Exhausted from crying last night, Yewon woke up late the next morning, cursing as she remembered she was having lunch with her mother today as if a board meeting wasn’t bad enough. With a sigh, she sat up, gently opening the photo album and flipping through a few pages, smiling at the sight of Eunbi’s face. She put it down on the nightstand next to her bed, and stood up, and went over to her closet to find something suitable to wear.

After a quick shower, Yewon put on a pencil skirt along with a formal shirt and a blazer, checking her reflection in the mirror before agreeing that it was appropriate. She wanted to make sure she looked good so that her mom wouldn’t be able to criticize her for anything small; Yewon was sure there would be something big to criticize though.

She found breakfast waiting for her in the fridge in the form of yogurt and granola, courtesy of her chef. After eating it as fast as she could without choking, she made her way down to her waiting car, internally groaning at the thought that Solar wouldn’t be there to bring her coffee and due to oversleeping, didn’t have enough time to get her own.

The elevator doors opened and Yewon caught sight of Sunmi, her back to Yewon as she was conversing with one of the other board members. Stepping out, Yewon shrugged her coat off, and handed it and her handbag to one of the interns standing close by. At the sound of the intern wishing Yewon a greeting, Sunmi turned around, her eyes locking onto her daughter.

“Yewon,” Sunmi said, walking over and giving her a smile. It wasn’t a warm smile, but it lacked the iciness that was usually present when she was talking to her daughter.

“Mother,” Yewon replied stiffly, giving her a small nod.

Sunmi held out one of the takeaway cups of coffee she held. “You still prefer cappuccinos, right?”

Yewon accepted the coffee warily, but grateful that she wouldn’t have to sit through the meeting without caffeine in her system. “Thank you,” Yewon muttered awkwardly, not sure how to feel about the kind gesture.

“Well, we should go in. The meeting starts soon,” Sunmi told her, before striding towards the door to the conference room and going inside. Yewon sighted slightly, before following her in to start the meeting.

~

~

The meeting, as usual, was dragging, but Yewon was grateful that it was actually one of the shorter meetings they have had in the past. At last, the remaining point was covered and the last question answered, and the meeting was adjourned. As everyone packed up, Yewon shook hands and said goodbyes, before walking out to grab her coat and bag.

“Ready for lunch?” Sunmi asked, materializing at Yewon’s side. “I made a reservation at this new French restaurant that just opened up.”

“Let’s go,” Yewon said, pushing the elevator button and stepping inside as soon as the doors opened. She crossed her arms over her chest, remaining silent for the entire duration of the elevator ride and the car ride to the restaurant. Sunmi made a few comments about the board meeting, but Yewon provided no input.

They walked through the doors of the restaurant, and Yewon wasn’t the least bit surprised at the obvious fanciness of the place as they were escorted to their table. Sunmi would never eat anywhere with less than a five-star rating.

Sunmi rejected the drinks menu, ordering a bottle of wine for the table instead, and Yewon didn’t argue, knowing that it would be good. They were silent as they scanned the menu, after ordering and handing the menu back to the waiter. They sat there staring at each other for a moment before Sunmi lifted her glass of wine and took a sip before speaking.

“So...how are you?” she asked, and Yewon let out a quiet laugh at the thought of Sunmi actually caring.

“I do car, Yewon,” Sunmi insisted, sighing as she looked at her daughter. “I just wish you would give me the chance to prove that.”

“You had my entire childhood to prove that,” Yewon retorted, leaning back in her chair as she raised her eyebrows at Sunmi. She waited for her mother’s response, enjoying the conflicted looks flashing across Sunmi’s face.

“You know I regret that,” Sunmi told her, reaching forward to touch Yewon’s hand, but falling short as Yewon pulled her hand back. “I don’t blame you for hating me, Yewon. I know I haven’t been a very good mother, but please...let me make it up to you.”

Yewon rolled her eyes as she let out a surprised laugh. “I don’t hate you,” she tells Sunmi, shocking her by the looks of her expression. “We’ve never exactly gotten along, but I am grateful to you for everything you’ve given me. I just don’t see why you make such a big fuss about checking up on me and pretending like you care about my life when we both know that you can’t change the past.”

“You’re all I have left,” Sunmi blurted out, falling silent as she let the words sink in. Yewon blinked in surprise, not expecting this turn of events.

“You’re all I have left, and I don’t want to lose you too. So that’s why I check up on you and bribe you into having lunch with me. Are you happy? Is that what you wanted to hear?” Sunmi told her, leaning back and taking a big sip of her wine.

Yewon drained the rest of her own glass, reaching for the bottle and filling it back up, as well as her mother’s glass. “No, it doesn’t make me happy to know that I’m still the last resort for you, even when I’m all you have left, as you say,” Yewon muttered bitterly, placing the bottle back down.

“Do you want to know why I never favored you?” Sunmi asked, sitting up in her chair and throwing her shoulders back. Her face was stony and there was a gleam of anger in her eyes. Yewon arched an eyebrow at her, nodding slightly for her mom to continue.

“Your father….he was a cruel man. I’m sure you didn’t notice when you were a child, but you saw it when you got older. Even before we adopted you, he was always the same way, and he took that anger out on Bogeun and myself,” Sunmi said, lifting her chin slightly as she spoke, keeping up her usual demeanor of a strong, proud woman.

She let out a laugh, but there was no humor behind it. “And then you came along. I always wanted a daughter, but then you became his favorite. He loved you so much, you were his little girl. I was afraid that if I pulled you closer to me that he would get angry, that he would take it out on you as he did with Bogeun. By the time you realized what kind of man he was, you already resented me.”

Yewon was silent as she sat there, processing her mother’s words. She wasn’t sure what to think of it, but she knew that it didn’t change anything. At this point, there would be no point in Sunmi lying, and it is what Yewon could remember from her childhood, but there was still a giant gap between the two of them, spanning years and that wouldn’t go away just because Sunmi told her the truth.

“I’m sorry that things aren’t different between us, but I can’t just pretend like the past never happened,” Yewon told her.

“I don’t expect you to,” Sunmi said, “All I want is for you to give me a chance. Just give me some time to make things right. Please?”

They were interrupted by the arrival of their food and dropped the topic as they both started eating. Sunmi tried to start up the conversation again, this time about a safer topic.

“So, the photos. May I ask what you need them for?” Sunmi asked, raising her eyebrows in question.

Yewon shrugged slightly, swallowing a mouthful before replying. “I promised someone that I would look into seeing if I could find any photos of me as a child.”

“Ah, for Eunbi? It is Eunbi isn’t it?” Sunmi replied, keeping her reservations out of her tone.

“Yes,” Yewon replied tersely, taking a sip of wine to avoid elaboration.

“And how is she?” Sunmi asked politely. “I saw that she was recently deployed.”

“You saw?” Yewon echoed, narrowing her eyes at Sunmi. She wouldn’t put it past her mother to have someone tailing her and Eunbi, perhaps even Eunha and Sojung.

“The latest edition of one trashy magazine,” Sunmi explained matter-of-factly, reaching into her handbag to pull out the magazine in question. Yewon dropped her fork and took the magazine off her, growing down at the front page.

‘Kim’s Long Distance Love Affair’

Beneath that, there was a photo of Yewon kissing Eunbi goodbye at the airport. Yewon rolled her eyes at the terrible heading and flipped to the page listed for the main article. There were more photos inside of a teary-eyed Yewon leaving the airport, as well as the photo of them kissing at the baseball game from when they first started dating, and another from the gala.

With a sigh, Yewon dropped the magazine down on