“Wonyoung-ya! Sorry I couldn’t pick you up today!”

Mama?! Sakura couldn’t believe what she just heard. A child. Eunbi’s child. Right in front of her eyes.

“Eunbi-unnie! This little bean refuses to go to bed unless you see her drawing…” Sakura shifted her attention to the owner of this voice, a young woman with center-parted hair and a gentle, friendly face, following Wonyoung from behind to greet them.

“Thanks Chae. Sorry to keep you up so late, you probably need to wake up early for practice tomorrow, don’t you?”

The young woman shook her head with a bright smile and patted Eunbi’s shoulders. They look really close.

“Don’t mention it, though I do have to go now. We have some leftover pizza. Sorry, Unnie, that’s the only way I know how to bribe a kid.”

This earned a disapproving look from her unnie, who just tried to soothe the child that’s nuzzling in her arms as she saw Chaeyeon off. Walking past Sakura, she paused and regarded the stranger’s look.

“Unnie…?” She looked at Eunbi then back Sakura like she'd just struck gold. “What an absolutely fu--”

“Ah, Chaeyeon, this is Sakura, my boss.” Eunbi quickly jumped in and emphasized the last word to warn the bedazzled girl from making inappropriate remarks. “Sakura--Chaeyeon, my nosy neighbor.”

“Oh…” Sakura swallows and looks at the overly excited Chaeyeon. “Chaeyeon, nice to meet you. I must be, er,” She steals a glance at Wonyoung. Is that what she meant by family? Where is her husband? Is he Wooseok? “I must be disturbing your private time...I should probably just leave--”

“No!” Chaeyeon exclaimed and hurried off the driveway. “I’m not Unnie’s wife or girlfriend or anything, just a poor college student trying to earn her keep. Please go on in, it’s not just pizza, you know? There’s a lot of good stuff-- wine, cheese, a big comfy queen-sized bed…”

Sakura blinked at Chaeyeon’s remarks. Is it that obvious that she’s gawking at Eunbi in a romantic way? Why would Chaeyeon imply anything about Eunbi being with a woman? Isn’t she straight?

“All right that’s quite enough, Chaeyeonie.” Eunbi shoos her friend off and lets out a dry laugh. “She loves joking around. Sakura, don’t mind her--come on in.”

“You know what? Saku-chan…it’s the first time I see Unnie bring somebody--”

“Yah!” The cheeky girl shuddered at Eunbi’s roar, gave Sakura an apologetic look, and tiptoed off to the darkness.

Sakura could barely digest the scene in front of her, with Eunbi planting a kiss on Wonyoung’s forehead, cooing at her young child who’s still wrapped in her arms, as she found her own feet following their footsteps from behind into the living room. Wongyoung’s eyes are trained on the stranger with curiosity, but she’s too shy to ask Eunbi or Sakura any questions.

“Eunbi-Unnie…”

“Ah-- Sakura ya, just sit while I put this troublemaker in bed first.”

“Wonnie...have you brushed your teeth?” She puts the girl down and continues to her hair, gently taking her hairband off.

“Yes!” The baby girl beams brightly. “Wonnie did it ALL on her own while Chaeyeonie fell asleep watching TV.”

“Good girl.” Eunbi chuckles at her smarty-pants daughter. “It’s time to go to bed then.”

“Yay, story time!!” Wonyoung was about to turn and dash into her room when Eunbi held her back, turning her little body to face Sakura, who’s still standing awkwardly by, staring at them.

“Hold on there, honey. Now, what do you say before going to bed?”

Taking Eunbi’s cue, the baby girl bowed down sweetly at this stranger and said, “Good night….um...Pretty Unnie?”

This caused the shell-shocked Sakura to finally wake up and let out a laugh, crouching down and patting the girl’s head.

“Good night Wonyoung. I’m Sakura-Unnie, not pretty-unnie.”

“It’s all the same! Pretty-Unnie!” She beams again and tugs on her Mama’s sleeve again, eager to get back to her bedtime story routine.

Eunbi gave Sakura a quick smile, mouthing ‘wait here’, and went into a room with Wonyoung, while Sakura looked around the living room, warmly decorated with pictures of the two--some with Chaeyeon in it. There are also frames where Eunbi looked younger, with groups of friends all smiling happily at the camera. The biggest frame had her, Wonyoung, and another woman she does not recognise in it. It struck her how little she knew about her first crush.

Strangely, she couldn’t find pictures of her and Wooseok, or any with her and a man alone in one frame. Which one of them in these pictures is her lover?

They might have spent everyday together in the same dorm during that summer, and they might have been through some extraordinary things together, but she never knew what life outside school was like for Eunbi. The Eunbi she remembered had always been this commanding leader who only ever got flustered in front of her boyfriend.

Then, Sakura recalls reading Eunbi’s profile on the 2nd day of her arrival at the company. She was shocked to find that she never completed college and that she’s taken up a number of different odd jobs before landing one here. But how? She wondered, Eunbi had been smart and diligent as the model student of her high school...

“Sorry, let me heat up the food now. Don’t worry, we’re not having pizza. Come...sit here.” Eunbi emerged from the room again, putting a pause in Sakura’s reverie.

“Unnie… I didn’t know you have a child.”

“I--yes-- well, Wonyoung is a long story to tell…” She scratches her head sheepishly.

Where is Wooseok?

“How old is she?” Sakura cuts in. However, Eunbi is already facing her with her back, as she starts up the stove in the open-kitchen, and doesn't notice the dread on Sakura’s face.

“She’s turning 7 soon…” She answers casually.

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