"When will we meet again, mommy?"

That question broke Seulgi's heart more than anything else

Seulgi turned to look at her four-year-old son, his brown eyes full of curiosity. A look that seemed so familiar to Seulgi because they reminded her of how much she still loved his mother, reminded her of failed promises and the happiness of her wedding day when it never even crossed her mind that she would be dealing with the side effects of a divorce...

Six years of marriage and everything had gone down the drain thanks to one thing: money. That cruel tyrant who drives people mad and sick, it rots and poisons the soul with the fury of a cyclone. Money was always lacking at home no matter how much Seulgi tried to avoid it. The court had decided in that lawsuit that Seulgi didn't have enough resources to take care of her son and therefore the custody would go to her other mother, Seulgi could only visit him every weekend

Which brings us to the current scene

Mother and son were in front of the door of Wendy's house. The boy had to return home at seven o'clock in the evening of a Sunday, without fail. Seulgi crouched down to be able to match her son height

"The next weekend Junnie, I'll pick you up after school" the woman smiled forcefully and prayed to heavens that her son couldn't​ tell the difference between a fake smile and a real one. She was holding back the tears with all her might. "For now you should stay with mom, remember?"

The boy said nothing and just looked at Seulgi with confused eyes

Seulgi pulled him into a tight hug and then held him up in the air... god, she would miss the little boy for the whole week. He hugged her as hard as he could and planted a long kiss on her cheek when she rang the doorbell... she knew that Wendy would scold her with all kinds of words because it was at least half an hour after seven but what could she do? Time flew by when she was next to the one she loved with all her heart

The door of the house opened quickly and behind it, Wendy emerged with a floral sundress and a white apron covered in some kind of icing. Her face reflected a combination of anguish and anger but as soon as she saw the scene in front of her eyes; Seulgi and her son in a tight embrace, everything was erased from her mind and the only thing Wendy did was let out a long frustrated sigh. Seulgi gave her a shaky smile before putting the boy on the ground

"Here... here he is" Seulgi spoke shyly "Sorry about the delay"

Wendy looked at the little boy who was already beginning to wipe away his tears and sob in silence.

"I hope you didn't cause much trouble Kang Junho"

'Junho' looked at Wendy with teary eyes and nodded a couple of times before entering the house without saying anything else. He was obviously angry and it would be something Wendy would have to deal with shortly... meanwhile Wendy looked at Seulgi again who also wiped her tears and was ready to leave

"I'll see you next weekend" her tone of voice didn't​ change. She made a gesture with her hand and turned around

"Seulgi. Wait "Wendy raised her voice to stop her almost immediately

Seulgi turned around to look at her curiously

"It's the third weekend that you bring him past the hour..."

"I-I'm... I'm sorry" the woman lowered her gaze and started sobbing again "Time goes by very fast when I'm with him and... I'm sorry Wendy"

Wendy sighed and ran a hand through her hair

"If you go on like this, the court is going to take away your custody completely... is that what you want, Seulgi? Do you want to not see him anymore?"

Wendy felt her chest tighten after seeing Seulgi's desperate expression. She looked so full of fear that Wendy just wanted to take a step forward and wrap her in a tight hug to calm her down. Seulgi cried harder and frantically shook her head

"N-no! Of course not! I...!"

It was impossible to control the pain on her chest and the sobs shook her body like a furious ocean breeze. Seulgi covered to try and calm down but it had no result and Wendy... Wendy couldn't​ help feeling that something in her ended up breaking forever before that miserable image...

Was the divorce really worth?

"They already took everything away from me..." whispered Seulgi when she could control herself "I don't​ want to lose him too…"

I also lost everything

Wendy wanted to talk but the right words didn't​ come out of and instead of giving her the right reassurance she only ended up sounding cold and without feelings.

"Then bring Junho on time every weekend"

Seulgi looked at her with wide eyes, red from so much crying. She opened to say something but no words came out, just an empty moan and a bigger need to cry. She nodded slowly, like a scolded child who has no choice but to indulge in his punishment, and turned around after drying her tears

"Ok... I'll see you next weekend"

Wendy wanted to stop her one more time, this time to ask for an apology and tell her that she had not thought what she said, she wanted to hold her and wipe each one of her tears... but Wendy didn't​ have the solution to their problems, for now she couldn't do anything for her...

