In a small townhouse in Ashgate
Around one year after the domination of the fakes

It was 7:30 am in the morning, Bora waking up extra early despite her first schedule being at 10 am. She was still working a full-time nurse in Ashgate, helping people as much as she could. They have also hired a new doctor in town by the name of Kim Suho. He was a nice lad, and she got along with him fairly well.

The only reason why she was up was that L.J was back in Ashgate for his first summer. He had spent the year in Hayward, majoring in Literature, with the rest of his peers. Bora wanted to make sure he felt as home as much as possible.

She groggily made her way into the kitchen, cooking up breakfast for her fake son and fake husband (what she naturally did on normal days, except Matthew insisted he didn’t eat anything other than eggs for breakfast). She began placing hot rice on a plate, sniffing the Japanese curry. A ding sounded on her phone, Bora checking it in hopes that it would be from Baekhyun.

Her brother hasn’t been responding ever since he sent her that last text message. However, Bora was not a stranger to her brother sending her weird text messages. He always went off the radar whenever he felt like it.

The door of the kitchen swung open, Matthew peering into where Bora was.

“Good morning,” he said, Bora turning to him and giving him a smile. “Someone cooked up a feast.”

“Good morning to you too, Doctor Matthew. I guessed L.J would need a hearty breakfast. Take a seat.”

“Bora, the kid probably lived off milk and cereal when he was in the dorms like I did,” Matthew told her. “Besides, why do I never get special treatment?”

“You like eggs,” Bora replied pointedly, Matthew blinking twice.

Matthew regretted telling Bora that all he ever needed were eggs in the morning. In his defense, he just said that because he didn’t want Bora to spend time cooking for him in the morning. Now, she thought he’d just be satisfied with two boiled eggs.

“Yes, I do,” he finally said, agreeing with her. “I love the protein.”

Matthew was kind of scared of Bora. Everyone kind of was. It was just the way she was. She was someone who had very strong soft power. She gained her power through gaining respect. With everything she did, she earned the ability to dominate. She never had to raise her voice, or tell people what to do… They just naturally did it.

One thing Matthew learned to respect about her was the fact that she knew how to run a household. He quickly realized that in the duration of time staying in the same house as Bora. They slept in separate rooms, L.J having a room of his own. In no time, she quickly put up a schedule. Laundry on Tuesdays, groceries every week on Sundays, gardening every three weeks on Saturdays.

She even took over Matthew’s client calendar and turned their living room into a study so he could meet his clients. She also took it upon herself to schedule a zoom call with L.J every three days at 9 pm (which under the rules, HAD to be video chat) using Matthew’s email.

One time L.J texted Matthew privately and asked if he could find a way get out of the video chat call since he and Jeno had a party to go too. Much to his dismay, L.J had to admit to Matthew that he too, was afraid of going against Bora.

When L.J asked Matthew why he was so afraid of her, Matthew had to break it down to him.

“You’re just afraid of disappointing her, L.J,” Matthew told L.J. He knew L.J was not used to feeling this way. His flight and fight mode had been activated his whole like, he was numb to most emotions that he didn’t need during survival.

“How disgusting. I’ve never been afraid of disappointing anyone,” L.J argued. “Why would I be afraid of disappointing Bora?”

“Because you care about her, and unlike the rest of the people in Umbra, you know she is doing what she can for you. You’re afraid that you’ll hurt her once she finds out that you’re doing things you shouldn’t do.”

That conversation led L.J to believe that caring for people brought unnecessary emotional baggage to himself. He decided after one drunken night that he’d tell Bora that he snuck away to party.

He wanted to do so he could prove a point to Matthew.

He wanted to prove that he did not care about disappointing Bora. He was L.J! He was his own man, and there were way too many things he had gone through in Umbra for him to care about disappointing people. He had killed people! Watched them die! Seen them suffer!

Disappointing a woman did not matter to him—

“I went to a party,” L.J said into the phone. “I lied.”

Bora fell silent through the phone, L.J not realizing he was holding his breath. A part of him expected her to yell at him, tell him to never go to parties ever again! All Bora did was sigh.

“How was it?” She asked, L.J struggling to find the words. He didn’t want to tell Bora that there were drugs and alcohol (obviously) involved. He didn’t want to… disappoint her. Still struggling with his need to please Bora and wanting to go against it, L.J blurted out that the part was filled with people snorting and injecting heroine into their veins and he enjoyed it.

