The once small girl, symbolized by her soft raven colored hair placed in bunches, lay tiredly on her bed before checking her phone. Monday. She hated Monday. Namely because her lessons were math, physics, chemistry...does she need to explain more? Sighing, she pulled the mane of messy hair into a ponytail and began the strenuous, tiring process of getting ready for school.

After her perfectly ironed uniform hanging from her closet was worn, Kyungri quickly brushed out the tangles of her long hair — currently reaching her waist — and tiredly secured it into a bun. She really couldn't be bothered to style it properly this Monday.

"C'mon, only seven hours until school ends," Kyungri whispered as she packed the last missing bits and pieces into her school bag. "Just seven hours..."

The clock struck seven–thirty, meaning she had a half hour to eat her breakfast and get to school if she didn't want to be late. Kyungri immediately dragged her school bag downstairs and saw two familiar faces eating breakfast around the kitchen table.

"Good morning," her father, the busy and equally exhausted Do Kyungsoo, chorused. He gave her a sweet grin, everyday his eyes sparkling as he watched his daughter grow older, wiser and more beautiful day by day. Setting her bag next to the usual chair that she occupied every morning, she wrapped her arms around her Dad.

"Morning," she replied before edging towards the other side to hug the next person.

"Did you have a nice sleep?" Still as radiant and innocent as she was a decade ago, Jung Ara demurely ate her breakfast — a slice of toast with some strawberry jelly spread on top — and looked up at Kyungri.

"Kinda," she replied with a cough, pouring herself some cereal and beginning to eat it. The atmosphere quickly turned silent as the three finished their breakfasts before Kyungsoo was the first to rise from the table. Kyungri quickly followed whilst picking up her bag and checking the time.

Ara cleared the table. "Kyungri, don't forget to tell your brother to leave his room! We should be going now."

"Got it," she grumbled, padding towards her younger brother's bedroom and opening it to see him looking over some last minute notes on his bed. He shifted the glasses perched on his nose before eyeing up his older sister.

"You should knock before entering."

Kyungri scoffed. "Mom said we're going now. Anyways, you're seven! You don't need to study this hard for a pop quiz, Jin."

Do Jinsoo, the math prodigy currently frowning at his older sister, reached for the school bag brimming with excess exam preparation notes. "Whatever. Let's go."

She watched Jinsoo leave the bedroom in front of her as she ruffled his soft hair, following to see her parents speak lovingly to each other in the kitchen. They cut their conversation, seeing their two kids approach them.

"Shall we go?" Ara rattled her car keys.

"Yep. I hope you remembered to pack my banana this time, Mom!" Jinsoo huffed.

"It was one time!"

"I'm going to leave now," Kyungsoo announced, hugging his two children and swiftly leaving Ara with a kiss. "Bye!"

Once he left, the door knocked straight after to reveal Park Chanyeol and his one child, Minhyung. The eleven year old was blessed with Chanyeol's big, twinkly eyes and a bright smile.

"My babysitter wasn't able to come today," Chanyeol hurriedly explained once the pair entered the house. "Is it okay if Minhyung leaves with you guys?"

"More than okay," Ara responded happily as she grabbed her jacket. "Go to work now! You're going to be late."

At this point Minhyung was spitting out rapid physics questions to test Jinsoo, the older also inheriting Chanyeol's vast brain power. Kyungri was slightly concerned as to why Jinsoo was such a genius and she was awfully average.

As the four were on their way to school in Ara's car, ten minutes left until the bell rung, Ara patted Kyungri's knee once the latter began daydreaming. "So after school your mother's coming to pick you up, alright?"

Kyungri nodded. "She promised to take me to that new sushi place downtown. I'm pretty excited!"

"How's you two anyways?"

"Good, I guess. But it'll never be like us two, you know?"

Juhyun and Kyungri's relationship was a weird one. From seeing each other every other week without fail whilst Kyungsoo was still single, Juhyun disappeared to London for a year and returned before disappearing again. She relocated to Singapore after her law firm moved their main office and stayed there for six years. Now she was back, but it wasn't the same. Definitely not.

"She's still your Mom, Kyungri," Ara pursed her lips, feeling slightly uneasy when Kyungri compared their relationships. "She's trying her best."

"Fair enough, but it's just my personal conviction. She wasn't here during the vital parts of my childhood because her job was more of an importance, but it's okay. Since her blood is pumping around my body I should respect her just as much as you."

Rolling her eyes at Kyungri's stubborness, Ara parked the car at the school ground and unlocked the door. "She loves you, and wished things could be different. She can't change the past, and I know it wasn't perfect, but you could try and make as much of an effort she is."

"Whatever. Bye bye," Kyungri gave Ara a quick hug, running into the school once seeing her friends huddled near the big building. Minhyung left also, leaving Jinsoo and Ara in the car so she could drive him to his school.

"Why does Kyungri hate her Mom so much?" Jinsoo, the attentive son, whos awareness was a blessing and a curse, mused.

"It's not nice to eavesdrop."

"I wasn't. You guys weren't discreet enough."

