Jung Wheein felt strange as she drove through the streets of Applewood.

Perhaps she should have prepared herself more.

It was home, but it wasn’t.

So familiar, yet so much had changed at the same time.

Her old high school had an electronic marquee now.

The hardware store looked to have been remodeled, and then there were the sidewalks through the center of town.

They’d been repaved and had kind of a winding quality to them now.

A nice touch.

She studied the faces of the people she passed, recognizing many and some not at all.

It looked great, she thought, the town.

She’d known Applewood practically her entire life and though it felt different, it was still close to her heart.

Still hers.

But this wasn’t going to be easy, the whole being back thing.

There had been a reason she’d stayed away for so long, and the weight of that sadness now sat heavily upon her heart.

She’d avoided it for as long as she possibly could.

Declining invitations, evading family gatherings, and ignoring phone messages.

She’d exhausted every tactic in her arsenal, and it was time to face what lay ahead.

But this time when she pulled into the driveway, there would be no Eunji to hug her until they both fell to the ground outside of their parents’ home.

She wouldn’t be there to mercilessly or call her “kiddo.”

They wouldn’t spend hours together on the old soccer field knocking the ball back and forth while they talked about every aspect of each other’s life.

Shooting the breeze, they’d called it, when those talks were actually so much more than that to Wheein.

Of course, there’d been no Eunji for years now, but Wheein had done everything she could to avoid the places she’d recognize her sister’s absence the most.

And that meant Applewood.

Her phone buzzed and she clicked it to speaker phone just as she stopped at one of the town’s two traffic lights.

A line of elementary school kids was led across the crosswalk in front of her car by, wouldn’t you know it, Mrs. Altschull, her teacher from back in the day.

This was seriously the twilight zone.

“You still alive?” Her best friend Heechul’s voice filled the car.

He was in LA for another week or so at the premiere of a film they’d worked on together.

Wheein sighed. “Thus far. But the day is young.”

“Don’t be dramatic. That’s my job. Just wanted to check in on you, your head from afar if that’s what you need.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll call you when I’m settled and you can tell me about all the fashion catastrophes at the premiere.”

“Will do. Wish you were here.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t think the studio shares that sentiment. Plus, I need some time away.”

“I know, sweets. I love you more than Gucci. We’ll talk soon.”

“We better. Bye, Heenim.”

It was 5 minutes later when she took a deep breath and eased her car into the driveway of the Jung home.

As she looked up at the house she’d spent most of her childhood nestled inside, her heart thrummed nervously in her chest.

Yeah, this was gonna be rough.

Rallying, she reminded herself of all the reasons she’d come.

The biggest of which was easy.

She missed her family.

It was her father’s 50th birthday in a few weeks, and her mother had begged her to not let it go by without a visit.

Then there was the fact that her own life was radically off kilter.

She’d spent much of the year on location shoots from LA to Austin and hadn’t seen her apartment in Chicago in months.

Her love life was a joke.

And then there was the fact that the studio had her banned from her own movie set when she’d shown her highly inappropriate lead actor she wasn’t his personal blow up doll.

So here she was, needing to take a few steps back, assess her life, and find a way to put it all back together again.

And that meant going back to basics.

She had to remind herself of who she was before she could figure out where she was going.

Deep down, she knew her family, her old friends, and this town would do that for her…if she could just let them.

“Wheeny,” her mother practically shouted from the front porch. “You come here this minute!” She held her arms open and smiled widely as Wheein approached.

Once her mother’s arms enveloped her, she instantly sank into that feeling of comfort they always provided.

It felt good, and in response, her eyes welled up at the long forgotten feeling.

She pulled back enough to meet her mom’s sentimental gaze.

She wiped away a tear from Wheein’s cheek and Wheein laughed at herself and the unexpected emotion.

“Hiya, Momma. I missed you.”

“Hi, sweetheart. It’s been too long since I’ve seen this face; you know this, don’t you?” She shook Wheein’s chin slightly.

“I know.”

“And you should be ashamed of yourself for not coming home in so long. Now that you’re here, I’m not letting you get away again so quickly. You’re staying for a while. Understood?”

“Feisty. But yeah, that’s the plan. If that’s okay with you and Daddy.”

“We insist. Daddy’s taking care of some of the details for dinner at Gibson’s. Your brother will be there, and Seohyun and the kids along with the rest of the family.” She paused, studying Wheein a moment. “How are you? And don’t kid a kidder.”

Jung Jiwoo had aged since Wheein saw her last.

Not a great deal but enough that it caught her attention.

Small lines had sprung up around her eyes.

She was thinner than ever before, and a bunch of her hair was now white, not just the subtle streaks she remembered.

She decided to answer honestly. “I’ve had better months. I think I just need a little break from everything. The studio thinks so too. Actually, they’ve insisted on it, which is kind of the problem. I was pulled from the movie. They’ve brought in another producer to fill my slot.”

As her mother opened , probably in question, Wheein held up a hand. “Can we maybe talk about it later? I don’t think I have it in me right now.”

“Of course. I’m here if you want to…talk.” Wheein nodded.

She’d not had many heart to hearts with her mother over the years.

It had always been Eunji she’d turned to for advice or to confide in.

And more recently, Heechul.

He was pretty much her go to.

Her parents, though always well intended, had never understood what motivated her and disapproved of many of her choices.

Okay, all of them.

They disagreed with all of her choices.

But then she hadn’t been exactly helpful in that department either.

Not the easiest kid to raise.

“Thanks. Maybe.”

Her mother’s eyes dimmed in defeat. “Well, your room is waiting for you if you’d like to take an hour or so before dinner to rest or freshen up.”

Wheein leaned in and kissed her mother’s cheek. “It’s good to be home.”

***

Gibson’s Steak House was the most expensive restaurant in town, and it was bustling with Jungs and their closest friends by the time Solar arrived.

She was pulled immediately into one big bear hug after another, a household imperative.

Eunji’s older brother, Yonghwa, swooped in, took her coat, and placed a big, sloppy kiss on her cheek. “Yongsun’s here; the party can begin,” he called over his shoulder to the room at large.

She smiled happily at her brother in-law and held up the brown paper sack. “Chocolate chip cookies for the kiddos. I promised and I always make good.”

“Nicely done.” He dipped his face deep into the bag and inhaled. “Wow. Are you sure we have to let the kids in on this little deal?”

She popped him playfully on the shoulder. “Jung Yonghwa, don’t you dare play cookie monster. Come by the shop tomorrow and I’ll hook you up. Those are for the munchkins, who I have to kiss at least a million times right this very minute. Directions, please?”

“About 50 feet in. Kids’ table is on the left.”

“On it.”

Solar said a few passing hellos as she made her way to the kids’ table where she found her 5 year old nephew, Hyun Woo, and her 4 year old niece, Yoona, coloring before dinner was served. “There are my two favorite small people.”

She ruffled Hyun Woo’s hair and received an adorable smile in response.

Yoona, however, bounded from her seat and leapt easily into Solar’s arms.

She had a special bond with the little girl, who now clung to her gleefully. “What’s up, little Yoonggie? How was your week? You married yet?”

Yoona giggled. “No, silly. Hyun and me got to help Grandpa at the clinic and he let us pretend to be the doctor. I was the best one. Oh, and Aunt Wheein is here.”

“She is?”

Yoona nodded and pointed across the room.

Solar followed her gaze and paused.

There was Wheein, speaking quietly in the corner with one of her elderly aunts.

Except it wasn’t Wheein, not exactly.

This Wheein was…different.

Not at all the kid Solar projected in her mind whenever she thought of her.