021

THIRD PERSON'S POV

Jessica's jaw automatically dropped upon hearing Tiffany's last sentence. Questions kept running round in her head as Tiffany mentioned that her mother was in their apartment, looking for her. She doesn't know why but she felt uneasy. Like after convincing herself that everything will be okay, that everything will turn out fine, something not good will always happen.

That is why she doesn't like it when she's super happy. Everytime that she's happy, something bad happens and happiness will be replaced by sadness.

As soon as Tiffany called, Donghae and Jessica hurriedly went back.

"Are you sure you don't want to meet her?" Jessica asked Donghae for the last time before going out of his car.

Donghae smiled at her. "Maybe not now. Well, maybe some other time. Besides, I still have some papers to finish."

"Oh, okay," Jessica muttered and smiled back. "See you, then."

Donghae nodded. "Goodnight, princess." he told and kissed her temple.

"Goodnight too, fishy!" Jessica giggled. "Drive safely, okay?"

He saluted as Jessica made her way out of his car, waited for his car to disappear as it sped off. By the time his car was no longer visible, she sighed. Anxiety started to build up inside of her as she worried about meeting her mom once again. She doesn't know why was she even there waiting for her. She usually doesn't care about Jessica.

She was too deep in thoughts that she didn't notice that she's already in front of their apartment's door. She sighed heavily before placing her hand on the doorknob. She was hesitant to twist it at first but as soon as she heard Tiffany and he mom's laugh, she decided to go in.

"Oh, there she is!" she heard Tiffany say, probably heard her as she opened the door.

Jessica gave her a mother a look. Looked at her from head to toe. Sure, she felt odd when she saw her mother. It has been months since she last saw her and she really did notice some changes on her mother's appearance but then, she's still the same. Well, the smile that she's giving to her is an exception.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, directly to the point as she removed her coat.

Tiffany opened , about to say something when she decided not to interfere so she just decided to shut up and excused herself to Jessica and her mom.

Now, Jessica was left with her mom.

"Is that how you welcome your mom, Sooyeon? No hello? No I miss you?" her mom asked her, not sure if she's being sarcastic or what but she seemed half-sarcastic, half-serious.

Jessica rolled her eyes and looked away. "Come on. Just tell me what do you want from me?"

Her mom reached for her hand. She didn't pull it though, she didn't feel like disgusted either. She just gave her mother a weird look. Somehow, there's a part of her that loves her no matter how her mother had treated her. She's still thankful for her, for raising her and dressing her. She wouldn't be like this if it wasn't for her and for her dad.

"Let us sit first, shall we?" Her mom pulled her into the sofa and they sat side by side.

"Tiffany mentioned me that you've been doing good with your studies lately and you—well, how do I say this" her mom let out a chuckle. "You already got yourself a boyfriend?"

Jessica nodded with such confidence.

Jessica noticed that her mom's expression suddenly changed into a serious one when she answered. But she can't blame her. Mothers will always be mothers. However, on top of this, she doesn't even know why her mother's being all so caring towards her and it's making her way too confused.

"Why didn't I know about this?" Jessica's mom asked her with a serious face and a serious tone.

"You didn't ask, Mom. Besides, you don't care even if I have one." Jessica replied, quite wondering where she got those words to reply.

Jessica's mom felt like she was slapped by her words. Jessica was right. She didn't care for her because of the reason that she's not their biological daughter. But still, she's one of her daughters. And it's her biggest mistake for not letting her feel what a mother's love is like.

"But Jessica, you're still young! Are you even sure about this? Are you even sure that it's really love that you two are feeling?" her mom continuously asked as she held Jessica's shoulder and kept on shaking her.

"W-Why are you being like this?" she asked, brows furrowed and irritated eyes. "Why are you even doubting my love for Donghae? You don't even know him, for goodness' sake! How dare you tell those kind of things to me?! Tell me, what is really your purpose of going here?"

Mrs. Jung didn't know what got into her that she slapped Jessica. While, Jessica, on the other hand, was quite stunned at her mom's sudden action. She held her right cheek and looked at her mom with so much hate.

"Why do you keep on giving me reasons to hate you?" she asked her, tears forming from the corner of her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry, s-sweetie! I-I'm sorry." she tried to reach for her daughter but Jessica stepped backwards to get away from her.

"You went here being all so caring and something and now, you slapped me?! Seriously? Is that really your purpose? You came here just to slap me? To tell me that maybe I'm not sure about my relationship with Donghae? WHY ARE YOU EVEN MAKING THINGS SO COMPLICATED FOR ME, MOM!?" Jessica cried.

