For the first time ever, I was going to meet my father.

Well, stepfather.

Waiting for the plane to land at Incheon Airport, my mom put her hands on top of mines, and I pulled down my headphones.

“Huimin, are you ready?”

I gave her a questioning look. “Ready for what?”

“To meet your stepfather.”

Honestly, she looked more worried and nervous than I was. “Of course, you’ve been talking about him non-stop for the past few months. I can finally meet this amazing person that makes you this happy.” I gave her a reassuring smile.

“But I told him you would accept him—”

“—Mom, accepting someone takes time. At least let me meet him first. I thought you said he was okay with it.”

She let out a sigh. “Okay then. I’m going to use the restroom before landing.” She got up and walked down the aisle.

Putting my headphones back on, I opened the window shade to look at the top land view of Korea. Moving to a whole new country meant a whole bunch of new people and places that I’ll have to know and get used to. Hopefully, all those years of learning bits of Korean from my mom back in China would be enough for me to survive here.

After claiming our baggage and going through the whole immigration process, we walked out to the lounge area. A young man with a bright, cheesy smile walked up to us. That guy looked absolutely too young to be my stepfather.

He did a ninety-degree bow towards my mom. “Hello, Mrs. Jeon.” Mrs. Jeon? I cringed hearing him say that. Even though they already got their marriage certificate, I still needed some time to get used to this. “My name is Soonyoung, and I am Mr. Jeon’s assistant. My boss has asked me to take the two of you home first. He should be home shortly after he’s done with work.”

Yeah, so he’s not my stepfather. Phew. My mom nodded back at him. “Thank you, Soonyoung.”

-----

After arriving at the apartment complex, Soonyoung and our driver, Mr. Yoo, helped bring our luggage up to the 18th floor. Soonyoung led us to our house and punched in a few numbers on the door lock. The door clicked open, and I was met with a big living room that was larger than my house back in China.

Soonyoung turned to us and handed an envelope to my mom. “This envelope has all the necessary passwords and keys that you will need in this house. Mr. Yoo will be Miss Hyemin’s designated driver from now on, and your designated driver will be Mr. Ji …”

I started zoning out as Soonyoung continued to talk to my mom, so I decided to check out the apartment. The whole house had walls and furniture in shades of blue and silver, my mom’s favorite color. I walked past the front living room and found a grand piano sitting a few steps up in another living room. Yep. Another living room. I opened the covers and started pressing some keys. I’ve always wanted to learn how to play, but never had the money to afford it.

Hearing someone walk up to me, I turned to the servant who was smiling brightly at me. “Hello Miss Hyemin, my name is Sooyoung, but you call me Joy. Would you like me to lead you to your room?”

I smiled back at her. Soonyoung and Sooyoung. Such confusing names. I wonder if they’re related. “Okay, thanks.”

Taking the stairs up and walking down the hall, Joy pointed to the first room. “This is Mr. and Mrs. Jeon’s room.” She then pointed to the second room. “This is Mr. Jeon’s office. Be sure to knock on his door before going in.” Walking further down, she pointed to the third room. “This will be your room, and the room over the