“Tada!”  Yuri stretches her hands, presenting her house. Jiyong looks around in awe. The living room was as wide as his eyes could set. It was contemporary yet fresh. The walls were painted in a subtle aquamarine in the dining area while the others were depicted in sleek white giving it a serene surrounding. A long yellow- brown couch faced 74 inch TV with a complete home theatre set covering most of the wall. A ceiling- to- floor window surround the front. Seoul unfolds in one sight as he witnesses the ever so azure skies and the modern civilization around. “Woah.” He exclaims.

“What ‘woah’?” Yuri asks while she tears open a juice box and drinks it without pouring it into a cup. “I’d love to wake up to this every morning.” Jiyong refers to the stunning view. “Prrp.” She smacks her lips and put down her drink. “Boooriiiiing.” Yuri fakes a yawn as she walks ahead out of kitchen. “When I travel elsewhere, I’ll be sure to take pictures of sunrises in other countries and prove to you what we’re missing in life.” Psh.

Passing through the living room, kitchen, a master bedroom, Jiyong eventually recognizes the girl’s room. Her eyes wide, she dramatically says “Behold. Where legend was made.” Chuckling, Jiyong rushes her. “Just hurry already.” Yuri giggles and pushes her door open. And so the awaited room reveals itself.

Jiyong lets out a big laugh. “Sometimes I forgot you’re 17.” He shakes his head as he picks up a pair of jeans lay bare on her marble floor. “Seriously?” Yuri snatches it before shoving it to what seemed like her dirty laundry.

“Don’t judge.” Yuri switches her fans on and draws her peach curtains. He notices it was the same ceiling- to- floor window. From a different angle but still holds the same beauty. Her room is a tad bit messy with her clothes everywhere. The walls were plain but a strip of cartoons characters wallpaper laces the lower middle of the walls.  Her bed has small pink flowers on her bed cover. Beside it was a side desk of alarm clock, a frame of old memory and a classic yellow iPod holder. A tall wooden cupboard was full of old books- from sciences to folk tales, from autobiographies to folk tales, board games and puzzles. The girl's significant graffiti skate board leans on its side. The cupboard stands out as it gives the classic vibe in such modern room.

 The girl’s study desk faces a green pin board with fairy lights on it. Reminders, short notes and important dates covers the board while her desk of stationeries, sharpies and magic colored pens, papers, a copy of “It” by Stephen King and a Macbook.

“This is nice.” Jiyong points to a color splashed map on one wall opposite her single bed. It is quite obvious the map was the focal point of Yuri’s room. He approaches closer and realizes it was painted with water colors. “Yeah. My dad and I drew that.” Yuri folds both her hands. The girl had pasted some post- it notes on parts of the world. “Iceland- Aurora Borealis” “India- Light Festives” “Italy- foods yeay!” Jiyong smiles at the messy notes. It’s amazing how he could imagine the younger girl say it.

Jiyong turns around and sits on the head of her bed. He grabs her Ipod. “Let’s see.”He scrolls to two different playlists- instrumentals and songs. Curious, he clicked on the instrumental and tried listening to a “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us” before putting it back onto its holder. Starting with strong drum beats and bass, Jiyong appreciates Yuri’s music taste. “This is good.” He nods to the beats. “Yep. Best song ever.”

Jiyong studies her cupboard. “Gee, you weren’t kidding when you said you love to read.” He grabs a book. “Civilization: The Beginning”. Uninterested, he puts the book away. “Where’s your closet anyway?” “In the dressing room. My parents’ clothes are there too.” She answers nonchalantly. I knew there was something incomplete in this room, I knew it. “Hey, wanna see something cool?” Yuri's eyes widen in excitement. She draws her curtain shut and soon, Jiyong sees yellow glitters on her ceiling. It took him a moment before noticing that the glitters were stars.

“What’s your star?” Yuri asks. “Pisces.” “Well, mine’s Leo. Have you ever seen a train station in New York called Grand Central Train Station? It was built way back before our grandmothers were born- somewhere in  1800’s. The structure was a state of art with statues of Roman Gods and the ceilings was stars. Zodiac stars that was arranged in a reverse order. Without any logical reasons. ” Jiyong studies her expression. She wasn’t kidding. “The sinister of an artist. Hence, my ceiling inspiration! Except I don’t have zodiacs on it.” She pouts a bit before the girl opens her curtains back. “I think it’s already good enough; the stars.”

Yuri lits up. “Right?” Jiyong nods in agreement.

“Hey, you have a dream catcher.” Jiyong holds the light pink feathers. “My uncle bought it from Peru. He said it was blessed by the religious ones there.” “Maybe that’s why you’re such a huge dreamer.” Jiyong jokes. “Maybe.”