"Let's make it clear," Ara began as the car edged back into the main road to Jinsoo's school situated a few minutes away from Kyungri's. "She doesn't hate her Mom, not at all, just some differences. Give her a break. She's fourteen. She's going through a lot of physical and mental changes."

"Mom, you'd never leave me, right?"

Seeing her son's slightly distressed yet innocent face pained her. These things shouldn't be running through his head at such a vulnerable age. "Of course not! I love you and always will. Juhyun didn't leave Kyungri. She knew her daughter would be in safe hands with her father and I."

"Alright," Jinsoo finally accepted, getting out of the car when his school came into view. "I love you, Mom, bye!"

"Love you too! Good luck on your test."

—

It was practically in Im Juhyun's genes to never age and stay as perfect as she was, even if she was nearing thirty seven years of age. Her long, dark hair blew in the wind whilst she ran out of her car, eager to get to Kyungri's school on time since she didn't want to disappoint her daughter.

Even if her daughter was already disappointed.

Juhyun was naive, slightly idiotic and stubborn, yes, but she wasn't stupid. For the past decade, she felt inferior. From the second Jung Ara arrived, smiley, welcoming and loving, Juhyun already knew she would come second place. She accepted losing Kyungsoo — their relationship became slowly unhealthy and unhappy by the second — but her own daughter was doubting their relationship.

It was the little things. Messaging Ara to tell her what time they'd be coming back when Juhyun took her out, the small comments about when Ara made her particularly happy, the comparisons...But Juhyun was determined to prove to Kyungri that even though she wasn't always physically there, she was still her mother.

At home, Ara was biting her lip. Jinsoo was in his room studying for yet another pop quiz. This time it was English Literature, one of his weak spots. Therefore he refused to leave his bedroom until he felt confident he would get full marks. Or if he fell asleep; he wasn't really picky on that.

She sat in the living room just thinking. At work, it was the same thing. Watching all of her young, adorable children who loved her to bits. It just reminded her of the once small Kyungri who'd, although quiet, clung onto Ara from the very beginning.

The front door opened revealing a worn out Kyungsoo as he closed it behind him and gave Ara a shy grin.

"Hey," he breathed once throwing his jacket onto the side of the sofa, as per usual. Once he realized she wasn't quite reciprocating the welcoming smile, he frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing..." she trailed off, sighing. "It's just, I don't want Juhyun to hate me."

He sat beside her on the sofa before scoffing. "I literally just thought we were transported to a decade ago. She doesn't hate you, of course not. What's made you think that?"

"I'm stealing her daughter from her."

Kyungsoo almost choked. "Wait, w—what?"

"This morning, I—I was driving Kyungri to school and she was explaining that she didn't really see Juhyun as a mother figure in comparison to me and, I don't know, it makes me feel odd."

"What do you expect? You've been parenting her for most of her life."

"But she's not my child," she whispered in worry and sadness. "She's Juhyun's. All I've ever done for her was take her to school, give her lunch, wish her a good night."

Kyungsoo let out a loud exhale, his thoughts somewhat conflicted. He obviously knew where Ara was coming from but she was deeply mistaken. Taking her small, shaking hands, he stared right into her eyes. "And everything in between. Motherhood is much more than just genetics, Ara. You've been there for her since she was a child, so don't overthink this. Juhyun understands and trust me, the person she wouldn't hate is you."

"Then who?"

He pursed his lips. "Herself, probably."

When Kyungri arrived back home at eight sharp, she saw her parents sitting comfortably in each other's close presence watching a movie together.

"Hey Mom, hey Dad!" She waved before edging out of the living room to her own discretion in her bedroom. Little did she reveal was Juhyun was behind, entering the house also.

"Is this a bad time?" She furrowed her brows, not wanting to impose on their cozy time. Ara immediately shook her head, unlatching herself from Kyungsoo and giving Juhyun a hug. It's been probably a month or so since the three were together, but Juhyun was still an important figure in their lives.

She sat across the pair on the sofa. "I took Kyungri out to some new place. She loved it."

"I know," Ara softly smiled. "She was talking about it on the way to school. She really does value your trips together."

"And I do too," Juhyun agreed before her reminiscent beam downturned to a scowl. "But, actually today, she admitted that she was torn when I left. Which didn't occur to me at all, and also makes me feel so useless."

Ara couldn't hide the wash of shock that slipped a gasp out of her mouth. Kyungri brought this up to Juhyun...no way.

Juhyun paused — either to take a breather or wipe the tears formulating on the rim of her eyes. "As a mother, I should've been there for her, you know? Instead I chose my own selfish, greedy ambitions over her childhood. And I've never felt so terrible in my life. I'm not her Mom. I'm just a name on her birth certificate."

"That's not true," Kyungsoo opposed strictly.

"She doesn't even call me Mom!"

"That's only because you've been in and out of her life. She's bound to be confused. Sure you haven't always been there for her until recently, doesn't mean you aren't a huge part of who she is."

Ara agreed. "She's her because of you."

