My father was not one to do these sorts of things. Arriving unannounced. Demanding cooperation from me. He never cared, yet here he was, 'caring' about me by simply driving up to the front of my school. What a pathetic excuse of a father.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I staggered back into one of his men. He pushed me forward with a careless shrug.

"Bodyguard Jung, please bring her into the car," my father ordered, flipping a page of the newspaper. "She must be freezing out there."

I wrenched my elbow out of 'Bodyguard Jung's grasp. "Let go of me. I'm not going anywhere."

"Yes, you are. I know that you have rehearsal in the afternoon, so I will bring you back before then."

"How--?" Bodyguard Jung made a grab for my arm again. I elbowed him in the stomach, not caring that it didn't affect him one bit. "How do you know my schedule? I spent three years away from you! Three years!"

My father folded up his newspaper with a drawn-out sigh. I didn't care if he was losing his patience. I had already lost mine. "We are not going to talk about this here. I'm going to bring you home, where we can talk about it in peace."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," I growled, looking straight into his eyes as I did so. "And that's not my 'home'. I already told Sungjong that I won't come and you can't make me."

My father sighed for a second time, then gave a quick nod to Bodyguard Jung. The thick-necked buffoon scooped me up with one arm and, despite my kicking and screaming, opened the door to the seat beside my father's. He pinned me down to stretch the seatbelt over me, then slammed my door shut.

Exhausted, I let out a defeated exhale. It looked like the rest of my morning wasn't free, after all.

~:~:~:~:~

Our car ride 'home' was silent. He didn't say a word. Neither did I. I detested how much we were alike, despite our obvious differences. Gravel crunched under the wheels of his Mercedes, signaling that we had reached the Kang Mansion.

The Kang Mansion.

I had heard over the evening news one night that my father was finally rich enough to afford a mansion. He purchased it a year after I had left.

Funny how much time flies while you're having fun.

To think that I was once a proud resident of the Kang House made me sick to my stomach.

The car squeaked to a stop in front of white and beige marble steps leading to the front door. Two more hefty men stood guard on both sides of the door, pale and rigid like the marble they stood on, though not as pretty. I opened my door and slid out of the car before Bodyguard Jung could touch the door handle.

"You need not be so rude, Hwayoung," my father quipped, sending me a glare from inside the car. "He is the only bodyguard of whom I know can tolerate your rotten attitude."

Oh, please, I thought to myself as I rolled my eyes. Since when were you so concerned with the tolerance of other human beings?

Bodyguard Jung opened the door for my father and lent an arm for him to grasp. From the corner of my eye, I noticed that my father stood hunched over before straightening up with Bodyguard Jung's help. He also held a cane, one that I didn't see when I was in the car with him. Was he sick? I didn't have the heart to ask him outright. Not that great of a concern, either.

"Miss, your book bag," the oaf muttered in a gruff voice, calling my attention back to reality. I turned around to find him clutching my precious leather bag in his meaty fist. I snatched it from him with an annoyed growl.

The man needed to know his ing boundaries.

There were more flora bordering the walkway than I remembered from the news. Freesias, roses, and gardenias took residence amongst carefully trimmed hedges, their fragrances weaving in and out of a temperate breeze. A pair of butterflies fluttered to a blossomed gardenia, opening and closing their wings as if stretching them. It was a sight to behold, one that I appreciated.

It was odd. Was my father really making an effort at 'welcoming' me home? The thought alone made me cringe. My father was not that sort of man.

"You must be wondering why we moved."

"No, I'm not." I ascended the marble steps ahead of my father and waited impatiently as he hobbled up the steps. Apparently, he and his cane weren't well-acquainted. Perhaps he acquired an injury to his knee recently. Not that I cared.

"Bodyguard Jung, you may go." My father waved his men away with a flick of his wrist, then turned to me. "Hwayoung, press the intercom and tell your mother that we're here."

"She isn't my mother," I muttered.

My father whirled on me. "Just do it, Kang Hwayoung!"

I curled my lip into a snarl, but bit back a retort. Goodness knows what would happen if I said something. I thumbed the button and waited.

And waited.

Sighing, I looked at my phone to check the time. Unfortunately, I had more than enough time to return to rehearsal. I faced my father. "What is your wife doing? Why isn't she answering the door?"

