It ranges from, “we’re not hiring,” up to,” with no proper education, you can just go to hell.” Rejection after rejection, insult after insult, Yookyung had them all in just one day. She’s been out, roaming around, looking for job or jobs that she oh-so-desperately needs. Yet, here she is, sitting on a bench in some park, looking dazed and empty with her shoulder hunched, showing helplessness. There are bills and rent to be paid, in addition to mouths to be fed. This is bad, really bad. After quitting her job at Baekhyun’s café, she’s left only with her milk delivery job, which obviously gave her minimum income that only suffice daily meals.

She knew it wouldn’t be easy. Yet, she didn’t expect it to be this hard. On top of limited availability, she also endured lots of emotional pressure from the many rude employers.

Yookyung sighed deeply to suppress her tears that almost escaped from her eyes. No, she can’t cry. She’s supposed to be strong and dependable. She believed that she would be able to overcome this. However, her confidence is slowly wearing down, too.

Walking down the street to Hoon’s school, Yookyung felt and immense feeling of shame holding her down every step of her way. Hoon is still kept in the dark regarding his mom’s loss of job. He, however, knew that he is no longer going to see uncle Baekhyun. Why? He’s also not quite sure about it.

There he was again, decked in tailored burgundy shirt and clean-cut black pants. Yookyung’s threat seems to have been taken as candy wrapper for this man. Yookyung’s eyes widen in anger as she witness Joonmyeon’s gentle gestures towards her baby boy. She quickly strides towards the both of them, gathering his boy into his arms.

“Mommy!” Hoon exclaimed while squishing her waist. Joonmyeon, who was initially on his knees, slowly stood up and face Yookyung, currently staring back at him with full animosity.

“I thought I told you to stay away from him,” she hissed. Hoon, confused, just kept on looking back and forth between his mother and the nice uncle.

“I thought I told you that I won’t,” he replied, a hint of smirk drew upon his face.

“Mommy, it’s ok. This uncle is nice. He will never hurt Hoon. He was just asking about my day,” The kid squished her waist tighter, his body shook a little at his mom’s angered expression.

Yookyung, feeling the trembling body of her baby, quickly softened and looked down to him before gently patting his head.

“Let’s go,” she softly whispered and dragged her baby away from Joonmyeon, trying her best to ignore Joonmyeon’s following eyes.

Joonmyeon’s eyes follow the retreating, slowly diminishing, figures of Yookyung and his ‘son’, suppressing his strong urge from dragging them to his cars and driving them back home. Longing for that one day where he will be able to take his baby boy somewhere nice, just to make up for all those years he had missed from the boy’s life. Yearning for the day when he will be able to tell Hoon who he really is and step in as that figure, rather than just being the ‘nice uncle’.

That night, Yookyung was lying beside her baby. His soft breathing calmed her havoc mind just a little bit. She envied him for sleeping so deeply, yet felt relieve that at least one of them could. She couldn’t get herself to calm down. What if she couldn’t get any job again tomorrow? What if she got a job, but wouldn’t be able to match it with Hoon’s schedule? Will the job pay for her expenses? Her lips started to quiver as she brought her hands up to silence her whimpers.

“Mommy, can you take a picture of me and that bear?” A little girl cheerfully squealed as she ran towards a bear mascot of the amusement park. The bear crouched down and welcomed the little girl with open arms as she ran into it, squishing the life out of the bear. The mom smiled at the sight as she brought her camera up, signaling the countdown and took a picture of the both of them. The little girl quickly kissed the bear’s cheek before running back to her mom, who is smiling gratefully at the bear. The bear waved to the mother and daughter before continuing the journey of roaming around while walking animatedly, welcoming the patrons of the amusement park.

“Here’s your lunch, Yookyung,” she quickly took the bento box before sitting down at the corner of the basement. The heat from the costume burns every fiber of her body, yet she refused to take it off, except for the head. It took so much time to put it back on and thus, she decided to bear with the heat instead.

After searching for over a week, she finally got the job of being the bear mascot in the amusement park. The pay is good, on top of receiving transport money and free lunch. Furthermore, her schedule matches Hoon’s.

It is, of course, not a job that one could be proud of, yet it pays for their expenses and that is good enough for her. Hoon doesn’t really know his mom’s job anyway, thus saving him from being embarrassed about it.

Though, after watching so many families laughing and having fun together in the park, is not very pleasant for her. Often times, she felt down and sad, and also felt sorry for her Hoon, for not being able to provide him with that much fun and warmth unlike other families. Yet, she always quickly set it aside as people, and her employers, paid her to be the cheerful bear, not a bear that buries itself in self-pity.

After lunch, the bear continued roaming around, not forgetting to wave and play around with the kids. Yet, she stopped at the sight of a particular family. There, she saw Joonmyeon, holding onto a little boy’s hand while a gentle looking lady hold the other side of the boy’s hand. They looked so happy, swinging the boy once in a while. Joonmyeon’s other hand was holding a rainbow cotton candy, which he occasionally fed to the little boy.

Yookyung’s eyes stung with tears. If only Kris didn’t throw her away that morning, will she and Hoon be in that place instead of them? Will her baby be eating cotton candies and wear fancy clothes while playing as a VIP in the amusement park? Will he has that fair, well groomed, looking skin and wear expensive looking shoes, too?

Yookyung secretly followed the family around. Well, not so secretly as her bear costume is not helping much. Suddenly, the boy beside Joonmyeon looked behind and his smile grew at the sight of the bear mascot. He quickly let go of his parent’s hands and ran to the bear. Joonmyeon and his wife quickly look behind and found their boy in the bear’s embrace, him playing with the bear’s nose. They looked at each other before joining hands and slowly approaching them.

“Daddy, look! The bear is so cute!” he squealed.

Inside, Yookyung is crying. Tears just flow down her cheeks. This could’ve been Hoon. His baby could’ve been the one squealing in glee, looking well fed and well groomed. From inside of the costume, Yookyung gazed at the boy affectionately before slowly rubbing his back. How lucky of you, son.

“Come, Hoon. Let’s ride the flying balloon,” his mom called at the boy, who quickly kissed the bear’s cheek before running to his mother’s arm and the both of them proceed to the ride.

Joonmyeon was slowly following behind when he felt someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and found the bear. Quickly, he grew confuse. The bear gestured him to follow her, confusing him even more. Yet, he did, and the both of them ended up in a secluded area behind the snack shack.

The bear took off his head and, to Joonmyeon’s surprise; found Yookyung’s tear stained, red face underneath.

“Yoo… Yookyung-ah. You’re the bear?” he gasped. 

Yookyung quickly nodded before taking a deep breath and looked at Joonmyeon is the eyes. “I need you to do something for me,” she half whispered.

“What is it?” he asked, raising one of his eyebrows. From what he recalled, she despised him. What kind of favor could she possibly want to ask him for?

“Ta…Take Hoon,” she painfully whispered.