I stare at her, unable to find the words to comfort her. My curiosity presses on, and another question slips out that I regret.

“Is it hard to see him every day?” I flinch automatically, afraid she’s going to yell at me. She doesn’t seem to mind, though.

“At first it was incredibly difficult. I remember when I first saw him, he tried to apologize, to explain, but I couldn’t trust him. I couldn’t trust those eyes,” She whispers the last sentence, and she’s stopped stirring, just staring at the counter.

“Minji, I know how it feels to have someone you love change like that. I know it’s going to be incredibly hard for you to see Daesung in that facility, and I’m honestly sorry that I have to be the one who keeps him there,” she puts a hand under my chin, tilting my head up and smiling gently at me.

“But I’m here, okay? And I understand,” She says reassuringly, and I nod.

To my horror, tears spring into my eyes. Even after all she did to me, I missed my mom. And to know that she isn’t doing this because she wants to, makes me feel so much better. Finally, I have someone who understands.

She hugs me tightly, and I cry into her shoulder.

“Thank you,” I whisper, and she nods.

“Of course, sweetie. Of course.”

I wake up the next morning feeling a lot better than I have in the past few days. I didn’t have any nightmares, and I’m actually excited to go to work with my mom! Who would’ve known?

I get dressed and ready with lightning speed, throwing on some jeans shorts and a t-shirt. My mom is sitting at the dinner table, reading the newspaper. There’s a big plate of waffles.

“Thanks!” I say quickly as I fill my plate. She smiles and nods, filling in a crossword.

“Mom, did you always want to do this for a living?” I ask as she locks the door behind us, and we start walking to the door.

“No, I originally wanted to be a children’s doctor,” she replies easily, opening the car door.

“How did you…find this job?” I murmur as I buckle myself in and she starts the car.

“Your father. I met him at a university, and what he was studying for interested me instantly. Even to this day, I can’t imagine going down any other path.”

I nod, watching as buildings go by in the window. I have no idea what I want to do for a living. I know that it isn’t what she does though, that’s for sure.

“Do you think…,” My mom asks hesitantly, and I give a small laugh.

“No, mom. I know you like this job but I don’t think I could do it,” I admit honestly, and she smiles.

“Alright, alright. You know I’ll support you no matter what,” She tells me, and even though I don’t totally believe that, I nod.

She taps her fingers thoughtfully, and I can see her thinking.

“Let’s see…today I have to go see 9A2-7331, Y-B, and T-0-P, of course,” she sighs, still thinking. She turns to look at me.

“Daesung’s first ITB test is today, would you like to be there?” She asks, and I grin. Not only is she using his real name, but she’s letting me go see him!

“Of course!” I admit honestly. I think for a moment before asking, “Wait, so you don’t see all of them every day?”

Mom shakes her head no. “Out of the five, I usually see three to four every day, very rarely all five of them,” she informs me, “For example, today I’m not seeing N+3xRx. He did plenty of work yesterday, so he gets today ‘off’, in a way.”

“Can I go see him?” I ask quickly. “I-If there’s time. I wouldn’t want him to be bored,” I add quickly, and my mom laughs.

“You can definitely go see him,” She says, turning into the underground garage. She parks and we get out, walking over to the elevator. We’re standing in front of the elevator doors, waiting for it to arrive, when another question pops into my head.

“This place has pretty high security, doesn’t it?” I ask as we step into the elevator, and my mom nods, swiping her ID on a pad, causing the doors to swoosh closed and the elevator to begin descending.

“It certainly does. Even if someone did find the garage, the elevator wouldn’t even open for them. That, and it’s indestructible.”

I stare at the walls of the elevator. “How far down is it?” I ask, and she laughs.

“Not down,” she tells me, “out. The facility is incredibly far out, and this elevator moves quite quickly to get us out there. We honestly aren’t even underground, but for the specimen’s sake, it seems that way.”

“Oh,” I murmur as the elevator stops and the doors open. I see the facility differently now. It’s not underground, but it’s an illusion that seems that way. An illusion that I fell for, so it definitely works.

A man comes up to mom as we walk in and she pulls a clipboard off the wall. He speaks quickly and quietly to her, and she nods seriously before he walks away.

“Cho Hee’s busy today, Minji, so you can do my rounds with me if you’d like,” She say, and I can see how excited she is. She’s got that ‘real’ smile again.

I nod, “Okay,” and smile.

She takes off at a brisk walk and I follow her.

 “Alrighty,” she muses, looking at the clipboard,” 9A2-7331 first,” and steps inside an observatory room. I step in behind her, and the door whooshes closed.

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Hey guyss!! I was gonna do a double update for this story too, but I didnt have time to write the next chapter. Sorry!

See yous in a week! :)