"It's not that, sweetie. I just don't want you to experience what I've experienced. I always thought your father was the right one for me, but I thought wrong. It's not that I'm doubting you. You're misunderstanding all of this, sweetie. I just wanted the best for you. I don't want to see you hurt from now on. I know you've been through a lot and I'm so proud of you that you remained strong and stood up for yourself. I know that your grandmother has been wrong all the time. I know all the hardships you've experienced and I don't want to see you hurting again."

Tears were now streaming down their faces. Her mom, honestly, came here to apologize to Jessica and reconcile with her. She knows that her daughter probably hates her and now, she blames herself for not being there for her, for not showing her love for her, for not caring about her. It was Soojung all along. It was Soojung who told her all about Jessica and if it wasn't for Krystal, Mrs. Jung would probably be still the same old woman that Jessica hated. But as for Jessica, she still doesn't know why her mother's acting like that. It was pretty unusual for her to be like that, yes.

"Since when did you start caring about me? I thought you don't care about me? What is this act again, Mom?" Jessica calmly asked her mother, tears kept on falling from her eyes.

Just then, it occured to Jessica's mom that Jessica's no longer easy to convince and to get. She has changed a lot and she noticed that yes, her walls are so hard to break. She has build these high walls to protect herself and somehow, it was a relief to her that somehow, she learned how to protect herself so she won't be hurt by others.

"I know I've been bad to you ever since. I know that I've never been the best mother to you. I know that I never showed my love for you, Sooyeon. I am very sorry for that, sweetie. I understand if you hate me or if you're mad at me. I can't blame you for that, though. I've been very bad towards you and maybe... I'll face the consequences." Mrs. Jung wiped her tears away as she looked at her daughter's eyes. "I know you're not really my daughter but to be honest, I consider you as my daughter. You probably don't know that I somehow cared for you. I'm sorry for all the things I've done to you, sweetie. I really am and it's fine with me if you can't forgive me, at least, I gave you my apology for everything I've done to you."

Jessica's face softened as she heard her mother's words. She may not be her true mother but it's still great to think that you have a mother no matter what they do to you. All of her hate she has for her mother were carried away. She felt the sincerity in her mother's words as she say those words to her. It made her cry even more. It feels really nice for her. She felt happiness after hearing those words which came from her mother.

She couldn't utter a single word, doesn't know what to say. But, action speaks louder than words, right? She wiped her tears away and walked towards her mother. She wrapped her arms around Mrs. Jung as she welcomed her into her arms and hugged her real tight.

Mrs. Jung hugged her back as she felt happiness.

"You don't have to face the consequences, Mom. I forgive you. What happened in the past, it's not important anymore. Let's just leave it all behind and create greater memories from now on." Jessica whispered to her mother as she pulled away, giving her mom a warm smile.

She wiped her mother's tears away using her thumb. "Did you eat already?" Jessica asked.

Her mother shook her head. "No, not yet. How about you, sweetie?"

"Not yet, either," she replied with a smile. "Would you like to go out and eat?"

"Shall we?" Mrs. Jung chuckled. "Oh, did Tiffany eat already?" she asked her daughter.

Just in cue, Tiffany went out of her room, showing her infamous eyesmile as she noticed that finally, the two of them had already reconciled. Mrs. Jung told her earlier that she went there to patch things up with Jessica and say sorry. And now, seeing them happy, makes her happy as well.

"Did you eat already, Miyoung?" Mrs. Jung asked Tiffany.

Tiffany shook her head as a response.

"Perfect! Come and join me and Jessica. We're going to have dinner!" Mrs. Jung invited.

Tiffany was kind of hesitant at first and was about to decline but then her stomach growled causing Jessica to laugh at her. Her cheeks flushed red in embarrassment. Mrs. Jung laughed a bit.

"Aigoo, guess our Miyoung's already hungry. You have no choice but to go with us. Come, grab your coat and come with us."

"Alright, Auntie. Wait for a while, I'll just change my clothes." Tiffany finally gave in and went inside of her room to change her clothes.

The three of them are now walking towards the parking lot as they talked to each other.

"Where do you want to eat?" Mrs. Jung asked the younger ones.

Tiffany and Jessica thought for a while. "I can't think of something, Auntie. What kind of food do you want to eat, by the way?" the eye-smiling lady asked.

"I've been craving for Mexican food lately." Mrs. Jung replied.

Shoot! "Grill5Taco!" Jessica suggested as she beamed.

"Tacos! Yes, I want one!" Mrs. Jung agreed.

"Grill5Taco, it is!" Tiffany said as the three of them hurried towards the car's direction and headed to the restaurant that Donghae and his brother owns.

"I bet you just want to see Donghae." Tiffany teased Jessica from the backseat of Mrs. Jung's car. Jessica giggled.

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author's note

My AFF account is already 11 months old! It'll turn 1 next month! Hahahaha! Okay, how was the 22nd chapter? Tell me how did it go and what you think of it! =))))

Please do comment! It makes me happy :)