No One’s POV

“It’s my mother’s birthday,” Kasumi told the Infinite boys, looking at each member in the eye. “I’d like for you guys to meet her.”

Woohyun smiled at Kasumi and took her hand in his, prying Myungsoo’s hands away. He could not contain the joy he was feeling over the fact that he was finally going to meet Kasumi’s mom. But the others all stayed where they were, frozen. They were shocked that Kasumi was finally allowing herself to open up to them.

Kasumi looked up and saw their stunned reactions. She had to laugh. “Don’t worry, my mom won’t bite you, if that’s what you’re scared of,” she said.

“Are you sure it’s okay for us to come? I mean, don’t you want to spend some quality time with her?” Sunggyu wanted to know.

She shrugged, thinking about it. “I always spend quality time with her. Besides, she’s actually expecting you guys,” she went on.

“She is?” Hoya asked curiously.

Kasumi nodded. “I told her about Infinite. She will like you guys. She’s a friendly person. I want you guys meet her,” she replied. “I told her that that was only if you guys want to meet her, though.”

Woohyun stepped forward determinedly. “I want to meet her,” he spoke up. “If the others don’t want to go, I will still go with you,” he said.

Kasumi smiled at him, knowing she would have his support. She took his hand and squeezed it gently while he enveloped his arms around her from the waist behind.

“We’ll come, too,” Hoya quickly said.

She smiled brightly. “That’s great!”

“Woof!”

“Botan! You came!” Dongwoo said gleefully and began to play with the dog as everyone started to walk out of the school building.

“So, let’s go meet her mom!” Sunggyu said. He turned to Kasumi. “Lead the way. You’re the one who knows where we’re supposed to go.”

Honestly, Infinite were curious about Kasumi’s mom. How does she look? Would Kasumi look like her? Will they finally know where she lived? All sorts of questions were running through their minds as they waited for a bus to wherever Kasumi was taking them. When it came, they looked at the destination before they clambered on board.

“We’re going to Gangnam?” Dongwoo whispered to the others. “I didn’t know Kasumi lived in Gangnam.”

“I don’t think so,” Woohyun said dubiously. “I mean, I know for a fact that it takes her an hour to walk to my house from hers.”

“How do you know that, hyung? You don’t even know where she lives, do you?” Sung Jong pointed out.

 “Changmin hyung-nim told me once. No wait, that was Jaejoong hyung-nim.” Woohyun scratched the back of his head, trying to remember.

Kasumi was sitting down at the back seats of the bus. Infinite was sort of crowding the place by standing in front so they quickly went over to where Kasumi was and sat with her, glancing nervously at each other.

Kasumi was oblivious to their anxiety and was whistling as she stared out of the window as the buildings passed by her view. She smiled when the bus began to move. She was so excited. She couldn’t wait to see her mother! Of course, the last time she visited her mother was when she was staying back at home from school the week before, but she always loved to see her mother.

She didn’t realize that Myungsoo, who was sitting next to her, was staring at her in awe. He chuckled, shaking his head slightly. She was so cute with that round, curious eyes of her and that cute small pout and occasional head tilts. He reached out for her and made her rest her head on his chest, wrapping an arm around her.

“Sleep,” he whispered into her ears. “We’ve got plenty of time before we reach Gangnam. I think you’ll need the rest.”

She nodded and closed her eyes before she automatically fell asleep. She was so tired without realizing just how tired she actually was.

Myungsoo smiled softly, her hair absentmindedly as he tucked her head under his chin. He turned his head a bit and kissed her forehead, inhaling the scented strawberry shampoo from her hair.

Woohyun saw the brotherly affection Myungsoo was showing and grinned.

Myungsoo really changed from that hostile and cold person to someone who loved and smiled a lot ever since Kasumi entered his life, he thought.

The bus ride to Gangnam was quiet and peaceful, everyone lost in their own thoughts. Eventually they fell asleep, except for Dongwoo, who was excited about the mini field trip. It had been long since he went on one.

