Mina would like to think that she was the most level-headed person in their friend group, right behind Jihyo, but her family was about to ruin that thought for her. 

The Myoui-Hirai family was eating dinner and were being a typical loud family as they laughed and cheered with one another, the Japanese gymnast had no clue how she ended up being the quiet one in such a loud family.

Her brother, Kai was on the football team so he was naturally loud, so at the dinner table he would always be making crude jokes or just being annoying. Her step sister or Momo’s sister, Hana was also a social butterfly at school and well-known for being a party girl and her other step sister, Momo. Where should Mina even begin with this girl? 

Honestly if it wasn’t for Momo the quiet girl would probably not have any friends, she was grateful that Momo was able to break her shell, but still had her problems with crowds and being social with others.

Momo completely understood Mina’s issue and would always try to support her no matter what, for example at the Field Day when all of the attention was on her after the Jennie incident, the older Japanese girl had protected her from the crowds and comforted her as long as she needed.

Mina always knew she was a quiet and reserved person since she was young, but never knew when she started to develop her social issues. She thinks it may have started back in elementary school when she was in Japan. Girls would call her mute Mina, since she had never spoken a single word to anyone, but the biggest catalyst for her social struggles was the death of her mother.

The Japanese girl had always spoke to her mother, Myoui Akirako, about everything and would pour her entire heart for her. Her mother was her voice, she could speak to her without being judged and insecure… so when her mother died… it really took a toll on Mina.

She had been so quiet that her father, Myoui Tokichiro, couldn’t tell if she was still alive in her room at times and had to check every so often to make sure that she didn’t do anything irrational, eventually her dad would remarry to Momo’s mother, Hirai Mitsu.

Mina didn’t like the idea of her father remarrying, but there was no way of stopping him. She would later find out that he would be getting married in Korea which even angered her even more realizing that they would be leaving their family home.

The Myoui family would eventually move in with the Hirai family a few months later, allowing all of the children to meet each other. Kai and Hana were able to click pretty well since they were close in age, while Momo was able to have some conversations with Kai because of her energetic and outgoing personality.

The only trouble Hana and Momo had was the quiet and recluse Mina who would seclude herself in the corner of the couch minding her own business. Hana had tried her best to get her to talk, but she eventually gave up after 10 minutes, but Momo wasn’t going to give up easily.

Since the Myoui family had moved in, Momo was told that she would have to give her room to Kai and was completely fine with that and start rooming with Mina. The room was pretty big so they could easily fit two beds in there, drawers and desks for the girls and a built-in closet that they would both share.

The first day of rooming together was really awkward, since it was the first time that both of Japanese girls had to share a room with someone, but it worked out in the end and had come to agreements and rules for the room.

Still Mina would never talk and would lay in her bed just staring at her phone or sleeping. The younger Japanese girl hadn’t made any effort to actually trying to make connections with her older step-sister, so Momo gave an annoyed sigh and looked at Mina, “Hey… um do you understand Math?”

Mina looked at the girl with a blank expression and shrugged. Momo got up from her seat and made her way to Mina’s bed and showed the paper, Mina had raised an eyebrow in confusion as she looked at the paper then whispered, “I’m younger than you… I-I don’t know that type of math.”

“EH!?” Momo said loudly as she quickly covered from the rude sound.

Mina gave a small laugh, which made Momo feel happy in the inside that she made her laugh. Mina smiled, “Yeah… I thought your Mom told you?”

Momo gave a sheepish rub on her neck, “Yeah I probably wasn’t paying attention to her.”

The two Japanese girls would eventually start talking to each other and Mina would warm up to the older girl. Once that wall was broken down Momo would introduce her friends to the timid Mina and she would eventually warm up to them as well.

Mina was smiling to herself as she was reminiscing through her thoughts, while Momo the little grin on her younger sister’s face she asked, “What are you smiling about?”

The Japanese girl looked up at her and shook her head, “Nah I was just thinking about some stuff.”

