"YOU SURE eat your lunch earlier than usual, noh?" Changmin asked a quiescent Sooyoung idly scanning the pages of a cookbook on her lap.   "Eleven forty-five isn't early. It's in fact a bit late. It should've been eleven thirty."   "Hehe, you're really odd, you know that?" He was lying on his chest reading a thick book he took from the tall girl's bookshelf. "You're living here alone, in a place far from civilization. You're taking up Culinary Arts but it looks as if you'd be the one who'd finish off your cooking before others could taste it. Not to mention, you're a bit of a troublemaker. It's a wonder you're not yet kicked out of your university."   "Yah!" Sooyoung hit Changmin's head with a pillow for the nth time. "You're biting the hand that feeds you. Literally. On the 'feeding you' part."   "Whatever." He stood up and put the book back on the shelf. "But the steak was good. Gotta give that to you. How did you get to buy one though? Beef's a bit costly around these parts." His fingers traced the titles of the books on the shelf. He drew what looked like a hardbound book but was actually a photo album. "You didn't perhaps, by any chance--- OW!" He massaged the part on his arm that was hit by Sooyoung's cookbook.   "Do you want me to make a Sylvia Plath out of you and slam your head shut on the oven door? I won that slice from our school's fair. Just so you know."   Changmin laughed upon seeing the smug look on her face. "I'm just making sure you didn't slaughter a poor, innocent cow. Haha! I kid. And then you're telling me I'm over-reactive?"   "I just don't like it when people make fun of me and my food."   "Feisty." He snickered and sat down across her. "But you haven't answered my question yet. How did you know my brother?"   Sooyoung sunk in her seat and softly answered. "I met him when I was five."   She put her arms behind her neck and made a pillow out of it. She closed her eyes and told Changmin about the day she first met Siwon.   "It was a Sunday. Grandpa went downtown to the market and I was left here because I was still recovering from a high fever from the day before. I was bored so I went out of the house and rode my bike. My grandpa owns this land so I'm pretty much familiar with everything here. He allows me to roam around but I was not to go beyond the hill."   Changmin looked at the girl in front of her and to the pictures on the photo album he was holding. There's a picture of a Sooyoung who looked not a day older than four. Her hair tied into a cute bun and her face smeared with chocolate from the cake in front of her. Balloons and party hats make up the background - a birthday party, obviously. The next picture showed scenes of the same birthday party, only this time, young Sooyoung was nestled by a beautiful woman, who looked like an older version of her, smiling happily at the camera.   "Wait, you grew up with your grandfather?"   The girl just nodded in reply.   "Your mom?"   "My mother passed away few days after my fourth birthday. Dad started to change after that. He always goes home late and drunk. He did not hurt me but he was not the caring appa that I used to know. Grandpa, he was my mom's dad, came home from Incheon and took me from dad. He brought me here, in this cottage. And this is where I grew up. He would occasionally bring me with him whenever he visits dad in the city."   "Oh." Changmin nodded his head unconsciously. His gaze transfixed on a photo of Sooyoung and an elderly man under a tree. A young Sooyoung was smiling toothily at her grandpa who was happily peeling oranges for her.   "You're close with your grandfather?"   "Of course. I grew up with him. He said I look a lot like mom and it's like watching her grow up all over again. Even if he took me away from mom, he never forgot to tell me that dad is a good person. And that he was just heavily affected by my mom's death." She took a deep breath before continuing.   "I don't understand it at first. On why he had been drinking and then going out with different women. I started getting into trouble. Wishing that he'd wake up from his drunken stupor and realize the effect of what he's been doing to me. I joined a gang and started getting into fights. It was all for him. But then I realized that in my attempts to make my presence known to appa, it was grandpa who was heavily affected. "   Changmin noted the slight shaking of her voice. He would have loved to tell her to stop if the memories were too painful for her but he knows that the only way to win over your inner demons is to fight it.   He let her continue.   "It took me a long time to realize the negative consequences of my actions. Fortunately, I did before it was too late. I left the gang but Hyo and Yul left with me. Without the other two to take leadership positions, the gang sorta vanished. I've been friends with those two ever since, we might as well drop our surnames and proclaim each one as blood relatives. Grandpa loved those two much, too. It's like he has three grandchildren with him. I visited appa frequently but it seems like he was avoiding me. I know that he was ashamed, and that he blames himself for not being able to be the responsible father that he should be. I am to be blamed too. For not understanding his situation."   She opened her eyes and looked at Changmin. "I guess he just loved my mom too much."   "Your dad. Is he... is he the one with you on that picture?" He pointed the picture on the corkboard he saw earlier.   Sooyoung looked at the direction Changmin was pointing and nodded.   "Yeah. That was during my high school graduation. The last time I saw him too. It's been four years since I last saw him but we constantly write letters to each other."   "Where is he now?"   "He's in Seoul. Living with Aunt Eunhye. She's my stepmother. She's nice. She's the reason why dad stopped drinking and going out with random women. Which is funny if you ask me, because they met in a bar while dad was having his usual nighttime routine. He challenged Aunt Eunhye on a drinking bout and he lost." She smiled as she remembered the story. "I'm glad my father met her. They want me to live with them but I just can't leave this house. It holds a lot of memories. Though some aren't the type I would like going through again, there are a lot of happier memories. "   Suddenly, Changmin realized that he wasn't looking at an ill-mannered girl anymore. Somehow, he felt that he's sitting in front of a person with a pure spirit. His heart ached for all the trouble Sooyoung has gone through --- the negative things said about her without people knowing the real reason behind such. He knows because he had been one of those people.   "This house has been our sanctuary; Hyo, Yul, and I. Even after grandpa's death, I know he's watching over us. He left with me this land and this house. Knowing that as long as I take care of it, I won't go homeless or hungry for the rest of my life. All has been well. Then, Seohyun and Yoona came and suddenly, I had two younger siblings to look after to. I found myself a family in them."   "Actually, I've been wondering how you've been friends with Yoona." Changmin cut her off in her story-telling. "No offense meant but she seems well-behaved and lady-like when I first met her."   It was Sooyoung's turn to ask him.   "You know her?" "Yeah. She's my best friend's girlfriend."   "Kim Kibum..." She looked disbelievingly at him. "...is your best friend? "Why? Do we not look like it?"   Sooyoung covered and tried to stifle a giggle. "I know Kibum's a bit shy and reserved but he's actually very friendly and warm."   Changmin raised his eyebrows as if saying "annnnd...?"   "And, well. You're not really the friendly type. Hehe." "Oh, please. I'm not my mother's assistant on public affairs if I wasn't anything but that." He scoffed. "But it's true. You're not friendly-looking. Charismatic, maybe." She said the last two words softly. "What was that? I'm charismatic?" Changmin was grinning widely in front of her.   "Yeah whatever. You've heard it. Don't make me say it again." She stuck out her tongue at him. "Anyway, Yoong is still behaved and lady-like but she's more of a kid when she's with the people close to he