When Tiffany heard a quick footstep approach her, she looked up from her phone and glanced in the direction of the sound.

"Mommy, can I—"

"Sure, sweetie," she stated as she looked at the girl.

Naeun frowned. "But I'm not done talking."

She laid down the phone in her hand on the couch and extended her arms to the girl, beckoning her to come into her embrace. "Okay, what is it?" she asked once Naeun had given her a hug.

"Can I go to Sieun’s house?"

"Yeah, sure. I already know what you’re going to ask." Tiffany smiled. “Do you want me or Umma to take you there?”

"Are you not busy?"

"Actually, I’m replying to my client’s messages right now, but they can wait. What time do you want to go?"

"It’s okay, I’m going with Umma. Thank you, Mommy." The girl broke the hug and dashed in the direction of the home recording studio.

"Duh, why did you bother to ask?"

~~~~~

"Umma! Look at this."

Taeyeon dropped the stuffed animal she was holding as she was abruptly dragged by her daughter to another section of the store.

"This is the Frozen’s ice castle LEGO that we saw on the internet."

Taeyeon gasped. "Isn't this the latest set?"

Naeun nodded in excitement. "Can I have it?"

"Sure.  Which one do you want, the big one or the small one?" Taeyeon shifted her focus to the girl who had started to frown. "Why? You don’t want that? If not, what about Ariel's?" Taeyeon pointed at the LEGO set that was located next to the Frozen one.

"I’ll take this one," Naeun responded in an unenthusiastic tone and picked up the Frozen LEGO set.

"Are you sure you don’t want to go with the larger set?"

The girl nodded dejectedly.

"You don’t look happy. Take this one, okay?"

"I’m okay with this one. Thank you, Umma." The little girl started to stroll around while carrying a box that was roughly half her size.

 "Okay…"

~~~~~

"Where do you want to go?! Sit here and finish your food." Sooyoung glared at her son.

Tiffany chuckled. "Seriously, I can’t even do that to her." Tiffany patted her daughter’s head.

"You're claiming that you've never given her a glare?"

"Honestly, I tried, but I just couldn't take in the sight of her tearful eyes. I would just glare at Taeyeon instead. It’s a lot more fun that way." Tiffany laughed. "But aren't you being so harsh with him?"

"It’s called disciplinary."

Tiffany nodded.

"I envy you. You don't have to put yourself in military mode." Sooyoung pouted.

"I do that too sometimes."

"Let me guess, Taeyeon would be the emotional punching bag?" Sooyoung grimaced. "Poor girl."

"Hey, don’t exaggerate."

"But you don't have to put in a lot of effort, do you? Since she listens to both of you so well."

"That’s… true." Tiffany admitted.

Sooyoung sighed audibly. "Let’s trade kids. Less headache for me."

"Although I love Sungchan like my own, I’m not going to give away my precious daughter."

Sooyoung scoffed. "Said the one who ditched her daughter at my place so she could have some alone time with her wife."

"You did that too!"

"Mommy."

"Yes?" Tiffany turned her attention towards the girl beside her.

"Can I go there?" Naeun pointed at the indoor playground while chewing the last bite of her food.

"Sure. Don’t go anywhere else and don’t interact with strangers."

Naeun frowned and walked away from the table. "Sungchan, let’s go."

"Wait a bit, he needs to finish his food first," Sooyoung said in an angelic tone. "Yah! Slow down! Yah!" Sooyoung yelled when the boy ran from her side to follow Naeun.

Both of them sighed for different reasons.

"What's with the sigh?" Sooyoung asked the woman in front of her.

"Something is bothering her. I'm not sure what it is, but she has been frowning quite often these days."

"Have you tried to ask her?"

Tiffany nodded. "Not me, but Taeyeon did. She said Naeun did that often while with her. But I only caught her doing that twice with me," she paused. "The first time was when she asked for my permission to go to her friend’s house and… just now. I didn’t say anything weird, did I? Or did I sound too protective?"

"So, having a daughter can be a headache too." Sooyoung nodded to herself.

"You’ve never had this kind of problem with Sungchan?"

"Nope. Not sure about other people’s sons, but Sungchan is so straightforward. He would tell me immediately if things bothered him."

Tiffany sighed and leaned back in her seat.

"What response did she give when Taeyeon asked her about that?"

"Something like 'nothing', 'I'm fine', or simply shake her head."

"Learned from the best, I guess."

Tiffany chuckled. "I love both of them, but God knows how much I hate that trait." Her smile dropped as she caught a glimpse of her daughter playing from afar. She heaved another sigh and held out a hope that she and Taeyeon would be capable of easing any concerns their daughter had.

"It’s okay. She will open up to both of you someday."

"I hope so."

—

Tiffany started the car, fastening her seatbelt, and waited for her daughter to do the same before entering the busy street. She glanced at her daughter and inwardly sighed. "Are you okay, baby? You’re so quiet," she asked, unable to stifle her curiosity any longer.

"I’m not a baby." The little girl whined and flailed her arms and feet at the same time.

"Wow, that hurts. You’re far from becoming a teenager. What are you then?" Tiffany sighed when the girl sulked. "Fine. I will refrain from calling you a baby, but only for today. So, is something going on? Do you want to tell me?" She stopped at a red light and faced the girl.

The girl shook her head, still pouting.

"Naeun-ah… There must be something going on. Tell me, I want to know."

"I’m fine."

Tiffany stepped on the pedal once the light had turned green. "You know, there are some things that you shouldn't keep to yourself, especially if they're bothering you. It’s okay to tell me or Umma. You pick whoever you’re comfortable with. But if you don’t feel comfortable telling us about your problems—although I don’t know what we’ve done for you to feel that way—it’s okay to tell your friends, teachers, aunty Sooyoung, aunty Yoona, or anyone else you feel comfortable with. Please don't bottle up your feelings alone, since we care." She cast a quick glance at the qui