Baekhee walked into her apartment exhausted. She had been at a nearby dance studio with some of her unnies from her modeling agency. She had moved to Korea over a year ago to be with her mother and to work at her dream. The one she had focused on since what had happened only a few years earlier.

-12 years ago-

Baekhee’s mother had jumped into a marriage with an American man when she was young. After raising Baekhee for seven years, her mother realized she couldn’t stand her husband anymore so they divorced. Baekhee was left with her rich, playboy father and her mother moved back to Korea. Baekhee knew she’d be better off in LA with her father, but she always wished her mother could’ve taken her with her to Korea. But around that time, Baekhee’s knight in shining armor appeared. Her father had hired a new worker who happened to be a close friend of Baekhee’s mother. Whenever she had to work with Baekhee’s father, it was always in their home so Baekhee always looked forward to those days when she would come to the house. So one day she had no choice but to bring her son along to work. Chae Rika had picked her son Daniel up from school and realized he would need to come with her. She wondered how he would get along with Baekhee because he only knew basic English. That was because her ex-husband had taken Daniel with him to Korea and had decided to finally send him back to his mother. He spoke mainly Korean and Rika only hoped he would get along with Baekhee. When she told Daniel he had to come with her he grimaced.

“Mom, I was supposed to go with some friends today!”

She just gave him a look and he shut his mouth. He still glowered at his mother but he knew better than to complain. When she pulled up to the mansion, Daniel’s eyes widened with glee. He asked his mother if her boss had a son he could play with but she honestly didn’t know.

“I know he has a daughter, Baekhee,” Rika sighed. “She’s so sweet… I wish she were my daughter.”

Daniel wasn’t paying attention so he never noticed the secretive look his mom gave him. As Rika and Daniel got out of the car, Rika heard a squeal and saw two figured dart out the front door, a young girl and an older boy.

Baekhee grabbed her favorite football away from her step-brother and ran. She knew he’d chase her soon and when she heard his footsteps, she ran. Their father was coming down the stairs and smiled at the antics of his two children, Baekhee and Kyle. As Baekhee got out the front door she felt herself get hit with water.

“That’s not fair Kyle-oppa!”

She squealed as she felt herself get even wetter when he got her again with the water gun, so she darted down the steps into their front yard. She ran as far as she could and ran past Daniel before she realized there was someone she didn’t know at their house. She stopped and turned and felt her little girl heart race when she looked at the boy. She didn’t notice Kyle was getting closer but then she heard her name called softly.

“Baekhee-ah.”

She turned quickly and squealed when she saw Rika. She dropped her football like it was nothing and ran towards Rika.

“Rika-ahjumma!”

She hugged Rika’s legs and smiled brightly.

“Baekhee-ah, what have I said?”

Baekhee smiled and giggled before she bowed.

“Annyeong Rika-umma~!”

She waved cutely and then pointed at her step-brother.

“That’s Kyle-oppa. He’s my step-brother.”

Rika saw that Kyle was trying to speak with Daniel but was failing. She turned to Baekhee and smiled before grabbing her hand. She led Baekhee over to Daniel and smiled when she noticed Baekhee was slowing down her steps. Baekhee stopped next to Rika and hid somewhat behind her when Daniel looked her way. Her dad walked up and pulled her from behind Rika. He knelt down behind his daughter and whispered into her ear.

“Why are you so scared? He’s just a boy.”

Baekhee looked at her dad in shock and then shook her head.

“Nuh-uh! Kyle-oppa told me that boys have cooties!”

Baekhee fake shivered and then giggled at her daddy’s face. He stood up and pushed Baekhee towards Daniel. She bowed to him and he looked at her wide eyed before bowing back. She smiled as she introduced herself to Daniel. He responded and smiled shyly at Baekhee. She walked closer to him and asked if he was hungry. His stomach growled in response and she giggled as he looked away embarrassed. Baekhee grabbed his hand in hers and started pulling him to the house.

“Kyle-oppa, we’re gonna need your help!”

Kyle watched his little step-sister and felt his protective side kick in. He followed them so he could help but also so he could watch out for his sister.

Later that night as Baekhee watched Rika and Daniel leave she smiled and waved brightly from the porch. Rika had promised to bring Daniel again and Baekhee felt butterflies in her stomach. She was looking forward to helping Daniel learn English and to seeing him in school.

-7 years later-

Baekhee frowned slightly in her study hall, remembering what happened earlier that day. Daniel had run up to her in a hurry and then spilled the beans that he was going steady with her best friend. She had smiled through the pain and congratulated him. He hugged her and ran off and since then Baekhee had been in a sour mood. Her brother, a junior that year, had seen everything and decided that even if he didn’t like seeing his sister hurt, he would be heartbroken if she ever ignored him. So he couldn’t hurt or threaten Daniel. He could help his cute little sister out though. He had been keeping tabs on who showed an interest in his sister, time to let one of those guys get to know her.

