“DaeHyun ah ! Wake up ! Time for breakfast !” A female voice called out, waking DaeHyun up from his slumber. DaeHyun sluggishly opened his eyes with a deep yawn. He sat up on his bed and scratched his head before stretching his arms up. As he was rubbing his face, DaeHyun winced a little when he rubbed his eyes. They felt a bit sore and DaeHyun sighed in frustration.

He was just about to get down from his bed when his mother called out again from the kitchen, “DaeHyun ah ! Are you up yet ? Don’t make me get the water bucket !” DaeHyun chuckled at his mother’s words. She can still be treating him like a small kid at times.

“I’m up, mother !” DaeHyun replied before grabbing his towel and new clothes. He entered the bathroom to wash up and got ready for the day. While he was washing up, ChanByul, his mother, was preparing breakfast for the two of them. They both had their own activities for that day and ChanBul especially won’t be back till later. DaeHyun was going to meet up with his friends at the skateboard ramp later, for Zelo was in a skateboarding competition.

After half an hour, DaeHyun walked down the stairs and sat on the chair of the four-seated table, where the dishes were already served. DaeHyun helped himself for some eggs and toasts as ChanByul walked out from the kitchen while carrying two mugs of drinks.

“Morning, omma.” DaeHyun said as he gave her a smile. ChanByul smiled at him back and greeted him too before handing him his mug. She sat across from DaeHyun and helped herself with the breakfast as well.

“You’re going to the ramp after this right ?” ChanByul asked as she took a sip of her hot coffee, recollecting DaeHyun's plan for that day. DaeHyun nodded while munching on his scrambled eggs. “Yup. Zelo’s big competition is today. It’s important for him that all of us are there watching him. So come rain or shine, we'll be there until he's done.” He said.

ChanByul nodded in acknowledgement and added, “Tell him that I wish him all the best. And be careful not to get injured. I know he can win the competition.”

“Will do, omma. You’ll be back a bit late tonight as well, I presume ?” DaeHyun asked and received a nod from ChanByul as the answer. “Yeah. There are just so many things to be done at the office. Not to mention that I have a number of meetings that I need to attend to.” ChanByul said with a sigh.

DaeHyun softened at his mother and said in concern, “Don’t overwork yourself, mom. Take a break once in a while, don’t you ? You’ve been working hard for so long. I think you should take a few days off to unwind or you’ll get sick. I’ll talk to your manager if I have to, you know.” DaeHyun couldn’t help but to be concerned at his mother who was a workaholic. She’s been working very hard and DaeHyun was afraid that she will get sick if she didn’t get any proper or enough rest.

ChanByul smiled at her son’s concern and said, “Okay, okay. I promise that I will take a break once I’ve finished with today’s work. I was just thinking about taking a leave for a few days as well. I hardly see you nowadays since I’m too busy. Which brings me to notice, what happened to your eyes ?! Did you even sleep ?” ChanByul leaned closer to take a better look at DaeHyun’s eyes and noticed eyebags under his eyes.

DaeHyun then remembered about his sore eyes and gently touched them. They felt less sore now but still the pain was still there. Giving his mother an assuring smile, DaeHyun said, “Nah, don’t worry mother. I did sleep, just that I kept waking up, that’s all. So I thought why not just stay awake since I couldn’t fall asleep anymore.”

ChanByul stared at him hard and DaeHyun knew what his mother was thinking. He was spot on when ChanByul said, “You still have that dream, do you ?” her gaze on DaeHyun softened when her son looked down on his plate with a soft sigh.

DaeHyun took a deep breath before he nodded with a sad smile, “I do, mother. It’s been so long but the dream keeps haunting me. I have to say that at the moment it has been very loyal to me. I’m 17 now but it keeps following me up to this day.” He said and let out a nervous laugh.

ChanByul nodded in understanding and knew what her son was feeling. She took him in for almost ten years now and she was well aware about the dream DaeHyun always had. She tried helping him by letting DaeHyun to talk to her about it but the dream kept haunting him from time to time.

