“The school called. That little punk is at it again, huh?” Steve Jung sneered at his wife.

“What do you mean at it again? That was his first time caught drinking, and he wasn’t even drunk at all! And how dare you call my son a ‘punk’!” Lemon Syung snapped at her husband.

“First, bad grades, then pranking the teachers, then skipping classes, then fighting, then smoking and now drinking? First time caught doesn’t mean first time doing either. And SEVEN bottles of soju? Wow! That kid can really take his drink! Hahaha...” Steve shook his head, amazed by his step son’s high alcohol tolerance. “Fine, I don’t care. He is, after all, YOUR son. So you better take the school off my back. I’m too busy for trivial matters such as this.” He continued with eyes fixed on his tablet screen.

Lemon Syung glared at Steve for a long while, until he looked up at her and said,” Have you got anything else to say? I’m busy.”

She just rolled her eyes and got up from the dark brown leather sofa she was sitting on and walked towards the mosaic tainted-glass door of her husband’s classic-elegant study. She knew too well not to further argue with her strong-headed mafia husband, especially regarding her one and only son. As she closed the door behind her, she was shocked to know that the person in question, her beloved baby bird, John Jean, was standing by the door.

“Oh my..! You scared me! How long have you been here?” She needed to know if he had been listening to her conversation with Steve.

“Long enough,” John Jean answered with a poker face, but with eyes full of pain.

“Oh... My poor Baby Bird…” Lemon Syung cupped her son’s handsome face in her soft, manicured hands.

“He really doesn’t care about me, does he? No matter what I do, he’d never gonna give a damn, would he? The way he talks and treats me... It’s as if I’m not his son...” He spoke softly, looking down at his shoes.

Her son’s soft voice did not help make his words any less piercing into Lemon Syung’s heart. She stared at the apple of her eye, considering if it was time to reveal the truth long hidden from the child who has now grown into a dashing young man. After a long moment, the 35 years old Korean beauty let out a heavy sigh and said, “I guess it’s time for you to know. Come, let’s go to your room.” She grabbed her puzzled son’s hand and half dragged him into his bedroom. Then she sat at the edge of the bed and tapped on a space next to her, inviting her son, “Sit here, baby.”

John Jean quickly sat next to her mama bird with curious eyes fixed on her youthful face. His heart slowly beating faster with each second passed, anticipating for what would come out next from his mother’s petite, pink mouth.

They sat almost facing each other. Then Mama Bird took both of Baby Bird’s hands in hers and looked at him right in the eye, saying, “Your father cares about you more than you think. But there is something you need to know… *sighs* He’s… indeed… not your real father. He’s actually your step father.”

“I knew it! I knew it all along! So who’s my real father, Mom? WHO??” The pain in John Jean’s eyes had turned into excitement.

“Well, that’s the thing… I don’t… know...” Lemon Syung looked down, embarrassed.

“What?!? MOM! How could you not know?!? Just how many guys did you sleep with?!?” John Jean immediately realized how wrong that sounded, but before he could open his mouth again, he felt a sudden pang on his left cheek, credited to a slap by his mom, who was drilling a whole into his eyes with her most famous piercing glare.

“I… I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to…” John Jean gave his mom the cutest puppy eyes while rubbing his red cheek. “P… Please… C… Continue on… Mom…”

Lemon Syung kept her drilling glare for a while before closing her eyes and took several deep breaths to calm herself down. This cheeky boy can really get on your nerves, she thought. She let out another heavy sigh and continued, “There were five of us. Me, and these four guys. We were the best of pals since the first time we met on our first day of high school. We went everywhere and did everything together. Just the five of us. We were dubbed the ‘Fabulous Five.’ Lemon Syung smiled, her eyes glistening with nostalgia….