Chapter 3

Irreplaceable [MAJOR EDITING]
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After that ambiguous exchange Dasom had with Baekhyun in her parents' house, she never crossed paths with the man again.

It had been a week since it happened, and she was really thankful that the universe had not been conspiring against her recently.

"Are you listening?"

Dasom blinked, her mother's voice bringing her back to the present.

Since she had no work on Saturdays, Dasom indulged her mother’s request of company to one of her many shopping spree. When her sister was still alive, it had always been Hyunseo who went shopping with their mom. It wasn’t that Dasom had no interest in shopping for new clothes—in fact, she really needed to stock up again on her work attire—but this sort of activity was not just on top of her to-do list.

Unlike Hyunseo, shopping for clothes hold no tinge of interest for her that much. She’d rather shop for food ingredients than spend the whole day roaming the entire mall only to end up buying from the very first shop she visited.

She would never be able to understand why her mother and her sister were like that.

But she also could not blame nor shame them for it because that’s them. Dasom could never change them and would never force them to change since shopping never failed to bring them the satisfaction and joy that she also got from cooking during her spare time. At the end of the day, it would depend on the person undertaking the said activity.

However, that did not mean that Dasom’s facial expression reflected this perspective.

Her mom sighed. "You're getting bored, aren't you?"

"No!" Dasom was too quick to defend herself, "I just.. my feet just ache from walking around too much. Mind if we take a sit somewhere first before visiting the next shop, mom?"

Thankfully, her mom brought her excuse and didn't pry further. The mother-daughter pair settled down on a bench adjacent to a frozen yogurt kiosk as they take downtime from their shopping spree. Dasom bought a frozen yogurt cup only for herself since her mom didn't want to eat yet, having eaten already at home before they went to the mall.

Mrs. Yoon, her mother, effectively caught Dasom’s full attention now that the latter wasn’t lost in her thoughts anymore. “So, about what I was saying earlier…”

"What about it, mom?"

"What do you think about Baekhyun marrying again?"

He's already seeing someone new?

She must have looked so surprised because it made her mother chuckle, "Hypothetically, dear. What do you think about it?"

Honestly, she had no idea. Dasom did not have to that question because she had been so used to seeing him commit to her late sister and doing his best to continue providing and being a good, responsible father to Dahyun. In the three years that passed since her sister’s death, the mere thought of Baekhyun remarrying another woman has never entered Dasom’s mind at all.

But she couldn't let her mother know her innermost thoughts. She might misinterpret it. And she could feel her mother's eyes on her thinking figure, waiting to receive a proper response.

So, she gives her that, "Good for him, I guess. Dahyun will finally have someone to stand as her mother. They'll have a complete family again."

Silence.

She did not know if her answer was enough, or it was the exact answer her mom was expecting from her. It did not exactly show in the older woman’s face how she took in her response.

Dasom cleared to remove the awkward silence that now reigned between her and her mom. “Is he seeing someone again?

Her heart started to beat faster out of anticipation.

"None, as far as I know." For some reason, Dasom breathed a sigh of relief. Why was she even nervous in the first place?

Her mom noticed how still Dasom went and a meaningful smile made its way onto her face. This did not leave unnoticed by Dasom—she inwardly groaned because she could already imagine the number of unnecessary conclusions that the older woman must have already made in her very imaginative mind. It’s not that there was no ounce of truth in them—she did find Baekhyun attractive at some point in her life, but that was it. There’s no way she’d indulge herself in that attraction. It felt like betraying Hyunseo, who has now peacefully passed on to the afterlife, and who deserved all the good things in life—including her lovely daughter, Dahyun, and her loyal husband, Baekhyun.

"What's with your smile?" 

Dasom's mom flashed her another meaningful look, which irked Dasom even more. "Nothing, dear," but to Dasom, it clearly meant something. 

"Why are you suddenly so interested in Baekhyun's romantic relationships, eomma?"

"Correction," she raised a finger in front of Dasom's face, "There are no romantic relationships in existence. I'm just worried my granddaughter's not going to have a new mother anytime soon."

Dasom didn't like the term her mother used. New mother. By using that term, it's as if her mom was denoting that her later sister, Dahyun's birth mother, was easily replaceable. It's as if any woman that would catch Baekhyun's attention had the chance to take Hyunseo's place in the family. For Dasom, that didn't sit well for her. Her sister's already dead— the notion of replacing her position in their lives as the daughter, the sister, the mother, and the wife was just preposterous. 

"Dasom, honey, what's with your expression?" 

It was hard to act like she wasn't disturbed by her mom's actions. This has been going on for quite some time now and Dasom acted like it was nothing but in fact, it was already getting on her nerves. At first, she could just ride with all the subtle teasing her mother had been doing to her and Baekhyun. But now, it was getting pretty obvious what her mom had been going on about. 

And aside from the fact that it's making her feel so uncomfortable, it just did not sit so right with her.

"Can we just go home now, eomma? My head feels heavy, I'm afraid I might drop all of a sudden."

Concern flashed in her mother's eyes. She opened her handbag and rummaged to find her phone, "Sure, of course. Let me call Baekhyun to—"

"No, eomma." Dasom quickly snatched her mom's phone away from her hand, leaving the latter shocked at what she just did. "We can just hail a cab home. No need to bother Baekhyun at all."

Her mother was about to say something as a retort, but Dasom didn't stay put and started to walk away with shopping bags occupying both of her hands. Now, my head really does feel heavy.

