WHITE CLOUDS

REQUEST: HYEYUL; Famous Pianist got tired of fame. moves to small town. meets someone to teach. falls in love witht the mother

For all the decisions that Yuri made, this is the best one yet – well maybe one of the best. The first one is when she listened to her mother to attend piano lessons when she was just a kid, though there would be day that her mother would need to just drag her out of their house to do so.

It was one of the stepping stones that helped her to become a famous pianist – surprising, she never saw herself as someone who would suddenly perform in front of thousands of people, attention all on her. It was overwhelming yet it gave her a sense of freedom – Yuri feels like she’s on top of the world. Doing anything, being able to buy her parents their own house. Repaying them for everything.

That was the first decision that she did – to stand in the spotlight and play for other people. But they know that fame came with a price, a very annoying fact that Yuri cannot deny. It stripped off her privacy, though it is not much as the other idols who has basically camera lenses being shoved into their faces. But still, being followed everywhere she goes – being asked questions too personal for her own liking.

It was passion that helped her to be where she is, but then with fame – she just lost it. She realized that she is not playing piano for herself anymore, but for other people. Other people that she doesn’t know, and doesn’t know her – the real her. The Jo Yuri behind the closed curtains.

The Jo Yuri who practiced hours and hours to master a single piece, only for her to perform it in a few minutes. The Jo Yuri who cries when she cannot compose anything for her performances, the Jo Yuri who misses her parents and her dog tremendously.

She became tired of it – the fame, the fake smiles, the empty compliments. That’s how she made the second biggest decision in her life – to stop playing piano and step off the stage.

At first, she was scared, she doesn’t know how her parents would react with this sudden decision. But then they understood her, telling her that she lost it, her passion – and she thinks, is she that obvious?

“It’s your decision, and I think it’s for the best.” Her mother smiled warmly at her, “I want to have my old Yuri back.”

And she thanks her, crying. Of course, her parents would understand, they are the ones who saw her behind the curtains. Then she’s thankful that her manager – Eunbi, thank god for her greatness, stood with her decision. Helping her with the process and all, only telling her that she needs to finish the last three performances and she could go.

Now, here is Yuri living the second greatest decision in her life. Residing in one small town, thanks to Eunbi who searched for it, she lives quietly and peacefully with her new profession. A teacher at the local middle school, and she’s thankful.

Eunbi managed to find for an old small town, Yuri at first was skeptical but when she moved in to her house she was surprised that she was only given a welcome dish by her neighbor – and old couple that treats her like a daughter. Reminds her of home.

In that town she was not Jo Yuri the pianist that took over the world. She was just Jo Yuri the music teacher of looks like a kid.

Yuri laughs, maybe having classical music in your background doesn’t give you enough fame – but she’s fine.

Because in this town, she found her passion again. To play the piano, to compose, and she found a new one – to teach children music.

Being able to share her knowledge is fun, really fun and it gives Yuri the satisfaction that finally, she is doing something good in her life. Hearing the children repeat after her singing do re mi, teaching them the notes, anything really.

But it would have been much great if she could teach what she loves the most – piano. There’s not much children that likes it, always preferring the guitar or to sing. Yuri still teaches them wholeheartedly, just because they don’t share the same likes as her, that would mean she would neglect them.

Then she met her – it was just a fine day and Yuri just finished her last class for that day. She greets the students that passed by and her fellow teachers, she was walking to her favorite room when she saw the door opened slightly. A soft tune coming out from it.

Piano.

Someone is playing piano.

Yuri quietly walks to the room and peeks inside only to see a small girl – full focused on the piano in front of her as her little fingers presses the keys. Yuri could recognize the tune as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, she watches the little bites her lips in concentration.

Then she recognizes her as that one naughty girl at the back of her Gr1 music class – she frowns trying to remember her name, Yuna. She remembers how the girl always laugh with her friend at the back. Yuri smiles, she doesn’t know that the troublesome girl has this side.

Well, everyone has different sides. It just depends on the person on what side you let other people see.

Yuri enters the room with a smile, the tune stopped and Yuna looks at her with wide eyes. She quickly stands up and is about to grab her bag when Yuri stopped her with one question.

“Do you want me to teach you?”

