As I wait in my room for dinner, I couldn’t help but constantly walk back and forth expecting the sound of doors opening and closing to signify that Hongshik was home. I had gone down a few times thinking he was home but only to find Joong Ki coming in and Uncle Kap Soo going out.

  I waited warily in my room. I didn’t know why I felt so uneasy. It was Hongshik, he’s a jerk. But he’s also an orphan who’s been abandoned a few times. But I don’t even know if what that Yong Gun character said was true. When my door swung open, I jumped off of my bed and yelped.

  I heard my aunt’s voice after, “Sweetheart! Are you okay?”

  I sat up and saw her standing at my feet, expecting a response. Her expression looked somewhat similar to Joong Ki’s when I fell off that horse. I thought it was adorable that Joong Ki inherited that from his mother. “I’m okay, auntie. I just fell.”

  “Well, if you say so. Dinner is ready.” She told me and I quickly picked myself up from the floor and dusted off some dust from my clothes.

  As I walked down the steps of the stairs, I was expecting to see Hongshik at the table but to my disappointment, he wasn’t.

  “Uncle,” I called out to Uncle Kap Soo who was helping my aunt with the dishes and asked, “Where’s Hongshik? I don’t see him anywhere. Will he be fine all alone outside?”

  “Oh don’t worry,” Joong Ki answered instead. “Hongshik has surviving skills. He’ll do fine. I bet he’s just at the barn, tending to the cows.”

  At that, I went out of the kitchen. My aunt asked me, “Where are you going dear? Dinner is almost ready.”

  I turned around and answered, “I’m going to call Hongshik in for dinner.”

  As I made my way to the barn, I had already planned out on what I was going to say. I knew the topic I witnessed him talking about today was very sensitive so I just planned on keeping quiet on that and insisted on the idea of pulling him all the way to the house for dinner. I saw the lights in the barn were all lit up so I already had hopes that I’d meet him there only he wasn’t.

  I tried the horse’s stables and he wasn’t there too. The place was dark at the hour so I had no clue of where to look for him now. He might not still be back from the town. Was he lost? Should I tell my uncle and aunt that he’s not back yet? I was getting so worked up on his absence that I hadn’t realized what I was thinking. It was almost as if I cared for him. I couldn’t be!

  Snapping out of my moment, I stormed out of the stables and just went head on to the house. I told myself not to think of that jerk anymore. I was determined to not care about him anymore until I saw a figure on the roof.

   I stopped and froze in place. I tried to make out who it was on that roof and should’ve been able to guess it was Hongshik on first glance. I tried looking about the house on any means of ways to get up on that roof. At the far left was a ladder. It was well camouflaged among the plants and creepers and thought that must’ve been his way up. I silently climbed up the ladder and walked over to him.

  He had his eyes closed. His hands were behind his head and he seemed to have not noticed me. I silently sat beside him and hugged my knees as I watched him quietly. I watched him breath, watched as it rise up and down. He looked calm. It made me feel giddy watching him like this without his knowledge but I knew I couldn’t keep this up.

  “Hey,” I said casually and his eyes snapped open.

  Immediately he sat up and looked to me beside him. His face was only lit up by the glow of the moon so the expression he wore was a little unclear. “What are you- how did you get up here?” he said from one question to another. I sensed from his tumbling words he really didn’t expect I’d be here.

  “Dinner,” I said and pointed with my index finger downwards to show him what I meant. He sneered at my answer and then looked away so he could lie back on his back. I joined him by lying on my back as well and said, “So, you like coming up here huh?”

  He didn’t answer me at first. I wanted to say something nasty when he said, “I always come here. If I wasn’t busy, I’d come up and watch the stars. It always calmed me and made me get through the day.”

  It took me a moment to realize that Hongshik wasn’t being nasty. He was actually answering my question. I wanted to ask what the occasion for today was but answered my own question. Instead, I asked, “Don’t you eat dinner?”

  I noticed a small smile appeared at his question and he turned his head to me to say, “So what if I don’t. I’ll live.”

