The familiar high‐pitched scream was heard through the crowd, making people turn their heads. Some of them even scoffed at the running boy.
"Noonaaaaa!" The boy was waving a piece of paper in one hand and a paper bag in the other. His backpack bounced as he made his way to greet Heeryung.
Aesook was following him quietly from a short distance.
Inho bumped against the grinning girl. "Happy Birthday Noona!" He panted.
"Thanks!" Heeryung gave the boy a quick hug and a pat on the head.
"I made you a drawing!" He showed her the paper in his hand.
The girl frowned. "Why isn't my cake and dress pink?"
"I lost the pink crayon. Sorry. But you're riding Thomas!" He pointed at the blue messy shapes. "With Barbie!" He pointed at a blond stick figure.
"Barbie should ride a pink train!"
"I lost my pink crayon!"
Heeryung sighed.
Lisa and Jennie smiled.
"Hi, Inho." Lisa ruffled the boy's hair and stooped down to kiss his cheek.
"What's that? A present for your noona?" She pointed at the paper bag.
"Yes!" He gave it to the girl. "It's pink!"
"Thanks!" Heeryung took it and pulled out the contents. "A pink train?!"
"Yes! So Barbie can ride it!"
The adults laughed.
"Where did he get this?" Lisa asked Aesook, taking the wood train from Heeryung's hand and observing it.
"I know this old ahjussi who loves making toys. I took Inho there and he requested a pink train for Heeryung."
"Thank you," Jennie said and smiled.
Aesook was clearly surprised to see Jennie actually smiling to her. She bowed a little. "It's no problem at all, Unnie."
"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" Inho was pulling at Heeryung and Jennie's hands.
The three ran out of the station, laughing and giggling.
Lisa smiled at the sight. She walked alongside Aesook, making their way calmly after the happy trio.
"Thanks for coming. Our driver will take you home later," Lisa said.
"No problem, Unnie. It's the least I could do for the birthday girl."
"Will you be alright on your own?"
"Of course! I have my books with me. Don't worry," the woman smiled.
Lisa observed the seemingly thinner woman. "Are you okay? Is he still not talking to you?"
"I'm fine, Unnie." She said nothing more.
They reached the car park where Inho was pulling at the door handle excitedly.
"Hey, don't do that." Jennie stopped him.
Lisa unlocked the doors with the remote and the children quickly climbed inside.
"Well, I'll see you in a few hours then. Call me if there's anything at all," Lisa turned to Aesook.
"Sure thing, Unnie. Have fun." The young woman bowed again and watched as Lisa and Jennie got into the car and drove away.
Aesook took a deep breath and walked around to find a café or coffee shop where she could sit and wait for a few hours.
-‐-‐-‐-‐
The two kids ran to and fro, trying every ride they were allowed to ride in the quiet amusement park.
"At times like these I'm glad I married you," Lisa grinned, waving as the two happy kids rode past her in the small bumper cars.
"Why is that?"
"Your father rocks!" She laughed.
"Dork." Jennie punched Lisa's arm. "Yeah, I must admit that it was cool of him to book this whole place just for us."
Lisa pecked Jennie's lips lightly. "I love you."
Jennie smiled. "I love you too." She leaned her head on Lisa's shoulder and closed her eyes. "Can we just stay like this forever?"
"I wish we could." Lisa put an arm around Jennie's waist and held her close. She leaned her head on Jennie's and watched the two happy kids laughing while bumping their small vehicles and chasing each other around the area, shouting and teasing.
They stood there silently, trying to savor the moment for as long as they could. Both were learning to accept that everything would never be the same again and that they just had to try to make the best of the situation, for the two children's sake.
-‐-‐-‐-‐
Heeryung waved goodbye to the small crying boy and turned around to bury her face in Jennie's stomach.
Jennie tried to soothe her by gently rubbing her back. "We'll see him again in a few days, Ryung-ah."
Lisa sighed and leaned down to kiss the boy's wet cheek through the car window. "I love you. Don't cry too much, okay? I'll see you Saturday." She took a step back and waved goodbye as the car drove away.
The boy cried for a short while then fell asleep from the exhaustion and the excitement of the day.
Aesook sighed and brushed his disheveled hair away from his wet face, placing his head on her lap.
She stared quietly out the window.
Aesook realized that the man driving the car was stealing quick glances at her and the sleeping boy.
"You can just say what you want to say, Mr. Han."
"It's not my place, Miss Jung."
