The playlist for this chapter:

Sad Song – We The Kings Dreaming With a Broken Heart – John Mayer I Blame On You – Taeyeon One Last Cry – Brian McKnight

Hayeon’s POV

“Umma,”

“Hmm?” she answered but kept knitting the scarf.

“Ummaaa,” I whined

She smiled and finally gave me her attention. “What is it, honey?”

“I’m bored,” I pouted. She grinned and pecked my lips.

“Go play with your brother, Hayeon.” She said as she caressed my hair.

“Don’t wanna. Junho oppa is busy texting his crush.”

“YAH!” Oppa suddenly stopped playing with his phone and threw a cushion at me. “I. Am. Not.”

“Oppa is lying, Umma. He has a girlfriend at school.”

 I thought Umma would be mad, but her reaction was very different from what I expected. She laughed and put down her knitting tools.

“Ooooh,” Umma exclaimed. “Do you like someone, boy?”

“No,” he sulked.

Umma smiled so lovingly at him while I was just giggling all the time.

“Junho-ah, it’s okay. You can tell me, you know. I won’t judge and stop you from liking someone.”

Oppa stopped the sulking and gave us the ‘Is it really okay?’ look. Umma understood the look and she got up from her seat to sat on the floor.

“Come here, sweetie. Both of you.” I sat on her left-side and gave her a side-hug while Oppa sat on Umma’s right. Umma hugged me back and my back.

“Junho, you’re not a kid anymore. You’re in middle school now. You’re a teenager and it’s very normal for a teenager to like someone.”

“But, I don’t want you to be mad at me.”

“I won’t unless you turned into a bad boy,” Umma smiled.

“She’s not my girlfriend, Umma. She’s my friend, that’s why I often play with her and my other friends.”

“Still, you like her, don’t you?” Umma .

“Maybe? I don’t know.”

“Oppa gave her a chocolate on valentine, Umma.” I sticked my tounge out.

“Really? Then, you definitely like her. I used to send chocolate to my crush as well.” Umma joked.

“To Mommy?”

I quickly regretted what I was saying. Oppa gave me a ‘What are you doing’ look. And I saw Umma surprised for a second. Then, she regained her composure and smiled sadly.

“No, honey. To my other crush.”

Seeing none of us respond to her answer, Umma spoke calmly, but her expression still looked sad.

“But, I also gave your Mommy chocolate. And flowers. She likes flowers very much.”

Oppa and I looked at each other with confusion. We didn’t know how to respond to Umma’s words. I didn’t know Umma would respond something related with Mommy after one years of pretending that Mommy never existed in our life, although I missed Mommy very much. I saw Umma staring into the distance like she was thinking about something sad.

==

Sejeong’s POV

We were just talking about something light and hanging around on this Saturday evening when my daughter said that her brother, Junho, has a girlfriend. I was shocked, of course. But, thinking it was merely crush or puppy love, I decided to play along and .

I heard my heart cracked into million pieces as Hayeon mentioned the word I thought I would never heard of anymore. I was totally surprised, flabbergasted, dumbfounded by a mentioned of the word ‘Mommy’. I was caught off guard and suddenly memories started to replay itself in my head.

I saw my kids suddenly quiet. So, I replied an answer to brushed off the awkwardness.

“No, honey. To my other crush.”

Because of the painful memories in my head, I felt the urge let out what I’ve been hiding this past year. Unconsciously, I said something that made the situation even more awkward.

“But, I also gave your Mommy chocolate. And flowers. She likes flowers very much.”

I replayed those happy memories that left a bigger crack