Ariel turns around and got down to hug the little girl who ran into her arms.

“My little angel, how was school today?” Ariel asks the little girl.

“Very fun, I made a lot, a lot of friends” she said with a smile in Chinese.

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“Then when we get home, can you tell mommy who your friends are?” Ariel asks her as she held onto the little girl’s hand.

“Mm!” the little nods her head.

Ariel smiles at the girl and turns around to look at the shocked Donghae. “This is why,” she said answering his question from before. “Then, see you tomorrow,” Ariel said and walks away holding her daughter’s little hand.

Donghae who was still shock slowly turns his head and looks at Ariel who’s smiling brightly down to her daughter. His eyes began to water as he watches them.

- - - - -

The next day Donghae didn’t show up for class. Ariel was a little worried but she pushed it back in her head and continues the day.

~

That night right before Ariel was going to go to bed she heard loud banging’s on her door. Surprised yet frightened she got out of bed slowly went to make sure that the loud banging didn’t wake up Xiao Hua before going to go see who was at the door. As she got closer to the door she heard someone said something very loud, but it wasn’t said clearly, so she couldn’t understand what was said.

She looks at the little calling screen on the wall to see who was outside.

“Donghae?” she said surprised as she saw him looking right at the screen.

“Open the door” he said to the screen. “Open the door!” He said louder.

She head over to the door and opens it. Donghae immediately fell onto her with the drenching smell of alcohol.

“Donghae, what are you doing? It’s late, you should go home” she said trying to hold him up with all her might.

“Noona” he said and laughs. He lifts up his head off her shoulders and looks at her. “Wow, my Noona is grew up to be soooooo pretty!” he smiles at her.

“You’re drunk, what’s the pin to your apartment? I’ll take you home.”

“No! I don’t want to, if I go home you’re going to leave me again” he said and sets his head back down on her shoulder. “I don’t want you to leave” he said softly yet in a slur.

He sighs and slowly tilts his head to the side. Then he opens his eyes and saw something he likes on the sofa.

“Whoa~! Teddy bear” he said and got off Ariel making his way to the sofa where the teddy bear he saw was sitting.

“Donghae!” Ariel said, unsure of what to do with him. She lets go of the door and went after him.

The door slowly automatically closed shut.

“Donghae” Ariel calls his name again.

“Yes?” Donghae said as he picks up the teddy bear and turns to look at Ariel. He smiles at her wobbly trying to stand still.

“Donghae, listen to Noona okay? Let me take you home,” she said as she slowly reaches her hands towards him.

“No! I said I don’t want to go home,” he said like a child as he backs away from Ariel. “I want to stay here with you.”

“Careful!” Ariel said as Donghae trips on his foot and fell backward. Ariel quickly grabs onto his hand, but his mass was too much for her to handle, so she ended being falling down with him.  But she ended up being on top of him and with their lips touching.

Her eyes widen and quickly got off Donghae whose now smiling at her.

“Ya~ Donghae” she said after recovering from what just happened.

“Whoa~! Noona! Your lips are so soft and smooth!” he said happily. “Another~!” he pouts his lips at her.

“Shhhhh!” she puts her pointer by her lips.

Donghae imitates her and smiles.

“Donghae, go home,” she said as she grabs onto his arm trying to pull him up.

“One more” he said as he holds up his pointer to her and stuck out his lips.

“No, go home, you’re too drunk, and you’ll wake up Xiao Hua,” she said still trying to pull him up.

But he smiles at her and pulls her down onto him and held her tightly on his chest.

“Whoa~!”

“Can you hear that? My heart is beating so fast because you’re here,” he said holding her head down onto his chest.

He wraps his other hand around her shoulders and held her tighter towards him.

“Noona, you smell good” he said as he closes his eyes.

“Donghae,” Ariel said as she tries to get up, but he quickly tightens his grip.

“Noona, I really miss you,” he said as he sighs. “I think about you every day…but how could you…how could you get married and have a child already…My heart hurts…” he said slowly. “I feel really hurt…Do you hate me?”

“No, Donghae, I don’t hate you,” Ariel said calming after hearing his confession.

“Then why?! Why did you…” he suddenly releases his strength that was holding Ariel down.

She slowly got up and looks at the fallen asleep Donghae.

“You little brat” she said under her breath. Not knowing what to do, she went back to her room to get him an extra pillow and blanket for him. After tucking him in the sofa she returns to her room tired.

~

Donghae woke up with a really bad headache and with two little eyes looking straight at him.

“Whoa~!” he yells loudly as he sat up feeling the headache kick in more.

“Good morning Mister,” Ariel’s daughter greeted Donghae.

“Donghae zao an” Ariel said as she came out of her room all dressed up. “How are you feeling?” Ariel asks as she finishes cooking up breakfast.