Aesook tilted her head. "How long have you been working for Lisa unnie?"
"I started out as Miss Kim's driver and I've been working for her family for almost eighteen years now."
"Wow. That's a long time."
The man nodded. "It's the least I could do to repay the Kims' kindness."
"Oh?" Aesook was curious. "May I know what it was?"
"Miss Kim's father practically saved our family's life." He said quietly. "He gave my mother a job and put my brothers and me through school. This is the least I could do to repay his kindness." He carefully made a turn. "I'm raised by a single mother too, Miss Jung. I know how hard it is." He took a deep breath.
"You must hate me then."
The man kept his gaze straight ahead. "It's not my place to do so. But I can't say that I agree with what you've done." He clenched his jaw. "To see Miss Kim crying like that again is something I thought I would never have to do after she met Miss Manoban."
"What happened before that, if I may ask?"
"Let's just say that I wish I could run over her ex-husband at least once for what he'd done."
Aesook grew quiet.
"Just make sure it's worth it, Miss Jung." He ended the conversation and focused on the road.
-‐-‐-‐-‐
"Inho..." The young woman sat down next to the boy who was busy drawing. "Can I ask you something?"
He didn't stop what he was doing.
Aesook sighed and slowly took the crayon from his hand.
He looked at her in surprise and frowned.
"Please?"
He said nothing.
"I know you don't like me but I do care for you, Inho." She gulped. "I don't know if you can understand me or even remember this but one day, I hope you know that I'm very sorry for what I've done. You're my son and I love you." She hugged him and he did nothing but stare at her.
She returned his crayon and he slowly took it. "I'll take you home tomorrow." His eyes lit up. "Home?"
She smiled weakly. That's the first word you directly said to me and although it's meaningful, it's meant for someone else. Home is not with me, huh? Her eyes glistened with tears. "Yes. Home."
"Yay!!" He let go of his crayon and ran upstairs to pack his toys.
Aesook sighed. I hope one day you can understand why I did this, Inho-yah.
-‐-‐-‐-‐
Ding dong.
"Nini! Can you get that? I can't burn the meat!" Lisa shouted from the kitchen.
"Okay okay! Sheesh... why do you have to shout like that? I'm not deaf!" Jennie pushed herself off the couch, shifting Heeryung's head that was lying on her lap.
"No but the volume of the TV is making you deaf," Lisa muttered under her breath.
Jennie peeked through the peephole and gasped loudly when she saw who it was. She quickly pulled the door open.
"MOMMY!" The boy pounced Jennie and she had to balance herself from the force of the tackle.
"W-what are you doing here?" Jennie squatted down and hugged the boy. She looked up at Aesook and noticed the luggage.
"Inho wanted to go home." That was all the young woman said as she watched the boy run inside the house, screaming and tackling Heeryung on the couch.
"Noona!"
Lisa heard the voice and quickly turned off the stove, placed the hot pan aside and walked out of the kitchen to make sure that she wasn't hallucinating.
"I-inho?" Lisa couldn't believe her eyes.
The boy heard the voice and let go of his sister. "UMMAAA!" He ran towards Lisa and hugged her leg.
"W‐wha..." Lisa looked at the woman still standing at the door with Jennie.
Jennie was still frozen in place.
"Inho-yah! Grandma gave me a pool for Barbie! Let's go play!" Heeryung pulled the boy upstairs towards her room.
"Be careful if you're going to play in the bathroom!" Jennie shouted after the kids. "It can get slippery!"
The two ignored her and kept running.
"What's going on?" Lisa approached the two women at the door.
Aesook smiled weakly and handed Jennie the luggage in her hand. "I'll send the rest of his stuff tomorrow." She bowed. "I'm sorry for everything." She kept her head down and turned to leave, wiping her wet eyes.
"Aesook-ah..." Jennie caught the woman's shoulder. "It's late. Stay the night."
"Yes. And we need to talk," Lisa said.
The woman sighed. "I've caused you enough problems already, Unnie."
Jennie patted the woman's shoulder. "Have you had dinner?"
Aesook shook her head.
"Then you should try my bulgogi," Lisa said, turning around to head back to the kitchen.
"Come on," Jennie tugged at the woman's arm and Aesook followed Jennie inside.
-‐-‐-‐-‐
"Are you sure about this?" Lisa stood up and frowned. "I don't want to hear any fighting about who hit or kicked whom tomorrow."
"I'll just hit him back this time," Heeryung grinned.
