(PS: The chapter was getting longer than planned, so I cut it in half. So don't be disappointed if you don't find that supposed interesting scene I was talking about in twt/cc. It will be in next chapter, and it's already in process. So for now, enjoy this sort of boring chapter)        

 

 

Next morning...

 

Baekhyun heard soft knocks on his door and he immediately knew it was the kids, since there wasn't anyone else but the three of them present at their house. The time had finally came when he would have to let the kids face the reality. Sighing through his lips he gently kept Junior Mr. Byun back at his place and stepped down from the bed. With weary steps forward, he managed to reach the door. His grip stayed still on the knob for a few seconds. Then he again heard set of knocks, the girls were calling for him and their Mama, so taking in a huge breath, he opened the door. 

The kids beamed at him, "Good morning, Daddy!" They cheerfully greeted and ran inside, probably to greet Munhee as well. 

"Good morning, princesses." Baekhyun murmured through his rough morning voice. 

He noticed the kids excitedly climbing up on the bed while their eyes scanned the whole room. "Where's Mama?" Miseo asked, her eyes blinking in confusion as they'd always find both of their parents on bed whenever they'd wake up before the couple and decide to come join with them. 

"Not in washroom!" Sarang pointed out as the washroom was unlocked, so it clearly meant Munhee wasn't there. "Is Mama in the balcony?" Then the little one offered another possible option. Their eyes squinted as they tried to find their mother's figure in the balcony, adorable pout formed into their lips when they couldn't find Munhee there either.

Baekhyun couldn't hold the sight anymore. He decided to try distracting them, he was miserably desperate to stall the inevitable deed as much longer as he could. Maybe he could tell them after the breakfast? Or after lunch? Or after they'd return home as he was planning to take them out. Or maybe after the dinner? Or maybe tomorrow.. He just couldn't decide the proper time to break the news on them. He couldn't deny the fact as well, that he was dreaded of that moment. Since he was well aware of how much his daughters loved Munhee, how much dependent they'd become on her, how much it would hurt them. He was certain it wouldn't be an easy task. But he'd have to do it anyway, after all, he had chosen it for himself and the little ones.

"Kids, did you two brush your teeth?" He tried to ask like he was used to see Munhee asking them in a morning like this, like a strict but affectionate mother. 

"No!" As usual, the two of them answered unanimously, shaking their tiny heads adorably.  

"Daddy why is your voice like that? Did you catch cold?" Miseo being the smarter one, was first to notice the change in their father's voice. 

"Yes, Daddy also have a red nose! Cold monster has caught Daddy!" Sarang gasped dramatically. 

"Y-Yeah, Daddy's got caught by cold monster." He lied to the girls. 

"We need to find Mama! Only Mama knows how to fight with cold monster!" Miseo chirped, her eyes looking determined. She tugged Sarang and both of them got down from the bed within the blink of an eye. They looked like they were ready to go search for Munhee. "Let's go, Mama must be in the kitchen!" Miseo urgently told her younger sister as they ran.

Being well-practiced for years, Baekhyun was swift enough to catch them before they fully left the room. "Don't think you young ladies can go somewhere without brushing your teethies!" The girls giggled as they tried to break free from their Daddy's strong hold just for the sake of fun. "Brush your teeth first. Today, Daddy is going to make a delicious breakfast for his princesses!" Baekhyun tried saying it a little cheerfully, even though he didn't have it in him to be cheerful at all. 

"Really?" The girls gaped at their Daddy. They had never witnessed their father making breakfast, so they were bound to be surprised.

"Really!" Baekhyun nodded and let them off, "Now go, hurry!" He patted their heads while urging them to return to their room.

When the kids listened to him like the good babies they were, he finally let out a huge sigh. He leaned his side into the nearest wall, raking his fingers through his hair. Albeit unwillingly, his eyes scanned the whole bedroom for the nth time. Nothing seemed out of ordinary, everything was just in their perfect place, yet there was a void and emptiness was almost visible inside there. And he'd rather let himself struggle with the breakfast than acknowledging what was the reason behind the crawling emptiness there. 

