"What are you doing here, Yura? I said I would be back soon. This isn't a safe place for you to be," my mother turned around quickly at the sound of my voice.

"Is that how you greet your daughter? I joked. "I missed you, mum. Home's not the same without you." My mother put down her mop and opened her arms for a big hug. I dived into her arms and hugged her tight.

"It's been a week. Why aren't you coming home?" I asked. I glanced around but could not see Mingming anywhere.

"It's...the job. Yura, we need the money. Besides, it's fine here, I can sleep with the other ahjummas, they're lonely too," she said as she my cheek. "You've become thinner, have you been eating all your meals?" 

"Mum," I rolled my eyes. "The one that needs to eat more is you. I brought you food, actually. You can share it with the others. It's somewhere....there," I looked around for Mingming again but he had disappeared. I peeked out the bathroom door. The corridor was also empty.

"Are you looking for someone, my dear?" my mother stared at me. 

"Yeah, he's somewhere there, just not sure where he is at the moment. Give me a sec, mum," I said and went to look for Mingming.

"Ming, you here?" I called out. No response. Where could that guy be? Did he get lost? Or was this building really dangerous? Before any more unpleasant thoughts could come to mind, I heard a voice say,"Oh no, you're too kind. I don't need all this"

"Please accept this, you really should have these," I heard another voice. Mingming. In the corner of the corridor, was a small room. I peeked in and saw Mingming sitting down on the floor with a frail old lady, even older than my mother. Age had definitely caught up with her and she was definitely sickly. Mingming was offering her the health drink that I had planned to give my mother.

"Young man, it's okay if you keep it for yourself. I'm not going to be here much longer. You're a good person, thank you," the old lady said and pushed back the drink to Mingming. Not sure what to do, I just stood by the door. Mingming hesitated for a moment and took the drink back.

"Here. My friend is waiting for me right now, so I should go," Mingming held the old lady's hand and slipped the drink into her palm before getting up. 

"Bye- what are you doing here?" Mingming looked at me.

"Nothing, I was looking for you," I said, pretending that i had not seen anything. Cold city boy Mingming was a secret sweetheart?

"My mum wants to meet you, come on/"

-

"Oh, what a tall young and handsome man! It's been awhile, Yura," my mom smiled at me. I knew she meant Chan. If Chan had heard this, he would throw a temper temtrum again. 

"Er, hi, Mrs Kwon. Thanks for the compliment on my height, I guess?" Mingming tried to smile but I could tell he was weirded out already. 

"Oh, and he speaks well too. Muscular, as well!" my mom grinned like a crazy fangirl. He shot me a pleading look that obviously said,"Please get her to stop touching my biceps. I tried to contain my laughter but Mingming getting babied by my mother was the funniest thing ever. 

I remember the first time Chan met my mother. We were at the hosptial when Chan was with me for my treatment again. My mother burst into the ward saying something about me not allowed to be in a room alone with a boy. She watched Chan dance for herself and even had a conversation with him. In the end, she said Chan was 'alright' and he could stay with me only if there was a nurse or a doctor watching us. 

Chan would bring me flowers and chocolates every Friday, I started to look forward to Fridays the most every week. He would bring me my favourite kinder buenos and sunflowers to cheer me up. He would then show me his new dance routine that he came up with every week, and then refuse to let me record it with my phone. Sometimes. he would sing a short song to get me to sleep. When I woke up, he would have left already.

"Earth to Yura, your mum's talking to you, Mingming tapped my shoulder and I jolted out of my daydream.

"I said, it's late. You should go back home now," my mother said and picked up her mop to clean the toilet again. Mingming had already given her the ramyun and she placed it in her bag near the door.

"Hey you, you're trying to slack off during working hours?" a tall lady with her hair nearly bunned up stood at the toilet entrance. She tipped her glasses at me and Mingming. "Kids aren't allowed in here. You broke two rules today, Mrs Kwon. No dinner for you tonight and a quater of your pay gone. Concentrate better please," the lady said and strutted off in her high heels and pencil skirt. 

