[NARRATOR]

Lea’s mother was a very nice and kind-hearted woman, that many people gathered at her house to pay their last respects after the funeral – relatives, friends, neighbours, colleagues, and even people that they barely knew. GD, Aunt Minseo and cousin Hayley helped entertaining the guests, while Lea locked herself up in her mother’s room upstairs.

Lea just sat down by the window, hugging her knees tightly while staring at the clear, blue sky. Surprisingly, she wasn’t crying this time. She cried too much the night before that her tears have all dried up. “Lea, it’s Aunt Minseo,” there was a knock on the door. “Can I please come in? I have something for you.” she continued.

Lea got up and walked towards the door lazily. “What is it?” she asked, emotionless, as she opened the door.

“Your mom left you a letter before she died. I wanted to wait a bit longer but I figured that it’s better to give it to you now.” said Aunt Minseo as she placed a soft-pink envelope into Lea’s hand.

“Thank you.” replied Lea simply before she closed and locked the door behind her, leaving her aunt a bit stunned.

Two days have passed and Lea still wouldn’t get out of her mother’s room. She hasn’t even eaten anything since the funeral, so GD and her aunt started to get worried. They tried many things to get her out of the room but to no avail. All they got from Lea was, “Don't worry, I’m okay.”

“Lea, open the door. I need to talk to you.” GD tried knocking on the door again the next morning, but as usual, Lea ignored him.

She snuggled under the covers and closed her eyes, trying to breathe in the smell that her mother has left on her bed, on her pillow, on her clothes. Someone started to knock the door again, and this time, it was louder and stronger. Lea tried to ignore it by covering her ears with some pillows. “Ya! Kwon Lea! You better open the door before I knock down this door!” Lea immediately sat up, shocked, after hearing a familiar voice.

“Lea! I’m going to count to three. 1, 2-” Lea immediately jumped off the bed to open the door.

“Hae Jung-ah…” Lea said weakly.

“Pabo-ya!” Hae Jung hugged her best friend as soon as the door was opened and Lea couldn’t hold her tears any longer.

She was bawling in her best friend’s arms. Hae Jung was so shocked to see Lea crying that hard. She didn’t know what to say so she just rubbed her back softly to comfort her. The two stayed like that for a couple of minutes and Lea finally stopped crying when she saw Yongguk peeking over GD’s shoulders.

“Yongguk-ah… what are you doing here? How did-” stuttered Lea as she pulled away from the hug.

“I’m sorry, eonnie. But I just had to tell him everything.” explained Hae Jung.

“And you, how did you-” Lea looked at Hae Jung, confused.

“I told her.” interrupted GD. “As a cousin, I couldn’t stand seeing you like this. I’m sorry, I know you wanted this to be a secret but I thought that they deserved to know what happened to their best friend.” he added.

Yongguk shoved his way into the room and took Lea into his arms. She started crying again. This time, it was tears of joy. She was really happy to see her Yongguk and Hae Jung. It, somehow, gave her the comfort that she needed for the past few days. “But, what about B.A.P’s comeback?” she asked Yongguk with confused eyes. “And what about your fashion show?” she then turned to Hae Jung to give similar confused eyes.

“Don’t worry about it. You are more important than our comeback right now. The boys understand and they have agreed to postpone it until you’re feeling better.” explained Yongguk, wiping away the tears on Lea’s cheeks with his thumbs.

“Yeah! Don’t worry about the fashion show. Lay told everything to the organiser and they agreed to give me another week. You’re more important than anything right now, eonnie. You need us. And we’re here for you.” Hae Jung added as she leaned closer for a group hug.

“Thank you.” Lea managed to say something to GD in the midst of being squeezed by her two best friends.

“Don’t mention it. We’re family. And that’s what family does for each other.” GD smiled happily looking at his cousin and ruffled her hair messily.

All thanks to Yongguk and Hae Jung, and of course, GD, Lea was finally able to get out of the room and mingle with everyone normally. Her aunt hugged her happily as soon as she stepped into the kitchen. “Are you hungry? I’m sure you’re hungry. I’ll cook your favourite dishes!” said her aunt happily.

