Haerin fiddles with her phone as she texts Yunjae.

‘Yunjae-yah, there’s a set of lunches in the fridge; they’re for you, grandma, and me.  Take them with you and grab your playing cards.  Wait for me by the bus stop as usual,’

With that, she walks home.

Yunjae was waving at her by the time she got to the bus stop.  She grins and trots over to him.  He’s always glad to visit their grandmother.  Always have and always will.

‘You feeling okay? Does breathing still hurt?’ He signs, peering into Haerin’s face as he asks.

“Stop worrying, Yunjae, you know I don’t like it,” She gives him a look.

Yunjae starts again.  ‘I let you worry about me.  So let me worry about yo-‘

Stopping his hands, Haerin ruffles his hair.  “Okay, okay, it still hurts a bit but I feel okay,”

They keep having this conversation, every time Haerin gets beaten up.  It has become some sort of a routine to them.  And as much as they want to, they can’t change anything.

The two steps outside the bus and Haerin takes some time to drink in the view around her.  Cherry blossoms rustle overhead, their pale pink petals fluttering in the gentle wind.  The ground was covered in them and people were walking by peacefully, chattering about happily.  The call of food stands ring out loud and clear, inviting people with their excited tones.  And the sky, it was so blue she could get lost in them.

Yunjae tugs at her sleeve, snapping her out of her daze.  He reaches up to pull a petal from her hair, blowing it into the air and watching it fly away along with all the other petals.  Grinning, they make their way inside the peach building to their right.

“Oh, Haerin! Yunjae!”

The receptionist greets the two and they wave excitedly.

Yunjae bows at her and waves.

“How’s school?” She asks Haerin and Haerin shrugs, smiling.

“Same old, same old,”

The siblings trot outside the backdoor, the mere view of the lush, green field enough to put smiles on their faces.  They spot the biggest tree at its center and with a moment’s glance, run over, racing each other.

Haerin laughs as she and Yunjae sprints, elated.

By the roots of the tree sits an old woman, hair gray and face lined with age.  She notices the ruckus coming towards her but doesn’t make a move, not even to see who’s coming.

Because it’s Friday and she knows who they are.

“Grandma!”

Haerin throws her arm around her grandmother together with Yunjae, laughing and panting from the run they had.

“Aigoo,” Their grandmother chuckles while she pats their backs.  “Did you bring me what I asked for?” She pulls away and eyes the bag in Yunjae’s hand.

Haerin takes out the topmost box and flips her hair.  “Salmon salad, check,”

“Apples?”

“Check,” She takes out another box.

“Playing cards?”

Yunjae pulls out the cards from his pocket and grins.  ‘Check,’ He signs.

With a cackle, their grandmother sits upright.  “Shall we play?”

***

“Dear, answer me truthfully.  Do you really prefer spending time with old people like us rather than your friends on a Friday night?”

Kyungsoo looks over his shoulder at one of the residents and chuckles.  “Yes, I really do,”

“Why?”

“Just because,”

“What would you do if you had a girlfriend?” They start fussing. 

Turning off the stove and serving the food he made for them, he answers as he places the plates in front of each and every one of the residents sitting at the table.  “I’ll ask her to come along,” With a final smile, he takes off his apron and hangs it by the door.  “Enjoy the food,”

Kyungsoo wonders why they want him to get a girlfriend.  Even he doesn’t think about it that much.  He’s quite content with the way he’s living; he has his friends, he has his family, that’s all good enough for him.  But, it’s always funny, how they put it and how they keep joking around about it.  And it doesn’t bother him. 

He walks out to the field behind the institution, and runs his eyes through a wide arc around it, breaking into a grin when boisterous laughter comes from the cherry blossom tree.  It was always lively around there.  He spots the familiar group of three sitting by the roots, hitting each other’s wrists whenever one of them loses the game. 

Meanwhile, Haerin is hissing, rubbing at her wrist, the one Yunjae just hit.  “I’m going to get you back for that,” She says, glaring at him.

‘No you won’t,’ He answers, sticking his tongue out.  ‘Because I always win,’

“He’s right,” Their grandmother nods approvingly and Haerin wails in exaggerated misery. 

Cackling, she stretches her neck, narrowing her eyes at a figure standing in the distance.  It – or should she say, he – has been standing there for a while and a bulb of idea lights up in her head.  “Oh, Haerin-ah,”

“Hm?” She blinks, chewing her food.

“I want you to meet someone,” The aged woman waves to the figure, gesturing for it to come over.

Kyungsoo, noticing that one person from the group is a resident and is calling for him, trots over to the base of the cherry blossom tree.  “Yes?” He bows lightly.

The resident, whose embroidered name says Son Minkyung, switches her gaze from him towards the girl sitting in front of her.  “Haerin-ah, meet Kyungsoo,”

Haerin?

Kyungsoo?

Haerin looks up in surprise at the name and meets the eyes of the person she’d expect the least to meet at a place like this.  “Kyungsoo?!”

“Haerin?!” His eyebrows shoot up in surprise, mirroring her shock.

“You know each other?” Haerin’s grandmother claps, grinning happily.  “That makes everything better,”

Yunjae taps at Haerin’s knee and with his eyes, ask her who Kyungsoo is.

“A friend of mine,” Haerin shakes off her shock.

The oldest pats the empty space of grass between herself and Haerin.  “Come sit, come sit,”

Kyungsoo sits down, comprehending the situation.  Son Minkyung is Haerin’s grandmother.  And the boy sitting beside Haerin, must be her brother.  They look very much alike.  He keeps meeting Haerin, for some reason, and in such unexpected ways.

