Her father sleeps on the couch and her mother sleeps in the master bedroom. Aeri walks out of her room to see the disaster from the previous night's argument. Shards of her mother's favourite plates were shattered in a million pieces on the kitchen floor and there were belongings strewn everywhere in the living room. 

"Five thirty a.m...what a perfect time to be cleaning up..." Aeri mumbles as she grabs a broom from the storage closet in the kitchen. For forty-five minutes, Aeri spends her time sweeping up fragments of glass and ceramic pieces from the floors and re-organizes the precious possessions in the living room, being careful to not wake her snoring and drunk father on the couch. Afterwards, she makes her breakfast and eats it silently, leaving a portion for her mother on the dining table. 

Please eat it well! 

-Aeri. 

She writes the note and places it on the table before adjusting her backpack and heading out the front door. She walks to school, deep in her thoughts, worrying about everything, school projects, tests, exams and of course the situation at home. 

"Aeri!" 

"Minsu!" Aeri puts on her biggest smile as her best friend runs up to her. 

"Hey! How's it going?" Minsu asks as she adjusts her blue headband on her head. 

"Fine, you?" Aeri lied. 

"Same, but I'm nervous for the dance exam! I didn't really practice at all..." Minsu laughs nervously. 

"Hey, lighten up, you'll do just fine!" 

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It's Saturday afternoon and Aeri's parents have left the apartment, each of them doing who-knows-what. Aeri sleeps in a little late and wakes up at ten a.m. She decides it's best for her to enjoy the spring weather and walk down to the Han River just nearby. Digging through her closet, Aeri pulls out her white knee length dress and slips on a pale pink cardigan over top, covering her exposed shoulders. Aeri steps in front of her mirror and does her hair up in a simple bun. She grabs her purse and walks to the front door where she slips on black flats and heads out the door. She wanders silently over to the park where the Han river flowed and she found herself sitting at her favourite bench and stared at the scenic view layer out in front of her. She sees happy families pass by, reminding herself of when her family was happy, until her mother caught her father cheating on her with another woman. He swore that he had broken up with the woman, but her mother would just get angrier by the second, eventually sparking the fights they had been having for six months. It mostly consisted of her father insisting that that woman no longer existed anymore, but Aeri would scoff in her bedroom, she knew it wasn't true, she saw him once with that woman, both intoxicated with alcohol and dragging their feet down the sidewalk. 

"Stupid." Aeri hissed, she had wandered to the bank of the river and threw a stone into the gurgling waters. 

"I can't believe you, you idiot, you coward, you're just staying because mom has money." She threw in another stone. 

"I hate you." Aeri spat. She continued on for a few more minutes before she broke down and sat down on a rock where she cried. She was unaware of the presence near her. A blond boy stood quietly behind a bush, watching her with sympathy. He hesitated before deciding to walk up to her. 

"Kwon Aeri?" He said. Aeri froze and looked up, quickly wiping the tears away from her eyes and looked up. 

"Choi Junhong...." She whispered. The idol stood beside her with a tissue in his hand. Aeri took the tissue and thanked him. 

"Is everything okay?" he asked. There was a moment of silence before Aeri smiled lightly at him. 

"I'm okay." she said. Aeri sniffed and wiped away the wetness on her cheeks. Junhong sat down beside her.

"What brings you here, Kwon Aeri?" 

"Me? Well, I come down here often, I live in a condo nearby. I come here to, well...get away from everything I guess, get away from the busy life, to relax and enjoy myself...and what about you? Don't you have schedules to attend?" Aeri asks. Junhong ruffles his blond hair and stretches his long limbs. 

"I'm off this weekend, then I go to school Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, then it's off to practice." Junhong explains as he stares at the river. There was another moment of silence before Junhong got up and dusted his jeans. 

"Well, it was a pleasure getting to know you, Kwon Aeri, but I got to go now, I guess I'll see you at school!" Aeri stood up as well. 

"Yeah, it was nice talking to you too!" Aeri said. Junhong began to make his way up to the pathway before turning back to wave at Aeri. She waved back and watched him walk down the path and disappearing from Aeri's sight. Turning back to look at the river, Aeri decides it'd be nice to treat herself to some soft serve ice cream. She walks up to the path and walks until she sees her favourite ice cream shop. She enters and approaches the counter. 

"One vanilla and strawberry swirl ice cream please." Aeri asked. The girl behind the counter nodded. 

"That would be 1500 won please." Aeri handed the worker the money and waited patiently to be handed her ice cream cone. She exited the shop in a better mood and tasted her ice cream. She her lips and smiled. 

"Delicious!" Aeri exclaimed and made her way slowly back to the condo. 

------------------------------------------------------------

"Minsu! Sukyung!" Aeri called to her best friends. They both waited for Aeri to catch up before resuming their walk to school. Aeri fixed her yellow blazer and smiled. 

"How was your weekend, Aeri?" Sukyung asked. 

"It was okay, I guess." 

"Is your situation at your home any better?" Minsu asked before getting nudged on the shoulder by Sukyung who also gave her a glare.  

"Hey, it's okay, Sukyung, but, no, nothing's really changed." 

"Sorry, Aeri." Minsu said. 

"It's fine." Aeri replied. They trio walked through the giant front gates of the school that were embedded with the words: Seoul Performing Arts High School. 

"Ready for the vocal exam?" Sukyung asked. 

"Definitely!" Aeri and Minsu cried. They all parted ways when they entered the main foyer of the school and headed for their lockers. Aeri walked up to the second floor of the school and walked to her locker. 

"Kwon Aeri!" a voice called. Aeri turned around to see Choi Junhong running to catch up to her. 

"Hey." Aeri said awkwardly. 

"Hey." Junhong replied. 

"I finally got here before school started, now Ms. Lee won't punish me for being late to math." Junhong said. The two laughed as they continued their walk down the hall. 

"So, where's your locker?" Junhong asked. 

"Just over here." Aeri replied. She walked over to a blue locker and began to spin the lock. She had a strange feeling that Junhong was looking at her combo and she opened the lock and turned around. 

"Are you looking at my locker combo?" Aeri asked. Junhong took a step back. 

"No." Junhong replied. Aeri smiled and opened her locker. She placed her backpack on the ground and began to place her things for the morning classes into her backpack. 

"We have math first, right?" Junhong asked. Aeri nodded. 

"Let's go together." He said. 

"Okay."  

The sound of the wind that wakes me up in the morning makes harmony,
The darkening moonlight let it go, the ripening romance dreams.
Hello, where are you going (where you) I’ll be there, where you are (that way),
Even if we’re not that close, I still have to try, at least I do.