Daehyun’s POV

I make sure to wake up extra early today. My mother has scheduled for me to go back to Korea at ten this morning. I wake up at five. I packed my suitcase last night knowing that I have to leave, I have to go back or else she’ll come here and ruin everything. I’d rather just go back in peace; I can’t have my mother ruin my life. I need to have some sort of friends.

I sneak out of my aunt’s house and make my way towards Sophie’s house. Her house isn’t that far away from mine, which is another reason why we became friends very fast, we didn’t live that far away from each other. Sadly, though, I don’t know if she keeps a spare key around and I don’t want to wake her up if she finally got to sleep.

Standing outside of her doorway, I stare at her door. I don’t want to leave his life behind; I can’t leave this life behind. I’ve lived here for six years it’s not going to be easy just dropping everything down. That’s why I made a plan. I’m going to ask Sophie to come with me to Korea. I’m going to ask her to come and live with me, well and my family. I just won’t tell her that they’re my family, I’ll tell her that they’re my cousin’s family and that we’re staying at his house, not mine. But she has to come, she has to say yes. It was in the video. Sophie has to go to Korea.

It’s not that I don’t want Sophie to know, it’s more like I don’t want to ruin our friendship. I know she’ll feel hurt and betrayed if she found out that I’ve been lying to her for the past six years. I can’t have that. It would break my heart. That’s why crossing my fingers and hoping she won’t know anything is the best bet.

Walking up the stairs of her porch, I see the television on in the living room with a zombie looking Sophie sitting on the couch. I form my hand into a fist as I knock on the door. “Sophie?” I ask in a moderately loud voice. It’s not that I actually want to wake up any of her neighbors or anything. “It’s Daehyun. Can I come in?”

I hear the door unlock and Sophie come to the door. “It’s five in the morning, Daehyun, what you doing up?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” I say looking at her. “It doesn’t look like you slept at all.”

“I couldn’t,” she says as I enter her house. “I woke up again at midnight, fell asleep at one, and then I woke up at four thirty.”

“You should try to sleep some more,” I say as I sit down on the couch next to her.

“I’ve tried,” she says, “but when I close my eyes, the only thing that I can see is them.” Sophie begins crying again and I wrap my arm around her as she buries her head into my chest. “I don’t think I can live without them,” she says in between her crying fits. “They’re my parents; they took me in when no one else wanted me. How am I supposed to live without them?”

“You’re not unwanted,” I say.

“How do you know that?” she asks.

“Because I’m here for you. I’m your best friend, aren’t I?” I ask looking at her. “Hey, I have a question for you.”

“Hmm?” she asks.

“How would you like to go to Korea?”

“I can’t,” she says as tears still stream down her face.

“Yes you can,” I say wiping them away. “Why not?”

“I can’t leave.”

“Yes you can,” I say again.

“Why do you want me to leave?” she asks as her crying starts slowing down.

I take a deep breath and close my eyes for a moment. “Because I’m leaving.” I watch as Sophie’s mouth opens and she stares at me on the verge of crying again. “Don’t cry, don’t cry,” I quickly say holding her. I can’t stand to see a girl cry, especially Sophie. Just seeing her cry already because of her parents breaks my heart. I don’t want to see her crying because of me.

Sophie’s POV

“But why are you leaving?” I ask. “You can’t be leaving me, too.”

“I don’t want to leave you. That’s why I’m saying you should come with me,” Daehyun repeats.

“But my parents, their funeral,” I state.

“That’s already taken care of. It’s going to happen in Korea,” Daehyun says.

“But,” I begin, but Daehyun silences me.

“It’s already worked out and I had nothing to do with it. It was already planned from the start.”

“But how did you know?’ I ask.

“The video your parents sent you.”

“But what else is in that video?”

“Nothing you need to know right now,” Daehyun says, “you’ll learn everything. In the video, though, they said that you should come to Korea.”

“You’re lying,” I say gently hitting him as a smile forms on my face.

“There’s the Sophie I know,” Daehyun says with a smile on his face. “Your smile is back. But come with me, please?”

Daehyun begs with his eyes. Should I go with him? I can’t just abandon everything behind. This has been my home ever since I was adopted who knows how long ago. Just leaving would be suddenly random. What am I going to do about all of my friends here? What about Lizzy? What is she going to think if both Daehyun and I leave? This can’t be happening.

“Why do you have to leave?” I softly ask.

“I have some business to take care of over there,” Daehyun says. “My mother is calling me back.”

