THE child had no one. She had nothing.

Young Seulgi was sitting on the lap of her grandmother. The two were watching stage performances of the singer called Kang Hanna. The said singer was a huge icon of her time as she was popular not only in Korea but in most parts of Asia as well.

Seulgi was only three years old at that time but she was already humming and swaying to the songs of Kang Hanna and her grandmother was really happy everytime she saw the little kid like that.

She was happy yet the lingering feeling of pain won’t just go away.

“Omma~” Little Seulgi happily said while watching Kang Hanna perform. “Omma~~”

The old woman felt even more hurt for the little girl. No one told her about Kang Hanna being her mother but she just knows she’s her mother as if her heart could feel it.

“No, Seulgi-ya… You can’t call her your omma…”

Little Seulgi looked up at her grandmother with a curious face. “Omma~!” The girl then pointed at the picture of her mother that was hung on the wall and then pointed at her own face. “Omma~! Ddeulgi~!”

“Okay, child…” Her grandmother hugged her tight. “But you can’t call her your mother outside, okay? You can’t tell other people that Kang Hanna is your mother…”

Of course, the little kid didn’t understand it back then but that wasn’t the only time that her grandmother said those things to her. It happened almost everyday. Everytime there was a chance she will be told about that golden rule.

While it’s true that Kang Hanna is her mother, Seulgi isn’t allowed to call the woman her mother. She can’t brag about Kang Hanna being her mother. 

Because her very own identity will destroy the legacy of her mother… for she was Hanna’s child with a married man. She was a result of adultery and her grandmother won’t just let the legacy of her daughter be damaged just because of that.

It’s already enough that Hanna passed away after giving birth to Seulgi.

And when Seulgi fully understood why, she never called Kang Hanna her mother in front of other people ever again.

“DO I really have to go?”

Seulgi asked her grandmother, who was already on the verge of tears. Seulgi looked at the man behind her. The man was smiling at her but she just couldn’t trust him.

“I don’t want to go, Halmeoni… I want to stay with you.”

Seulgi was only six years old at that time. She was already six years old when her father manned up and decided to take responsibility for her. Believing that Seulgi would leave a more comfortable life with a wealthy family, her grandmother agreed to let Kwon Sangwoo raise her.

“Let’s go, Seulgi.” Her father softly told her but Seulgi still didn’t want to go. Sangwoo turned to his first born for help and the twelve-year old Hanbyul came to his rescue.

The boy leaned forward to level his height with Seulgi. He gave Seulgi a kind smile. “Seulgi, we’ve talked about this, right? We are your family. It will be nice if you can live with us. No one will tease you about not having parents any more. You’ll have a father and a mother.”

It was obvious that the child’s heart was shaken. Of course, she wanted parents. Kids from her school kept on teasing her about not having any parents present during family day. It would always be her aunt or her grandmother that would come for her. She was constantly bullied at school because of that with kids saying that she could be an alien of some sort or some freak from a laboratory experiment.

“Halmeoni…” The young girl started to cry. “Don’t you want me anymore? Do you hate me?”

“No, child… How can I even hate you?” The old woman also started crying. She’s already old and also very sick. She couldn’t take care of Seulgi anymore. She couldn’t support her financially. Though Hanna managed to make her name known, her company didn’t pay her well and the royalties of her songs were all illegally transferred to her agency. Seulgi’s aunt just graduated from college and was still searching for a job back then. 

“If you don’t hate me then why are you sending me away?” Seulgi continued to sob. She was being prepared for that day but she just couldn’t let go of her grandmother’s hands. “I don’t want to be away from you. I love you, Halmeoni…”

“Oh, child…” The old woman wiped the tears from Seulgi’s cheeks. “I also don’t want to be away from you but everything doesn’t go the way we want to. We don’t have any control of anything…”

Seulgi’s grandmother then turned to Hanbyul. “Will you promise me to take Seulgi here to visit us?” She then looked at Sangwoo with those pleading eyes. “I won’t take her back. I just really want to make sure that we will still see each other.”