Juhyun sniffled as the tears threatening to fall finally dropped, slipping down her pristine face slowly. "I invited her out today to tell her my plans. I got a job out in China, where my law firm's given me a really generous position as managing director. It's permanent, and before meeting up with Kyungri, I was really about to take it. Then afterwards I realized I was about to make the same mistake."

She quietened, sniffed again, then continued. "Coming over here I was ready to decline this offer, stay in Seoul with my loved ones. But seeing you two, especially you, Ara, realizing how much you've taken in Kyungri as your own and making her such an intelligent, smart girl, it dawned on me that she would be just fine. I haven't done enough, I know, but there's nothing more for me to do. You've done everything. So thank you."

Jung Ara herself was overcome with emotions hearing that. All the doubts flooding her mind from this morning ebbed away as she pulled Juhyun into an emotional hug. It was definitely times like this where she really valued the people around her the most.

Im Juhyun left the home that night with a new mission to overcome, a new country to adjust to and a new problem she's just solved.

—

The time was past midnight. Everyone in the house was asleep, exhausted from the long day of school and work, except Ara. Standing at the landing of the home — bought approximately eight years ago in response to the news that Ara was actually expecting — where all the photos and memorabilia hung, she smiled.

The first photo that struck her was of Ara, Kyungsoo and Kyungri. The latter was a mute yet mischevious four year old, exploring the world in her own way. The pair had just cemented their relationship with a first date yet Kyungsoo was lumbered with his daughter once he was unable to find a babysitter on time.

The second photo was dated from nine years ago. Their wedding day. The pair couldn't be happier, surrounded by their loved ones, friends and family, celebrating their joy. It was surprising how early they'd married from when they begun dating. Two years, actually. When Kyungsoo had proposed, it was very surprising for Ara — being in her early twenties at the time — but he explained he wasn't getting any younger and knew he definitely wanted not to marry anyone but her. So why wait?

The third photo was seven years ago. A special photo from the day Do Jinsoo, the couple's first child together, was born. He was slightly premature, proven by his small self lying comfortably in Ara's arms, but was adorable nonetheless. She wouldn't ever forget the moments when all of their close friends and family flooded the delivery room, surrounding the small baby and her until she was positively overwhelmed.

"You know you've got work tomorrow."

The familiar deep mellow voice caused Ara to quickly turn around, smiling sheepishly at the male in front of her.

"I know," she answered casually, yawning a little once realizing how late it actually was. "But let me reminicise in peace!"

"It'd be more peaceful knowing you're actually asleep so you don't wake up tomorrow all grumpy," Kyungsoo frowned slightly, not really annoyed at all, just a little sleepy. He overheard his wife padding quietly through the landing, wondering why the side of his bed was awfully empty. Hugging his pillow wasn't as comforting.

"How did time just zoom so fast?" She suddenly whispered, biting her lip. "One second you were begging me to babysit your toddler and the next second we're raising two kids!"

He smiled to himself before slightly pulling Ara closer to him. "Hm...yeah. It's been an...eventful decade. But I cherish every single day."

"Me too," she immediately responded, hugging him. "Things have finally stabilized. Taeyeon's actually found a guy that could keep up with her. Chanyeol's a father. Sehun's no longer a slob. Time's definitely the biggest miracle."

He chuckled as quietly as he could, hoping not to wake his two children. Once they woke up, it was a task and a half to make them sleep again, having inherited his nocturnal traits. "Have you finally accepted your position as a mother? Or is there further persuasion needed?"

Ara tilted her head. "Yeah, I think I've been persuaded enough. Juhyun's great. Out of everyone throughout the decade, she's definitely changed the most. For the better, obviously."

"It only took another divorce for her real personality to shine. Nothing big."

Ara laughed then yawned. Her tiredness was really getting to her now. With droopy eyes, she yawned yet again. "I'm a little tired now. I should really sleep so work doesn't feel like a drag."

As she was walking back to the inviting bedroom consisting of the comfy, warm bed that she could sleep in, the equally snoozy Kyungsoo wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his head on her shoulder.

"Thank you for making this decade so great, for providing me with a true, happy family and being a perfect fit for me," he left a peck on her exposed neck, moving closer. "Thank you for making this all worthwhile."

Jung Ara was busy melting and in a frenzy of grins, playfully trying to push him away. "You're always a little too close for comfort at this time of the night."

He ignored her words, peppering more soft kisses at the site, holding her tightly. "You just make it hard to control myself."

"If it continues like this, we're not going to sleep," she half heartedly whined, not exactly rejecting his ministrations. She turned around to meet his awaiting lips latching onto hers swiftly, Ara suddenly not caring about her early day tomorrow.

"Can you guys just cut it?" Do Kyungri, annoyed and very tired, stepped out of her bedroom at the commotion. "I've got a full day of school tomorrow and I do not want to be hearing this."

That must've caused a chain reaction as seconds later, Jinsoo emerged from his bedroom looking slightly giddy. "So this is how we were made!"

—»

A little reminiscent, right? Ahh, so this chapter actually makes Chanyeol the daddy he really is, wink wink. Thank you very very much for reading, I hope you guys are coping well! Finals are coming soon and it's a very stressful time of the year, but we'll all get through it in due time! Hope you enjoyed!