I Want to be friends with you | L.K Adaptation

Chapter. 22 - Breakthrough

Lisa wanted to remind Uncle Bae to grasp her hand....

But she feared that he would dislike her if she pointed out his fault. Her heart tangled as she squeezed the hems of her clothes. She wanted him to like her, but she dreaded the idea of being kidnapped at the same time.

While Lisa was brooding over this, the mother of one of her classmates walked past her and happened to glance at Lisa. When she saw Lisa's adorable appearance, she couldn't suppress her desire to stretch out her hand and ask, "Are you Lisa?"

Her son always mentioned that she was the best girl in his class.

Her Uncle didn't hold her hand; therefore, she greatly dreaded this sudden interaction, fearing that she was a kidnapper. After hearing her voice, fear overtook Lisa so much that she scampered towards Uncle Bae and grabbed his hand in a hurry.

The mother understood and smiled, "I must have scared her".

Only then did Lisa realize that she wasn't here to take her away. She was just her classmate's mother.

After exiting the school gate, Uncle Bae helped her into the car, and then he settled her into a child safety seat.

After ensconcing himself in the driver's seat, Uncle Bae said to Little Lisa, "Let's go to Auntie's company. Then, we'll head home to have dinner, alright?"

Lisa nodded.

She thought Uncle Bae wouldn't be able to see her nodding her head, so she uttered, "Alright".

"Good". Uncle Bae replied.

Now that she was inside the car, Lisa dwelled on the idea of tooth loss. The ride was quiet, so Lisa mentally practiced what she should say.

Uncle, what should somebody do for a fallen tooth to grow back?

She practiced once more, before finally summoning her courage, "Uncle...."

At this moment, the car behind them honked. The loud noise drowned out her voice.

Lisa felt a trace of distress because of this. When the sound of the horn stopped, she called him once more, "Uncle...."

Uncle Bae asked, "What is the matter? Are you hungry?"

Lisa said what she had silently practiced many times in her mind, "Uncle, what could someone do to make a fallen tooth grow...."

This time, Uncle Bae heard her clearly. When Lisa asked him this question, he felt greatly surprised. He knew that she feared talking to him.

Although she tried hard to overcome her fright and disquietude, he could still sense lingering traces of fear towards him, so he always trued not to worsen her fright.

He didn't expect that she would initiate a conversation with him. He remembered that Lisa didn't lose any teeth; therefore, he assumed that this question had to be for one of her classmates.

He replied, "It's very normal for children to lose their teeth. They'll grow back soon. During this time, one should eat more food with a higher calcium content".

Lisa wanted to scribble down what her Uncle told her, 'eat more food with....higher....content'.

She was too young to know what calcium was. But she still tried hard to remember.

Soon, they arrived at Aunt Bae's company. After Uncle Bae stepped out of the car, he helped Lisa scramble out of her seat. This time, he clasped her hand.

Aunt Bae's company had a special rest and reception area. Uncle Bae took her there, and then they waited for Aunt Bae get off work.

Concurrently, Aunt Bae's mind wandered off during her meeting. She wondered if Lisa could successfully adapt to this new situation.

Lisa never cried, and she concealed her fears and dislikes deep within the vault of her heart. So, it was even more perturbing.

When the meeting reached its conclusion, Aunt Bae hurriedly took her bag and left the room, and then she quickly entered the elevator. Some female colleagues followed her and asked, "Why were you so absent-minded during the meeting today? Is something bothering you?"

"It's nothing. I have to take care of some family matters, so I have to go back". Aunt Bae said.

At this moment, the elevator door opened. Aunt Bae saw a tall man holding a little girl who eagerly glanced in her direction.

The scene was so harmonious and beautiful that Aunt Bae almost broke into tears.

Aunt Bae ran over to them, "Why are you here? Was Lisa fine with you picking her up from school today?"

When Lisa saw Aunt Bae, she couldn't conceal the smile on her face. Then, she spoke in a soft voice, "I got used to it".

"Sister Suzy, is this your daughter? She is so cute and beautiful!" remarked a colleague next to her.

"Sister Suzy's daughter is actually pretty big. I always thought that sister Suzy didn't have any children yet". Another colleague chimed in.

Aunt Bae never spoke about Lisa with her colleagues. She never told her neighbors that they had adopted Little Lisa either.

Lisa was speechless. When she heard them say that Aunt Bae had no children, she felt very uncomfortable.

Lisa had noticed a long time ago that her classmates addressed her aunt as 'Auntie'.

After learning for a while, she knew that the title of 'Auntie' could be conferred to anyone, but not the title of 'Mother'. That could only be given to one's own mother.

In order to speak with Lisa, Aunt Bae kneeled down in front of her. Lisa buried her face in Aunt Bae's body and said with every ounce of strength, "Mom. Let's go eat dinner".

This stunned Aunt Bae. Did Lili call her....Mom?

The word 'Mom' was a dreadful word for Lili because of the scares of her past: therefore, she always called her Auntie. But the effect of the word 'Mother' was far too powerful and emotional.

She almost burst into tears. This also touched Uncle Bae deeply in his heart. He pulled Aunt Bae up and said, "Let's go home now. Our daughter is hungry?"

Aunt Bae came back to her senses and hummed in reply. But she still couldn't keep her emotions under control, so she quickly lifted Lisa into her arms.

In the past, whenever she went shopping, she found that a bag of clothes was too heavy for her to carry. But now she carried a six-year old girl from the entrance of the company all the way to the parking garage without feeling any fatigue at all.

When Lisa said the word 'Mom' she discovered that the word resonated surprisingly well with her. For the very first time, she found that it emitted a wondrous melody for her ears. She noticed that Aunt Bae wasn't unhappy when she called her 'Mom'.

So, Lisa called her again, "Mom".

"Ehh!" Aunt Bae replied. Then, she kissed her forehead, "Mom is here baby".

These words alone were enough to almost bring tears to her eyes.

"Mom". Lisa uttered again. She was kissed on her forehead, and she was a little embarrassed, but she wanted to be kissed again, so she once again said that word boldly and proudly.

Uncle Bae walked next to them. He wanted to ask Lisa to call him dad, but he noticed that these two were in their own little world, so he decided not to bother them.

Tears cascaded down Aunt Bae's face, as she kissed Lili's forehead again, "Mom is here".

"Mom"

"Mom is always here".

Uncle Bae, who was wrong: "..."Dad is also here Lili.