Momo’s mother looked at the two girls and said, “Momo… are you teasing her?”

“W-What!?” Momo stuttered in disbelief, “I was just asking her what she was smiling about?”

The woman looked at Mina as she was eating her dinner and said, “Would you like to tell us what you were smiling about darling?”

Mina shrugged, “I’m just happy that my dad had chosen to marry you.”

Everyone at the table all stopped at what they were doing and all gave a puzzled look at Mina making the timid girl shrink in her seat. Momo quickly noticed the girl being uncomfortable and started to rub her back.

Mina’s father also noticed and said, “Honey… don’t think we’re judging you… we were just caught off guard that’s all.”

Mina gave a small nod as she slowly went back into eating her food. The parents looked at each other with worried looks, while the rest of the kids awkwardly ate their foods. The youngest Japanese girl spoke up quietly, “Can I be excused?”

Her father gave a small nod as Mina got up from her seat and bowed to everyone and quickly made her way up to her room. She softly closed the door behind her and went straight to her bed, she put her blankets over herself trying not to cry and let the tears fall out of her eyes.

She hated it when she cried, it showed a sign of weakness and neediness… she didn’t want to keep relying on others for comforting her, she needed to be able to support herself, but how could she do that when she was laying on her bed crying, because she believed that her own family members were judging her.

‘No don’t think that.’ Mina thought ‘They love you… they would never judge you.’ The girl would always say these type of things to herself, but would never believe a single word. She started to cry softly into her pillows hoping that her parents or siblings wouldn’t hear her, but that wish was denied when she felt her bed dip down a little bit.

“Are you ok?” Momo said as she Mina’s hair.

Mina gave a small nod, not trying to show that she was crying, but Momo knew her and softly said, “Let it go.”

There was brief moment of silence between the two girls, then there was a small sob coming from the younger girl as Momo gave a small sigh and cradled Mina into her arms and started to her hair and humming a song to her. 

Mina would never admit it aloud, but in her soul she was always grateful that she had gotten an older sister like Momo… she was finally able to have a voice because of her.

-

The Son family was currently eating with the Kim family for dinner. Both families were well-known in the art world considering that Dahyun was on the rise for becoming one of the youngest pianists in the world, while Chaeyoung was starting to make a name for herself because of her painting skills.

Everyone in the neighborhood knew that the Kims were a family of jokesters. Dahyun’s dad, Kim Namsun, was a stand-up comedian at bars and made a pretty decent amount of money while his wife, Kim Subin, was a music professor at a nearby college.

Dahyun had somehow inherited both of their traits being a musician, while having a jokester side at the same time… pretty weird combination, but she made it work. The pale girl’s older brother, Kim Myungsoo, was in high school and went to Yongha High since he was noticed for his amazing guitar skills.

The Son family was a bit more sophisticated and level-headed, which was a complete contrast to the Kim Family. The head of the family, Son Taewoo, was the current director of the Seoul Art Gallery and retired painter. His wife, Son Changhee, was a stylist for Korean celebrities.

Chaeyoung’s younger brother, Son Jeonghoon, was still trying to figure out what his passion was, but he’s been interested in men’s fashion and starting to dress like Korean idols. 

As for Chaeyoung, she knew she wanted to be a painter when she had stumbled upon her dad’s old paintings in the attic as a kid. She had been browsing through the paintings until her dad had found her snooping around and explained the meaning behind each painting. 

This specific event in her life had led her to have a passion in painting and learning from her dad at a young age and perfecting his techniques. When she had shown her first painting to her dad, he was amazed at how quick his daughter was able to paint and was thinking about putting her paintings in his Art Gallery.

Chaeyoung’s mother did not approve of that idea saying that she didn’t want Chaeyoung to be pressured and criticized at such a young age for her paintings, so Chaeyoung had been making paintings hoping that one day her art skills would be recognized.

