3 years ago…

“Oppa, where are we going?” Choi Yoon Suh asked when the car stopped at a place that looks like a horse ranch. She turned to her husband who was smiling at her. “What is this place?” She asked again.

Min Ho took her hand and enveloped into his. Looking deeply into her eyes, he tried to show his sincerity towards her, towards their marriage. “I know it was my fault that I spent most of my time in my work and I have neglected you and So Won. But now I try to delegate my work to Secretary Oh and I will spend more time with both of you.” He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles softly. “I will spend more time with you, love you, and understand you. I know we have to compromise in a relationship and a marriage. I want to make this work. I want to make us work.” He looked at her expectantly.

Yoon Suh stared into his eyes and for the first time, she can really feel his love for her. “You are not angry about…”

“No.” Min Ho cut her off. He inhaled deeply. “I admit that I was very hurt and angry when I found out the truth but now when I try to put myself in your shoes, I understand why you did that. And you said that was an accident. It was long time ago and I think I should be responsible too.”

Yoon Suh bit her lip. “You sure you can forgive me and forget about that incident?” She asked softly.

Min Ho nodded. “Yes. I just want to have my family back.”

Yoon Suh smiled. “Oppa…”

Min Ho pulled her into his arms and her hair gently. “Today is your birthday. We should be happy. I have bought you a birthday present.”

Yoon Suh looked up at him with her eyes glistening. “A birthday present? What is that?” She asked impatiently.

“It’s waiting for us there. Let’s go down.” Min Ho replied happily.

Yoon Suh turned to the car window and tilted her head in confusion.

Both of them went down and as they got nearer to the centre of the ranch, Yoon Suh started to feel uneasy. She dislikes the smell of the animals around that place. She tightened her grip onto Min Ho and moved closer to him.

They stopped in front of a middle-aged man who was holding a white horse. He bowed politely at Min Ho and handed the reins to him before he walked away.

Min Ho patted the white horse. “Isn’t she beautiful? I fall in love with her when I first saw her.” He turned to Yoon Suh and smiled. “Just like you. I fell in love with you instantly when I first saw you in the farm.”

Yoon Suh took a step backward when the horse moved. She hates her. She hates her smell, she hates the way it looks and she hates animal. She felt nauseated whenever she is close to one. She took a deep breath, trying to make herself feel better.

She looked at Min Ho with a disappointed gaze. “So this is the present you are talking about?”   

Min Ho nodded. “She reminded me so much about you.”

Yoon Suh turned to the horse and glared at it. She was screaming inside in frustration. This horse reminded him about her? Does he mean that she looks like a horse? She inhaled another deep breath.

“Do you know what is the name that I give her?” Min Ho asked.

Yoon Suh was laughing sarcastically inside. He even gives this animal a name. She shook her head without looking at him.

Min Ho looked at her and smiled. “Her name is Twinflower.”

Yoon Suh bit her bottom lip hard as she stared up at Min Ho. She could begin to feel her blood boil in frustration when she heard that name, that word. Twinflower again. They have been together for almost 8 years now and he has been saying this damn name for thousand and million times.

“Twinflower is a symbol of our love.” Min Ho continued.

Yoon Suh clenched onto her skirt, trying to hide her annoyance. “Why is that so?” She asked uninterestedly.

“Because that was the first thing you gave me.” Min Ho said, smiling when he recalled that day when they met in the farm. “I can still remember that you were wearing a white colour shirt with blue jeans. Your backpack is red in colour. You were running along the tangerine farm and I thought you stay there. You even know there were twinflowers grew at that area. If not because of you, my father’s wouldn’t be able to find a special kind of flower to make a new perfume.”

Yoon Suh looked up at him. “What tangerine farm?”

“Hmmm… tangerine farm in Jeju Island near Seongsan.” Min Ho pinched her nose playfully. “Do you have a memory loss? Every time I asked you about that incident you said you only remember a little. And you are such a tease. When I asked about your name at that time, you just asked me to call you twinflower.” Min Ho said with a wide smile. He always feels happy whenever he thinks about that day. Although it has been so many years already but everything was still so clear and intact. The smile on her face, each and every word she said to him, he can still remember very clearly. And because of that, no matter what she did, he still want to try. Try to salvage their love, their marriage.

Yoon Suh bit her lip again. “That was so long ago. How can you be so sure it was me when we met again at my high school?”

Min Ho moved his hand to her chin and caressed it softly. “Except for your chin was sharper and you got taller, everything was still the same. I will not forget how you look.”

Yoon Suh inhaled a deep breath. She always thought that the first time when he met her outside the school toilet was because he noticed her and approached her with that excuse. He said they met before in Jeju Island but she was so sure they didn’t. Because she wanted to get close to him, she said she did. She thought he was everything she dream of and wanted to have. But as time slowly passed, the dream she thought has come true was not really what she want. She had made a mistake. He has made a mistake too. She was not the person he thought she is. The happiness she felt in the car a while ago vanished. He was still the same. Always did something that he thought was right without trying to understand what she really want.          

