So did anybody notice that I changed the girl in the poster? I just felt like it :P

This chapter took me a while to plan out. I'm still unsure about it D: I really hope the emotions were conveyed well enough. Sigh. Anyway, don't forget to comment to tell me what you thought. Thank you and have a great day/night~!

I always wondered if I truly knew everybody around me. I wondered whether I could confidently say that I knew my friends. I could be talking to them so normally without knowing that they’re withering away inside. That thought of what I truly knew never hit me until that night.

○●○●○

The only source of light in the room was coming from the few candles lit up. My Mother had always been fond of candles so I often found our home quite dark. She liked the smell of the burning candle while I liked the darkness.

“Sun Hi enjoyed her day,” My Mother commented as she stirred her coffee a bit. I watched her raise the cup to and take a sip of the bitter drink.

“Yea, she did.”

“I’m happy she did. I wouldn’t have been able to make her this happy today if I were home. Thank you, Sehun.”

“I can’t make her happy either,” I said as I thought back to her laughing away with the guys. What my Mother said made me wonder if she thought that she wasn’t there enough for Sun Hi. It was true, though, she wasn’t home as often as she was when I was a child. Sun HI has never had the same family exposure as I did.

This thought made me feel a rush of guilt all over again. Why had I ever thought of going out with my friends instead of staying home with Sun Hi?

My Mother sighed before finally setting the cup down and looking up at me, “You saw the flowers, didn’t you?”

My breath stopped and I found it difficult to stare back at her. Without giving an answer, I lowered my gaze to the carpet on the floor.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Why?” I whispered.

“What do you mean why?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer the question as I didn’t know what I meant either. Maybe I wanted the answer to everything. I wanted to know why everything happened and why I was a part of it.

So I began to ask away, “Why did he give you the flowers?”

“People can give each other flowers, can’t they?”

“He’s not just any person,” I said in a low voice.

“Sehun, he’s your Father.”

I scoffed, “He never acted like one!” My voice was getting louder by the minute.

“Mom, don’t you remember what happened that night?”

“Of course I do, Sehun,” She said with her voice nearly breaking as I hit a sensitive topic.

I thought back to the day of my final soccer match. After taking the winner’s picture, my Father took me home. He asked me if I wanted to eat out at a restaurant but being a kid, I only wanted pizza and pop. So, we bought two large pizzas and took them home to eat with my Mother.

When I got home, I ran out of the car and into the house to tell my Mother the great news. She gave me a tight hug while spinning me around. After she put me down, I walked over to Sun Hi who was barely one year old at the time. She had a fever so my Mother couldn’t come to the game that day.

“Sun Hi, your Oppa won,” I whispered into her little ear.

I remembered how that night we sat together and ate pizza while drinking an unlimited amount of pop; just for me. We were about to play checkers when the doorbell rang. I was curious as to whom it was but now I wished I had never found out.

All I could hear were hushed voices. My Mother told me to stay back while she went to check out what was happening. I peeked from around the corner of the living room and saw a police officer speaking with my Father. And before I knew it, my Father was taken away in handcuffs and my Mother was a crying mess.

It turned out that my Father had committed fraud. But aside from that, he had an affair with my Soccer coach’s wife. From the limited pieces of information that I was able to gather, I found out that my Father and her had planned out their fraud together to get a lot of money and for my Father to get a higher status in the world of lawyers.

○●○●○

“He broke our family!” I said sternly to my Mother. The memory of that night sparked a great fire within me.

“I know, Sehun.”

“You keep saying that but you still chose to accept his flowers? How could you let him back in that easily?! I thought you promised me that we wouldn’t let him come into our lives again!” I yelled while throwing my hands up in the air.

“What about you, Sehun?”

I turned around to look at her. She was still sitting on the couch and her fists were clenching her skirt.

“Remember when you were twelve and you promised me that you would be a good child? You promised me you would help raise Sun Hi. You promised me that you would do well in school.”

“That’s different,” I cut in.

“How is that different?! It’s a promise, Sehun. A promise is a promise but you failed to keep yours. So why do I have to keep mine?”

“Because you’re my Mom,” I roared. “But why would you want to break the promise anyway? What is it about him that you actually like!?”

“Nothing, Sehun, nothing. There’s nothing I like about him,” She whispered.

