"Sohla, eat with Yoonha tonight. I have plans." Mother meets me in the lounge when I arrive home from work, passing by in the process of me coming in and her going, and I paste on my bright smile. She's oblivious to what day of the week it is, let alone the date, so she's at least one person who won't acknowledge today. Thankfully.

"Something fun?" I ask and stop to adjust the coat's collar she's pulling on, admiring her beauty even at her age. She's not aged a day in the last decade and is still as pulled together as she was when I was a girl when she's...