Even though she can’t help him in other ways, she hoped that by letting her son talk to her about it; no matter how many times he told her already; he will feel better afterwards. And that was what she was going to do that morning too.

“Do you want to talk about it ? I’m all ears, love. You can tell me anything.” ChanByul said as she spread some butter on her toast. DaeHyun gave his mother a grateful smile and thanked her for her kindness to listen to the same story over and over again.

“I just wish I can let it go, mother.” DaeHyun mumbled while smiling sadly. “I really wish I could let it go.” His voice was shaking when he said that and he was fighting with himself not to let emotions took the best of him.

ChanByul reached out for his hand and said gently, “You’re trying, love. I know it’s hard but I have to agree with you. You have to let it go. The reason why it’s still haunting you is because you can’t untangle yourself from the past. I know it’s easier said than done but it’s been so many years, DaeHyun.” She patted his hand as she gave him the same advice she always gave whenever they talked about that matter.

Tears were glistening in his eyes as he looked up to his mother. His voice was quivering as he had a lump in his throat. “I keep feeling guilty, mother. I often try to tell myself that I did the right thing but the guilt has taken over me. I made a promise that I will take care of her but I let her go. I broke my promise.”

ChanByul shook her head and said sternly at her almost breaking down son, “No, DaeHyun. You didn’t break your promise. You did what you had to do for her best. I know that if you could, you will never let her out of your sight. But you had to, and I know it took a lot of you to be able to let her go. It isn’t your fault. It isn’t anybody’s fault.”

Finally, the tears spilt over and flowed down his cheeks. He had lost his appetite to eat and suddenly the food tasted bland. He closed his eyes as sadness, for a long moment, silenced everything inside him. If there was one thing that could make him cry, it would be about remembering his past. The one that had been following him and be his best friend for years.

“It’s been ten years since the last I saw her. I bet I can’t recognize her anymore now and I wonder how she looks now that she’s a teenage girl. But the question that scares me the most is, whether she is still alive or whether she made it through the surgery.” DaeHyun said as he wiped his tears using his jacket’s sleeve. Inside his mind he blamed himself for crying so early in the morning and that he still hadn’t gotten over that issue.

ChanByul cocked her head to the side and asked gently, “What does your heart tell you ?”

DaeHyun looked at ChanByul with red eyes before he began to think about it. What did his heart say ? Was his sister still alive ? Was there a chance for him to see her again ? He tried to imagine his sister’s face, her smile and her laughter. After a few moments, he took a deep breath and slowly smiled as he said confidently, “Yes. Yes, she’s still alive. That’s what my heart says.”

He met ChanByul’s eyes and the woman also smiled while nodding her head, “It’s not wrong to hope a little, DaeHyun ah. Even though sometimes hopes can bring us down, but we should always hope for the best and have faith.”

DaeHyun nodded as ChanByul’s words reminded him so much of his late mother. His caring mother, who cared about nothing except him and his sister. Who loved him and his sister more than herself, more than anything else in the world.

“You will grow to love JiHyun so much, mother, if you ever met her.” DaeHyun said with a smile as he pondered his little sister. He stared into the empty space as he reminisced his sister’s childish attitude, her endless questions, her joy.

“She’s the type of girl who was unlike any other children her age. She was .. as fresh as a daisy but could be timid or shy as well when she met new people. She always had me and mom in stitches with her silly questions and imaginations. She really liked to ask questions, that girl. Sometimes they were hard to answer as well and she sometimes found it hard to understand. Despite the explanation was easy and simple, there were times that she found it to be beyond her.

She always held onto me, depended on me a lot. I had to admit that I was the centre of her world, besides our mom. I know that she really looked up to me. Our father died when she was still very young and she could hardly remember anything. I was the closest male she had and I was almost like a father to her as well as her brother.”

ChanByul softened as she heard DaeHyun telling her about his sister, the one he yearned for so long. She knew immediately from DaeH