The Family That's Ours (Sequel to Family)

I love you, Mama

Dae's most hated part of the school year. For many, many reasons. Semester evaluations. She hated the fact the lives and future of her students were in her hands. She hated watching students she tried so hard to train fall victim to the harsh reality of death.

However, this time, she was basically on the opposite side of the spectrum. She wasn't worried about her students dying. Instead, she was hopeful that her teaching was well enough that her own students could become mafia groups or even teachers.

This time around, it was a little less anxiety-inducing since Yunseo ranked up to rank four. However, Ji was still in that scary-death spot. Which made Dae rather uneasy and nervous.

"First semester evaluations, you excited?" Dae asked Jinyoung.

He sheepishly looked at the floor, smiling slightly. "I'm a little nervous, to be frank, but I'll try my best."

Dae placed her hand on his shoulder lovingly. "Well, it's not gonna be just us grading our students fighting etiquette. Momo and Jackson are going to be assisting us as well"

Jinyoung made an "ah" sound of understanding and his shoulders went less tense, a tell-tale sign that he was less nervous about the whole situation.

Their assignment for the final is to spar Dae. Anyone who can ground their foot into her breastbone gets an instant A, the rest is graded by their ability to apply what the two teachers have taught to them throughout the semester into the fight.

The students did incredibly well on their final, Dae ended with a broken nose, which is an obvious sign the students did honorable.

Momo and Jackson were impressed with how well Dae's and Jinyoung's teaching was. The students seemed to learn a lot from their dynamic teaching styles, which promised an ample career for the both of them.

Dae was in a good mood, she was extremely proud of her students and Jinyoung; it was his first time teaching and he did beautifully.

However, her mood disintegrated when Ji came into her classroom after finals. It seemed like Ji meticulously planned out this interaction so that Jinyoung wasn't in the room and it was only Dae she was speaking with.

She was so timid, and her hands were clasped in front of her, shaking. She was looking at the floor, clearly upset.

"Ji, love?" Dae started, concerned for the girl she thought of as her daughter. "Is everything alright?"

Ji finally looked up, tears welled in her eyes, and slowly slid down her face. "Mama, I think I'm gonna die."

Whatever remained of Dae's heart was just broken into a million pieces. Dae's eyes immediately matched Ji's; crying.

"Why do you say that, Sweet Thing?" Dae asked, trying to (but failing) to keep her composure, but Ji's melancholy was too strong for Dae to succeed.

"I failed all my tests, Mama. There's no hope for me."

"Don't say that."

"It's true! I failed the combat class, got my butt kicked. The spying class was a bust. And everything else was a complete mess."

"I'm sure you did fine, my love. You're an incredible girl who still has to do incredible things. It's not your time to die. It's your time to flourish. You're so young, and you still have so much capability. Okay? So you're not gonna die. I promise."

Ji wiped her nose and eyes free from the crying remains and ran up to Dae to give her the warmest hug Dae has ever received.

"I love you, Mama."