June 2013

The summer heat touches my skin through the tinted window of the airplane. A smile spreads across my face making my rosy cheeks blush slightly. How I love the idea of summer! Summer means a long break from school. Summer means a long break from that hell place. I am Jung Soo Jung and I’ve spent my entire life in the United States, a place I’ve never felt belong. I have no friends, not even enemies. Basically, I’m a loner, for as long as I can remember.

Normally, I will spend summer with mom and dad in our little shack but this time, I’m going home. By home, I mean Korea, my mother country. My uncle has generously offered to pay for my airplane ticket so that I can take a good look around Korea, a place I’ve never step my foot on, not since eighteen years ago when I am still crying inside a cradle.

As soon as the plane lands, I stop writing. I keep my notebook, more like a personal recording of my daily life in my bag, protecting it with my hands like a most beloved treasure. I convince myself continuously.

     ‘Smile, Soo Jung. They’re your family. Smile.’

From afar, I can see my uncle waving towards me, his fatherly smile makes me feel at home instantly. Beside him stood a young man in his early twenties. That must be Dong Young Bae, my cousin brother who is older than me by three years. We have never meet each other before this, even my uncle, I did only meet him two times when he visited us in the States. I smile at Young Bae but instead of smiling back, he just grab my luggage and head to the car. The whole journey back to Seoul is awkward but I manage to pull through.

     ‘This is your room, Soo Jung. It might be a bit small but I promise this room has got the best          view in this house.’

My uncle shows me my room at the end of the hallway. This is perfect. The room might be small but it is perfe