The dinner went just as usual, both families would eat and chat about anything that came to mind, then after both families had finished eating the fathers would sit in the living room and watch whatever sport was on, while the mothers would clean the dishes or talk about the latest neighborhood gossip.

The boys would proceed to make their way into whoever’s room was available and play video games, while the girls would be in their own room talking about school or planning one of their next pranks.

Dahyun was laying down on her bed, while Chaeyoung was sitting on the piano bench that was in the pale girl’s room and brushing her fingers against the keys.

“I can’t believe they separated us,” Dahyun said in disbelief.

Chaeyoung gave a small chuckle, “I mean… we did almost burn down the school.”

Dahyun sat upright and argued, “That wasn’t our fault… the instructions weren’t clear enough. How was I supposed to know that if you threw water on it it would cause an explosion?”

The younger one laughed as she pressed down on one of they keys of the piano, “Well it was fun while it lasted I guess.”

Dahyun agreed as she laid back down on the bed and asked, “So… how’s you and Myoui?”

Chaeyoung gave a small shrug as she plopped herself down onto the bed and sighed, “In all honesty… I feel like I should give up on liking her.”

“Why?” Dahyun said, genuinely confused, “I thought you liked her a lot?”

Everyone would think that Dahyun was too immature to be handling these type of topics, but Chaeyoung knows her better than anyone. The small girl had shrugged, “Have you ever seen Mina interested in anyone?”

Dahyun laid there for a few seconds staring at the ceiling trying to remember any events of the quiet girl, but she sighed, “Sorry Chaeng… nothing comes to mind.”

The younger girl gave a sunken look, “It’s fine Dahyun… I didn’t really expect much.”

They both sat there in silence trying to ease the awkward tension, then Chaeyoung asked, “What about you? Do you have anyone in mind?”

“In mind for what?” Dahyun said with fake confusion, knowing full what her smaller friend was asking about.

Chaeyoung gave blunt look and said, “Don’t play with dumb with me… you know what I mean.”

Dahyun had been trying to hide her feelings for a long time… even from her best friend, but of course Chaeyoung was going to be able to see right through her and asked again, “So… who do you like?”

Dahyun shifted awkwardly on her bed and said, “It’s kind of embarrassing.”

“It can’t be that bad,” Chaeyoung said adjusting herself on the bed to make herself more comfortable, “Is it someone in our friend group?”

Dahyun gave a small nod, then the younger girl perked up and teased, “Oooh… and who could this special person be? Is it Jihyo?”

“No,” the pale girl said, “I see her more as a mother figure than a crush.”

“How about Nayeon?”

“That grandma?” Dahyun said while rolling her eyes, “I’d rather be with a fossil than her.”

Chaeyoung pouted for a few minutes, then said, “Tzuyu?”

“Ew no,” Dahyun said with disgust, “We just met her… I’ve liked this girl for a few years now.”

‘Well the last few people are Jeongyeon, Momo and Sana. I can definitely scratch Jeongyeon off, because Dahyun had recently met her this summer… so all that’s left is Momo and Sana’ Chaeyoung thought in depth about her friend’s crush, then the small girl remembered when Dahyun had given Momo the big raccoon plushie on field day.

Then everything clicked into Chaeyoung’s mind and widened her eyes in realization and said, “Momo.”

Dahyun froze in her spot as her cheeks started to flush with embarrassment, which had clearly given it away to Chaeyoung, who smirked, “You have a crush on Momo?”

The pale girl quickly avoided eye contact with Chaeyoung and slowly nodded her head. The younger girl gave a small chuckle and said, “Why are you so  embarrassed about it?” 

Then it had hit the small girl like a truck and asked just in case, “You didn’t know you would like girls?”

Dahyun didn’t say anything, while Chaeyoung grabbed her hand and said, “You’re afraid of being judged? Aren’t you?”