And she only saw her walking slowly to the bus stop to not see her again until next week.

***

Wendy was lying on her bed, Junho was curled up beside her. Since the divorce finished, her son was sleeping with her in the same bed she'd once shared with Seulgi. The poor child had developed a kind of nocturnal terror when he was alone in his room so to avoid it, Wendy slept beside him. Junho also slept next to a small brown teddy bear (Wendy was sure that he did it only because it reminded her of Seulgi but he wouldn't​ say anything in fear of angering his other mom)

After Seulgi left, Wendy spent more than half an hour comforting her son with promises of vanilla ice cream and the chocolate brownies she had baked all afternoon until his tears finally disappeared and Junho agreed to take a bath afterwards and go to sleep next to his mother.

Wendy tried to understand him; She tried to understand him with all her strength and all the maternal instincts she had in her heart. Junho was barely three years old when they started the divorce process and it was all confusing for him. His last birthday, instead of celebrating it with joy and a huge party, was spent in the court hearing the sentence that benefited Wendy due to her economic position and left Seulgi with nothing...

Seulgi was a painter, all her life she had loved creating art and representing her feelings on a blank canvas. But her work wasn't that well paid on most occasions and that meant that money was lacking at home most of the time. Wendy didn't​ care a tiny bit, if she had Seulgi everything was fine. She used to believe that love could solve everything.

Until Junho got sick

Junho was always a fragile baby. He was born smaller than the average babies and, although his development wasn't atrophied in any way, he had really bad luck with all kinds of sicknesses. One winter day he went to the hospital with such a tremendous pneumonia that the usual medicines didn't​ work as expected. Seulgi and Wendy had to resort to expensive treatments that drained all their savings for the next family vacations where they would go to Canada to meet his grandparents and his aunt...

Fortunately Junho recovered and they returned home

Wendy started looking for different jobs until the fatigue was too much and she couldn't​ deal with the pressure of not having enough to give her son a decent life and the necessary comforts. One day, fed up with everything, she chose to divorce Seulgi and seek progress on the other hand without caring about her partner's feelings or how much she would change her routine day by day.

She still remembered the look of pain that Seulgi had given her that day when she arrived with the divorce papers

Seulgi still believed that love could solve everything. Wendy knew that was a lie

"Mom" Junho's little voice echoed on the walls of the room and Wendy his hair sweetly

"What is it, love?"

"Do you hate mommy​?"

Wendy was surprised by the question

"What are you saying, honey...?"

"You and mommy used to play and share those yucky kisses that always made you laugh and you were always hugging each other and then one day mommy wasn't​ home anymore and I have to go to that ugly apa-apart-apartment where mommy lives now. Do you hate her now?"

The woman with brown hair left a long kiss on the boy's forehead

"Of course not, my love. Seul.... mommy and I don't hate each other in any way. She loves you and always asks for you, every day she calls to ask me if you're okay. We don't​ hate each other"

Junho let out a long, loud gasp and broke away from the hug to look at Wendy with eyes full of excitement as he tightened the teddy bear in his arms

"Does that mean mommy is coming back?!"

"Honey... no, honey. Mommy can't​ come back for now."

The way the boy's expression fell so hard made Wendy hate herself a little and wonder once more if the whole divorce was really worth it, if a good salary could replace Seulgi's hugs in the middle of the night. And although Wendy was her biological mother, Junho's expression was too similar to the one Seulgi had given her that miserable day...

Tears filled the little boy's eyes once more

Wendy immediately tried to stop them. She cradled his face in her hands and the rosy, chubby cheeks with her thumbs.

"No, honey, don't​ cry anymore..."

"I just want mommy to come back!" Junho shouted in the middle of his frustration without being able to express his feelings in any other way. "I want mommy!"