Yuna looks at her with surprise, then with excitement. She quickly nods her head, and Yuri smiled. Walking over to the bench giving enough space for the both of them. Yuri teaches Yuna with the basics, teaching her some children songs at first.

She could see that Yuna is really eager to learn, starting over again and again when she makes a mistake – Yuri could see her old self in the girl.

Potential.

The girl has potential.

And Yuri plans to widen that potential.

After all, her mother saw potential in her when she was dragged into her first piano lesson.

 

/

 

Yuri then learns that Yuna became interested in playing the instrument because they have a keyboard piano at home – a gift from her father during her 4th birthday but she didn’t have the chance to properly learn it, since no one in their house plays the instrument.

Yuri just absorbs the weird fact that the child’s father gifted her a piano without even someone knowing how to play it. She then learns that Yuna’s father work overseas, in a firm of some sort and only comes home once in a while. It’s just her and her mother.

She just smiles at the girl. “Well, how about I teach you from now on?”

Yuna looks at her excitedly, “You’ll do that?!”

“Of course. But I won’t have favoritism during class hours.”

The girl just flipped her hair like a model scoffing, “I know I’m your favorite.”

Yuri just laughs at the excitement of finally having someone to teach her passion, she looks at Yuna still mastering the simple song.

That’s how their bond started, it was really silly – with how Yuri would always scold Yuna during class hours because the girl is really loud, and the girl is not even sorry for it. Then they would meet after classes in the music room for Yuri to teach her new things.

It’s been a week already and Yuna is learning fast, she can now properly play three songs without mistake. She even boasted about it that she played it for her mom, and Yuri just smiles proudly at the girl.

“I wish dad could hear it.” Yuna sighs, admitting something in one of their after-class lessons.

“Well, play for him then.”

“He’s too busy to even video call us.” Yuna pouts, “I could feel mom’s sadness every time he ends the call.”

Yuri thinks of something how to cheer the girl up, “Then you should practice much more so when you play for him, he’ll be blown away.”

Just like that, Yuna went back to her usual self. “Please, he’s going to be blown away with my beauty.”

“Oh, I doubt that. I was blown away by your loud voice.” She teased earning her a whine.

Of course, Yuri feels happy that she could share and teach Yuna the piano, which is why she found herself sharing it to her parents. They were in the middle of a video call because she missed them and she wants to see how they are doing and all of a sudden, she just blurted out Yuna.

It just went from there, to how talkative the girl is during classes and how a prankster she was, to how eager she is to learn songs using the piano. A minimum of three songs per lesson she demanded, but Yuri just laughs because they would always finish just one since Yuna is a perfectionist.

She could see her parents looking at her with a fond smile and she just looks at them, asking them what.

“You look happy.” Her father smiled, “Just like your old self.”

Yuri then thinks about it, is she happy? Well, if she thinks about it, she hasn’t been this happy since she could remember. So, she answers –

“Yeah, I feel happy.”

Her mother just softly laughs saying that she needs to visit soon but then she reminded Yuri something, something that she should have thought of before.

“Be sure that this girl’s parents know that she’s staying with you after class. You know how parents could be.”

Then it was the day after and Yuri is waiting for Yuna to finish her class, she could see the girl skipping happily to her. She smiles at the sight and Yuna excitedly asked her what’s the new song she is going to teach her.

Yuri thinks about it and remembers what her mother said so, she decided to ask Yuna that first.

“First, does your mom know that you’re staying here to learn piano?”

Yuna frowns and nodded, “I told her the first time you offered.”

“And she’s fine with it?”

Yuna nodded with a smile, “She encouraged me to do it, saying the keyboard will be put into good use.”

Yuri just laughs and nodded, and remembers the first time Yuna asked her to play the piano but she refused. “Well, do you want learn a duet piece?”

“Duet?”

Yuri hummed placing her fingers on the keys, pressing a single key. “Yeah, you’ll see me play piano. And we’ll be playing together.”

Then Yuna excitedly sits beside her. Yuri chuckles giving the girl enough space.

“Okay this is Heart and Soul, just follow my lead and I’ll tell you what to do, okay?”

That’s the first time Yuna couldn’t finish a song in one day understandingly, the duet piece is hard to learn and to teach. With Yuna’s short fingers that could only reach a certain distance, she was disappointed. But Yuri tries to cheer her up that they could always learn it tomorrow.

