Taehyung smiled to himself as he washed his hands to get rid of the paint marks on them. He was in school and had just finished another one of his many paintings. He tried to tone down his happiness but he couldn't after remembering how happy Jisoo sounded when she called him yesterday and told him the whole story about her dad. Although he did noticed she tried to cover up the disppointment in her voice when she talked about her mother. But after everything she had been through, Taehyung was glad Jisoo finally found the truth.

"Yah, why are you smiling to yourself?" Park Jimin, his classmate, elbowed him before washing his hand at the sink as well.

Taehyung pursed his lips to stop himself. "Aniya. I'm not smiling."

"Yeah right." Jimin shook his head in amusement. "Must be because of your new girlfriend right?"

"What?"

"That Kim Jisoo." Jimim rolled his eyes this time. "Everyone knows you're dating that new Business student."

Taehyung thought to himself for a moment. He hadn't told any of his classmates about his general life, let alone his personal life. But then again him and Jisoo hadn't really been discreet about their relationship either. Its only natural for people to suspect about it after seeing him with her around school all the time.

"Are you meeting her today?" Jimin continued. "Is that why you're so happy."

Taehyung frowned. Jisoo had told him she wasn't coming to school that day because she had some errands to run but wouldn't tell him what it was. He was about to respond to Jimin when his phone rang. 

An unknown number flashed acrossed his screen. Part of him was relieved it wasn't his mother calling because of another "accident" but part of him was anxious as well. Could it be another loanshark who somehow gotten his number from his father? It had once happened a year ago. 

Taehyung lifted up his index finger, signalling to Jimin to give him a moment as he walked out of the classroom.

"Yah! Where are you going?" Jimin called out to Taehyung. "Do you think Jisoo could introduce me to her friend?"

Once Taehyung was outside, he answered the call.  "Yeoboseyo?"

"Taehyung-shi." A low voice responded. "I am Kim Nam Jil. Jisoo's appa."

Taehyung almost dropped his phone. Why would Jisoo's father call him all of a sudden? Was Jisoo hurt? Was he going to shout at him for whatever reasons? But from what Jisoo told him yesterday, her father wasn't such a bad person after all.

"Ne, Jisoo Abonim?" Taehyung quickly replied after realising his thoughts had strayed.

"I want to talk to you. Come over this afternoon."

It wasn't a question. It was on order. So how could Taehyung refused? Besides, he was curious to find out what Jisoo's father would want to say to him. "I'll be there once I'm done with my class."

"Gurae. And one more thing." Jisoo's father added before he hung up. "Don't tell Jisoo about this."

--------------------------------

Jisoo felt her palms getting sweaty as she gathered her courage to walk towards the front door. Lifting up her right fist, she knocked on the door three times before taking a step back.

A few seconds later, she heard footsteps shuffling before the door swung open.

"Oppa, you're h---" The woman behind the door gasped, surprised it wasn't whom she was expecting.

"Omma." Jisoo uttered. "It's me." 

"Ji-jisoo..What...why..." Her mother stuttured before regaining her train of thoughts. "Dae Hee is not home at the moment."

Jisoo wasn't surprised her mother thought she was here to see her teacher instead of her. Why would she meet the woman who had abadoned her right? But yet there she was, standing a few feet away from her mother. 

"I know he's not home." Jisoo replied. She had seen her teacher walking out of the house in his jogging attire ten minutes ago, back when she was still hiding behind a tree, trying to gain the courage to come up to the front door. "I'm here to talk to you."

"Me?" Jang Min Jun's eyes widened. She looked around their surrounding as if to see if her husband was nearby. When it seemed she was convinced the coast was clear, she made room for Jisoo to come in. "Let's talk inside."

Jisoo's eyes roamed the living room after entering the house. Paintings hung on the walls, almost covering every inch of it. She wondered which one was done by her mother and which one was done by her teacher. 

Hearing the front door clicked shut, Jisoo turned around to appraise her mother. She looked almost the same as she did ten years ago except for the tiny wrinkles at the coner of her eyes.

"You look good." Jisoo found herself saying.

"You too." Her mother's eyes traveled from her head to toe. "You grew up into a beautiful young woman. Would you like anything to drink or eat?" Her mother nervously asked.

Jisoo shook her head. Eating was at the back of her mind at the moment.

"Then why don't you take a seat?" 

"It's fine. I'm not going to stay here long. Your husband might come home anytime soon." Jisoo couldn't hide the snarkiness from her voice.

Jang Min Jun visibly flinched at her sharp words. "Jisoo--"

"Do you hate me?" Jisoo cut her off. "Is that why you left?"

"My dear, of course not." Her mother approached her. "I just..." Her eyes darted to the floor as if she couldn't bear to look at Jisoo.

"You just didn't love me enough to stay." Jisoo finished the sentence for her.

"No, no." Jang Min Jun's eyes watered. "I loved you---I mean I still do love you." She corrected herself. "But your father and I are just not meant to be."

"And you realised this after ten years of marriage?" Jisoo narrowed her eyes. She knew it was possible for people to fall out of love but to do it after spending ten years with each other and also having a child together, it mustn't have been easy unless someone made an unforgivable mistake. "Did Appa ever hurt you or did anything wrong?"

"No, he didn't." Her mother regretfully confessed. "I just fe