"Oh, move it, you." He whacked my shin with his cane, prompting me to hop on one foot while clutching the injured shin. He was merciless, really.

My father jabbed the intercom button. "Jagiya! I'm home! Open the door!"

Within five seconds, the rich mahogany door opened to a grand foyer, complete with marble flooring, a pair of spiraling stairs ascending to the second floor, and a twinkling chandelier. In the middle of it all stood Step-monster, dressed from head to toe completely in white. Sparkling jewels adorned her neck, hands, and ears. Her hair was stretched into a tight bun with a white ribbon weaved into it. Her bangs fell over her heavily-lined eyes and glossed over her lips was a peachy tint, the color that women half her age wore as the newest trend. Needless to say, she worked hard in making herself presentable.

Too bad Step-monster was not that sort of woman.

She smiled, her lips forming a perfect heart shape (perhaps due to another surgery), and opened her arms to me. Or my father. I couldn't quite tell. She was faced in our general direction.

"Hwayoung-ah, welcome home!"

That voice. Oh, how much I hated it. Why was I here again?

"Hwayoung, get inside. It's freezing." My father growled as he limped inside, leading the way through the foyer. He grinned boyishly at Step-monster and gave her a loud smooch when he passed her.

She giggled like a teenaged girl before wrapping her arms around me. "Oh, Hwayoung. I'm so glad that you're home."

Resisting the urge to push her off, I gritted my teeth and managed a terse smile when she pulled away. I didn't have much to say, except for her to get her paws off of my brand-new blouse. "Hello, Step-mother."

"It has been nearly ten years, Hwayoung. It's okay for you to call me, 'Mother.'"

I wouldn't even dare, I thought to myself begrudgingly. I cleared my throat. "How are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm doing fine. I now have a steady job as a model at Samsung, but I also get to model for Nature Republic* and Tony Moly*," babbled Step-monster, waving her hand listlessly in the air. "But, I also have lots of time to spend with Sungjong-ie and your father. Can you believe it? It's great now that we're living in this mansion!" (*Both are make-up and beauty companies that are very popular in Korea.)

"I see."

"Oh!" Step-monster exclaimed, as if she had just remembered something. She grasped my hands together with a wide smile. "Hwayoung-ah, you haven't met your namdongsaeng*, have you?" (*Younger brother, usually connotated as blood-related.)

My fake smile dropped. No, I hadn't met my 'namdongsaeng'. "Namdongsaeng?"

"Well, of course, you couldn't have met him! He was born a year after you left home."

I couldn't fathom that my father could father more children, let alone a little boy not long after I had left the house. Then again, my father was so in love with his mistress-turned-wife that he would do anything to please her. And that likely included helping her produce a son.

Just then, Sungjong descended down a staircase with his hands stuffed in his pockets. His mother hooked an arm around his to prevent him from slipping past us. "Sungjong-ah, look! Hwayoung is home!"

Sungjong looked up at me, happiness and sorrow burning in his gaze. "I know."

"I was just telling her about Jonghwa. Look at her expression. Isn't it cute?"

Kang Jonghwa. Even I had to admit that it was a cute name for dongsaeng.

The corners of Sungjong's lips dipped into a knowing frown. He gave me a look that screamed for forgiveness.

I pursed my lips. It was too late to blame him for not relaying that information to me earlier.

Oblivious to our exchange, Step-monster patted her elder son's shoulder and said, "Bring down Jonghwa when he's done with his nap, okay, Sungjong? He needs to meet his Noona for the first time!"

"Yes, Mom."

~:~:~:~:~

Lunch was a quiet affair. My father still didn't bother to tell me what he wanted to tell me in the first place. He was a master at making people wait. A master at pissing people off.

I sat at my original space the table, beside Step-monster and across from Sungjong. Once again, Step-monster prepared her infamous veggie steak smothered in cream of mushroom. Although my father had a personal chef, she insisted on cooking 'for her prodigal daughter', as she so aptly put it.

I picked at it, losing my appetite with each ticking second. Why couldn't my father simply tell me what he wanted to say and send me on my merry way? Must he really prolong the awkward atmosphere within the family?