Wendy hugged her son tightly and let him cry all he needed to cry while she kept whispering sweet nothings in his ear and telling him everything would be fine no matter how much the world throws at them. Everything would be fine because they were together and because Mom would protect him from all danger.

Junho fell asleep after hours of crying, completely exhausted until his throat went dry.

As soon as he fell asleep, Wendy burst into tears

She also needed Seulgi

***
A couple of days went by since that farewell fiasco

Seulgi looked at the canvas in front of her, she was about to finish her most recent work

Painting had always been the way where she drew all her frustrations and bad feelings. It was the healthiest method she could think of to let off steam and continue her life. The brush slid on the paper with a faint orange color until Seulgi got the result she wanted.

She had worked on that portrait for days

On the canvas was a woman. She was , sitting on a bed while dawn painted the sky and reflected through her window. The woman had her head turned to the side, looking over her shoulder with a gentle smile on her lips. Seulgi continues to define the features of her muse until she got the result she expected...

The woman was Wendy and the scene, the last time Seulgi had awakened by her side

That was the way she kept remembering her, her most vivid memory out of everything they lived before. Even more so than the day they were married and Wendy looked so beautiful in her long white dress and her hair falling in a brunette cascade down past her shoulders. Seulgi never wanted to forget that morning for any reason

"Good morning Seul"

"What are you doing awake at this time? Go back to sleep..."

"I was just thinking... nothing too important"

Seulgi closed her eyes and sighed. She still could feel the taste of Wendy's skin, the trembling of her body under her hands, the soft "I love you's" and all the messy kissing. What did she have to do to be able to return to those days where she was happy?

Just as she was about to go to sleep and tide up her workplace, her phone rang insistently. Seulgi raised an eyebrow. Who could call her right now? It was about three in the morning

"Hello?"

"Seul..." the voice on the other side of the phone was too damn obvious, Seulgi thought the worst "You have to come to the hospital immediately... Junnie... Junnie is very sick Seul..."

Suddenly nothing mattered anymore

"In which hospital are you?"

"The hospital in the center... hurry up"

"I'm coming"

Seulgi barely got rid of her paint-covered clothes before rushing out of the shabby apartment where she lived. Luckily she had gotten a bike in recent days so she could save enough money for a second-hand car.

She sprinted hard through the streets without caring for any traffic signals or the rest of the drivers. The wind was pounding in her face and the only thing that crossed her mind was her family... her family and how much she loved them. The hospital soon glowed as she turned into a corner and Seulgi used all her strength to reach it. Once there, she left the bicycle at the entrance of the place and ran to reception

"Miss!" She spoke​ with a breathless voice "Do you have information about Kang Junho? He's my son! I need you to tell me something!"

"Please calm down... the child can only receive visits from his family and you are not registered"

Seulgi felt that her soul left her body

Until a voice interrupted

"It's his mother" it said "Let her pass please"

Seulgi turned around to look at the owner of the voice and a sigh left her lips as she forgot completely of the world surrounding them. Wendy ran to her and they hugged each other tightly, ignoring that they weren't​ supposed to have that contact now that they had been divorced for more than six months. Seulgi broke away from the embrace and cradled Wendy's face in her hands, wiping the tears on her cheeks

"What happened?"

"He... he had a high fever, he couldn't​ sleep and he complained between dreams. He had a lot of fever Seul and I didn't​ know what to do... the doctors are checking him right now and... I'm scared"

Wendy cried again this time letting the sobs control her

"I'm afraid something will happen to him, Seul..."

Seulgi did it out of pure instinct, out of a natural impulse of protection. She didn't​ think about it not even for a second

She kissed Wendy

And Wendy kissed her back

Her lips moved gently over her ex-wife's in a touch full of gentleness and absent of all kinds of lust. Seulgi still had Wendy's face between her hands and caressed her cheeks gently, trying to erase all the anxiety and fear from the body of the person she loved so much and with whom she had shared so much of her life.