After that, it was as if something changed with Yuna. The girl started wanting to learn official pieces just like Heart and Soul, and Yuri thinks about pieces that Yuna could possibly learn. She could see the girl at the back of the class, seemingly quiet unlike before tapping her fingers as if she’s playing piano.

Yuna just grins at her when she notices her staring.

Then out of nowhere, the girl just blurted out something that made Yuri think for a second.

“Can you come to my house to teach me?” Yuna says groaning, “I can only play the piano here, when I’m at home I always forget what you taught me.”

“Will your mom be okay with that?”

“Yes! Of course, she loves me too much!”

Yuri just laughs but nodded her head, “Sure, give me the address.”

She thinks that there’s nothing wrong to giving in Yuna with her request, it seems like she just really wants to learn piano – and of course, Yuri won’t pass up the idea to teach the girl all she knows.

 

//

 

It was Saturday with their schedule lesson – her first lesson at Yuna’s house. Which means this would be the first time she would meet the young girl’s mother, and she learned from her parents that to never go empty-handed. That’s why Yuri is holding a bag of pastries, she remembers how Yuna mentioned one time about her love for pastries – which she got from her mother.

Pulling over to the said address, she looks at herself at the rearview mirror to see if she’s presentable enough to face a parent. After quickly fixing her hair, she grabs the bag and gets out of her car. The house looks the same as the other houses – not too extravagant, enough for a family of three.

Taking a deep breath, she walks over the porch and rings the bell. She could hear shuffling on the other side, and she could not mistake Yuna’s loud voice. Then the door was opened and Yuri was already below her to expect Yuna only to see a pair of legs.

Tracing the owner, she was surprised to see an adult – she could tell that she the mother, but why the did Yuna not tell her that her mother looks like, this? Yuri steps back and bowed.

“Hi, I’m Jo Yuri. Yuna’s – “

“Yuri-unnie!” Yuna shouts from behind the woman, and she could see Yuna running.

Yuri frowns, “Unnie?”

Yuna just nodded as if she didn’t say anything wrong. “We’re out of school, so I can call you unnie.”

Yuri just blinks, disbelief with how the young girl just said that. “Okay?”

“Sorry, my daughter is really – “

“Beautiful.” Yuna interrupts.

But Yuri didn’t care, she was much more focused on the voice that she just heard – soft, yet husky. Calming. She feels calm. Weirdly calm.

The woman then smiles, “I’m Kang Hyewon, Yuna’s mother.”

And Yuri just stares at the woman – Hyewon, because wow. Now she knows where Yuna got her looks, as much as she wants to tease the girl, she couldn’t deny that Yuna really looks beautiful.

“Nice to meet you.” Yuri said softly, patting herself on the back for not stuttering. Then in a blink she was being pulled by Yuna inside, tired of the introductions. Leading her to where the keyboard is, which is in one open area. Yuri was still holding the bag of pastries, looking around where to put it when someone grabbed it from her.

“You brought something,” Hyewon said smiling gratefully, she then looks inside and smells the pastries. “You didn’t have to, but these are Yuna’s favorite.”

Yuri chuckles, hoping it doesn’t sound awkward. “Right, I learned that I shouldn’t come empty-handed.”

Hyewon just smiled excusing herself, and Yuna pulled her again showing her progress. Yuri glanced at the kitchen where Hyewon is putting the pastries on a plate, then she noticed the woman looking at them – catching her eyes.

Yuri quickly pulls away from it and focused on what is Yuna doing – smiling when she sees the girl really did have progress. But then she took a risk and tried to glance back again, but she was surprised to see Hyewon already looking at her as she eats one of the pastries. The latter just smiled at her, and Yuri just turns away hoping to hide her blush.

“Unnie, are you blushing? Or are you sick?”

Yuri just widens her eyes and started changing the topic, “How about we play the Heart and Soul together?”

Yuna happily obliged, and Yuri just wished that their keyboard is located in one room. Because she could feel the stare at them – it wouldn’t be much problem, Yuri was used to it but somehow Hyewon makes her feel nervous.

Then she remembers Yuna.

She shakes her head.

She needs to get a grip.

