You stared with surprise at the woman who had become taken aback with Kisook’s angry shout. You recognized the look of hurt that flashed through her eyes, and immediately placed a hand on Kisook’s shoulder to calm him down.

He relaxed under your touch, and gave you an uneasy glance before resuming his glare at the woman. Kisook’s mother, was she?

“Kang Kisook,” she began in a voice you could tell she was trying hard to keep steady. “Do you know how much we’ve been worried about you? How could you… How could you just run away like that?! How could you be so selfish?! Do you know how much time we wasted on you?!”

You frowned at his mother’s choice of words. Selfish? Wasted time? Was that really what she should have been saying to a run-away child of Kisook’s age?

“Don’t pretend that you were worried about me,” Kisook’s voice replied. You glanced down at him with surprise at how cold his voice sounded. “Sorry for wasting your time, but I’m not sorry about anything else.”

Kisook’s mom’s mouth opened to say something, but it slowly closed to a shut. From the look that crossed her face, you understood what was going on with the woman. She cared for Kissok, a lot. But she was kind of bad with picking out the words to express her love.

“How dare you speak to me like that, you horrid child!” his mother seethed. Really bad. “And who is this woman? Huh? What have you been doing for her, you disgusting child!”

You could feel the brief shudders go through Kisook’s body at her harsh words, and a frown immediately creased itself onto your face.

“Don’t you think you should control your words when speaking to your own child?” you frowned, giving Kisook a small squeeze of reassurance.

“Who the hell do you think you are to tell me what to do?” the mother scoffed.

“Don’t talk to Noona like that! She cares for me more than you ever had, and I feel the same!” Kisook exclaimed with a finger pointed at his mother. “I hated you! And I still do! I ran away for a reason, and that reason still applies!”

Infuriated at his words, his mother raised a hand to slap Kisook, but it was immediately caught by your own.

You pulled Kisook to your side protectively and gave her a hard look. “You may technically be Kisook’s mother, but if you don’t act like one, you won’t be acknowledge as one.”

His mother stared at you with absolute fury, and you could almost see the steam coming out of her ears. She grabbed the wrist of the boy besides her and began to stomp angrily away from the park.

“Bye Hyung,” Kisook said softly with a small wave as he stared longingly at the back of the slowly disappearing boy’s head. He turned to you with a forced smile on his face and bowed 90 degrees. “I’m sorry that my Umma hit you, Noona. Next time I promise I’ll protect you.”

A small smile appeared on your own lips, and you crouched down to be at eye level with the younger boy. “You’re such a strong child, Kisook. I admire you a lot,” you said softly as you gently patted his head.

Kisook’s eyes swam with tears at your words, and he threw his arms around your neck to hide his soon to be sobbing face in your chest.

 “It’s okay, Kisook. Just cry, okay? Noona’s here,” you sang softly as you his head as gently as possible. “Cry all