Thunder echoes loudly inside her room, and it doesn’t fail to wake the soundly sleeping child. She’s always been scared of the roaring sound; says it reminds her of monsters from the stories generously shared among her peers in their school grounds. Being the hyper imaginative child, she slowly realizes how that could be disadvantageous to her current situation. Yet, despite the fact that she’s trembling as a result of being horribly scared, she racks up the remaining courage left in her tiny body and marches determinedly towards the room at the other end of the hallway. To her relief, light can be seen shining from the other side through the little slit under the door.

 

“Eomma!”, she announces as she enters the room without knocking.

 

This in result, causes the woman in the bed to jolt in surprise; simultaneously letting go of the hardbound she was supposed to be reading, and subsequently hitting her face in the process. So much for “studying while lying down”.

 

Her groggy mind was irritated because of the sudden intrusion. It’s been a hectic week at the hospital and so she wasn’t able to have a good night’s sleep for a few days now. But upon seeing the unwelcomed intruder by her door, the anger immediately dissipated into thin air. Her little girl was staring at her wide-eyed, visibly guilty for accidentally hurting her Eomma, but at the same time, obviously still very much shaking because of the thunderstorm.

 

Dahyun wasted no time coaxing her to come over.

 

“Baby! What’s wrong? Come here”, Dahyun taps the empty space beside her.

 

With the visible change in her demeanor, the child wasted no time and ran towards her mother, still trying to hold back her tears.

 

She covers her ears and shuts her eyes tightly as she snuggles closer to her mother’s side, “It’s too loud, I can’t sleep. I’m scared Eomma”, she confesses.

 

Dahyun couldn’t help but smile and hug her child tightly upon learning the matter. A passing memory flashes before she shakes her head to rid of the thought.

 

“I’m sorry Dahee, I should’ve made sure to tuck you in tightly before I left you to sleep”, Dahyun tries to console the child while rubbing her tummy gently.

 

Somehow hearing her mother, Dahee looks at her innocently, “It’s not your fault Eomma. I was asleep, really. But I suppose the sky is just especially furious tonight. A lot of people must’ve been naughty lately”.

 

Dahyun couldn’t help but chuckle at her reasoning, but she played along nonetheless.

 

“Then I must really be partly to blame. I must be one of the naughty ones”, Dahyun answers thoughtfully.

 

Dahee tilts her head in wonder because of this.

 

“How so?”, she asks.

 

Dahyun looks at her gently and answers with a hint of remorse, “We were supposed to be out camping this weekend remember?”

 

The little girl thinks for a moment before answering her mother thoughtfully.

 

“I understand Eomma. You had to save a life today. A person’s life is more important than a camping trip. We can always reschedule. The lake will always be there”, she says reassuringly.

 

It was supposed to be a playful banter, but Dahyun couldn’t help but to tear up because of her precious daughter.

 

“Why is Eomma crying? Did I do something wrong?”, Dahee asks worriedly after seeing the