Mi Yeon awoke the next morning ready to face the day head-on. She got ready and headed out. Won Woo wasn’t there, not to her surprise. She knew that he was going to start working for her father that week. Once outside, she made her way to the nearest bus stop, and waited. She felt like a real College student, with her bus pass in hand and her bag filled with clean pages, just waiting to be filled with the knowledge of the world.

The bus arrived and she took a seat in the back. Her phone buzzed and she saw a text message from Seung Cheol.

Seung Cheol: Good luck today! Fighting!

Mi Yeon: Thanks. Fighting! Make some new friends!

Seung Cheol: Girls too?

Mi Yeon: You can get friends uglier than me.

Seung Cheol: Same here.

Mi Yeon: Will message you later, k? I have to tell you something.

Seung Cheol: Ok. Till then.

Mi Yeon knew that she had to tell Seung Cheol what her brother wanted her to pass on ASAP. If she didn't, he'd feel hurt and have to continue living with a void filled with guilt.

As the bus pulled up near the University, she got ready to descend. As she walked towards the school's entrance, she was joined by other first year students who seemed equally enthusiastic. She couldn’t help but wonder to herself how many of them had got in with connections versus those who genuinely passed to gain entry.

She easily found her way to her first class of the day: Art History. It was always something she wanted to learn about and now that she was finally getting the chance to pursue her passion, she felt even more comforted because her brother wished it for her. That way, she felt like she was fulfilling his wishes, along with her own, which just emphasized that she had made the right decision.

The classes went by smoothly and by the end of the day, she had made new friends, most of whom were in her groups for end-of-year projects. Everyone exchanged numbers and began following each other on SNS. She felt like she was moving on with her life. Every now and then, Seung Cheol would message her to let her know that he too was making progress with extending his circle of friends. She felt happy for him and wondered what was in store for the two of them later on in the semester.

---

She made her way home once her classes were over. She found that her parents were home, engaged in their own personal activities. Once she entered the household, her mother interrogated her about the details of her first day, to which Mi Yeon answered as enthusiastically as she could. After the questioning was over, Mi Yeon asked both of her parents to gather in the living room to discuss a serious matter. While her father made his way over, she rushed over to her room to get the paper from her side table and returned to the room.

Both her parents waited for her to explain. She held the paper in front of them and began to explain.

"This is a note that Tae Hyun left in my room."

As soon as she said that, her mother rushed to her and took the paper from her hands. She read the contents hurriedly while tears overflowed quickly. When she placed her hands in her lap, exasperated, her father took the page and read it. His face was emotionless. However, Mi Yeon could've sworn that his eyes had reddened.

"When did you find this?" Her mother said quietly, still gathering herself.

"Last night. Seung Cheol told me that Tae Hyun said he left something for me to find."

Her mother nodded, still engulfed by her own thoughts.

Her father rose to his feet and cleared his throat, as though trying to convince the women that he was unaffected. However, as he took his first step, his legs gave out and he collapsed into the chair. He sighed heavily and held his head in his hands, covering his face. After a few seconds, a sniffled was heard and Mi Yeon realized that it came from her father.

Realizing that they both needed some time to themselves, she got up and retreated to her room, with the paper in hand. She feared that her father would destroy the note out of anguish, so she returned it to its place in the drawer of her side table.