Hana wiped away the sweat that was building on her forehead and took quick drink of water as she rested, taking a breather from the dance they just did. Rabi was going over a dance move that was causing Rayne some difficulty. “Tap… tap… tap..”

“Ugh, girls. I need a break.” Rayne snapped into semi-diva mode.

“Well, what do you want?” Hana walked over to their bags to put away her water, they were done for the day technically and had a little bit of time to spare before going to a meeting with their vocal trainer.

“Noodles… Udon… I need… Udon… NOW”

This was called the Rayne Udon Syndrome. When she wanted udon, she wanted it bad and this wouldn’t end until she got some. Rabi walked over grabbing her bag, lifting it up as she spoke “Why don’t we go to the new place down the street. What is it called… ‘Everlasting Pure Love’? I heard it’s really good? And the name is so cute! Apparently the logo’s letters are noodles!”

Hana’s eyes snapped to her unni. “D-do we have to go there? Why not the typical udon place?”

“No no! The typical place has GOOD UDON. And I heard that new place had GREAT UDON. So let’s go!” Rayne sauntered over to her bag, picking it up while Hana sighed, it’s not that she didn’t like udon it’s that she didn’t like the place they were going to and not because of the food either.

As they made their way down the streets, Rabi had her baseball cap on, disguising herself as best as she could. Although she looked different, due to new hairstyle and change in attire, she was still once a part of the K-Pop group SHINee as their “Rabbit” and that didn’t make it easy to walk around casually.

They walked into the new restaurant. It was hustling and bustling, the girls sat at a table closest to the wall, with Hana being next to the wall, Rabi in front of her, and Rayne to her right.

“Good afternoon girls. I’ll be serving you, I’m Hea Woo. What would you like?” The girl was polite in speech, but in body language it was the complete opposite. She gave looks to Hana’s unnies and stood leaning off to the side, rolling her eyes as she finished off her question. Hana knew the girl so she tried to look away, staring at the wall so she wouldn’t be noticed, luckily though Rayne drew the attention to her.

“I want some shrimp tempura udon! And give me some iced tea and water please.” The oldest member of the group was grinning ear to ear; she really wanted some udon and thus disregarded the rude girl’s mannerisms – something she would normally snap at.

Hea Woo rolled at her unnie’s way of talking and then turned to Rabi. “And you?” The waitress’ tone of voice was one that Hana couldn’t stand. She loved to hate it; it was just that bad of an intonation to have.

“You guys have sushi too right?” Hea Woo nodded like Rabi was a kindergartener. “Great, then just two spicy salmon rolls.” Finally Hea Woo turned to Hana.

“And what do you want?”

“Nothing. I’m good, thank you.” Hana kept looking down or to the opposite direction. Her unnies looked at her strangely.

“Hana, what happened to you? Don’t forget your manners.” Hana almost had about lost it at the words manners and this girl. She looked up at her unnies and was about to say something she wouldn’t have regretted when-

“Hana... “ Hea Woo was now staring intently at the maknae, “Oh it’s you! Park Hana, or as I like to call you - the lost child trying to find her father!” Hea Woo chuckled and leaned in closer to Hana. “Appa never loved your mother. After all, why else would he have me? I’m only a few months younger than you after all.”

Hana looked down; she knew the girl was right – why else would this be?

“Hea Woo-ah! Don’t talk to the customers like that.” A deeper man’s voice could be heard coming from behind the counter. Hana heard footsteps coming closer and took a brief look up. A man stood there, his black hair just slightly turning gray, wearing an apron with a name tag that said: Park HyunSu. Hana took a moment took a moment to admire his solemn appearance with a small twinkle in his eyes. Despite being angry with Hea Woo he maintained his calm exterior – something Hana must have inherited from him.

 That’s right, this was Hana’s father.  

Hana stood up, bowed to the man and then bid her farewells walking away. She never actually met him, and she didn’t want him to know who she actually was. She walked down the street, not paying attention to where she was going rather she was too in tune with her thoughts.

Her mother always told Hana the story of her and her father. When Hana’s mother, Katarina, had been a college student she went on a study abroad program to South Korea. While she was at the University she met HyunSu. They quickly began friends and enjoyed each other’s company, the friendship turned to love. The day Katarina was to return to America they vowed they would wait for each other and that Katarina would try to return to South Korea as soon as she was able to.

But that never happened. Katarina had gone back to America unknowingly pregnant with a daughter. And once she got back, it was too late. Hana was 6 when they moved to South Korea.

And HyunSu knew he had a daughter, after all – he signed the birth certificate, thus why Hana’s last name is his own – they wanted it to be that way.

And Hana? She never understood it, but as she aged she started to question about this man. Eventually, she investigated him on her own and found out who he was and that he had a small chain of noodle shops called “Everlasting Pure Love”.

Hana looked around briefly, realizing where she was and that she had a schedule to maintain and started to head back to the SM Entertainment building. She walked through the doors, a saddened expression plaguing her face and went through the halls lifeless.

She was glad she got to see the man who was her father, but Hea Woo was right. There was no such thing as love in her eyes; it was too hard to understand. You can love one person and promise to be with him but in the end you go with another.

A promise is a promise, right?

This thing called love only existed as a word to describe a close bond between people, but it wasn’t anything special – it didn’t have the qualities of an “Everlasting Pure Love”.  Hana quickly turned the corner and opened the nearest door, walking in only to see her unnies with two other people. Taking a closer look Hana saw her blue eyed, brown haired mother standing next to the man she just ran from. Rayne and Rabi walked towards her, each laying a hand on their maknae’s shoulder.

“They wanted to talk to you.” Leader whispered in her ear before they walked out of the door.

Hana stared at her mother and biological father.

“Honey, we wanted to tell you something.” Her mother’s tone was soft, something Hana loved about her mother. The sweet, soft tone that can make you calm even in the hardest of times.

“What is it?” Hana asked tentatively, starting to feel embarrassed for running away earlier.

“Well, before we say it. There’s something I would like to say to you.” Hyun Su spoke softly, walking towards her. “You’ve grown into a fine young lady, and I’m very remorseful that I couldn’t be there for you all those years. I would like you to know that you’re my daughter and I understand if you hate me for everything that’s happened – but I love you.”

Hana held back tears, but her father noticed this and embraced her in a warm, firm yet comforting hug. Her mother came up and patted her head lightly.

“We wanted to tell you that we’ve been dating again.”

Hana stepped back immediately, tilting her head. “But you’re married, aren’t you HyunSu-ssi.”

“You can call me Appa if you wish. And no, I divorced a long time ago. Yes, Hea Woo is my daughter – but I’ve been divorced with her mother for years now. I couldn’t stop loving your mother, Katarina.” He looked at Hana’s mother. The look in his eyes was something Hana couldn’t quite grasp.

A longing, a strong feeling.

Soft and kind, but firm and irreplaceable.

Was this…

What love looked like?

“I made a small noodle shop chain called Everlasting Pure Love – something your mother and I would call our relationship back in University – in hopes she would see it and find me.”

“And it worked.” Katarina smiled the happiest smile Hana had ever seen her mother do. “But we would like to have your permission to continue, if that’s okay?” Her parents looked at her, awaiting their answer – a non-judging look in their eyes.

Hana smiled just a bit. “I understand. Umma… A-appa. Please continue to make each other happy.”

The embraced in a small group hug.

Yes.

That is love.