Baekhee frowned even more at her seat. Her friend wanted to learn about Daniel from Baekhee. Like she wanted to teach her friend about him! And she should learn about him from him, not her. But before she answered her friend earlier, her brother came over and spirited her away, calling over his shoulder to her friend saying she’d be busy.

“I’m going to be busy?”

He nodded and looked at her.

“You’ll be hanging out with me and the guys tonight. You don’t mind do you?”

She shook her head and rolled her eyes at him and just followed him as he walked her to her last period study hall. He pushed her in and said that someone would get her at the end of the period. She had been watching the clock since then. When the bell rang she jumped and looked at the door. She gathered her things and looked up in shock when someone grabbed her bag. She smiled when she saw Jay in front of her.

“Your brother sent me.”

Baekhee laughed at his tone of voice and didn’t see Daniel watching them as they left the room and then the school arm in arm. He felt jealousy well up in his stomach and walked out of the school in a hurry. He watched Baekhee with Jay, Kyle, and their friends and frowned.

‘Baekhee would tell me if she was dating anyone, right?’

He watched as they left and took notice when it was just Jay and Baekhee who left together last.

-4 months later-

Baekhee was even closer with her brother’s friends and felt like they were all related. They watched over her and she supported them. She laughed when she remembered the day Jay asked her out. She had been shocked and immediately said no. He had been fine with it luckily and she smiled, they were even closer now. She frowned then. She hadn’t spoken to Daniel in months. Her birthday was the next day and they always skipped school together to celebrate. She frowned and finished her homework before going to bed.

As Baekhee woke the next morning, she felt someone lying on the bed behind her, hugging her through the blankets. She looked to see Daniel and she smiled, feeling her heart race as she watched him sleep. She smiled even more when she thought back on how he acted like this when they were younger. As they grew up together their roles had reversed. He had become extremely outgoing and Baekhee had become shyer, well only around Daniel. She felt him move and she shut her eyes, feigning sleep as he turned her slowly till she was facing him. She felt his eyes on her face but she didn’t expect his hand to cup her face, his thumb brushing her cheek lightly. She felt herself blush and felt the butterflies in her stomach and she yawned as she slowly opened her eyes. She caught him blushing and uttered a good morning before she yawned again. He smiled and whispered a ‘happy 15th birthday’ to her before he started singing happy birthday for her in Korean.

She smiled and clapped when he finished. She still loved that he only sang for her, and remembered the one dream he had that he shared with her and her alone. He wanted to become a singer, but not here in the US, in Korea. She had looked at him in awe and then hugged him, wishing him the best and telling him she would always be there for him. As she tried to sit up he pulled her back down and cuddled up to her. He smiled again and then a look of seriousness crossed his face. Baekhee sat up then and watched as he arranged himself so his head was in her lap so he could stare up at her. Neither of them noticed Kyle standing at the doorway smiling, but he sighed when he thought about how Baekhee would be returning home that night. Daniel had cleared everything with him, and he knew what today would be like.

“What’s wrong Daniel?”
He grimaced and looked at her and sighed before looking away. He berated himself for noticing just now, just how pretty Baekhee had gotten.

“I broke up with your friend.”

She looked at him in surprise and then sighed.

“I won’t ask why Daniel… but really?” Beki frowned and then smiled softly. “She’s going to bug me for weeks to find out exactly why you did break up with her.”

He looked right at her and noticed she was looking right at him. Her now light brown hair surrounded her face and he reached up to grab some lightly in between his fingers.

“Why did you get your hair lightened? It’s always looked so good dark.”

Baekhee blushed and pulled her hair from in between his fingers.

“Why are we talking about my hair when we should be figuring out what to do today?”

“Do we really need to go somewhere? I really like it here.”

And to further make his point known, Daniel snuggled into Baekhee’s lap and feigned sleep. She blushed and batted his head lightly before playing with his hair.

“We… don’t really need to go somewhere, but we always have Daniel.”

She watched him open his eyes and look right at her and at that moment she was positive he could read every single thought of hers. She turned away from him blushing and then looked at him when she felt the blush had faded. He was still staring at her and finally sat up slowly but then turned so he was facing her. She stood slowly from her bed and felt him grasp her wrist and then pull her back to the bed. What she didn’t expect was for him to pull her down so that she landed on the bed softly and then climb up so that he was above her. She stared at him with wide eyes as he brought his face closer to hers until their noses were just barely touching.

“Baekhee…”

She looked up at him and noticed a tinge of sadness in his eyes and her eyes widened before she felt him lift her one arm so her hand was above her head. He did the same with her other arm and held them securely there with one of his hands before he focused back on her again. He leaned his head down and nuzzled his face into her neck before moving toward her ear. She felt his breath ghost over her ear and thought she might faint right then.