“Your mother?” I ask sitting up straight. “You’ve almost never talked about your mother before. I guess if she’s calling you back it must be pretty urgent.”

“Yeah,” Daehyun says as he nods his head and stares at the television. “You could say that.”

Daehyun’s POV

I’ve never spoken about my mother to Sophie. I’ve never spoken about my mother to everyone. I thought it would be in everyone’s best interest if I just left her out of the whole conversation. She’s the one that pushed me out anyway. She’s the one that influenced my decision on coming to America to live and she’s the one that’s destroying it.

“What business do you have to take care of?” Sophie asks. She’s really curious as to why I have to go back. I guess she should be since I just told her that I have to go back when I haven’t gone back in six years. Is everything still the same?

“Just some family business,” I explain to her. The less she knows the better. “So, are you deciding to come with me?”

“Would it be a permanent move?” Mia asks.

“Possibly,” I say, “but you’d be living with me the whole time. I’ll be your translator. It’s not like you’re actually going to be alone.”

“But I can’t. My parents just passed away. It’s crazy for me to leave,” Sophie objects.

“All the reason to leave. Just think of it like a vacation, okay?” I ask. I look at the clock and see that it’s already six. Only four more hours until I leave. I should get to the airport soon to be able to get through security since international security would take longer.

I stare at her and plead with my eyes again. “Like a vacation,” she whispers to herself.

“With everything that’s happened, take a break. Come with me. Your family is going over to Korea anyway; didn’t I say that that’s where the funeral is being held?”

“But why would it be held in Korea?”

“I’m not sure myself,” I admit. “That part wasn’t in the video. So, pack your stuff,” I say standing up. “Our flight leaves in four hours. It takes an hour to get to the airport and then who knows how long security is.”

Sophie and I leave the couch and start going upstairs. I go up in her attic and get down her suitcases while she starts rummaging through her clothes.

It is true that her parents’ funeral is going to be held in Korea, but I’m not sure why either. Why couldn’t they just have the funeral here? I guess it’s all part of the mystery that we don’t understand yet. I don’t understand it and I know that Sophie doesn’t know what’s coming. But if there’s one thing that I got out of the video, it’s that Sophie’s in danger and the faster she gets out of the country, the better.

Sophie’s POV

Why am I letting Daehyun talk me into doing such a thing? Why am I letting him take me to Korea when my parents just passed away? True, their funeral is there, so I should go there, but that doesn’t make sense.

Nothing makes sense anymore. It feels like my whole world is crumbling around me. At least Daehyun is here to help me. I don’t know what I would’ve done if he wasn’t here and I would have had to go through this all by myself. I’m pretty sure I would’ve died right along with my parents. How did they die anyway? I’m not even sure. I was just told that they passed away and they told me to identify their bodies, but they looked perfectly healthy.

“Are you ready yet?” Daehyun calls up from downstairs. He said that he would cook breakfast while I’m packing since we have to leave soon.

“Almost,” I say as I put the last couple of things into the suitcase. I don’t know how long I’ll be staying there and I don’t know how many things I’m going to need, but they have stores there in case I need something else. in reality, I packed practically my whole closet.

I start dragging my suitcase downstairs when Daehyun comes to my rescue. “Here, I’ll help you with that,” he says.

“Oh, thanks,” I say as I watch him haul the suitcases into the living room. I didn’t know that he was that strong. I guess I’ve never noticed it that well before.

“Here’s breakfast,” he says going to the kitchen. I look at the light breakfast that’s spread out on the table. “It’s not much, but we could always get something at the airport, it’s a long flight.”

“It’s alright, I don’t have much of an appetite anyway,” I say as I sit down at the table. Like last night, I don’t feel hungry, but because Daehyun made it, I attempt to at least eat some of it so I don’t appear rude.

“So,” I say striking up conversation with Daehyun as the driver drives us to the airport. I don’t know why there’s a driver, but Daehyun says that his mother arranged it for him for when he leaves America and for when he arrives in Korea. “What’s your mother like?”

I see Daehyun slightly stiffen up at the question. I know he doesn’t like to talk about her much, but if I’m going to meet her, then I should at least know a couple of things about her.

Daehyun’s POV

Why is Sophie asking about my mother all of a sudden? Why does she want to know?

“Oh, just like a normal mother,” I say.

“Well, define normal mother,” Sophie says.

“Like your mom, I guess, or maybe the complete opposite,” I joke, but Allie doesn’t smile. Maybe it was too soon to make a comment about her mother. “Sorry,” I whisper. “Too soon.”