“My head hurts,” he said holding his head. “Is this~” he looks around unfamiliar with the place.

“Here,” Ariel’s daughter hands Donghae a glass of water. “Omma said to give it to you when you wake up,” she explains.

Donghae looks at the busy Ariel before taking the glass from the girl.

“Thank you,” he said with a smile.

“What’s your name?” Donghae asks the girl after he finished drinking the glass of water.

“Xiao Hua,” she replies with a big smile on her face. “But my Korean name is Eun Soo. Ahjusshi what’s your name? Why are you here?”

“My name is Donghae, and…why am I here?”

“How should I know? When I woke up you’re already here,” she told him.

He smiles at her.

“Okay, breakfast is ready,” Ariel said as she finished setting the food on the table.

“Xiao Hua,” Ariel calls for her daughter to go eat.

“Donghae Ahjusshi, let’s go eat, my mom makes the best food!” she said as she grabs his hand.

Donghae obediently got up and lets her leads him.

“Yay! Pancakes and orange juice today!” Xiao Hua said excited.

“Mmm,” Ariel smiles at her daughter. “Donghae,” Ariel looks at Donghae. “You should leave after breakfast, and it’s not that I don’t want you here, but we have to leave for school soon.”

“I know,” Donghae replies. “Noona…about yesterday, I can’t remember clearly what happened, but whatever happened yesterday I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, nothing really happened” Ariel replies and began to eat her breakfast as she reads the newspaper.

'Nothing really happened? Doesn't that meant that something did happened? What happened then? Why can't I remember?' Donghae thought to himself as he at his breakfast. He glance at Ariel who looks perfectly normal. 'She looks totally fine...did something really happened yesterday?'

After breakfast they all head out.

“Noona, thanks,” Donghae thanked her again. 

“You’re welcome, but I hope that there won’t be a next time, and you better not skip school today, or I’ll report to your mother, and one more thing, I don’t care what you call me, but at appropriate places please call me appropriate names, do you know what I mean?”

“I understand, I there won’t be a next time, I won’t skip school today, and I’ll call you Lao Shi at school. I also won't tell anyone that we're neighbors.”

“Very good, then, see you at school” Ariel gave him a smile before leaving with Xiao Hua.

“But really…what did happened yesterday?” he asks himself after watching Ariel and Xiao Hua disappeared into the elevator.

~

While washing his mouth, something from yesterday sparked into his head.

“Lips.”

“Donghae, listen to Noona okay? Let me take you home,” she said as she slowly reaches her hands towards him.

“No! I said I don’t want to go home,” he said like a child as he backs away from Ariel. “I want to stay here with you.”

“Careful!” Ariel said as Donghae trips on his foot and fell backward. Ariel quickly grabs onto his hand, but his mass was too much for her to handle, so she ended being falling down with him.  But she ended up being on top of him and with their lips touching.

Her eyes widen and quickly got off Donghae whose now smiling at her.

“Ya~ Donghae” she said after recovering from what just happened.

“Whoa~! Noona! Your lips are so soft and smooth!” he said happily. “Another~!” he pouts his lips at her.

“Arggh~! How embarrassing!“ he said as he rubs the back of his head. “How could I? Why did I? Ahhhh~! So stupid!”

He finishes using the bathroom and quickly left for school.

~

“Lao Shi hao” Donghae said to Ariel as they met on the way to Chinese class.

“Ni Hao” Ariel replies.

Class was like every day, Ariel takes attendance and then began class. They did some group work after a new vocab lesson then Ariel assigned them homework before the end of class.

“Ya Donghae, where have you been?” his friends ask him as they walk out of the classroom.

Donghae smiles at them and turns back around to look at Ariel before turning back around.

Ariel finished packing up her things before leaving.

“Ariel, there’s a phone call for you” one of the teachers in the teacher's office said to Ariel as she returns to her desk.

“Really? Thank you,” Ariel replies before answering the phone call. “Hello? Oh Hello, how are you?”

~

“Mama!”

“Xiao Hua” Ariel said with a smile as soon as she sees her daughter.

Ariel gave her hug before holding her hand.

“Mama, are we not going home today?” Xiao Hua asks her mother.

“We are, but we are going have dinner at Mama’s friend’s house first okay?”

“Really?! Okay!” Xiao Hua said excited. 

And so they head to Donghae’s house after stopping by a grocery’s store to buy some fruits.

“We are here” Ariel said a little nervous as they stood in front of the Lee’s house.

“Wow, what a big house!” Xiao Hua said excitedly.

“Mama, used to live next door” Ariel said and pointed out the home next door.

“Really?!” she said amazed.

“Really,” Ariel replies and rang the doorbell.

A few minutes later Mrs. Lee came running to the door.