Lisa chuckled. "Don't do that." She kissed the girl's cheek. "Well, good night then."
Lisa then nudged Jennie who was still staring at the sleeping boy's face.
Jennie kissed the boy's forehead one last time and stood up. "Good night, Ryung‐ ah." She kissed the girl's forehead.
"Good night, Mommy." Heeryung eased herself under the covers and turned to face her brother.
Lisa smiled and fixed the blanket to cover the two better.
Both adults stood there for a minute, watching the two peacefully sleeping children with a wide smile on their faces.
Lisa reached out for Jennie who side hugged her and kissed her cheek.
"I feel like I'm whole again," Jennie whispered.
"I know. Me too." Lisa leaned her head against Jennie's shoulder. "Is this real? I'm not dreaming, am I?"
Jennie chuckled. "If you're dreaming then I'm dreaming too."
"Sharing the same dream huh? Can we be like Inception? That's pretty cool." Lisa grinned.
"Dork," Jennie squeezed Lisa. "Let's go talk to Aesook."
Lisa straightened up and held Jennie's hand. They quietly left the room after one last look at the two young children.
They went downstairs to see Aesook sitting at the kitchen table with a mug in her hands.
Aesook looked up at the sound of the two approaching her.
Lisa took a seat while Jennie went to the fridge to get herself a drink.
"So. Can you tell us what happened?"
The young woman smiled bitterly. "It's like you once said, Unnie. Some mistakes just can't be fixed. All I can do is accept the consequences and move on."
Jennie sat down next to Lisa with her water bottle. "I honestly don't understand why you're doing all this. First you insisted on taking him away from us and now you're just giving up on him? What do you want, exactly?"
Lisa held Jennie's arm to calm her down a bit.
"I..." Aesook gulped. She took a deep breath. "I wanted him to know that I regretted what I did. And that he's not some kind of unwanted accident from two stupid teenagers. I want him to know that I do want him and love him." She steadied herself. "Although I know you two love him and care for him like your own son, I read somewhere that when adopted children grow up, they will inevitably wonder why their birthparents abandoned them in the first place. I don't want him to feel unwanted. That's why I didn't agree to the idea of moving to Seoul, Unnie. I want him to see that I'm more than willing to do anything for him and focus only on him. I want him to know that I at least tried my best." She looked at the frowning Jennie and the confused Lisa. "I know I'm selfish to have done what I did, taking him away and everything... but I don't have much time left so I had to do it." She paused. "Besides, I plan to make sure that he will never hate the two of you for letting me take care of him. I know that he's lucky to have you adopt him and get him out of that orphanage. That's why I would always allow you to visit him. I just wanted..." She sighed. "I had planned to return him to your care in a few months but since it's clear that he's very unhappy..." She gulped again.
"I don't understand," Lisa slowly spoke. "Why don't you have much time left?"
Aesook took a deep breath. "I'm sick, Unnie." She smiled bitterly. "Another one of the consequences of my many mistakes. I was tested HIV positive about a year ago."
"What?!" Jennie couldn't believe her ears. "What... How... I mean..." She then turned to Lisa. "Didn't you tell Yeri to find out everything about her? How could she have missed this?"
"I had myself tested under a different name, Unnie." Aesook calmly explained before Lisa could answer Jennie. "I used my mother's name."
"That doesn't mean anything. You could get treated and live for another twenty, thirty years," Lisa said.
"Treatment is not cheap, Unnie. And I'm pretty sure it won't help much by now anyway." Aesook calmly said. "Besides, I don't intend to live another twenty or thirty years with the reminder of everything I've done haunting me every single day." She smiled. "Five years of that is already torturing enough."
Jennie and Lisa didn't really know what to say.
"All I wanted was for Inho to know that I love him and that I regretted what I did. And that I am willing to do anything to pay for that mistake." She sighed. "Looks like it was a bad idea." She looked at Lisa and Jennie. "I'm truly sorry for everything, Unnie. I never meant to take him away from you. I would've returned him once I get worse... I..." She gulped. "I'm sorry."
Lisa and Jennie sat in silence, trying to digest everything Aesook had just told them.
"So what now?" Lisa finally spoke.
"I've called my lawyer. We're meeting first thing Monday morning to terminate my parental rights and reinstate yours through the adoption." The young woman paused. "I will then make sure to disappear from your life and leave you and your family alone. You don't have to worry about losing Inho, Unnie. I know I've caused too much damage to him as well." She looked down at her mug.