“No, it’s alright,” Sophie says, but I know she could break down any second. I shouldn’t have said anything. Why didn’t I think what I was going to say through before saying it? Why doesn’t the filter in my brain work? “But really, what is your family like?”

“Well, I’m an only child,” I begin. “I have a cousin. We’re going to be staying at his house, it’s really huge. It’s like royalty,” I say laughing at my own comment. “His name is Youngjae and he’s close in age with me, too, which means he’s close in age with you. Hopefully all of us will get along perfectly fine.”

“You’re staying at your cousin’s house?” she asks.

“Yeah,” I say nodding my head. “We just stay there because it’s big enough for all of us and because our families are close.” Sophie nods her head as she looks out the window.

I feel bad for lying to her, but the truth would scare her away. Even though we’ve been friends for six years, I just have a feeling that once she finds everything out, she won’t want to be my friend anymore. I want Sophie to be my friend. I can’t imagine my life without her.

“Well, how big is your cousin’s house?” Sophie asks striking up the conversation again.

“It’s like a castle,” I exclaim. “It’s really big. There are so many bedrooms and just regular rooms that I can’t even count them all.” That’s no lie. “It’s really a big house and I’m an only child and so is he, so I don’t know why his parents need to have that big of a house, but they do.”

“Are they really rich?” Sophie asks.

“I guess you could say,” I say nodding my head. “It’s like they own the whole country.”

“You’re over exaggerating, Daehyun,” Sophie says with a sly smile as she looks out the window. I’m happy that since she’s coming with me to Korea that she’s gotten her smile back.

“You must be tired,” I quickly say. “Go to sleep, it’s still a while before we get to the airport. I’ll wake you up when we get there and then you can sleep on the plane, that’s pretty long, too.”

I can tell that Sophie’s probably tired because of her spotty sleeping and lack of sleep that she’s told me about. She should sleep more if she’s going to be able to last around my family. They’re all crazy, every last one of them. Well, maybe except Youngjae. He just might be the only other normal one. My mother, though, she’s definitely crazy.

Sophie’s POV

“Wow, look at how high up we are,” I say as Daehyun and I sit on the plane. I stare out the window in amazement. I was on planes a whole bunch of times, but just the thought of flying overseas actually excites me. I was only ever on planes going around America. I was never overseas before. This is a new experience.

“Yeah, pretty amazing,” Daehyun says as he flips through his magazine. I don’t understand anything on the magazine since it’s all written in Korean. Daehyun tried teaching me, but I’ve given up. Learning how to read it is good enough, even if I don’t understand what I’m reading.

“Mom, Dad,” I whisper, “can you see me? I’m flying in the plane. Are you guys up here?”

I look around the clouds some more before I start feeling tired again. I really didn’t get enough sleep last night.

“Go to sleep,” Daehyun says without even looking at me.

“How could you tell I’m even tired?” I ask.

“We’ve been best friends for six years already. Why wouldn’t I be able to tell?” he asks.

“I don’t know,” I say shrugging my shoulders. “But I just wanted to make sure that my parents saw me up here.” I turn back to the window. “I’m going to be strong, I’m going to be a big girl, I’m going to be good like you’ve always taught me,” I whisper once again. “But why are you getting buried in Korea? Daehyun,” I say as I lean my head on his shoulder.

“Yeah?” he asks.

“What’s the best thing about Korea?” I ask as I feel my eyelids getting heavier. Daehyun starts describing his favorite thing as I slowly drift off to sleep.

Daehyun’s POV

I look at Sophie who’s sleeping peacefully before I take out my phone. I should send an e-mail to my cousin to tell him that I’m bringing a guest along. I begin typing in Korean.

Youngjae, my cousin. I haven’t seen you for six years. How is everyone doing? Have you gotten taller since the last time I saw you? You know I’m only joking. Anyway, if my mother hasn’t already told you, I’m coming back, under her will of course. Otherwise, I don’t think I would ever be back. I like America too much, it’s a pity to leave. Anyway, you remember that girl that I told you about before, my best friend? Well, she’s coming with me, but I haven’t told her about me or anything. I told her that we’re staying at your house, so I’d like if you’d help me with that. Okay? I don’t want to scare her away. I really like her as a friend and a person. Thanks, your favorite cousin in the world, Daehyun. Oh yeah, and you know English, don’t you? Well, they probably taught you English at home, so you can help me with Sophie, that’s her name. She doesn’t speak any Korean, so yeah, help me please when she’s around my mother. Thanks.

