I thought they would have a lecture prepared, either one of natural laws or their love for me. But over breakfast, they only talked of the weather and plans for dinner. I didn't know what that was a sign of, but they loved Cassie.

Taeil was a different story.

I wouldn't say they hated or liked him. More like tolerated him. That's it.

Taeil and I grew more nervous at each word not spoken to us. We still talked of the possibility of going back to Korea silently.

We didn't want that.

In the meantime, Taeil sang of hopelessness whenever he got near a piano. His beautiful voice had a mellow tone during that time.

Finally, my parents couldn't pretend that we didn't exist anymore. They sat down with a cup of tea each and asked us to join them.

They started with, "When did this all start?"...