A bunch of her close relatives came over to visit the family on the last day of Ahreum's short stay. She was greeted with open arms, heartwarming gifts, and pictures were taken to cherish the reunion for a lifetime. It was nice to be surrounded by the people she practically grew up with, but everyone seemed to have the same thought in mind when they met her once again.

"She's so different now."

Although she knew that her aunts and cousins had no bad intentions in saying that, it was a spark of curiosity that made her wonder just how much she's changed over these few years. Ahreum is standing in front of her old vanity table, eyes glued on the face being reflected in the oval mirror. She tilts her head here and there ㅡ switching angles and changing expressions to see if it was her looks that made her any different than she was before.

"What are you doing, dear?" She jumped at the voice chuckling behind her, surprised to see her mother joining her in the mirror.

"Are you alright, smiling at yourself in the mirror and all that?" Her mother asks jokingly. This time around, Ahreum lets out an honest laugh, followed by a bashful grin crawling on her face when her mother teasingly clucks her tongue at Ahreum's strange behavior.

"You've gotten so tall," her mother gave Ahreum's shoulders a slight squeeze, which made her take a seat on the ottoman instead. She seated herself in front of the vanity table and observed her mother through the mirror, watching the woman grab a comb before running it down her dark locks like she always did when Ahreum was younger.

"Are you still obsessed with white roses, honey?" Her question made Ahreum bark a laugh, nodding as a response.

"I have a whole garden of them, mom."

The both of them shared a laugh at the statement she made. Her mother then reaches over for the drawer and pulls out a box of hairclips that Ahreum has collected over the years. A soft chuckle leaves her lips as she knowingly takes a small hairclip between her fingers, taking less than a second to slide the clip decorated with white roses, onto the side of Ahreum's hair.

"Mom,"

Ahreum calls out softly, preparing her lips to speak. She runs her fingers down her neat hair, forcing a smile on her face as she turns her head to stare into the questioning eyes of her mother. "Did I change, a lot?" She asks reluctantly, somewhat anxious to think of what her own mother might have to say. There's an unreadable expression plastered on her mother's face as she tried to process the question inside her mind.

"Don't we all?"

Those words would've put Ahreum's heart at ease if it weren't for the next sentence her mother said, "People change all the time, sweetie. Especially after marriage, I suppose."

"But, change is good, it prepares you for many things in life. Its just nature, honey. You can't do much about that," She gently lifts Ahreum's face to meet her gaze, smiling as she brushed a finger across Ahreum's chin. "There's nothing wrong with that, in fact it helps you realise.." When there's a long pause after the sentence, Ahreum was wondering if her mother had forgotten about what she was talking about a while ago.

"Realise what?"

"To realise that.."

Ahreum furrowed her brows, uneasy to sense the hesitation in her mother's voice. She hates to think of the reality behind her mother's odd words because for some reason, she feels like she understands the message her mother is trying to convey; those words were gaining on her like a warning that Ahreum would do anything to avoid. The woman pursed her lips before parting them to speak again.

"That its never too late to do the right thing, Ahreum."

By the time she's done, Ahreum observes her new look in the tall mirrors that took up most of the space inside the hair salon. Like every other girl, Ahreum knows she's going to miss her long hair after the fresh cut, but it was about time she went for a different look. Her long locks that once went all the way down to her waist was now cut into a length that was a few inches past her shoulders. Since she didn't want anything too dramatic, Ahreum was grateful of her stylist for adding some highlights to enhance her natural shine, complimenting the lighter shade of brown she had chosen.

"You look great, honey." Her mother smiled as they exited the salon, amused to see Ahreum stealing glimpses of her new-self from glass windows of the stores they walked past.

It was actually a great idea to get themselves pampered, finally taking their mother-daughter session outside the kitchen and pastry books. Ahreum barely recalls the last time she actually had the energy and time to focus on herself, since she was always so busy trying to keep her husband and the whole house in tip-top condition. Now that she got her nails and hair done, Ahreum feels so much better about herself than she did a few months back.

She feels lighter, fresher and almost alive again.

The mother-daughter duo decided to continue chatting over a cup of tea, so Ahreum follows her mother into a cafe nearby. After all the hot snacks they've had while walking down the memory lane, both Ahreum and her mother settled to a glass of iced plum tea instead. "So, tell me something about my handsome son-in-law. What kind of husband is Sehun like? What's your most favourite thing about him? Is it too late to talk about boys with my little girl?"

Her mother's playful wink only made Ahreum blush. A shy smile creeps on her face as she looked down at the ice cubes in her glass, not knowing where to start.

"Oh I don't know.." she shrugs her shoulders, and the light tint of pink on her cheeks only darkens in colour when she hears her mother laughing at her silly response.

"He's a great husband, mom. I love everything about him," she admits, slightly dazed by the fact that she's actually opening up to her mother about her relationship with Sehun. The two of them soon started talking about what its like to be married, even sharing the new recipes they've learned to cook, and just how different things can be once a couple decides to tie the knot for good. Despite a few rants about their husbands were added here and there, her mother would take the time to tell her tall tales of how she met her father, and in return, Ahreum would cheekily confess to all the sneaky dates she went with Sehun in the past. 

"We had trouble concieving another baby right after you, but then again, we both sort of stopped trying too. Because we were already so happy with the family we have, we just decided to give you all our love,"

Somehow, they gradually came to the topic of having children, and Ahreum inwardly braced herself for a familiar sting from attacking her healing heart. However, she was quite proud of herself to realise that she's healed from that heartache. The horrid nightmare of the past no longer stood in her way of building new dreams for the future, it even gives her more reasons to look forward to the greater events in life that were unfolding soon.

She was happy about it for a while, that was until the ugly memory of that night was unintentionally brought back to life. Though she tried so hard to forget about it, the words her husband said really left a scar in her heart, and for once it made her question the role she was leading in his life. She knows that Sehun wasn't himself that night, and she had forgiven him even before he apologized, but Ahreum doesn't quite understand why that memory still exists in the back of her head.

"I can only imagine how hard it must've been on Sehun, especially when you got pregnant after his accident. It was all just a bad timing,"

Ahreum only nods, because that