Chapter Seven

The driver looked at me and I smiled hesitantly before I returned to the paperwork in my hands. I lived in this neighborhood for far too long. Long enough for me to be reminded that in every beautiful home, behind every wonderfully finished door, life wasn't as perfect as it seemed.

Soon enough, we finally stopped in front of my house. As I gathered all of my things, my driver said, "I'll pick you up tomorrow around seven in the morning. Is that a good time for you?"

I turned to him and smiled. I replied, "Seven sounds great. But do wait for me at the nearesf bus stop."

His brows furrowed.

I quickly reasoned, "I like going on walks in the morning. A small walk to the bus stop will be my exercise. I hope that won't be much of a hassle for you."

"Not at all," he smiled generously.

I nodded to him before I stepped out of the car. The driver drove away as soon as I closed the door behind me. I watched him disappear from my sight before I turned back to my house. I took a moment and stared at my house.

A one-storey building with a white wooden door. The curtains inside were visible through the clean windows. The flowers by the window and around the house bloomed beautifully. Our house has often been complimented as a doll's house. And they weren't wrong. Mama wanted a house that resembled the doll houses that she used to play with. And Dad loved her too much that he gave her everything she asked of him.

But I know what lied behind this door. And I sighed as I felt burdened, just by seeing my house. I approached the door and when I turned the knob, it wouldn't open. I tried again but only got the same result. I rolled my eyes and groaned. Left with no other choice, I made my way to the kitchen entrance.

Mama would always lock the door to prevent the little ones from getting out. As much as I understood why she would do that, I also don't appreciate the fact that the kitchen entrance was at the very back. Which meant that I needed to go to the backyard in order to enter the house.

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I closed the backyard gate behind me and the moment I arrived, I already heard the usual. Mama nagged and shouted from inside the house. The sound of children that ran all over the house and a few dishes broke as they fell onto the ground.

Like what I said: it was the usual chaotic scene within the household.

I walked up the steps to the kitchen door and braced myself for what I was about to see. I turned the knob and as soon as I opened it, I immediately moved to the side as I dodged a flying spoon. I stared at it as the sound of laughing children disappeared further into the house.

I looked back inside and it wasn't short of filthy. The sink was filled to the brim with dirty dishes. The table was full of plates and bowls that still had food in them. Random cereal boxes, milk cartons, energy bars and empty wrappers were thrown into the mix. The floor was covered with spilled… well, everything. There were a lot of spilled things on the floor, I couldn't decipher what they were anymore.

I raised my head and saw a pot on the stove. It was boiling and everything was spilling all over the stove. I rushed over to it and lowered the heat. I opened the pot and saw that Mama cooked sour pork stew. I sighed as I grabbed the ladle near it and stirred it.

In no time, I heard running from the second floor, all the way down to the first floor.

"Ahra! Sunmi! Yeonghee!" Mama's voice echoed as she came down the stairs. "Yeonseok! Chiwon! Stop running and get back here!"

I entered the living room and watched as Mama chased the kids who hid behind the sofa. The kids then ran back upstairs and when Mama followed, she finally saw me. "Oh, thank goodness you're here," she exhaled as she stopped in front of me. "Here," she immediately handed over bathing towels to me. "The kids need to take their baths. Dinner is almost done, I'm sure you can handle that. I really need to get to work. Thank you so much for taking care of everything," she continued as she grabbed her bag and keys.

"I'll see you tomorrow! Bye!" she shouted as she closed the door behind her. The car then started and immediately drove out of the garage. I turned to the bathing towels all over me and sighed.

Suddenly, I heard the giggling of my two sisters as they approached the stairs.

"Do you think I look fat?" Narae asked as their footsteps echoed on the staircase.

"Don't be silly, Narae. Solbi is just jealous because you're a hot young mom and she's not," Jaeyun remarked.

They shared a loud laugh together. But the moment they saw me in the living room, they stopped and smirked.

"Ah, I see you're already home," Jaeyun said as they approached me.

I stretched out my arms and replied, "Mama said your kids need a bath. Mind doing it yourselves? They are your children, after all."

Their mouths hung open in shock. "I'm sorry but are you blind? Can't you see that we're all glammed up and ready to go?" Narae answered.

I looked at them from head to toe and wasn't surprised that they were in their party outfits for the nth time this week. I said, "I don't care about what you're wearing. The least that you can do is to take care of your kids before you step out of this house to party."

"We don't just go out and party, okay? We go out in search of a man who can be a father to our kids and bring us out of here," Narae complained. "Just because you got into a fancy company, that doesn't mean you get to degrade us like that."

Jaeyun sighed as she stopped Narae. "Calm yourself, Narae. She doesn't know what it feels like to be a mom. I don't think she'll ever be a mom, either," she smirked as she looked at me from head to toe.

Narae chuckled. "Oh, right, because she's too holy and perfect for this world."

I rolled my eyes at the snide remarks. Their words, although they weren't new, still stung. If only I could slap them right here, right now, I would. But of course, it would only cause another conflict here and Mama would take their side as usual.

"Anyways, we'll be going out. The house is all yours, as well as the kids," Jaeyun continued. She lent out her hand with a straight face.

I stared at it for a while and asked, "What?"

She groaned. "I need cash."

"Didn't Mama give you cash yesterday? She handed you a lot from what I recall."

"That was yesterday. This is today."

I sighed and reached into the side pocket of my bag. I grabbed what was left inside and gave it to her.

Jaeyun counted the money and her brows furrowed right after. She looked back to me and remarked, "This is only twenty-four thousand won. That's too small for the both of us."

"Well, you should've thought about saving your money before you spent it all in one go," I replied. "I'm still new at my job so I need all the money that I have before payday arrives. If you're going to complain about the money I gave you, ask Mama the next time." I brushed past them and headed up the stairs.

"I hope that you never get a man, Mingyu!" Narae screamed, which made me stop. "I hope you grow old alone as a grumpy lady!"

I smirked and remarked, "I'd rather be like that than to be a burden." I then proceeded up the stairs and headed to the children's room.

At this rate, why would I need a man, anyways?