It was at that moment that they realized that the divorce had actually been a hasty decision. They never stopped loving each other, they both could feel the way their lips fit perfectly as if they had never been away even for a second. After a while, Seulgi broke the contact and looked into Wendy's eyes, that look that had captivated her forever. Wendy had stopped crying but her eyes were still teary

"It's going to be fine... we'll be fine" said Seulgi ignoring the lump in

Wendy could only hold her tightly. She didn't​ care if everything was a mere hallucination, she just wanted to be close to Seulgi

It was almost two hours after they got information about their son. Wendy was sleeping on Seulgi's shoulder when the doctor asked about the child's relatives. Both mothers got up faster than the drop of a hat and walked towards the doctor

"How is he?" Wendy was the first to speak

"He's stable since it wasn't​ serious, the little guy is just under too much stress lately. What is going on at home?"

"Uhm... divorce" Seulgi answered with her gaze on the ground

"I see" the doctor continued "For now let him rest, you can see him in the morning at visiting time... and please... try to keep him out of all this"

The doctor went lost in the corridors of the hospital while Wendy and Seulgi stared in his direction before hugging each other tightly, too relieved by the news to care about the rest of the world.

***

"Don't​ insist Seulgi, please"

"Wendy... you kissed me ... I know you still love me, I know this wasn't​ because you were scared..."

"Seulgi, enough"

"We can make it and you know that... let's try again"

Seulgi and Wendy were in the hospital cafeteria after they had gone to visit their son inside his room. The boy was ecstatic to see their mothers together once again and also because they had let him keep his teddy bear while he was inside. At the pace at which he recovered he would surely be discharged in a few days

"How are you so sure that we will make it this time?"

"Because we have each other"

"Love isn't everything Seulgi... Junho does not eat out of love"

"I know... I know... but money won't give him happiness either. Wendy... it's not money what he needs"

Seulgi lay her hand over the weathered wooden table so she could take Wendy's hand and her knuckles. Just at that moment she realized that the brunette woman had never got rid of her wedding ring... she still kept it on her finger and it shone as bright as ever

Wendy sighed and felt the tears piling in once more

"Seul... I don't​ want to live the same thing years ago when Junnie was a baby... I don't​ want him to lack anything"

"Wendy...he won't​ lack anything... he'll have us, we'll love him and we'll make an effort. But the first step is to be together... I promise that I'll look for a job,I'll stop painting if necessary... let's try it, I'm begging​ you. If we are together everything will be different, you won't​ have to suffer alone anymore, we are supposed to take care of each other"

Wendy holds Seulgi's hand tightly

"In sickness and in health, remember?"

Seulgi kissed her hand softly. Wendy felt her eyes water

"Okay..." Wendy gave her a wide smile "Let's try it one more time... "

***

Two months have passed since Junho ended at the hospital

After that mishap, Wendy and Seulgi returned to live together as the family they were before. Junho never stopped​ jumping out of excitement after the news and kept questioning if everything was a lie. The fact that he saw his mothers again made him scream with excitement. The afternoons in front of the television watching movies came back, Wendy complained again about the empty cans of Pringles scattered throughout the room and Seulgi was again greeted by a brown haired​, pocket-sized missile every morning

In the middle of that moving from Seulgi's messy apartment to her previous house, Wendy found a medium-sized painting covered by a sheet

Wendy thought that maybe it was something meaningless that Seulgi had made a common day until she saw who was the person in the painting...

Secretly, without even telling the people she trusted the most, she sent the painting to a famous gallery in the city

And that's how Seulgi got a place to exhibit her works and soon everyone was delighted with that piece of the intriguing woman and the beauty that was portrayed on it. Great experts began to appreciate the enormous effort of Seulgi and now the painter had all kinds of offers from all around the globe

Just now, Seulgi was in front of the painting with Wendy hugging her waist while they both watched it.

"Incredible" a man approached and admired the painting "What inspired this work Seulgi-ssi?"

Seulgi turned to look at Wendy with a smile on her lips and left a long kiss on her. The woman in her arms just smiled full of confidence

"I don't​ know... there are things that bring you happiness suddenly and that's what inspires me"

Wendy smiled widely when she gave one last look at the painting and managed to read the title of the work

Beyond money