Yujin was tidying up around her house. She had barely finished her work from home a few minutes ago, and her house looked as if a tornado had swept through. She sighed, brushing a hand through her hair as she picked up a few things, putting them where they belonged. Wonyoung wasn’t going to arrive home for a few hours, so she had plenty of time to spare.

As she was about to place another item down, her phone rang. Confused, she headed over to her table.

It was from Liz’s number.

Yujin shakily clicked the answer button, slowly holding it up to her ear.

“Hello..?”

“Hi, Miss! Can you get me a new book?” Yujin blinks and her confusion turned to surprise as she realized it was Rei’s daughter, Leeseo, on the other end of the line.

“Hi? Do you even know who I am?” Yujin asked the little girl.

“No, but I was snooping and I found a photo with my mom and another girl. When I flipped it over, it said, ‘if you need anything and I won’t be around, ask her, she’s me, just in another place.’” Leeseo finished, excitement pouring out in each word.

Yujin couldn’t form any words; if she were to try, it would come out as a sob. It was unfortunate what happened to Liz, even worse that Rei had to go through it alone. Eventually, Yujin gathered courage and found her voice through a choked sob, “Oh. Well, ask your mom to call me back, and I’ll get you any book you want.” Yujin barely finished, burning and tightening lightly.

Leeseo squealed, “Yay! Mommy was right! I can ask you for anything. I’ll tell my mom to call you back. Thank you, miss!”

“No problem.” Yujin whispered, clicking the line dead and putting her phone down on the table. She leaned her weight over it, trying her hardest to keep herself from breaking down more.

Liz’s death hit her hard, not as hard as it hit Rei, but it was still devastating. Over the years, she had been able to forget it and try to move on without the sunny support on her side. But the photo, memories rushed back into her mind, leaving her a weeping mess.

As she calmed down, her phone rang again, this time from a new number. She sighed and picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Yujin?”

“Rei.” She smiled.

“Long time no talk?”

“Yeah, it’s been a while.” Yujin sniffled a chuckle.

“I’m sorry about Hyunseo. She was snooping and she found all of her old stuff.” Rei trailed off, not even mentioning her name.

“It’s all good. It was silly and kind of made me happy.” Yujin smiled, another laugh rolling off her tongue. “I’ll gladly buy Leeseo another book. I mean, that’s why I’m behind that photo, right?” Yujin tried to joke, leaving Rei to giggle a bit.

“Right. Um, if you’re free, do you think we can meet again? Like Wonyoung too? I have Gaeul’s number, so maybe we can talk and catch up on things we missed about each other.” Rei offered.

“I’d like that. I’ll ask Wony when she gets home. Bye, Reiko.”

“Bye, pup.”