It was a stormy morning. The rain splashed loudly on the window. Hyun woke up, startled, but silent as ever. The sky roared angrily as lighting flashed across the sky. Hyun watched the skies nervously, eyeing Jihyo, hoping that she would wake up soon. His face betrayed no signs of nervousness, though fear shone in his round eyes.

Jihyo finally woke up 30 minutes later. She blinked a few times when she saw Hyun, remembering that she adopted a son yesterday. Suddenly, she feels scared. What if she doesn’t do this right? What if things go wrong now, like it did 2 years back?

“Eo? You’re awake?” she asked Hyun, bending towards him. He didn’t move to acknowledge her, but he didn’t shy away from her either. She brushed away his messy morning hair. She noticed how he kept his eyes on the window, and asked, “you’re afraid of thunder?”

This time, he shook his head. But he didn’t say anything else. Jihyo didn’t probe further.

“Let’s wash up and get ready for breakfast, shall we?”  she smiled. His eyes followed her as she walked to his side of the bed to carry him onto his wheelchair. She made sure that he could wash himself, before leaving to prepare breakfast.

When he was done, he knocked on the bathroom door to signal for her. There was a ledge on the floor and he couldn’t roll himself up.

“Ah!” Jihyo exclaimed, rushing over to him. “I forgot about this ledge again,” she said. “I’ll get someone to fix a ramp soon.”

She brought him over to the dining area and gave him his breakfast. He closed his eyes and put his hands together, with his head bowed; Jihyo assumed he was saying a prayer, so she waited until he looked up before starting to eat.

“Do you like it?” she asked, feeling nervous for approval. He looked at her and looked away. Her heart sank with disappointment.

“Hm,” he said softly.

Jihyo looked up in surprise. “Did you just say something?” she asked. He shrugged, but Jihyo already smiled. She reached out and ruffled his hair.

“One step at a time, Hyun,” she said softly, more to herself than him, but he nodded anyway.

After breakfast, she pushed the boy to the room and dressed him up. She combed and gelled his hair. Looking at him through the mirror,