Sera clicked her tongue. “You’re always crying, even though Mom isn’t yelling at you at all.”
Seeing that, Rachel quickly took Ivy’s hand and led her to the dining table.
“Did you wet the bed last night?” Rachel asked softly once she and Ivy had taken their seats at the dining table.
With her eyes still brimming with tears, Ivy nodded slowly.
Rachel sighed. “Next time, you need to use the bathroom before you go to bed. And if you wake up in the middle of the night needing to go but feel scared, you can wake me up and ask me to come with you. Do you understand?”
For the second time, Ivy could only nod slowly.
“Now, let’s have breakfast,” Rachel said after wiping away the tears that had soaked both of Ivy’s cheeks.
Sera, who had been busy in the kitchen, now walked over to the dining table to join her two daughters.
After finishing breakfast and saying goodbye to her mother, Rachel quickly stepped outside.
Rachel looked incredibly happy that morning. She couldn’t wait to meet Cia, her pen pal. She was also eager to introduce Cia to Deisha so the three of them could become close friends.
As she neared the Bungeoppang stall, the smile on Rachel’s face slowly faded when she saw that it was still closed.
“Ah, I forgot that the woman who owns the stall wouldn’t have opened yet this early,” Rachel said, her voice full of disappointment.
Reluctantly, Rachel had to wait until school let out before she could meet her pen pal.
As she resumed walking toward school, Rachel decided to stop at a convenience store because she was thirsty.
Once inside, Rachel headed straight for a refrigerated display stocked with drinks from various brands and in all kinds of flavors. She chose a bottle of mineral water.
After closing the cooler door, Rachel quickly unscrewed the cap and gulped down the water.
“Ah, that’s refreshing. I forgot to drink water after having milk with breakfast, so my throat was really dry,” Rachel said as she began walking toward the cashier to pay.
Along the way, Rachel was startled to see a girl named Cia finishing up her purchase and heading outside.
Seeing this, Rachel quickened her pace to catch up with the Bungeoppang stall owner’s daughter.
“Wait!” Rachel shouted. Unfortunately, Cia didn’t hear her and had already stepped outside.
Rachel hurriedly set her drink on the counter while keeping her eyes on the direction Cia had gone.
“That comes to 900 won,” the cashier said after scanning the barcode on the bottle of mineral water.
Rachel quickly pulled out 1,000 won and handed it to the cashier.
“Do you need a plastic bag?”
Rachel quickly shook her head. “No, you can keep the change,” she said before grabbing her bottle of mineral water and running outside the convenience store.
Cia had already gotten quite far from the convenience store, so Rachel had to quicken her pace even more to catch up with her.
“Wait!” Rachel shouted.
But once again, Cia didn’t hear her and continued walking as if no one were running after her.
“Cia Park!” Rachel shouted a second time.
At once, Cia stopped and turned around to see who had just called her name.