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“Eomma!” Kookie yelled, bursting through the front door.  He’d just gotten off the bus.

“Yes, Kookie?  What is it?”

“Lukey is playing soccer this year.  I wanna play soccer too!”

“Oh, I see.  I’ll talk to your dad about it, ok?”

Kookie nodded, grinning.

“Do you have any homework?”

“Yeah.  Have some spelling homework today.”

“Oh, well go get it done!”

Kookie ran off to his room.  Chaeha was so glad she’d decided not to teach this year.  She got to spend more time with the boys, and she wasn’t as exhausted as she would’ve been chasing a bunch of 4 and 5-year-olds around.

Hobi walked out to the living room a moment later.  He was pulling on one of his shoes, the other one firmly held in his other hand.

“Where are you going, Hobi?” Chaeha asked.

“December asked me to meet her at the smoothie shop at four, so I need to go.”

“Doesn’t your shift start at five?”

Hobi shrugged. “Yeah.  I’m not sure it’s for work, but I don’t know what to expect.  She texted me during lunch today, so I’m not sure what’s going on.”

“I see.  Well, have fun.  See you tonight.”

Hobi tugged on his other shoe and opened the front door. “See you later, Mom.”

Chaeha smiled.  It warmed her heart when they called her that.  She wouldn’t have imagined Joon and Hobi would call her ‘Mom’ in a million years.

——————–

Hobi walked down to the smoothie shop.  He found December sitting at a table outside the smoothie shop.  Her long braids were pulled up into a ponytail today.  Hobi loved her hair.  Before, she’d had wild curls that were most often pulled up into a little pouf of hair on her head, but her colorful braids were just as interesting to him.  her hair seemed to fade from black to neon pink right now.

“Hey, Ember.”

She looked up at him and smiled. “Hi, Hobi!  Sit down,” she motioned to the seat across from hers.

He seated himself, unsure what was going on.

“How are college classes going?” He asked.

“They’re awesome!  I’m so glad my cousin recommended hair school.  It’s so much fun!”

“Oh, that’s good.  I’m glad you’re enjoying it.”

She nodded. “My mom has been teaching me how to do twists and braids, so my brother’s hair is constantly in a new style.  I’m glad he doesn’t mind, because it’s hard to do my mom’s hair while she’s instructing me.”

“Does it take a while?” Hobi asked.  He pointed to her braids. “That looks like it took hours to do.”

December nodded again. “Having curly hair is a lot of work.  I can’t imagine what it’s like to just go to bed and get up in the morning without having to worry about your hair at all.”

Hobi laughed, dragged his fingers through his head of short, straight hair. “I don’t even think about my hair most of the time,” he admitted.

She giggled. “Anyways, I wanted to-” her phone buzzed, cutting her off.  She looked down. “It’s my brother; hang on a second.  Hello?  No, I’ve got work until ten tonight.  Is she going to be in town tomorrow or is she leaving tonight?” She bit her lip. “Um…well I’m busy right now, so I can’t come, sorry.  Ok.  I got to go.  See you later.  Bye.”

“What was that about?” Hobi asked.

“Oh, my brother’s girlfriend is in town and she wanted to meet me.  She has to leave early tomorrow morning, though, so I don’t think I’ll get to meet her yet.”

“Can’t you go now?”

“Nah.  I’m with you right now.  She can wait another week or two.”

“Oh,” was Hobi’s soft reply.

“Before he called, I was starting to say we should go get some dinner before work.  Can we make it a date?”

“A-a date?” Hobi stuttered.

“Yup!  I’ve liked you for a while now, and I figured I’d shoot my shot while I still have the guts.  What do you think?”

“I’d…like that.”

A grin lit up December’s face. “Great!  Can we go now?  I didn’t have time to eat lunch today, so I’m starving!”

Hobi laughed.  This really wasn’t what he’d expected.

