Chapter One

The sound of clattering utensils against steel rice bowls echoed unaccompanied through the house. The suppressed chewing of dinner in our mouths was unappetizing.

My mother cleared once in a while and shuffled uncomfortably in her dining chair, making the atmosphere unbearably awkward. She and I exchanged concerned glances.

I flicked my head a little in her direction, encouraging her to start a conversation. She sighed. Using her chopsticks she pinched a small bunch of kimchi and lent over to place it in my father’s bowl.

“Yeobo ah~ please eat more, this kimchi is good for you” she encouraged gently, yet cautiously, like she was feeding a lion.

My father glared up from his bowl and slammed his chopsticks onto the wooden table. My mother and I flinched.

“Eat?! How can I eat?! That punk Jung Jong Seok…I’ll be waiting for the day he crawls onto the steps of the store, begging for forgiveness!” he shouted forcefully.

“Appa, please calm down…I’m sure you’ll find another assistant soon” I consulted hesitantly.

“Yes yeobo, our daughter is right. Please let us eat quietly” my mother agreed.

He scoffed, “Bring my dinner to the study, I’ve got things to do. I can’t stand this atmosphere” he demanded, getting up from his seat and leaving the dining room.

***

"Honey, go take your appa’s dinner to him” my mother instructed.

I frowned, “Why do I have to do it?!” I retorted. No one, and I mean no one, should approach my father when he’s agitated.

“Oh this daughter! You aren’t even going to listen to your own umma now?!” she scowled under her breath.

“Ah fine…I’ll sacrifice myself this time” I sighed, finally giving in. My mother nudged my head softly.

“Yah…do you think your father is the devil?” she hissed.
 

***

“Appa, I have your dinner. May I come in?” I asked politely, before opening the door into the study.

“Stay there!” my father boomed. I squeezed my eyes shut in frustration, I should have known.

“Did I say you could come in?”

“Ye…no”

“So should you come in?”

“No…”

“Do it again”

I sighed and shut the door, his dinner shaking unstably on the floral tray. “Oh dear appa, I have your dinner prepared. May I come in?” I repeated, trying to suppress any sarcasm.

“Yes daughter, you may enter” he replied in an uptight tone.

“I stepped cautiously into the dimly lit study and waited under the door frame.

“Place the tray onto the coffee table” he instructed, without even taking one glance at me. I steadied the contents on the tray and placed it where he wanted.

“A-Appa…would you like me to place a job vacancy advertisement into the newspaper for next week?” I asked quietly. “Leave” he demanded through gritted teeth.

***

“I wonder if appa will let me buy this…umma definitely will but…” I mumbled quietly to myself, browsing the images of Super Junior’s newest album ‘Mr. Simple’. I clicked onto another browser, comparing the two prices.

“Poster or no poster…” I contemplated in my head, tapping my chin with my left index finger. Suddenly the door knob to my room turned and the entrance clicked open. I gasped and quickly slammed close my laptop before dumping my open textbooks on top. I grabbed a pen and attempted to look like I was studying, very intently indeed.

“Daughter…” a low voice called from behind. I my computer chair and forcefully smiled at my father.

“Y-yes appa?” I replied sweetly. He isn’t here to lecture me again, right?

“Uh…can you email Busan Daily and place a job vacancy advertisement in next week’s paper?” he asked awkwardly. I spun back and opened up my laptop again, I smirked. I had won this silent battle against my father.

“Of course dear appa, the same template as last time?” I enquired.

“Increase the hourly rate to 6300 Won, if it’s any less they’ll turn out just like Jung Jong Seok.,,” he ordered, clenching his fists until his knuckles turned white.

I nodded and changed the advertisement to his liking. “Oh and appa, may I get Super Junior’s…” I stopped and mentally slapped myself. This was the wrong time to ask for such things. My father disapproves of ‘idolism’, as he calls it, and it doesn’t help that he’s in a bad mood.

“Yes” he answered bluntly. My eyes widened.

“Really?” I exclaimed.

“I will give you the money after you send that email to Busan Daily” he said.

“Thank you appa, thank you!” I squealed happily.

“Mind you, this is just business. I’m only paying you for carrying out your duties. Don’t think twice about me supporting you and your pretty boys” he retorted, laying things straight. I nodded, luckily every once in a while I was able to find my father's soft spot.

***

"Good morning honey" my mother greeted me as I dragged myself and my school bag into the kitchen.

"Goodmorningumma..." I slurred sleepily.

"Sit down, I've made your breakfast already" she said. I slumped into the dining chair like my mother had said.

"Where's appa?" I asked, rubbing my eyes.

"He's gone out to the store already, he's got lots of computers and such to fix. Without Jeong Sok your father is going to be very busy" she explained, placing a bowl of rice and stewed potatoes in front of me.

"Well I already emailed Busan Daily and the advertisement will be in the next paper" I said before eating some potato.

"Oh good, let's hope someone calls in as soon as possible" my mother sighed with relief. I leant back in the chair and into a stretch.

"And umma, if a parcel comes with my name it's the album" I said proudly.

"Mr. Simple?! Your appa let you buy it?" she asked excitedly. I nodded triumphantly.

"Okay! Then make sure you transfer the new songs into my uPod thing" she said, sitting down in the dining chair opposite.

"Umma, it's iPod!" I chuckled.