“Yunjae, Kyungsoo, Kyungsoo, Yunjae,” Haerin introduces.  “He’s my little brother,” She eyes Kyungsoo, letting the two exchange their greetings.

“Nice to meet you,” Kyungsoo smiles.

‘Nice to meet you, too,’ Yunjae signs back in reply.

Haerin notices the way Kyungsoo blinks with mild surprise and jumps in to translate.  “He said-“

“Nice to meet you, too,” Kyungsoo nods.  “I know,”

“Whoa,” Haerin tilts her head in interest.  “You know sign language?”

He shrugs.  “Enough for a conversation.  Some residents here also lost their sense of hearing, so, I didn’t think it would be that much of a trouble to learn,”

“He works here, Haerin,” Their grandmother says.  “As a cook, as a singer, as a nurse, as a-“

“I’m just a caretaker,” Kyungsoo stops her, chuckling. 

Haerin brightens at the fact that he works here as a singer.  She pats Yunjae’s knee, calling for his attention.  “Kyungsoo is a really good singer,”

Yunjae excitedly replies.  ‘Really?’

The high school girl nods, glancing at Kyungsoo, who was smiling at them.  “He’s daebak,”

Kyungsoo eventually joins in the game, fitting right into the circle like they were initially so.  Haerin seems to fall from bad to worst in the game, as everybody finds out that Kyungsoo is as good as Yunjae.  They repeatedly high five each other and keep on smacking Haerin’s wrist, laughing aloud whenever she lets out a playful sob.  Kyungsoo is merciless, just like Yunjae.  Her other hand was injured, so they hit the same spot on the same hand, over and over again.  She narrows her eyes playfully at Kyungsoo, who is laughing his head off.  “For not going easy on me,” Haerin hisses as Yunjae hits her again.  “You’re getting me an ice bar, Do Kyungsoo,”

The conversation continues into the night, and only when Kyungsoo realizes that the lamps are flickering as they are switched on does he actually look at the time.  “Halmeoni, curfew!”

The game halts and everybody looks at him, then at the elder woman.  She puts her palms out in defense.  “I’m trying to have a good time with my grandchildren, here,”

“Rules are rules,” Kyungsoo nudges Haerin with his elbow, gesturing for her to help her grandmother up onto her wheelchair.

Haerin stands up with him, sighing.  “It’s almost nine, grandma, let’s go,”

“Aish,” Although sulking, Son Minkyung doesn’t say anything else.  She grunts as she is helped onto her wheelchair, the one being pushed over the field by her grandson. 

As the four come inside, Yunjae starts, ‘I’m bringing her in, why don’t you stay with Kyungsoo-hyung a little longer?’

Haerin nods.  “Okay,” She bends down to kiss her grandmother’s cheeks.  “Rest well, grandma.  I’ll be here again, next week,”

“You don’t have to be, you know,”

Haerin gives her an are-you-kidding-me look and the woman’s eyes crinkle as she laughs.  “Why would you be here when you can go on a date with Kyungsoo?”

“Because I’d be here too, halmeoni,” Kyungsoo grins.  “I’m always here on Fridays, remember?”

“Ah, that’s right,” She sighs regretfully and then comes to look at Haerin.  Her eyes stare at the bruises on her face, her scarred hand and her shins.  She had always known the way their uncle treated her.  He was the brother of her son-in-law who worked big business, which is why her daughter and her husband had trusted the two children to his care.  But nobody expected all of those bruises to appear.

“Son Haerin,”

Haerin pauses before running a hand through her hair.  She knows what’s coming when her grandmother gives her a once-over like that, especially when she has all those bruises.  “Yes, grandma?”

“When are you going to move out of the house, huh?”

Haerin glances uncomfortably at Kyungsoo and avoid Yunjae’s eyes.  “Not now, grandma,”

“Not now? Then when?” She hisses, the mood dropping as the tension in the air tightens.  “That bastard has been-“

“Yunjae, please,” Haerin throws a frantic gaze towards Yunjae and he doesn’t hesitate to push their grandmother away.  She takes a deep breath and messes up her own hair.

Always.  All the damn time, the same thing comes up.

Can’t she see?

Haerin is too scared to move out of the house.

She can’t be sure of how safe the world is for Yunjae and how in the world she could pay for his and her school fees at the same time.

There were too many things to look after.

That was the thing she was afraid of the most; not knowing what to do.

The two moves away and Haerin leans her back on the wall, crossing her arms and looking at the boy in front of her.  His expression showed no signs of curiosity or disinterest.  He was just, looking at her.  “What?” She says, her tone harsher than she intended it to be.

Scratching the back of his neck, Kyungsoo chuckles as he finally tears his eyes away from Haerin’s.  He pulls out something from his back pocket and takes out a silver bracelet.  “I believe this is yours?”

Haerin looks at the bracelet and then at her injured hand.  “Y-yeah, that’s mine,” She frowns, confused.  “How did you-“

“You dropped it at the rooftop,” He takes a step towards her and puts the bracelet on her wrist, the tips of his finger brushing lightly over the skin of her hand. 

“You know,” Kyungsoo starts quietly, keeping his eyes on Haerin’s wrist.  “One moment, it’s like we’ve known each other for a long, long time, and the next, you just manage to seem like a total stranger,” He finishes putting the bracelet on but he’s not letting go just yet.  “Can you tell me why?”

Haerin pulls away, hiding her hands behind her back.  “Why, what?” She stonily meets his gaze.

“Why you’re such a Cinderella,” He stares straight into her eyes.