𝙌𝙪𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙌𝙪𝙚𝙚𝙣

2. ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇʏᴇꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴀ ᴍᴏᴛʜᴇʀ

In all her life, Chaeyong has never loved anyone as much as she loves Sena.

Sena has pushed against Chaeyong's capacity for love ever since she was born. On the day that Chaeyong first held Sena in her arms, her name unspoken and unknown to everyone but her mother, she felt a fondness so viseral it scared her.

The affection Chaeyong held for her daughter transcended the love she felt for her now deceased parents. The passionate, albiet fleeting, romance she shared with Sena's father (her first serious romantic venture) paled in comparison to love she feels for their daughter. Even her self-worth and self-adoration did not compare.

The absense of both the parental and romantic figures in her life used to tear Chaeyong apart, but now it comforted her. In the back of her mind, in a space so dark and twisted she refused to acknowledge, she felt comforted by their absence. Now, she could focus solely on her daughter.

It wasn't the healthiest mindset to have, but it was one Chaeyong latched onto. It was the philosophy that got her through periods of extreme financial hardship and allowed her to build an armor immune to constant, degrative gossip about her. Many saw the repercussions of her sole focus on her daughter (that caused her to disregarde her health at times), birthed by necessity, but all choose to ignore it.

The first person to attempt to fix it, ironically enough, would be Sena herself.

Sena has always been an extremely smart and observant child, Chaeyong would constantly brag about it. The younger girl first picked up on the habits of her caring mother when she was only 3 years of age. At that tender age, she would sloppily scoop the mushy food from her brimming plate and shove it at her mother's face, who had no such plate.

At 5 she told her mother she doesn't need, or want, a father after seeing her forlon expression upon seeing a family of three at the park. At 6 she stopped comparing herself to other kids, stopped asking for the toys they played with and expensive gadget they would show off in shool. At 8 she learned how to clean and cook, pleading with her mother to take those chores off her tired hands. At 9 she got into her first every fight, because a boy had insulted her mother, heartlessly picking at their poor financial state. At 11 her mother caught her selling some of her clothes and toys and using the few bills she was able to get to buy her a flower bouquet for her birthday . At 13 she suggested leaving the after-school sessions her mother worked to the bone to afford, blatantly saying she cared more about her mother's health than those classes. At 15 she made the promise to buy her mother the most expensive house in Daegu through tearful eyes after they were kicked out of their home by an enraged landlord.

At 16 she debuted as an idol, leaving with the silent vow to fulfill the promise she had made a year prior and the countless many silents promises she made to her mother alongside it.

And in the years to come, she would stay true to each and every oath she made to her mother.