I could feel Sungjong's eyes on me; it probed me for a response to the latest news. But, there was more to come and I knew that it would be more shocking than the news of a little brother.

A cry crescendoed into a wail from the floor above. I whipped my head up at the foreign sound.

"Jonghwa is up, Sungjong. Bring him down," ordered my father. Sungjong swiftly nodded and disappeared up the stairs.

"I'll go prepare Jonghwa's lunch," Step-monster exclaimed, bouncing away at once.

Once she was gone, my father placed his silverware down and dabbed at his mouth with a napkin.

I waited for a moment before clearing my throat. "So, what did you have to tell me?"

Silence.

My father simply stared at me through his thick spectacles, pushing his fingers and palms together as if in prayer. He observed me as if I was the newest addition to his coin collection, to see whether or not I had invisible blemishes that were visible only to his scouring eyes.

I held his stare from my seat. In no way was I going to let him win the mental battle. I didn't expect him to be merciful, either.

He sipped from his cup of wine with a small smirk, then said, "Were you expecting some news from me, Hwayoung?"

Yes, I was expecting some news from you, you ing bastard! You show up after three years and kidnapped me from my morning of freedom! I demand to know why! I thought as the corners of my lips quivered in anger.

"Yes, I was. I didn't know you had a son while I was gone," I choked out, much to my surprise. Why was I getting so emotional? I didn't care about the tiny human being upstairs, much less the fact that my father fathered him. Or did I?

"Well, you ran away from home, Hwayoung. It would be natural that you had no clue."

"I had my reasons."

"Reasons that you couldn't discuss with me?"

"No."

My father sighed. "I understand that we didn't quite get along, Hwayoung. But, that doesn't mean you cut ties with me simply because you didn't like your Step-mother."

My eyebrows furrowed at the mention of Step-monster. "I still don't like her and I still would have made the same decision, whether or not you were involved in my life."

"Can't you just bear it all? Can't you at least stay at home, like Sungjong?"

"Sungjong has no backbone and you know it. He wouldn't have left even if he tried. He has no experience with working and he definitely has no experience in living without you guys. He wouldn't be able survive, even if you released him from your care!" I slammed my fork down and stood up from the table.

My father leaned back in masked surprise. "Hwayoung?"

A rush of nostalgia trembled through my body. It was happening again. The anger surged back into my chest as years of neglect jolted back to the forefront of my memories. Father's secret and public kisses with Step-monster, Sungjong's silence, my mother's fading smile, it all came back. I clenched my hands into tight fists.

"You never cared about us, did you? Aside from neglecting me, have you ever noticed how miserable Sungjong was in your home? I rarely saw him during the seven years we lived under the same roof! He never spoke to me and neither did he to you nor his own mother! I even believed that he was a ing mute!"

"Hwayoung, sit down--"

"Did you ever stop to think about how you treated your children? Did you even think that maybe your children will grow up wanting to feel loved by their own parents? You guys are so ing blind that you can't even see your own children falling apart!"

"Sit down and speak to me, Hwayoung!" My father glanced at the kitchen. Step-monster didn't seem to have noticed quite yet.

"Mom would NEVER have ignored me like you did! She would have asked me about my day every day! She would have looked past my poor social skills in high school! She would have loved me and called me beautiful and braided my hair and gone to the spa with me! She would have been my ing mother!"

"I understand that--"

"No, you don't!" I screeched as I shoved my chair towards the table. The dishes and silverware on the table rattled. A glass cup tipped over and, as if in slow motion, shattered into a million pieces on the floor.

Pattering feet brought Step-monster back to the dining room, with eyes wide open and mouth agape in shock. Sungjong also arrived, the little abomination barely awake on his shoulder. Jonghwa's watery eyes connected with mines.

A moment too late, I wrenched my gaze away and stormed towards the front door, brushing past Sungjong and Jonghwa.

"Stop right there, Kang Hwayoung! I order you to come back here right now!" My father hollered from behind me.

I sniffled back angry tears. I made a mistake, returning with my father. Everything that I had tried to forget, that I had tried to destroy with time, came back renewed and as painful as ever. Why was my life so ing pathetic?