The father and son looked at each other and nodded. Hanbyul held the woman’s wrinkled hands, “I promise that we will visit you at least once a week. There’s no need to worry, Halmeoni.”

A smile was then seen on the woman’s face. She then continued to caress Seulgi’s cheeks. “Did you hear that, my child? You can still visit halmeoni. You will still be able to eat my special ddeokbokki~”

“Halmeoni…” Seulgi whined before hugging her grandmother for the last time.

“Make sure to listen well to your parents, okay? Be the good girl that you always are. I told you, there’s no need to hate the world because there are people who love you. See? You have a new family that loves you now.” The old woman then gave Sangwoo a nod. Hanbyul then took the initiative to his sister towards their car. Seulgi was still crying until she reached the car, her eyes fixed to her grandmother. 

Sangwoo was giving his final greetings to Seulgi’s grandmother but his heart broke with the next line that the woman gave him.

“You already took Hanna away from me and now you’re also taking Seulgi… You better make sure that you’re doing things right from now on, Sangwoo-ssi.”

The man didn’t intend to cry but tears just started falling from his eyes. He fell to his knees and lowered his head to the ground. “I am really sorry… I am really, really sorry…” He wept in bitterness. “I promise to take good care of Seulgi. I promise to take good care of my daughter with Hanna.”

But yes, promises were made to be broken. Although Hanbyul managed to fulfill his promise to Seulgi’s grandmother of weekly visits until the woman passed away the year after, Sangwoo failed to keep his promise. All of it crumbled when his wife gave in to her suspicions and did a DNA test between Seulgi and Sangwoo. 

Sangwoo hid Seulgi’s real identity, saying that the kid was a child of a friend that sadly passed away and had no one to go to. Jooyoung trusted her husband and was actually nice to Seulgi at first but she couldn’t help but start doubting especially when Seulgi resembles Kang Hanna in many ways. Kang Hanna… The woman that she got wary of because of the huge chemistry she had with her husband.

When the test came back positive, Seulgi’s life turned into hell. Sangwoo was so sorry for cheating with his wife that he couldn’t even protect Seulgi when verbal maltreatment started. She was called names. Ugly, bastard, filthy parasite. Name it all. All of those words were planted on Seulgi at a very young age. Since her father couldn’t stand for her, it was always her brother who would protect her from Jooyoung but her brother wasn’t at the house all the time. At times like that, Seulgi would only shut herself in her room and draw.

Her grandmother already passed away and there was nowhere to vent her sufferings to. There was no excuse to go far from the house. It would always be school, house and then school. Jooyoung didn’t even bother enrolling her into cram schools but Seulgi still managed to excel in her academics. The desire to leave the house was already in her while she was still young and she believed she could only escape if she studied well.

She already accepted the fact that she couldn’t be like her siblings. Hanbyul was already acting at a young age while Saebyeok was a kid’s clothing model. While on the other hand…

‘I’m sorry… We’re actually looking for kids with double eyelids.’

‘It’s a shame, the parents that were casted both have double eyelids. It would be weird if the child only had monolids.’

‘We’re looking for a more bubbly kid. She looked so bored with whatever she was doing. She couldn’t even smile properly.’

‘Hmm… She just doesn’t fit it. She doesn’t register well in the camera.’

Of course, Seulgi tried. Sangwoo also wanted her to walk the same path in the entertainment industry but all thanks to Jooyoung and all her under the table payments to the producers Seulgi was sent for audition, Seulgi didn’t manage to get one at all until Sangwoo just gave up. And with that, Seulgi believed that she was truly ugly.

Her life with the Kwon’s was colourless and dull. Always full of comparison. Always being left out. Always the odd one. She had no one to be always by her side. 

So, when Park Sooyoung happened in her life. Seulgi thought that she finally found someone that she could call her own. 

Sooyoung was like her sunshine. She would give her a smile in the darkest of days. She would give her company when she’s left all alone. She would sing her songs, reminding her of her mother. Sooyoung would always be there to lift her spirits up when she’s at her lowest.

When Seulgi realised that she w