CHANYEOL WASN'T IN THE HOUSE IN THE morning. Neither was my mother, who was once again fulfilling her obligations as executive assistant at the engineering firm. We didn't see Chanyeol for the rest of the week either, and she appeared to be adjusting to the separation.

I tried to keep her busy. I even suggested a cooking lesson one night, but after the smoke detectors went off and we had to open every window in the house for ventilation, we opted to eat out. She worked late a couple of nights, coming house after I'd eaten and joining me on the couch to watch television.

'I hope he doesn't leave me,' she said one night with a glass of wine in her hand. She'd kicked off her work shoes under the coffee table, and her blouse was untucked from her skirt. She was staring at the TV, but her thoughts were obviously with him. 

'He cares about you.' I tried to sound encouraging, but it fell flat. 

‘When does Sehun get back?' she asked, changing the subject. Her gaze readjusted to the present, and she looked over at me with bright eyes.

'Sunday,' I answered slowly, not prepared for the 'on' switch to her personality.

'Wouldn't it be nice to take off to wherever you wanted, just because you wanted to?' She said this with an equal measure of envy and possibility. 'We should have him over for dinner soon.'

'Uh, okay.'

'I'm going to bed,' she announced. I watched her climb the stairs and hoped that whatever Chanyeol was doin