Whenever you are absolutely certain of your desire to avoid someone, that's when the universe decides to with you. As if it's testing every single thread of patience existing in your system, the universe will do its best to make sure that you will always find yourself encountering that individual you're trying hard to avoid. Quite messed up, in all honesty. But that's life—it tends to mess up people who are already messed up from the start. 

"Som Som!" 

Dasom was trapped. Her first instinct was to push her shopping cart away from the produce section but her five-year-old niece pleasantly smiled at her, making her feet unable to move her away from the awkward encounter. 

Even though she wasn't looking at Dahyun's companion, she already knew who the child was with. Of course, who else would accompany such a sweet child in the supermarket if not for her parents? In her case, it's none other than her grumpy—but handsome-looking—father, Byun Baekhyun. 

"Hi, Dahyun," Dasom dropped to her knees to talk to her niece at eye level. She reaches out to give a loving pat on the child's right cheek, "How are you doing so far, sunshine?" 

She wasn't ready when Dahyun dynamically wraps her arms around her unmoving figure. "I missed you, Som Som! Why didn't you visit me lately?"

Dasom opened , ransacking her brain quickly for an excuse that would sound really valid to the innocent child she's conversing with. "I'm sorry, sweetie. Som Som's just caught up with work. I’ll make it up to you next time, I promise."

Dahyun cutely pouted, making the corners of Dasom's lips go up at the sight of her niece sulking. "I really thought you were going to leave me like Mommy did," the five-year-old tightened her arms around her beloved aunt's frame. Dasom, on the other hand, felt herself choking up at her niece's words. 

It had already been three years since Hyunseo left them, but the pain just never goes away. It stays, and it punctures her heart even more whenever Dahyun mentioned her late mom. If it hurts Dasom this much, she couldn’t help but be concerned about how much more hurt Dahyun was from being separated away from her birth mother at such a young age. The world is undeniably cruel, and Dasom strongly detested it for giving such misfortune to her sweet niece.

“I’m not going to leave you, Dahyun.” It took all inside Dasom to not let her tears freely flow from her glistening eyes as she took in Dahyun’s upset expression. To prove her point, Dasom offered her pinky finger. “Here, Som Som wants to do a pinky promise with Byun Dahyun to never leave your side no matter what.”

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fiveflatcutie
Hi! I'm currently revising the whole story so I had to unpublish a lot of chapters. I felt like it rushed into the wedding and the character development of Baekhyun and Dasom weren't discussed appropriately, so I'm rewriting it. Thanks for the love and support :)

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preciousloey61
17 streak 0 points #1
Chapter 8: I missed this couple and story.. hope authornim share new chapters.. authornim fighting 🤗♥️
SummerLuv #2
Chapter 8: Just reread from chapter 1 since it's been revamped. I couldn't recall if it was the same previously but the flow of thoughts and explanations are quite smooth throughout the chapters! I'm still waiting for all my questions to be answered in the upcoming chapters 🤣
YooHaNa #3
Chapter 8: Ughhh cant wait for the next update esp the revamp version! I do have a guess that baekhyun actually liked dasom at the very first place but then he stopped bcse of hyunseo or bcse dasom didnt show him any interest. Idkkk man im curious as hell
preciousloey61
17 streak #4
Chapter 8: Ughh.. it's really heartbreaking... poor dasom.. felt so bad for her... things are and were always so complicated and harder for her.. hope baekhyun help her to open up more and get her more comfortable around him.... hope he let her insecurities to disappear... I think there's more secrets behind the scenes... omg.. the revelation was really so shocking... but what actually and exactly baekhyun said... the unknown mystery.. idk but I had a feeling that both of them had a unknown feelings and crushes for each other at some certain points of their lives..but that fact is still unknown to them.. maybe her sister played a big and different role on it.. maybe she knew but intentionally separated them and played it fast... ugh... haha..I'm thinking too much maybe...so far loved it so much authornim..can't wait to read next chapters..thank you authornim for updating..🫶👍🫰🙌🤗😍❤️🙆‍♀️🤩🙂
preciousloey61
17 streak #5
Chapter 7: Fate changed the circumstances and current situation of their relationship so drastically and ironically... but loved the flow of the story.. it's becoming quite easy for dasom cause baekhyun's also supporting her warmly... aww... so excited for the sleepover...
xoxoteah #6
Chapter 8: cant wait fr the next chapter!
my guts telling me tht baekhyun's first love is Yoon Dasom and not hyunseo. love the relay so much. 😆
byunbaek_hyun34
#7
I haven't read this before and i just read all the chapters today and I'm so in love with this story can't wait to read more about them and it was really shocking knowing that Hyunseo basically pressurised Baekhyun for marriage. Thanks for writing such amazing story authornim.
LysaHanny
#8
Chapter 8: Ooh I didn't realize there are two chapters updated ggjdfc I hate her parents they seemed too biased 🙄hehe I like baekhyun and dasom's moments. Such a tease! I think he has slight feelings for her🤭

Thank you for updating authornim 🌹
december0898 #9
so far so good... excited for the next chapter! hoping for more details on baek and dasom's past.. if i'm not mistaken, there was a time in the previous version that baekhyun told dasom that he has a crush on her? anyways.. am excited for the edited chapters.. thanks for this!
december0898 #10
Chapter 8: thanks for the update.. will start reading this again from the first ch 😁