“Yeah, I brought the groceries home,” Soo-yeon said as she walked into the kitchen of her apartment with shopping bags dangling in her hand, holding her phone between her ear and her shoulder. “Okay, just take your time getting back. Yup. Bye.” She put the bags on the counter, then hung up her cell phone. She started putting away the groceries, then took out a cutting board and some vegetables. She looked around in the room, and frowned. She started opening cabinets high and low. “Soo-jung?”

The black haired girl meekly walked in and stood in the doorway. “Yes, unnie?”

“Do you possibly know where Stephanie put the knives?”

The girl cringed and sank behind the wall.

Soo-yeon noticed her reaction and looked up from the cabinet she was searching through. “Soo-jung?”

“You know I miss being called…” the girl whispered.

Soo-yeon walked over and hugged her sister. “I know, Krystal, I know,” she murmured, petting her sister’s head. “I miss being called Jessica by people who actually knew us. But we can’t live in just our memories. We have to move on and embrace the present.”

Soo-jung pulled away a little so her sister could see her face. “Why can’t we go back?”

“Because our family has business to take care of. Do you really want to go back?”

Soo-jung nodded.

“Does this have to do why you ran away?”

“Part of it…” The girl gnawed on her lower lip.

Soo-yeon nodded, smoothing her sister’s hair again. “How about this,” she said, putting a firm hand on her sister’s shoulder. “If you promise to finish your schooling this year, I’ll try to get us a vacation back to our hometown. How’s that?”

“NO!” Soo-jung shook her head. “I can’t go back, I can’t…” She started sobbing.

“Shh!” Soo-yeon soothed her. “Okay, you don’t have to go back. Can’t you tell me why you don’t want to go back?”

Soo-jung shook her head.

Soo-yeon sighed. It was obvious her sister had been hurt. Stephanie had stop waking her up with her nightmares, but now Soo-jung woke her up with her bouts of crying. So she would get up again in the middle of night to hold her until she fell back to sleep.

What happened to the Krystal that was an impudent brat but a cute sister who didn’t fear anything?

“Okay, how about this? You can be homeschooled if you want,” Soo-yeon said in a soft voice.

“Really?” Soo-jung stopped crying and sniffed.

“Why not? I’ll talk to some people to see what can be done. Besides, a lot of people get homeschooled.”

“Unnie, you’re the best!” Soo-jung tackled her sister with a hug.

Soo-yeon chuckled. “Now, now, don’t get too excited. It might take some time, so you’ll have to work extra hard to catch up.”

“I’ll do anything, unnie. I won’t let you down. I’ll be successful like you one day,” Soo-jung said with a smile. It was the first time her face beamed like that during the week she had lived in Soo-yeon’s apartment.

“I’m sure you’ll be even better. Now, did you do your laundry like Stephanie told you to?”

“Oops.” Soo-jung made a guilty face. “I’ll do it right now!”

Soo-yeon smiled as her sister ran off to her room.

“You’ll make a wonderful mother.”

Soo-yeon turned to see Stephanie leaning against another doorway. “Happens with the . Would you believe me if I told you we used to fight every day?”

“Wow. When did you guys stop?”

“When I grew up and learned all about the secrets in our family since I’m the first born. Also we never saw each other after I went to college and she went to boarding school.” Soo-yeon shook her head. “Sometimes I wished we didn’t grow up so fast as we did, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Stephanie nodded, tapping her chin with a finger. “Remind me again why you can’t call your parents?”

“It’s a rule,” Soo-yeon said firmly. “I can’t call them, but they call me. Security reasons.”

“Oh. Right.” Stephanie sighed and looked at the counter. “Why didn’t you cut the vegetables yet?”

“I couldn’t find the knives.”

“Really?” Stephanie raised her eyebrows. “They weren’t in their usual place?”

“No but-AHA!” Soo-yeon took out the knife rack from underneath sink. “Did you put them there?”

“No. I know they belong in the cabinet near the oven.” Stephanie cocked her head. “You didn’t let any strangers in, right?”

“No, and the security is the best in the city.”

The two girls stared at each other as the truth dawned on them.

Soojung…why…can’t you tell me what’s going on…