Tae-tae went to his grandmother's room and found her asleep, just like his uncle, under sedatives and recovering, he sat beside her and told her about what happened from the moment they heard of the accident, until the moment they entered the hospital, already in Seoul.
"Grandma, we always talked about what we were going to do when I was to come to Seoul, but I never thought that the first time I would come here, would be so disgraceful like this. I want to see you recover, grandma. We have a lot to do here. Including the task of finding mom's a boyfriend and a dad to me. So, get healthy again faster, I'll be waiting for you here," he kissed his grandma's forehead, covered her shoulders with the duvet, knowing how she always felt cold in her shoulders, and then he left the room, heading towards the next one, to see his grandpa and probably find his mom again.
"Mom? Are you here?" Tae-tae entered the room and found his aunt talking to a girl who probably was his grandpa's doctor, they looked at him, and then Jiah came to him, with a strange look in her eyes.
"Hey, baby. Did you missed me?"
[Am I supposed to act? Well, I'll give it a try.] "Mommy! Are you looking at grandpa? Is he okay?"
Jiah thanked him with her eyes and he smiled. "Yes. Grandpa is okay. He passed through surgery, but he's recovering well. Did you see uncle Mori and grandma?"
Tae-tae nodded. "Grandma is in the same situation as grandpa. But once uncle Mori's state was more critical, he's gonna take longer to recover. Nevertheless, he's going to be okay, once the surgery went well."
Jiah breathed a sigh of relief, she was so worried about them, it was reassuring to know that they were going to be okay.
[Where's my mom?] "Mommy, where's aunt Aeri? She came in way faster than us, I thought she would be here too."
"Oh, she fainted." He became wary and worried for her but Jiah hurried and tranquilized him. "She hadn't eaten anything, so her body was kinda weak. Then she heard about how complicated dad's state also was, plus the stress she was going through, she couldn't handle. She's going to be okay. A doctor we know is taking care of her."
Tae-tae nodded, trying to hide his true feeling from the doctor, who Jiah wanted to put up the act for. "Did aunt Aeri remember her? Her memory is horrible when it comes to people who aren't so important in her life. And we know that there are only a few people who are important. Plus the ones who harmed her, which she doesn't forget."
His aunt laughed calmly and nodded, "Yeah, she didn't. But I did. Anyway, let me introduce you to your grandparents' doctor. Dr. Jihye."
Dr. Jihye who was still shocked with what she just had witnessed, came forth and offered her hand to Tae-tae. "Hello, kid, I'm Dr. Young Jihye, but you can call me Dr. Jihye if you want to."
He took her hand and nodded, politely. "It would be a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Jihye if it wasn't for these circumstances with what happened to my grandparents and to my uncle. But I'm still glad that now we know each other. Anyways, I'm Choi Taeyoung."
She was dumbfounded by the kid in front of her and bugged trying to remember why did he look so familiar, but she managed to smile at him, then she looked at Jiah, still confused. "This little one gives me genius vibes, he's amazing and also handsome. I didn't know you had a child and an older one like him. Did you raised him alone?"
Tae-tae and Jiah shared a look and then she nodded negatively. "Not alone, Aeri also helped me to raise him."
[For god's sake, if mom was here, hearing her say this, she would freak out.]
"Oh... I mean, did you raised him as a lone mother?"
"Yes! His father was a bastard, who didn't know what he was doing and I hate him. He doesn't care about us either. So, yeah." [Aunt Jiah, Aunt Jiah, I don't know how mommy didn't contract you to be an actress in one of her movies, yet.]
"Don't feel bad about it. He didn't deserve you guys. At least you are strong to raise a child on your own, without his father. You must have suffered a lot. Emotionally talking. Because, even if the father was a bastard, kids always ask about them."
[Yes, mommy is the strongest woman I've ever met. She's my heroine. And damn, isn't aunt Jiah feeling uncomfortable with those questions?]
"Well, yes. I had to be strong for him and for myself, you know? I loved that bastard like the hell of it, and what did I gain from it? Only my son, who's everything in my life. I live for him. But besides this, when it comes to his father, I only got hurt. But at least, living abroad, I could focus totally on my work and on raising my boy. I'm proud of myself because he's a genius and he's the best kid I could have asked for."
[Well, she does know how to incorporate mommy, cuz that's exactly what she would say.]
Dr. Jihye hugged Jiah, admiring her, wholeheartedly. While Jiah was cursing herself, afraid of her sister when she discovers what she had done, thinking that first of all, she should go and talk to Dr. Minjee, to ask her to keep a secret from Dr. Jihye, the fact that Tae-tae is actually, Aeri's son. [I'm fucked. What if he had told Dr. Park about it?]
Tae-tae knew exactly what his aunt was thinking just by looking at her guilty and worried face. "Mommy, go talk with Dr. Park. He'll explain to you, my uncle's situation better than me. Meanwhile, I'll go find aunt Aeri."
Jiah wanted to hug him in thanks, but she hurried outside right after that.