Yuri

Kwon Boa sat on the couch, sipping her cup of tea that Yoona had prepared. Jiyoung awkwardly hid in Yoona's embrace, occasionally peeking out to stare at the older woman, and hiding again when she was caught.

Yuri sat beside her mother, trying to take everything in. She hadn't seen her mother in almost six years, and suddenly she comes in, telling her that it has 'been a while'? The tanned girl had mixed feelings. She was either angry that her mother had waited this long to see her, or relieved to see her mother again. Either way, she was mostly confused, about why her mother chose to find her again today.

"Jiyoung, time for bed. Let's go." Yoona and Jiyoung left to give them some time alone.

There was an awkward silence, mostly because Yuri didn't know what to ask. She finally settled with the easiest question of the book.

"M-mom?" She asked, stammering, unsure if she still had the right to call Kwon Boa that. "How did you find me?"

"I hired a private eye..." Boa hesitated as she saw the shock in Yuri's face. "I needed to find you, and catch up on our... loss years."

Yuri nodded, her face expressionless. "How's... Dad?" It seemed so weird calling someone she had never seen in years that.

"He doesn't know about this, and I plan to keep it from him for the time being." Boa sipped her tea. "He's tied up with work as usual, and the business is getting pretty busy these days."

Yuri knew that her father was a boss of his own company, one that wasn't too big or too small, and gave the family more than enough to stay afloat. She nodded again, awkwardly playing with her fingers.

Boa continued,"I see you have a daughter... Is she and that girl the reason why you left Youngbae?"

That was direct. Yuri felt a surge of anger inside her. She had introduced her mother to Jiyoung and Yoona before, so why couldn't Boa just mention their names? Why did she have to call Yoona 'that girl', like she was some low class, unworthy of her superiority? Worse still, didn't she read the news? Youngbae's face was splattered on every single one of them, from Sports Seoul to Dispatch.

"Leave Jiyoung and Yoona out of this. It was Youngbae, not them." Yuri answered with a hint of anger in her voice.

"I see. So the news was true hmm. I never knew that I had married off my daughter to an abusive man." Boa replied.

"That's because you just wanted the money." Yuri laughed faintly, causing Boa to sit up straighter. "You thought I didn't see it, but the contract had left a hefty sum of money for you."

"I'm not denying that, but we needed the money. Your father's business suffered a massive loss, and his old friend Yang Hyun Suk offered him a deal he couldn't refuse." Boa explained, and Yuri felt her eyes well up with tears.

"So you'll sell your daughter? I can't believe you!" She cried, and the tears of anger and sadness came pouring out. "He mistreated me for years! And I tolerated it, because I thought you'd be happier without me! Is that why you didn't even visit me once after the wedding?"

"No, we wanted to visit, Yul..." Boa tried to help dry her daughter's tears of rage, but couldn't because Yuri stubbornly pulled away. "But we were afraid that you'll be angry with us."

"That's just an excuse. I waited for you to come, mom! I thought that maybe, you'll come by and save me, that you would see through my lies, and help me!" Yuri raised her voice, and pulled up her left sleeve.

"Is this nothing to you? He hurt me, over and over again. After every bruise faded away, he made new ones." The tanned girl sobbed, losing the strength to continue.

Boa let her own tears fall down her cheeks as she watched her daughter talk about the pain she felt. She was totally guilty, and angry with herself for causing all this.

"Yuri..." She started, but stopped. "I can't tell you how sorry I am. Please let me take this chance to reconcile with you."

"No matter what, they're my family, of course I want to see them!"

Yuri thought about the last time when she and Yoona had their heartfelt conversation. She did say that she wanted to see her parents again, and that she would forgive them. But why was is so hard, now that the right time had come?

Boa lifted her hand to wipe the tears off Yuri's cheeks, her motherly instinct taking over. Yuri sobbed, letting her mother caress her cheeks. It turned into an awkward hug, the both of them crying into each other's shoulders.

Boa smiled, taking that as a sign of acceptance from Yuri. She embraced her daughter tightly, a hug they never got to have after six years apart.

"Stop those tears, child." Boa said, wiping the never ending tears off Yuri's wet cheeks. "We're together again, and nothing will tear us apart."

"Now, tell me what happened, and we'll catch up on our lost years."

 

Yoona

"Umma, is that ahjumma my halmoni?" Jiyoung asked, yawning cutely as Yoona tucked her in bed.

"Yes," she answered, patting the little girl's head.

"Then why did she make Yuri umma so sad?"

Yoona froze, wondering how the younger girl noticed that since she also saw how flustered and awkward the tanned girl was with her mother.

"Yuri hasn't met her for a very long time... But young girls like you shouldn't ask so many questions." Yoona gave Jiyoung a quick kiss on her forehead. "Now go to sleep."

The little girl nodded, her eyelids drooping down in exhaustion. Yoona didn't know if Jiyoung heard the screams from outside, so she made sure to use the pillows to cover her ears.

When Jiyoung had fallen asleep, Yoona was hesitant to leave the room, since she wanted to leave Yuri some time with her mother. She waited until an hour passed, when she almost fall asleep waiting. Instead of dozing off, she wanted to make sure that Yuri was fine, and not hurt or sad.

Quietly, Yoona made her way out of Jiyoung's room. She spotted Yuri in the kitchen, washing the leftover dishes she didn't get the chance to wash. There was no sign of Mrs Kwon.

"How did it go?" She asked as she stepped into the kitchen.

"Could have been worse." Yuri replied. "My mother was surprisingly revealing today."

"Did you forgive her?"

"I almost didn't. But I did."

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