January 30, 2020

"Philippines' first Novel Coronavirus case confirmed in Manila. Duterte Administration has yet to cancel all flights inbound to the country despite numerous pleas by the citizens and a few government officials."

“Sakura?”

“Yes, Eun?”

“When are you gonna come home? There's already a case confirmed here.”

“Hm, they're not yet announcing flight cancellations back there but we're wrapping up as soon as possible. A few days, or even a week before we finally catch a flight back.” Eunbi thought about her wife and her well-being. She sighed.

“Well, please be careful. I’m just really worried about you because Macau is near China.” Sakura chuckled lightly.

“Don’t worry Eun. Our client is also rushing things already. I’ll call you as soon as we’re done here,” Sakura tried to assure her wife.

“If that’s what you say. Just don’t forget to update me, okay? The kids miss you so much already,” Eunbi pouted her lips.

“The kids only?” Sakura asked playfully. Eunbi grinned.

“Of course, I do too, baka."

“Eh? Why am I an idiot?” Sakura asked cluelessly.

“Do I always need to say it?” Eunbi retorted. Sakura laughed.

“I love you,” Sakura uttered sweetly. Eunbi felt her heart warm and smiled.

“I love you too. Bye.”

“Bye,” Sakura ended their call and proceeded with a private meeting with her companions.

“There was already a case confirmed here, what should we do?” her assistant, Aoi, asked.

“I bet Chang Enterprises would speed up the deal. As soon as we finish this we will definitely take the earliest flight back to Manila.”

~*~

“Hitomi, are you ready with Yujin?” Eunbi asked from the kitchen. Loud footsteps from the hallway soon followed.

“We are done Mommy!” Yujin appeared right away. Hitomi approached Yujin and handed over her socks.

“Almost forgot this,” Yujin took the pair of socks and immediately went to the doorway.

“Here’s your lunchboxes,” Eunbi handed a small lunch bag and Hitomi took it. Eunbi did some final checks in the kitchen before approaching the baby sleeping in her crib.

“Okaa-san, I’ll drop the kids over to school now.” Eunbi bid Sasshi goodbye as the old woman is reading a newspaper.

“Sure, Eunbi. I’ll take it from here.”

“Hii, Yujinnie, wear this please,” Eunbi took out a pair of masks from a container on top of the shoe shelf. The children wore it, with Hitomi pinching Yujin’s nose bridge to set the metal string properly so that nothing could possibly enter through the mask. Eunbi wore a jacket as it is a bit cold, and wore a mask for herself too. After their necessary preparations, they immediately went out to travel to school.

~*~

February 2, 2020

“President Duterte finally declares an expanded travel ban for inbound flights from China, Hong Kong and Macau.”

Eunbi immediately took her phone and dialed a number.

"Sakura?" Eunbi called on the woman, hearing indistinct noises from the other line.

"Yes, hun?" Sakura responded a second later.

"When are you coming back? I just heard they'd be closing the border. Would you be home by then?" Eunbi waited for Sakura's response patiently.

"Well... there's quite a commotion here, considering that a lot of people are also hurrying in getting their own flight tickets—"

"Sakura!?" Eunbi called for her again.

"Y-yes Eun, I'm still here," Sakura answered, sounding unstable.

"My gosh I thought you were gone or something," Eunbi sighed in relief.

"There was just someone who bumped into me. It's no big deal- oh Eun I need to go now. We already got our tickets," Sakura said in a hurry.

"Okay... take care and just go home safely. I love you," Eunbi uttered with a hint of worry.

"Yes Eun, I will. Love you too. I'll see all of you very soon," Sakura broke off into a smile on the other line. They ended the call and Eunbi sighed as she got filled with worry for the woman who flew abroad for a job.

"What did she say? Will she be back soon?" a middle-aged woman went into the living room after coming out of a bedroom.

"She already got tickets, Okaa-san," Eunbi answered.

"Ahh I hope she’s back soon. It's gonna be harder when she comes back here," Eunbi's mother-in-law, Sasshi, approached Eunbi on the couch.

