The trial was over. Over 10 indivuals including her father was brought to justice. 20 years of rotting in jail with no possible chance of parole. The prosecutor helped Ae-Ra to remove Choi Baek Joo as a guardian and he will never be allowed to be near her even if he was released from prison. It's been 3 weeks since Ae-Ra attended school. Soo Ah and Soo Jin have been visiting almost everyday and sometimes their homeroom teacher, Mr Han, would visit as well. 

Ae-Ra still stayed in the hospital since she had to recover from her injuries as well as receive counselling for all the trauma she's been through. She also needed to get help to find an accomodation since she was already 18 years old and no orphanage could take her in. Her social worker, Kim Mari, was going over some paperwork when Ae-Ra dropped her spoon while watching the news.

"BREAKING - IDOL JUNG SE YEON TOOK HIS OWN LIFE YESTERDAY FOLLOWING BULLYING RUMOURS"

"Oh dear, that's so sad.." Mari said. 

"That's - Se Yeon - Oh my gosh - " Ae-Ra quickly dialled Seo Jun's number. No answer. She tried 3 more times. No answer. Frustrated, she dialled Soo Ho's number. No answer as well. "Crap"

"Do you know him personally?"

"Y-yes. He's my boyfr -  I mean he's a friend of a friend"

"FUNERAL TO BE HELD AT NORTHEN LIGHT CHURCH - FANS ADVISED TO WAIT IN BALLROOM AREA"

"I need to go there" 

"The funeral? You're not even discharged yet"

"Please help me. I really need to be there. I promise i'll come right back after that"

Mari nodded then headed out to speak to the nurses. She was given 3 hours and Mari had to accompany her throughout. When they arrived at the funeral, she caught sight of Seo Jun heading inside, looking solemn. 

"Seo Jun!" She called for him but he was too far to hear her.

"Go on - i'll wait for you outside"

Ae-Ra was stopped by security but after much persuasion, she was let in. She looked around for Seo Jun or Soo Ho but none of them were in sight. Just that moment, she caught sight ot Seo Jun, she walked over to approach him then stopped. What was she going to say? Did he even want to see her here? They haven't met in weeks and her heart clenched seeing him in this state. She knew how much Se Yeon meant to him. "I can't do it..." Ae-Ra turned to walk away and walked right into Soo Ho.

"Yah!" Soo Ho exclaimed angrily.

"Soo Ho!"

"Ae-Ra? What are you doing here?" He looked at her, confused. "Why have you not been attending school?"

"I-I... I called you. Why didn't you pick up?"

"Busy" He glared at her. "You shouldn't be here. Seo Jun would - "

"I know. I'm leaving"

"You hurt him you know. Don't show up infront of him anymore" Soo Ho said coldly and walked off.  Ae-Ra controlled her tears and nodded, walked back to Mari to tell her to head back to the hospital.

Once back at the hospital, all Ae-Ra wanted to do was sleep but she was surprised seeing a woman standing in her room, looking out the window. She was not expecting any visitors and nobody else knew she was here. Unless... She turned to Mari who looked slightly guilty.

"Omma?" Ae-Ra said angrily.

The woman turned, and smiled. It was her mother alright, Shim Han Na. But she looked way different - she was more elegant and put together now. "Ae-Ra... I'm so sorry all this happened" 

"Stop it. You left me. This is all your fault!"

"Honey i am so sorry.. Please let me make it up to you"

"I don't want anything from you! Ms Mari, please get her out of my sight"

Mari sighed. "Ae-Ra, technically she is still your guardian. Please let's just hear her out. You still need to sort out your living arrangement"

"Please let me help you Ae-Ra. I couldn't help you back then please let me do it now..."

"You new life must be good huh? You're always all over the news now with your furniture business. And how are your twins? Do they know i exist? How about your new husband?"

"So you do check up on me..." Han Na smiled. "If you give me a chance, i could introduce them - "

"No. I do not want to join your family"

"You're only 18. You need someone to take care of you"

"I've been doing fine all these years! Whenever Appa kicked me down i always managed to get back up. Without your help"

"You can't stay in the hospital forever and you need someplace to go back to you. The old house has already been seized by the courts" Ae-Ra remained silent so Han Na continued. "Fine, if you don't want to come back with me - please accept me buying an apartment for you. And giving you allowane till you're off to college. Or whenever you can already fend for yourself"

"What?"

"Please accept it Ae-Ra. I promise i won't hold this over your head. I really want to do something for you. And apologise for leaving you behind. No kid should ever go through what you did and I've been a terrible mother"

Silence.

Mari cleared . "Ae-Ra, your mother has a point. You do need someplace to live and there is only so much i can offer"

"You don't have to splurge on an apartment for me. A small cosy one will do. Near to school" Ae-Ra mumbled.

"Absoutely! I'll set up everything for you"

"T-thanks"

"Right! Why don't we go over the paperwork then? We'll need to check when you can be discharged and schedule your therapy appointments as well" Mari said cheerfully.

"I'll do it with you. Ae-Ra, you should rest" Han Na looked at her.

"Right. Whatever" She crawled into bed and turned away.