~Author's Note~ Hi guys! I know I promised you all this new chapter a long time ago but life got in the way, that and writer's block. So without any further delay here is a mini-chapter! Please let me know if you all prefer long or shot updates or if you don't care as long as I update. Comments, subscribe, and upvotes are always appreciated, so let me know what you guys are thinking! Enjoy! 

16 years later  

Mark’s POV

Dream Sequence

Within the shadows of my dream, I could see what looked like my three-year-old self attempting to jump from a shelf onto my mom’s bed.  My mother (Taeyeon) caught me by the waist in a state of panic right before I hit the floor. I heard her familiar chuckle that comforted me, thinking to myself ‘Could this really be happening?’. Looking over she sat next to me, just as beautiful as I remembered, except younger and healthier. Her chuckle quickly turned into that hearty laughter that I've missed so much as she nudged me in the ribs, “Saved your there, didn’t I?”
I laughed and lightly punched her shoulder, “You sure did mom.”

“Well yeah, can you imagine what would’ve happened if I didn’t catch you? You’d probably be 25% less smart than you are now.”  She said jokingly as she punched my shoulder back

I scoffed playfully and raised my eyebrow at her, “Is that even a thing?”

She thumped me in the back of the head, “Of course it’s a thing! I had a friend in grade school that hit her head on the slide during recess and doctors told her she’d be 25% smarter by now if it wasn’t for that! Can you believe it, 25%?!”

I blinked a few times and rubbed the back of my head. The scene of my dream had changed, she and I were now standing by a park bench surrounded by green grass, clear skies, and a small lake.  As I gestured for her to sit down she asked, “Why do you always take us back to this place..?”

I looked into her eyes as we both sat and said, “It’s peaceful and private, your happy place remember.

She smiled at me from across the table and held out her hand for me to hold and I took it gently. She ran her thumb across the back of my hand and said, “I miss you.. every day. You’re growing up to be an amazing young man.”

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. “I miss you too. And it’s all thanks to you and mum.”

She looked at her watch and smiled sadly, “It’s almost time for me to go.”

My grip on her hand tightened, “No, stay! Please, I need more time with you!”  

She chuckled lightly, “Well we could've had more time if someone went to bed early. But no, you stayed up til 2 am editing your video..”

I rolled my eyes, “I had to upload it, mom, it’s been weeks since we posted anything!”

She was being sarcastic with me, chuckling and playfully poking my cheek, “Right because youtube is more important than school and your extracurricular activities? Which I’ve told you a thousand times before, that that stuff can wait?”

I chuckled, “You tell me that all the time, but it can't wait…our channel revolves around music and it makes me feel closer to you. We even use your old studio.”

She smiled sadly and cupped my cheek, “You all definitely make beautiful music and I love hearing it from up there. /she pointed to the sky/ It’s about time for you to get back, so have a great first day at school and send my love to your mum.”

I nodded and as my dream started to fade, the last thing I heard from her was, “I love you.”

The alarm went off in my ear awakening me from my sleep. I growled grumpily and hit the snooze button hoping that I could get more time to rest, but that didn’t happen. My stepmother (Jessica) opened my door and yelled, “Mark, get up, it’s the first day of school! I made your favorite, so hurry up before it gets cold.”  

With that, she closed the door and made her way back downstairs.

Hi, I’m Mark Kim. That was my stepmom Jessica, she and my other mum (Tiffany) got together about a year and a half after my mother Taeyeon passed away from Cancer. Even though she’s a bit more... Sturn..., she’s actually a very kind person.

I also have a brother, his name's Bryan. He and I met in the Big brothers Big sisters Program and we’ve been like true brothers since day one. He’s always there for me when I need guy advice, but it’s hard because Bryan’s in the WWE and they’re always on the road so I barely get to see him. But we always make time for each other.

I quickly changed into my school clothes, grabbed my Trumpet, packed up for school and a set of nice clothes. Bryan’s in town and invited me to have dinner with him, his wife Brie, her twin Nikki and her boyfriend John, which means I gotta look presentable.

After I made sure I had everything, I went downstairs for breakfast and found Jessica and mum in the kitchen. Jessica was cleaning the dishes in the sink and mum was drinking coffee at the table. As I sat across from her I said, “Morning mum.”

She nodded in my direction and returned to drinking her coffee.

This is my mum Tiffany, she loves the color pink and runs a fashion empire called Hwang-Jung Corporation. Ever since Taeyeon passed away, she’s withdrawn herself from me and it seems as if everything I do isn't good enough for her. She’s also been on edge lately due to me finding out who my biological father is...

As I sat down about to dig into my breakfast, my thoughts began to rush into my head with questions.

Normally mum or  I do the cooking, but lately, Jessica has been starting to cook. I think it’s because my step-sister (Krystal) went to college and she misses her. The only thing is... she’s not the best cook in the world. Last Thursday night she offered to cook steak with mushrooms and mashed potatoes. The mushrooms and mashed potatoes were... fine, and the steak was well overdone. It tasted like a rubber shoe.