  I looked away and just kept quiet to his smart-alecky remark. If I had a camera, I’d take a picture of the stars because they’re definitely beautiful. I remembered my phone and felt my pockets for it. Fishing it out, I took a picture of the sky. Even though its quality wasn’t exactly high definition, I still have a picture, don’t I?

  Hongshik chuckled at my actions and I nudged him lightly. “Don’t laugh at me. I’m a guest remember? Just entertain me.”

  “Fine,” he said and we continued to gaze up to the sky in silence. It wasn’t long when Hongshik suddenly said, “I’m sorry about today.”

  I turned my head to face him and said, “Why?”

  He turned his face to face me and then he explained, “Because I threw a fit that’s so un-gentleman-like.”

  I giggled at his statement and he smiled at the laugh. When I stopped I turned to my side and supported the side of my head with my hand as I said, “For your information, I should be thanking you for getting me free from those guys. So . . . Thank you.”

  This time, when Hongshik smiled, it didn’t reach his eyes. He looked back up to the sky and then asked, “Aren’t you curious?”

  I lay my head against the tiles of the roof and replied him with a question, “About what?”

  “About me,” Hongshik answered. “Haven’t you wondered how different I look or how different I act compared to your uncle and aunt? Or, don’t go that far . . . how different I am from Joong Ki. It never occurred to you that I seemed different?” he asked me.

  I didn’t know what to answer. Should I tell him the truth? Should I tell him what I thought? I had told myself I was going to stay out of this topic but he started it. “I did.” I answered simply and added, “But I knew better not to ask.” Hongshik wanted to explain but I interrupted by saying, “Look, if you don’t want to say anything, I understand. You don’t have to explain.”

  Despite my permission to let him not talk about it, he insisted on telling me. He started with, “I was adopted at the age of three. My . . .” he seemed to struggle to continue as if remembering an old painful memory. “The first family that took me in, I was two. I couldn’t remember much but I could clearly remember myself crying my eyes out because of something. I was taken away by the police I heard when I was three because of accusations by the neighbours that I was abused.” He let out a sigh before saying, “The second family didn’t care much about me. Their children were foster kids they had agreed to take care but there were just too many they had forgotten about me. I ran away because the kids there wouldn’t stop pestering me. Uncle Kap Soo and Auntie Eun Mi had just gotten married and have failed on their attempts on getting a child. Kap Soo found me in the stables with Vulpine. Like they always say, third time’s a charm. I was happy with them.” He then smiled to himself as he said, “Like a blessing, a year later, we heard news that Auntie Eun Mi was expecting.”

  “That doesn’t sound half as bad as I thought,” I told him when I thought he was done.

  He chuckled at my response and said, “Well, that ended pretty well didn’t it?”

  “So . . . does this mean it was a happily ever after?” I asked.

  “Well, I did have to face the town kids every time Joong Ki and I went to town. They mocked me instead of him and it pretty much hurt my pride back then but now I have fists.”

  I laughed at his statement and he joined in. I wanted to talk more with him but Auntie Eun Mi suddenly called out, “Hannah . . . Hongshik! Come down for dinner please? Your dinner will get cold!”

  The both of us looked to each other and just exchange smiles as we got down. For the first time in many weeks, Hongshik had joined them for dinner. Joong Ki was surprised his brother was around so he gave his chair to his brother as he sat on a stool. We had a good time during dinner.

  Hongshik and I really bonded as we continued to talk. Of course we were arguing most of the time but it all ended with smiles and me playfully nudging him in the rib. Joong Ki on the other hand kept making jokes at the table, making me hardly able to swallow my food.

  After dinner, everyone went to bed after a long and tiring day. Despite my tiredness, I spent my time writing in a piece of paper my article. I had so many things to write about. My differences, comparisons were clear and factual. Summarizing what I’ve got, I’d think of it as a perfect masterpiece. Of course it was only my first few days. I still have yet another three weeks to go.

  That night, when I went to bed, I slept on the thought of Hongshik and I having that chat up on the roof. That was when I heard the sound up on the roof above me to know that Hongshik was there. I smiled to myself imagining him lying there, chest rising up and down due to his breathing and an addition to his calm expression, he’ll have a small across his face.

  Just thinking about it made me smile and it stayed till morning.