The pale girl nodded her head in silence, making Chaeyoung quickly hug the girl and let her older friend rest her head on her shoulder. Dahyun started to tear up, “I don’t know what to do… I don’t know how my parents will react. What if I get kicked out?”

“Then you can live with me, until your parents will accept you,” Chaeyoung said with a reassuring voice, “And if they don’t… well I hope my parents will be able to pay for another kid.”

Dahyun knew she was joking, but could sense that there was tint of seriousness in her tone. The pale girl knew that Chaeyoung would fight for her until the world’s end. Dahyun gave a small laugh, “Thank you Chaengie.”

“Anything for you Dubs,” Chaeyoung said with a big smile, then she asked, “Now tell me how you started developing feelings for Momo… I want every detail.”

The pianist had given a small chuckle as she tried to recall how her feelings for Momo had surfaced. The two would talk for hours until it was time for them to leave. Dahyun smiled as she watched Chaeyoung leave the room, “So what are you going to do with Mina?”

Chaeyoung gave shrug and laughed, “What are you gonna do about Momo?”

Dahyun gave a laugh as well, “Hopefully she likes me back and I hope Mina likes you as well.”

“Yeah… hopefully.”

-

The Im family were a well-known family in the neighborhood. Im Sungmin was the CEO of a small clothing brand that was developing in Seoul, while his wife, Im Hari was an editor for a magazine and mostly worked at home.

Nayeon also had a younger sister, Im Seoyoon, that was a brat most of the time and was favorited by her parents a lot, but she didn’t mind since she was the favorite at one point in her life.

They were currently eating out at a restaurant, to be more specific Jeongyeon’s father’s restaurant. If you were family friends with the Yoo family, you would get a discount for your meals once a month. 

While the Im family was taking their seats, a familiar face had shown up at the table wearing a waiter uniform, “So what drinks will you guys be having?”

All heads in the Im family turned their heads, giving smiles to the person. Nayeon’s father smiled, “Jeongyeon… I didn’t know you were working here?”

The softball player gave a nervous chuckle as she shrugged, “I needed to make money so I can buy some new cleats and a new bat for softball.”

“Nice to see that you’re making your own money, instead of asking your parents for some,” Nayeon’s father said as he glared at the oldest Im daughter.

Jeongyeon laughed as she looked at an embarrassed Nayeon, “What drinks would you guys like?”

“I’ll have a water,” Nayeon said not trying to make eye contact with the younger girl.

Jeongyeon nodded as she looked at Seoyoon with a goofy smile and teased, “You want apple juice?”

“I’m not five years old Jeongyeon,” Seoyoon said with her arms crossed and pouted, “B-But yeah I want apple juice.”

The waitress laughed as she looked at the Im parents and said, “Would you like wine or champagne?”

“Actually… we’ll just have two cokes,” Nayeon’s mother said and whispered to Jeongyeon, “We want to stay sober in front of the kids.”

Jeongyeon nodded in understanding as she walked away from the table. Nayeon’s mother turned back to Nayeon and said, “What’s up with you?”

“Huh?” Nayeon said in confusion.

Nayeon’s mother smirked, “Why can’t you look Jeongyeon in eyes?”

Nayeon was in disbelief right now, her own mother was teasing her. Nayeon confessed about her uality last year to her parents… it went better then what she had expected. Her dad was pretty laid back about it saying he just wanted grandkids, while it had taken her mom a while to accept who Nayeon really was.

Nayeon blushed in embarrassment as she tried to look away from her mother, which had answered her suspicions. Her dad also laughed in response while looking at the menu, leaving Seoyoon in confusion.

Jeongyeon had walked back with their drinks and placed them on the table and said, “Have you guys decided what you want to be having?”

They all nodded their heads as they were all giving their orders to the waitress, then Jeongyeon turned to Nayeon and said, “And what will you be having?”

Nayeon’s mother whispered, “You.”

