Exactly one week later, I made my second contact with the members of Infinite—more specifically, Woohyun.  We passed each other at the elevator; I didn’t really acknowledge them, and he didn’t really acknowledge me either.  Though, since socializing wasn’t my strong point, I was totally fine with the lack of acknowledgement.

“Hello,” he finally said.

“Yo.”

“Where are you going at this time of day?”

“Out.”

“Where?”

“Somewhere.”

At that point, I could tell that Woohyun was annoyed with my evasiveness, so I decided to put him at ease.

“Are you going back to your dorm?”

He shrugged.  “Depends.  Where are you going?”

“Like I said before,” I replied in amusement, “I’m going somewhere not too far from here, but far enough that I’ll probably have to take a taxi or catch the bus.”

“Where?  W H E R E?”

I chuckled.  “Spelling out the word for me will not make me tell you any faster.” The elevator door opened, finally, and I made a run for it, trying to lose Woohyun.  My tennis shoes are useful for running, I thought, as I made my way toward the door of the apartment complex.

“Hey, wait up!”

So apparently, Woohyun was some freaking running star in his past life, because he caught up to me with ease.  I wasn’t the fastest runner in the world, though, and I was relying on the fact that he had not expected me to run.

I turned.  “You know Seoul well, right?”

“Well enough,” he muttered.

“Great!” I rummaged through the outside pocket of my backpack and pulled out a small piece of paper.  I held it right in front of his face.  “Here.  How do I get to this address?”

“Give me that.” He snatched the paper out of my hand, succeeding in giving me a paper cut. 

I pouted, examining the shallow cut up close.  It hurt like an , obviously, but I wasn’t one to complain.  But, since it was Woohyun, and since I loved annoying him, I would.

“Woohyun!” I whined.  “Look!” I jammed my index finger right in front of his eyes.  “You gave me a paper cut.”

“Are we really on a first name basis now?” He asked with wide eyes.

I stomped my foot.  “Do you know where I have to go?”

“Yeah.”

“Will you tell me?”

“Only when you tell me why you’re going here.  You know that this is a coffee shop in the middle of Seoul?”

“Yes.”

“So why…?”

“I have to meet some person.”

“Then I’ll go with you.”

“Why?”

“Because I know where it is, and you don’t.  Sunggyu hyung would kill me if he learned that I let his beloved little sister wander around Seoul by herself.”

“Hey,” I said, “Don’t tell Sunggyu about today.”

“Why not?”

“…You’ll see.”

I checked my backpack, and, seeing that I had enough cash, I signaled for a taxi.  Once inside, I brought up the subject of my paper cut with Woohyun again.

“It hurts.”

“Just don’t think about it.”

“Why would you do something like that?”

“Because—”

“Excuse me,” the cab driver interrupted.  “Are you two a couple?”

“What?” I laughed.  “I already have a boyfriend.”

“And I have…” Woohyun stopped speaking.  “Never mind.  I have no girlfriend.”

The streets of Seoul were empty, for once, since most adults were at work, and most students were studying—even though no one had to go to school.  Therefore, I was able to lose myself in the sights on the street and paid no attention to what Woohyun was saying.

“We’re here.” The driver stopped suddenly.

“Eh?” I leaned over Woohyun, trying to look out of the window.  “Ah, you’re right.”  To Woohyun, I said, “Let’s get out of here, old man.”

“Old?” He scoffed.  “If anyone’s old, it would be your brother.”

“True.” 

I paid the taxi driver, who asked if I wanted him to wait.  I didn’t know how long the meeting would take, though, so I said that he could leave.  Woohyun stood, waiting with an impatient grimace on his face.

“What took you so long?”

“I was thanking the man.”

“You seem to be polite to everyone except for me.”

“So it seems.” I nodded.

The interior of the coffee shop was interesting, to say the least.  There was disorganization everywhere—from the various colors to the tables and chairs—but that seemed to complete the look the shop was going for.  They didn’t only sell coffee either; there were elaborate displays of different sweets.

“What’s with the smell?” I wrinkled my nose.

“Chocolate.”

