all her glory wearing complete uniform of Korean National Police Agency. White shirt tucked straight with blue tie to complement it, topped with one badge of blooming rose of Sharon stood proudly on her ceremony suit. 'Damn... she's hot when she dressed like that.' Yongsun thought before mentally slapped herself and put her professional face back.

Other kids looking at the newcomer in awe and their parents started to murmur between them, wondering whose parent she is. The silver haired cop always send off Minhyuk the earliest in the morning and pick him up the latest in the afternoon, so nobody has seen her before except the teachers. Minhyuk shocked when he saw his mother coming today but that has changed quickly to excitement and smiled so wide at Moonbyul. She saw him and smiled back and pointing at him to put his attention back to the kid in front.

After the eleventh kid, it's Minhyuk turn to read his writing in front of the class. Everyone clapped to encourage the boy, he stood and grasped his paper tightly. Nervousness can be seen in his face like the other kids before him, it's their first time to stood and speak in front of many people. The purpose of this celebration is to help them improve their writing, reading, speaking and overcome stage fright. It's really difficult for Minhyuk to step to the front, he's really shy in front of strangers or a lot of people. Minhyuk made eye contacts with Moonbyul which she replies with smile and mouthed 'You can do it!'. The boy nodded and start walking to the front, when he passes by Yongsun, the teacher gives him encouragement by patting his head. "Hwaiting!"

The nervous feeling is bursting out when he scanned the class and feels all eyes on him. But he steeled himself.

"My name is Moon Minhyuk, i'm going to be six years old this year. Today, i want to tell you about my family. It's just me and my mother here." Minhyuk speak with an adorable voice and limited vocabularies but he tried his best to not sound shaky. His eyes stick on the paper all the time, that way he can decrease his nervousness. Moonbyul can feel other people throw a pity glance at Minhyuk, but the boy still focused on his paper.

"My mother's name is Moon Byul Yi, she has a job as a policewoman." All their attention suddenly shifted to her, as she was the only policewoman in this class. Minhyuk made a brief eye contact with her and she gives a thumb up to encourage him.

"She is really cool, she caught a lot of bad guys and protects this town from criminals." She felt uncomfortable at their stare and just trying to focus solely at Minhyuk's speech.

"Although she can't cook delicious food like Yongsun-ssaem..." Yongsun almost choked on her saliva and feel the heat creeps to her face. She didn't expected her name would be mentioned. "... the her instant ramen she makes for me is still my favorite food." The audience went 'awwww' or 'so cuteee' on his speech, finding the boy very adorable. Moonbyul let out a wide smile, his innocence is what she didn't wish to ever change.

"Even if i don't have a dad, mom is always there for me if i'm sick or if i need help on my homework. She's always busy because of her job, but she always have time to play with me in the evening. For me, having my mom is already enough." Minhyuk take a deep breath and looked up straight at Moonbyul before finishing his sentences. "I love my mom."

The class boomed with applause, everyone applauded when the boy finished reading his heartfelt writing. Moonbyul almost can't see her son because the tears blurred her sight, it's already b in the corner of her eyes. She felt a lot of emotion brewing in her heart. Joy, proud, gratitude, mixed all together, but what she felt the most is love for her child. She felt the weight of guilt released from her shoulder. The guilt of robbing him from a father's love is gone. She really want to hug him so much, right now right there, but the event have to go on. She mouthed 'I love you.' to Minhyuk while making a heart sign for him which he replies with toothy grin before he back to his seat.

The event ended after half an hour and continued with afternoon snack. This giving the chance for parents to interact with other or to boast their child. Typical. Moonbyul didn't waste her time and scooped the boy right away into her arms and peppering him with kisses all over his face.

"Why are you so pure and adorable, Hyuk-ah? Mom loves you too." She still keep smooching her son until he giggled and wriggling from her hold.

"Mooooooommmmmm!!" He whines in embarrassment because his friends can see them. Though, he secretly love it when his mom pampering him like this.

From the corner of her eyes Moonbyul can see Yongsun walked to their direction with smile. The teacher ruffles his hair and giving him a bright smile. "You did great, Hyuk-ah! Ssaem is very proud of you."

Minhyuk grinned toothily at Yongsun and turned back to his mother, tugging at her suit to gain her attention. "Yongsun-ssaem helped me arranging the essay!"

Yongsun pouted and pinched his cheeks. "It should be our little secret, Hyukkie. Why are you telling your mom."

"Aww, i forgot, ssaem." Minhyuk giggled and asked Moonbyul to let him down. Both of the adults watched him go to his friends and eat the snacks together.

"You could have at least told me to prepare myself so i can brought tissues." Moonbyul stood beside Yongsun and watch her son interacting with other kids. The teacher did the same thing with Moonbyul and resting her back on the wall behind them.

"I didn't expected you could be this soft, you're the cool police who chasing up bad guy and protects the town after all." Yongsun smirked when she sees the cop's face becoming pink like her own hair. It seems like Moonbyul can't handle compliment well.

"I'm only soft for my son. I'll be the mighty Moonbyul when i'm back in the office." Both of them laughed at their jokes. They felt comfortable standing like this together but as a teacher she has to attend to other parents. She can't have biases. Before she can excuse herself, she heard Moonbyul ask with a soft voice.

"Let's have that delayed dinner that i promised you tonight. Call?" Both exchanged a shy glance and small smile at each other.

"Call."

Yongsun answer without any hesitation.

Hello! Sorry for the late update, i was distracted with mamamoo concert for two days, not that i watched live tho lol. My broke can only stream from home. Thank you for reading this far, i hope you like it. :D  Firstly i want to thank you who have commented, subcribed, and upvote this story, they give me a lot of energy and encouragement to write! In this chapter i explored more about Moonbyul's past and the dillema of being single mother, it's already fourth chapter and it's time to get into the plot :'). I realized i haven't explored Yongsun's characters in the story much, please be patient for a while :) I kinda made Moonbyul a bit of emotional here, blame me for watching a lot clips of soft Moon. Sorry if they sometimes feel out of characters, i'll try to improve next time!

Lastly, if you have any things to share with me like comment, advice, inquiries, ideas, critisism,etc don't hesitate to leave a comment below or DM me here or on twitter. Mine is @JoezetteCecile, it's mainly just mamamoo bots but my dm is always open if you want to talk. If you enjoyed the story and have time, please upvote too ^^  Thank you very kamsa!