Jamais Vu

Chapter 30

"Baek Sunhee!" her mom changed her tone all of a sudden and Sunhee froze.

She knew that meant trouble.

"Who the heck gave you those hickeys?" asked Kim Hayoon to her daughter.

Sunhee cringed. "Eomma, you just got here. Why don't you sit while I keep all the food in the fridge," appeased Sunhee, hoping it would cool her mom down. "I'll make some coffee and then we can talk," Sunhee scuttled to the kitchen and put the containers on her kitchen counter.

Hayoon managed to catch Sunhee's shirt from behind and literally dragged her to the sofa like a mother cat to her kitten. "Sit," instructed Hayoon, firmly pushing Sunhee on it. "Those can wait. I'm only here for a short time and will be going back tonight," Hayoon crossed her arms and gave Sunhee a stern look.

"Eomma, you should stay longer," pouted Sunhee. "Why the hurry?"

"I have surgery to handle tomorrow. I managed to clear my schedule for today and took the first train here," Sunhee's mom is a veterinarian at a clinic in Daejeon. There weren't many around there, so the clinic was always busy.

"Why didn't you come yesterday?" asked Sunhee.

"Yes, I wonder why I didn't," Hayoon pondered. "If I did, you wouldn't get those hickeys for sure," she said sharply.

Sunhee cringed. She then pulled a lost puppy face and blinked at her mom pitifully.

"If you think that look is going to work this time and make me forget about those marks, think again," warned Hayoon. "That only works when you were a toddler," she paused. "Are you seeing someone or are you just having an affair?"

"Eomma! I don't do affairs," objected Sunhee. She wondered why all of the bad things had to happen so near to each other. Puking on Hoseok was one thing, being caught by her mom was another.

"Judging from the looks of it, it was fresh," Hayoon peered on Sunhee's exposed chest. Sunhee was mortified. She held the shirt neckline close. The shirt is going to be the death of her. She beelined to the cupboard for fresh clothes and then zoomed into the bathroom.

"You can run, but you can't hide in there forever, Sunhee-ya," reminded her mom.

"I wasn't planning to run," Sunhee shouted behind the closed door.

"Hiding evidence?" returned Hayoon as she walked to the kitchen. "I've seen it. Covering would be useless." Hayoon stored some of the containers straight into the fridge. She looked for plates to serve the food in and brought it to the coffee table.

Meanwhile, Sunhee was thinking of ways to survive the impending interrogation. Bathing again would definitely be good, she reckoned. She hoped her time in the bathroom would mellow the impact of the hit her mom was planning to lash out.

"Sunhee-ya, you're not having your panic attacks now, are you?" asked Hayoon from the outside.

"I'm not," Sunhee shouted back.

She could use that as a ruse to avoid her mom's questions, right? Sunhee shook her head. She won't stoop that low just to escape. Sunhee then was having a second thought. Staying too long in the bathroom would be a bad idea. Her mother would have a lot of ideas coming in.

Sunhee checked her looks at the mirror. She inspected the mark under her ear and groaned. She's going to need a big band-aid for that. She gathered her hair and covered the spot as best as she could. She took a deep breath for courage and stepped out. Her mom was already lounging at the sofa drinking a mug of hot coffee and watching the television.

That should be a good sign, right? Sunhee put her clothes in the hamper and joined her mom.

"Come here. I brought your favourite all the way from Daejeon," gestured Hayoon to the coffee table.