Once he saw that the bus was reaching Gangnam, he turned to his sleeping friends. “Hey, I think we’re here!” he shouted out with excitement like a little, hyper-active puppy. “Guys! Wake up! We’re here!”

Kasumi immediately sat upright. She glanced around, smiling. Everyone could see that she was looking forward to seeing her mom. The guys thought it was cute.

Once they got off the bus, she turned to them and said, “I need to buy flowers for my mom. Is it okay if you guys wait for a bit more?”

Woohyun nodded. “Sure, go ahead. Should we buy for her, too?”

She shook her head. “It’s not necessary. Your presence is enough,” she said as they walked over to a florist where she bought a bouquet of daisies. She smiled at them after she had paid. “Let’s go!”

Infinite followed her to another bus stop.

“We have to take another bus to the area my mom stays,” she explained. “Our next stop is only five minutes’ walk from there.”

While waiting for the bus, Kasumi began to count the number of petals on each flower and added them all up. It amused her greatly and Infinite could not help but smile as they watched her concentration.

The bus arrived.

They clambered on board but didn’t have time to see where they were going. But it didn’t take that long of a ride to reach to wherever they were supposed to reach. After fifteen minutes, they got off. They saw that they were at the smaller part of the city Gangnam, and surrounding them were houses.

Kasumi walked straight into the housing areas and Infinite had no choice but to follow her. They glanced around, wondering which house was Kasumi’s mom’s house when suddenly Sunggyu, who was in the lead, stopped. The others, not seeing where they were going, all bumped into him until he nearly tripped over the road. The houses around them were simple but fancy at the same time.

Kasumi was standing in front of a three-storey white house with a huge compound. There was a white gate that blocked them from entering. On the white gate, there was a sign as clear as the day.

SM’s Health Institution, Home for the Mentally Ill, Depressed and Elderly

“Kasumi?” Sunggyu spoke up a few minutes later when it was clear that Kasumi wasn’t going to move any time soon. “Are we going?”

She blinked and snapped out of it. She turned to them and smiled. “Let’s go!” she said and walked over to the guard house. She talked to the guard on duty, who smiled and nodded before opening the gate.

Infinite was stood where they were, shocked. Was Kasumi’s mom sick? Was she depressed? Why does she live in a mental health institution?

This is where her mom lives? Woohyun wondered incredulously. He glanced over at his friends and saw that they were thinking the same.

Hesitantly, Infinite walked inside. They had never been to an institution before and they didn’t know how to react, especially since it was clear that they were going to meet Kasumi’s mother here.

The first thing they saw when they walked inside the building was a registration counter, where an elderly man was talking to one of the staffs behind the counter.

“Halabeoji!” Kasumi called out.

The man turned and when he saw that it was Kasumi who had called him, his eyes twinkled with joy. “Sumi-yah!” he exclaimed, opening his arms wide for her and Kasumi ran into them. He gave her a big, bear hug. He looked over her shoulders and saw Infinite awkwardly standing in front of him. “Are they your friends?”

She nodded. “Neh.” She turned toward them and gave them an encouraging smile, indicating for them to introduce themselves so Sungyeol went behind Sunggyu and gave him a little push.

Sunggyu stumbled forward and glared at the younger fellow before turning to the old man. He bowed respectfully and said, “Annyeonghasaeyo, Kim Sunggyu imnida. This is Jang Dongwoo, Nam Woohyun, Lee Hoya, Lee Sungyeol, Kim Myungsoo and Lee Sung Jong. We’re friends with Kasumi from school.”

The old man smiled. “I am Lee Soo Man, owner of the institution,” he said, bowing as he introduced himself to them. “You can call me Halabeoji like how Kasumi calls me, or Mr. Lee.” He smiled pleasantly at them. “It’s nice to meet Kasumi’s friends from school.”