Baby Don't Cry

We Are Family

Sehun sat next to Hana in the silent cab. Sehun thought walking that far would be tiring and that girls shouldn't have to walk that much. He was lazy, in short. So when they stepped into the cab and Hana instantly turned away from him, Sehun sighed. Over the years when Sehun used to have mini secretive calls with his mother, he always asked how Hana was doing. He was aware of her state, he was told how hard it was for the two of them. Luckily Junmi's friend, the ex-principal, got Junmi a job in the school as the member of school committee. Junmi had an honorable degree and had done fair amount of teaching before she married, therefore she was capable of handling the job. Junmi knew she had to stop drinking, she knew it wasn't safe for her or for her niece. She knew she couldn't keep the job if she kept her intoxicating addiction, she lost her sons to Youngmin due to it, and she wasn't going to lose Hana to the authorities too. Her breaking point was when she screamed at Hana for not speaking, Junmi found her dead sister's house already suffocating to live in as each corner brought back memories, and that piled with Hana's unexplainable and deafening silence drove her off the edge. She started shouting, screaming, hitting things, but Hana wouldn't say a word. It was then when Junmi realized that things had gone far enough, that she needed to be stronger and overcome the obstacle to be able to take better care of Hana, she was her responsibility after all. Junmi knew that no matter how rough Youngmin was on her, he'd never do anything to his precious boys, moreover, the idea that Luhan was capable enough to take care of himself and Sehun when the moment called for was enough to ease the mother's heart. The first year was extremely difficult. She had the constant urge to down a glass but she didn't. Invitations to after work drinks were always turned down and she would always walk away from every liquor shop she encountered. Every time she felt herself wavering she'd lock herself up in her room and sometimes even cry out of frustration. Luhan and Sehun always called their mother whenever they could. They'd tell her how they were and how things were going, asking her for the same information in return. Her sons always encouraged her, they knew their mother was strong, she'd pull through. After months of self-rehabilitation, Luhan made Junmi promise to give up smoking as well. Although the packets she purchased lessened in amount, they didn't completely stop. Junmi had made the exception to only smoke when things were really, really bad.

The brothers were always worried for Hana. The day Junmi informed them that their dear cousin had gone into severe depression they almost went crazy with worry. What was worse was that Luhan had to leave for China for a year as part of an extra credit exchange program seven months after she and Hana moved out. Sehun was left alone with his father and it angered Junmi that Youngmin made them move to another town immediately. The town was on the other side of the city, and any chance Junmi had left of seeing her sons was gone. Sehun was practically under surveillance by his father and Luhan was the only one to be able to speak with their mother. Luhan was aware of Hana's worsening condition, depression was eating her up and there was no one there to help her. Junmi's attempts were futile, Hana wouldn't even look at her let alone talk, Junmi's state always reminded Hana of their happy family that in her eyes she had wrecked.

Luhan kept Hana's condition from his brother. Luhan was a liaison between their mother and Sehun. Luhan made sure to limit his answers about Hana, he'd say she's not doing well and that's it. Nothing more nothing less. Luhan deemed it important to tell Sehun that Hana had stopped talking. Ever since her parents died her words became limited, but according to Junmi, ever since the second day of the big fight, Hana hadn't spoken at all. What the brothers didn't understand was Yuri's sudden disappearance from Hana's life, they were practically together all day except when one of them had to go on a family vacation. Junmi didn't know what happened either, just that Yuri came to visit one day when she wasn't home and never showed up after that. If Hana had Yuri, her depression probably wouldn't have gotten this bad, and as far as the boys knew their cousin's best friend, they were sure that she was the only person who could keep Hana talking. So what the heck happened?