Kevin sat down near the lake. He reminisced the time he and Jiyeon would come here and have the best picnics. That was, until she broke up with him all of a sudden so she could debut with T-ARA. But he overcame it with the help of his mum. She would always say,

“Kevin, dear. You don’t need Jiyeon if she says she doesn’t need you. She’s not worth your time. You’ll find another girl in your life, don’t worry. Even if you don’t, you have me, ok? It doesn’t matter if no one loves you your father and I will always love you.”

It was why he was here. Not to remember Jiyeon, but his mother. Jiyeon was now at the back of his mind, thanks to his mum. But exactly a week after the talk, she had gotten into a car accident and died in hospital.

“Kevin, always be happy for mum, ok?”

“I can’t promise that mum! Please stay!”

“I’m sorry Kevin.”

As she spluttered her last words, she took her last breath and died in Kevin’s arms, his dad looking from nearby.

But that was a two years ago. Since then, Kevin wasn’t the happy bubbly Kevin anymore. His life had turned around and he spent his days either in his room or down by the lake, where he used to talk with his mum often. How could he had gotten over Jiyeon in a few months and two years wasn’t enough for him to move on from his mum’s death? But what made it worse was that about a year ago, his dad had gotten himself a new girlfriend.

At first he was disgusted at her. Even though she gave out a cheery aura, he couldn’t help but hate her for trying to ‘replace his mum’. She did everything his mother did; he just couldn’t accept her. Not that he tried.

Sometimes she saw Kevin looking at the lake blankly; he had no more tears left to cry. She’d try to comfort him, but it never did any good.

“Don’t worry Kevin, mum is here.”

“Mum? You don’t deserve to be my mum. You’ll never replace her.”

He spoke sharply at her, but she never gave up on trying to make him accept her.

“You see this? It’s mother’s wedding ring. It’s the most important thing to me. You however; even if you died I wouldn’t give a . How could I ever call you mum?.”

Kevin broke out of his thinking, hearing his dad calling for dinnertime.

~

“Taeyeon and I…are getting married.”

Kevin stood up from his chair sending them both a glare. He slammed his chopsticks down on the table and left, heading towards the lake.

“Mum…I’m sorry. Dad belongs to someone else now, but she’ll never be my mother!”

~

“You may now kiss the bride.”

He looked away from the altar bitterly, as he tried to stop the tears falling uncontrollably. How could you, dad?

~

“Have some respect for your mother Kevin! You deserve a beating!”

True to his word, Kevin’s dad came out with a belt and began lashing the back of his knees. Kevin stubbornly stood there, without flinching or bothering to mutter a sorry. At that moment, Taeyeon had just come back from shopping. On seeing Kevin’s state she began to reason with his dad.

“Yeobo! Don’t do this to our son.”

Kevin spoke up after the long silence he held in.

“Not OUR son. It's YOUR son you should be saying. I’ll never be your son and you’ll never be my mother. Stop the act, you . You just want dad for money, did you? Why’d you marry someone almost ten years older than you? You’re more like a noona to me.”

The other two were surprised at his outburst and Kevin stormed into his room. Taeyeon ran after him with water and tissues. She opened the door slowly, hoping not to anger Kevin.

“Kevin-ah. Are your knees ok?”

“Stop pretending you care. If you really did, you wouldn’t have married dad, for my sake.”

“I’m sorry Kevin. It doesn’t matter if you will never accept me anymore, I’ll always love you like a son.”

~

“! Kevin you idiot! How could you lose your mum’s wedding ring?”

Kevin’s eyes were flowing with tears as he tried to retrieve it from the lake, having no success. In frustration, he slapped himself on the bank and cried for a few hours. Taeyeon saw this from the kitchen window. He lost his mother’s ring. I must find it. Only then, he might accept me…

In the middle of the night, Taeyeon sneaked out to the lake. Unlike Kevin, she could see it almost immediately. It glistened in the minimal light from her torch, but it was a way down. Taeyeon took a deep breath and swam below to the ring. Losing her breath, she resurfaced, but realized that she had just lost contact with the ring. She tried again and succeeded. But she stayed a few seconds too long in the water. It didn’t take too long for water to fill her nostrils and her to sink down, drowning her.

~

“Where’s Taeyeon?”

“I don’t know; I don’t care.”

His dad sighed and called the police.

~

Kevin looked at the door in surprise of it opening so suddenly. There, was his dad, his face red with anger.

“It’s all your fault! She’s dead Kevin, she’s dead! Are you happy now?”

“How the can it be my fault?!”

“Come; look for yourself, you stupid boy.”

Kevin’s eyes widened. Near the bank of the river, he saw a load of police. They surrounded a body. It was Taeyeon’s. And in her hand, she held his mum’s wedding ring.

“You see what you’ve done?”

Kevin couldn’t answer his father’s ranting. He couldn’t hear him. His thoughts clouded, but so did his eyes. He fell onto his knees that were already healed thanks to Taeyeon’s healing and wept. Just like he did when his real mother passed away. But now he didn’t have a real and fake mother. They were both real.

“I’m sorry…mum”