“Happy birthday Suzy!” Suzy jumped slightly at the sound of her elder sister’s voice. “Huh what?” she peeked out from under her blanket sleepily. “Wake up you rabbit! It’s your 20^th birthday today! Come on.. get up get up! I made your favourite breakfast for you!” Yoo Bi pulled the blanket off Suzy’s limp body.

“Argh. It’s only 7am unnie. I want to sleep in more before my shift begins.” Suzy groaned & covered her face with her pillow. “Get the heck out of bed before I kick you in the Suzy!” Yoo Bi grabbed the pillow away from Suzy. “Unnie!!” Suzy protested. “NOW.” Yoo Bi commanded. With a soft groan Suzy reluctantly got out of bed. “I hate birthdays.” She sighed.

Yoo Bi threw open the curtains of Suzy’s room & Suzy blinked at the sudden sunlight that shone into her eyes. “Why do you hate birthdays so much?” Yoo Bi walked over to Suzy & sat down on the bed. Suzy’s eyes darkened. “You know why unnie.” She answered softly & moved the sleeves up from her pajama top.

The scars were still slightly visible. They were fading but the pain in Suzy’s heart was still fresh, as if those incidents had only happened the day before. Yoo Bi reached out & gave Suzy a big hug. “Ssh.. forget the past Suzy ah. You’re my sister now. I won’t let you beat yourself up over what happened when you were a child. All your future birthdays must be celebrated happily. You’re a gift to me.” Yoo Bi felt a wetness on her shoulder & realized that Suzy was crying.

“Don’t cry Suzy.” Yoo Bi wiped the tears away from her younger sister’s swollen eyes. “I’m not crying unnie. A bit of dust got into my eyes.” Suzy shrugged & freed herself from Yoo Bi’s embrace. “I will go take a shower first unnie then have breakfast.” Suzy didn’t meet Yoo Bi’s eyes & grabbed her towel and headed towards the bathroom. Yoo Bi heard the click of the lock & exhaled deeply.

The past 10 years Suzy had lived with her she had never really shown her true feelings much to Yoo Bi though Yoo Bi knew just how grateful Suzy was when she was adopted by her.

“She has a lot of pain in her life. I can only hope to God that by some means she gets a chance to alleviate her pain one day.” Yoo Bi made Suzy’s bed for her & her eyes fell upon the only picture Suzy had on her dressing table. A picture of herself with Yoo Bi taken a year ago at a carnival. “She might not be my own but she’s the best sister I could ask for.” Yoo Bi touched the picture gently & left the bedroom to heat up the seafood soup she made some time ago for Suzy.

Standing under the hot shower Suzy felt the hot needles of water pricking her back. It was yet another birthday. Another birthday to remind her of her painful past, of how her existence was never valued by her own family, of the physical and mental abuse she suffered for years before being rescued by Yoo Bi ten years ago.

Suzy’s eyes fell upon the scars on her upper arms. The small round brown circles upon her fair porcelain skin. Despite standing under the shower Suzy felt another wetness upon her cheeks & knew those were her tears again. “Will I ever forget what had happened?” Suzy closed her eyes & tried to erase the memories but the only thing she succeeded in was refreshing them with such clarity she felt the cigarette burning into her skin as clearly & painfully as it did 10 years ago.

“My birthday wish is to forget everything. To shut everything off. I don’t want to feel anymore.” Suzy uttered a silent prayer as she the shower stronger to drown out the sound of her sobs.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going you little punk!” someone yelled as the car screeched to a stop barely a few inches away from his knee. “SORRY!!” Kris yelled back & hoisted his duffel bag over his shoulder. He had just arrived in Seoul & Kris had to admit that he was both fascinated & overwhelmed by the bustling city.

It was unlike the small town he came from back in China. Kris & his parents had moved to Busan from China when he was five years old in search for a better life. Though Kris loved the laid back life in Busan he still ached for excitement of a big city. Despite his parents protesting vehemently Kris had stubbornly insisted on going to Seoul to find a job & to better his life even more.

Kris stared down at his outfit, stone washed jeans, leather belt, a long-sleeved shirt & a matching light brown leather jacket. As he walked past the crowds of people Kris knew that he was turning more than a few heads.

Back in Busan he was known to be a fashionista. Someone who stood from the crowd because of his sense of style. Girls went crazy over him & Kris had to admit, he enjoyed the attention from the opposite though he never had a serious girlfriend before. So far no girl had ever made his heart flutter & Kris was pretty happy having casual girlfriends & flirtationships.

Walking past a huge noticeboard Kris stopped & scanned the board for any prospective jobs. However he realized that he needed a roof over his head before he could even go job hunting. He peeked behind the board & found that he was standing in front of an apartment complex. ASC Complex the rather worn out sign informed him.

“This looks like a good place. The rent must be cheap since it is looks pretty run down. I just need a room.” Kris thought to himself making his way into the lobby where a stubby old man sat watching some fuzzy TV programme on his portable TV. “Excuse me..” Kris tapped his shoulder.

“What? What do you want young man? If you’re here to rob me you ain’t getting a penny out of me.” The old man eyed Kris suspiciously. “No sir. I’m new to Seoul & wanted to know if there are any free apartments or room available here.” Kris explained himself. Still eyeing him warily the old man took out a huge ratty notebook that looked as old as he himself.

“Well.. there are no free apartments..” he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Kris’s shoulders slumped. Now he had to find an apartment or room in the more expensive part of town, how was he supposed to afford that kind of rent? “Thank you anyway sir.” Kris turned to leave when the old man stopped him.

“Wait a minute young man. I think the Lee’s on the 10^th floor have a room that freed up recently. Their tenant went back to America. Try there young man.” The old man told him his expression turning kinder. Kris shot him a grateful smile. “Thank you so much sir!” he thanked him happily. 

“10C. The apartment number. Now shoo, I want to watch my baseball match in peace.” The old man said turning grumpy again. His mood still estastic Kris thanked the man again & rushed to the lift.

If he could convince the owner to rent out the free bedroom to him his housing problems would be settled & he would have the time to search for a good job. “Thank you God. From this moment onwards it’s a new beginning for me.” Kris kissed the cross on his chest uttering a happy prayer to the heavens.

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Author's Note : So how was the first chapter? :D haha! I hope it's good. :) Updates will be a bit slower than usual but I will try my best to update soon. :D Comments are welcome! <3