Just as he had presumed, preparing breakfast was a huge struggle for him. He had no idea what to prepare even though there was numerous times where he had been with Munhee while she prepared large amount of breakfast for them during weekends, he had even volunteered to help her with little things everytime he did so. Yet here he was, as clueless as a newborn baby, not even knowing where the damned coffee powder was. It's not like he didn't know the basics to the least, but he hadn't been doing anything for a long time.

After running the horses of his seemingly lagged brain, he finally decided on to make some plain toast so that they could have them with butter or Nutella. He could only pray in advance that he wouldn't mess with the toaster like how he had messed their oven previously. He chuckled a little, when out of nowhere he got reminded how pissed Munhee had been when she returned home that day and found out about it, she didn't let him hear the end of it for days. However, he was also aware that most of her naggings were the product of her worries for their welfare, he knew she only wanted the best for them. 

When Baekhyun realized the train of his thoughts were going to the lane where he didn't want them, he immediately diverted his mind into searching for the container of coffee. He needed some intake of caffeine badly. By the time he managed to make a mug of black coffee along with the breakfast, the kids still didn't arrive downstairs. So he called for them from the kitchen, his cracked up voice cracking even more at the attempt. But the kids at least heard him, as they responded immediately and got downstairs within the next minute. 

"Come, have your breakfast like good girls." Baekhyun beckoned them and made them seated in both sides so that it would be easier for him to help with their breakfast. 

"Where's the breakfast, Daddy?" Sarang asked, looking confused at the almost invisible amount of food on the table. They were habituated in having large breakfast during weekends, so the mere plates of toasted breads were nothing in their eyes.

Baekhyun inwardly grimaced, and silently applied Nutella on the toasted breads, "Nutella and bread, isn't it so yummy?" He tried to say enthusiastically. But another grimace took place into his face when he didn't get any enthusiasm back from the girls.

"But I want Mama's special strawberry sandwich!" Miseo whined. 

"Yes, me too! With extra whipped cream!" Sarang joined in. 

"Kids, we have only these for now. So please eat? I promise, I will order your favorites for lunch and dinner, hmm?" He proposed, silently praying that they would agree. 

The kids exchanged silent looks between them, and then nodded. "Okay!" They chanted altogether.

Baekhyun felt relieved when the kids started eating their breakfast. He proceeded to sip his coffee, but choked in the middle when Miseo asked while chewing her bread, "But where is Mama anyway?" 

When Baekhyun recovered from the coughs and looked up, he found the questioning gazes of his daughters. He was cowering under them. Clearing his throat, he sat up straight to look confident, "Girls, you forgot that Mama had taught you not to talk while you have food in your mouth?" He asked strictly.

The kids swallowed their food with the juice after that. When their mouth was free, Sarang again inquired again, "Where is Mama? Mama didn't say good morning, Mama didn't give us morning kissies!" The little one pointed out, of course, with a sad pout on her face. 

"Has Mama went to grandma's place?" Miseo asked the possibility to her father.  

"But they are not in Korea!" Sarang reminded Miseo. Their all four grandparents had gone to visit USA for a week, and that's why they couldn't be with their granddaughters in their birthday. They had been protesting against it, but Munhee and Baekhyun had managed to persuade them for the trip.

"Then where can she go? Is Mama planning something else for our birthday?" Miseo asked, her eyes twinkling with excitement. 

Baekhyun felt his throat drying. He didn't know how to even start. He knew his little babies' heart would be broken when he'd finally tell them. Heaving a huge sigh, he composed himself, "Mama h-had to go... somewhere." Their curious eyes had never felt this challenging to him until this day. He had to clench his fists under the table to keep himself calm and collected. "Okay, how about we go out before we talk about it? We will have a Daddy and daughters date! We will go to the amusement park, then we'll get your favorite ice creams. We will eat delicious food at some restaurant. And if you'd still have some energy left, then Daddy will teach you how to ride your bikes later! It would be so much fun, right?"

