• CHAERIN •

 

The minute we arrived back at the house, dara's ran inside, almost knocking down her Aunt on her way. I heaved a sigh and stepped inside, slowly shutting the door behind me.

 

"What happened?" Aunt asks, raising an eyebrow in my direction.

 

"I think it should be dara who should tell you," I tell her. "It's really none of my business." Aunt nods and then finishes with a sigh.

 

"Is she ok?"

 

"molla." I respond honestly.

 

Aunt bites her lip. "I'll go talk to her." She says before making her way upstairs. I follow, but head into my guest room instead, eyeing the large, pink suitcase that was now beside my bed.

 

Who does that-

 

"Mian hae ." bom walks out of the guest bathroom, her hair wet and falling in ringlets around her shoulders. "I was showering since sam took the other bathroom." She walks over and picks up her suitcase, propping it on the bed. "How are things with dara?"

 

"Unchanging." I sigh. "I have a feeling things aren't going to change for a while."

 

"That ." bom comments, throwing me a sympathetic look as she digs through her suitcase, eventually pulling out a pair of colorful socks but something else falls out as well. I pick it up, scanning over the small, framed photograph. I'm pretty sure it was picture of bom, but it looked...old. bom was wearing a long, ancient-looking gown and a small tiara and she wore a happy smile on her face

 

"When did you take this?" I question.

 

"I, well..." bom blushes. "It's not me. I found it in Aunt stuff and kept it. Please don't tell her." bom takes the picture and flips it, pointing to something that was written on the back. "I'm pretty sure this is Aunt ."

 

I crinkle my forehead.

 

- Park Su-hyun. June 13 1992. -

 

"Is your Aunt's full name Su-hyun?" I ask bom, turning the photograph around in my fingers.

 

bom nods.

 

I frown, cocking my head to the side. "You look exactly like her..."

 

• DARA •

 

I stare at the ceiling, my bottom lip trembling. Why is this happening? Who's my mother? Is she still alive?

 

"Sweetheart?" Aunt appears in my doorway. She walks over and takes a sear on my bed, causing it to sink. "Are you ok? What's up?"

 

"It's nothing." I mutter, not wanting to talk about it. Aunt might now know. She was lied too. There was no other possibilty.

 

"dara," She begins to say but I cut her off.

 

"I don't want to talk about it. Can I just have some time alone?"

 

Aunt sighs and stands up. "If that's what you want. But don't be afraid to talk to me, ok?" I nod, burying my face in my pillow and waiting for any sign of the door closing. I don't hear it. Instead, I hear footsteps walking towards me and then the bed sinks again.

 

"Aunt -" I start to say.

 

"It's just me." A familiar voice chuckles. I smile to myself and sit up, wiping away any visible tears from my eyes. "I thought you weren't home."

 

"I am now." sam grins, reaching over to ruffle my messy hair. "So, what's up? What's with the tears?"

 

I heave a loud sigh and rest my head on sam's shoulder. "It's complicated."

 

"Spill." sam insists.

 

I bite my bottom lip as I observe the empty ground. "You can't tell anyone. Only chaerin knows."

 

"chaerin?" sam throws me a weird look which I ignore.

 

"Do you promise?" I ask again.

 

"I promise."

 

"Well..."

 

I tell him everything, not leaving out a single detail. When I finish, I find myself bursting into tears again. sam pulls me into a brotherly hug and assures me that everything's going to be ok.

 

• CHAERIN •

 

I couldn't get the photograph out of my head. bom and her Aunt could be twins. I could barely tell the different between bom and the photograph. Was it just a coincidence?

 

I'm brought out my thoughts by the sound of my phone blasting

 

I knit my eyebrows together and slide my iPhone out my pocket.

 

It's tiffany.

 

"Hello?" I answer, pressing the phone to my ear.

 

"Hey!" She chirps. "seungri told me you're in philippines ."

 

"Uh, yeah."

 

"I'm doing a video shooting there," She continues. "And I was wondering if you wanted to hang out. Bowling maybe? You can bring dara. seungri told me she's the reason you're there. And she can invite any friends-"

 

I in. "tiff, you talk to much." I chuckle.

 

"And that sounds great. I'll talk to dara about it."

 

"Great!" She beams. "I'll text you tomorrow. Bye, CL."

 

"Bye, Tiff." I hang up, throwing my phone aside.

 

Bowling. A part of me doubts dara will agree, but-

 

"Have you seen a Psp in here?" Some guy I assumed was sam, the one that had been in dara's dressing room at graduation, poked his throw my door.

 

"No." I shake my head.

 

He groans and shuts the door, disappearing. I smile to myself. If sam goes, dara has to go. But...how am I going to tell dara about the strange photograph?