* Sunday morning *

'' This.. hmmm.. this app looks good for making music.. uhh..'', Ah-ra talks to herself as she concentrates fully on the screen of her laptop.

'' Aigoo, my daughter, what are you doing?'', Mr Shin enters Ah-ra's room to check up on her.

'' Oh.. Appa, i'm trying to come up with ideas for my upcoming project... Look at this, cool right? This is app is totally a life saviour..'', Ah-ra mumbles to herself as she focuses on the bright screen.

'' Really? Ah.. so this is what studying music is like. I would have died from staring into that glowing screen for too long.'', Mr Shin jokes as he pinches his daughter's cheeks

'' Appa! Don't say that, you're cursing me... when you're free.. book a date with me. It's been such a long time since we last went out right?'', Ah-ra stands up and held her father's shoulders.

'' Yah..my daughter. You're so tall...look at you.. Maybe next month? Anything for my daughter. Keep this a secret from your mother, understood?'', Mr Shin whispers as he looked around.

'' Araso, Appa. I have to do my work now. Go to your honey before she buzzes at you..'', Ah-ra pushes her father out of the room as the both of them giggled.

Mr Shin smiles as he walks out of his daughter's room, that smile was a smile of approval. His love for his daughter was unconditional, he never thought he could love someone more than himself. Although, he had Ah-ra's mother, it was not the same. Even after having his first son, his life felt incomplete, but after the birth of his daughter. After seeing her sweet porcelain face, he even considered giving up everything else in his life for her. 

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* Mr Shin's flashback *

'' What?! Do you think i want this baby! No! I want to throw it away!'', Mrs Shin screams as she threatens to stab herself with a knife.

* 4 year old Shinwoo crying in the background *

'' I'm sorry! I did wrong.. i did wrong. It was a mistake...'', Mr Shin drops on his knees as he covered his face.

'' Sorry?! Do you know how i feel?! This baby! I don't want it!'', Mrs Shin's tightly grabs the knife as she prepares to kill herself.

'' Dal-Dal-rae.. we'll keep her.. give me..6 years.. 6 years after our baby daughter ( Ah-ra ) is born.. Don't leave me, please. For our son.. this mistake..'', Mr Shin desperately begs his wife as tears fell from his doe-eyed eyes.

'' My life here! Look at our home! That person that i love, he can give me everything! I even had his child! Why do you think i still want you? Good for nothing! All you ever do is work under him.. don't you know how ashamed i feel!'', Mrs Shin yells at her husband.

'' It's my fault. I'll do better, i'll do everything for you. I don't want our marriage to just...divorce...do you know how much i love you..i promise, by the time Ah-ra turns six.. we'll have a luxurious life. I promise, money, everything, i'll give you. So please, bear with it for awhile.'', Mr Shin grabs his wife as he emotionally breaks down.

'' When Ah-ra turns six... Dal-rae will come to stay with us. My daughter ( Dal-rae ), will stay with us. I'll give you a chance...'', Mrs Shin coldly declares as she pushes her husband away.

'' Appa! Omma!'', Shinwoo cries for his parents as he grabs for Mr Jung.

'' Shinwoo-yah..don't cry. Oh? Mr Jung, bring him out of here.'', Mr Shin wipes his tears away as he tries to comfort his son.

Mr Shin tries to control his emotions in the presence of his son. The woman that he loved, had an affair with his best friend and even bore him a child, Dal-rae. He bleeds the salt of his soul and as it pours from his eyes where his clenched fists press blocking all of the light, he sees the darkness that he knows will soon swallow him and he fears it, his beloved wife. 

------------------------------------

Even till today, every time Mr Shin sees Ah-ra's face, that incident will always appear in his head. Since, Ah-ra would never have been alive if his wife had decided to abort her. Therefore he was always supportive of Ah-ra, his precious daughter.

* Tears linger around his eyes as he remembers the past *

'' Appa! That proposal, do you mind setting up a meeting with Mr Yoshikawa with me? Everything's going great so far! Soon, we'll reach the target for the company!'', Shinwoo grabs his father by the hands as he asks for a favour.

'' Araso, this month has been a busy one for me. Ah! You're right, i forgot, call Mr Jung's son for dinner today, i would like to see him and speak to him.'', Mr Shin replies his son as he pats him on the shoulder.

'' I will. Still thinking about the past?'', Shinwoo asks his father curiously as he raises his eyebrows. He was used to seeing his father getting all emotional whenever he was reminded of that incident. 

'' Shinwoo-yah, you're the only one i trust. I'm sorry for you to see this side of me every time i look at your little sister. For making my son, carry the burden of protecting his little sister.'', Mr Shin apologises as his eyes stray away from his son.

'' Don't worry. Your hard work to achieve all of these, i will never forget them father. As a brother, it's naturally my responsibility to take care of my family. Hence, let go of the past. Just think of Ah-ra..and all the cute grandchildren you'll have!'', Shinwoo tries to distract his father from thinking too much.

'' My son... speaking of that. When are you bringing Jihae home? The both of you should be getting married too..'' Mr Shin changes topic to not speak of the past.

