Jiyong sat waiting at the pre-arranged seat in the canteen, waiting for Dara. It was only 1.50pm but Jiyong was already there as he didn’t like being late for his appointments. After waiting for 5 more minutes, he saw Dara rushing out from one of the practice rooms and run towards the canteen.

“Sorry sorry! Did I keep you waiting for long?” asked Dara, as she tried to catch her breath.

“No, it’s ok. I was here way too early anyway. There’s no need to rush,” replied Jiyong.

“Oh, sorry I saw you waiting in the canteen from the practice room and thought I was late!” replied Dara, still panting from her exertion.

“Calm down calm down. So what do you think we should do with the kids?” asked Jiyong.

“Oh, I was thinking maybe we should get to know them for a few weeks before taking them out to a picnic, then maybe the theme park and…” Dara droned on for a few more minutes about the things that she had thought out. Jiyong listened in slight amusement, as he began to see how much this project meant to Dara.

“So, what do you think, Jiyong?” asked Dara. “Jiyong?”

Jiyong shook himself out of his own thoughts and replied, “I think it sounds great! So sorry I haven’t got much ideas about what we should do cuz I thought we’d be planning during our meeting today.”

“Oh, it’s fine. I wouldn’t have expected you to have a full plan anyway. I was just so excited that I spent three hours thinking and coming up with all this. Is it too much?” said Dara.

“No, it really sounds good,” replied Jiyong. “I agree too. We should get to know them first before doing activities outside the orphanage. I think we’re ready to meet them this Saturday.”

“That’s great! Oh before I forget, can I get your number? I think we’ll need to discuss a lot of things about this project over the next few months,” said Dara, as she handed Jiyong her handphone.

“Sure. So I’ll see out outside the orphanage at 10am this Saturday?” asked Jiyong, as he keyed in his number and gave himself a missed call using her phone.

“Yup, see you then,” smiled Dara, as she picked up her bag to head home.

“Are you heading home? Wanna head off together?” said Jiyong without thinking. Realising what he just said, he quickly added on, “Sorry, sorry. Didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.” Without waiting for an answer, Jiyong grabbed his bag and walked off quickly, leaving Dara behind.

Dara looked at his back in slight surprise as he walked off. Why would I feel uncomfortable?

…

Saturday came round soon and Jiyong and his classmates were gathered outside the main gate of Sunrise Orphanage. Mr. Kang was waiting with them, as they saw a woman in her fifties walk out of her office towards the main gate.

“Annyeonghaseyo! Aigoo, you all must be the angels that my kids are going to be playing with for the next few months!” exclaimed the woman.

“Hi Mrs. Kim, I’m Mr. Kang, the teacher in charge for this class,” said Mr. Kang, as he shook Mrs. Kim’s hand.

“Welcome! Please do come in. Leave your shoes on the shoe rack and take a seat in the guest waiting room. It’s next to the main admin office on your right,” said Mrs. Kim.

After they had finished with the formalities and a general briefing, the groups split up to be introduced to the children whom they would be taking care of for the next few months. Dara and Jiyong were brought to a group of three children who were waiting eagerly to meet their new hyung and noona.

“Annyeonghaseyo! My name is Dara,” said Dara to the kids with a smile.

“Annyeonghaseyo! My name is Jiyong,” followed Jiyong, as he dug into his pocket for the list of names of the children that had been assigned to them.

“Could you tell us your names?” said Dara.

“I’m Minho,” said the boy.

“I’m Sohee,” replied the girl with braids.

“I’m Soomi,” said the girl with short hair.

“Aren’t there supposed to be four children?” asked Jiyong. “There’s a ‘Park Yejun’ on our list.”

The three children started looking a little uncomfortably at each other but didn’t say anything.

“Ah, Jiyong-ssi,” exclaimed a voice behind him, which made Dara and Jiyong turn around. “I’m sorry I forgot to tell you. Your group has Park Yejun in it.”

“What about him, Mrs. Kim?” asked Dara.

Mrs. Kim motioned for Dara and Jiyong to step aside, away from the kids before continuing her conversation.

“Yejun is one of our most difficult kids. He is 6 years old now and his parents just died a month ago in a car crash. When he was brought here, he refus