Eunhee twisted the key in the lock and opened the door.

“Omma! I’m back!” She announced her arrival. Her voice echoed throughout the empty hall. There was no reply. Her parents were not home. Where could they be on a beautiful day like this?

Eunhee dumped her bag on the sofa and proceeded into the kitchen. Her steps were bouncy; her movements animated. The memory of how the previous days were spent with Byunghun intoxicated her in euphoria and a smile tugged at her lips. She scanned the cupboards and found a packet of chips. She took the packet and went up the steps to her room.

Cardboard boxes were stacked mysteriously in the centre of the hall. Eunhee tilted her head and circled around the boxes, inspecting them closely. Slowly, she opened the lid of one of the boxes, expecting an alien to pop out or gold bars arranged neatly inside. But to her surprise, it was empty.  

Eunhee furrowed her eyebrows. Then, she shrugged the boxes away and went straight into her room. Eunhee collapsed into the bed and started munching on the potato chips she bought. A minute later, she heard the doorbell ring once, the twist of the key inside the lock and her mother shouting, “Eunhee?! Are you home?!”

Eunhee scrambled to her feet, shouted a reply and ran down the stairs to greet her mother. She hugged her mother and gave her a peck on the cheek. Her mother was shocked by her actions but then, her expression changed and she remarked with a smile, “Well, somebody’s cheerful today.”

Eunhee’s grin grew wider and she surprised her dad, who just came through the door, with a sudden hug. A low laugh escaped her dad’s mouth and he patted her head. Eunhee’s mom set the plastic bags on the table.

“I bought lunch,” she said, “Eunhee, get some plates.”

Eunhee complied and transferred the food from the packets to the plates and after everyone had gathered around the tables, they started eating. Halfway through their meal, Eunhee remembered about the boxes and asked, “Omma, what are the boxes for?”

“Oh, that...”

Her parents exchanged secretive smiles.

Eunhee groaned, “Just tell me what it’s for.”

“Your dad,” Eunhee’s mom smiled at her dad and then to Eunhee, “just got transferred. So we’re all moving to Singapore.”

In a second, her smile disappeared. Gloominess shadowed over her and it was hard to believe that just minutes earlier, she was jumping around with joy.

“What?” Eunhee said.

“We’ll be moving by the end of this week,” her dad cleared.

“Isn’t it exciting?” Her mom was clasping her hands together, imagining what it would be like to live in a foreign country.

“But omma, can I not stay here?”

Her mom looked at her with a scrutinizing face. After a while, she said, “No, honey. You’re coming with us.”

“Mom I can stay with Yoonji.”

Yoonji was her cousin. Since their birthdates fell on the same day, they grew up together and stuck around each other so much that people people saw them as twins. Since Eunhee was the only child, Yoonji was a sister she never had.

“No, Eunhee. You are barely 15 years old and you are not a responsible kid. I will not burden your aunt with—“

“Omma, I am completely responsible!” Her voice rose above her mother’s in fury.

“Enough!” Her dad’s voice boomed. There was a silence after that.

“You will follow us for now. When you are mature enough, you can come back here and live with Yoonji.”

That was the end of their discussion.

Eunhee and Byunghun lingered around the waffles shop two days later upon Eunhee’s request. There, Eunhee struggled on what to order and ended up buying the chocolate one. Then, on Eunhee’s request as well, they went up to the rooftop of the building where they first met.

The wind was colder up there and they chewed on their waffles in silence as they sat on one corner.

“Remember when I was standing there and then you pulled me back from jumping down?” Eunhee faced Byunghun.

“I’ll never forget.” Byunghun looked straight ahead, somehow sensing a meaning behind Eunhee’s request to come here.

“It was raining, right?” Eunhee spoke again.

“Yeah, and you were so angry when I pulled you—“

“So you let me go—“

“And you fell on your .”

They both laughed softly. Eunhee smacked Byunghun’s arm.

“It hurt, you know.”

She pouted playfully. Their laughed ceased and a dense atmosphere draped over them. The laughter in Eunhee’s eyes disappeared.

“What’s wrong Eunhee? Why did you ask to come here?”

A shadow flashed across Eunhee’s face. There was definitely something wrong but Eunhee refused to disclose it.

Eunhee looked at Byunghun’s innocent face and guilt struck her. Don’t leave me, he had said. But that was exactly what she was doing. In a few days, she would leave thins land, abandoning him. He would be all alone, just like what he was like when his sister left him.

“No, there’s nothing wrong.”

Eunhee was determined to stay here. But what could she do? She was a fifteen year old who was helpless against her parents. She had to comply. She was forced to leave.

[A/N: Hi guys! Chapter 11 is up~~ Just drop a comment down there and tell me what you think of the chapter. We appreciate every single comment, however short it is. No silent readers please. ^^]