“Na-eul?” Mrs. Kim was surprised to see her daughter and her son-in-law standing in front of the door, in the early morning. “Mom!” she said and jumped to hug her. “What are you doing here?” she asked. “It’s not like we’re living side to side, you know” she said and brushed off her hair. Mr. Kim joined them and hugged Kyungsoo.

“You’ve grown a bit bigger, Kyungsoo. How are you?” he asked. He smiled. “Na-eul feeds me too much love, I guess. Everything’s fine” he said. “Mi-rae said she’s going to come if she’s not busy, I thought she’s coming with you guys” Mrs. Kim said. Both of Na-eul and Kyungsoo remained silent as Kyungsoo grabbed Na-eul’s hand and tightened his grip.

“Come, this is the first time Kyungsoo comes here” Mrs. Kim smiled and led them inside. They followed behind Mr. and Mrs. Kim as suddenly Na-eul pulled his arm. “I’m going to tell mom, no matter what” she said. Kyungsoo nodded and smiled at her.

That night, they had their dinner together somewhere around their area. Na-eul felt so calm to be with her parents and Kyungsoo at this time. But, she still couldn’t get the incident that happened to her out of her head. She still haunted by Suho’s image; he would appear in her dreams sometimes and she got up in the middle of the night, feeling terrified as Kyungsoo had to calm her down.

They bought some fruits and snacks for their midnight supper and while preparing for the supper, Na-eul decided to talk to her mother about Mi-rae and Suho.

“I tried to call her these days, but she always put her phone on voicemail?” Mrs. Kim said as she cut the apples and arranged it on the plate. “So, you met her?” she asked. “No... I didn’t” she played with her fingers. “Mom... there’s something I need to tell you” she sighed.

Mrs. Kim grabbed her hand and looked at her. “What is it, honey?” she asked. “I’m not in a good term with Mi-rae now” she stammered. “Did she do something to you? You guys never fight since kids, just that after she “technically” left us in the middle of summer break to go to Korea, yeah, you did having some sort of mental breakdown” she said.

“She didn’t do something to me but Suho did” she said, tried to look at her mom in the eyes. Mrs. Kim gave a suspicious look at her. “You’re cheating on Kyungsoo?” she whispered. “No, mom” she shook her head and sighed. “How to tell you this?” she stomped on her feet a bit and ruffled her hair. “On the day she arrived in Korea, she called me right away and she said, she’s sick so, the next day I applied for a leave ‘cause I wanted to go to her house to give her home-cooked meals” she paused as Mrs. Kim listened to her attentively.

“She wasn't there but Suho was” she stammered. “He asked me to come inside and later he pushed me to the wall, and, and” she broke into tears. “He almost me” she continued. “I was so scared, he was like got possessed by something and I tried to run from him but he pushed me on the floor” she cried.

Mrs. Kim pulled her for a hug and calmed her down. “Eventually, I managed to escape myself and ran straight to Kyungsoo’s office. I’m under meds now” she sighed. “Why?” she broke the hug and looked at her daughter’s eyes. “I... I miscarriage. I was 1-month pregnant but I didn’t know that” she cried.

“Oh no, my baby, no no” Mrs. Kim broke into tears as Na-eul cried in her arms. “Did Mi-rae know about it?” she asked. “She did. She went to our house last night and slapped Kyungsoo because he went to her house and punched Suho in the face” she cleared . “I didn’t know at first about the miscarriage, but Kyungsoo told her at the same time” she said.

She rubbed her eyes. “After that, we booked tickets to come here because I had enough of them. How can someone believes in someone else that her own blood-related sister?” she said. “I’m sorry, mom” she sighed. Mrs. Kim smiled and grabbed her shoulder. “It’s already happened, Na-eul. We can’t do anything about it. What’s important now is, you’re safe” she said. “Did Kyungsoo lodge a police report?” she asked. “No, he didn’t” she shook her head.

“That guy, I thought he’s the best for her” Mrs. Kim sighed. “Well, he used to. Mi-rae told me, she’s having a problem with Suho since they move to California. On that day, I saw beer bottles were scattering on the table and he looked... he doesn’t look like a person” she said. “Your sister becomes more secretive after she turned 20. It’s difficult for us to get through her sometimes. She only talks to you” she sighed.

“I’m glad Kyungsoo is always there for me” she found her smile back. “Mrs. Do told me that he changed a lot after he’s married to you” Mrs. Kim smiled and continued to cut the apples. “From someone who’s so cold, to someone who’s so caring and sweet, that side of him where no one knows he has it” she said. “Yeah, he has that” Na-eul chuckled. “You know, you can always try, Na-eul. Plus, don’t rush it. Later, when you have a child, it’s going to be your first priority, you have to leave some things out” she winked. “I feel relieved I