I read over the e-mail once more before I send it over to Youngjae. I don’t know when he’ll see it, but I just hope he reads it and knows how to lie well enough. Sometimes he feels guilty about lying, at least he did when he was younger, but he would get over it quickly.

Before I realize it, the time has already passed and we’ve landed in Korea. It’s already early morning here, it’s like we’ve skipped a whole day.

“Wake up,” I say gently pushing Sophie’s head. She moves a little bit before sitting straight up, eyes wide like she was having a nightmare.

“Mom! Dad!” she yells. “Daehyun, they’re gone,” she says looking around.

“Shh, we’re in Korea,” I tell her. “We have to get in the car. Don’t you want to visit my cousin?”

“Hmm,” she says. She’s probably already starting to suffer from jetlag, but I know it’ll get worse as time goes on because right now it would be night in America when it’s early morning in Korea. These few days aren’t going to be enjoyable for either of us.

Sophie and I get off of the plane, pick up our luggage, and head towards the man that has the sigh for us. Thankfully Sophie doesn’t understand Korean well enough to know what the sign says, she can only identify my name. “There it is, is that the man?” she asks.

“Yup,” I say as we start walking towards him. I switch the Korean on in my brain. “Hello, long time no see.”

“Same here,” he says. Jun has been working for the family for as long as I could remember. It was sad leaving him when I came to America.

“Oh, so I have some things I need to tell you,” I tell Jun while I’m looking at Sophie knowing perfectly well that she doesn’t understand what we’re talking about.

“Is it about her?” he asks. Jun is about twenty years older than I am, so he still understands the concepts that teenagers are still talking about. I believe that he’s probably a teenager for life in his heart even as his body ages.

“Sort of,” I say as I go into a full-blown explanation about how I want to keep everything a secret from Sophie.

“I get it,” Jun says nodding his head. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll protect her, too.”

“I knew I could always trust you,” I say with a smile as I wrap my arm around Jun. “Let’s go,” I say to Sophie in English. Excitedly, she follows us.

Sophie’s POV

It’s frustrating not knowing any of the language. I wish I knew what Daehyun was telling the driver guy. I saw them looking at me, so I know that they were talking about me, I just don’t know what they were saying.

Walking past a stand, I see newspapers. It takes me a double take while I look at the headline. “Daehyun,” I say calling him back.

“Yeah?” he asks looking at me.

“Isn’t that a picture of my parents?” I ask pointing at the newspaper.

“Um,” Daehyun says getting a closer look at it, “no.”

“Are you sure?” I ask. “Even though that picture looks like it’s twenty years old, I’m pretty sure that that’s a picture of them.”

“There’s plenty of Korean people that look like that,” Daehyun says attempting to brush it off as we keep walking.

“But my parents aren’t Asian,” I state.

“There are a lot of non-Asian people living here,” Daehyun says as we go to the car.

On our journey to the car, I couldn’t help but notice that many people kept their distance from Daehyun. Even if there were other people who were walking close to each other, it seemed like once they got close to Daehyun, they would back away and give him space. Why?

Daehyun doesn’t seem scary at all, sure, his blonde hair stands out, but it doesn’t mean that he’s a gangster or something. Why are people clearing out of the way? And strangers, too. I’m pretty sure that Daehyun doesn’t know who these people are. Why did they move?

“Look at that!” I excitedly point out the window as we pass a bridge.

“It’s a bridge,” Daehyun says laughing.

“Still, it’s a bridge in Korea,” I emphasize. “Mom, Dad,” I whisper, “I wish you were here with me.”

“They probably wish they were here with you, too,” Daehyun says patting my back.

I push back my tears and smile at him. “Of course, who wouldn’t want to be here with me?”

“Ah, that’s right,” Daehyun says smacking his hands together. “I forgot to introduce you guys. Sophie, this is Jun, the driver. Jun, this is Sophie.”

“Hello,” I say bowing. Jun just nods his head since he’s driving.

“Oh look, we’re pulling into the house now,” Daehyun announces.

I look out the window and see a very large gate that we’re driving through. As we get closer, I can’t help but let my mouth hang open. House? Daehyun calls this a house? It’s huge. It’s bigger than huge; it looks like it takes up a whole galaxy.

This is Daehyun’s cousin’s house?

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What will Daehyun's family say about Sophie? What else is on the video that Daehyun is hiding? Will Daehyun's plan go as planned? What is Daehyun's background that he's keeping? Why are Sophie's parents on a Korean newspaper?

Chapter 2 is here. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed :D