I PULLED THE EARBUDS FROM MY EARS AND set the magazine next to me on the bed when I heard the knock on my door. 

'Hi.' My mother smiled, easing the door open. 'Can I come in?'

'Sure,' I answered, not sure why she was acting so nervous. Then I noticed the frame in her hand.

'I wanted you to have this,' she said, propping the frame on the top of my bureau, next to Leyla and Jack's framed Christmas card. I slid off the bed to get a better look. 'I figured you should have it, since it's the only one that escaped my clumsiness.'

It was a picture of my father balancing me on his shoulder, smiling proudly. I was laughing, wearing a soccer uniform and holding up a trophy. My mouth turned up at the sight of it.

'Thank you.'

'He loved watching you play soccer,' she recalled. I examined the picture, but couldn't place the moment. I appeared to be around five or six. Perhaps I was too young to remember. 'You understand why I don't have pictures of him out, right?' she asked tentatively. I nodded. 'Well, it doesn't mean you can't.'

I wasn't sure what to say. It was obvious it had taken a lot for her to share this with me. And I wanted to tell her how much it meant to me. I probably should have hugged her. But we just stood there awkwardly, having difficulty even meeting each other's eyes, forget about touching. 

'So how was the party?' she finally asked, breaking the emotional tension. 

'It was a party,' I sighed indifferently. 

'Did anyone say anything about the sweater?' she pushed. 

'Oh no!' I exclaimed, shaking my head. 

'What?' she questioned in alarm. 

'I forgot my sweater,' I explained, upset with myself. 'I can't believe I forgot it.'

'Can't you just go there and get it?' she asked, not understanding my dilemma. 

'Well.... it was at my ex-boyfriend's house, so I'm not so sure it would be a great idea,' I groaned. 

'Ex-boyfriend's?' my mother mused with raised eye-brows. 'Does Sehun know you went?'

I pressed my lips together guiltily. 'No. And I'm not looking forward to telling him.'

'Good luck with that,' she scoffed lightly with a shake of her head. 

'Oh, thanks,' I retorted, my stomach twisting at the thought of having to tell Sehun I went to Kai's and that he drove me home. 'That makes me feel better.'

'Sorry,' she chuckled. 

'Ready?' Chanyeol hollered from the hallway. 

'For what?' my mother questioned in confusion, just as red and purple squirt guns thumped on my bed. 

Chanyeol appeared in the doorway, armed with a blue one. 'For this,' he smiled wickedly and released a stream of water. 

I ducked towards the bed when he shot at us again. My mother yelped in laughter.

'Oh, you are so going to get it,' she squealed, snatching the red gun and chasing after him down the stairs, spraying the entire way. 

I grabbed the other gun and pursued them, losing sight of Chanyeol as my mother ran into the kitchen for cover. I led with the gun, pointing it into the living room, but he wasn't there. 

I turned and crept back towards the foyer. My mother stuck her head out and nodded towards the dark hallway that led to the basement door. Before I could react, Chanyeol emerged from the shadows and grabbed me by the arm, pulling me in front of him just as my mother popped out of the kitchen, aimed to squirt.

Chanyeol pressed his arm across me, taunting my mother to shoot. 

'You're using me as a shield?' I accused him, as he waved the gun, flashing it from my mother to me - ready to squirt whoever made a move first. 

'She's not going to shoot you,' he explained, steering me further out into the foyer as my mother attempted to circle around to get a clear shot.

'Sorry, honey,' my mother said, aiming the gun at my head.

'Mom?' My eyes spread wide in disbelief. Then I noticed her eyes flip towards the floor, and in that second, I dropped out of Chanyeol's arm and onto the floor while she squirted him. I spun around and began streaming water at him as well. 

Chanyeol held up his hand to protect himself while he shot back at us. None of us attempted to retreat, allowing the water to fall on us as we laughed, until there wasn't anything left in our guns. 

'Time to refill,' Chanyeol proclaimed with his hands raised in surrender. 

My mother took my gun as I sat on the stairs, wiping my face, still smiling. 

'Okay, we get a head start,' my mother instructed me a few minutes later, handing back the filled water guns. 

'Chanyeol, you have to stay in the kitchen for twenty seconds before you can come out. Ready, SooJi?'

I nodded. Chanyeol eyed us suspiciously before retreating to the kitchen. 

'Quick,' she whispered, 'up the stairs.'

I scampered up the stairs with her right behind me. Ducking into the bathroom, I hid behind the door, as she lay on the floor of the hallway, ready to ambush him when he came up the stairs.

'Ready?' she asked, glancing back at me. I thought I heard a knock at the door, but I couldn't be sure from where I was.

'Wait, you can't go outside,' my mother hollered when the door squeaked open. She popped up and started shooting in that direction before she was even on her feet. I stepped out of the bathroom to follow her. But she'd stopped. She stood frozen at the top of the stairs with her hand covering . 

'I am so sorry,' she gasped. I followed her horrified gaze to find Sehun at the bottom of the stairs with water running down his forehead and over his nose, stunned and confused. 

I opened my mouth in shock and burst out laughing. 

'What did you do?'