 

/

 

Yuri thought it would be a one-time thing, but it seems like Yuna liked their setup that time – saying that she become more productive because she’s forced to finish all her assignments before she could learn playing. That’s how their after-class lessons went from the music room to Yuna’s house.

Really, it’s fine. It’s fine because Yuri could see Yuna doing her best in her lessons – she could see the latter finishing her assignments during free time. She should be proud of her, but what’s not fine is the fact it would mean that she’ll be seeing more of her mother.

Kang Hyewon. If Yuna would have warned her about her mother then she shouldn’t be feeling like this, but it’s not like Yuna didn’t actually warn her. She often boasts about how she got her beauty from her mother, and Yuri just ignores her.

That’s the warning that Yuri ignored, a fairly good warning she might add. Because Kang Hyewon is a beauty, now she believes Yuna is telling the truth and not just joking – not like the child is lying, but you know how kids get when you feed their ego.

Now Yuri is having a dilemma with how she would handle herself with the said woman, though their interactions just ranges from greetings and goodbyes – yet Yuri still manages to make a fool out of herself.

Yuri found herself in a really stressful situation, because Yuna still has some math homework she couldn’t finish at school. Yuri found herself hoping that Yuna would have lied to Hyewon when she asked her about it – but the girl couldn’t even look her mother in the eyes and meekly answered it truthfully.

Now she’s here, awkwardly waiting for Yuna to finish her homework – which she doubts happening soon judging from the confused face Yuna is sporting. Yuri found herself doing nothing in the middle of the living room, just glancing at Yuna’s work. She wanted to help the girl but Hyewon specifically said to her to let Yuna finish it on her own.

Then her attention was turned to the kitchen when she heard her name, she found Hyewon looking at her. “Would you like something to eat?”

Yuri is about to refuse when Yuna looked at her and said, “You should eat something, math is my weakest subject.”

“I could tell.” Yuri teases the girl, with their time together, she found herself getting close to the young girl. Often teasing her on things.

Yuna just sticks her tongue out at her and Yuri could hear Hyewon calling her again, as much as she wants to not go, she could feel her hunger. Reluctantly, she stands up and walks over to the kitchen. They were eating quietly, with Yuri mostly avoiding Hyewon. She doesn’t want to seem rude, but she could not – for the love of her life, help it.

“When did you start playing piano?”

Yuri quickly looks up and realizes that Hyewon is indeed talking to her. Well duh, she’s the only person there with the latter.

“Uhh, maybe when I was 5?” Yuri said unsurely, thinking about it. “My mother just really dragged me on my first piano lesson.”

Then Yuri feels proud of herself because she made the older girl laugh, she suddenly wants to hear it again.

“I’m really happy that you decided to teach Yuna.”

“Oh, right. She said that you told her it would put your keyboard a good use.” Yuri replies and smiles.

“Yeah, I didn’t know what Yunho is thinking when he bought that as a gift.”

Yunho. Oh, the husband.

Right.

Hyewon is married.

Yuri then clears ; she really needs to get her life together. “Maybe he wants for her to learn piano.” She offers, and she sees Hyewon nodding her head.

“That, or he just really doesn’t care about us.”

Yuri frowns, why did it go from 0 to 100 really quick? She didn’t sign up for this, but something just doesn’t sit right with how sad Hyewon is looking right now.

“That, or he just wants for Yuna learn some form of art.” Yuri emphasizes, not wanting for the topic to get much deeper than it is. “Yuna seems happy learning it so, it did her good.”

Hyewon then smiles at her, looking at Yuna. “Yeah, it seems so.”

“Done!” Yuna shouts from the living room, running over them. Showing her work to Hyewon, Yuri smiles at the sight. Yuna then turned to her and proudly showed her work at her, Yuri laughs and looks at it, pursing her lips.

“I think you got something wrong,” Yuri points out and Yuna gasped quickly turning the paper over when Yuri poked her nose. She grins at the young girl.

“There, everything is good.”

“Unnie!”

“Unnie,” Yuri repeats imitating Yuna, “Come on, I’ll teach you a new piece.” She then smiles standing up, thanking Hyewon for the food. Yuna quickly follows her holding on to her hand, leaving her paper on the table and the two of them took a seat in front of the keyboard.

As Yuri teaches Yuna Fur Elise, she didn’t notice the stare that the mother is giving her.