“Where’s your parents?” Being here for quite a while, Jiyong is worried and wants to avoid misunderstandings from the neighbors.

The front door clicks as someone enters the penthouse. Yuri walks to the living room.“But I object to his actions. It was immature and a waste of the people’s money. I don’t understand why the Minister agrees to it.”

Yuri jerks her head over her bedroom. “Here they are.” Jiyong lets out a sigh and stands to follow Yuri. “Mom, Dad.” They continue to converse by themselves, oblivious to the other two people. “Mom. Dad.” Yuri repeats when her mother turns to her. “Oh. Hi Yuri.” And just when Jiyong thought he recognized the sophisticated woman. And the dashing man in his 40’s.

Mrs. Kwon Rena. Head Minister of Development. A strong environmentalist and managed to decrease the rate of pollution by 3% despite Korea’s rapid growth in her 5 years of duty.

Mr. Kwon Goeun. One of Korea’s youngest established attorney at only 31 when he brought nation’s biggest illegal animal trading down.

Holy .

“Mom, Dad, this is the guy I’ve been telling you about. Kwon Jiyong. Mr. ,  my makers.” She introduces them both to be greeted by awkward hellos. “Well, I’ve ordered pizzas so maybe we can talk about everything on dinner?” Mrs. Kwon suggests. Everyone seems to abide as the couple went into their room to put their briefcases while Yuri prepares plates. Jiyong hits the girl on her upper arm. “Ouch!” “You didn’t tell me your folks were politicians!” He grits his teeth. “What’s the point?” Yuri takes out cheese crusted pizzas out of their respective boxes. “Of course there is! Like now, I’m more nervous than ever.” He fidgets. What if they disagree? What if they locked him up in some jail for harassing their daughter or worse, exile him from the nation? These people have powers! He shakes his head. All the “what ifs” could kill him before they do!

“Chill. They’re not like that.”

“Easy for you to say. You wake up with them every day since your birth. I’ve only seen them on tv and papers. And even then, they looked scary.”

“Scary? I’m offended.” Mr. Kwon comes from behind him. . “I meant to say charismatically scary. Not scary scary.” Jiyong dodges. “Oh, never mind. Everybody says we’re scary. Big deal.” Mrs. Kwon sits after washing her hands and puts a slice of pineapple pizza on her plate before stuffing it with her bare hands.

Maybe they are chill after all.

Contrast to what Jiyong had imagined, they had light talks (not scary at all; in fact quite friendly from what the media depicts them) and he can tell the parents actually does support Yuri’s dream. A little bit worried but nevertheless, supports her.

After putting their dirty plates in a dishwasher, Mr. Kwon tapped Jiyong to the veranda. Jiyong obeys. His hands on his pockets, Mr. Kwon asks. “Want a smoke?” Jiyong declines. “I don’t smoke, sir.” “Good, good.” The “Monster Lawyer” throws his gaze out to see the bright Seoul with sounds of screeching fast cars and faint music paints the city. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“It’s in human’s nature to love beautiful things. Beautiful clothes, beautiful girls, beautiful cities.” He takes a breath. “I raised my child to be curious, to be thirsty of new knowledge and when she has asked for what I had taught her, who am I to deny her request? If she wants to go see the world, I can’t restrain what I have nurtured in my daughter. When you do that to a child, they will grow up confused and we never want that for our child. Never.”

“And although we are worried for her, we also want her to feel responsible of herself. To be dependant without us. Any sane parent wouldn’t send their teenage daughter out like that alone.”

“We listened to Yuri’s story about you. She talked nice things about you. Maybe to convince us not to worry but seeing you in person, Jiyong,” he pats Jiyong’s shoulder, “I really do think you are a nice person. You’re straight forward, you don’t kiss my , a little bit jumpy maybe but that’s necessary at times. And most importantly, you don’t smoke.”

Jiyong strains himself from spilling Yuri's secrets of occasional smoking. “Thank you, sir. I will try my best to protect your daughter.” Without realizing, he means his every word. “Good, good. Now come inside, come inside.” Jiyong steps inside while Mr. Kwon slides the door. They are about to join the girls when Mr. Goeun pulls his arm. “Oh, and a little reminder. I’ve seen your face and I knew your name. That’s all I’ll ever need before my contacts do a background check on you and arrest your if you harm or implicate my daughter into illegal activities.” He ends it with a warm smile. “We’re good?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good, good.” Mr. Kwon pats his back. Though they carried on naturally later after joining the Mrs. and Ms, Jiyong kept thinking of one word until his way back to home.

.