"Yeah!" The kids cheered, momentarily distracted from their previous queries.

"Okay, then let's get you two ready after breakfast!" Baekhyun offered, smiling at his daughters, also secretly feeling relieved that they didn't notice the change of topic. But apparently, his relief was short timed.

"Mama won't help us getting ready?" Miseo blinked up at her father. And Baekhyun wanted to rip his hairs out of frustration. 

  

 

                                          _______

 

 

"Daddy, you said we will know when we get back home. But where is Mama? Mama isn't home!" Miseo protested as Baekhyun was making their bed while she and Sarang stood beside him, looking up at him with eagerness filled eyes. Miseo looked frustrated even, her eyes blinking more than usual, indicating that she was on the verge of crying.

By some miracle, Baekhyun managed to stall the topic throughout the whole day. He had to put too much effort into changing the topic in every five minutes, since the kids wouldn't stop asking about their Mama. But right now, he had reached his limits of trying to twist and turn the truth, and he didn't have any psychic energy inside him to continue thwarting the truth anymore. He silently picked them up to their bed while contemplating in silence as to how he can explain the situation to them.

He had to take a huge breath when Sarang actually started crying, leaving tiny whimpers out of her small pouty lips. And seeing the younger sister crying like this, Miseo also couldn't stop her tears as well. "We want M... Mama! Tell Mama to come!" Sarang whimpered and demanded, while salty waters slid down from her chubby cheeks. 

That was it. He had to do it now. With nervous and painned heart, he started, "Babies... I'm sorry. But Mama... won't come back." he managed to say before trying to wipe his daughters' continuous tears, but failed miserably as the kids started crying even more, swatting his hands away. 

"Why?" Miseo asked, her trembling voice tearing his heart apart even more.

"Mama had to go. She wasn't here permanently. She was j-just helping us. Now she needs to go back to her world, that's why... Daddy has sent her off." He explained while his throat closed up.

"Why did you sent her off? We need Mama!" Sarang protested, looking hurt but agitated at the same time.

"No, you don't need her. You have Daddy! Daddy will be your both parents from now on." Baekhyun tried stating a little firmly.  

"But you are not Mama!" Sarang wailed. "Sarang wants Mama!" 

"You can't be our Mama, Daddy! Miseo needs Mama too!" Miseo didn't lag behind in making it harder for Baekhyun.  

"Look girls, it's time for bed. Go to sleep. And know that Mama can't come back. She can't be stuck with us forever. Do you two not want her to be happy? S-She is happy wherever she is right now. P-Please don't be like this? Mama won't be glad if she gets to know you two aren't being good babies like she has taught you to be." Baekhyun explained once again, his throat felt like it needed icy cold water as it was burning at the pain, from the bile formed inside it was causing him.

Miseo's cries subdued a bit. But she was still hiccuping. It somehow reminded him how Munhee would always end up hiccuping when she would cry hard, and the last time he had seen her, which was just a day before, she had been shedding tears with her glistening eyes just like Miseo and Sarang.   

"Mama... Has Mama gone to meet M-Mummy?" Miseo asked after a few seconds of silence. When Munhee and Baekhyun had explained them the meaning of death, and the real reason why Myunghee could never return, they had said sort of similar things to them like Baekhyun had just told them. So the little one must've misunderstood the meaning behind his words. 

"N-No! No baby! Munhee is absolutely fine. S-She... She hasn't gone to meet Myunghee, I s-swear." Baekhyun panicked and immediately tried to clarify the situation. Just at the thought of it hammered his whole body uncontrollably. "She just needed to go to some other place. She can't stay with us. She will... have a new home now."

"Then call Mama back! We want to see her. We miss Mama!"

"Or we will go to Mama's new home. We will live there with her!" 

