Minjeong got home at exactly six in the evening. Usually, she comes home at half past nine, but since it was a Friday night, she knew her stepfather wouldn't be home since he'd be out drinking again with his friends. As soon as she stepped inside her home, she was welcomed with nothing but silence. Only the buzzing sound of the old ceiling fan from the kitchen can be heard from a distance. 

She took her shoes off and placed her backpack beside the wooden rack. The hallways were unlit, but she managed to saunter her way towards their small kitchen.

“Good evening mom.” Minjeong warmly greeted as she gave the old lady a gentle hug from the back, tiptoeing a little bit to place a soft kiss on the top of her head. “I'm sorry I wasn't able to buy your favorite bread today. Kind of got short since I had to spend half of my allowance on the event fees at our university.” 

The lady, who was too focused on beating the eggs, turned around to meet her daughter's eyes. Minjeong's mom looked extremely exhausted, and she guessed it must've been because of all the housework and the neighbor's laundries she did. Despite that, she still returned the blonde's smile with a warmer one.

“Have you eaten?” She asked, gently running her fingers on her beloved child's soft and silky hair. Her hands looked pale and wrinkly due to all the work that she has been doing for years, and seeing them up close just made Minjeong's heart ache. “If you spent most of your money on school, then I'm certain you're starving by now. Go shower and change clothes first. I'll call you when dinner's ready.”

Minjeong immediately followed her mother's orders. She wasn't feeling too comfortable with her uniform anyway, especially during the searing weather, so taking a cold shower and changing into much more comfortable clothes was definitely a great idea. As soon as she was done, she happily skipped her way downstairs and went back to the kitchen where her mother was already putting wooden plates on the shabby dining table. The blonde just let out a deep sigh as she stared at every corner of their kitchen, realizing that all of their stuff was already in their poor condition and they would have to replace them soon if they didn't want any trouble or accidents happening. 

“I have great news for you.” Minjeong said as she sat down on the chair, scooping a small portion of white rice from the pot and putting it on her plate. She also grabbed the bowl full of spicy egg rolls and put some of it on both her and her mom's plates.

“What is it?” 

“I'm officially a participant in this year's INNOVA-STEM. It's a competition where engineering students from different universities would compete, like in terms of academics. Our dean told us there would be cash prizes, and the team who would win first place would receive a cheque worth eight hundred thousand won.” Minjeong excitedly explained. “I'm competing with my school mate, and she's very intelligent. She has been leading the university rankings since her freshman year, and I'm very confident that we'd do well since she studies hard and excels a lot too.”

“That's great news indeed,” her mother agreed, smiling widely. She reached for her daughter's hand and caressed it gently. “I'm pretty sure you'll do very well, as always. Just make sure to not tire yourself out too much and take breaks when needed, alright? I don't want you to find studying stressful. I want you to enjoy it.” 

When Minjeong was finished with her dinner, she helped her mother with washing the dishes and proceeded to talk about the competition more. The lady could tell how excited her daughter was, and she couldn't help but feel happy knowing Minjeong was finally adjusting despite only transferring to her university a year ago. 

“I promise you we'll win this contest.” Minjeong assured, showing her proud grin. “When we receive the cash prize and I get my share from my teammate, I can finally take you to the doctor and pay for your therapy. If there would ever be money left from that, we'll get you your medications too.”

Minjeong's mom paused. She placed the dishwashing sponge back in the metal box and met the blonde's eyes. 

“When you win that competition, I want you to keep the money to yourself and buy the things you want. You can also go to pretty places if you like,” she said, smiling. “You once told me when we first moved here in the city that you wanted tickets to enter the aquarium and see penguins, right? You should go with a friend and take pictures for me.” 

Minjeong's eyebrows furrowed. She gently put all the utensils back inside the cupboard before talking things out with her mother.

“What are you talking about? I wouldn't want to spend the money I'd win on my leisure. Didn't you hear what the doctor told us months ago? You need to be on therapy as soon as possible.” Minjeong reminded, getting dry when she remembered how heartbroken she was when she found out her mom was severely sick. “You haven't been taking any medications, either, because of how pricey they are. We can't just stick with home remedies forever, mom. If we want you to live longer, we'll take you to the doctor and have your therapy start.”

The old lady sighed. She reached for her daughter's hands once again and held them tightly. She could feel her tears in the verge of falling, but she looked away immediately to hide it from Minjeong. 

“Minjeong, I'm completely fine. I've been working well despite having the diagnosis, and you can't deny that the home remedies have been working effectively for the past few months. I don't want you to worry about me too much, and I want you to enjoy your younger days while you can, so go out and have fun too, and not just spend your whole life studying, especially when your reason for doing it is because of my well-being.”

The blonde was about to retort when she heard a loud crashing noise from the living room. She quickly grabbed the kitchen knife that was sitting on the top shelf, initially thinking that a burglar might have entered their house. 

But Minjeong was wrong, and she kind of wished it was a burglar instead. 

“Taeyeon! Did you buy me a new case of beer? I'm pretty sure I told you last week that we're all out. My friends are crashing over in a few minutes,” said the loud voice coming from the living room. “And you better buy us snacks from the convenience store, too. It's gonna be a long night.”

“What the heck are you doing here?” Minjeong exclaimed as soon as her stepfather entered the kitchen. He reeked of alcohol, and it annoyed the blonde even more when he ordered my mom to buy him and his friends another drink. “Shouldn't you be outside, partying and being the useless freak that you are instead of telling my mom to do things for you?” 

“And who the do you think you are, talking to me like that? Do you want to see your mouth bleeding?” He threatened, walking closer to Minjeong, who was standing beside the fridge. His fists were curled in a ball and he was about to punch the girl when Minjeong's mother stood in front to cover her. 

“Enough, please!” Taeyeon pleaded in a shaky voice. “Just... have a seat in the living room and make yourself comfortable. I'll have Minjeong to buy them for you. It won't be too long.”

Minjeong's stepfather aggressively kicked the chair in annoyance before headi