When Sowon arrived in the hospital room, her mother was unconscious, the doctors gave her stronger medicine to calm her pain. Sowon looked at her and tears came to her eyes, her mother looked so skinny, so old, but so peaceful.

Eunha hugged her from the side and Sowon cried while Eunha patted her slowly.

After a moment Sowon calmed down and turned to Eunha. “We are lucky you made her wear that bracelet to call the emergencies…” said Sowon as she brushed her tears away.

“It was a recommendation from the doctor.” said Eunha, “As she was leaving alone she needed to be able to call for help whenever she felt bad, it also detects when she’s on the floor and calls immediately for emergencies.” said Eunha with a small voice.

The doctor informed Sowon that her mother was weaker than some days before and that it would be better if she stayed at the hospital till she was gone so they could ease her pain with morphine but Sowon shook her head.

“She wants to celebrate her last Christmas with her family…” she said and Eunha nodded.

The doctor nodded too but told them she should stay under perfusion and that a nurse will visit her everyday to check on her.

The doctor added that he would keep her for the night and send her home the next day and told Sowon to go rest as her mother would be sleeping because of the strong medicine they gave her to calm the crisis.

Eunha took Sowon’s arm and pulled her away slowly. “Let’s go home. They will call us if there’s anything…” she said and Sowon followed her.

As they sat in the car Sowon was zoning out and Eunha hesitated.

“You sure you can drive?” she asked and Sowon shook her head as more tears came to her eyes.

Eunha took her in her arms again and Sowon cried some more. When Sowon calmed down Eunha got out of the car and walked to the driving seat, she opened the door. “I will drive you back.” said Eunha and Sowon nodded without a word, she got out and went on the passenger seat, Eunha drove them to Sowon’s house, as they arrived a car was already parked in front of the house, Sowon frowned.

As they approached Sowon recognized the young woman in the car. Eunha parked and they went down.

Eunha when to hug the girl while Sowon stood there a bit shocked. “Yerin?” she asked and the girl smiled.

“Always as tall as in my memories.” said Yerin as she walked to Sowon and hugged her.

Sowon hugged Yerin back not believing it. “What are you doing here?” she asked as she made signs for them to follow her, she unlocked the door and they entered the house. Sowon saw the wheelchair in the middle of the living room, on the side. Eunha went to pick it up and put it away. The little furniture beside the couch was upside and the lamp on the floor broken. Sowon apologized and went to help Eunha clean it out and tears came to her eyes again as she imagined her mother here alone struggling with crisis and falling down, hurting herself even more…

Her vision went blurry and she felt a hand over hers, she looked up and saw Yerin who was by her side helping her pick up the piece of the broken lamp…

Sowon broke down again and Eunha came to her. “Here…” she said, taking the tall girl in her arms again while she cried.

Yerin finished the clean and put back the little furniture correctly. 

“I’m sorry…” sobbed Sowon.

“It’s okay, don’t worry…” said Yerin as she caressed Sowon’s head. “Get up, let’s drink coffee and talk.” she said and Sowon stood up helped by Eunha, they went into the kitchen and Sowon went to the coffee machine but Eunha stopped her.

“Go sit with Yerin, I will make coffee, don’t worry.” said the girl softly and Sowon looked at her and realized how lucky she was to have Eunha by her side at this moment.

Sowon sat with Yerin.

“It’s nice to see you again.” said Yerin, “Even if the reason for your presence here isn’t a good reason…” she said sadly. They stayed silent for a moment and Eunha brought the coffee on the table.

“Thanks.” said Sowon and Yerin nodded.

“You could get our stuff?” asked Eunha to Yerin who smiled at her.

“Yeah, everything is in the trunk. I can help you get everything in if you want.” said Yerin but Eunha shook her head.

“That’s okay, stay here, I will go pick it up.” said Eunha and Yerin gave her car keys to Eunha who took them and walked out.

“What stuff?” asked Sowon confused. 

“Your decorations.” said Yerin, “Eunha messaged me that you had an emergency with your mother and left your cart in the mall reception, since it’s not far from work I went to pick it up.” explained Yerin with a smile.

“Oh…” said Sowon, surprised. “Well thank you, how much do I owe you for everything?” she asked, trying to take out her wallet in her jean pocket but Yerin refused.

“Nothing.” she said, waving her hand in front of Sowon.

“You sure?” she asked, confused, “We took a lot of stuff…” said Sowon insisting. “Let me give you something.”

