Gary’s heart raced when he saw an email from Jihyo. He didn’t have a lot of email, even though he hadn’t checked his inbox for six weeks. There were a couple of junk emails, another handful from his friends, but the only one that caught his eyes was the one from Jihyo.

He wanted to type a reply, but couldn’t decide what to say. His fingers tensed up and his mind raced. Even after so long, he realised, he still missed her.

Finally, he typed:

I’m sorry I hadn’t been able to reply sooner; I had no internet access.

Would it be too troublesome if I request to meet him? I will be returning to Seoul tomorrow, I can drop by in the evening.

You are still staying in our…

Then he paused. Our home. It wasn't theirs anymore. Just hers. He sighed as he deleted the part, replacing it with

You are still staying at the same place, aren’t you?

He thought for a long while before deciding on what to end off with. He wanted to end of with ‘Hope you are well’.

But he decided against it. Is he fit hope that she’s well, after he ran away when she needed him the most?

In the end, he ended abruptly with,

Regards,

Gary.

There were many things he wanted to share with her- about the countless of children he had helped and taught, about the lives he had saved and about the things that he learnt. But, it wasn’t right to gloss over his two years like this, in a simple email. He would meet her properly and tell her face-to-face, if she wanted to listen, that is. He wasn’t sure if she wanted, but he did hope that she did.

He sent the email anyway. It was in the afternoon where he was, so it was at night in Seoul. Jihyo was already at home. It was just after dinner when her phone lighted up with the new email. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that it was from Gary. After six weeks, he finally replied.

There were many questions she wanted to ask him. Where are you now? Where have you been the past two years? How are you?

But like Gary, she felt like she didn’t have the right to question him. Instead, she simply replied to his final question.

Yes, the same place.

It was just a place now. But again, what else could this be? It used to be a home for their small family of three, but no longer. One died, one left and she’s the only one remaining. She felt her eyes get wet as she looked up to search for Hyun, who was looking back at her.

At least she wasn’t alone now.

The boy tilted his head to the side- his way of asking ‘Are you okay?’

Jihyo smiled, albeit a little sadly, and nodded. Unconvinced, Hyun rolled over to her and gently held her hands. She clicked ‘send’ and kept her phone, turning her attention to Hyun.

“Do you want to go to the park today?” she asked him. It had been their daily routine for the past six weeks, even as winter approached. But it was snowing quite heavily today, and it wasn’t especially convenient for her to bring out the wheelchair in this weather.

Hyun shook his head. After all this while, Hyun hadn’t spoken yet. But he was a lot more responsive now. And although it was infrequent, he smiled at Jihyo at times. While it would be too far-fetched to say that it melted her heart, it did warm her up. It makes her feel like she’s doing something right.

Jihyo nodded. “Right. Let’s not go out then. I don’t think we can go out these days because of the snow,” she said. Hyun shrugged.

“Ah… I’m sorry I don’t have much things around for you to play with,” Jihyo said regretfully. She didn’t think of buying board games or toys for him. “I’ll get some tomorrow, before I pick you up from the home?”

Hyun didn’t nod, but he didn’t shake his head either. Which was strange because he had been responding to all of the questions recently. Instead, he turned his head towards the room.

The room where Jihyo always kept locked.

“No,” Jihyo said, a little too sharply. Hyun was evidently startled, his body jerked a little. He stared back at her, hurt flashing in his eyes.

Jihyo caught herself. “I’m sorry,” she immediately said. But Hyun was already hurt. He looked away, rolling away from her.

Part of her wanted to let him cool down. To wait for things to blow over. But another part of her realised that she should explain before it’s too late, unlike what she did towards Gary. They just kept running away from each other, until they became too far to get back together.

“Hyun! Wait!” she called, walking up to him. “I’m sorry I snapped at you,” she said. “That room used to be my son’s.”

Hyun stopped rolling. Jihyo caught up easily and bent in front of him.

“Remember I told you about my son who died? This room was his. Is still his, I guess. His presence lingers. I haven’t entered it since his funeral. I… I don’t know why either. I am afraid that I would feel his leaving again. Do you understand me?”

Hyun didn’t nod, but he looked up at her, encouraging her to continue.

“I don’t want you entering… because… I don’t really know why I behaved so adversely. I guess, I didn’t want you to take the place that was his. I mean, maybe one day, I will open the room again, but not now, okay?

“And Hyun, I hope you don’t misunderstand me. You’re still my son. Maybe not biologically, but officially, you are. But you are not a replacement to him. I adopted you not to fill the emptiness in my heart. Ok. Maybe partially. But it was because I recognised that look in your eyes when I first saw you. The immense isolation you felt, I know how you feel. And I genuinely want to help you.

“But I’m sorry I snapped at you when you are trying to ask. I could have explained properly, but I… I don’t know why either. I’m sorry, Hyun.”

She looked up and saw Hyun in