Soonkyu was on her way back home from school with her closest friends May and Daehyun. It was a rainy day in Andong and everybody seemed to want to hurry inside. The clouds were a thick gray and every rain drop that fell hard on the ground made a “tick” noise.               

                Life was rather difficult for Soonkyu ever since her mother died. Her mother was very sick that year and barely left her bed to the point where she couldn’t get out of it. The very next morning, she was gone. Soonkyu was never told the real reason her mother died, it was an unusual illness is all they said. That happened three years ago, Soonkyu is now ten. Starting three years ago Soonkyu’s father stopped talking to her, it seemed like every year was getting worse. Her father didn’t even greet her when she came home after school.

                Soonkyu’s father is a middle-aged man who doesn’t care for children and loves to stay out late. Her father has dark brown hair and eyes dark as the midnight sky. His gaze is always threatening when people annoy him and he doesn’t like to repeat things more than once.

                “Hi,” Soonkyu said when she got home from school. Her father didn’t even take a glance at her. He just chugged alcohol down his throat to wash away his sorrows for his lost wife. As usual Soonkyu would go upstairs and quietly do her homework. That night was the night when Soonkyu’s father left her.