“Figures,” I muttered.

“You don’t like chocolate?”

“No.”

“What about cake?”

“Gross.”

“Ice cream?”

“Once a year?”

“You’re weird.” He rolled his eyes.

“Hana?”

I turned around, staring right into the eyes of a woman no older than forty.  Mother?  Casting a glance at Woohyun once, I nodded.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” The woman smiled.  “Come, have a seat.”

I glanced at Woohyun again.  “Are you staying or leaving?”

“Who is that?”

“My mother.”

“But when Sunggyu hyung’s mom came over—”

“No, Woohyun,” I said quietly.  “My real mother.”

--

“So, how was America?” Mother asked as soon as I had an iced coffee in my hand.  “Did you study well?  Or did you just party all day?”

“It was fine.”

“Did you make any friends?”

“A few.”

“Are they foreign?”

“Some.”

Mother seemed dissatisfied with my answers, from the way her eyes pierced mine.  I rolled my eyes in response.

“And who is this young man?” Mother was back to fake smiles in an instant.

“This is an acquaintance of mine.” I pointed to Woohyun.  “We met a few days ago.”

“How sweet.”

Mother was annoying, I knew, but I met with her because she was my family.  My real family.  But if Sunggyu says that two people could be family without having blood relations, then two people that were blood related could be total strangers with each other.

“Look, Mother, I appreciate you calling me out here, but I really have to go.  My acquaintance and I have important…things to do.”

“Hana…I have a family now.”

“Great.  And what does that have to do with me?”

“Here’s a picture of them.” Mother took out a photo from the outside pocket of her purse.  I took the photo with shaking hands.

“That’s my husband and my newborn twins.”

“What a beautiful family,” I said, half in sarcasm, half in wishful thinking.  I could’ve been like that with Mother if she didn’t abandon me.

“Right?  My children are my life.  Without them, I don’t know where I’d be right now.”

“I wish you could’ve said the same about me, Mother.”

“Hana,” she warned.

“You abandoned me, Mother.  You left me alone without a warning.”

“I did it for you, Hana.  So that you could live a better life.  I had no one to depend on; you would’ve grown up poor!”

“We were family, Mom,” I finally said.  “Family doesn’t abandon family.”

“I had my reasons.”

“You were ashamed, weren’t you?  While all of your friends were studying in university, you were taking care of me.”

“Hana.”

“Your parents disowned you.”

“Hana!”

“Leaving me at the orphanage was the easiest option for you, wasn’t it?  Because you had never worked for something once in your whole life, and you didn’t want to go through the trouble of raising a child,” I seethed.

“Hana, maybe you should stop.” Woohyun grabbed my arm.

“You’re a horrible person!” I exclaimed.  At that point, I was grateful that there were only two other customers in the shop besides us.

“That’s it.  We’re leaving!” Woohyun pulled me out of my chair.  “It was nice meeting you, but I’m afraid that we have to be somewhere else.”

“Joohyun, is that any way to speak to your mother?” She screeched.

I sighed.  “My name is Hana.  H A N A.”

“Kim Joohyun, apologize to your mother right now,” she said in an exhausted voice.

But I, too, was mentally exhausted.  “You aren’t my mother.”

“We’re blood related.  You can’t deny family!”

“While it may be true that we’re related by blood, you will never be my mother.  A real mother would never leave her child like that.  Never.  A real mother, no matter how difficult times are, would never give up her child for anything.”

“Let’s go, Hana.” Woohyun tugged on my arm.

And for once—not even out of laziness—I willingly let a person drag me out of the coffee shop.  Mother had tears running down her face, and I assumed—no, I knew—that I was crying as well.

----------

A/N: Hi ^^.  I didn't update yesterday because it was Fourth of July, but here's an update for today!  If you can't tell already, family plays an important role in this fanfic, especially the concept of how people can become a family even without any blood relations.  So yeah, it may be fluffy and sweet most of the time (lol, obviously not this chapter), but there are things that I want to convey.  A story without a theme is...I don't know.  Anyway, thanks a bunch for reading!  --kpopluvr18