Two hours passed and Yuna almost got it, but Yuri already needs to go back to her house. Not wanting to intrude, though Yuna whined in protest, Yuri managed to appease the girl by promising her some extra hours tomorrow.

Hyewon walks her to her car even though she already said no, the former telling her it’s nothing and a short distance only. Yuri says farewell to Yuna who is busy perfecting Fur Elise, giving her a grin in return. Walking out, Hyewon follows her behind.

“Thank you,” Hyewon said, “Ever since she started playing piano, she became really happy.”

Yuri just smiles, “Well, I’m glad to be of service.”

“Are you sure you don’t want something in return?”

Yuri quickly shakes her head; she doesn’t really want anything. All she wants to do is to teach Yuna. “No, teaching Yuna is enough. She’s a good company, but don’t tell her I said that.” Yuri jokes.

Hyewon chuckles and Yuri feels light.

“No wonder she became fond of you.”

Yuri hums in question, opening her car. She looks behind to look at Hyewon who is just smiling at her.

“You’re pretty charming.” Hyewon said, “Have a safe trip.”

Yuri just stood there frozen, watching Hyewon enter their house as if everything is fine. As if Yuri’s heart is not beating fast.

She shakes her head wanting to get rid of her thoughts.

She’s married, goddamn it.

Yuri then enters her car and drives away to her house. She went straight to her piano, wanting to relax her mind. But all she could think of is Hyewon. Hyewon. Hyewon.

Yuri knows that this is not good.

 

//

 

Yuri doesn’t what’s happening, if life is either doing its own course or ting with her – because after that encounter, Yuri is surprised to see Yuna being driven by her mother to school the next morning. This is the first time that she saw Yuna being drove by her mother – according to the girl she prefers to walk since her house is just near the school.

So, imagine her surprise when Yuri got out of her car at the same time a car pulled over and out goes Yuna running over not to the entrance of the school but to her. She catches the girl by the waist when she almost tripped on something – a clumsy girl, really.

“Be careful or you might hurt your ugly face.” Yuri jokes and Yuna just slaps her.

“Unni – “

Yuri gives her a pointed look and Yuna just smiled sheepishly. The girl then pulled her and Yuri saw her mother already outside watching them, she just smiles at Hyewon and nodded.

“Good morning Mrs. Kang.” Yuri greets her, and the other girl smiled.

“Stop being formal with me Yuri.” Hyewon just said, and yuri just nodded her head not knowing what to say.

“Mom, Yuri will come to dinner later, okay?”

What? Yuri did not agree with that.

“What? I didn – “

“Sure, that would be fine.” Hyewon suddenly said, not giving her time to react. Yuna just beams and looks at her.

“You’ll be eating with us, okay?” With that Yuna waved her goodbye saying that she’ll be late and her teacher doesn’t tolerate it. Yuri is left there standing outside with Hyewon, she then looks at the latter and smiles awkwardly.

“Your daughter is really,” She tries to find a word, “One of a kind.”

Hyewon just laughs and nodded, “That she is.” The girl then looks at her making Yuri conscious.

“I’ll be seeing you later then?”

Yuri nods, “Seems like it.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it then.” But right before Hyewon could enter her car, Yuri called her.

“I can just drive with Yuna to your house.” Yuri suggested, and backtracks a little. “If you want to, that is.”

Hyewon smiles at her and nodded, agreeing. “I’ll see you then, please take care of her.”

 

/

 

It’s just dinner, a simple feast that is taken in the evening and it just so happens that Yuri will take hers with a mother and daughter – that is surely not hers, and it just so happens that maybe Yuri has a tiny, tiny bit of crush on the said mother.

It’s just dinner, and Yuri is getting nervous. It is painfully obvious with her performance that day, often spacing out and getting out of track with her lessons. If the principal ever heard of it, he would surely be disappointed.

So, when the last bell rang signaling the end of classes, Yuri is already waiting for Yuna outside her room. The latter is surprised to see her, and is excited to know that Yuri will be driving her to her house.

“You shouldn’t have told your mother that I would stay for dinner, you know?” Yuri says buckling up her seatbelt, she then leans over to Yuna’s side since the girl is not moving an inch.

“I just want you to be close to my mom, since you will be teaching me from now on.” Yuna says and smiling at Yuri, “I think you will be a good mother.”