Yerin giggled. “No no, I won’t accept that, seriously, it’s nothing, take it as my christmas gift, I haven't seen you since so long Sowon, I’m glad I could help even if it’s only about christmas decorations.” she said nicely and Sowon looked down.

“I don’t know how to thank you…” said Sowon and Yerin smiled at her.

“Don’t worry about that,” said Yerin sincerely, “But if you really want to thank me, you could join us this weekend, with the girls we will do a little something altogether like every years, it would be nice if you could come.” said Yerin and Sowon nodded.

“Eunha mentioned this, I will come, if you knew how much I missed you girls…” said Sowon sincerely. “I wanted to come back but to be honest after leaving for so long I wasn't sure you girls would want to see me again…” she said sincerely and Yerin put her hand on Sowon’s arm.

“We are your friends Sowon, we always have been.” said Yerin and Sowon swallowed hard.

“I know but after my fight with Eunha, I didn’t know how you girls would think of me…” said Sowon sincerely.

“We always thought you had your reasons, Sowon, Eunha never told us what really happened when you suddenly left, but she was devastated… we never really asked her anything as it was clear she wouldn’t tell us.” said Yerin and Sowon looked down.

“I was scared, and I thought pushing her away was the best thing to do for us.” said Sowon and Yerin squeezed her arm softly.

“You don’t owe us any explanations, the past is the past, you are here now that’s the most important.” said Yerin and Sowon smiled at her glad to have a friend so understanding.

“So…” said Sowon relaxing. “Eunha told me you got your dream job.” said Sowon and Yerin smiled.

“You can say that, I’m supervising the lab section at the wastewater treatment plant, it doesn’t sound like anything fantastic, but we do a lot for the city and all.” said Yerin proudly. “As I'm officially at the head of the research now, I have more freedom about my schedule, I work whenever I want as long as I do my hours every month which is quite nice when you get used to it.” she explained very passionate about her job and Sowon smiled, happy to see her friend happy. “And it allows me to stay here, I like this city, this is silly but this is where I have all my childhood memories. I feel at home here.”

“It’s true that coming back makes me realize how I missed it here, it really feels like home here.” said Sowon and Yerin smiled. “I’m happy for you, really, you got that job directly after finishing university?” asked Sowon, curious about her friend's life.

“Almost yeah, I did some period at the factory during my studies, testing the products they use to color the materials, then they called me again when I got graduated but I already sent some cv to other places in town and got called quickly for a good offer at the wastewater treatment plant.” explained Yerin and Sowon looked at her more curiously.

“You worked a bit at the factory?” she asked and Yerin nodded. “Did you meet the new owners?” she asked now and Yerin nodded again.

“Yeah, it was just after the incident with Eunha’s dad, it was also one of the reasons I didn't want to work for them after graduation seeing how they treated him and all…” said Yerin sincerely.

“I’m planning on getting more information about that case, I want to help Eunha and her father, maybe find a way to bring them to justice and reopen his case to prove he was manipulated.” said Sowon and Yerin looked at her curiously.

“I see why you wanted to be a lawyer so much, you always hated injustice.” said Yerin and Sowon shook her shoulders. “You think you have a chance to make them pay? Eunha’s father wasn’t the only one fired like this, maybe you could meet the others?”

Sowon nodded. “That’s a good idea, I will try to call one of my professors, her husband is at the head of an anti-fraud agency, maybe his expertise could help us too.” said Sowon, more determined than ever.

“That would be perfect,” said Yerin. “Don’t hesitate if you need help on this, I will do anything to help, what happened to Eunha and her dad is really unfair.”

Sowon nodded, then looked around, “Talking about Eunha, she’s taking so much time.” said Sowon standing up and walking out, as she opened the front door Sowon ended up face to face with Eunha.

They both blushed and Eunha took a step away, Sowon saw that Eunha started decorating the exterior and was struggling to hang a garland on the top of the front door.

Sowon took the garland and hung it there as she was way taller.

“Thank you.” said Eunha and Sowon looked at her. 

“Thanks to you, it’s amazing, I can’t wait to see how it will be illuminated tonight.” said Sowon, amazed by Eunha’s work in such a short time. “You should have called me.” she added but Eunha shook her head.

“I figured that you would enjoy time with Yerin to catch up.” she said just as yerin joined them.

“Wow Eunha this is really nice,” exclaimed Yerin. “I took the liberty to add some more decorations for the exterior because you only took stuff for the inside.” she said and Eunha glared at her.