***

"Eun songsaenim! Eun songsaenim!" I called while running down the school corridor. The elderly teacher ahead turned and looked surprise to see me.

"Eun songsaenim, I'm sorry to keep you waiting. Yang songsaenim told me you could give me information on university studies, is that so?" I asked politely.

The teacher chuckled warmly.

"Yes, I can help you with that. What do you plan to study?" he questioned in return.

"Primary second language teaching" I said.

"Ah yes...of course our school's best English student would aim for such a career!" he praised.

I smiled and bowed slightly, "Thank you Eun songsaenim. But will I need to be educated overseas in order to receive a professional degree?" I asked. He paused to think before speaking again.

"Come with me, I have some brochures and pamphlets for you to look at" he said, turning to his left and opening the door to his office.
 

***

"There is a university in Seoul that offers the degree you are looking for, and this one here in Busan does too" Eun songsaenim pointed.

"Oh I see...the one here in Busan sounds good. That means I will be closer to home" I said, flipping through the rest of the information booklet.

"That is true, but the university here does not offer the highest language teaching degree. The best ones are only found overseas in either England or the United States" he explained.

I picked up one of the overseas booklets and scanned its contents.

"And I think studying overseas will be beneficial to your English. It'll mean real life stimulation of your English knowledge" he added. I nodded.

"I agree, but I don't know if appa and umma will want to see me leave Busan" I chuckled.

"Oh yes, parents never enjoy letting go of their children" he smiled.

"You sound like you've had that experience before, songsaenim" I said. "Mm...yes, both my children are currently studying overseas. My eldest son is studying law in England and my daughter is studying medicine" he answered.

"Your children sound very diligent and no doubt filial" I commented.

"Ah...my daughter was a difficult one. When our family lived in Namsan she met a very nice boy. Though her departure was tough. She wanted to give up her whole career to stay in Namsan with him, but my wife and I couldn't let that happen" he explained.

"Then, now? How are they?" I asked hesitantly.

"As soon as my daughter departed, he left Busan. Like they say; Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worse kind of suffering" he continued.

"So instead of leaving a deeper wound, he decided to forget..." I concluded, my voice reducing to a mere whisper.

***

"Appa, umma, I'm home!" I called from the front entrance, taking off my shoes and placing them to the side. I pushed open the door to my room and threw my schoolbag onto my bed. The metal buckles gave in and my textbooks flooded out, some even slamming against the wall.

"Ummaaa...I'm hungry" I wailed, rushing into the kitchen.

"Settle settle, dinner is just about ready" she replied, stirring a steaming pot of beef and onions. I sighed and tried to silence my rumbling stomach.

"Is appa home yet?" I asked, looking around cluelessly.

"If appa was here, he'd already be scolding you for arriving home so late!" she warned.

"Sorry, I went to see Eun songsaenim after tutoring about university and teaching degrees" I explained, opening the drawer and taking out three pairs of steel chopsticks and spoons.

"What did Eun songsaenim say? Oh and don't worry about your appa's bowl and chopsticks, he's not coming home for dinner. He said he's sleeping out in the office tonight" my mother said.

"I'll show you the booklets he gave me after dinner, they're in my bag" I replied, scooping rice from the cooker into our bowls. "And is appa really so busy that he needs to stay overnight at the store?" I asked, closing the lid to the rice cooker.

"Fifteen PCs and laptops short circuited during a power cut at the corporate building the day Jong Seok left. Your appa will be working long hours if he doesn't find an assistant soon" she replied.

“Hm…I still don’t understand why Jong Seok oppa left, I thought he enjoyed fixing computers” I said, setting out the dining table. My mother began bringing the dishes of food to the table.

“Well it takes a strong heart and strong will to work under your father. He’s not an easy man to work with” she said.

“Even you th-“ I stopped as the phone in the living room rang. My mother looked to me while ladling the stewed beef into a large bowl.

“Honey, will you get that please?” I nodded and rushed out of the kitchen to pick up the call.

***

“Yeoboseyo?” I said picking up the phone.

”Yeoboseyo, I’m calling about the job vacancy at Lee’s PC Repair. Am I too late?” responded a gentle yet masculine voice. My mother peered curiously into the living room, waving her hand at me to get my attention. I covered the receiving end of the phone.

“Someone is interested in the job!” I whispered to her happily.

“Oh I must be late, I’m sorry for bothering you” his voice sounded again.

“Ah no no! You are not late, you’re the first to call actually. However you will need to speak to my appa, but he’s not home at the moment. May I get your contact number? I will make sure he gets back to you” I said.

“Oh of course, my contact number is 010-0404-1015” he replied, slowing down at the numbers so I could note it all down.

“Ah huh~ and your name please?” I asked again.

He chuckled softly, “I’m Lee HyukJae”.

A/N: Yeah...I never really do well with forewords, I always end up really vague (only because I wanna catch you all out!), but hopefully this chapter did you justice. But anyway...OMG IT'S LEE HYUKJAE OMG OMG OMG *screams* but this is AU (alternate universe) after all so...yeah. 

@EvilKyuHee: Hey hey ^^ thank you for subscribing. I hope you enjoyed this first update, please support the rest of the story!

@purplekpop: No problem~ sorry >_< I forgot to tag him when I first posted up, but I've tagged properly now! I hope you enjoyed it (even though Eunhyuk hasn't made a proper appearance yet...) ^^.