The family of four sat together in the living room to talk while having some snacks. Yuel and Sori were cross-legged on the floor while the parents took the sofa.

Kyungwon and Sori took turns asking Yuel about his new school. He gave them generic responses like “It’s alright,” and “I’m doing fine.” But when Kyungwon mentioned his “new friend,” Yuel couldn’t bring himself to give any response at all. Nothing could have been more awkward than talking about someone who was crushing on you with the person you were crushing on.

Thankfully, Sori came to Yuel’s rescue once again. The three-year-old started dozing off with a half-eaten cookie in her hand. Just when she was about to fall to her side asleep, Kyungwon rushed off the sofa and picked her up.

“It’s Sori’s naptime,” he said.

Sori shook her head, only to lean it on Kyungwon’s shoulder with her eyes closed. “But I wanna… talk more with…”

Kyungwon chuckled. “You can talk more with Yuel Oppa after your nap.”

Sori was fast asleep.

“I’ll go lie with her for a bit,” Kyungwon said. “Why don’t you two have some mother-son bonding time?”

Perhaps Sori hadn’t come to Yuel’s rescue after all. He almost wished he could have just talked to Kyungwon about Edin. That might have been slightly less awkward than being along with his mom. He hadn’t talked to her much at all these past few years. While it was partially because his mom was always too busy with work to be around, the truth was that neither wished to have anything to do with each other. Or at least that was what Yuel wanted to believe.

The two sat in silence, hearing the clock ticking away one minute after the other. Every passing second without saying a word made Yuel’s thoughts grow louder and louder. It was never that he had nothing to talk about with his mom. On the contrary, he had too much he wanted to say to her. But he just didn’t think it was worth it. What would it change? She was already remarried to Kyungwon, and they had a child together.

Another was on its way.

“I heard you’re pregnant,” Yuel slipped out bitterly.

Though his back was turned to her with him leaning against the sofa, he sensed his mom’s gaze on him.

“Yuel…” The heaviness in her voice made even the air around them feel too thick to breathe. After some hesitation, she asked, “Do you still resent me?”

“Do you resent me?”

She asked that same question on that same sofa when she was pregnant with Sori. It might as well be a tradition at this point. A new baby, a new confirmation of resentment.

If Yuel had to be honest, he did resent her. In fact, he hated his mom. It wasn’t just because she got to be with the man he loved. A petty reason like that wouldn’t warrant as deep an emotion as hate. It went much further than that. She ruined his family, or what chance he ever had at a family.

Family was nothing without trust, and Yuel’s mom broke it the day she confessed that she had been cheating on his dad with one of the teachers that worked at her hakwon. The only reason she ever came clean about it in the first place was because she got pregnant, with a child she wanted to keep.

Yuel and his dad dealt with the news in drastically different ways. His dad immediately became furious. There were barely any quiet nights at home after that day. Maybe his dad had it easier since the target of his rage was just one person, his wife. Yuel, on the other hand, had two people he needed time to emotionally process.

The first thing he felt was the disbelief that his mom and he had been interested in the same guy. Then came the grief of knowing he and Kyungwon really couldn’t be together after all. But that stage passed relatively quickly since it was something he had already somewhat accepted.

The next emotion after that dragged on for a painfully long time. It was disgust realizing that he had fallen for the very man who destroyed his family. All those days Kyungwon came over to his house wasn’t because he wanted to see Yuel. Well, it partially could have been, but it certainly was not the main reason. And thinking about what Kyungwon and his mom were up to when he went out to attend his hakwons had him absolutely sick to his stomach.

Once the disgust finally settled, there was nothing but silence and numbness, broken only by the occasional thumping of his heart that still felt something for who was technically his stepdad. That was when Yuel knew he had to get out of this house for good.

That’s right, he was never supposed to return here. Today was a mistake.

Yuel got up to leave. He heard his mom’s footsteps behind him.

“Yuel, wait.”

Yuel turned around right in front of the door and snapped, “What do you want me to say? That I don’t resent you for ruining our family? For ruining my…”

He choked before he could speak the last word—life. She wouldn’t understand anyway and would just think he was being overdramatic. That was his mom. She would never know how he felt, nor did she even care to find out. Even now…

“Your dad never once made me happy,” his mom said.

Yuel scoffed. “But Kyungwon Hyung does?”

“Yeah, he does,” she replied without a moment’s hesitation. “So can’t you allow your mom to be happy for once?”

“Not at the expense of your own son’s happiness,” Yuel murmured under his breath before leaving the apartment.

He was glad the elevator was already on his floor. At least that was one thing that worked out for him today. On his way down, he let out a short laugh. It was directed at himself. Even after everything, he couldn’t believe he still felt bad about not telling Kyungwon goodbye before he left.