Lisa looked at Jennie and the latter shook her head.
"You don't have to do that, you know," Jennie said. "You're always more than welcome to come and spend time with him. We don't want to keep him away from you."
"Thank you but I don't think that's a good idea."
"Please think about it, Aesook. I know how it feels like to grow up without my parents and as much as I appreciate what Mrs. Baek had done, I indeed at some point wondered why my parents did what they'd done," Lisa said.
Jennie held Lisa's hand.
"Sometimes I thought it was my fault, that I might not be good enough for them so they discarded me. Other times, I got angry. I could never understand why they wouldn't change and take care of their own flesh and blood, especially now that I have kids of my own. I will never understand how a parent could reject a child," Lisa continued. "So even though it's hard for Inho to accept you right now, I don't see anything wrong with trying to be there for him. One day he'll look back and realize that he's loved." Lisa smiled. "Not just by us but also by you. Triple bonus." She grinned.
"Thank you, Unnie," Aesook smiled. "I'm glad Inho has you two. I couldn't have picked better parents for him."
"We're not perfect, Aesook‐ah," Jennie said. "But we're willing to try."
"Which is more than I ever did," she mumbled.
"Well, you have your chance to make up for it now."
Aesook nodded. "I'll think about it."
"Okay. I know the train ride was exhausting. You should get some rest." Lisa stood up, pulling Jennie along. "You'll think clearer in the morning."
"Thank you, Unnie. Good night."
They left Aesook downstairs and headed to their room.
Jennie sat on the bed and just stared at her feet.
"What's wrong?" Lisa asked, sitting next to Jennie.
"This is it? Just like that? All that pain and hurt... for what, exactly?"
Lisa sighed. "I don't know. I kinda understand what Aesook did although I don't like how she did it. But I guess she just had to try."
"But Inho..."
"Yeah, I know. I'm just hoping that he's too young to be able to remember everything and that this won't traumatize him somehow."
"He could get suspicious every time he meets someone new or when we leave him with my parents or our friends."
Lisa nodded. "I've thought of that too." She took a deep breath. "That's why I hoped that all those years with us could somehow overshadow the past few months. Push it out of his memory or something."
"Let's hope so." Jennie stood up to change.
Lisa caught Jennie's wrist. "Where are you going?"
"Err... change? I'm not sleeping in jeans."
"Then just take them off. Here, I'll help." Lisa pulled Jennie towards her and reached for the button on Jennie's jeans.
"Hey!" Jennie slapped the hand away. "What are you doing?"
Lisa smirked and stood up. "Celebrating." She pulled Jennie by the waist and kissed her.
"Oh. I see." Jennie smiled and wrapped her arms around Lisa's neck, returning the kiss. "It's been a while, huh?"
"Mmhmm." Lisa's hands were already tugging on Jennie's jeans zipper. Her lips made their way down to Jennie's neck and the latter put her hand on the back of Lisa's head, pulling her close as she tilted her head, surrendering to Lisa's kisses.
The sound of a door closing stopped them. They froze as they heard footsteps running down the hall.
"Dang..." Jennie quickly pushed Lisa away and buttoned her jeans up.
They fixed themselves just in time to see the door slowly creaking open.
"Hmm... I wonder who's behind that door," Lisa teased.
The door burst open and the two giggling children tackled both Lisa and Jennie, pushing them towards the bed and fell onto it in one messy heap.
"Y-yah! What are you two doing?!" Jennie asked between fits of laughter.
"My bed is too small, Mommy," Heeryung said.
"So you're trying to take over our bed?" Lisa asked the boy who was now jumping on the bed. She grabbed hold of him and brought him down onto the mattress, wrestling him and tickling him until he almost choked from laughing so hard.
"It's bigger," Heeryung reasoned, latching herself onto Lisa's back.
"Sandwich!" She pushed Lisa down on top of Inho.
"Y-‐yah! Ryung-‐ah! Your brother will get squished!" Lisa used her hands to prevent herself from crashing onto the small boy.
Jennie pulled Heeryung off of Lisa. "Careful, Ryung-ah."
The girl merely grinned. "Sorry." She used her weight to push Jennie back. "Then I'll sandwich you!"
"Ooh! I'll join!" Lisa said as she lifted the boy and placed him on top of Heeryung, making Jennie grunt from the added weight.
She then backed away and laughed as Jennie tried to get the two squirming kids off her.
