Broken promises

Aftermath

She had no idea what time it was, but the sunlight entering the blinds let her know that it was around 10am. Used to being alert even in her sleep, she opened her eyes and was determined to face danger face to face, when she realized that she was safe. She breathed in and smelled the essence of a fancy perfume she knew too well. She looked over her shoulder and saw Su-ryeon sleeping peacefully next to her. Yoon-hee swallowed when she noticed that the older woman's hand was resting on her waist. She felt so comfortable and secure around her. She hadn't slept like that in what felt like ages. Yoon-hee stared at Su-ryeon a little longer and drunk with happiness, she closed her eyes once again to try and fall asleep. However, her daughter had other plans.

"Mom?" Ro-na whispered as she opened the door without knocking. She saw the two women lying in bed and covered her mouth when her eyes laid on her mother. Yoon-hee opened her eyes and without waking Su-ryeon, she got out of bed. She hurried to hug Ro-na. "Mom!" she repeated again as she allowed the tears to wet her cheeks. She was so happy to see her.

"Oh, my Bae Ro-na," Yoon-hee replied, ignoring her own tears. She had missed her terribly. Su-ryeon recognized their voices and woke up. She yawned and sat up in bed to watch the scene in front of her. It put a smile on her face. "You're so grown up, Ro-na!" she commented, stepping back to take a look at her. Su-ryeon felt like an intruder and decided that they needed some time alone, so she got up and looked at the bed, wondering how they got there. The last thing she remembered was Yoon-hee sleeping on her lap.

"How have you been? What have you been up to?" Yoon-hee asked her, eyeing her. Ro-na smiled at her before replying.

"I'm good! Su-ryeon has taken good care of me," Ro-na replied, glancing at Su-ryeon and her mother. "What about you? How are you? When did you arrive? I thought we were going to pick her up together," Ro-na complained, looking at Su-ryeon.

"I'm sorry, Ro-na. I thought so too, but her plane landed earlier than expected and I didn't want to wake you up. You went to bed very late last night," Su-ryeon replied, giving her a small kind smile.

"Oh, my! Did you give her permission to get her nose pierced?!" Oh Yoon-hee asked her, noticing the silver jewelry in Ro-na 's nose. She framed her daughter's face to take a closer look at it. Su-ryeon chuckled.

"In a way, yes. But Ro-na will explain it to you," she replied, hiding a smile. Ro-na swallowed. "I'll make breakfast," she added, walking towards Ro-na and kissing her forehead. Yoon-hee watched them. They seemed pretty close.

"Show your mom where the towels are, will you? And finish your homework before spending the whole day with her," Su-ryeon said, seriously. Bae Ro-na nodded. Su-ryeon smiled at her and left the room.

"Wait for me here. I need to take a shower," Yoon-hee said, going to her suitcase, opening it and, grabbing some clean clothes. Ro-na sat in the bed, waiting for her mother to finish the shower and getting dressed inside the bathroom. "Tell me about the nose piercing."

"I got it not long after we arrived here. I was mad and, well, it was similar as to when I left school," Ro-na confessed, ashamed of her childish behavior. "I also cut my hair and dyed it of different colors just to annoy Su-ryeon. And I had more piercings but she forced me to take them off and to dye my hair of a subtle color. I behaved very bad but we had a deep conversation and then I changed and so did our relationship."

"You made her go through all that?! Ro-na! You were lucky she didn't send you back to Korea!" Yoon-hee yelled, upset.

"I know. After that conversation I came to my senses and my grades improved as well," Ro-na whispered. Indeed, she had been lucky Su-ryeon hadn't sent her back. She wasn't her daughter and she was being a burden. She was glad she had changed for the better. "I came to understand why she sent you to jail and I forgave her," she said, bringing that topic up. Yoon-hee swallowed. She wasn't ready to have that conversation yet.