“Yes, I’m very hungry.” Lea giggled.

They had dinner together like a family, just like the good old days. Lea looked at the empty seat where her mom usually sits and just smiled weakly. She missed her but she knew that she’s looking over her from heaven. Lea introduced Yongguk as her boyfriend to everyone and all the relatives were so excited. Some of them even interrogated him, especially the male relatives, being all protective and whatnot. “He’s a good man.” said Aunt Minseo softly as they observed them bullying Yongguk in the living room.

“He is.” replied Lea, smiling from ear to ear.

Everyone was just so happy that, not even a single tear was shed. Everyone seemed to have accepted the death and it’s time to let go. Lea turned to look at her mother’s picture hanging on the wall one last time before she headed back upstairs. “She’s beautiful, just like you.” said Yongguk as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

Lea turned her head to look at Yongguk and smiled. “Can you sleep with me tonight?” Yongguk was a bit taken aback by her sudden request. “Relax! You look like I’ll you or something.” Lea chuckled. “I just don’t want to be alone.” she continued, looking down.

Yongguk turned her body around to face him and looked her in the eyes. “Anything for my baby.” he winked. “I don’t mind doing more than-” his sentence was cut off by a slap on his face.

“Oh my God. I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to slap you that hard!” Lea panicked and rubbed his reddened cheek.

“I was just joking.” Yongguk pouted only to be kissed by Lea.

“Aigo, these two lovebirds!” Aunt Minseo interrupted and the two immediately ran upstairs, both blushing like crazy.

[LEA’S POV]

I woke up this morning only to find a handsome, young man lying next to me, his arms wrapped around my waist. I was happy. Really happy. I studied his facial features as I caressed them with my fingers. I kissed his nose. I kissed both his eyes. I kissed his cheekbones. I kissed lips. He was sleeping so soundly that he didn’t even realise what I was doing.

Suddenly, I saw the letter that Aunt Minseo gave me on the side table. My heart dropped. I haven’t read the letter yet and I figured that it was finally the time. I took the letter and sat down on an armchair by the window. I hesitated to open it at first but after a few breathe in’s and breathe out’s, I finally managed to open it.

Dear Kwon Hee Yeon,

My beautiful Hee Yeonnie, I am probably dead by the time you’re reading this. How are you? I haven’t seen you in a long time. I’ve missed you so much while you’re gone. You must be a lot prettier now, right? Because you’re my daughter, my one and only daughter.

I have been a bad mother to you. I blamed you when your dad left us for another woman. I knew it was wrong, I knew it was stupid but I still blamed you for something you didn’t do. You reminded me a lot of your dad that it hurt so much. But that wasn’t enough of an excuse to treat you the way I have treated you all these years.

And things got even worse when your brother died. I knew very well myself that it was not your fault that he died but I still blamed you for everything. It wasn’t your fault, Yeonnie-ah. It really wasn’t. It was something beyond your control. Even if you arrived earlier, you still wouldn’t be able to save him because Jin was suffering from a heart disease. Even if he did not drown that day, he would’ve died eventually. I didn’t tell you this because you were still young and I didn’t want you to worry too much. So please, please don’t be too hard on yourself and please don’t blame yourself because it really was not your fault.

Yeonnie-ah, I’m really sorry… for everything. I wish that I could turn back time and be a better mother to you. I’m sorry and I love you. I always have loved you. Don’t worry, I’m in good hands now. I’ll look over you from heaven with your little brother. He must be really happy to see me again. I’ll tell him know that you said hello and that you miss him. Take care of yourself, alright? Stay healthy and make us proud! Once again, I love you.

Love,

Mom.

[NARRATOR]

Lea couldn’t stop crying when she read the letter. She just couldn’t control her emotions. She was crying so loud that it woke Yongguk up. He panicked and rushed over to Lea and hugged her tightly. “Ssshhh.. I’m here for you. Everything’s going to be all right.” Yongguk kissed her head, trying his best to comfort his girlfriend.

To be continued...

A/N: Okay, 1 more episode left! And there's another surprise! So stay tuned! :D