Missed this? So did i! Hehe, be patient with this working author. I have no excuses. Anyway, let's take little steps patiently and not big heaps at a time - meaning, yes, even though I do not update frequently, I would not try to rush the plot and make sure that it goes as I had thought of it before :)

Enjoy~

“Jessica,” Sheila, aka Tteokbokki Ahjumma, was at the front of Jessica’s house, teary-eyed as she saw Jessica went out of the car

“Have you been waiting outside for so long?” Jessica was concerned. The season is changing so, waiting outside of her house may put the elder into sickness or trouble because you can never tell what happens around

“That doesn’t matter …” The tears fell as she held Jessica’s hand “I’m sorry, hmm?”

“For what?” Frowned her, ushering Sheila inside

“You wanted to meet me the last time … but I wasn’t able to come”

“Oh!” Smiled her, mouthing ‘juice’ to Mrs. Choi “It’s okay, no biggies. You know, you may still be busy selling or whatever you’re doing now”

“That day … I went to the family registration office”

“And? Do you have a family, or?”

“Yes” She nodded vehemently and raising her hand up to cup Jessica’s face

“Ddooddungie is home~” Krystal sing-sang excitedly “6:59 pm, and is early by a minute”

“Is that Soojung???” She stands up and went to Krystal to cup her face too, but Krystal being Krystal, she moved away from the elder and went to Jessica who’s standing at the living room

“Who is she unnie?”

“Sheila Ahjumma. The one who gave us tteokbokki and food to eat a long time ago. You probably won’t remember her. It happened when you were still very little, and before Sister Mae”

“My pretty daughters …” 

“What?!” Krystal asked, unamused

“Daughter?”

“You’re looking for mom, really?” She turned to Jessica “After she abandoned us and never tried to look for us?”

“She’s still our mom …”

“Who was there when I had nothing to eat? Who was there when I was bullied by other kids? Who was there who nursed my wounds? The one who took care of me even if she herself is already dying of her own sickness? That’s not a definition of mom, unnie. That’s love. And you’re the only one who loved me, so I do not need a mom. If she wasn’t there before, she shouldn’t be here now”

“But …”

“Okay then” huffed her “I am not staying here. Not with her” She pointed to her mom as if it was some stranger – but in her dictionary, it really is, since they only met for a few minutes

“Soojung” She whined, appeasing the younger, abandoning their mom inside the house. No. There’s no way she’s going to let Soojung go.

“I love you unnie” She turned “But mom …” sighed “No. I am fine with the two of us. Just us two”

“Don’t you love me enough to understand why I want her back?”

“I’ll think about it” Krystal removed Jessica’s hold to her before dashing towards the pedestrian, beating the red light

“Soojung!” Jessica waited anxiously “Soojung!” she continues to call before Krystal’s figure disappeared into the crowd and she found herself breaking down at the sidewalk 

“Unnie” Krystal called softly “Unnie?”

Jessica opened her eyes and saw Krystal looking wiping her face, cuddling beside her “Huh?”

“Are you having a bad dream?”

“Dream?”

“Just now, you were crying in your sleep. Penny for your thoughts?”

“Was it just a dream?” She hugged her tightly

“Did it feel real?”

“Hmm” She agreed, and think things through whether to share her ‘dream’ or nah “Soojungie …”

“Hmm?”

“Pretty Soojungie …”

“What?”

“Nothing” She smiled

“I’m going to be nice, and would be patient regardless of what silliness you’re trying to pull on me”

“Sure?”

“Try me”

“Honestly, I’ve been searching for mom …”

…

“But I can stop it if you don’t want me to” She added when Krystal was mum about it “I mean, I do not even remember how mom looks like, and we don’t even have a picture of her for us to look at”

“And?”

“That’s it” Jessica looked up to Krystal who’s still in deep thoughts “I’m just saying … because, you might not like it and leave me?”

Krystal immediately giggled “What are you saying?” then pinched Jessica’s nose “Why would I leave you?”

“So you chose to kill me???” She huffed, removing Krystal’s hand off her nose

“Give you the chance, you will be silly every single time”

“It is not silly!”

“Why would I leave you then?” She asked, still giggling. Jessica glared “Fine. Real talk, first I would try to verify her identity … then she would enter Krystal’s can-you-get-closer-to-me phase, before finally accepting her”

“Why would you let our mom enter that phase when you do that to person who tries to