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Mars. Venus. Saturn. Saturn. Neptune. Saturn. Mars.
"Where is Jupiter?" Her shoulders sag as she lets out a heavy sigh.
She's been looking through these books for at least thirty minutes. Or, well, probably thirty minutes. A long time. Too long. Much longer than she would've liked.
She continues her search on the next shelf over.
Neptune. Saturn. Uranus. Saturn. Saturn. Saturn. Mars.
She can feel her skin prickle, that uncomfortable pull that makes her itchy all over. Eomma had taught her to take deep breaths when it happened. When Mami feels this way she tells Hana that she closes her eyes and tries to name things she can hear and touch.
But right now she doesn't want to regulate — or whatever word Mimi had used when they had all walked her through the first time her skin felt like it didn't fit right — she just wants to find the book she wants.
"Why aren't these books in order?" she whines, left foot bouncing against the soft carpet.
"Maybe I should go get Mimi," she whispers to herself as a way to convince herself. If she speaks it out loud she's more likely to do it, 'just like your mami', eomma had told her once.
She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. "If I go get Mimi, she can help me. If I go get Mi-"
Something soft crashes into her legs and a heartbeat later, her hoodie is being tugged down and to the side.
Her eyes blink open, head moving slowly to her left side to assess the situation.
She's met with curls. Unruly curls. Unruly, black curls. On a short human. Well, at least a human shorter than herself.
"Uh, hello?"
The head full of unruly, black curls tilts back and she's met with wide brown eyes on a round face full of freckles. Freckles that look so much like her own it almost feels like she's looking at a mirror.
"Are you lost?" It's the first question that comes to mind as she watches a deep pout on the face looking up at her. She feels their grip tightening on her hoodie.
They reply with a small nod, lip beginning to tremble and eyes filling with tears.
"Hey it's okay, we'll find them," she says gently, carefully patting their head in what she hopes is a comforting gesture.
She moves her hand out in front of their face and makes an opening and closing motion, which only gets more of her sweater pulled into the tiny — but incredibly strong — hands.
"Okay, no holding hands," she says feeling a little defeated, unable to really move and help look for their parents with the way they're currently holding on to her.
"Oh! Upa?" She holds both her arms out this time, like she's seen eomma, mami, and Mimi do when she's wanted to be carried in the past. She's a little over seven and a half now, she doesn't need to be carried anymore.
Well, not always, anyway.
That gets her an immediate reaction. Small hands let go of her sage green hoodie, arms raising up towards her expectantly.
"Oof, okay," she grunts as she picks them up, adjusting the smaller body against her hip. "Uh… Let's go find your parents."
She walks them both out of the store, looking around to see if she can spot anyone with freckles and black hair close by before continuing down to the center of the mall.
"What's your name?" she asks, re-adjusting the small body on her hip once again.
"Myungsoo!"
"Hi, Myungsoo. I'm Hana."
"Hana!" he parrots back excitedly.
"Are we looking for your mom and dad?" She moves her head left and then right again, trying to see if she can find any adults that look like they're panicking or searching for their child.
"Eomma and Mama."
Hana giggles, looking at the boy in her arms as she walks towards the fountain. "You say 'mamá' funny."
"Hana?!"
Zoey's pulse is racing, heart pounding relentlessly against her ribs.
Hana never wanders off, never walks away without telling one of them where she's going. When Mira had found them, face pale and out of breath, she knew something was wrong.
"Hana?" she yells as loud as she can, trying to keep the panic clawing its way up her throat under control. Or as much control as she can muster given the circumstances.
She hears her before she sees her — that melodic laugh she would recognize anywhere. Zoey turns her body towards the sound, almost losing her balance at how quickly she spins, readjusting the crutch on her right arm to keep her upright.
Hana's standing by the fountain at the center of the mall, holding a younger boy in her arms, tilting her head back in laughter.
She lets herself breathe for a moment, letting the fear and panic that had threatened to overtake her settle, before making her way to her daughter.
"Hana!"
Her daughter's head snaps forward, eyes darting back and forth as they try to find Zoey in the crowd.
"Mami!" she yells back when she finally sees her, walking forward to meet Zoey half way. "I'm so sorry! He came up to me at the bookstore and said he had lost his parents and I wanted to try and help him and I should've told you or eomma or Mimi but I thought they would be right outside and that I'd be back before any of you noticed."
The apology comes out in one quick breath, words fast and running into each other. She can see the guilt and remorse in Hana's eyes at making her worry, making all three of them worry.
"It's okay, tortuguita." Zoey knows it's not okay, that they have to talk about this and remind Hana that it's dangerous for her to go anywhere by herself without first checking in with one of them. But at that moment, something about the genuine concern in her daughter's eyes and words wins over and she decides it's a conversation for when they're home. "And who's this?" she asks, looking at the boy in Hana's arms.
The resemblance between the two is uncanny, he reminds her so much of Hana at that age — the unruly curls, the freckles, even the way they're both staring at her with those wide, bright eyes — that Zoey thinks they could easily be siblings.
"Myungsoo!"
All three of them turn.
"Eomma!" Myungsoo exclaims, holding his arms out towards the woman approaching them.
She's tall and lean with long lavender hair that's up in a half ponytail. Zoey's breath hitches.
If it wasn't for the tattoo peeking just past one of her sleeves, Zoey would have sworn it was Rumi.
"Ourson!" the woman says, holding Myungsoo close to her chest, and Zoey can't help but smile at the nickname. Not only does this woman look like Rumi, but apparently has similar tastes in nicknames too. "Where did you go? Mama and I have been looking everywhere for you."
"He ran into my daughter at the bookstore and she brought him out here to see if they could find you."
The other woman turns towards Zoey, really looking at her for the first time. Her eyes widen a fraction. They linger on her face before moving down to her clothes and finally settling on her crutch.
"Zo-" The woman blinks once, eyes moving back to Zoey's face and snapping her mouth shut. They stand in silence for a couple of seconds before she shakes her head and smiles. It's soft and warm, just like Rumi's. "Sorry, you just look so familiar."
A quiet "yeah" in reply is all she can muster.
"Thank you for taking care of him and trying to look for us," the woman says, turning to face Hana with a grateful smile. "I really appreciate it."
"You're welcome," Hana says, quieter than usual. When Zoey turns to look at her, she realizes that Hana's curiously eyeing the woman in front of them, brows slightly furrowed.
"We better get going, amor. Eomma and Mimi are probably panicking at the fact that they can't find either one of us right now."
Hana nods, giving Zoey a quick look, before turning back to her newest friend. "Bye Myungsoo! Say hi to Mola Mola for me!"
"Bye Hana!" The little boy waves back at her before turning to face his own mom, raising both arms with enthusiasm as the two of them begin walking in the opposite direction. "Mola Mola!"
"So you made a new friend today, huh?" Zoey asks, hand reaching out to grab her daughter's.
"Yeah," Hana replies pensively, swinging their arms back and forth.
As they reach the escalator, Hana's hand squeezes Zoey's quickly. "Mami?"
Zoey hums in response.
"When are you and Mimi going to have a baby?"