I sighed, frustrated, “Then what is it about him that made you accept those damn flowers!?”

“I can’t do it anymore, Sehun. I can’t be a single Mother. It’s too hard,” She croaked.

For the first time that night, I calmed down and felt sympathetic for my Mother, “What do you mean? We’ve been doing fine.”

“That’s what you think. I’ve been taking money from your Dad for the past two years. He told me he’d help me pay off bills and other expenses so when you started to cause more trouble, I had to get money from somewhere to pay off the damages. When you broke the convenience shop down the street’s window, it was your Father who paid for that, not me.”

My mouth fell a bit as I was surprised. I always thought our financial state was perfectly fine.

“Mom, I could help you with the money. I could get a job so you don’t need to go to him.”

“Then nobody will be here for Sun Hi. She’s already been deprived of a family,” My Mother said as she put her hand to her forehead.

“I can deal with that.”

“No you can’t, Sehun!” My Mother yelled for the first time that night. “Money isn’t the only problem.”

“Then what else could it be? You’re bored so you’re taking to him again?”

“I’m lonely.”

I froze as her words repeated in my head.  My gaze slowly went to my Mother and I was heartbroken to see her crying. Tears ran down her face and she made no attempt to stop them.

“Mom,” I whispered as I bent down in front of her.

“It’s hard, Sehun. I don’t want to be the only adult anymore. I don’t want to be the only one who has to worry about things. I can’t do it,” She whispered.

My heart ached at her words. I was completely surprised to see her like this because I had always believed she was tough and strong. I always thought she was fine with the way we were going.

I didn’t know who my Mother was.

I brought my hands up to her face and wiped the tears away, “Stop crying, please.”

My Mother refused to listen to me and continued on with the tears. She made no attempt to calm down nor did she bother to look at me. Seeing my Mother so vulnerable hurt me more than anything could. I only wanted her to smile.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, regretting everything I said to her before. “I’m sorry for everything.”

“It’s not your fault, it never has been. You were just dragged into this mess,” She closed her eyes.

○●○●○

I had my arms wrapped around my Mother and I listened to her steady breath. She had stopped crying after I hugged her for a while and we just sat in each other’s company, not uttering a word.

I thought back to what my Mother said and realized that I could no longer be selfish. I had always hogged my Mother too much, not realizing that she needed somebody as well. I didn’t even care to think of Sun Hi who was growing up without anybody to watch her.

That night I wondered how much I actually knew. What if everybody was like my Mother and couldn’t handle life?

What in the world do I actually know?

“Aren’t you sleepy?” My Mother asked quietly.

I looked up at the clock to see that it was past midnight. I wondered how long we had been sitting there for but didn’t bother to get up.

“No, I’m not. Are you?”

“I’ve been tired for a long time now,” She chuckled bitterly.

My heart dropped for the nth time that night. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as I let go of my Mother. I put my hand on hers and looked her in the eye.

“I’ll be good now. I can’t promise that I’ll accept my Father but I’ll tolerate him,” I paused. “This is a promise I will keep.”

Just for you.

My Mother nodded her head and hugged me once again that night.

○●○●○

The sound coming from my alarm clock annoyed me greatly. It was a Monday morning and I was in absolutely no mood to get up especially considering the fact that I had slept quite late last night.

I turned off the annoying device and dragged myself out of bed and into the bathroom. After taking a quick shower and brushing my teeth, I went into my room to take out my uniform. I then changed into it and got my bag ready.

That was when the doorbell rang and without even checking I knew exactly who it was: him. I could hear Sun Hi tell my Father about her day spent at the hospital. She didn’t fail to mention Princess Sunggyu and the chocolate milk that Myungsoo bought her.

I could feel my mood go a bit down as I heard his deep laugh. I threw my bag on my bed and turned around to get out my jacket. After checking to see if everything was in place, I put my backpack on and began walking out of the room. While leaving, something hit my foot.

Curious, I bent down to pick it up and discovered it was the bouncy ball from the bus. I re-read the words: It’s never too late.

I listened to the conversation between my Mother and Father discussing their plans for today. I bit my lip and looked down at the ball again.

“It’s never too late,” I clutched the ball tightly. “Things can change for the better.”