'' You're the same as Omma. Soon, when we're a bit more stable...'', Shinwoo replies hurriedly as he rushes to his room to avoid the topic of 'marriage'.

----------------------

* Shinwoo enters his room and texts Jinyoung *

Text from Shinwoo : Make yourself free tonight. Dinner at my house at six.

Text from Jinyoung : Ok. I'll see you later at six. I also have something to tell you hyung. 

-----------------------

'' Ah!! This stupid laptop! Of all the days you want to break down on me! Urgh!!!'', Ah-ra screams as she punches the screen of her laptop.

'' Yah! What the heck?'', Shinwoo yells at Ah-ra as he came running to her room after hearing her screaming.

'' Oppa! My laptop! Haiz.. i have to get a new one. Ah... how am i supposed to complete this project on time..'', Ah-ra laments as she covers her face with her hands.

'' This is how passionate you get when you're writing songs.. i'll get you a new one by tomorrow, don't worry. Seriously...'', Shinwoo tries to calm himself from the shock he received after hearing Ah-ra scream.

* Shinwoo lies down on Ah-ra's bed *

'' Tonight, Jinyoung is coming over...'', he explains to his little sister as he fidgets with his phone.

'' Oppa, do you know something? I think i'll be able to regain all of my memory soon..'', Ah-ra goes closer to her brother as she talks to him.

'' Shh.. why?'', Shinwoo tries to be wary as he listens to his little sister.

'' After Jinyoung flicked my forehead, i remembered a scene of him and Mr Jung..'', Ah-ra explains to her brother with her wide eyes.

* Shinwoo immediately flicks her forehead *

'' Remember anything about the accident? Who pushed you?'', Shinwoo tries his luck after hearing her explanation.

'' Yah! Oppa! Any way, the last thing that i want to remember is having a brother like you!'', Ah-ra jokes as she presses her brother's cheeks with her finger.

'' What?? Say that again~ Come here you little!'', Shinwoo pinches his little sister cheeks and nose.

Dal-rae who was coincidentally passing by Ah-ra's room hears the giggling. She rolls her eyes as she sees Ah-ra receiving attention from her brother. In her heart, she was jealous of Ah-ra. She was jealous of every minute she spend with Shinwoo, of every concerned expression that he showed to her, of every tear that he had shed for her, of every glance, every touch and every thought. All she wanted was for Shinwoo her brother to acknowledge her.

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* Dal-rae's flashback *

'' Dal-rae.. this is your little sister Ah-ra, from now on..'', Mrs Shin explains to Dal-rae and Shinwoo.

* Six year old Ah-ra comes to hug Dal-rae *

'' I don't want! i hate her! Jung Ahjusshi! Make her go away! I HATE HER. I don't want a little sister like her ( Dal-rae)!'', Shinwoo retaliates as he ran away from his mother and Mr Jung.

'' Young master!'', Mr Jung runs to catch him.

Her sweet innocent eyes started to fill with tears as she sees Shinwoo rejecting her so violently. 

---------------------------------------

'' Oh? Onni..'', Ah-ra taps Dal-rae on the shoulder as she sees her sister holding on to the side of the staircase leading to the living room.

* Dal-rae ignores her little sister and proceeds to the living room *

Ah-ra pouts her lips seeing that her sister was not in the mood to talk to her. Sometimes, Dal-rae can be really nice, sometimes really cold and scary.

* Ah-ra fishes out her phone and dials Sandeul's number *

'' Hello?'', an unknown person with a deep voice answer the phone.

'' Uh? Is this Lee Sandeul?'', Ah-ra replies as she bit her lips.

'' Oh? Sandeul? WAIT. Yah! Lee Sandeul? It's a girl!'', Baro yells for Sandeul.

'' Hello? Ah-ra sshi! Sorry, that was my friend. What is it?'', Sandeul replies her.

'' Can you meet me today? My laptop kinda crashed on me..'', Ah-ra asks Sandeul to help her.

'' Sure. I'm working on the project too. I'll text you the address to my place. You can come in two hours time..'', Sandeul calmly replies.

'' Ok, thanks. Sorry if i'm troubling you. Bye. See you later.'', Ah-ra hangs up the call.

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*2pm.* 

After receiving Sandeul's text, Ah-ra rushes to dress herself up. In a frenzy, she runs to Shinwoo's room.

'' Oppa! Oppa! Help me!'', Ah-ra huffs and puffs as she enters her brother's room.

'' Ah..what is it.. Jihae-ya, i'll call you back later.'', Shinwoo complains as he hangs up the call with Ji-hae.

'' Pick an outfit for me.. nice ones!'', Ah-ra urges her brother to choose for her what to wear to meet Sandeul.

'' Oh? You've never bothered about clothes.. and that make-up! Are you going to cheat on Jinyoungie? Your future fiance? Tell me, who's the guy?'', Shinwoo demands as he puts his hands around his waist.

For a moment, Ah-ra stops breathing. Her face turns red from coming up with a reason. Even she couldn't explain why she cared about the clothes that she was going to wear. Even the thought of meeting Sandeul made her happy. She bit her lips, she couldn't decipher why she was so concerned about looking all pretty to meet Lee Sandeul.