"I c‐can't breathe! Yah!" Jennie tried to tickle the two kids and finally succeeded after another bout of screams and laughter.
"Go to sleep!" Lisa ordered the boy now climbing on her lap and clinging to her neck.
"No!" He grinned.
"Oh you're talking back now?" Lisa tickled him again, throwing him onto the mattress. "Sleep!"
"No!" He was still breathlessly laughing and screaming, trying to push Lisa away.
"If you won't sleep, I won't stop tickling you." Lisa's fingers moved faster.
"Umma! Stop!" He finally gave in.
"You'll sleep now?" Lisa asked.
"Yes." He tried to catch his breath. "Here."
Lisa sighed. "Fine."
The boy joined his sister who was already pretending to sleep soundly under the covers. They snickered and Lisa and Jennie could only shake their heads.
"Rain check?" Lisa asked, lifting her eyebrows playfully and smirking at Jennie who was going to the bathroom to change.
Jennie laughed and winked, making Lisa clench her fists and gulp. "Do you need help changing?" She couldn't resist.
"Stay." Jennie warned Lisa, lifting her finger and glaring at the grinning woman.
Lisa chuckled. "Yes, Ma'am."
-‐-‐-‐-‐
Jennie woke up when a small hand swatted her face.
She huffed and frowned, opening her eyes to see Inho's hand over her eye. She chuckled and took the small hand, kissed it and put it down neatly next to the sleeping boy.
She saw Lisa sleeping with her mouth open and Heeryung lying on top of her. She stifled a laugh.
Jennie reached for her phone and took a picture of the messy scene.
The sound of the camera shutter woke Lisa up. She saw the sleeping girl and gently shifted her position to make the girl lie down properly on the bed.
Lisa kissed the girl's forehead before turning to see Jennie checking her phone.
"You took a picture?" She hoarsely whispered.
"Yup."
Lisa groaned. "Were my eyes open again?"
"Nope. Your mouth was." Jennie snickered.
"Delete it!" Lisa tried to reach for the phone but her arm was too short considering there were two small bodies lying between them.
"Go make breakfast." Jennie put the device back on the nightstand, away from Lisa's reach.
"I made dinner last night and I have to make breakfast too now? So unfair."
"Pouring cereal and milk in bowls isn't that hard, Lisa. Stop exaggerating." Jennie got off the bed.
"Sigh. Fine. Just be grateful that summer vacation has started or you'll be getting them both ready for school." Lisa lazily stood up, stretched and went out of the room.
She went downstairs and into the kitchen. She pulled the fridge open and took out the milk and eggs. She decided to make omelet instead of just feeding everyone with cereal.
Heeryung walked in right after Lisa had placed the first omelet on the plate.
The girl rubbed her eyes, took the plate and placed it on the table. She then took out the bottle of chocolate milk and poured herself a glass after asking Lisa to grab her a glass from the cabinet.
Jennie came in soon after with a sleepy Inho holding on to her hand.
The boy climbed on the chair and slumped on the table, resuming his sleep.
"I thought you didn't want to cook?" Jennie kissed Lisa's cheek as she took a plate of omelet from the counter and nudged the sleepy boy to sit up. She placed the plate in front of him and handed him a fork.
"We can't just have cereal today. It's a happy day," Lisa said.
Jennie looked at the doorway. "Aesook's still asleep?"
"I think so." Lisa was focusing on her cooking. "She must have been tired. Let her sleep in."
They ate their breakfast in a cheerful and happy mood.
"How about we go to Grandpa's today?" Jennie asked. "You can go swim."
"Yay!"
"Let's go!"
"Okay then. Go take a shower, Ryung-ah." Jennie said as she stood up and cleared the dishes.
The girl went upstairs with her brother following close behind.
"I'll get Inho ready," Jennie said and left the kitchen.
Lisa stretched and sat there enjoying the silence for a few more minutes.
She looked at the clock on the wall and frowned when she realized that it was almost ten. She started to worry about Aesook and stood up to go check on her.
"Aesook?" She knocked on the door and waited for a reply. When none came she knocked again, harder. "Aesook? Are you up?"
When her constant calls and knocks went unanswered, she decided to take a peek inside. "Aesook?" She pressed the door handle down and pushed the door open a bit. "Aesook?"
She saw the empty and dark room and pushed the door open wider. She turned on the lights and found the bed neatly made.
Lisa then noticed a piece of paper on the folded blanket. She picked it up and unfolded it.
