𝗦𝗨𝗡 & 𝗠𝗢𝗢𝗡 | ᴬᶰ ˢᵒᵒᴴᵒ 『English Version』

Chapter 29

Hyeori woke up slightly disoriented by the sound of her phone. Sieun, who was sleeping beside her, simply stirred, letting her get up. She did so, grabbing the device and carefully stepping out of the room to avoid bumping into anything—she didn't want to turn on the light either.

"Hello?"

"Hyeori?"

Her mother's voice echoed in her ears, and her brows furrowed as she glanced at the time on the screen before putting the phone back to her ear. "Mom? What's going on?"

"That's what I should be asking you," the woman replied. Her voice was low, serious, almost like she was trying to keep the conversation as private as possible. "What have you been doing?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked, still half-asleep and visibly confused, her brow knitting together. She was clearly annoyed—the dream she had been having was the best one she'd had all year.

"Your grades are a mess," her mother said, making Hyeori grimace. Damn it, she still had to report to her.

"Uhm... I'm sorry... I guess it just... happened."

"It just happened?" Her mother sounded offended, as if having slightly lower grades was a total crime. "Why are your grades like this? Is something going on?"

"Nothing's happening..."

"Then what? Hyeori, not even when Sooho used to sneak you out of the house did your grades drop like this. Why now that—?"

The girl smiled bitterly, knowing exactly why she had stopped herself. Letting out a sarcastic huff, she nodded. "Now that he's not here to 'steal my time' I should just lock myself in and study, right?"

"Honey, you know Sooho never bothered me..."

"Then stop mentioning him like he's the reason for everything!" she snapped, her eyes burning—not from tears this time, but from anger. "He has nothing to do with this. If my grades dropped, it's because of my own choices and actions. So stop talking like everything that happens in our lives is somehow his fault... It's not..."

Her chest tightened at the thought that her parents had never truly liked Sooho.

She never understood why. Never understood how they could hate the one person who had given her the care, the warmth, the love—the companionship—that a family is supposed to provide. Because that's what Sooho was. He was her family.

"Was this call just for that?" she asked. "Because if it was, don't call me again... I don't owe you explanations. Not anymore. I've told you that so many times... I even stopped accepting the money you send through Kim... Why do you keep insisting?"

"Because you're my daughter."

Hyeori let out a dry laugh, cursing under her breath. "I was your daughter when I was five and asked if I could tell my friend goodbye. I was your daughter at ten, at twelve, at fifteen—but you could never even wish me a happy birthday..." she murmured, her throat tight with a painful knot. "I was always your daughter, and you acted like I didn't exist... You preferred making sure Dad wasn't cheating on you with his secretary instead of staying home to take care of your kid?"

"You know it wasn't like that, sweetheart. I never forgot your birthday."

"Then why did you ignore it? I never asked for gifts. I didn't want trips or expensive things—I had plenty of those... I just..." she trailed off, voice trembling. "Do you know how many mother-daughter events I went to with Sooho's grandma, just because my own mom was too busy keeping tabs on her husband?"

She was shaking—angry, powerless, full of things she had kept quiet for too long just to avoid making things uncomfortable.

But her mom wasn't there anymore. Not really.