Yuri choked on air at the sudden statement, where did even Yuna get that?

“I don’t plan on having a kid.”

Yuna gasps, “Having a kid is nice!”

“I wanted to have one, but after meeting you I don’t think I want it anymore.”

“Unnie!”

Yuri just laughs and drove off the school, with Yuna’s constant questions on what they would learn for that day.

Arriving at the girl’s house, Yuna quickly hopped off her car and Yuri quickly followed – she could feel that any moment, the girl would trip. The door then opened revealing Hyewon, welcoming Yuna with a hug. Then just like what she thought, Yuna tripped but thanks to Yuri’s fast reflexes she quickly caught the girl. With the momentum she managed to raise Yuna up just before she hits the floor, but it made Yuri stumble a little making her lean to Hyewon closer.

She looks surprised at the mother who is also sporting the same look, but Yuna just giggled and hugged Hyewon. Yuri quickly snaps from her daze, and awkwardly carries Yuna while she hugs her mother. This is going to be a long dinner.

Yuna then pulls her inside to immediately start with their lesson, wanting to show her how she almost finished the Fur Elise. Hyewon just smiled at the two saying that she’ll be cooking the dinner while they’re have their lessons.

Then as they are in the middle of their lesson, Yuna suddenly opens something. Yuri thinks that the young girl should have kept it from herself, but it’s always spontaneous moments like this that Yuna finds herself opening up.

“I think mom and dad are having a fight.”

Yuri paused, prolonging on one key. She shouldn’t really listen to this kind of story; she is no position to do so. But glancing at Yuna, she realizes that the girl doesn’t have anyone to talk to.

“Maybe it’s just a small misunderstanding, Yuna.” Yuri softly says, “Don’t think too much about it.”

“I just miss him, and my mom does too.” Yuna says pouting and playing the start of Fur Elise, much slower than intended. “But it seems like dad doesn’t miss us.”

Yuri clenches her jaw; she doesn’t know what it feels like for your parent not to miss you. Because her parents always remind her that they miss her, but judging from Yuna’s face, it’s hard.

“Maybe he’s just busy.” Yuri answers, the safest one she could think of.

“Too busy even for his family?”

Yuri doesn’t know how to answer that, so she opts to play a song on the keyboard. She sees Yuna looking at her and Yuri just smiles at the girl. “I think he misses you.”

“How can you say so, unnie?”

Yuri hums, “Because I miss you when I don’t see you for a day.” And Yuna smiles so widely, hugging Yuri so suddenly that it made Yuri stop. They didn’t notice Hyewon just standing behind them, near enough to hear their conversation.

“Hey, dinner’s ready.” Hyewon calls out, and Yuri stands up smiling. Ruffling Yuna’s hair affectionately, the two walked together to the kitchen.

Now, Yuri thanks Yuna for having the ability to not make things awkward with her talkative nature and loud voice. The whole time, she kept pestering Yuri to try her mom’s cooking, and she just happily obliges – even if she is far too full and feels like she would be in a food coma later.

“Unnie! Try mom’s braised chicken! It’s one of her specialties.”

Yuri just nodded albeit reluctantly, this is the 5th time Yuna gave her the braised chicken and Yuri thinks she won’t be eating the said dish anytime soon.

“Yuna, I think I very much know that it’s delicious judging from the chicken bones on my plate.” Then she heard a laugh coming from Hyewon.

“Yuna that’s enough, I think Yuri is getting sick already.”

Yuri smiles gratefully at her, “Thanks. I love it really, but I could only take too much chicken in one sitting.”

Hyewon just nods laughing slightly, “I understand. Yuna gets excited sometimes.”

“Of course, I am! This is the first time you cooked this since dad went to do work!” Yuna retorts and happily eating the chicken on her plate. “I missed it!”

Yuri blinks at Hyewon, and the latter just smiles at her mouthing a ‘sorry’, the sudden statement of Yuna making Yuri feel things that she knows is wrong. Then without thinking she grabs another chicken, surprising Hyewon.

“Hey, I thought you’re full.”

Yuri just shakes her head, “I think another chicken is fine.” And looks at Yuna who is smiling widely at her as if saying an ‘I told you so’. “Yuna is right, it’s very delicious. Can I get the recipe?” She jokingly said.

