“Care to tell me what was that all about?”

Yerim remains silent, running to yank the front door open as soon as the car pulls to a stop.

“I got a call from your teacher saying that you punched your senior,” Seungwan starts, taking a deep breath and closing the door after the young girl. “Broke his nose, mind you, and now you’re not even talking to me.”

The young girl remains stoic as she kicks her shoes off.

“Really got nothing to say to me?”

Still silence.

“I barely managed to convince the boy not to press any charges,” she starts again. "You're very lucky I answered the phone. If your Umma was home when the school called, you'd be in so much trouble.” She sighs and feels her shoulders sagging. “Just talk to me, squirt. I know your Umma and I have only been married a few years," she sighs, "and I know I'm not your mom but-"

"You're right."

"About what?"

Yerim finally stops glaring at the floor, turning to look at Seungwan with that steely, cold gaze that she clearly got from her mother. "You're right. You're not my real mom."

Seungwan could feel her heart clench painfully as she tried to speak around the sudden lump in . She stares at the 13 year old she watched grow up, practically raised alongside Joohyun and fights off her tears as the young girl marches up the stairs.

---

Joohyun places her keys on the wooden bowl as soon as she enters the house. She toes off her shoes and calls out, “I’m home!”

“I’m in the kitchen!” Seungwan answers.

“Hi, honey,” Joohyun greets, dropping her head on her wife’s shoulder and wrapping her arms around her waist. “How was your day?”

“Same old, same old,” the blonde answers, nonchalant as she continues stirring whatever she’s cooking. “Bratty artists at the studio thinking they know how to do my job.”

“But I’m sure you-” the older woman stops short as she notices the blonde’s red-rimmed eyes when she leaned in to kiss the latter’s cheek. “Love, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“It’s nothing,” the blonde waves her off. “Just a stupid thing at work.”

“You wanna tell me about it?” she asks, pulling her wife until she turns in her arms. She stares at the brown eyes she loves so much. “My wife tells me I’m a very good listener.”

Seungwan finally smiles. “Yes, you are,” she affirms, planting a soft kiss on her lips. “Seriously, it’s nothing. Work is just getting to me. You know how sensitive I can be at times,” she chuckles, self-deprecating. 

“Okay, I won’t push,” Joohyun conceded, uneasy as she feels Seungwan pulling away slightly. “But if you wanna talk, I’m here.”

“I know, wifey,” Seungwan smiles again, eyes going soft as she kisses the back of Joohyun’s hand. “Now, go get Yerim and change out of your work clothes. I’ll set the table so we can have dinner when you guys come down.”

Joohyun wraps her arms around the blonde’s neck. “Maybe I’ll just have you for dinner,” she mumbles against her lips.

“Don’t tempt me,” Seungwan warned, her low voice making Joohyun shiver.

“Alright, I’m gonna go before Yerim comes down and gets traumatized,” she pulls away but not before squeezing Seungwan’s behind.

Five minutes later, Joohyun was walking down the stairs alone as she put her hair in a bun.

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