——————–

Chaeha had texted Luke’s mom.  If Kookie was going to play soccer, she needed details.  Thankfully, it looked like they had about one more week to sign up.  The chances of him ending up on the same team as Luke were slim because of how late they were signing up, but it would have to do for this year.

“Hey, Jin, Kookie wants to play soccer this year.  It doesn’t look too expensive, and the games start in three weeks.  What do you think?”

Jin nodded as she showed him the details. “Sounds good.  He needs more exercise with all that energy he’s got right now.  Can you sign him up tonight?”

Chaeha nodded. “Oh, by the way, Tae keeps asking when we’re going to go shopping for the baby, so I’m thinking we should go pick out something this weekend.  We’re gonna have to make room in the closet for clothes too, so we should start renovating Kookie’s room.”

“Honestly, is that even Kookie’s room?  I’m thinking we should just move him in with the twins at this point.  He sleeps in there, plays in there, and does his homework in there.” Jin laughed.

“That’s a good plan.  We might have to move his dresser, though.”

“That’s true.  We should do some planning before we move anything.”

——————–

“What’s it like having an older brother?” Hobi asked as he shoved a piece of sushi in his mouth.

“Mmm…well, he’s about five years older than me, so he’s been my protector my entire life.  We’re pretty close.  He moved upstate during the summer, though, so I only get to see him every so often now.  He’s planning on proposing to his girlfriend soon, so he really wants me to meet her.  I’ve been a bit too busy the few times she’s come down.”

“Wow.  How long have they been dating?”

“About two years now.  They met in a college, and she’s a nurse now, so she rarely has time to come down.  Every time she does, I seem to have plans, work, or school, so I haven’t met her in person yet.  We spoke over facetime once during the summer.  It was nice to actually get to talk to her for once,” December laughed. “You said your dad is remarried, right?  What’s it like at home?”

“Oh, it’s crazy.  The twins are constantly having friends over now.  Appa would never have allowed that in a million years, but now that Mom is staying home, I don’t think he minds so much.  Our house has definitely gotten busier since Mom got pregnant, though.  Tae keeps asking when we’re gonna buy baby clothes.  I think he, Kookie, and Jimin are all really excited at the thought of having a baby in the house.  The twins weren’t even two when Kookie was born, so I doubt they remember much of him being small.”

December smiled. “You’re going to have to invite me over sometime.  Your family sounds awesome!  I always wanted a little brother or sister, but my parents were done having kids once they had me.  Two was enough for them.”

“Yeah, I think my parents only planned to have two.  Then we got two surprises with the twins and another one with Kookie.  Sometimes I wonder if the younger boys hadn’t been born if my mom would’ve left.” Hobi sighed. “I don’t really care too much now, though.  I love the boys, and if I really think about it, someone who loved us wouldn’t have left like that.”

“Well, five kids is a lot.  She was probably overwhelmed.” December took another bite of her curry chicken and sighed. “How long ago did she leave?”

“When I was ten.  Kookie was about two weeks old.  One day, my dad woke up to a note from her saying she was leaving.  We haven’t heard from her since.” Hobi shrugged. “As much as I want to blame the boys sometimes, I know it really wasn’t their fault.  They didn’t ask to be born.  They didn’t ask for her to leave.”

There was a heavy silence between them for a few moments.

“You know, I’m really glad Appa found Mom.  I can’t imagine what it was like to grow up with no mom at all.  At least Eomma was there for ten years with me.  She didn’t even stay for two weeks after Kookie was born.  I remember how much Tae and Minnie cried.  It must’ve been even harder on them than it was on.”

Hobi looked up at December.

“Sorry for just dumping this all on you.  I haven’t had anyone to tell.”

“No, no, it’s all right.  It’s a lot.  One of my friends lost her mom when she was twelve, but…I think having your mom willingly leave you would be even worse.”

Hobi nodded, silently continuing to eat his food.

“We should probably head back soon.  Our shift starts in fifteen minutes.”

“Oh, already?” he crammed his last bite of sushi in his mouth. “Ok, let’s go.”

December laughed. “You’re cute.”