It was an exaggeration, but still.

Another moment of silence, Bora letting out a slow breath that L.J could hear through the phone.

“I can’t say I’m happy,” Bora began, L.J physically feeling his heart drop. “I am disappointed you lied, L.J. I also expected better from you.”

“My sincere intention is to convey it to you personally, rather than you hearing it from Jeno,” L.J told her.

“I appreciate the gesture of honesty, L.J. Thank you,” Bora said, L.J straining his ears and waiting for a ‘but’. “Well, have a great night.”

She didn’t even wait for L.J to whisper a goodnight back, the female hanging up the phone. L.J thought he did the right thing; he knew that he didn’t care about disappointing her that much! However, as days passed ‘I also expected better from you’ was a phrase that would haunt L.J every single moment he was awake.

Was he not good enough for her? L.J could not understand these complex emotions that he did not have when he was in Umbra!

It was also the fact that Bora stopped calling him every three days, L.J staring at the phone. That day, Jeno came home from class and placed a hamburger he bought for L.J on the table.

“Why are you staring at the phone? Did a girl break your heart?” Jeno asked, L.J blinking.

“Bora hasn’t made a call. It’s been three days,” L.J said, Jeno frowning at his twin.

“Maybe she’s busy? You know Nurse Bora has weird schedules.”

“No, she didn’t call the first time three days prior this call either.” L.J let out a frustrated sigh, turning to see Jeno staring at him.

“Are you in love with Nurse Bora?!” The hamburger went flying, smacking Jeno on the face, as L.J scowled at him. Jeno caught the burger as it slid down his chest.

“Jeno, she is my mum!”

“Then why are you so caught up with it? My dad doesn’t even call me every three days!”

“Your father doesn’t care about you!” L.J fired back, Jeno giving him a gasp.

Alas, Jeno was used to L.J being this insulting. He could also tell that L.J was battling something he couldn’t understand. Jeno sat down on the edge of the bed as L.J rubbed his eyes tiredly. He had been staring at the phone for far too long.

“You seem stressed. Should we go to a party?” Jeno asked, L.J snapping at him that he’ll never go to another party ever again. “L.J! What is wrong with you? I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s going on!”

L.J turned to Jeno, his eyes narrowing at his twin. That was when he exploded, telling Jeno that even he did not know what was going on! All he ever did was tell the truth to Bora, and now it was like she didn’t even care about him! Jeno listened intently to L.J (he was speaking in posh English), sighing as L.J spewed out word vomit about what he was feeling.

“L.J, you’re feeling what a normal…” Jeno tried of think of a word and when he couldn’t think of it, he settled for what he thought was true. “son feels.”

“Son?” L.J echoed. “My father has never made me feel this way.”

“Yes, but to be fair, your father was brutal and tortured you. The last thing you’d ever want is to even care about disappointing him. But Nurse Bora cares about you, and you know it. You are going through all this because you’re afraid that since you admitted to ing up, she won’t care about you anymore,” Jeno told L.J. “That’s why you’re so bothered about her not calling. You think she doesn’t care anymore.”

“You just rephrased whatever Matthew said,” L.J pointed out, Jeno chuckling.

“ yeah, I should have taken psychology as a major.”

“What do you suggest I do?” L.J asked, Jeno shrugging.

“All you have to do is call her up and apologize. You’ll go back to feeling normal. I promise you.” Jeno stood up, checking his phone. “You do that, and I’ll meet you at Nana’s dorm room at 8 pm. We have a party to go to!”

With that, Jeno left.

L.J called Bora soon after, the female picking up after three rings.

“L.J.” Her voice sounded normal.

“Is this a good time to talk?” He asked, and immediately he could hear the concern in her voice. It sounded like she was busy with a patient, Bora excusing herself from someone. “It can wait.”

“No, no. That was just Sally, we were drinking tea. Is there something wrong?”

Something about Bora’s voice made L.J feel better. Her being concerned made him feel that she did not despise him for going to parties, L.J quickly telling her that he was very sorry for going to that party. He expressed that he just thought it was best she didn’t know since Jeno said ‘it would be lit!’, and L.J didn’t want to keep her worried the whole night.