“Hi Ariel! Welcome, come on in” she said with a happy face. Then she saw Xiao Hua, and looks at Ariel.

“She’s my daughter, Xiao Hua,” Ariel introduced. “Xiao Hua, say hi” Ariel told her daughter.

“Annyeonghaseyo” Xiao Hua said as she bows.

“Omo! She’s so pretty and polite just like when you’re little” Mrs. Lee said.

Ariel smiled.

“Come on in” she told them and closed the door after they entered.

“Here” Ariel hands her a bag of fruits.

“Oh, you didn’t have to” Mrs. Lee said as she accepts the bag of fruits. “And I’m sorry I just called you out of the blue at school, I didn’t have your number so I just called the school to get in contact with you.”

“It’s okay, oh, are you still cooking? It smells very nice, do you need help?” Ariel asks.

“Oh no, no, I can do it, it’s almost done. Feel free to look around” Mrs. Lee said. “I’m going to go back into the kitchen, once Mr. Lee comes home we can eat,” she told them.

“Okay, thank you” Ariel replies. “And are you sure you don’t need help?” Ariel asks again.

“Yes, yes, of course, how can I ask our guest to help out, please wait a bit” she told them before leaving.

“Mama, she’s your friend?”

“Yes, but she's more like an aunt to me. Like I told you, I used to live next door, so she used to be my neighbor,” Ariel told Xiao Hua and as she looks around the house. Memories slowly began to comeback.

Ariel slowly walks up to a picture that was on top of the TV. It was Donghae’s graduation picture.

‘We really grew up…’ she thought looking at the pictures.

“Mama, what are you looking at?” Xiao Hua asked curious.

Ariel picks her up and lets her look at the pictures too.

"Oh! It's Donghae Ahjusshi! Why is he here?"

"This is his real home," Ariel said and explains a little about her and Donghae's relationship to her daughter.

Looking at one picture at a time, they slowly follow the endless pictures into another room.

Suddenly they heard the door opens.

“Omma! I’m home!” Ariel heard Donghae’s voice. “Omma! Where are you?” he asks.

“I’m in the kitchen!” Donghae’s mother yells back.

-Sigh- “It’s just dinner, why did she make me come home today?” Donghae said to himself as he sat down on the sofa and turns on the TV.

“Oh~” he said surprised as he saw Xiao Hua’s backpack and Ariel’s bag on the sofa next to the one he’s sitting on. “Someone’s here~” he said and turns to see Ariel and Xiao Hua standing before him.

“Annyeonghaseyo Donghae Ahjusshi!” Xiao Hua greets Donghae with a big smile.

“Noona~” Donghae said slowly as he looks at Ariel.

~

“Here,” Donghae sets a glass of juice down in front of Ariel.

“Thanks,” Ariel reply.

They finally got some time to themselves after a happy yet awkward dinner.

“Noona, there’s something that I really want to ask” Donghae said after giving himself some courage.

“What is it?” Ariel turns her attention to him.

Catching her eyes, Donghae quickly looks away nervously.

“Why, why did you stop writing to me? After you moved away you promised me that you'll write to me everyday, but then, you suddenly stopped writing to me. Why?"

“Why?" Ariel repeated as she turn back to look at the happy Xiao Hua. “I can't really remember why, but it's probably because lot happened.”

“I see," he replies after seeing her look at Xiao Hua. ‘But, what is a lot? Is it because you found a new love? Is it because you had Xiao Hua?’ He wanted to ask, but couldn’t once he see her face.

“Noona, you’ve became very beautiful.”

“Really?” Ariel smiles at him. “Thank you, you also became very handsome as well.”

“Handsome? Really?” he asks happy to hear her say that.

“Of course, why would I lie?”

“I don’t know,” he replies and the silence came in between them again. “Noona, there’s something else I wanted to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Where’s your husband?”

“We are not living together.”

“Where is he?”

Ariel turns to look at him. "You sure have a lot of question to ask don't you?"

“Sorry, am I getting too personal?”

“You are but it’s okay, you’ll eventually ask me again something later in life if I don’t tell you now,” Ariel smiles. “Xiao Hua’s father and I…we never got married, and we don’t really get along, so we’re living separately. I think at this time, he should be in America.”

“Doesn’t Xiao Hua miss her father?”

“Of course she does, but she gets to see him three times a year, because we’re both busy, there isn’t really a good time for the both of them to meet.”

“Why…did you fall in love with Xiao Hua’s father?”

“I didn’t,” Ariel said making Donghae confused. “Well, it’s getting late, we better get going” she said as she got off the chair.

“Then I’ll leave with you guys, since we’re heading to the same place.”

“Oh~ okay,” she replies and they head to the living room.

****

UPDATE! ^^