“Sadly enough, the most painful goodbyes are the ones that are left unsaid and never explained.” ― Jonathan Harnisch.

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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA 2017.

The woman studied the file in her hands with her eyes for a brief second before sighing, addressing the chauffeur who was waiting for her orders in the driver seat.

"What do we have about the girl?" Her dark tone echoed from the back seat.

"Her name is Ahn Saera, ma'am," the chauffeur started carefully, sending short glances at her through the rearview mirror every now and then. "She's a high schooler at Ose-"

"Is she underage?" The woman almost gasped, eyes falling back to the file in her hands.

"Not really, ma'am," the chauffeur cleared his throat nervously. "She's eighteen and she studies at Osean High School."

The woman heaved a deep sigh of relief. "I knew that my son would never date an underage."

The chauffeur went quiet.

"How about her family?" The woman asked after a little pause. "What does her parents do for a living?"

"Her mother is a nurse at Gangnam Hospital," the chauffeur didn't hesitate. "Though, I have no information about her father."

"Is he dead?"

"He hadn't been around that much," the chauffeur clarified, making eye contact with her through the rearview mirror. "I was told that her parents are divorced and that she lives with her mother and little sister in an apartment downtown."

"Apartment," the woman scoffed before shaking her head. "How did Chanyeol meet such a girl?"

The chauffeur his lips, thinking. "The Young Master stumbled upon her online, ma'am."

The woman raised an eyebrow, demanding for more explanation. "How so?"

"She works as a part-time top-notch essay writer online," the chauffeur explained smoothly. "The Young Master met her through a website where she offers her services when he was looking for someone to do his homework for him. You know him, ma'am. He doesn't like to miss any game so he was paying her to write his essays for him while he plays basketball."

The woman hummed in interest. "She must be good at what she's doing, then."

"Of course, ma'am. She's one of the reasons why the Young Master is among the top students at university."

"But that doesn't allow him to sacrifice his dream to stay here with her!" The woman snapped angrily, getting worked up at the mention of Chanyeol. "I can't believe that he refused to quit Seoul just because of her!"

The chauffeur pressed his lips together.

"She doesn't even sound like someone who appreciates the effort he's putting into their relationship," the woman continued complaining, throwing the file onto the seat next to her. "She'd been accepting his money all that time although they're dating!"

"Ma'am," the chauffeur wasn't sure how to phrase his next words. "That's because the Young Master insisted she takes the money from him... she'd been working hard to make sure he will remain as one of the top students. Besides, let's not forget that she's a student herself and that she must keep up with her own studies in order to graduate-"

"Why are you defending her so much?!" The woman half shouted at him, sending him a glare through the rearview mirror.

The chauffeur's heart fell. "That's because... I know how much the Young Master loves her, ma'am. And she's technically helping him keep up with his favorite hobby by giving him time to participate in all games and develop his skills."

"Well," the woman scowled. "All of that will be in the past in not time."

The chauffeur bit the inner side of his cheek and was about to speak when he caught a glimpse of Saera walking towards the bus stop.

"I'll have to find a way to convince her to break up with Chanyeol," the woman mumbled while massaging her temples.

"Ma'am," the chauffeur cleared his throat before pointing at Saera from the side window. "That's her."

The woman's eyes lightened up as she startled and started looking for her. "Where is she?"

"There," the chauffeur pointed at her again as Saera came to a halt at the bus stop. "The girl wearing a school uniform."

The woman finally spotted her, nodding quickly. "Let's see if we can come to an agreement with her."

"Right now?"

"Or else why did we come here, Taeyang?!" The woman scolded through gritted teeth.

"Yes, Ma'am," Taeyang couldn't help but nod before starting the car, knowing fully that Chanyeol will give him hell if he were to find out about what his mother's about to do.

It only took him about five seconds to park the car in front of Saera, lowering the back window slowly to allow Chanyeol's mother to peek at her from underneath her sunglasses. Saera blinked slowly when she saw the unfamiliar car coming to a halt in front of her, eyeing the woman peeking at her from the back seat carefully. She tried to remember where she has seen the woman before. Her eyes widened in shock when she finally realized who the woman was. After all, she has seen her many times in TV beside the fact that she's her boyfriend's mother and one of the most famous fashion designers in South Korea.

"Ahn Saera, right?" The woman started simply, removing her sunglasses to get a better look at the girl standing in front of her.

Saera's heart almost fell to her knees when Mrs. Park addressed her personally, giving her a slight nod before gulping nervously. She didn't remember Chanyeol mentioning that his mother wanted to meet her or anything like that. It just didn't make sense to her that his mother was right in front of her, studying her from head to toe with a piercing look and a side smile that almost looked like a smirk at this point. It gave her cold chills, making her look everywhere but Mrs. Park's gaze. Saera wasn't sure what business Chanyeol's mother has with her but as long as she wasn't talking, it kept Saera on edge with millions of thoughts and doubts rushing through her mind uncontrollably. Her simple navy blue skirt and white shirt suddenly felt extremely tight on her when she spotted Mrs. Park's eyes land on her white sneakers. It made her want to run and hide behind the nearest car, thinking that Chanyeol's mother was there to look down on her just like the rich future mothers-in-law out there. It only made sense that she wasn't approving of her because of her appearance and cheap sneakers that screamed poor. She has seen such a scene many times in K-dramas before but she never expected it to happen to her in real life.

"I'm Park Hayoung," Mrs. Park finally introduced herself after she was done studying Saera's clothes. "Chanyeol's mother."

Goosebumps formed on Saera's skin before she found herself bowing to her wordlessly.

"I see that you're able to recognize me," Hayoung pointed out, tilting her head to the side when she realized that Saera was avoiding her gaze on purpose.

"Y-Yes... ma'am," Saera mumbled, feeling her heart pound out of her ribcage.

"That's good," Hayoung pulled a sudden smile that looked anything but friendly. "I was wondering if I can have a word with you."

Saera's eyes widened, finally having enough courage to meet her gaze. "With m-me?"

Hayoung looked around before chuckling. "Isn't it obvious that I'm addressing you?"

Saera's throat went dry. "It's not like that... ma'am-"

"You're Chanyeol's girlfriend, correct?" Hayoung cut her off simply, not having enough time to waste over Saera's clumsiness.

Saera took a few moments to nod, confirming Hayoung's words.

"Why the hesitation, though?" Hayoung raised an eyebrow, probably disappointed with the fact that Saera was lacking some self-confidence.

Saera avoid