The preparations for the farewell party were well under way, which was only a week away. Being the overall in charge of the whole party, Dara and Jiyong had been kept very busy. They did not even have time to plan for their visit to the orphanage the week before the farewell party. As it was, they decided when they met at the main gate of the orphanage on Saturday that they would tell the kids today that they were having a farewell party next Saturday and have fun with the kids doing whatever the kids wanted for that day.

“Minho-ah, Soomi-ah, Sohee-ah, come over here! We have something to tell you!” called Dara. “Where’s Yejun?”

“Yejun’s still washing his hands. He’ll come soon, noona,” replied Minho.

Just as Minho finished answering, Yejun came running out of the toilet shouting, “Eomma! Appa!”

Yejun ran straight into Jiyong’s arms, who picked him up and swung him around.

“Have you been a good boy this past week, Yejun-ah?” asked Jiyong.

“Neh, appa!” replied Yejun with a big smile, as he nuzzled his head against Jiyong’s chest.

“Yejun-ah, come down. We need to tell the four of you something,” coaxed Dara. Yejun planted a kiss on Dara’s cheeks before Jiyong put him back on the ground.

“What we have to say is-” began Dara.

“Eomma and appa are getting married!” cheered Yejun, causing the four kids to burst out in laughter and causing Dara and Jiyong to blush.

“Yah, Yejun-ah, don’t talk nonsense,” scolded Jiyong.

“Neh, appa,” replied Yejun with a cheeky smile.

“Well, guys… Erm…” Dara mumbled but could not bring herself to say what she needed to say.

“Next week is our last visit, guys,” Jiyong finished what she needed to say for her.

The faces of the four kids in front of them fell. Soomi said, “Does this mean you’re not coming after next week, Jiyong-oppa?”

“Well… we’ve come to the end of the project but we’re going to have a party next week!” said Jiyong in a bright tone, in an attempt to cheer up the kids.

Sohee sat down and began to cry. Jiyong picked her up and allowed her to lean her face against his shoulder. “Yah, Sohee-ah. Don’t cry. I said we are coming to an end to our project but it doesn’t mean that we are not going to come visit you anymore.”

“Jjinja, oppa?” asked Sohee through her tears.

“Of course, Sohee-ah,” comforted Sohee.

As Jiyong comforted Sohee, Yejun suddenly walked off towards his room by himself. Dara noticed and followed him into his room.

“Yejun-ah,” called Dara softly, afraid that he might burst out in one of his tantrums. “Yejun-ah, are you all right?”

“Dara-noona,” said Yejun in a small voice.

“Bwoh? Yejun-ah, what did you call me?” asked Dara in a surprised and slightly hurt voice, as she squatted down to face him directly.

“Dara-noona, you don’t want to be my eomma anymore?” asked Yejun in an equally hurt voice.

“Yah, Yejun-ah. It’s not like that. This is only the end of our project,” replied Dara, as she started to tear up. “Eomma promises you that I will come back and visit you as often as I can. I’m still your eomma, Yejun-ah.”

“Dara-noona, I really don’t want to lose my eomma again,” cried Yejun, as he went to give Dara a hug and started crying on her shoulder.

Dara teared up, gave Yejun a hug and started patting him gently on his back. “Silly boy, you’re not going to lose your eomma again. I’ll always be here. Like I said, it’s the end of the project but it doesn’t mean we won’t see each other again,” reassured Dara.

Dara hugged Yejun till his crying slowed down into gentle sobs before letting go. “Shall we go find the others now?” asked Dara gently.

Yejun nodded and held Dara’s hand as she led him out of the room to meet the other three kids. By now, the other three kids were also looking more cheerful as they had also understood that this would not be Dara and Jiyong’s last visit and that they would still come back even when the project was over. Dara and Jiyong stayed with the kids till it was time for them to leave for dinner.

“Bye, everyone! We’ll see you next week!” said Jiyong as he and Dara waved and walked out of the orphanage.

As they turned out into the main street, Dara and Jiyong looked at each other and heaved a huge sigh.

“Well, actually that went better than I expected,” said Jiyong.

“Yeah. Even Yejun wasn’t as inconsolable as we thought,” replied Dara.

“So, shall we have dinner together?” asked Jiyong.

“Are you that keen to always eat dinner with me, Jiyong?”