Miseo and Sarang laid their opinions. Their hiccups subdued a little, but there was still a visible vulnerability in their eyes that told Baekhyun that he needed to be very careful with them, otherwise, it wouldn't take much for them to start sobbing again. But no matter how much he tried to sugarcoat it, the truth was bitter for them in everyway.

"We... can't. She needs to lead a life without us." He sighed, raking his fingers through his messy hairs. 

"Mama won't miss us?" Sarang questioned. Her sad face did nothing making Baekhyun want to sink inside the bed right away.

"Mama don't love us? Is Mama upset with us? did we do anything wrong?" Miseo shot another set of hurtful questions. 

"Is Mama punishing us because we aren't good babies? Is it because we cried for chocolates?" Sarang asked without missing a beat, indicating the time a few days earlier, where they had thrown tantrums for extra chocolates.

Baekhyun's mouth had gone numb at that, his head stopped working at the kids words and questions. This was what he was scared of the most, and he was certain Munhee was also scared of it. He didn't want the kids to have any negative assumptions about Munhee as she did nothing but being the best mother to them.

"Daddy, please tell Mama that we won't cry f-for chocolates anymore! We're sorry!" Miseo's words again broke Baekhyun's train of thoughts. 

"Sarang loves Mama more than chocolates. I will f-forget about chocolates, I promise!" Sarang also nodded her head vigorously while promising. Both kids held their ears as a sort of apology.

Baekhyun subconsciously wiped his face, as the unwanted sticky waters were irking him, he shakily sighed for the nth time before engulfing his daughters in a most needed hug. He knew three of them needed it the most at this moment. His heart was beating painfully seeing how much the kids were willing to do, just to get Munhee back. He had assumed things to be hard when he had taken the decision regarding Munhee, but he never thought explaining the kids would be this tough. He could only ask the god to give him enough strength so that he could handle his daughters and return smiles to their faces. "I'm so sorry. Please forgive Daddy. Daddy can't bring Mama back. I... I was the one to tell h-her to go away. I know it sounds really difficult, but we... you two need to learn how to live without Munhee. And know that Mama isn't upset or angry at you. In fact, she l-loves you two a lot. But... whatever the situation is, you will understand when you will get bigger. For now, let's just try to stay w-without her. Hmm? Won't you be the good girls for Mama and Daddy?"  

The kids shook their heads, Baekhyun could feel they were sniffling again, his heart clenched continuously for them. Their muffled cry for their Mama didn't get unnoticed by him. In the span of two days, he had made three out of three most precious girls of his life cry, he couldn't hate himself any lesser for that. He continued to pat their heads softly, he knew no matter how much words he would use, the kids will definitely take more time to heal in this matter. 

After a while of pricking silence, he noticed that both of their breathing sounded steady as they had their heads buried into his chest. Unceremoniously enough, he was reminded of the times he had lend Munhee his chest, for her to take comfort from him whenever she needed it. 'She has someone else to do it for her, from now on.' His inner voice blatantly pointed it out. He dismissed the thoughts of Munhee and forced himself to put his whole concentration on his now sleeping daughters. 

With a bit struggle, he managed to tuck them inside their duvet. His heart broke all over again at the sight of his little angels crying themselves to sleep like this. He bent down to dry their residual tears off, giving them long pecks on their tiny crowns. "I'm so sorry for hurting you two. I will try to make it up to you. Daddy loves you." He murmured in his own croaked voice before sliding down on the cold floor beside their bed. He didn't have it in him to return back in his bedroom. He'd rather spend his night watching the peaceful sleeping features of his daughters. 

Although he refused to go back to his bedroom, he had to leave the kids room since he got call from his mother. He knew the talk wasn't going to go easy as he was going to break the news to them, and it would definitely disturb the kids' sleep. That's why he found himself sitting on the left side of his bed, which was previously Munhee's side, his free hand naturally found it's way to cradle Junior Mr. Byun in his arms, while he listened to his mother's complaints about him and Munhee not receiving any of their calls throughout the whole day. 

