Monday February 4th, 2013

“Edison,” A voice spoke out above the music he heard. He pulled the headphones from his ears and looked up.

“Yes, Dr. Wu?” he said ignoring his friends’ nervous looks.

“May I speak to you for a minute?” she inquired pointing in the direction of her office.

"We’ll catch up with you later.” His friends called as they all but ran down the hall. Tao turned and smiled at his professor as she led the way.

“Have you heard from my son recently?” she asked when they reached her office and her door was firmly shut. Dr. Wu, took a seat in her chair and gestured for Tao to follow.

“Last I heard from him was early last month Dr. Wu.” He said as he collapsed onto the seat across from her.

“Please, call me auntie.  You’ve known me for years, it doesn’t feel right to hear you address me that way.  You’re like the son I never had. Much better than Kris.” She said with a laugh. It was a scene very different from her strict lecture style. “So tell me, what’s so important in Seoul that is keeping my own son from staying in touch with me?”

“Well,” Tao started, he contemplated telling her about Yu-ki accident. Judging by the fact that she was asking him for news told Tao that Kris mentioned nothing to his mother. He knew that Kris had his reasons for keeping this from her, but she was her mother after all. She deserved to know. “If you really must know, Yu-ki kinda got into an accident.” He said guiltily.

“What?” their mother’s face dropped. “Is she okay, what happened?” she asked frantically.

"I’m not too sure myself but Kris told me she was in a car accident and has amnesia of the last 7 years.” Tao whispered slowly not to shock the woman any further.

“Oh my god, my baby.” She gasped. “I have to get over there, make sure she’s okay.” She frantically started packing up her things.

“Auntie, auntie!” Tao said calmly stopping her movements. “I know you would like to see if she’s okay, but you have responsibilities here. And she wouldn’t like it if you gave up thousands of other people just for her.” At Tao’s reasoning, Yu-ki’s mother calmed a bit and sat back down. “Besides, she has Kris and a bunch of other friends, she’ll be fine.”

The professor took a few deep breaths and no longer looked crazed.

“You know,” Yu-ki’s mother reached across the table to ruffle his hair affectionately. “You always know what to say. Why couldn’t you have been my son instead?” She chuckled. “Thanks, you can go back to your friends now before they think I’ve murdered you or something.”

“Bye Auntie.” Tao bowed and walked towards the door. “You know,” He stopped and turned around. “If you showed your motherly side more often, maybe your students wouldn’t find you so scary.” He said.

“Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?” she smiled as he walked out the door with a small wave.

“Dude, I can’t believe you always come out unscathed after meeting the devil teacher.” His friends exclaimed as he walked over. “How do you do it?” Tao simply smiled to himself as his friends continued to barrage him with questions.

“She’s not as bad as you guys make her out to be.” He said before walking away. His friends followed behind still not believing his words.

[A/N]: Assume everything is spoken in English