If there was one thing she had to like about any of this, it had to be the balcony. Their balconies were separated with shutters placed in between. If you would bent over a little, you would see whatever was going on in the other balconies, which could get awkward, explaining why most of the shutters were down, even if it hardly covered anything.

For the one on her left, there were some art materials scattered on the floor. It was the one with paint splatters she had seen earlier. There were even some canvas leaned against the railings, a new addition to what she had seen before. The balcony on the most left was completely empty, the one next to the artsy one. The balcony on her right had a small hammock hanging from the ceiling and some pots of plants as well as a stereo.

Haesoo’s only had a stool, something she brought all the way from Busan. It was a stool her father had made for her years ago when he was still with her mother. Bringing it was her other protest, in case she had to break it in front of someone that mattered. Other than being the secretary of the president of Jisan Group, her father also once had passion for fitting wood. He would make tables and chairs for Haesoo when she was still a child. The boat bed back at her home was also fitted by him.

The Kim family had never been as well-off as they were now. It was only when Youngsoo got a job at the Jisan Group did he finally earn enough money for his family to survive. That was also why, after the divorce was finally settled, Haesoo was handed over to her father who was more financially stable than her mother who had even an elderly under her care - her grandmother.

Haesoo placed the stool really close to the railing and sat down. She rested her arms on the railing and placed her chin on it, looking up to the clear night skies. She felt the wind blow on her face and she shut her eyes with pleasure. She truly loved the wind, but even this was incomparable to the one back home. The Busan wind was different from the wind in the city of Seoul. It wasn't as strong, wasn't as calming.

With the soft indie playing on her iPod, she felt so calm.

Knowing she was alone, she sang along to the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFIyNvzVP3E

Haesoo had no idea how much time had passed but when she opened her eyes, she saw a male sitting cross-legged on the empty balcony. He, too, was looking up into the sky, leaned against his door. Something about his eyes looked like pain, as though a sight not meant for her to see, at least not secretly through her shutters. Before she could speculate further, she heard her bedroom door open followed by a call for her name. It was her father’s voice.

Emotionless, she turned to see him only to turn back to an empty balcony. The boy was gone and the door to his room had already closed.

“Haesoo,” the gentle voice called again.

“Appa,” Haesoo acknowledged him.

He walked in to the balcony, pulling along a stool he found in in her room which was still empty, only filled with boxes and her bed.

“Dinner time,” he said.

Haesoo looked at the tray of food he was carrying in one hand. As he adjusted his stool, the tray tipped and out of reflex, Haesoo quickly reached forward to grab it. She placed it on the railing and resumed looking at the sky.

Her father studied her in silence.

He noticed she had already changed to her pajama pants and she now wore a green hoodie. Her hair was up in a side braid and there were earplugs in her ears but he had saw her lower the volume when he came in.

“Aren’t you eating?” he asked, knowing his daughter hadn’t had a meal since breakfast.

Haesoo took it as a signal and picked up the spoon. She took some rice and a piece of broccoli and placed it in , munching slowly.

“Why do you eat so little?” Youngsoo muttered to himself and took the spoon and tray.

He scooped more rice and vegetable with some steamed chicken and held it in front of her face.

“Open up.”

A bit confused, Haesoo just opened and accepted the scoop. was so filled but she just munched wordlessly. Inside, however, she felt some kind of warmth spread across her chest, getting fed by her father again after so long.

“Your new school uniform is on your bed. School starts tomorrow. You need to be ready. It’s going to be hard to make friends halfway through the year but I’m sure you can do it.”

He fed her another scoop.

“The school said your books are in your locker and they will give you the information on your class and locker number as well as schedule tomorrow at school. I’ll send you there before I head off for work.”

He sighed, staring