“I don’t want today to end…”

Her eyes had closed and she didn’t see him as he slowly brought his face back into her line of vision. But she did feel his breath ghost over her lips before he brought his lips down to meet hers. As his lips caressed hers the first thing that popped into his head was why he hadn’t done this sooner. Baekhee wasn’t really thinking but suddenly realized that things weren’t right if he was doing things like this. He pulled away and she subconsciously groaned when his presence wasn’t so close to her anymore. He sighed happily at the pretty picture she made and he leaned back down to whisper to her again.

“What will we do today jagiya?”

Baekhee gasped in surprise and her eyes shot open as she turned to look at him. Then she saw the wicked smirk on his lips and she suddenly wished she wasn’t there. Then she squealed when he started tickling her. He smiled as she giggled in delight from the attention and he started chuckling at her. The two couldn’t see how happy they were together… but that’s why Kyle was taping them, as per request by Rika. He sighed happily when he saw the look of pure happiness that settled on Baekhee’s face whenever she looked at Daniel. The two sighed happily and Daniel laid himself down right on top of Baekhee before nuzzling his face into her neck again, reveling in the shiver that went through Baekhee’s body. He smiled against her neck and thought of the time he could’ve spent doing this with Baekhee instead of dating her friend and then sighed sadly. At least he had the annoying girl off his back now.

Baekhee laid there, not exactly knowing what to do. She didn’t want to just lie around all day, but lying around with Daniel would be fun. Immediately after she thought that she started blushing and her heart started to race. Daniel looked up at her and smirked, he had a pretty good idea what she was thinking about. He got up slowly until he was facing her from above. He leaned down slowly until his lips were just brushing hers when he spoke.

“I won’t mind doing what you have in mind.”

He trailed off and pulled away again, a smirk on his lips. It took a minute for Baekhee to process what he said and then she blushed as she started to push him. He laughed at her reaction as he got up and Baekhee sat up quickly.

“Stop making this hard on me Daniel!”

He sat behind her on the bed as he whispered into her ear.

“I could make things a lot harder, but we have places to go.”

He pulled away and told her to get dressed before he laid back down on her bed again. She got up and went to pull her shirt off, figuring he was looking away but instead felt Daniel’s eyes on her back. Her eyes widened as she turned to him with a small smirk on her lips. She figured that two could play at that game. She looked at Daniel with innocent puppy dog eyes and then asked him something that made his mind go crazy.

“Help?”

His eyes widened and he nodded his consent before he stood up and walked towards her. As he reached for the hem of her shirt she hit his hands and pointed to the door.

“Go you !”

She giggled and pushed him to the door. When he got there he walked out, closing the door, but looked back in and his eyes widened at the view of her . She started to turn and he turned and walked away quickly. That’s when he felt something wet slip over his lips. He went to the bathroom and groaned.

‘No more thinking of Baekhee like that today!’

He took care of his bloody nose and went to wait by Baekhee’s room. Instead he almost got hit in the face by her door. She walked out and saw Daniel behind the door and she laughed. She grabbed his arm and pulled him downstairs so they could get ready to go. As they were going down the stairs, Baekhee heard voices talking softly, but her ears perked because she heard an eerily familiar voice. She rushed down the stairs, pulling Daniel along until she saw her.

“Umma?”

As her mother turned to look at her she gasped and ran to her. She hugged her mother tightly and smiled before pulling away.

“I’ve missed you umma!”

“Happy Birthday Baekhee,” her mother said. “I see your boyfriend has taken good care of you.”

Baekhee’s eyes widened.

“Boy……friend?”

Just then it clicked in Baekhee’s head and she started denying it. Daniel walked up and bowed to Baekhee’s mother before introducing himself. Then he wrapped his arm around Baekhee’s waist and her mother and Daniel’s mother smiled at the picture the two made.

“I’m Baekhee’s birthday boyfriend. We were actually just about to step out.”

When Baekhee heard him say he was her boyfriend her heart raced, even if it was only for the day. Everyone smiled at the two before they left. Baekhee followed Daniel and realized something.

“How are we getting anywhere Daniel?”

He pointed at a car that was in her driveway and she laughed.

“You got my brother to dress up and be our driver for the day? How?

Daniel didn’t say how but he knew today had to be amazing for Baekhee so he kept his mouth shut. He just led her to the car so they could go. They left for the place and Baekhee could tell he was excited to get her there. As the car slowed to a stop, Baekhee looked out and her jaw dropped.

“What are you thinking Daniel?”

“I’m thinking that you said you wanted to go here and that you should get in there before you’re late for your appointment. Now go.”

She opened the door and got out and they drove away.

‘He’s not even coming in? Aish~’

She walked in and came out three hours later with deep brown hair with deep red lowlights. They had layered the cut too and she felt happy about how it looked. Just as she walked out the door, her brother pulled up. As she got in she noticed Daniel wasn’t there.

