Jihyun groggily stepped out of the car when she came back the next day. She had just woken up from the car ride back but she was happy she was back home. Although her visit to her father had been a good one, she could not deny the fact that she had missed her mother and sister despite it only being for two days.

She thanked the taxi driver, paid for the fares and smiled brightly as she began to walk back to her house as the taxi driver drove away. It is good to be home even if I had enjoyed staying with Appa for a few days, she thought to herself. I wonder how things were while I was at Appa's place for the weekends.

“Jihyun-ah!”

She glanced up and saw Sungyeol waving at her from next door. Her heart flittered for a bit and she had to admit that she had missed him, too. “Hey!” she called back as he made his way over.

“So, you didn’t tell me you went back to visit your father,” were the first words out of his mouth the minute he reached her side. He pretended to be hurt but she knew that he wasn’t really mad at her.

She grinned sheepishly, remembering that she had realized she had not told him until she was already there. “It was a last minute plan, to be honest,” she confessed. “I didn’t even tell my mother until the morning I left.”

“Your parents must be really cool about letting you randomly pay a visit,” he mused thoughtfully and wondered if he was being too straightforward.

But Jihyun didn’t seem offended and only nodded. “Their marriage may not have worked out, but it didn’t have to affect their relationship with us,” she explained with reason. It sounded like something her parents had drilled into her since young but it wasn't altogether a bad reason. “So although I do not see one of my parent in a long time, we still have a pretty good parent-child relationship, especially with phone calls and occasional Skype conversations. That’s a good thing.”

“Why did your sister not go with you?”

“Oh, she wanted to stay back to work on the magazine’s pictures,” she told him, tugging on the strap of her backpack. “But I had videotaped a video of her before I left to send a message to our father that she’s doing well and that she promised she would visit him the next time I decided to make a rash decision to go for a sudden visit.” She smiled and shrugged nonchalantly. “She has a good relationship with Appa even though they had not seen in other in quite a long time now.”

“That’s good,” Sungyeol smiled. He was happy that although they came from a broken family, their lives were not miserable. “By the way, I took your sister and Sungjong out to the animal shelter yesterday.”

She laughed and nodded, eyesmiling as she did so. “Yeah, I know. My sister told me over the phone call last night. I’d say that was a pretty brave move, knowing that my sister’s afraid of animals.” She gave a little nudge, winking playfully. “But, thank you. It’s about time she tries to overcome her fear.”

“Well, it’s not Benji,” he chuckled.

She chuckled back, checking the time with her wrist watch. “It’s lunchtime; have you eaten yet?” she asked, glancing at him.

“I was on my way out for lunch, actually,” he replied, nodding toward the street as if to make his point. “My parents went out to have lunch with their friends and my little brother is sleeping over his friend's house — and I didn't even know he had any friends."

"Don't be so bad."

He only laughed. "Anyway, so I guess I'm all alone for lunch," Sungyeol went on. "What about you? Have you eaten lunch yet? Do you want to grab a bite together? We could go to the ramyun shop; get something light to eat.”

“Mm, sounds great.” She smiled, accepting his offer. “I’ll just go drop my bags, let my mother and my sister know I’m back and then we’ll go. Why don’t you come inside and wait in the living room while I go get ready?”

Sungyeol was surprised by the invitation but nodded. He was curious to how her house looked like and followed her inside, kicking his shoes off at the hallway. He glanced around and the scent of home-cooked food hit his nose.

“Eomma! Hyunyoung-ah! I’m home! Appa said to send his regards, by the way!” she called, placing her shoes on the rack. “Anyway, I’m going out to have lunch with Sungyeol, though. Is it okay if he waits in the living room?”

“If he has space to sit, that is!” her mother cried back from the kitchen and Jihyun gave a knowing smile. “But why don’t the two of you stay for lunch instead? It’s almost ready and I’m afraid I cooked too much. I have no idea why I need to even cook this much.”

“Eomma, you always cook too much for us to eat, don't sound so surprised.” Jihyun turned to Sungyeol. “Is that okay? You should give it a try; Eomma's cooking is the best.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Of course.” She flashed a brilliant smile.

He laughed lightly and nodded. He had to admit that the aroma coming from the kitchen smelled inviting. “Sure, I don’t mind,” he replied. “It’s nice to have home-cooked meal once in a while. I’ll go wait in the living room, then, while you can go and freshen up.”

“All right. Good luck finding a place to sit, though,” she told him, pointing toward the direction of the living room before she walked up the steps, lugging her bag up with her. “I’ll be down in a minute but I think my sister will keep you company for a bit.”

Sungyeol walked over to the living room, wondering what she meant by good luck in trying to find a place to sit. The moment he stepped inside, he could see why there was no space. All the sofas and couch was taken up by boxes, bags, as well as camera equipments. There were many pictures spread out on the coffee table as well as on the floor.

He saw Hyunyoung sitting on the floor, her face resting on the table. She looked like she was sleeping. He walked over to the other end of the table, careful not to step on any of the pictures and squatted down. Indeed she was sleeping.

“I wonder if she’s comfortable, sleeping in a position like that,” he murmured to no one in particular. She was probably going to have a patch of red spot on her cheek when she woke up. He stood up, contemplating clearing a sofa for her to sleep on when the doorbell rang.

“Sungyeol-ah, could you be a dear and answer the door?” Sora’s voice came from the kitchen. She sounded a little apologetic. “My hands are a little busy right now so I am unable to answer it. Sorry!”

“Yeah sure. It’s okay, don't worry about it, ahjumma! I’m already on my way to the door,” he reassured her as he walked over to the front door. He swung it opened and saw Sungjong standing on the front porch. He smiled. “I guess you;re here for lunch for as well.”

“You too?” Sungjong came inside the house, kicking his shoes off as if he was familiar with the house. “Hyunyoung’s in the living room, right?” But he didn’t wait for Sungyeol to give him an answer before he began sauntering down to the living room. He didn’t seem surprised to see her sleeping and just gently picked up all the photos, stacking them neatly before clearing the sofa.

Sungyeol watched him as he set her down on the couch, leaning slightly against the doorway of the livin