A Crack in the Glass

Chapter 6

Walking beside one another was awkward at first, with Soren walking in front of her, Eva beside her holding her hand, and Hyunjin on the other side of her daughter. Neither she nor Hyunjin seemed to know what to say. It was her daughter who broke the tension, grabbing onto his hand as well, tucking her feet in and hanging as the adults walked, swinging forward with each step they took, laughing and giggling along. Y/N looked down at her daughter as they walked, a wide smile on her face with how infectious the girl's joy was. Her gaze flicked up, surprised to see Hyunjin already looking at her, his expression hidden behind his mask. They held one another's gaze, unaware they had stopped walking, the toddler still holding their hands and looking back and forth between them.

"Ma! Stop staring at each other already, I'm hungry!" Her head snapped forward to see her son sticking his tongue out at her before racing down to the next building, which was the pizza shop they were heading to. Eva squealed with delight before dropping their hands and taking off after her brother. The pups stopped and waited there for the adults, Soren quickly took his sister's hand once she joined him.

Her face was bright red, unable to get any words out after being called out for staring at the man beside her. While she didn't necessarily know what to do with the whole soulmate situation, she didn't need to make things worse by making him uncomfortable. "S..sorry." It was the only thing she could manage before hurrying off after her pups, Hyunjin right behind her.

The four of them were quick to enter the building, sitting down at a table and situating Eva in her booster seat an employee brought over. Looking over the menu, they settled on the kids sharing a small cheese pizza while her and Hyunjin would split a Margherita pizza. Before their food got there though, she took Eva to the bathroom to change her, Soren insisting on staying at the table, with Hyunjin insisting he was fine with him.

As soon as they got back to the table, Y/N picked up on the change in Soren's scent. His usual scent of sweet, slightly milky, apple tea and crisp autumn leaves had shifted more to spoiled milk and wet, soggy leaves, alerting the mother to the sadness affecting his scent.

Looking between her son and Hyunjin, studying the pair closely, she spoke up. "What's wrong Soren? Are you alright?" Her son looked up at her, blinking a couple of times before his scent went back to normal as he smiled up at her.

"I'm fine Mama! No worries!"

Her heart broke, taking note he was learning from her, how to push aside feelings and act happy. He shouldn't be needing to feel the need to do that, especially at his young age.

"Sweetheart, if something is bothering you, you can tell me." He continued to deny anything was wrong, claiming to have simply missed her while she and Eva were gone. Not wanting to push further while both in public and in the presence of company, she let it go for now. If something had happened, Hyunjin wasn't saying anything either, his expressions hidden behind his face mask and scent concealed by patches. She could only hope her son would be a bit more forthcoming once they were alone.

Once again, it was Eva who broke the tension, shrieking happily as she clapped. "Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!" Looking over, their pizzas were, indeed, being brought to the table. Y/N was quick to fill a plate and place it in front of Soren, grabbing another and cutting it into bite sized pieces, and then placing the plate in front of her daughter before even reaching for anything for herself.

As they ate, simple conversation started flowing, easing the tension until it was near nonexistent as the conversation moved onto art. "I'm always so impressed by your art, so much detail is put into each piece, no matter which medium you use. You're so incredibly talented and creative, I mean, using coffee grounds in that one painting? You pulled it off well." She hadn't realized she was rambling and gushing about one of her favorite artists, to his face. Her cheeks and ears reddened as she turned her face to the side, resting her elbows on the table and attempting to hide her face behind her hands as she let out a string of mumbled apologies. She hadn't meant to get carried away like that, but it had been a while since she's gotten to talk to someone else about one of her own passions.