Inhye sat there, barely touching her food as she tried to ignore the older women around her. Their stares and mocking glances were painfully obvious and she almost wanted to give them a piece of her mind, but she held her tongue. She was the youngest mother of the bunch and was the most judged and gossiped about despite minding her own business. Inhye slipped a small spoonful of rice into and chewed on it slowly. Her acute ears were listening to a pair of mothers whispering about her on the other end of the long table.

“Yoonsung’s mother is apparently always so busy, but I’m surprised she was even able to make it today.” commented a mother, in a hushed voice.

“Her date probably canceled on her or something.” whispered the other woman. She let out a soft laugh. “Or, she probably got tired of hooking up with all the young boys from the neighborhood.”

“But, doesn’t she have a crush on Mr. Kim?” asked the first mother, slightly confused. “That’s why she’s here, isn’t she? We are thinking about what kind of gifts we should give him as a way to thank him for all he’s done this semester.”

“Oh, that’s right! She was ogling at him when I bumped into them walking down the hall at school during the parent-teacher conference sessions.”

“Well, he is very handsome and-”

Inhye pulled herself out of their stupid conversation, trying not to roll her eyes. This was exactly why she never bothered attending any of the PTA meetings. They were pointless and always full of all of these rich women gossiping. She only showed up to today’s meeting because they were deciding on what present to get for their children’s first grade teacher to thank him for the ‘wonderful’ Spring semester. Yoonsung was especially fond of his first grade teacher, Mr. Kim, so Inhye felt bad if she wasn’t there to try to voice her opinion. Mr. Kim was indeed a handsome and very nice man, but she wasn’t going to shamelessly date him just because she was available. She had her boundaries and dating her son’s teacher was definitely one of them. If she had met Mr. Kim under another circumstance then she may consider flirting with him, but that was it. Inhye was tired of men.

“So,” started the head mother of the group and grabbed everyone’s attention. “We’re here today to pick out a gift for our lovely and amazing first grade teacher, Mr. Kim, as a thank you gift.” The whole entire table cheered excitedly meanwhile Inhye stared at them, expressionless. The head mother turned to her with a tight smile. “And, we would like to welcome Yoonsung’s mom for joining us today. We all know that she is very busy balancing out having a career and being a very young and single mother.”

Inhye almost wanted to scoff at that unnecessary statement about her. This damn woman was the center of all the fake gossip that surrounded her in regards to this PTA thing. All she wanted to do was get up and leave – but she knew she had to be patient for the sake of her son’s love for his teacher. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been to one of these meetings and I’m glad I’m able to join you all today.” she lied, through her smile.

All the mothers forced their fake smiles on her as they eyed her disgustingly from her head to her waist. They were acting as if she was wearing a low cut mini dress like some little or something. Well, they probably did see her like that despite leaving that life behind years ago. It was nothing new and Inhye was far from being bothered by how they viewed her. What mattered honestly the most was the fact that she tried her best to be a good mother to Yoonsung. It didn’t help that Inhye lived in the more affluent part of Seoul so that meant that these women were even more snobby and annoying than the average 30-something to 40-whatever year old Korean woman.

“For gifts, we have the option of giving Mr. Kim a gift card of 540,000 won or help him buy a few new plants for the classroom with a gift card to the coffee shop down the street of the school.” suggested the head mother.

Inhye had to control herself from letting out a long sigh. All those gift options were so boring and she felt bad for Mr. Kim. She’d at least expect something more exciting – like getting him something that was from Super Mario. He had at least 5 Super Mario figurines on his desk so it was pretty obvious that he’d like that. Or, the mothers could all come together and make a bunch of food for him. Everything could be delivered in Tupperware to make it easier. Mr. Kim was clearly a huge foodie since Yoonsung always mentioned how he liked to secretly eat various forms of snacks in class. The children find that aspect about their teacher endearing and they all took turns bringing him snacks from home each school day.

The gift card idea wasn’t all that bad since he could buy whatever he wanted with it, but it didn’t sound as sincere as getting him something that he would like. The idea of getting plants was just a horrible idea. Inhye was sure the yellow cactus on Mr. Kim’s desk was just there to make it look aesthetically pleasing and not an actual indication of him having a green thumb. This isn’t to mention the fact that cactuses are low maintenance plants. Getting him a coffee shop gift card didn’t seem like a bad idea since he probably does drink a lot of it since he works with children.

“And, the gift we will be giving to Mr. Kim will be the 540,000 won gift card!” announced the head mother, with a broad smile on her face.

Inhye almost scoffed, but smiled instead. That was a much better gift option so she was glad that Mr. Kim wouldn’t be too disappointed. When they started passing the envelope for the money around, she slipped in 30,000 wons into it and almost dashed to the exit. She did politely bid her goodbyes but was eager to get out of those women’s sight.

“Just because I’m divorced and singled, it doesn’t mean that I’m a shameless woman that s around all day.” scoffed Inhye as she walked away from the restaurant. Thankfully she wasn’t too far from home so she can comfortably walk instead of having to bother with taking the bus or subway.

People were so quick to judge the moment they find out that she is a young a single mother. Although they may not say much, she already knew that they already painted a picture of who she was – a shameless . They all shy away from her as they label her as a societal failure. It may seem like it was bad with the PTA, but it was worse at work, where many didn’t want to befriend her. They may work on a project with her and may lend a hand on helping her with some of her overflowing work, but that was it. They loved talking behind her back. When she got promotions, they would claim that she gained favoritism because she was ing their boss and not because of her hard work.

Well, Inhye won’t deny the accusation of her past because it was true. She was a . She ed around because she enjoyed . a guy today and then another guy later in the week. It was a cycle of copious one night stands, but things with Min Yoongi was a bit different.

She actually wanted a committed relationship with him, but never had the guts to tell him so. She was absolutely smitten by him. However, it was clear that he didn’t feel the same way about her but he did lust after her. There is a clear line that separated “like” and “lust”