Nayeon looked at her mother in disbelief and thought ‘What the??? Is she my mother or not?’, Jeongyeon had also heard it and had blushing cheeks and ignored it. Nayeon had given her order in embarrassment, while Jeongyeon walked away quickly.

The sophomore girl turned to her mom and said, “Are you crazy?”

Nayeon’s mom took a sip out her coke and acted like nothing happened, “What are you talking about?”

Nayeon groaned in frustration as she planted her forehead into her arms wishing that she wasn’t here.

Jeongyeon had quickly made her way into the kitchen and placed the piece of paper with the Im Family’s order and yelled, “Order for table 37!”

The girl leaned onto the wall as she gave a small sigh after hearing Nayeon’s mom. ‘Did Nayeon tell her mom about us… no… Nayeon would never tell her parents that she MADE out with me.’ While the girl was dwelling in her thoughts someone walked next to her and yelled, “Order for table 14!”

Jeongyeon looked at her older sister Seoyeon, who looked at her younger sister, “What’s up with you? Looks like you saw Mom and Dad having .”

“I heard that,” someone yelled in the kitchen.

The softball player shook her head and said, “It’s nothing... just thinking about some stuff.”

Seoyeon nodded as she was beginning to walk out of the kitchen then said, “What are you doing? You got other tables to serve.”

Jeongyeon got off the table as she grabbed her notepad and made her way out the kitchen as well and made her way to another table that was seated with four girls. The girl gave a surprised look as she saw who was seated, “Luda?”

The other girl widened her eyes seeing Jeongyeon and smiled, “Jeongyeon… what are you doing here?”

“Oh… I work here,” The waitress said as she showed off her uniform.

Luda nodded, then realized she should introduce the people next to her, “Oh… these are my friends. Exy, Seola and Bona.”

The three girls also gave a small bow to the girl, which Jeongyeon bowed back in response. Nayeon was watching from a distance as she was seething seeing Luda talking to Jeongyeon ‘What’s she doing here? Didn’t I tell her to scram?’

Nayeon’s mother had noticed the look on her daughter’s face and turned around seeing who she was staring at. So the mother asked, “Is that Jeongyeon’s girlfriend?”

“What? No?” Nayeon said in disbelief, “You think Jeongyeon would go out with someone like her.”

The woman lightly slapped Nayeon’s hands and said, “That’s not nice young lady.”

Nayeon apologized as she kept looking at Luda, who kept staring at Jeongyeon with loving eyes. She scowled in response ‘No one can look at Jeongyeon like that… except for me.’ Without even thinking Nayeon stood up from her spot and grabbed her drink, marched over to Luda’s table and dumped the contents all over the girl.

Jeongyeon widened her eyes as she turned to Nayeon in disbelief and confusion, “NAYEON!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

The older girl had realized what she had done and dropped the cup onto the floor as she looked at the soaked Luda. Her friends had also shocked and angry expressions.

She was shaking, then looked around seeing all the stares and confusion in the restaurant. Her mother had an upset look, then without hesitation she made her way out of the restaurant and ran.

Jeongyeon had no clue what to do, she was about to go chase after her, but Nayeon’s mother had held onto her shoulder and said, “No stay here… you have work. I’ll take care of it.”

The waitress gave a nod as she quickly made her way into the kitchen area to grab towels for Luda.

Nayeon had bursted out the doors of the restaurant, she just started running, not knowing where she wanted to go. She kept running until her legs started to give up on her ‘What is wrong with me!? I just dumped water on some girl in front of Jeongyeon…. AGAIN!’ The girl had found a nearby bench and sat down as she placed her head into her hands and started to sob.

The sophomore girl didn’t know what she wanted… she wanted to have a normal high school life, she wanted to be herself and not put a fake persona, she wanted to be true to herself and to others, she wanted to protect her younger friends from the harsh school life and most of all she wanted Jeongyeon, but how could she get all of this if she couldn’t even decide what she wanted?