"Mom, I'm sorry for worrying you all." He apologized numbly.

"You still should've been carefu- wait, is it the network issue or there's really something wrong with your voice?" His mother stopped in between her lectures and inquired.

Baekhyun took a huge breath before he could compose himself enough to say whatever he was going to say. "I'm fine, Mom. But there's something... I need to c-confess something to you all. Are you with the others?" He asked. When he got an affirmative answer, he continued, "Can you please put your phone on speaker? I need to tell you all about something."

He waited while he heard murmurs of different voices from other lines. "Why do I have a feeling that it's an announcement? A good one of course!" Munhee's mother's cheerful voice was heard, indicating that he was already on speaker. He didn't know telling them about this while they're at somewhere far was a good idea or not. But he couldn't back off now, he had to do it before he cowarded out. 

Heaving through his nose, he cleared his sore throat so that his voice would be clear enough, "Yes, it's sort of an announcement. And I hope you all would listen to me calmly before reacting." He told them.

There was a gasp, followed by another, "Baekhyun! Don't tell me! Is... Is our Munhee pregnant?" His mother asked, she sounded like she was on the verge of tears just by thinking about this good news for which all of them had been waiting so eagerly.

Baekhyun pinched his nose bridge, it was getting even more difficult to start this conversation at this rate. "No. We're getting divorced." He let out forcefully. The moment those words left his mouth, the cheerful chaos from the other line silenced immediately.

 

 

                                           ______

 

 

It had been three days, only three single days, and yet it felt like a sum of unbearable eternities for Munhee. 

She had no idea about time, date or weather outside, the only way she knew that it had been three days since she'd left Baekhyun's house, was the constant reminder from Sehun. She had scooped herself in one of the spare bedrooms at Sehun's house, wetting the pillows even before they get to dry off from the previous attack of her flooding tears. She had restricted Sehun from lighting up the room, fixing the thick curtains around the windows and keeping the lights switched off. 

The darkness of the room was dreading, sharp claws of shredding pain seemed to crawl towards her every now and then, making her frightened to the roots. Yet she allowed the darkness. Since it worked as a good distraction from the painful memories inflicted on her by the man she held dear to her heart. She had given him her heart with dreams and hopes of a beautiful future, and he had voluntarily crushed her heart raw in his palms and returned her the tattered residuals of it; he had snatched the beauty from her dreams and recklessly rendered her with hollow dreams that were filled with endless darkness and stabbing aches. 

She was a mess, an ugly mess of hopeless, tormented, shattered emotions. Her life didn't feel like life anymore. In fact, her life had turned into lifeless agony. She had never thought of a Baekhyun-less life. But she was here now. Facing the cold shackles of reality enveloping her soul bit by bit. This Baekhyun-less life felt as good as being lifeless.

Here she was, laying on a lone and cold bed, not even bothering to cover herself up with the duvet to succumb some warmth, since she knew it pretty well that nothing could compare to the warmth Baekhyun could provide her. No one could melt her heart like her babies did to her. The longing inside her growing up like tall, unreachable mountain.

She had no idea how to live after this, meaning of life losing it's authenticity to her. She didn't care about eating, bathing or even breathing properly, as her nose was clogged badly. Her dried lips probably would bleed if she attempted to talk more than one word, or perhaps they're already bleeding, she didn't care. Her hairs probably would fail all the wild crows nests out there. But she couldn't care less about them. All she could care about, was her broken heart, and the person who had broken it so mercilessly. 

To say, she was angry at Baekhyun, would be a massive understatement. She was enflamed. Still she couldn't stop thinking about him. Every moment, every single second of her life had been surrounded by him and his world. How could she just wipe him out of her mind, her heart just like that? It felt like he had adorned the most sticky glue ever, and had clutched around her heart, intending to never leave that stupid organ ever.

 Amongst her storming thoughts, questions about him kept swirling around her head every now and then. How was he doing? Did he even miss her at all? How was he managing everything without her? Did he think of her like how she was thi