“Umma! Wake up!”

The sound of Yoong’s voice and his finger poking her cheeks wakes Jessica from her slumber. She hides a grin and pretends to sleep more. The bed suddenly shakes knowing full well that her five-year old son is now jumping on it.

“Ummaaaa~ Why won’t you wake up?”

“The prince should give a kiss first for her to wake up,” Jessica says.

She then feels a sloopy kiss on her lips and opens her eyes to see Yoong hugging his favorite Rilakkumma bear. Pushing off her blanket, she gives her adorable son a kiss and hugs him. “Good morning, my little prince. Did you sleep well?”

Yoong looks at his mom cutely with his doe-eyes and nods. “I’m hungry, umma. Can you make scrambled eggs today? And pancakes too?”

The blonde-haired woman chuckles at her son’s request. “Okay, but we need to wake up your sister first.” Standing up, she takes Yoong’s hand and goes to the twins’ shared bedroom. As expected, the younger of the twins is still in her dreamland.

“Soojung? Wake up love,” Jessica softly caresses her daughter’s brunette hair and kisses her forehead. Soojung sits up and rubs her eyes at the action, still feeling sleepy. Her daughter has always been a sleepyhead, another thing she inherited from Jessica. While Yoong has always been the energetic boy.

Just like Yuri.

“Umma I’m really hungry now, can we eat?” Jessica hears her son whine, cutting her thoughts.

“Let’s go freshen up first then eat breakfast, okay?” she tells them. “But first, umma needs her morning hug.”

The twins wrap their hands around her neck and kisses her cheeks at the same time. “We love you umma! Good morning!”

It was good morning indeed. “I love you too.”

¤¤¤¤¤¤

“We have a lot of catching up to do,” Sunny says to Jessica. They are currently in Jessica’s newly opened boutique with Tiffany doing measurements for her upcoming wedding. Knowing her friend was finally back, Sunny immediately assigns the blonde-haired woman to be her official designer. “How are you and the kids?”

“It has been almost two months so we’re doing fine,” Jessica answers. “The twins have been attending school for two weeks now and I’m glad they’re able to adjust since New York and Korea are quite different. Krystal is fond of the kids too, they get along so well.”

“That’s great! Moreover, I am happy that you are able to attend my wedding. Tiffany here has been complaining about the preparations more than me,” the petite woman laughs.

“It’s because you’ll only be experiencing this once and it’s my job as the maid of honor to give you the best wedding! There’s still a lot to do and your fiancé is still missing in action,” Tiffany replies.

Jessica goes to her table and jots down the measurements she took in her notepad. “Speaking of which, you still haven’t told us who this lucky guy is. When are we going to meet him, Sunny? Or at least tell us his name?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll introduce him to you someday,” Sunny chuckles.

“Well I hope it’ll be soon because your wedding is fast approaching,” Jessica tells her and smiles. “I’ll hand you my designs after three days then just tell me if you want to make adjustments or such”

“Okay! Why don’t we go get some afternoon snack? I know a café nearby,” Tiffany asks the two. “We can go shopping afterwards too!”

They all agree and get ready to go out from Jessica’s boutique. The blonde gives her employees a few reminders before going with Tiffany and Sunny.

¤¤¤¤¤¤

Jessica is now on her way to pick up the twins from school. She stops at a red light and sees a huge billboard with an image of the man whom she knew well.

The billboard displayed a large photo of Kwon Yuri with the words “Korea’s Man of the Year”. The man was sitting down on a leather couch looking expensive with his black suit. Looking at the image, Jessica felt as if he was staring right into her soul but something was in Yuri's eyes she could not explain. They weren’t the same as before.

It looks lonely and… empty?

The blonde’s thoughts is interrupted by a loud horn. She looks up and sees that the stoplight already turned green. Jessica takes one last look at the billboard and drives. What do you even care about him, when he didn’t even care about you Jessica? You’ve moved on with your life and he’s no longer in it.

---

“Hello Ms. Jung,” the twins’ teacher greets Jessica and points to the waiting area. “Your kids are over there.” Jessica looks over and smiles seeing Yoong and Soojung sitting on a bench.

“Thank you for taking care of the kids, Mrs. Park.”

“Ms. Jung the twins are such bright and talented children,” Mrs. Park says. “But if they need counseling, the school can provide you with the assistance necessary. We have people here who can help with—“

“What do you mean, Mrs. Park?” Jessica interrupts, not getting what the teacher meant. “The kids are fine. Did they cause any trouble here in school?”

Mrs. Park hands over a paper to Jessica and speaks in a low tone. “We had a partnered-activity in art class today. I asked them to draw something they want and the twins drew this.”

Jessica opens the folded paper and widens her eyes at what she saw. Putting the paper in her pocket, she clears and tries to compose herself. “Thank you, Mrs. Park. I’ll take care of this myself.” The blonde goes over to the twins and helps them get on the car after saying goodbye to the teacher. She looks at them in the backseat and heaves a deep sigh, driving off to their home.

---

After dinner, the Jessica helped the kids shower and get ready for bedtime. While dressing up Yoong, she hears her daughter ask, “Umma… do we have an Appa?”

Jessica froze at the sudden question. She always knew a day would come when they will ask for their father but she was never prepared herself for the question itself. Settling Yoong on the bed beside Soojung, she looks at them with a small smile. “Sweethearts, you… you have an appa. Everyone does.”

“Then where is he?” Yoong asks with curious eyes. “Why isn’t he together living with us?”

The blonde knew that question would come up next. She bit her lips and answers in a gentle tone, “Your appa… he’s a very busy man.”

“You are busy sometimes but you’re here.” Soojung looks up to her mother and Jessica felt heartbroken. Tears were threatening to fall from the little girl’s eyes. Indeed, they are smart. “Doesn’t appa love us? We promise to be good kids.”

Her daughter’s words hit her full force. She put her arms around the twins, holding them close. The children are too innoce