When Seol left school after meeting his past mom for the first time, he had no idea where he would go. He walked aimlessly for a long while just listening to music while fiddling with the watch that had brought him there in the first place. Perhaps he ought to just see if he could go back. Maybe there was a way for him to fix his fractured family without having to travel through time. He let his mind wander back over it. His mother hardly left her laptop most times as she poured over her writing, and his father was throwing himself more and more into his music with late night studio shifts. They both knew he existed and that was it. There was no way for him to fix what was broken if his parents refused to even be in the same room as each other, let alone the same house.

He decided right then and there that he had to keep trying to fix things so he wouldn't go back to a broken home. However, Seol didn't come prepared to time travel, so he had no money on him. He would have to find a free place to stay for the night. He thought about the park for the longest time, but decided that sleeping on a bench wasn't favorable. Besides, he couldn't run the risk of being mugged of the watch or music player as they were the only things of value he had on him. Eventually Seol found his feet walking ahead of his brain until he arrived back at the house he had called home for as long as he could remember.

The house was all dark as the sun set. The house tour was over for the day, and the realtor - along with anyone else that was there - were long gone. The sign was still there for house tours with a date and time for the next day, but the balloons had vanished. Seol walked down along the path, and vainly tried the front door. He knew it would be locked. He knew there would be no father or mother to greet him with a hug and a kiss on the forehead even if the door had opened. Echoes of his past happiness made a pain expand in Seol's chest as he started to walk around the perimeter of the house. Near the rear, he noticed that the realtor left one of the windows open a crack. Seol walked over to it, gently shoving the window up before extending a hand up inside to unattached the screen. He gingerly slid his body through before replacing the screen and tip-toeing up to his old bedroom.

He would leave early in the morning before the realtor spotted him. That's what he told himself as he moved towards the window seat in his old room, lying on the bare wood as his eyes turned out the window to watch the sun set beyond the horizon. Seol didn't realize how long he actually slept, waking the next morning to a hand on his shoulder and the stern face of a realtor looking down at him.

- - -

"Ava...I have a car, but I...can you just come and drive me to the police station for moral support?"

Rai stood outside the school with her school bag hooked under one arm; her phone up to her ear. As soon as she had gotten the call from the front office about the police, she had immediately dropped everything, especially when she heard the police talk about her supposed son.

"I'll be there soon," said Ava, "But you have to tell me what atrocious crime you have committed first so I can prepare myself."

"Ava, it's not about me. It's Seol."

"Not this again."

"Just...please. I need you."

"I'm coming. I told you I'd be there soon. As it is, I have you on speaker phone as I'm driving. If this car in front of me would use the foot that is attached to his leg to drive a bit faster I'd be there sooner."

"Thank you," said Rai as she took a deep breath and let it out slowly before hanging up.

True to her word, Ava pulled up in front of the school only about a minute or two after Rai had hung up. Rai moved towards the car, climbing into the passenger seat as she threw her teaching bag in the back. A pen flew out from inside, rolling across the backseat.

"Thank you for doing this, Ava."

"I'm doing it because you're my bestie and I love the stuffing out of you. I still think this whole situation is crazy though," said Ava as she drove towards the police station. "So the police didn't say anything about why Seol was trying to call you?"

Rai shook her head.

"All I know is that the police called and said my son didn't know my number, so he wanted them to call me at my place of employment so I'd come and pick him up. I have no idea why or what happened."

"Your son..." muttered Ava under her breath.

Rai moved to lean her head against the window as Ava drove. When they arrived, Rai was immediately jumping out of the car, snatching her purse out of her teaching bag in the back.

"I'll be right back," Rai told Ava.

"And I'll be right here," said Ava in response as Rai quickly disappeared inside.

As soon as she entered the police station, the woman at the front desk lifted her head to look at her.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes, hi. I'm here for Jeon Seol..."

"Mom?"

Turning around, Rai saw Seol sitting on one of the hard maroon chairs up against one of the gray walls in the waiting area. Unlike the smiley boy she had seen yesterday, this one looked terrified. There were unshed tears in his eyes, and she swore his bottom lip was quivering a bit when he said that three letter word. All thoughts of disbelief were momentarily pushed aside as her teacher and motherly instinct kicked in. She walked over to Seol, crouching down in front of him as she rummaged through her purse for tissues. She grabbed some travel tissues out, handing him one for the tears that were slipping down his cheeks.

"Hey...you're okay..." she started before Seol leaned forward and hugged her tightly.

"You came..." he breathed out.

She was startled by the hug, but soon moved to hug him gently back.

"You're alright," Rai said softly as she felt Seol's grip on her tighten. The poor boy was scared to death.

After Seol collected himself, she went back to the counter to check him out. Seol followed her, standing off to the side as she received his belongings back.

"What exactly did he do?" asked Rai with a slight edge to her voice, "For you to be treating this juvenile like a criminal?"

"He broke into a home overnight, miss," said the woman, "But we're letting him go with a warning because he's a juvenile."

Rai could hear the edge in the woman's voice, forcing a smile onto her face as she grabbed up the red music player with the earbuds and the watch. She had to admit that her hand strayed longer over the music player before she handed it back to Seol. It really looked identical to hers, but she knew she didn't own the only player in the world that looked like that. It merely had to be a coincidence. Seol pocketed his belongings before turning towards the door once all his paperwork was arranged.

"A no trespassing order on a fourteen-year-old that didn't even steal anything..." Rai muttered under her breath as she walked out of the station; Seol walking behind her like a shadow. Seol kept walking closely behind her when his stomach rumbled. Rai paused on the bottom step, turning to look at Seol. She had heard the rumble as clear as day.

"Have you not eaten?"

Seol shook his head.

"I haven't had anything to eat since..." He was about to say 'since he traveled to the past' but amended it last minute to be, "...since yesterday."

"Well then, it's time to get something to eat."

"You still don't believe me, right?" asked Seol as Rai started walking again, jogging to walk beside her.

"No, of course not. It's ridiculous, but you still need to be taken care of. I will make sure that happens and then I'll worry about returning you to your real parents."

Before Seol could say anything, his eyes landed on the person in the driver's seat of the car that they were currently walking towards. His face lit up with a smile as Ava got out of the car, standing by it as she looked their way.

"AUNTIE AVA!" said Seol as he raced across the remainder of the parking lot to her, hugging her tightly. "I've missed you!"

- - -