“Morning, umma! Happy Sundayyyy!!”

Yeri the highschooler chimed as she walked into the kitchen and sat at the dining table, her eyes and fingers fixated on the game in her ipad.

“Morning, baby! So happy it's Sunday, huh?” her mother looked back from the kitchen counter while preparing sandwiches, “I think I told you not to get too obsessed with games?”

The teenager gave her mother a puppy look and smile, “Just a few minutes, umma. Please~”

“Your word.”

“Good morning, Ms. Tiffany,” greeted the other teenage girl who walked to the basin beside where she was working, to wash her hands.

“Morning, Taeyeon,” the woman briefly stared at the girl, checking her condition, “are you okay?” she softly said, referring to the previous night.

Last night, Taeyeon cried so hard till her eyes and face became tart red, and Tiffany kept holding her until the girl's sobs eventually stopped and calmed down. She actually watched Taeyeon till she fell asleep again, and only left the room after gently putting the blanket on her and making sure the girl was comfortable in her sleep. She assumed her nightmares probably worsened because the highschooler was away from her parents and stayed in a different place other than her home.

And truthfully, when she got back into her room, she couldn't bring herself to sleep for some time due to the pounding in her heart resulting from since she hugged the girl. She felt ashamed for feeling that way for a student and kept refusing it herself over and over again.

And of course, the heavy sleeper Yeri missed the whole occasion.

Taeyeon turned to the side and smiled in reassurance, “I'm okay now. Thank you.”

Taeyeon couldn't deny that the caring gestures from the woman last night, the way she ran over to her room once she heard her scream, the way she held her in her arms, and the way she stayed beside her bed till she fell asleep, all those were making her fall for the woman even harder. And honestly, she enjoyed the feeling.

I keep thinking about you so much that you even get mixed up in my childhood nightmares. What have you done to me, Ms. Tiffany?

“Ok then. Here's your hot chocolate,” Tiffany handed the steaming cup to the girl which she gratefully received. She learned that the girl loves to drink hot chocolate in the morning.

“Hwang Yeri, put your game down or no breakfast for you,” Tiffany strictly warned, holding a tray of fruit juice and sandwiches.

“Umma, just a minute, just a minute, I'm almost winning!” the daughter furiously tapped on the screen with furrowed eyebrows.

“Dang, I lost!” Yeri whined, pouting at her ipad screen displaying the big “Game Over”.

“Serves you right,” Tiffany playfully messed the girl's hair and occupied on the chair next to hers, “now, put it away and start eating.”

Taeyeon smiled at the adorable sight between the mother and daughter. She couldn't help but admire the woman even more for adopting someone who wasn't related to her one bit and raising her well all her life.

“Oh, Taeyeon-ah, you know Seulgi from our class, right?” Yeri asked after giving a big bite into her tuna sandwich.

“Yeah, I do know her,” Taeyeon casually replied. She was aware who her classmates were but there were only a few of them she were friends with, and that Seulgi girl wasn't one of them. While Yeri was like a social butterfly in the class and was friends with almost everyone. Deep down she was thankful that Yeri chose to stick with her as her best friend even when she had a big circle of friends.

“Today's her birthday and I'm going to the party. Wanna go with me?”

Taeyeon thought for a moment, “I don't think so. I'm not really close with her and her friends so I think it'll be awkward for me. I’ll just stay here today. You go ahead.”

“Are you sure?” Yeri confirmed with raised eyebrows, “Won't you get bored if you stay alone here all day? I think umma also has to go to the studio today, right umma?”

“I do but only in the evening,” Tiffany sipped on her cup of Americano, “I'm actually free in the morning.”

So I get so spend the whole morning with Ms. Tiffany, just the two of us?

Taeyeon mentally celebrated at the thought while maintaining her face expression not to appear too excited. It was like a golden opportunity to her to be alone with the woman because at least Yeri would be there with them all the time.

“Ah then I should be back already in the evening,” Yeri said, relieved that she wouldn't have to leave her friend alone, “please take care of our little Taeyeonnie, umma.”

“Yah, don’t call me little!” Taeyeon protested. She didn't like it when people called her small or young or something equivalent, especially after she found herself having a crush on her friend's mother.

“Yeah yeah, right, you're not little,” Yeri said with a playful smirk, “you're tiny. Tiny Taengoo~” she clicked her tongue at her friend which earned a glare and a pout.

“You're back, Ms. Tiffany,” Taeyeon greeted the woman walking into the apartment from the entrance.

“Yes, I am. What have you been doing, Taeyeon?” she eyed the girl after putting her shoes neatly on the rack. She came back home after driving Yeri to her friend Seulgi’s house.

“Just...watching what's being shown on TV, nothing much to do actually,” Taeyeon scratched her head, embarrassed. They recently finished an exam at school so Taeyeon didn't feel like studying. Moreover, that day was quite special to her and she didn't want to waste it at all.

“Is that so? You should've gone with Yeri then,” Tiffany stated, concerned that the highschooler might feel lost.

“I don't really want to,” Taeyeon shrugged, “What about you, Ms. Tiffany? What will you do this morning before you leave for work?”

“Me?” Tiffany thought for a moment, “I need to finish some photo editing and email it to my client. And after that, I’m thinking of grocery shopping as the fridge is getting empty. Then I'll make lunch and dinner for all of us before I go.”

The student's eyes sparkled in excitement, “Can I follow grocery shopping with you?” Not like she loved shopping. She was usually bored to bones whenever she followed her mom's shopping, but with the American-Korean woman in front of her, she felt like she could follow her anywhere and still be the happiest person in the world.

“Do you want to?” Tiffany questioned which was responded with eager nods from the girl. She thought Taeyeon was a houseworm and wasn't the type to bother with stuff like shopping.

“Well, why not?”

“The weather is sooo nice~” Taeyeon said in a sing-song voice as she walked side to side with Tiffany on the road back to the car with grocery bags in her hands as the mart was a small one and they had to park the car on the side of the road.

Tiffany glanced up at the cloudy sky and gave Taeyeon a weird look but decided not to comment. The girl looked like she was particularly in a good mood today.

Instead, she glanced at the bags the girl held in her right hand, “Are you okay holding those? How about you give me some?”

“Ayyy, you don't know I'm actually quite stronger than I look,” Taeyeon gave a confident grin, “Back in Jeonju when I was in elementary school, we often had tug-of-war during sports time and the team I was in always won.”

Tiffany chuckled, finding her childish bluff cute, “Okay, okay, I got it.”

“Really, Yeri and my others friends call