Third Person’s POV

*Crack*. Laughter. Shuffling of dirt and gravel. Bones making contact with concrete or another bone. *Crack*. Laughter. One of the six bodies behind the dark alleyway falls to the ground.

“Do you really think you can win … against us?”, JB smirks mockingly at the body on the gravel floor. He gives the boy another kick on his shoulder to remind him to stay down.

Another body walks up to the fallen, Jeongyeon cups his cheeks, “omo, are you crying? Tsk tsk tsk”, disappointed she throws his face down again.

“I'm hungry, let’s get going already”, Chaeyoung whines, jutting out her bottom lip and crossing her arms for good measure.

“I think that’s enough”, Sehun said while rubbing his bloody hands clean.

*Yawns* “I’m sleepy”, Nayeon lifts herself off the wall she’s been leaning on and walking towards the whining Chaeyoung.

“Let’s eat ddeokbokki!”, Chaeyoung cheers as if they don’t hear and groans of a bloody bodied boy not too far from them.

JB smiles at the little squirt, “arasso, your treat?”, ruffling Chaeyoung’s hair.

Chaeyoung’s spirit falls slowly, “NOPE I’ll pay”, Chaeyoung beams at her savior, Jeongyeon wraps her arm around Chaeyoung’s shoulder and winked at her.

Nayeon rolls her eyes at her three friends, “well, I gotta leave, my mum’s going to kill me if I don’t study”.

“Agreed, your mum’s scarier than hell”, Sehun said besides the annoyed Nayeon.

Nayeon left before punching Sehun on the arms real hard, the girl CAN pack a punch.

The three school friends sat around the small ddeokbokki’s table, joking around as if no one was in there with them. Apart from two or three patrons, they basically look like they own the place. Chaeyoung being the youngest and smallest, she’s being teased by her two oppas, while Jeongyeon orders and pays for them. As Jeongyeon walks back, she sees her little hyung being messed around with. She gets to the table and knocks some sense into her two oppas. They know to never mess with Chaeyoung with Jeongyeon is around. Chaeyoung smiles at her hyung, but she knows her oppas mean well when they .

“Let’s go to the arcade after this!”, Chaeyoung peps up after blowing her hot ddeokbokki.

“Can’t, sorry Chae, my dad wants me and my sister home tonight”, Jeongyeon shots back.

Chaeyoung pouts at the thought, but Jeongyeon promises to make it up to her with an arcade date. Chaeyoung beams at that.

“Heol your dad’s here?”, Sehun asks leaning closer to the table.

JB laughs his off as if this information is the greatest joke he’s ever heard. It might as well be, with Jeongyeon’s dad around, Jeongyeon being the free reign person she is, is now on a leash.

Jeongyeon smacks JB on the shoulder, “SHUT UP! Yeah he’s here, I wonder what he wants … *sigh* I need to be good ... if I ever want MY CAR NEXT MONTH!”, she high fives her two oppas.

“Seriously, when you get your car, we won’t be studying at all”, Chaeyoung said among the commotion her seniors are causing.

“When did we ever start studying?”, JB replies making everyone at the table laugh.

Jeongyeon busy whipping her tears from laughter catches a glimpse of the clock, “SH- It’s already 6?!”, Jeongyeon hurries putting on her jacket, “gotta go, see you losers, bye Chae!”, she rushes out the door.

Jeongyeon hails a taxi to her family’s apartment.

Yoo Jeongyeon comes from a line of highly respected family, her father, Chanyeong, owns a chain of successful restaurant in Korea and Japan. To say he’s rich is an understatement, they are loaded. But the loss of a wife two years ago tore him apart, he spends less and less time at home with his daughters and more at work.

Her sister, Seungyeon, 24, is a manager at FNC, an entertainment company. Seungyeon is dating an idol called Jonghyun, but no one outside her family knows of this relationship or it might ruin both of their reputations. She also rarely home.

This left Jeongyeon by herself at the apartment most of her days and losing her mother took a big toll on her. The Yoo family lost the glue holding them together to cancer … those years of battle were some of the worst days for them. Jeongyeon becomes emotionally detached from people after. No one takes care of her at home or guides her to be a better person. Unfortunately, she fills that dark empty void in bullying other people at school with her other family, Chaeyoung, Sehun, Nayeon, and JB. Jeongyeon would take a punch for them but she would take a bullet for her little nojam bro, Chaeyoung.

“I’m homeee”, she yells as she hastily takes her shoes off before entering the foyer.

Her father pops his head from the doorway to the sound of her voice, “my cute little daughter”, he opens his arms to envelope her in a tight hug.

“Ok … OK Dad enough”, Jeongyeon struggles free from her dad’s grip, pushing him away.

Her dad smiles sadly at his daughter’s actions but understands none the less, “still so cold”.

Jeongyeon feels the awkward air settling in between them. Jeongyeon being the cunning linguist she is, she diverts her dad’s attention, “Unnie is here also?”, turning her heels around to the dining table. She sees her oldest sister, Seungyeon sitting proper at the table.

As Jeongyeon walk-in nodding to her sister’s way, Seungyeon watches her sit down in front of her, “What? No kiss for your big sister?”, Seungyeon uses her cute voice.

Jeongyeon’s face involuntary flinch, “NO”, making Seungyeon pout at her cold little sister.