Hyewon just laughs at her, “Sure, I’ll write it down.” But Yuri quickly stops her with a quick shake of head.

“No! It’s just a joke.” And she realized that what she said could be misunderstood, she quickly corrects herself.

“I mean not the delicious part! Because it is very much delicious, but the recipe part. I can’t cook for shi – eep.” She saves herself from cussing in front of Yuna who she just gave an innocent smile.

“Right! I always see her eating sandwiches from the cafeteria!” Yuna exclaims and looks at her mother with a disgusted look, “And sandwiches there are bleegh!”

“Hey, it’s not! I really love it!”

“Then you have a poor taste, unnie.” Yuna sticks her tongue, “Maybe mom can bring you some lunch!”

Yuri quickly shakes her head, “No, you don’t have to. Don’t listen to her.”

Hyewon smiles at her and continued eating as if she didn’t hear anything. With that, Yuri decided to eat the chicken on her plate and call it a day – she will surely go straight to bed as she goes home.

 

//

 

When Yuri said that the cafeteria sandwiches are fine, she really means it, and she genuinely means it when she said that Hyewon doesn’t have to bring her lunch. But then the very next day, when Yuri is just quietly eating her sandwich inside her room during lunch, she heard a quiet knock on her door.

She looks at it and is surprised to see Yuna with her own lunch box, but what really surprised or rather who, is the fact that Hyewon is tailing behind the little girl. The mother holding another lunch box and smiling at her.

Yuri is caught of guard on their arrival that all she could do is stare at them, until Yuna opened her own lunchbox. The two dragged two chairs near her table and Yuri could only watch.

“I could attest that sandwiches here are disgusting.” Hyewon breaks the ice with her smile, “I cooked you some lunch.”

“You really didn’t have to,” Yuri said but then when Hyewon suddenly opened the lunchbox, she could smell the delicious aroma of meat. With one sniff, Yuri’s resolve broke down.

“On second thought, I could really use some delicious lunch.” She grins, happily grabbing the lunchbox from Hyewon.

Starting from that time, Yuri’s lunch hour is now always consisted with her and the two girls. She didn’t imagine to spend time with Yuna other than during their class hours and their piano lessons – most importantly, she didn’t imagine to spend time with Hyewon other than the times she would come to their house.

Yuri didn’t imagine that she would see the different sides of the mother, at first glance she thought of Hyewon as someone who is really elegant just with her careful actions and how she cares for Yuna. But as she spends time with her, she could see how Yuna got her quirky personality – but she still couldn’t comprehend where the girl got her ego. Not that it’s bad, it’s rather cute.

But the only problem is Yuri’s tiny crush on the mother is getting out of hand. She constantly reminds herself that she has a husband, but every time they spend time together – not even once the said husband is mentioned. Which is alarming, but Yuri knows her boundaries.

The problem is that she always sees Hyewon now, if it was much more limited like before then she’s sure that the crush will fade in no time – but it seems like nothing is going on her way. Yuri started being careful around the two, often focusing on their piano lessons and just having civil conversations. There would be times that she would find herself having too much fun, and she would quickly control herself.

But she couldn’t deny the fact that it’s not that hard not to fall in love with Hyewon – the way she acts around Yuna, how she cracks jokes all of a sudden and always at the right moment, the motherly instinct. Especially how she notices the little things about Yuri.

Yuna went to the comfort room that time during one of their lunches when Hyewon suddenly blurted something out.

“It seems like you’re thinking hard on something.”

Yuri stops her spoon midair looking at the girl, “What?”

“You have this look,” Hyewon said and frowning, “When you overthink something.”

Look? Yuri is not sure what Hyewon is talking about. “What look?”

Hyewon then made a frowning face while slightly puckering her lips, and Yuri could tell that the mother is imitating her.

“I don’t do that!” Yuri exclaims, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Hyewon just laughs, “I notice things about you and I’m sure you’re overthinking.”

“You notice things about me?” Yuri asks, and she hates how her heart is beating faster and the stutter she did.

Hyewon nodded, “Well, we see each other all the time now. It’s normal to notice these things.”

Right, it’s not like Yuri didn’t notice the same things about Hyewon. How the latter always wait for Yuna to eat first, how she quickly tends to help Yuna with anything, how she frowns quietly w