'' You're right.. why am i like this?..'', Ah-ra even questions herself.

'' This one... this is nice. Make sure you're back by six.'', Shinwoo passes his little sister the outfit that he had chosen for her.

* Ah-ra prepares herself and sets off for Sandeul's house *

'' Omma, Appa, i'm going to a friend's house. Bye..'', Ah-ra gave her parents a kiss on the cheeks.

-----------------------------------

One hour later......

* Arrives at Sandeul's house *

Before ringing the door bell, Ah-ra took a good look of the exterior of his place. It was a rooftop house and everything seemed to look deteriorated. 

* Rings bell *

Ah-ra hears busy footsteps coming to the door. She braces herself and prepares to greet Sandeul and his parents.

* Sandeul opens the door *

'' Shin Ah-ra, come in.'', Sandeul greets her with a smile.

Ah-ra's heart starts to race as she looks at Sandeul, clad in his white shirt and jeans. She started feeling butterflies in her stomach as she tries to make herself look calm when she was obviously turning red. 

'' Yah! Babo! Why are you standing in the cold? Come in!'', Sandeul grabs Ah-ra in to the house.

* Ah-ra slips off her shoes at the entrance and enters the house *

She looked around the house, it was rather empty and simple, as if only one person was living in it. In the living room, she sees a boy with blonde hair sitting on the sofa watching tv. All of a sudden, the stranger stands up.

'' Oh? She's here. Come and sit, make yourself at home. Do you want hot chocolate or tea? No coffee here.'', Baro heads to the kitchen as he helped Sandeul serve his guest.

'' That's my friend, Cha Baro. He's helping me out with the project too.. My laptop is on the table.'', Sandeul introduces Ah-ra to Baro as he led her to sit down.

Ah-ra surveys the house and looks at Sandeul. He was staring right back at her. Ah-ra bit her tongue trying not to show that she was nervous about seeing him. Hence she decided to ask more about himself.

'' Your parents are not home?'', Ah-ra curiously asks as she tries to look around.

'' Ah, Sandeul. Sandeul's the only one living here. His mother passed away not long ago.'', Baro intercepts the sensitive topic as he fully understood Sandeul's situation.

Ah-ra guiltily gazes at Sandeul. She didn't know what to say. All she wanted was to hit herself with a rock for asking a stupid question.

'' It's ok. Haha.. Ah-ra, this is the song that i want to sing for the upcoming project...'', Sandeul passes Ah-ra the lyrics to the song.

'' Crush? Unrequited love...Nice title...'', Ah-ra looks at the touching lyrics that Sandeul had personally wrote as the papers were filled with pencil stains and scribbles all over the place.

'' Care to hear me sing?'', Sandeul suggested since Ah-ra was there he could at least hear her opinion.

'' Ok, go on...'', Ah-ra bit her lips as she focuses on him.

* Sandeul stops singing as he looks at Ah-ra *

'' Wae? Is my voice that bad?'', Sandeul disappointingly looks at Baro.

* Baro raises his thumbs up and pouts his lips at Sandeul to *

'' Your voice....'', Ah-ra was left dumbfounded after hearing his singing voice for the first time.

'' Let's continue with the project. Do you think the E chords will work on this one? Or the A ones?'', Sandeul questions her as he took notes down on his paper.

* Sandeul and Ah-ra continued with their work for another two and a half hours* * 5pm *

'' Sandeul-ah, thanks. I've finally composed one quarter of the song. I have to go in a while..'', Ah-ra regretfully announces that she was going home.

'' Ah... Ok.. thank you for coming. Haha. You really look gorgeous today. All of your outfits are just...'', Sandeul compliments Ah-ra as he looks into her eyes.

'' Of course, my brother is a fashion designer..'', Ah-ra tries to boast about her brother.

'' You're lucky, you have a brother as a fashion designer and a sister as a ballerina..'', Sandeul sighs as he leans on the sofa.

Ah-ra only gave him a weak smile. She didn't want to make him feel upset or make him feel poorer than her.

'' Ah, about your sister Dal-rae... She's really popular.. you must be proud of her right?'', Sandeul asks Ah-ra about her sister.

* Baro who was standing at the back widened his eyes. *

'' Umm.. everyone likes her..'', that was the only answer that Ah-ra could give Sandeul before she left.

* Ah-ra leaves for home *

As Ah-ra steps out of Sandeul's house. She grabs her chest, what was that weird feeling? 

'' Lee Sandeul.. i think i like you...'', those words were engraved in Ah-ra's head.

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(A/N: Lol...okay. Yes, Dal-rae is actually Mrs Shin love-child. That makes her Ah-ra's and Shinwoo's half-sister. All these while Shinwoo knew about it, but had kept it as a secret, in honor of his family. Dal-rae and Ah-ra are still clueless about it. That's the reason why i made Shinwoo extra protective of Ah-ra.   Do leave comments on what you guys thought of this chapter.. keukeu.. ^^ Thank you for reading. :D )