"So you never moved out," HaNeul said as she took a seat at the dining table. She looked around the house, nostalgia seeping through her skin. It felt strange to be sitting at the table she once sat everyday, joyously with her family. "Nothing changed," she added.

SeoNam brought a cup of coffee to each of them and took a seat across from her. HaNeul quietly thanked him and the two adults silently took a sip out of their cups. For a few seconds, there was only the sound of cups hitting the table. Then followed a sigh.

"What brings you here all of a sudden?" SeoNam bravely asked, clasping his hands together on the table and slightly leaning in. 

"I wanted to apologize for what I did," HaNeul replied as she straightened her posture. "I was only thinking about myself. I didn't think how hard it might be on you and SoRa." Then HaNeul bowed, deeply. "I am sorry."

Seeing his former wife apologize, SeoNam could not hide his surprise. He cleared his throat and his eyes swam from side to side, his mouth dry and his eyes heating up. In the end, he settled to bowing back. 

"I'm sorry too," he said. This time HaNeul was taken back, unbending herself out of the bow. "I was selfish to have not find a stable job. I kept making mistakes and took it out on you. I'm sorry." Hearing HaNeul sob a little, he raised his head and sat up straight. He offered her a box of tissues and she gladly took one. 

Once she calmed down, they told each other how they have spent their time after their separation. SeoNam about how he opened a music store and his two young employees that always make him laugh. When he told her about SeungHyun losing eyesight, her tears came up again. Then HaNeul told him about how she lived with her parents in the suburban part of the country, how her father passed away from cancer last year, and how she worked at a school for disabled children. She told about a young college student named TaeKyung who worked for two years before moving back to the city to revisit his childhood friend. 

"But, why now?" SeoNam asked. Hearing her story, it seemed a better timing for her to come last year, coinciding with his father.

"I was helping my mother clean up the house the other day," she explained. "I dug up the boxes that I took from this house when I moved out and found old pictures. There wasn't a day that I didn't regret leaving this house. I hadn't touched those pictures in a while, and when I saw them again, I couldn' sit still. And I found pictures of SoRa in my father's room too. Until a few days ago, I couldn't gather the courage to come visit you, but seeing how my father missed SoRa too, I made up my mind to come here."

"I see," SeoNam nodded. After a short exhale, he looked down. "I'm sorry things ended this way before he saw SoRa again."

"Ah, but where is SoRa? Is she at school?" HaNeul asked, looking around. SeoNam blinked in disbelief.

"She... doesn't live here anymore," he answered. HaNeul's eyes widened.

"What?! Did she move out? Does she live alone?" HaNeul asked.

"I told you when I sent the divorce papers. I... I took her to the orphanage," SeoNam told her. HaNeul's face fell pale as she sank into her chair. "Did you not get the letter I sent you?" 

"I, I never received any letter from you," she answered, powerless. The room fell silent, then HaNeul realized what went wrong. "If you sent it to the address that I sent the papers from, then that didn't reach me. It was the address of the hotel I stayed at before going to my parents." She fell silent again. "SoRa... she grew up without parents?" she asked on the verge of tears.

"I'm sorry," SeoNam apologized again. "I didn't think it possible to raise her alone, given that I was unemplyed too." After a heavy pause, he said, "I told her you had to go away due to an illness. I doubt she remembers though."

Taking another tissue, HaNeul covered her eyes and pressed on them hard, as if that would stop the tears. "How is she? Do you know?" 

"She's deaf," he told her. She froze. "She had hearing problems since she was child, you know that. But as she grew up she lost hearing slowly. From what I hear, she was often bullied." It pained him to say this about his own daughter, who became an adult without remembering her parents' faces, suffering alone. "But," he added. "She has a boyfriend. A very caring one too. He's one of my employees, the one that attracts all the girls. But he's... he's blind. He was in an accident not too long ago and lost his eyesight. They live together in a house provided by the government right now." 

There was no words from HaNeul. She buried her face in her hands, guilt rushing inside her. SeoNam would have comforted her if he hadn't felt guilty as well. He also had tears rolling down his cheeks that needed to be wiped. However there was no one to dry the tears for them, and they knew they did not have the right to be comforted. They were the culprits that stole their innocent daughter's bright future.

Hey~

I'm sorry for not updating for a month >_<;;; Thank you for your patience
Soooo 2016 is finally coming to an end. How was everyone's year?? Any special events happen this year??

So many apologies and guilt in this chapter .__.
Next chapter is SeungHyun's visit to his house O__o Fingers crossed nothing will go wrong

Please feel free to leave a comment, and I will reply~