“We just started our shopping so of course we didn’t reach the exterior decorations yet.” she complained and Yerin laughed.

“I’m just teasing you.” she said and Eunha smiled. “Call me if you guys need anything more. I have to go back to work but we will see each other this weekend?” she asked this time looking at Sowon who smiled at her and nodded.

“Great.” said Yerin as she walked out. “See you soon.” she added before getting in her car.

Eunha looked at Sowon and showed the keys she had in hands, Yerin got out of the car and came back to them, Eunha gave her the keys laughing.

“Yeah it’s better with the keys.” said Yerin as she went back in her car and left for good.

Sowon spent the rest of the day decorating the house with Eunha, they both knew what Sowon’s mother loved and they were excited for her to come back home and see the house so well decorated.

At the end of the afternoon Eunha got a call and told Sowon she had to leave.

“You won’t stay over this night?” asked Sowon and Eunha shook her head.

“I will pass by after work tomorrow to see your mom.” said Eunha and Sowon felt so empty suddenly.

“Okay, thanks for everything today…” she said and before Eunha could answer she continued. “I know you are doing all this for my mom and not for me, but really thank you, without your help I would be devastated and lost right now,” said Sowon sincerely. “I could never thank you enough for all this especially after how I treated you back then…” said Sowon looking down.

“Sowon I…” Eunha hesitated, “You can always count on me.” she said finally, “No matter how much I want to be mad at you for leaving me like you did, just seeing you again makes me…” Eunha sighed. “Make me forget everything, I just feel like you never left.” she said sincerely and Sowon nodded. “We probably have a lot to talk about but right now isn’t a good moment…” Sowon looked at her shyly. “We have to think about your mother right now and just enjoy time with her, keep our promise about making her last Christmas unforgettable…” said Eunha as hre eyes got teary and Sowon pulled her into her arms as she cried too.

They hung onto each other’s arms for a few minutes then Eunha’s phone rang again. The short girl broke the hug and looked at the ID.

“I have to go, I will see you tomorrow around 5 in the afternoon.” she said and Sowon watched her walk away.

“You don’t want me to drive you back to your house?” she asked but Eunha shook her head.

“That’s fine, I need some walking to empty my mind.” she answered and Sowon nodded watching her walk away for good.

The next day, SinB drove Sowon's mother back home, the older woman was placed in her wheelchair and the doctor told Sowon she should stay in it and not try to walk around anymore, he also explained to Sowon how they would lead them a perfusion hanger and that the nurse would visit twice a day, on the morning and at night.

Sowon thanked them and was glad her mother could come back home, it was where she really wanted to be.

SinB helped Sowon carry her mother and the wheelchair inside and once her mother was installed in her bed, SinB looked at Sowon and put her hand on the tall girl's shoulder "She needs to rest." she said and Sowon nodded. 

They left the room and walked out the house. “It will be really nice to be reunited.” said SinB in a more lighting tone as Sowon was following her outside. “It’s been so long….” she added as she closed the back door of her ambulance truck and looked at Sowon who nodded.

“News travels fast here.” said Sowon and SinB giggled a bit.

“Small town, it’s impossible to keep any secrets here.” she answered, raising her shoulders innocently and Sowon smiled back at her. “I wish I could stay longer but I have to go back to work, we have other patients waiting to be driven to the hospital.” said SinB clearly wanting to stay and talk some more but not having time right now.

Sowon nodded at her. “Thank you.” she said sincerely as SinB walked back in the truck. “Be careful.” she added out of habit as she cared so much for her friends.

SinB smiled at her remembering all the time Sowon would act like an annoying mom with them then waved at Sowon and drove away.

Later that day, Eunha came to see them, she arrived just after the nurse passed to check on Sowon's mother, Sowon helped her mother get into her wheelchair so they could all look at the outside decoration at night when they were illuminated and her mother really liked how the house looked all decorated.

The week passed and Sowon’s mother wasn’t eating much, the nurse added some more medicine in her perfusion, the woman was sleepy most of the time, sleeping peacefully as the medicine was working on her pain. She had less crisis but would rarely leave her bed, Sowon would bring her some food that was most of the time not eaten. Rare were the moments of the day where Sowon could talk with her mother as the woman was barely even here anymore, she was in a blurry reality away from the real world. 

Sowon knew it was getting worse each day but at least her mother was looking like she was less in pain, Sowon spent most of her time in the room with her to be there when the woman would regain some consciousness.