Yoon Suh heaved a deep sigh before looked up at Min Ho. She pulled her hand away from him and slowly turned around.

Min Ho was taken aback by her sudden change of mood. “Yoon Suh… what’s wrong?”

Without replying him, she walked straight towards their car, leaving Min Ho standing there with the horse, dumbfounded.

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8 months ago…

“Yoon Suh-ah…”

Yoon Suh leaned closer to her very sick mother. “Eomma, I’m here.”

Jeong Hye Seon looked at her daughter with a weak gaze as she was panting heavily, trying to get some air into her lungs. “Yoon Suh… you… you have to find her.”

Yooh Suh furrowed her brows together and looked confused. “Find who?”

Jeong Hye Seon inhaled deeply. She raised her trembling hand and pointed at the table beside. “The… the necklace…”

Yoon Suh turned to the side and saw the heart-shaped locket necklace that her mother used to wear. She adored the necklace very much and doesn’t let anybody to touch it even her. She took the necklace and put it into her mother’s hand.

Jeong Hye Seon looked at the locket as tears started to well in her eyes. “Open… open the locket…”

Yoon Suh followed as what she said and when the locked was opened, she saw a photo inside. Her eyes widened looking at it.

“You… you have to find… her…” Jeong Hye Seon said weakly. “Your sister… your twin sister…”

Yoon Suh gasped; her eyes were still locked at the photo of her mother holding two babies in her arms. Although the photo was very small but she can clearly see that the two babies looked exactly the same. She has a twin sister. Her mother have never mention about it before. But where is she? Why is she separated from them?

She turned to her mother and asked. “Where is she? What happened to her?”

Jeong Hye Seon’s tears slowly streamed down her face as she looked at the locket. “It was my fault. I… I was young and selfish. Your father… died in an accident… when I was still pregnant with both of you. I… don’t even have the ability to take care of myself, how am I supposed to… take care of two babies?” She breathed deeply before she continued. “I have no choice… I have to sacrifice one of you.”

Yoon Suh’s heart started to race. “Where did you leave her?”

“Imjin Orphanage. I put the same necklace as this one… with her when I left her there. Few years ago… I went to check for her at the orphanage home and they told me she was adopted. Her… her adopted parents stay in Jeju Island and owned a tangerine farm.” Jeong Hye Seon continued.

Yoon Suh clenched her hand when she heard the name of the place she stayed. Tangerine farm in Jeju Island.

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Min Ho: “Do you still remember me?”

Yoon Suh: “The place we first met?”

Min Ho: “The tangerine farm in Jeju Island.”

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Slowly, Yoon Suh was putting the pieces of puzzle together and understands why Min Ho insisted that they met before in Jeju Island. He really made a huge mistake. He has mistaken her as her sister. Her twin sister was the one he was looking. She was the one he missed and loved. She gulped, feeling unbelievably stupid.

“Yoon Suh… you have to find her. Her name is… Choi Yoon Hye… Find her and tell her that… I’m sorry. Tell her that I love her… please… please… forgive… me…” Jeong Hye Seon tried her very best to say the last word through her final breath before she closed her eyes and her heart stop beating.

“Eomma… Eomma…” Yoon Suh cried as she leaned down against her mother’s shoulder, letting her tears flowing down her face.

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“Wow. We looked exactly the same. It’s just like looking at myself through a mirror.” Choi Yoon Suh said as her eyes were locked at Shin Hye, scanning her from top to toe.

Min Ho turned to Shin Hye when he felt her body trembling beside him. He grasped her hand and squeezed it softly; reminding her that he was there and she don’t need to be scared. Min Ho inhaled a deep breath before looking back at Yoon Suh. Just then, something about her caught his attention. He was too shock just now and didn’t realize her difference but now, his gaze slowly shifted down. His eyes widened looking at her slightly swollen belly. His lips parted, unable to form any word.

His eyes met hers again and looked at her in shock. “Y-You… you are pregnant?” Min Ho asked.

Shin Hye gasped out a breath of air when she looked at Yoon Suh’s stomach. Min Ho was right, she was definitely pregnant.

Yoon Suh looked down at herself. Meeting Min Ho’s eyes again, she smiled. “Yes. I’m pregnant.”

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Shin Hye comes out of the bathroom in So Won’s room, rubbing her hair with a towel. She walked towards So Won’s bed and sat on it, looking mindlessly.

So Won who was sitting on the bed too, looked at Shin Hye with worries in her expression. She slowly crawled nearer to her and grasped onto her arm.

“Eomma…” She called softly.

Shin Hye turned to So Won when she heard her voice and felt her tiny hand on her arm. She smiled weakly at her. “Yes?”

So Won moved more closely, almost resting her body in Shin Hye’s arm. “Are you scared?”

Shin Hye bit her lip and looked at her. “A little.” She lied. She was very scared. She wasn’t sure what is causing the fear and nervousness inside of her but she just felt uncomfortable with the whole situation.

So Won tightened her grip on her hand. “So Won is scared too.” Her eyes slowly turned red and looked at Shin Hye with questions in her eyes. “I recognized her. I know who she is. She is my eomma, right.”