“So he’s not here now?”

“He’s already at the next stop.”

Baekhee looked up at her brother and he nodded before smiling to her, his eyes focused back on the road. She hummed quietly and looked out the window. That’s when she noticed they were steadily getting closer to the coast… and the beaches. She knew Daniel knew she didn’t like the beach. So where was she headed? Then she noticed they went past the beaches and she started to barely recognize the scenery.

“Oppa, should I recognize this area? I remember it vaguely.”

“Soon enough Baekhee-ah.”

Soon he pulled the car into a long driveway that led to a small house that was far away from everything else modern and new. Her eyes widened in glee when she finally realized were she was. It had been such a long time that she couldn’t remember until just then. When the car stopped she hopper out quickly and ran to the house. She walked around to the kitchen remembering what Daniel’s halmoni said. ‘If you ever visit, I’m always in the kitchen.’ When she got there she looked through the window in the door and saw Daniel with his halmoni. He was smiling brightly and talking animatedly as he made a batter for something. Baekhee walked in quietly and watched as he put in too much flour before trying to mix the batter again. A large puff of flour shrouded him in a mist of white and Baekhee burst into a fit of giggles. He looked up in surprise and smiled sheepishly before shaking his head to get the flour out of his hair. Baekhee walked over and grabbed one of the clean cloths by the sink and reached him, wiping his face off.

“You’ve always been such a big mess Daniel,” she said as she cleaned off his face. “Now hold still.”

Baekhee leaned over so she could lightly blow out what flour got into his ears. She felt him squirm but he held still. The she ruffled his hair and watched the flour rise in a little cloud. Then she pulled away and smiled at him.

“I like this Daniel,” Baekhee said softly. “The one who gets dirty trying to bake is my favorite so far.”

He smiled and turned to look at his halmoni but she had disappeared. Though she left a finished cake and a small envelope. Baekhee walked over and blew out the candles on the cake and then opened the envelope. As she read the card, tears gathered in her eye and she smiled softly. She put away the card and didn’t let Daniel see it. His halmoni said not to let him see it. She looked at the cake fondly and didn’t want to touch or cut it. Then Daniel reached for the cake and got some frosting on his finger. As he was going to eat it Baekhee stepped on his foot and he bent over in pain. She grabbed his hand and the frosting off his finger. He looked at her in surprise and she blushed then shrugged it off.

“Birthday girl always gets the first taste!”

He laughed at her reasoning and got some more frosting on his finger, offering it to her.

“Want some more?”
“Nope, I’m good!”

She walked away from him and looked out the door. She heard him walk up behind her and then he stopped right behind her. As he wrapped his arms around her waist he laid his head on Baekhee’s shoulder and blew lightly at her ear. She shivered and turned to look at him, noticing the closeness between them, and staring at him as he stared back at her. He kissed her lightly on the lips and pulled away to see her cheeks flush a pale pink.

“I really like your hair now jagiya.”

“Komawo. I remembered what you said about my hair.”

He looked at her shocked.

“You took my advice?”

She nodded at him and smiled, finding it funny that he was so shocked by the thought of her listening to him. She pulled away from him and walked back to the cake.

“What should we do with this Daniel?”

“I can think of a few things…”

“Daniel!!!”

Baekhee blushed hotly and didn’t turn to look at him. He walked up next to her and looked at her curiously.

“You don’t like the idea?”

“Don’t even mention it Daniel.”

He looked at her with a sly smirk and just walked around the counter to find a cake box. After packing up the cake he made a motion to Baekhee as if he was asking ‘Happy?’ She nodded and picked it up and Daniel started pushing her out the door, down the driveway, and into the car.

“What are we doing now Daniel?”

“We’re going to the last stop.”

He smiled at her and then looked out the window. He didn’t want Baekhee to see him upset. That morning he had meant what he said when he mentioned that he didn’t want the day to end. He knew he was going to be hurting soon, but not as much as Baekhee, whose head was now resting on his shoulder. As the car slowed down to a stop he looked up to see that they arrived. He turned to Baekhee and saw how peaceful she was, sleeping there. He kissed her forehead lightly and shook her awake, smiling when she opened her eyes slowly to look at him blearily.

“We’ve arrived.”

He got out of the car and held his hand out for Baekhee and she took it gratefully as she stepped out of the car, still sleepy. She gasped when she noticed where they were though. Her eyes widened in surprise and she looked at Daniel to see him smiling widely.

“I remembered you mentioned… what was it?”

She smiled widely.

“You remembered me saying that I wanted to be able to come up to the little house in the meadow to stare at the stars?” she stared at him in disbelief. “Why would you remember what I said when I was nine?! And why did you remember?”

“What wouldn’t I remember or do for you?"