While Nayeon was going through her breakdown, someone had placed a hand on her shoulder. She thought it was an attacker so she quickly got up, but gave a small sigh seeing her mother with a worried, but disappointed look, “Sit down Nayeon.”

The girl quickly sat down and said, “Go ahead… ground me for as long as you want. I’m an idiot and disappointment.”

“You’re not a disappointment,” The woman said as she rubbed her daughter’s shoulder, “But… yes you’re an idiot.”

Nayeon sulked in her spot on the bench, while her mother continued, “Would you like to explain why you did it, before I give you an eternity of grounding.”

The girl gave a small sigh as she looked at a nearby street lamp and said, “Have you ever loved someone so much that you just want them for yourself?”

“Yes?” the woman said with confusion, “Your father.”

“Ok before Dad, because I know you had other boyfriends in high school before meeting him,” Nayeon said with a blunt expression.

Nayeon’s mother sat there for a few moments in silence, then said, “There was this one boy that had caught my eye, let’s call him Jessie. He was a heartthrob and playboy in school, obviously he had caught every girl’s attention. We lived in the same neighborhood, actually we were next door neighbors, he was really different outside of school and was a sweetheart.”

“I wanted to be greedy and have him for myself… but how could I do that when I had my own issues of loving myself,” Nayeon’s mother said, then looked at her daughter, “Sweetheart… I know that you act different outside and inside of school, I may not know what it’s like to have two different like Jessie, but I can see that it had destroyed him… lying to himself and others.”

The woman looked at Nayeon with a stern look, “Do you want that to happen to you? Where you slowly break down, not knowing what you truly want?”

Nayeon was silent for a few minutes, which had answered the older woman’s question. She sighed as she got up and said, “Come on… you need to apologize to that girl and we’ll decide on your punishment when we get home.”

“We’re still eating there?” Nayeon said in disbelief.

“Yes, because we ordered our food already and we’re not wasting it… so let’s go,” The woman said in a hasty tone.

Nayeon gave a small groan as she followed her mother back to the restaurant, hoping that it wouldn’t be that embracing.

-

The Minatozaki Family had a complicated back story. Minatozaki Maro was a Mechanical Engineer that was raised in the United States, as his job he would travel to different countries teaching and leading new engineers.

While Maro was on his trip in Japan he had met Sana’s mom, Hiromi. Long story, short they got married and eventually had Sana, but Maro was not ready for a kid and led to the both of them to have a huge argument and coming to terms by having a divorce and Maro paying child support.

When Sana was old enough and had found out about this, she was devastated… she was the cause of her parent’s divorce, but her mother had assured her that was not true and that her and Maro had different priorities.

Sana had never seen Maro in person, but she had seen old pictures of the man in her mother’s photo albums and she could see where she had gotten most of her features from, also Maro had been paying child support as well, so it seemed that big of a douche bag.

The reason Sana had also started playing lacrosse was because of her ex-father’s love for it when lived in the United States. Her mom had shown her a few pictures of him in high school in a lacrosse uniform… so she wanted to play the sport as well. She didn’t know as to why she wanted to play it, but she felt the need to do it.

The Japanese girl had laying down on her bed staring at the ceiling thinking about this until she heard her mother yell from downstairs that dinner was ready. She quickly got off the bed and went down the stairs and smelled the food.

She had always loved her mom’s cooking, since her mom would usually get take out, because she worked late to support the both of them. 

Sana helped prepare the table and smiled as they both dug into the food. Her mother smiled, “How’s school so far?”

The Japanese girl gave a small shrug, “It’s going good so far. You know Mina… the quiet girl I invited one time?”

Her mother nodded as she put a piece of meat in , while Sana continued, “Well she’s in my homeroom class this year so that’s exciting.”

The woman smiled, then asked an out of the blue question, “Are there any guys that catch your eye?”

Sana froze at the question and stared at her mother with a blank expression and said, “Uh… no.”