"Let me take care of Wonyoung. You should eat lunch," Eunbi immediately handed a newborn baby to her and Sasshi cradled the sleeping baby girl in her arms.

~*~

As soon as Sakura and her companions were back to Manila, they were immediately asked for a swab test.

"2 weeks?" Sakura asked again.

"Yes. It is standard protocol and everyone flying to our country needs to undergo this process. You have to quarantine yourself for the given time period.”

“Aren’t we going to be escorted to a quarantine facility or something?”

“We don’t have a quarantine facility. It was instructed that you will do it in your homes, but rest assured, an epidemiologist will keep in touch with you two times a day about your current condition throughout the quarantine period.”

Sakura decided it wouldn’t be better to go home immediately, and so she booked a hotel room to stay for two weeks. Sakura immediately dialed a number.

"Eun?"

"Kkura?"

"I'm already back but I need to quarantine for 2 weeks..."

"Can't you go back home and just do it here?" Eunbi asked, a little bit desperate.

"I can do it there at home, but I can't risk you, mom, and the children, especially Wonyoung. All of you are vulnerable to the virus and I don't want to spread the infection if ever I have it," Sakura reasoned out.

"I just miss you so much, and most probably the kids miss you more."

Sakura smiled softly on the other line. "I know."

~*~

"Mama!" the kids welcomed their mother home. She immediately ran to the bathroom for a quick bath.

"Yujinnie, Hii!" Sakura finally called her kids as she came out of her bedroom fresh from shower. They quickly ran towards Sakura and she kneeled so that the kids could hug her comfortably.

"You forgot about me?" Eunbi followed through, pouting a bit. Sakura broke off from the hug and stood up.

"Of course not," she approached Eunbi and gave her a peck on the lips.

"Wonyoungie..." she gazed at the baby Eunbi is cradling in her arms. She took her from Eunbi and cradled her in her arms. The baby whimpered a bit but nuzzled closer to Sakura, finding comfort.

"Thank god you got home safely Saachan," Sasshi gave Sakura a pat on her shoulder.

"Yes, okaa-san. Thank you also for helping us take care of the kids," she smiled, cradling the baby girl who is sound asleep.

"Oh come on it’s no big deal."

"So what are the kids doing? How's school?"

“We’re still attending school,” Hitomi answered briefly.

“A lot of people are worried about the virus, but when we go out, people are still going on with their personal engagements.” Eunbi added.

“But you’re being careful right?” Sakura asked worriedly.

“Of course. Ever since the first case was confirmed here, I made new rules in the house and when we’re outside.”

“Mommy wouldn’t let me play if I don’t shower immediately,” Yujin complained.

“It’s for you Yujinie. You can’t let germs stay on yourself for quite a while. If it does, the germs might invade your toys and other stuff inside the house. You don’t want that, right?” Hitomi explained to Yujin very carefully.

“Ah! Of course I don’t! They might attack Wonnie too!” Hitomi gave a pat to Yujin’s head.

“That’s right. We should be more careful today so that no germs or viruses will enter this house, okay?” Eunbi asked the girls.

“YES MOMMY!” Yujin shouted a little bit louder as she pumped her fist up.

“Yah Yujin--” Sakura was about to scold her when they heard Wonyoung cry.

“You woke her up.”

----------

And this is it! I'm still warming up and I've been reading news articles as I was writing this. I wanted to be detailed about the dates so I cautiously checked everything if they were right. I already set the plot so I'm just filling some spaces in the story. But still there are some parts of the storyline that I am still worried about, such as where I'll take this story, but I guess I'm thinking too much ahead hehe. I wanted this to develop along with me as I also get more educated on our current affairs, so let's see.

Yesterday night, when everyone's already asleep, our president decided to announce that we're back to Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine. A lot of people were really angered because, who, in their right mind, would announce something important in the middle of the night when most people are already sleeping? I am so done with the way our government has been handling this whole pandemic. I honestly don't clearly know already the difference between the different kinds of Community Quarantine imposed on different cities. It's hella confusing.

I've been talking too much already HAHA. Anyways, I hope everyone is safe. Be kind, always keep sanitized, and let's all look forward for better days ahead. Till the next read!