Just as I reached the door, a hand grasped my shoulder and spun me around. Arms engulfed me in a bone-crushing hug. For a split-second, an image of my mother flashed into my mind. Until I looked up into the eyes of the person who drove her away.

~:~:~:~:~

I sat awkwardly across from my father and Step-monster. In between Sungjong and I sat Jonghwa, who refused to stop staring at me. It didn't matter how many times I glared at him; his expression was still the same, filled with wonder and curiosity.

My father cleared his throat. "Hwayoung, this is Jonghwa, your namdongsaeng."

No .

I sighed, diverting my eyes from the little beast. He was cute, alright. Big, dark eyes that sparkled with innocence, an adorable button nose, round peachy cheeks, and thin pouting lips that reminded me of, well, myself.

Not that I cared. "So, what do you want? An award?"

The (albeit, fake) smile on Step-monster's face fell. Perhaps she thought that her hug earlier melted the ice walls that had formed around my heart. Yeah, right. More like solidified them even more. Her bottom lip wobbled before she said, "Hwayoung, why don't you greet Jonghwa? I'm sure he wants to speak to his Noona."

"I'm sure that he doesn't."

Step-monster turned to Jonghwa with a bright smile. "Jonghwa-yah. Say hi to Hwayoung-noona!"

"Hwayoung-noona?" Jonghwa babbled, his eyes forming into cute upward crescents. He reached for my hand and grasped my pinky. I jumped at his touch. "Hi, Noona."

"Excuse me, little boy, I'm not your Noona. Your mother is just joking."

"Kang Hwayoung!" Barked my father, making me jump once more.

I inhaled sharply. Conforming to my father's will would take some time. Well, perhaps not 'some' time, but rather, an eternity. However, as Sungjong mentioned earlier that week, he was still my father. Technically, there would be no me without him.

With the most genuine smile I could manage, I grasped Jonghwa's pudgy hands in my own and squeezed them a little. His eyes widened at this. "Annyounghaseyo, Kang Jonghwa. Your... mother is right. I'm your Noona. Just like Sungjong is your Hyung, I am your Noona."

It was strange hearing myself voice the words. It was as if someone else was using my voice, someone else who felt compassion towards the boy. I was in no way interested in building a relationship with the runt, but there I was, actually feeling pity for the boy's existence. I wanted to PROTECT him and, as cliche as that sounds, I felt the natural urge to shield him from the influences of Step-monster and my father.

Why was I thinking like a Noona already?

"Annyoung, Hwayoung-noona!" Those upward crescents again. Coupled with a free hug and all the love of a lovesick puppy.

"Um, hi."

There was a moment of silence as Jonghwa cuddled up beside me.

A moment before my father's next bomb of the day.

A moment before my life was tossed into turmoil again.

My father leaned forward in his seat, so much so that the his glasses slipped to the tip of his nose. He stared at me from above the rims of his spectacles. "Hwayoung, I need to tell you something."

What? I scoffed inwardly. What more do you need to abuse me with?

"Well, you may proceed. No one is stopping you."

My father drew in a deep breath. "You will be married in six months."

Married in six months. SIX MONTHS?

Narrowing my eyes, I replied, "Can you repeat that? What did you say?"

"You will be married in six months, Hwayoung. There is no use in waiting. I have already chosen someone for you."

*****Hey, all! I'm back with another update, yay! So, what do you think about this chapter? I introduced two new characters who weren't a part of the original cast of the story. Bodyguard Jung may or may not be appearing frequently. It really depends on how much you like him. ^^ (I personally like him, but I will take him out upon my dear readers' requests.) Yes, his character is based on someone in the KPop industry and I'm putting you all in charge of finding out who he is, haha. Feel free to put down theories in the comments below. XD

The second new character is... Jonghwa! Yay! I debated on whether or not to make him a cameo appearance (thus, the very late update), but I think you might like my decision to make him a permanent member of the cast. Guess who it is? Yup, the ever-adorable Jung Yoogeun from 'Hello, Baby' with SHINee! Let me know what you all think of him as Hwayoung's new little brother. ^^

Any guesses on Hwayoung's 'fiance'?

Anyway, thank you so much for sticking this long with the fic! As always, please comment and subscribe! Constructive criticism is always welcome! Happy Reading! 9.6.14 :)*****