Bora listened to L.J, allowing him to express and tell her what his train of thought was when he made the decision, the female giving out momentary hums.

“L.J,” Bora began. “I am not mad at you.”

“If you aren’t, how do you explain you not calling me?” L.J demanded, Bora chuckling through the phone. “You would call me every three days!”

“Sweetie, I wanted to give you space,” Bora told him. “I didn’t want to be too much, you know? I’m… I’m not your mother, and I will never be. I’m not mad. I am a little bit disappointed, but I realize now that you’re almost an adult.”

She continued. “And I think you know what’s best for yourself. I don’t want you to lie to me. As long as you make the decisions and can own up to the consequences, you can do whatever you want.”

“Really?” L.J asked softly, Bora giving a pause.

“Not really,” she said, L.J laughing. He put the phone on speaker, placing his face on the desk to feel the wood against his cheek. “The thing is L.J, everyone needs guidance. You may have guided yourself in Umbra, but Aether is different, right? There is happiness, and sometimes happiness comes in the form of temptation. Drugs, alcohol… You understand?”

“Ahuh,” L.J mumbled, smiling to himself as Bora began to low-key lecture him.

“I don’t want you to go down that path. You have so much potential as a person to achieve so much more, and I believe you are destined to be great,” she said, L.J not being able to help himself from beaming.

It was the first time he has ever heard someone say this to him. Someone who truly cared and believed in him.

“Really?” He asked again, Bora giving a hum.

“So just… when you make decisions, just be honest with me. Take my opinion into account. You can party, you can drink, but do it within moderation. Make sure Jeno does that too, you know how you’re way more mature than he is.”

“I agree with that,” L.J replied, both of them chuckling through the phone. “We’re going to a party tonight.”

“Alright, sweetie. Well, I hope you have a blast and make sure you get home safe.” L.J could hear the smile on Bora’s face, and he surprised her that he’d text her when he got home so she wouldn’t worry. “I appreciate that.”

“But it may be past bedtime,” L.J warned, Bora laughing.

“L.J… I was once a teenager, too,” she told him.

“Goodbye, Bora.”

“Bye, L.J. I love you.” She said it so naturally, L.J being so used of hearing it but never knowing how to say it back.

“Me too,” he said, Bora wishing him a great night and hanging up the phone.

Jeno was right, L.J thought. He felt so much better.

Back to present time, he had just woken up, confused as to why he wasn’t at the dorms. He then remembered he was on a 12-hour van ride and had knocked out when he reached home the night before.

He stood up, stumbling to the bathroom.

“Oh, L.J’s awake,” Bora said, brushing past Matthew when there was a creak upstairs. “L.J! Breakfast!”

“In a moment!” L.J’s voice echoed down the stairs when there was a crash. Bora looked like she was going to bound upstairs when L.J yelled down that he was fine. “I just stubbed my toe!”

In a few minutes, Matthew was sitting down at the morning table as L.J wolfed down the curry made for him. Matthew shoveled rice in his mouth, chewing. Bora had left her phone on the table as she went upstairs to get ready for work.

“How’s uni, L.J?” Matthew asked, “Other than lying to Bora about going to parties, of course.”

L.J scowled at the man in front of him. “I admitted to it!”

Matthew laughed. He knew about what happened between them and the conversation that took place after the lie. Bora had come back from tea with Sally and told him about it over dinner.

“I’m just afraid he’s going to make the wrong decisions, Matthew. I know I said I’d be understanding, but—”

“Bora,” Matthew had said. “It’s okay. He will make mistakes. He will learn from it. And if that happens, we’ll be here, right? We won’t abandon him, right?”

“Of course we won’t!” Bora exclaimed, Matthew instinctively raising two hands into the air. “We would never abandon him.”

“Then you have nothing to worry about,” Matthew told her. “Don’t you know that 99% of people who have great men and woman as role models turn out just fine? I think you’re a great female role model. I think I’m not that either.”

That statistics were wrong (obviously NOT 99%), but Matthew just had to say it so she wouldn’t worry. Bora believed Matthew too, him being an Oxford graduate and all.

Back to breakfast, L.J began telling Matthew about what happened recently.

“Dahyun and Jeno seem to be having issues,” L.J said, calling Bunny by her real name. He never could call her Bunny. He could for one moment in time when her fake was alive, but now there w