“I tell you, she’s really annoying.” Sungyeol said through the phone. “She barely speaks to anyone and acts like I don’t exist.”

“… She’s only been there for two days.” Myungsoo calmly says.

“Exactly!” His friend exclaimed while lying on his bed. “I mean, I don’t want anything from her, but… she acts like she lives here and…”

“She does.” Myungsoo replied, and that made Sungyeol shut up. He was just irritated with the situation and needed to give his complains to someone. He rubbed his eyes thinking, while Myungsoo kept surfing on the internet, waiting for his friend to talk.

“And Jaemi… she… she’s a good woman, but…” He thought a little before saying it. “She’s not my mother.”

“Give her a chance. She’s not trying to be your mother, she just want you to accept her.” Myungsoo said, trying to calm him down. “And you can always hang out with me and Sungjong if you don’t want to be around them.”

Sungyeol didn’t say anything, but Myungsoo knew that was his way of saying ‘thank you’. His life was an annoying mess right now; he didn’t like changes and he still couldn’t accept the way the things were right now. He opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling, still thinking what to do.

“L, I gotta go. I’ll go take a shower or something.”

“Okay, see you later.”

When they hung up, Sungyeol didn’t move for a couple of minutes. He wanted to yell, to throw something out of a window or to punch someone in the face. But he stayed cool, and tried to calm down. He had to endure it; it wasn’t really that bad.

Sungyeol stood up and opened the door of his room to get ready to shower, just when he saw Sunmi going to the bathroom and closing the door behind her. Sungyeol felt really angry and irritated; he closed his fists trying to relieve some stress and went back to grab his phone.

“Change of plans, I’ll see you in five.”He texted Myungsoo, and run down the stairs hitting the door really loudly when going out.

*******

The next day, after having breakfast, Sungyeol quickly finished eating and stood up ready to leave. His father looked at him surprised, and Jaemi wondered what was going on.

“Where are you going so early?” Hyunsung asked his son.

“I’m meeting L and Sungjong.” He replied while putting on his jacket. “I’ll be back later.”

“Wait.” His father exclaimed just when Sungyeol was going out. “Why don’t you take Sunmi with you?” The girl almost choked with her food.

“What?” The kids replied at the same time, and glanced at each other, disgusted.

“Yeah, you can show her the neighborhood and she can meet your friends…”

“But, we’re making boy things and…”

“Yeah, it’s not really… I’m okay, I…” Sunmi tried to say, but Sungyeol’s speech and her talking got together, making it impossible to hear anything.

“Go, go; Myungsoo and Sungjong are good kids, I’m sure they won’t really care.” Hyunsung said smiling, and no matter how hard they tried to, they couldn’t avoid it. Sunmi stood up without feeling like it, and slowly followed Sungyeol, who was waiting for her with an annoyed expression.

*******

They were supposed to meet at a park that was about seven blocks away from Sungyeol’s home, so they had to walk for some minutes. The both of them felt uncomfortable and awkward, and no one talked at first. Sunmi was walking with her arms around herself, looking away, while Sungyeol gave glances at her, wondering when she would say something.

“We still have to walk five blocks…” The boy said, trying to make the awkwardness go away; but she didn’t answer. He rolled his eyes and kept on walking.

Myungsoo and Sungjong were already at the park waiting for Sungyeol. When they saw he was coming, Sungjong started to wave at him, until he realized he was with someone else. The boys glanced at each other, wondering who the girl was; until Myungsoo opened his eyes in a surprised expression and whispered to his friend. The youngest looked shocked, and glanced at Sungyeol’s direction again.

“Hey, guys…” The boy said when they reached the park. The other two looked at the girl, curious. “She’s Sunmi…” Sungyeol pointed out.

Sungjong and Myungsoo greeted her, and she replied in a serious but good manner. The four of them kept silence for a few seconds, feeling weird and without knowing what to do. Myungsoo tried to fix the situation pointing to the centre of the park, where they were planning on playing a soccer match.

Because Sunmi didn’t like playing, and Sungjong wasn’t in the mood, the two of them sat on a bench while Sungyeol and Myungsoo played with the ball. Sungyeol felt happy, because he would forget about his problems while playing; he smiled and laughed with his friend, until he glanced at the two sitting on the bench and saw something that made him stop for a second. Sunmi was smiling.

“Yeol!” Myungsoo shouted, but the boy reacted late and the ball hit him in the face. He fell backwards and his friend rushed to him.

“Are you okay?” He said, but Sungyeol didn’t answer and glanced at Sunmi again. Yes, she was smiling and laughing with Sungjong. “Hey, Yeol…”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry.” He stood up with Myungsoo’s help, not wanting to look away. Sunmi’s smile was precious, and made her look even prettier. The days she’s been living with Sungyeol, she’s been with a serious face, not wanting anyone to talk to her. But this was a new side of her he didn’t know before.

*******

After playing for a long time, Myungsoo and Sungyeol felt tired and wanted to go buy something to drink. They went to a market around the corner and kept walking for a few more blocks while drinking the water they had just bought. The entire time, the three boys talked and laughed while Sunmi remained silent. Sungjong tried to include her in their conversations, but she wouldn’t talk much; she only said something to Myungsoo a few times and that was it.

But Sungyeol was impressed; he didn’t know Sunmi could be that way, she didn’t even glance at him when they were at home. She seemed cold and antisocial at all cost, but that wasn’t the full truth.

*******

That evening, after they had gotten home, Sunmi entered her room and Sungyeol didn’t see her for a while. He chatted with Sungjong and Myungsoo, and got surprised when they told him they liked Sunmi; especially Sungjong.

“I don’t know why you don’t like her, she’s funny and nice.”The youngest wrote; Sungyeol was curious. How was Sunmi in front of them? She couldn’t be like she was with him, because they wouldn’t tell that about her.

Sungyeol couldn’t stop thinking about it even after they finished chatting. When he got up and decided to go to the kitchen for some water, he saw Sunmi’s door was slightly opened, and he peeked inside.

There were still boxes and bags all over the room, but it was quite nice. The bed was in the middle, a desk next to it, and a TV in front. Sunmi was on her bed using her pink laptop, when she noticed Sungyeol watching.

“Do you need something?” She asked in a bad manner. He got irritated and turned around, walking down the stairs.

“What was I thinking? She’s still the same annoying girl.” He thought, shaking his head.