With my fork in hand, I stabbed a bit of food on my fork and took a bite. It took everything I had not to spit it back out. Mum gave me the ‘don’t you dare’ look as I swallowed my portion. I looked at the clock and I had enough time to swing past Jamba Juice before school if I leave now. I got up giving my quick goodbyes to both of them and started to rush my way out the door.

Jessica looked a little disappointed, “Leaving already?”

“Yeah, I have to pick up Riley too. Sorry.” I said packing my car.

Riley is one of my best friends, I’m sure you guys will like her. Besides, it wasn’t a complete lie, I did have to pick her up…

Tiffany went over to Jessica and held her hand to comfort her; I couldn’t help but roll my eyes as I looked away.

It always makes me a little jealous that she does that for Jessica or Krystal and not for me and most times I get over it. But sometimes it gets me thinking that maybe it’s because I’m a boy and she doesn’t see a need to comfort me as much as they need it. But... I need her too.

I hastily got into my car and reversed down the driveway, taking the path to Riley’s house.

Riley and I have been friends since preschool and our houses aren’t even far from each other. The only problem is her parents think that we’re eventually going to “get together.” Not that the idea doesn’t appeal to me, but Riley is into girls and it just wouldn’t work.  I chuckled softly. It’s extremely awkward when I go over, but I don’t mind her using me as a shield. Her parents are very strict about that kind of stuff and I doubt they’d accept her if they ever found out. They barely tolerate my mothers being together, so until she finds the right person, I wouldn’t advise her to tell them. Terrible thing to do, but it’s for the best.

Riley was already outside waiting for me on her porch. As I got out of my car, she ran over and gave me a big hug. When we pulled apart, I helped her carry her stuff to the car.

“You’re early.” She laughed as we put her stuff into the back seat.

“Well, Jessica did the cooking this morning and it wasn’t very… What's the word I’m looking for? Oh yeah, edible!" We both laughed. "I was hoping we could stop for a smoothie before school?” I asked closing the door and giving her my best puppy dog face.

She let out a playful sigh before nodding, “Well...if we absolutely have to.”

I raised my fist up in victory, “Yes!" I opened the passenger seat for her and kissed her cheek. "You’re the best!”

“I know.” She said as she took her seat. I closed the door to her side, waved goodbye to her parents, got in the driver’s seat, and drove off without another passing glance.

Once we were out of range I turned to look at her and she was a little more pale than usual. “You were out pretty early yourself, you okay?”

She didn’t say anything at first, but then she reached into her backpack and pulled out a pill bottle. She gestured for me to take a look at them, so I pulled over on the side of the road. I put the car in park and took the bottle from her, reading the prescription.

As soon as I read the name of the medicine, my heart instantly sank to my stomach and I felt like I was about to be sick. “You have cancer,” I stated quietly.

She looked at me with such sad eyes and nodded. Without saying anything I leaned over and hugged her very tight, wanting her to know that I was there for her. She hugged me back just as fierce, letting some of her tears fall on my shoulder.

We sat like that for a few minutes until she pulled away. She sniffles and used the back of her hand to wipe the remaining tears from her face. “Thanks for that.” She whispered.

I cleared my throat to keep my voice level, “Always.”

I paused for a moment to let her collect herself again. Once she stopped crying I asked, “Besides me and your family, who else knows?” I wasn’t sure if she was planning on telling more people, but I figured I should ask, just in case.

She thought about it for a moment. “First of all, pretty much everyone from Grey Sloan Memorial. Dr. Robbins, Dr. Torres’s & Dr. Karev, Uncle Derek & Aunt Meredith, Mr. Simm-... I mean Uncle Marcus & probably Aunt Emily, your dad… and maybe Mason. Not like I told him, but I’m sure Uncle Marcus and Aunt Emily might’ve told him or gave him a hint about why I’ve been at the hospital a lot recently. It’ll be nice if he figured it out for himself though, I’m starting to run out of excuses.” She chuckled a little bit at the last part but for the most part, she looked broken.

Before continuing, she looked down at the floor refusing to meet my eyes. “You’re the only one out of our group that knows, I’m afraid to tell the others.. they’ll treat me differently when they find out. And once I start getting the chemo, I’ll just be a burden to everyone..”

I took both of her hands on mine, “Look at me," She slowly raised her head. "We will always be here for you, you know that. But if you don’t want to say anything I’ll help you keep it a secret and tell Mas not to be a big mouth.”

She smiled a little, but then closed her eyes and took a deep breath before saying, “I want to tell them today, maybe before school starts. That way my new found confidence won’t wear off.”

My eyes widened a little bit and I was a bit stunned, as the shock wore off I gave her a playful smirk and restarted the car. “Well if that’s your goal, then I think we should skip the smoothie and high tail it to school. You can text or call the gang on the way there.”

As I pulled back onto the road I could hear her calling everyone. It was definitely going to be an interesting morning.