"Thank you for everything, Lisa unnie and Jennie unnie. I will stick to my decision and make this easier on everybody. Goodbye. Thank you for taking such good care of my son. Please tell him that I love him? Maybe one day he'll understand and forgive me for what I've done. And I hope the both of you could forgive me too."
Lisa took a deep breath and left the room.
She went upstairs and saw Jennie walking out of the bathroom with the boy wrapped in a towel.
Jennie saw Lisa's face. "What's wrong?" Lisa lifted the paper in her hand.
"She left."
"What?"
"Must've taken the first train or something." Lisa handed Jennie the paper and ushered the boy to his room to get dressed.
Jennie read the note and raised her eyebrows. She went into Inho's room. "So that's it? She's just gonna disappear again?"
"I'll call her later," Lisa said while struggling to pull the t-shirt over the boy's head. "Hold still, Inho-yah!"
The boy grinned and finally stopped trying to reach for his toy.
Lisa handed the boy over to Jennie and took the paper back. "I'm going to take a shower."
"Okay." Jennie resumed getting the boy ready.
Lisa put the paper on a table before stepping into the shower.
She walked out of the bathroom to see Jennie taking out clothes from the closet and putting them in her gym bag.
"Do you wanna go swim later?" Jennie asked.
"Not sure. But bring my swimsuit and an extra t-shirt just in case."
Jennie nodded and rummaged for Lisa's swimsuit. She suddenly felt arms around her waist and dampness from Lisa's wet hair on her shoulder. "What are you doing?"
"Are you going to wear that sexy bikini?" Lisa kissed Jennie's neck and the latter laughed.
"Pervert."
"It's been a while since I've seen you in it." Lisa pulled Jennie closer and slipped one hand under Jennie's t‐shirt, caressing the skin on her stomach.
Jennie leaned back by reflex and closed her eyes. "We don't have time for this and the kids are downstairs." Her breaths were becoming shallower by every subtle movement of Lisa's fingers.
Lisa ignored Jennie and continued pushing Jennie's t-shirt higher, making sure that her lips stayed firmly planted on Jennie's neck.
Jennie turned around in Lisa's hold, kissing Lisa hungrily. "Why are you doing this to me?"
Lisa smirked and pulled away. "I thought we don't have time for this?" Jennie sighed and pushed Lisa. "I hate you."
"I love you too." Lisa grinned and pecked Jennie's lips. "Now go shower!" She slapped Jennie's butt.
Jennie sulked and stomped her way into the bathroom.
Lisa chuckled and quickly got dressed.
She had just zipped the bag when her phone rang.
Lisa searched for the device and creased her brows when she saw the unfamiliar number.
"Hello?"
"Good morning, Miss Lisa. I'm Shin Daejung, Miss Jung Aesook's attorney."
"Ah good morning, Mr. Shin. How can I help you?"
The man took a deep breath. "I've just got a call from the police. Miss Aesook is in the hospital. Apparently she was crossing the street when a distracted driver ran the red light."
Lisa felt her stomach twist. "What? Is she okay?!"
"I'm afraid not, Miss Lisa. She's been unconscious ever since. I thought I should notify you since she told me that she was going to visit you yesterday to return her son to your care. We're supposed to meet on Monday as well."
"Y-yes, she came here and stayed with us last night." Lisa gulped. "Which hospital?"
"Kangnam General."
"Okay. I'll be there soon. Oh by the way, Mr. Shin?"
"Yes?"
"Can you alert the hospital that Aesook is HIV positive? They might need to take extra measures."
"W-what?"
"Yeah, she told us that yesterday."
"O‐oh alright. I'll inform them immediately."
Lisa hung up and sat down on the bed, staring blankly at the phone in her hands.
"By the way, don't forget to pa-..." Jennie stopped in her tracks. "What's wrong?" She went to sit next to Lisa.
"Aesook got into an accident. She's at the hospital. Unconscious."
"What?!" Jennie dropped the towel in her hand. "How? When?!"
"Early this morning." Lisa stood up. "Let's drop the kids off at your parents first."
"O-okay." Jennie quickly got dressed and went downstairs to fetch the two children and make sure they were ready to go.
Lisa called Jisoo. "Hey, Chu. Can you meet me at Kangnam General Hospital in an hour? It's about Aesook."
"Sure. What happened?"
"I'll explain later." Lisa hung up and grabbed the bag before rushing downstairs.