Their dad soon joins them at the dining table. Chanyoung sits straight and picks up his utensil as if they are a delicate craftsmanship, Seungyeon does the same. They made no noise when it comes to eating whatever is on the plate, proper etiquette. Jeongyeon eyes them both as if they are automaton from the future … which isn’t true they were always like this. Jeongyeon, on the other hand, ate like a ‘human being who enjoys a good meal’. Seungyeon and Chanyoung watch Jeongyeon take quite a big bite out of her tenderloin and chews. Jeongyeon realizes both of them are watching, so she smiles until her eyes turn into crescent moons.

Chanyoung clears his throat, “so … how is school, Jeongyeon?”.

*Chewing* “hmm … meh booring”.

“Remember Jeongyeon, do well and graduate”.

Jeongyeon hates how he tries to be interested in whatever his kids are doing, he just fails miserably and ends up with them thinking he’s talking BS with them just to show he cares. He has not been around for the past two years. He was barely a father to Jeongyeon when she needed him the most but he just left.

“Why are you in Seoul?”, Jeongyeon is genuinely curious as to his sudden presence in their life.

Seungyeon heard the suspicious tone Jeongyeon used to their dad, she glares at Jeongyeon and kicked her leg under the table. It made Jeongyeon flinch and her knee instinctively jerked up and smacked the marble table. Jeongyeon rubs her knee better as both of them see dad shake his head disapprovingly at his daughter’s behavior.

“I have news … You both will be seeing me more often-”, he smiles fondly, “-because I’m getting marr-”

“YOU.WHAT?!” , Jeongyeon yells, her chair tips over by the sheer velocity of her sudden movement.

Chanyoung slams his hands on the table, “SIT.DOWN”. Jeongyeon is stubborn … very stubborn, it’s gotten her into trouble so many times she can’t keep count, but that doesn’t stop her. She stares down Chanyoung. Chanyoung stares right back and says in a low, devoid, and threatening voice, “now.” She sulkily sit down but her blood is boiling.

“We WILL move-”, he glares to Jeongyeon, “into a new house, we need more space-”, Jeongyeon rolls her eyes at her dad’s reveal, “now, she is Japanese but she speaks Korean very well, her ex-husband was Korean-”

“She was married or is she a widow?”, Jeongyeon said cutting off her dad and crosses her arms.

“Jeongyeon! Let him finish”, Seungyeon massages her temple, she’s getting a headache with how much of a child Jeongyeon is.

Chanyoung continues, “she has a daughter, Jeongyeon, she’s the same age as you and she will be your classmate and roommate”.

Jeongyeon grits her teeth, “my.what?”

He sighs, “they are coming to Seoul next week … now for reason, I cannot tell you both right now, I DO NOT want ANYONE to know about them being related to us. Jeongyeon, no one in school can know she lives with you or that her mother is my wife, understand? Act like strangers in school but treat her like a younger sister here”.

“Younger sister my ”.

“Jeongyeon watches your language”, Seungyeon scolds Jeongyeon for her bad mouth, fuming that her younger sister is being this way. She breaks a little inside, thinking a little she failed as a sister. She turns to Chanyoung, “Dad, I’m happy for you, I’m glad you’ve found someone that makes you happy … I’ll cheer for you until the end”. Chanyoung smiles and caresses Seungyeon hand on the table, like a loving father. Jeongyeon clenches her fist under the table, Seungyeon and Chanyoung always were closer than Jeongyeon was. Jeongyeon was always been jealous of that.

“Jeongyeon-”, Chaeyoung turns to her with a softer voice, “I gave both of you the largest room … I bought everything you need, the house is ready for us. We will move in next week”.

Jeongyeon gives no reaction to her dad generosity. “How did you meet her?”, Seungyeon the ever romantic of the family.

Chanyeong smiles before answering his eldest daughter’s question, “well she was one of the translator working at a meeting I was in, and she caught my eye … love, at first sight, I must say. Her name is Aya and she has a lovely daughter name Momo”.

Seungyeon listens intently like a child would be told about a lovely fairy tail, however, Jeongyeon scoffs at Chanyeong storytelling, “Mum died only two years ago! And you’re already looking at other women?!”

Chanyoung sighs, he expected this reaction from Jeongyeon somewhat, she was very close to his past wife … and he can’t blame her for reacting this way, “Jeongyeon … first and foremost, I love your mother with all my heart, we made amazing memories together and we had two beautiful daughters, the two of you and your mom will always be my number 1, no one can compare! … but the reality is … she’s gone and I would like to believe she would want me to move on. I would if it were the other way around. I’m only 45 and Aya is 41 … we’re not that old and we would like another chance at love”.

Jeongyeon disapproves strongly of her dad’s decision to remarry, she can’t stand his explanation so she left to her room and slams the door. Chanyeong sighs and Seungyeon feels helpless for both of them. Jeongyeon needs fresh air, it feels to suffocating being under the same roof as her family right now. She grabs her bag and longboard and left the house for some time alone.

Jeongyeon surfs through the streets of Seoul, the chatter of the nightlife varies with the different scenes she passes through. But that doesn’t distract her from her jumbled mind. Her left foot instinctively glides through the concrete ground, stopping her longboard journey at the river’s edge. She looks up at the night sky, littered with gleaming stars looking down at her. She closes her eyes and breathes … as her mind takes her back to the time where her world turns colorless.

She finally unlocks the apartment door, “AH! Thank God! You are okay”, Seungyeon immediately envelopes Jeongyeon’s personal space as she steps into the apartment.