CHAPTER 2: Separation

Seongwoo is a smart and energetic boy. He always showed enthusiasm in every lesson and also playing around with passion. Not only the teachers who love him but also his peers. Seongwoo is known as a happy virus who always makes others laugh. He is also known to be very affectionate with his younger brother. All of his friends at his school knew Euigeon from Seongwoo's stories. He even asked for permission from the teacher to bring Euigeon to school with him, even though the request was rejected because Euigeon has not old enough to go to school with Seongwoo.

Teachers at his school saw Seongwoo as a more mature boy than his peers. Though often joking and teasing his friends, Seongwoo never forgot to apologize afterwards and even showed guilty by giving his toys or asking the teacher to add his friend's lunch portion as another form of apology. Once upon a time, Doyeon, Seongwoo's friend, fell off the swing and Seongwoo immediately ran up to her then asked if Doyeon was doing fine. The crying Doyeon was soothed by Seongwoo who keeps saying "Don’t cry. Strong girl doesn’t cry. Teacher is coming soon. If you stop crying, the teacher will give you star."

Seongwoo can do so because he's used to being a figure of older brother. Although only a half-year older than Euigeon, but Seongwoo is really taking care of his brother. For Seongwoo, if he is happy, then Euigeon is also worth to get the same amount of happiness. For Seongwoo, it was one of the forms of compensation he could give Euigeon because his mother loved him more. Often Seongwoo sees her mother being unfair to Euigeon, as Euigeon is not allowed to ask for more food, or Euigeon doesn’t get new clothes on his birthday like Seongwoo, or Euigeon who never gets a kiss on the forehead every night they're about to sleep. His mother who often praises that Seongwoo is a smart boy makes Seongwoo think his mother loves him more because he is smarter than Euigeon or because Euigeon cannot read like him yet. Therefore, he insisted on bringing Euigeon to school or bringing books to read with Euigeon at home.

Seongwoo didn’t know if Euigeon realizes that he's getting a different treatment from his mother because Euigeon is rarely complaining. Once, one day, her mother scolded Euigeon because that innocent boy bringing home the kittens he found on the street. Seongwoo didn’t understand the reason his mother scolded Euigeon, isn't it as fellow beings should love each other? That's what his teacher taught at school. But his mother continued to scold Euigeon by shouting, "Not enough I have to feed you, do you ask me to feed them too? Stop giving me hard times!"

While accompanying Euigeon who was locked up in the room, Seongwoo asked, "Does Geon ah hate mom after being scolded like that?" But Euigeon's answer was beyond his expectations. Euigeon shook his head and said, "I guess that's because mom doesn’t like cats.."

The boy is very innocent. He always smiled. If Seongwoo is a kid who likes to make other people laugh, Euigeon is a kid who loves to laugh. Although Seongwoo only does a simple joke, Euigeon can laugh out loud and Seongwoo really likes it. That's why, Seongwoo doesn’t want to lose Euigeon's laughter if he finds out about his parents' quarrel.

Yes. Their parents often quarreled, especially since two years ago when their father got an accident. Mr. Kang used to work as a foreman in one of the construction service providers, but he had to suffer a work accident that caused his legs to be paralyzed. From that time on, he only worked odd jobs and his income dropped sharply. It made his wife have to go the extra job. Having the skill, Mrs. Kang started working in one of the most prominent publishing companies. And the problem after issue then came.

Often after his mother came home from work, the fight began. Weekend which is generally a day to be relax with the family became frightening day for Seongwoo,