“Really?” The woman said with a raised eyebrow, “Not a single boy catches your attention?”

Sana had no clue what to say, she couldn’t tell her mother that she didn’t like boys… she was NOT mentally prepared for that conversation yet, then her mom asked, “What about that boy you kept talking about last year?”

“He was a transfer student… he went back to Japan.”

Sana’s mother had asked her another question, “Sana… do you not like boys?”

The Japanese girl looked up from her food with an alarmed look, “What do you mean? I-I like boys… I just don’t like any right now… you get me?”

Her mother gave her a worried expression and was about to say something, but there was a knock on the door. Sana thought ‘I’m saved’, she quickly got out of her seat and said, “I’ll get it.”

Before her mother could stop her, she was already out of the kitchen and making her way to the door. Without even checking who was at the door she opened it widely and saw a man with a backpack and suitcase.

She looked at him closely and seemed very familiar to her, she raised a cautious eyebrow, “Um… hello?”

The man looked at her with a surprised expression, “You look exactly like your mother.”

Sana backed away slightly, with a confused expression. The unknown man gave a weird, small laugh and stuck his hand out for a handshake, “Oh… I apologize for not introducing myself.”

“My name is Minatozaki Maro,” the man said with an awkward smile, “Uh… your father.”

The Japanese girl had no clue what to think, she was backing away from the man until she bumped into something. She turned around seeing her mother standing there with her arms crossed and an angry expression.

Sana’s father looked at the woman and with an embarrassed look said, “Hey Hiromi.”

“What are you doing here?” the woman seethed.

“Uh... one of my projects is here in Korea,” Maro said as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, then gulped, “A-and I want to make amends with my family.”

Sana’s mother narrowed her eyes is wariness, not really believing the man. She looked at the suitcase and backpack, “What are those?”

“I need a place to stay,” the man said and quickly added, “I can sleep on the couch and provide for my own stuff, please just help me out here.”

Sana raised an eyebrow and asked, “Aren’t you a mechanical engineer? Shouldn’t you be able to pay for your own hotel?”

Maro gave a nervous laugh and said, “I got fired.”

Sana’s mother widened her eyes, while Sana gave a blank expression. Her mother was starting to raise her voice and said, “How are you supposed to pay for the child support!?”

“I’m working on it,” Maro said with a quick response, “T-That’s why I’m here in Korea… I’m trying to get a job here… so please let me stay here.”

“No,” the woman said with a firm tone, “I can’t let you just stay here… do you know how much pain you have caused me and Sana?”

The man was about to say something, but Sana cut him off and said, “Mom… just let him stay until he gets a job… that’s the least you can do… right?”

The woman stared at her daughter for a few moments, before she gave a sigh and said, “Are you sure Sana?”

Her daughter gave a small nod, then her mom gave a head nod to Maro for him to come inside. As he was walking in the woman said, “This doesn’t fix anything.”

The lady stomped away and made her way upstairs. The man gave a small sigh as he turned to Sana with a thankful smile, “Thank you.”

Sana gave a small nod in response and said, “I can lead you to the guest room.”

“I’ll stay on the couch,” Maro said as he placed his suitcase in the living room, “I want to stick to my word.”

The girl shook her head and urged him to stay in the guest room. After some prodding and protesting Maro agreed as she lead him to the guest room. She went to grab some blankets and pillows, but as she was passing her mother’s room she had heard small sobs emerging from the room, she wanted to check on her, but figured it would be best to leave her alone.

When she had walked into the room, Maro was typing something into his laptop completely oblivious that Sana was in the room. The girl had placed the blankets and pillows on the bed and said, “If you need anything else… just ask me.”

The man looked at her and said, “Thank you again… for letting me stay.”

Sana smiled and said, “I don’t know what you did to Mom… but everyone deserves a second chance, especially if they’re family.”

The man looked like he was about to cry and was about to hug Sana, but the girl pushed him away slightly and said, “Uh… we’re not that close.”