"Do you want pancakes for breakfast?'' Mi Sun asked when Ji Yeon woke up on the morning of her birthday.
Ji Yeon shook her head no.''Me and daddy make pancakes, and he's not here.''
"I know.'' Mi Sun said kneeling down and giving Ji Yeon a hug.''He'll be home soon.''
"He doesn't love me anymore.'' Ji Yeon said quietly.''He forgot me and went away.''
"He went away because he loves you.'' Mi Sun assured her.
"Are you ready to spend the day with your favorite cousin?'' Mun Hee asked when she walked into the kitchen.
"I guess.'' Ji Yeon replied walking over to Mun Hee.
"She's upset about the current family situation.'' Mi Sun explained.
"How long is he going to be in rehab?'' Mun Hee asked.
"I'm not sure. I'll ask him when I call him on my break later on today.'' Mi Sun said bending down and giving Ji Yeon a kiss.
"What do you want to do first?'' Mun Hee asked as she buckled Ji Yeon into her car seat.
Now that cases were going down and places were opening up, Mun Hee wanted to make it a good day for Ji Yeon.
"Can I go see Dil?'' Ji Yeon asked as they drove down the street.
"I thought you would ask that.'' Mun Hee laughed. They drove to Dil's house where they found Didi and Dil waiting in the front yard. Dil hopped in the backseat next to Ji Yeon and off they went to their next destination.
"I didn't know what to get you for your birthday, so pick something out.'' Mun Hee told Ji Yeon as they entered the toy store.
Ji Yeon looked around the store at all of the different toys, it was hard to choose, but she finally settled on a baby Moana doll.
"Why don't we get some lunch?'' Mun Hee suggested.
"What if I cant taste it?'' Ji Yeon asked in a worried voice. She no longer enjoyed eating due to the fact that the sickness had messed with her senses.
"You never know until you try.'' Mun hee told her as they pulled into the chicken little parking lot.
"We can go inside?'' Dil asked amazed as they all got out of the car. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten in a restaurant.
"Yep.'' Mun Hee said taking the two kids by the hand and leading them across the parking lot.
When their food arrived Ji Yeon tentatively took a bite of her chicken nugget. She gasped and smiled as she swallowed the bite.
"I can taste it.'' Ji Yeon cried excitedly bouncing in her seat.''Can we call mommy and tell her I can taste food?''
Mun Hee checked the time on her phone and texted Mi Sun to see if she was on her break yet. She called her after she got a response.
"Mommy I can taste food now.'' Ji Yeon said when her mother answered the phone.
"That's great sweetie.'' Mi Sun congratulated her.''I can too. I have to go now, but tonight we're having a special dinner now that we both can taste again.''
Mi Sun hung up and turned back to her laptop where she was on a video call with Jin. She had been keeping up with his progress over the last few weeks.
"You know where to meet tonight?'' Mi Sun asked.
Jin nodded.''James is picking me up soon, and then I'm going to pick up Ji Yeon's present.''
"She's still upset with you.'' Mi Sun told him.''She didn't even want birthday this morning pancakes.''
"I know. I promise both of you that I won't do anything like this again.'' Jin sighed and bowed his head.
"I have to get back to work. I'll see you later tonight.'' Mi Sun said hanging up.
"Where are we?'' Dil asked when they pulled up to an unfamiliar store.
"This is where we buy food sometimes.'' Ji Yeon explained as Mun Hee unbuckled her and got her out of her car seat.
"You can pick out any snack you want.'' Mun Hee told the kids as they walked inside the Asian market.
Ji Yeon hurried over to the shelves that held the panda cookies and pokki. Dil trailed behind unsure of what to choose.
Ji Yeon's hands were soon full of snacks, which she dumped into the hand held basket that Mun Hee offered her.
"Why don't we get something that's not sweet.'' Mun Hee suggested holding up a bag of shrimp chips.
"Daddy likes those. I don't want them.'' Ji Yeon insisted crossing her arms.
They were about to check out when they heard gun shots ring out from somewhere in the store.
"What was that?'' Dil asked looking around.
