Insoo’s father was home and Insoo was scared. His father wasn’t violent or scary or anything, it was just that his father was only home on very important occasions. It wasn’t Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or even his birthday so he was very confused. At this time, Insoo was ten years old and he could count on one hand the number of times his father had returned home when it wasn’t a holiday or birthday. Being the CEO of an airlines company certainly took its toll on the whole family.

He was playing in his room with Seulki that evening when Insoo’s father suddenly walked into the room, a grim look on his face. “Insoo, Seulki,” he said, “Come with me.”

The two children silently looked at each other and put their toys down, following Mr. Kang out of the room. Seulki could sense the tension throughout the house and she didn’t like it. Neither she nor Insoo knew what was going on but they both knew something bad was happening. She glanced over at her friend and held tightly onto his hand, trying to give him as much support as she could.

In a few moments, they stopped in front of what Seulki recognized as Mrs. Kang’s bedroom and she squeezed Insoo’s hand tighter. Mr. Kang took in a deep breath before opening the door and gesturing the children inside. The first thing they noticed was a pale Mrs. Kang lying in the bed with Seulki’s mom sitting there with her. The sight frightened her and Seulki tried to hold back her tears.

Mrs. Kang smile weakly and held her hand out for the two children and beckoned them to come closer to her. They waited a moment before approaching her but when they did, she gently each of their cheeks. “Mommy,” Insoo said weakly, “What’s wrong? Are you sick? Will you get better so we can go the aquarium again?”

It was Mrs. Shin who spoke this time. “Insoo, your mom has been very sick lately,” she explained softly, “There’s nothing much we can do. Do you remember what happened when your turtle died last year?” Insoo wanted to answer but tears were already streaming down his face as he braced himself for what was coming. Mrs. Shin continued, “Well, Insoo, sweetie, the same thing is happening to your mommy. Insoo, I don’t want to have to say this but your mom has pneumonia and may not survive the night.”

With that, Insoo began to bawl. He knelt down on the floor and put his head in his hands. Seulki stood there, wanting to comfort him but couldn’t because she was crying too. “Insoo, Seulki” Mrs. Kang weakly said, “I need you two to listen, okay?” They both looked at her. Mrs. Kang nodded to Mrs. Shin and Mrs. Shin got up to retrieve something from the other side of the room and sat back down on the bed.

“Insoo,” Mrs. Kang said again, grabbing Insoo’s hand and pulling him toward her. At once, he threw his arms around his mother and hugged her tightly, unwilling to let her go. She let her son cry for a few minutes before letting him go and grabbing something from Mrs. Shin’s hands. “Insoo, this is for you.” She opened her hands to reveal a necklace with two gold rings on it. It took a moment for him to realize what it was but then he gasped: it was her wedding band and engagement ring. Mrs. Kang smiled, “When you get older and want to marry someone, you can give these to her so she knows that you love her.”

She put the necklace around his neck and he nodded, wiping the tears off of his face, trying to be a brave man but failing. Mrs. Kang then reached her arm out for Seulki and Seulki walked up to her. “Seulki, I am very blessed to have met you. I want to let you know that you will always be under the protection of this family and so I want to give you this.” She reached her hand out once again but this time Mrs. Shin handed her a wooden box. As Mrs. Kang gave it to Seulki, she tried to open it but Mrs. Kang’s hand told her to stop. “Promise me that you won’t open this until you’re older and until your mom says you can, okay?”

Seulki nodded and held the box close to her. Mrs. Kang looked at the two children once more before coughing a few times. “I love you two very much,” she said with a smile.

With that, Insoo’s dad approached the two children and tried to usher them out of the room but Insoo began to cry and scream for his mom. Seulki frowned. She hated seeing her prince cry and she walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. At first he ignored her but then she said, “Insoo, come on, we should go.” He then turned around and hugged Seulki tightly as Mrs. Kang began to cough more violently.

“Come on children,” Mr. Kang said and urged another maid to walk out of the room with them. The two children waited outside for what seemed like ages until both Mrs. Shin and Mr. Kang quietly came out of the room with solemn expressions on their faces. Mrs. Shin looked at the two of them before wiping a tear from her face and shaking her head.

Insoo and Seulki ran up to Mrs. Shin and held her tightly, wanting a mother’s love from anyone they could at the moment. Mr. Kang then walked up to Insoo and knelt down beside him and Insoo switched his attention to his father and hugged him while crying on his shoulder. “Come on, son, let’s go to bed,” he said after a few minutes.

“You too, Seulki,” Mrs. Shin added and they waited until the two children had calmed down enough to lead them their separate ways and to their respective bedrooms.

Seulki had been lying in bed for quite some time, unable to sleep when she heard a quiet knock on her door. Before she could say or do anything, the door opened and Insoo’s head popped into the room, his eyes red and puffy. He entered and quietly shut the door behind him then scurried over to the side of Seulki’s bed. “Seulki,” he whispered, gently nudging her arm, “are you awake?”

“Yeah,” she replied, sitting up. She could still see tears forming in his eyes and falling down his face and Seulki wiped them away with her thumb. “Are you okay?” she whispered, knowing that if she spoke too loudly, she’d wake up the other maids and she’d get in trouble.

Insoo shook his head and wiped some tears away himself. “Can I sleep with you tonight?” he asked, looking up at her. Without a word, Seulki scooted over in her bed and let Insoo climb up and get under the covers with her.

When he got comfortable, she wrapped her arms around him and let him cry into her chest. “It’s okay,” she whispered, petting his hair like he always did for her when she was upset, “Don’t worry. It’ll be alright. Don’t worry. I’ll protect you for now.”

It was then that she noticed that his hands were cupped around the necklace that his mother had given him and he was holding it close to himself, hugging it. Seulki began to wonder what was in her box that Mrs. Kang had given her that was placed on a high shelf in her room. Insoo sniffled and his body began to shake. “I miss my mommy,” he cried, scooting closer to Seulki.

A tear fell down Seulki’s face. “I miss her too,” she replied, “But you can share my mommy with me. I don’t mind.” Insoo nodded and wrapped his arms around his friend and pulled her into a tight hug. They stayed like that for a long time until both of them fell asleep.