The week dragged on by and each day was getting more and more boring for Seulgi. Her excitement for Friday earlier on in the week had slowly faded away as she hit Thursday. The moment Seulgi showed up to work, she was faced with many more customers than a few days earlier. Mostly because the weekend was approaching and the next day, the club would clear the tables away from the dance floor and the place would be booming with music into early Saturday morning. Seulgi was on her feet a lot more, bringing and making drinks for the customers who came by.

Finally, things seemed to settle down and Seulgi sat on a stool, watching the people in the club. When she got really bored, Seulgi began to observe some of the customers who were especially loud. She sighed when she spotted some old men already getting drunk even though she’d only seen them walk in about ten minutes earlier. Her head swung to the side when she heard a clang and she watched as a young man bent down to pick up his phone. Seulgi watched him inspect it, and tried not to laugh when he swore under his breath, whining about the scratch on the screen.

About half an hour went by and Seulgi was preparing to leave, as her shift would finally be over. She accepted almost immediately when Seunghyun, who was also getting off at the same time, offered to walk with her home. The older man had been like a brother to her ever since Seulgi had first met him.

The two stepped out of the club and Seulgi reached for the pack of cigarettes in her pocket, “want one?” She offered.

Seunghyun shook his head, “nah, trying to quit...you should too.” Seulgi rolled her eyes and Seunghyun chuckled, “although I know you never will…ah I hate those bastards got you hooked onto cigarettes when you were so young…”

Seulgi just shrugged, “middle school isn’t that young.”

Seunghyun chuckled again, “of course not.” He watched as Seulgi blew smoke out of , as if she’d been doing it since she were born.

“How are the kids?” Seunghyun asked, regaining Seulgi’s attention. The girl frowned for a moment before nodding.

“They’re okay...Sooyoung is teaching Yerim how to be a little , and I have to deal with it all,” Seulgi paused for a second before nodding her head slowly, “they’re little s but I love them.”

Seunghyun smiled and stared at Seulgi in amazement. It always bothered him how young Seulgi was, and how much she’d gone through since a young age. The two other girls weren’t any different, almost in the same situation as Seulgi. Except unlike Seulgi, the two had someone there for them to help. Seunghyun remembered when he first ran into Seulgi, who was much younger, and very alone at the time. Seeing her mature so quickly and take care of two others was something Seunghyun didn’t think he would’ve been able to do in her place.

“I still think it’s amazing how you-” Seunghyun coughed as Seulgi accidentally turned to face him while puffing out smoke, resulting in him choking, “HEY, I can get cancer from second-hand smoking you know!”

Seulgi stopped walking and raised her eyebrows, “stop joking, you smoked for over ten years, this is no different.”

Seunghyun glared at the younger girl as she continued to walk and he took long strides to catch up to her. He cleared his throat and put his hands into his pockets, “as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, I still can’t believe you took those two in, even with the amount you have to spend...and you can still manage to send them to school with clean clothes?”

Seulgi shook her head and threw her cigarette in front of her, stomping on it as she past it. “Anyone can do it, it’s not a big achievement.”

Seunghyun just laughed and nodded. “Of course, always staying humble.”

Seulgi looked at the ground and smiled to herself. She had hoped that Seunghyun wouldn’t catch it but he did, and he also smiled widely. It was amazing how even with so little, the girl’s smile was so big.

“You’re finally letting Sooyoung work?” Seunghyun asked, as they turned a corner and approched a shabby, small building. Seulgi nodded.

“I rejected the idea at first but I guess it could be a good experience for her, and we could use the extra money-” Seulgi glanced at her apartment building and smiled, “we might be able to move out to a nicer place soon, I’ve been saving up a lot, and the government is helping us pay for Sooyoung’s university tuition.”

Seulgi looked back at Seunghyun but her mind was on the two girls who were waiting for her at home, “she might be an but thank god she has a smart brain.”

Seunghyun laughed and gestured for Seulgi to enter the building when they finally stopped walking in front of it. Seulgi nodded and gave him a small wave. “Thanks for walking me home safely you dork.”

“It was my pleasure.” Seunghyun watched Seulgi give him a final wave before she hurried inside, through the glass doors. He watched her put in the password to open the other set of doors and didn’t leave until she was out of sight.

His fatherly smile didn’t leave his face even when he was walking away from the building. Seunghyun took his phone out of his pocket when it started ringing and quickly answered.

“Hello?” He paused and chuckled when he recognized the voice, “sorry honey, I was dropping Seulgi off because it was late, I’ll be home soon!”

With that, Seunghyun put his phone away and continued walking in the same direction. He always thought that he had two families. One with his wife and young son, and another with Seulgi, Sooyoung and Yerim.

***

Seulgi was almost the first one out of class today, almost. Her professor stopped her just as she had one foot out the door. “Kang Seulgi?” She called out.

Seulgi froze and closed her eyes. She turned around with a smile on her face, “yes?”

“I just wanted to discuss your test score, you managed to get the top score in the class again and I was thinking I could introduce you to-” The professor continued to talk and Seulgi muttered angrily under her breath.

Not only was it Friday, but she had to get to work within the next 40 minutes or she’d be getting a cut off her salary this week. After what seemed like hours, her professor stopped talking and Seulgi nodded her head enthusiastically. “Of course, I think that’s a great idea, but I should be getting to work, thank you for the offer.” Seulgi did a quick, half-assed bow before sprinting out of the building.

She pulled out her phone and quickly dialed a number as she ran to her bus stop. “Hello? Seungwan! Make sure the kids get home for me, will you? Tell Sooyoung to do her chores and Yerim to study and practice till seven,” Seulgi stopped running when she reached the bus stop.

Fortunately, it had just arrived and Seulgi w