Shin Hye saw the pains in her big eyes and that gaze make her heart ached. “Yes. She is your eomma, your mother.”

“Both of you looked exactly the same. So Won was shocked when I saw both of you together just now.” So Won said.

Shin Hye sighed softly. “I was shocked too. I’ve never seen her before and when she stood there right in front of me, everything seems unbelievable. Your appa always said that we are identical and I don’t believe him. But I guess he was right. Except for the way we dressed, our hair, I couldn’t believe that we really look so much alike. Even our voice is the same.”

“Eomma…” So Won called her again. “Why did eom…” She stopped when she felt weird calling two different person eomma. “Why did she come back?”

Shin Hye saw the confusion in her eyes as she sighed again. “I don’t know. Your appa was looking for her all this while but couldn’t find her. She didn’t come back after 3 months as she promised. I thought she will not come back. At least not now.” She know her thinking was selfish and bad but deep in her heart, she was actually praying that Min Ho couldn’t find her and she won’t come back in the coming 12 months. She wanted to savour the moment being with Min Ho and So Won as much as she can before she leave, leaving them completely. But now, Yoon Suh is back. The real Mrs Lee, the real So Won’s mother is back. Her substituted service is officially over.    

She held So Won’s hand and caressed it softly. “So Won-ah, since your mother is back now, you shouldn’t call me eomma anymore.”

So Won looked at Shin Hye. “Why?”

“Because your eomma will feel sad and uncomfortable if you call other people eomma. You are her daughter. You should call her eomma, not me.” Shin Hye said sadly.

Tears slowly dripped down of So Won’s eyes. “But I want you to be my eomma. I’m very scared of her. The way she looked at me and the way you looked at me are different. She doesn’t love So Won. You love So Won.”

Shin Hye smiled at her, her hair lovingly. “Eomma is just a name. Even if I’m not your mother, you are not calling me eomma, I can still love you like my own daughter and you can still treat me like your mother. It doesn’t change anything even if you are not calling me eomma.”

She leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “Don’t be scared of her. No matter how she treated you, I believe she love you. Every mother loves their children.” She wasn’t sure what she told So Won now is true or not. That was what she thought when she was with her adopted mother. The love that she showered her, it was unconditional love that every mother should give to their children. But she doesn’t get it from her biological mother. The one that supposed to love her, to protect her, gave her up and let her suffered with loneliness, with sadness for 8 years of her childhood.

Her lips lingered on So Won’s forehead, needed to feel her, needed to share their strengths and fears together. Even though it might not be true but she still want So Won to believe that her mother love her. She doesn’t want her to feel that she is someone that was being thrown away by her own mother.

“I guess that was also the reason why your mother comes back. She must have missed So Won a lot.” Shin Hye continued, giving her hopes.

So Won wrapped her tiny arms around Shin Hye’s neck and looked at her sadly. “She is back now. Is that mean you are going to leave again?” She leaned in and rested her head on Shin Hye’s shoulder. “Don’t leave. You promised So Won that you will stay with me and appa. I’m very happy that I have appa, eomma, harabeoji and Sarang. I don’t want her. I want you.”

Shin Hye bit her bottom lip hard, unable to hold her tears anymore. “So Won-ah, even if I stay now, I won’t be able to stay with you for a long time. Even if I don’t want to leave, I will still need to leave soon.” She sighed and embraced So Won tightly. “She is your mother. She will be the one who take care of you. You have to love her.”

So Won sniffed. “I love her. I always wanted to stay near her, talk to her, play with her. But she doesn’t love me. She hates me. She doesn’t like me to go near her. She doesn’t like to talk to me. She won’t play with me. She ignored me and only asked ahjuhma to take care of me.” She closed her eyes and cried into her neck. “You love me, you talk to me, play with me, sleep with me, eat with me, do everything with me. So Won love you. So Won want you to be my mother.”

Shin Hye’s chest tightened as her tears were flooding in her eyes. “I love you and want you to be my daughter too.” They cried and hugged each other tightly.

After a long while, Shin Hye slowly pulled away and wiped So Won’s tears away with her thumbs. She smiled softly at her. “No more crying. You are a big girl now. You have to be strong.” She her cheeks gently. “I’m here. I’m still here. I’m not going anywhere.”

So Won smiled too as she nodded her head. She lifted her hand up and helped Shin Hye to wipe her tears too. Just then, her fingers stopped moving and looked at Shin Hye. “She… she is pregnant. Does it mean she have a baby inside her stomach? My friend said her eomma is pregnant and she is going to have a baby brother. I saw her mother’s stomach is very big. Just like her. Her stomach is big too. She doesn’t look like that last time. She is very thin, just like you.”

Shin Hye let out another long sigh, doesn’t know how to reply her.

“Does it mean I’m going to have a baby brother or baby sister too?” So Won continued to ask.

“I… I don’t know…” Shin Hye said as she averted her gaze, looking at the door, wanted to know what Min Ho and Yoon Suh was talking inside his room. They have been there for almost an hour already. Her heart was getting heavier and heavier by e