Hello, Baby

S1 | E21 : Lover

20 years ago
Seoul, South Korea

"How do giraffes sleep?" Lalisa, the curious child that she was, asked her mother.

Her mother giggled, answering her anyway. "Well, they curve their necks and lie down. Although some giraffes can sleep while standing up."

She looked at her giraffe stuffed toy, her head tilting sideways. She was puzzled. "How come my giraffe can't curve its neck?" She frowned. "What a rip-off! Can we get a refund?"

Lean Manoban, Lalisa's mother, shook her head. "I think only good girls can come with me to work."

"I am a good girl!" Lalisa defended herself, immediately hugging her toy giraffe. "See? We're friends!"

"I wish you could tell me you have friends in real life, too." Lean chuckled, not even trying to hide the fact that she was teasing her daughter. She continued to fix her things as she heard Lalisa grunt. Lean could see her from her peripheral vision, knowing Lalisa was already sulking.

"I have friends." Lalisa frowned even more. "There's Bambam and Kate."

Lean heaved a sigh as she turned toward Lalisa, her palm landing on her waist. "Kate isn't even a person. She's a doll. Bambam, on the other hand, is the only friend you've ever introduced to me. Don't you want other friends aside from Bambam?"

Lalisa didn't like what she was hearing. "I don't need friends," she grumbled, upset with her mother.

"No man is an island," Lean blurted out as she looked around, checking if she had any more things she had left behind.

"John Donne," Lalisa mumbled. Her mother would always blurt that line out every time they had a conversation about her making friends. And because of this, she became curious about where that quote came from, so she looked it up herself. To this point, Lean wasn't a tad bit surprised about Lalisa's knowledge. "Mommy, where are you really taking me, though?"

"To work," Lean answered.

Lalisa's brows knitted together. "I don't think so," she told her mother. Lalisa sat on the couch watching her mother pack her things. "You aren't packing any stuff you usually bring to work."

But of course, her daughter would notice. Lalisa likes to observe and scrutinize almost everything around her. She has been a curious little girl from the very start. It was no wonder she could pick things up immediately. Though Lean was proud of how clever Lalisa was at an early age, she still wished Lalisa wouldn't pick up on things like these.

"I see you noticed that." Lean's lips formed a thin line. She turned around to face her daughter and beamed a smile. "My clever girl. Good observation."

"If we're not going to the hospital, where are we going?" Lalisa blinks profusely.

"Do you remember the last time you saw your dad?" Lean asks.

Lalisa nodded. "You mean that bastard?" she innocently asked.

Lean's eyes grew wider. "Lalisa! Don't say bad words!"

"But I heard that from you when you once talked about him with my aunts." Lalisa shrugged.

Lean massaged her temples. "Right. I should've been more careful with how I addressed him. Especially when you're within the same radius." She never held back with using big words. Since Lalisa was naturally curious, whenever she heard something unfamiliar, she'd ask or research right away. In that way, she learned quickly and easily extended her vocabulary.

"I don't remember the last time I saw him." Lalisa began to think, her tiny finger landing on her bottom lip. "I think I never saw him."

Lean nodded, taking a seat right next to Lalisa. "The last time you saw him was when you were about four years old."