Inhye and her family were finalizing the placement of their belongings inside the new home. Previously the four of them including Inhye, her mother Youngjin, father Joonho and younger brother Junseo lived in Seoul. Now they had moved to a much smaller town more south in the country to be closer to extended family. This idea was not popular with Inhye and her brother, but seeing as they couldn’t change their parent's minds, they learned to accept the fact. A few weeks ago they packed up all of their things into cardboard boxes and said final goodbyes to their friends, followed by empty promises of coming back to visit soon. They may go back to visit someday, but it was far from soon. Now the second year high schooler and second year middle schooler were a day away from starting at their new places of learning.

“Inhye, the middle school should be on your way so make sure to drop off and pick up Junseo everyday, alright?” Their mother told them as she set the table for dinner.

“Mom, I’m not a baby. I can walk myself,” Junseo whined as he sat and watched his sister set the table. She looked at him and shrugged.

“Just for the first week. It’s a new place and I don’t want you to get lost,” the woman said as she started plating the dishes. The boy started playing with his chopsticks as he slunk in his seat, not happy with earning no independence. Inhye sat across from him and leaned in to whisper.

“You’ll thank me when I save you from getting eaten by a tiger,” the girl said with a malicious smile.

“There aren’t any tigers anymore,” Junseo said, more so to reassure himself.

“Inhye, quit scaring your brother, you’ll give him nightmares,” the woman said as she carried over bowls to sit on the table.

“It’s true though. Now that we live out in the middle of nowhere, any kind of animal can come up and attack. You’re lucky to have a tall older sister to protect you since you’re the perfect size prey they like to go for,” Inhye said as she looked at the food her mother had presented. This made Junseo pout and want to wiggle in his seat, but he contained it, hoping that she was just being weird like usual.

The next day Inhye woke up early and did her best to look as nice as possible without violating any of the dress codes. The new school was a lot stricter than the one she previously attended so she hoped to create some leeway without getting in trouble. Once she finished her hair and makeup and smoothed out her skirt, she tiptoed over her little brother’s room. She peeked through the crack in his door and saw him already dressed and staring at himself in the mirror, patting down a cowlick on the side of his head. Inhye thought about scaring him, but resisted. It was a big day for both of them and she decided to be nice for once and not make him any more nervous than he currently was. She knocked on the door before opening it and getting his attention.

“What do I do with this?” the boy asked as he picked up a can of hairspray and looked at his hair. Inhye walked over to him and grabbed a brush and started working on his head, smoothing it down and using the spray to keep the fluffy mass flat. Her little brother was just above five feet tall, somewhat average for his age. But the girl towered over him at five foot eight and hoped that he would hit a growth spurt in high school.

“Perfect, now let's go,” the girl said as she brushed a few last strands into place and sat her tools on the dresser. The boy shook his head and was pleased with the result as his hair still moved but not too much. She grabbed the backpack sitting on his bed and handed it to him before leaving the room. It was still dark outside but the sun would rise soon seeing as it was early July and the days were far longer than the nights, which Inhye enjoyed but also didn’t care for the heat. She slipped on her shoes and waited for Junseo to do the same. The siblings walked out of their small home and down the path to the sidewalk. The neighboring homes were also little yet had a sizable distance between them, giving each house a nice amount of land to work with and decorate however they pleased. Their mother had already started pulling weeds and planting bushes around their home and Inhye thought that maybe she too could enjoy gardening if she had the free time.

“Are you really going to pick me up?” the boy asked as they reached a busier street and cars started zooming past.

“Of course. You better wait for me too. If I get yelled at for not protecting you then I’ll stick you outside until a crow comes to poke out your eyes,” Inhye said, knowing the boy would take it as a jo