I felt the anger rising in my throat. What right did she have to talk to my mother like that? Not giving dinner? Cutting her pay? This was going overboard, and I had to do something about it to protect my mother.

"Hey you!" I rushed out and called to the lady. She ignored me and continued to walk to her office.

"Dont ever speak to my mother like that again, or you'll get it really bad!" I felt the need to curse but since my mother could probably hear me, I tried to maintain my cool.

The lady turned back and clicked her tongue while shaking her head.

"No dinner for a week, now. Good job, child. Keep at it and your mother will lose her job," she said. I would have ripped her to pieces if Mingming hadn't held me back.

"Shh, that's enough. There's nothing we can do," Mingming said. "Like your mother said, it's late. We have to go home."

"You're crazy. What about my mother? She's not going to have dinner for a week at least. If that devil decides on not giving her food at all, my mother will die," I snapped. It was wrong of me to be angry at Mingming, but I had to let out my anger somehow.

"I'll come, okay. I'll bring her food for the next week. Are we settled and good now?" Mingming suggested.

"You would? Im coming with you," I said. This could work out after all, I would be able to be a great help to my mom.

"No, you can stay at home. It's unsafe going home late everyday. You trust me right? I'll bring her food, I promise," Mingming shrugged.

"Okay, thanks," I let out a big sigh. "I trust you."

I said goodbye to my mother and told her about Mingming giving her food for the next week. She spent the next 10 minutes trying to tell Mingming that none of those were necessary and she was on a strict diet anyway. Mingming persuaded her into accepting his offer anyway, he had a way with words. I hugged my mother goodbye and told her that I would visit soon.

"Wait," Mingming said as we waited for the lift to arrive. He sprinted to the small room he had found the old lady in just now and came out as soon as the lift arrived. What was that old lady to him anyway? Why was he so concerned about her?

"Let's go home," Mingming smiled meekly as he held the lift door for me.

-

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked.

"About what?" Mingming tried to feign ignorance.

"About her. The old lady you were talking to, you know her?"

"No," Mingming bent his head down to stare at his sneakers. Was he embarrassed or shy about talking to that lady?

"Okay," I said and let the topic go. Maybe it was a sensitive topic.

"She reminded me of my grandmother," Mingming suddenly offered some information.

"Your grandmother," I repeated, trying to make sense of what was going on.

"My grandmother took care of me since i was young. We lived together and she was the one that tried to get me into dancing. One day, well... I had this competition," Mingming started to choke up but I could tell he was trying his best to keep away from crying.

"I'm here, I reminded him.

"I had this competition, and I invited her. I won, but she didn't come. Being the selfish person I was, I cursed at her and hated her for not being there for me that day. Can you imagine? You won, but your loved ones aren't there to share the happiness with you," Mingming took a deep breath before continuing. "I felt that I didn't really win that."

"Everyone makes mistakes," I tried to offer the best piece of advice i had in my head.

"But nobody makes a mistake as big as mine. I ran away, she tried to chase after me to bring me home. While crossing the road, she tripped and fell..." Mingming paused. "The traffic lights turned green and a car ran over her. I never found out who the driver of the car was. If i did..."

I was at a real loss for words? Who knew a person like Mingming could have such a tragic story that he kept to himself? The lady at my mom's office reminded him of his grandmother, of course he would want to treat her with care. No wonder he looked so sad when the lady was rejecting his health drink to her. 

"I'm sorry," I said softly as we reached our lift lobby. In the light, I could see Mingming's teary eyes clearly. "Thanks for telling me. I'm here whenever you need me, okay?"

"Roger that," Mingming said and held the lift door for me again.

-

"Hey," I said before locking my front gate.

"Yeah?" Mingming looked up.

"You'll be fine, just fine. See you tomorrow, Ming," I said.

"Don't even remind me about tomrrow. I have to meet Hyojoon at lunch to 'discuss' our routine. Whatever, goodnight."

-

Contact name: Chan<3

Status: Offline since 7am K.S.T

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YAy i finally updated!! :-D