It was the first weekend after Jihyo had returned to the hospital. Her plans of spending a relaxed afternoon with Siwoo in a park had been erased when someone unexpected had knocked into her door just after having breakfast.  The thing is, Jihyo hadn't seen this specific person even before she left for her sabbatical, and seeing them now wasn't really in any of her plans.

Jihyo had a puzzled look on her face. "Eomma?"

"Your cousin told me that you were back." Cheon Yeseo was a cold-hearted, tough loving mother. The reason why Jihyo has no siblings, her mother didn't want another child. She was a career driven woman, the owner of a pharmaceutical company that partnered with multiple hospitals, both locally and internationally including hers. “Not even bothering to tell your own mother that you were back in the country? I had to know it from someone else?”

As a mother and daughter, their relationship was strained for as long as she could remember. There were no memories of her mother coming to celebrate her important events in her life, not even after she became a doctor. Cheon Yeseo left after hearing her say "I do" at her wedding and didn't even finish the whole ceremony.

It's safe to say that her relationship with her mother wasn't as good as it is towards her aunts. "I didn't know where you were." Jihyo answered, knowing that her mother had multiple houses in different locations such as Gangnam, Italy, Spain, and in New York.

"Aren't you going to let me in?" Yeseo raised her eyebrow at her daughter.

Jihyo reluctantly opened the door wider. Mentally checking that the kitchen was still a mess, her bed unmade, her clothes unruly and as well as Siwoo's. "I don't want any comments about my house, it's barely 9 in the morning." She said to her mother, not knowing that Yeseo had stood frozen in her spot.

When she noticed that her mother wasn’t following her and just stood in place looking at something, she followed her line of sight and saw Siwoo sitting on the couch in the living room. "Eomma, this is Siwoo." Jihyo introduced, "My son."

"I don't recall you being pregnant before and even after your divorce." Yeseo replied, "How did you have a son?"

"I'm adopting him, eomma." Jihyo answered, picking up Siwoo and putting him on her hip. “I was never pregnant.”

“Alone?” Her mother questioned. “You’re adopting him single and alone? Are you out of your mind, Song Jihyo?” Jihyo saw her mother’s eyes scan Siwoo’s body and it made her think if it was just her imagination that her eyes flicked into a different emotion that she hadn’t seen before. “Did you do this to him? Have you hurt him?” Yeseo pointed to the fading bruises still on his skin.

“What? No! Of course not, eomma.” Jihyo rolled her eyes. “He’s healing now that he’s with me. He was in a bad situation before I got him and I am sure of my decision to adopt him.”

“He’s going to get taken away from you, you know that right?” Yeseo stated, putting a hand on her hip. “Even if you’re sure of adopting him, the government and the ones that make the decision of letting you adopt him might look the other way just because you are legally single.” She advised, “I am saying this as your mother. I don’t want you to get hurt by this child.”

“I am not letting him get taken away from me.” Jihyo confidently stated, “Sukjin samchon is on his case.”

“And you think my cousin will help you?” Yeseo chuckled, “I’ve known him all my life and his work, he might do the charity work as a good samaritan for people that want to be parents. But you want to know the truth? Some parents bribe him with money for the children that they want, children that they are not capable of taking care of.”

Jihyo chuckled bitterly, “If you don’t want a grandchild that would call you ‘halmeoni’, then don’t. Giving this ‘advice’ that you’re talking about, well, it’s not motherly advice.” She added, “You think I’m not capable of taking care of him alone? I have myself. I have always had myself even though I had you to call you as my mother but where were you?” Jihyo knew that she was on the verge of tears but she couldn’t let it out when she knew that her mother would see. “I just wanted a good weekend. I was going to spend it with my son, the one that you refuse to acknowledge as your grandson.”

Yeseo sighed and rolled her eyes. “Jihyo-ah, that’s not what I meant.”

“Oh yeah? I think you were meant to get out that door and never come back.” Jihyo stated, “I know that you never wanted to have me and look at me now, giving you yet another heir to the business. You’re never going to love or support what I do, but just this once, let this go. My son, Siwoo, will be a part of my life. Whether you like it or not.”

“Very well, uri ddal.” Yeseo maintained her poise and straightened her back. “You’ve said your piece, you’ll be hearing from me soon. Take care.” She didn’t need to be escorted to the door, Cheon Yeseo was very well on her way to going to the door herself without looking back towards her daughter and future grandson.
 

Her unplanned confrontation with her mother left Jihyo in a bitter mood. The worst part is, Siwoo heard all of it and that made her think about what her son would now think about her. It was the first time Jihyo had seen her mother in probably years and this is her interaction with her, leading to her saying to never seeing her mother again.

Even though Siwoo couldn’t talk, Jihyo knew that he conveyed everything through his actions. Siwoo had not only clung himself to Jihyo’s neck but he also placed his hand above her chest to feel her heart. Jihyo almost wanted