Mun Hee grabbed the two small kids and ducked into an aisle as a crowd rushed passed them. More shots rang out and a few of the shoppers fell dead.
"I want to go home now.'' Ji Yeon whispered as she clung to Mun Hee.
Mun Hee pushed the kids towards the bathroom in the front of the store. She was hoping that there was a window that they could climb out, or at the very least they would be shielded from the gunfire.
"Stop right there.'' A man yelled just as Mun Hee and the kids made it to the bathroom.
Mun Hee froze when she saw the gun pointed at her head.
"Please just let us go.'' Mun Hee pleaded quietly ushering Ji Yeon and Dil behind her.
Suddenly a small crowd rushed past them and out the door. Another man with a gun was behind the crowd who had exited the store and spotted Dil behind Mun Hee. He quickly grabbed him.
Mun Hee protested, but was hit in the head by the man training his gun on her. She watched helplessly as Dil was carried outside. The second man came back a minute later and locked the doors to the store.
Mun Hee dared a quick glance out the window and saw Dil standing safely with a crowd of all white people in the parking lot. Most of them were on their phones. Mun Hee hoped they were going to send help before anymore people got hurt or died.
Meanwhile James was driving down the road after picking Jin up from rehab.
"I wonder what's going on.'' Jin said as they passed the Asian grocery store and saw the small crowd gathered outside.
James pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car along with Jin. They walked up to the crowd.
"There's bad guys in there with guns and Ji Yeon is in there. You gotta help her.'' Dil pleaded as he spotted Jin and ran up to him.
"What?'' Jin asked surprised and frustrated by the situation. Both he and James were off duty, so didn't have their guns or anything to help them diffuse the situation.
Sirens were heard coming down the street and soon after shots were fired from inside the store.
Back in the store Mun Hee and Ji Yeon were lead to the back where a large group of shoppers and workers were seated. Mun Hee quickly sat down on the cold hard floor. She pulled Ji Yeon Into her lap and shielded her from the men as much as possible.
Sirens could be heard from outside, which apparently made the four Men trigger happy. They began emptying their guns into the crowd all at once.
The Men dropped their weapoms as police stormed the inside of the store and apprehended all four of the men.
Several ambulances arrived at the same time as the cops and waited while the men were taken away before paramedics rushed inside and began assessing people for injuries. Nearly everyone was transported to the hospital with minor to severe gunshot wounds.
Jin watched anxiously as people were transported out. Dil stood on his tiptoes searching for any signs of his best friend.
Jin suddenly found himself almost falling as tiny arms wrapped around his legs. He bent down and picked Ji Yeon up.
"Mun Hee gotted hurt.'' Ji Yeon said and pointed to Mun Hee's arm, which was bleeding. In that moment she forgot that she was mad at her daddy. She felt safe with him just like she used to before.
"We should get that looked at.'' Jin told her.
"It's just a graze.'' Mun Hee shrugged.''A lot of people have it way worse then me.''
"Still I don't think your mom would like it if I let you go home like that.'' Jin said.
Jin drove them all to the hospital where Mun Hee was fixed up by Mi Sun, and they all headed home.
"I don't really feel comfortable going out to eat like we planned.'' Mi Sun when they arrived home. Mun Hee had filled everyone in on what had happened earlier.
"Mommy told me you didn't want birthday pancakes for breakfast.'' Jin said as Ji Yeon sat in his lap.
"Can we make some now?'' Ji Yeon asked.''I'm hungry.''
Jin carried Ji Yeon into the kitchen and together they got to work whipping up breakfast for dinner.
"Banana chocolate chip pancakes are ready.'' Jin announced as he brought a plate piled high with pancakes to the table.
Everyone gathered around the table and enjoyed their pancakes. Next it was time for presents.
"Will you teach me how to ride it?'' Ji Yeon asked when Jin presented her with Frozen themed bike.
Jin nodded and the two went outside where Jin instructed Ji Yeon on how to ride a bike.
"I won't leave you ever again.'' Jin promised as he tucked Ji Yeon into bed later that night.
"Promise?'' Ji Yeon asked sitting up.
Jin nodded and kissed her forehead before giving her a hug.