Sowon brought her computer and books to her mother’s room and worked there. She received some lessons sent by her professors and she needed to study them so she wouldn’t be lost when she would come back home.

Home… Sowon wasn’t sure where her home was anymore, she wasn’t sure she could stay here long especially if she has to lose her mother, everything in this town was making her think about her mother or Eunha, but her small flat in that big stranger town where she doesn’t have any friend wasn’t feeling like home either. Sowon was starting to doubt about her future, where will she go and how will she feel…  

Eunha would pass time to time after her work, bring some food, check on Sowon’s mother, most of the time Eunha would come over and sit on the woman’s bed looking at her sleep then she would leave and go take care of her father.

Sowon didn’t have any alone time with Eunha, she missed her but they were both worried about Sowon’s mother state and Sowon started to think it was maybe better, it wasn’t the right time to bring back the past and start some sort of weird ambigue relationship with Eunha again.

On friday when Eunha entered the house Sowon was asleep on the desk in her woman’s room, she was slowly snoring and drooling over her books. Eunha came closer to her and smiled, she bring the blanket from the couch and put it around Sowon’s shoulders.

“Eunha…” whispered Sowon’s mother and Eunha walked to her, she sat slowly on the side of the bed and looked at the old woman.

“How are you?” asked Eunha and the woman sighed.

“Tired,” she just said and Eunha nodded, patting the woman’s head slowly. “How is Sowon doing?” she asked, seeing her daughter sleeping on the chair at the desk in her room.

“She’s strong,” said Eunha swallowing hard. 

The woman nodded. “Promise me one thing…” she breathed out and Eunha nodded. “Take care of her when I’m gone…” said the woman and Eunha felt tears coming to her eyes.

“Don’t say that, you aren’t gone yet, you can have more time with her, you have to fight, you are strong too…” said Eunha as tears ran down her cheeks.

The old woman brushed Eunha’s tears away and caressed her cheek. “You are like a daughter to me Eunha, without you I would have leave this world without seeing my Sowon again… without you I would probably not be here anymore, your support and your love made me fight longer, never doubt this but now I feel at peace, my girl is here with me, she became such a beautiful and strong woman, and you know I can’t fight more…” she said in a weak voice.

Eunha came closer and hugged her. “So will you promise me?” asked the woman as Eunha was still in her arms.

Eunha nodded. “Of course, I love her more than anyone or anything…” whispered back Eunha and the old woman smiled as they let go.

“You don’t have to tell me, I already know.” she said lowly. “I only trust you to be by her side in this moment…” said the woman and Eunha nodded again as more tears came to her eyes.

Eunha saw that the woman was in pain again. “You should rest more…” said Eunha softly. “Christmas will arrive soon and we need you to regain some strength.” said Eunha with hope and the woman smiled.

“You are right Eunha…” she said as she turned around and went back to sleep.

Eunha stayed there some minutes thinking about what Sowon’s mother just told her, she pulled the blanket up to cover the woman correctly and as she heard her breathing slowing down she knew she was asleep.

Eunha stood up and went closer to Sowon. She stood behind her and put her hands on the tall girl’s shoulders she bent down and whispered slowly to her ear.

“Sowon-a… time to get up…” she said as she caressed the tall girl’s shoulders gently to wake her up.

Sowon opened her eyes and lifted her head. “Eunha?” she questioned as she turned her head to see the sort girl smiling at her.

“Did you eat today?” asked the short girl and Sowon looked around trying to see where she was and what time it was.

“I fell asleep while studying.” said Sowon and Eunha giggled slowly.

“I can tell. You drooled on your books.” she said pointing to the books and Sowon used her forearm to brush them.

“What time is it?” she asked and Eunha took a step away from Sowon taking her hands away from the tall girl who turned around and stood up to give a look at her mother.

“It’s late but not too late for dinner.” said Eunha shyly and Sowon nodded as she walked closer to her mother’s bed. “She woke up earlier, she talked a bit then she went back to sleep…” said Eunha seeing Sowon was worried about her mother.

“The medicine really makes her sleep a lot but at least she’s less in pain…” said Sowon as she caressed her mother's forehead slowly.

“She’s strong.” said Eunha, taking a step closer to the bed and standing beside Sowon, their arms brushing against each other. “So strong…” she whispered and Sowon nodded. “Come on, let’s eat something.” said Eunha as she slowly slid her hand in Sowon’s to pull her out of the room gently.