"Wake up, Jin." Though my body begged me to ignore Jongin's call, I slowly opened my eyes and smiled slightly at my brother of heart.

In just a few days he managed to win over my heart and I think he’s the only man who doesn't scare me.

As they don't know the real reason for my stay here, both Doyeon and Jongin strive to make my adaptation to their lifestyle easier.

If they only knew the surprise I had when I discovered there was hot water!

This happened when they explained to me how the shower worked and which of the two taps was for cold and hot water. As I didn't know what they mean by hot water, I opened it first and practically jumped out of the shower when the water burned me so much that I got a little red on my arm.

They always gave us cold water.

Often our baths were limited to being wetted by hoses to remove the dirt. Once a month we could take real baths.

Doyeon had to explain to me how to regulate the water so that it is not too cold or too hot. I absorbed every word that was said patiently to me and did everything she said.

Jongin spent the last few days beside me teaching me with immense patience how everything worked including the television which I thought was a prison since it showed pictures of people. I was fascinated with the cartoons because I don't understand how drawings could be moving on their own and talking like humans so much that Jongin and I spend a whole day watching cartoons in the living room. When Doyeon arrived from shopping, she joined us and a pleasant feeling invaded my heart.

Jongin treated me very well and whenever I didn't do something well or didn't know anything, he tried to explain in the simplest way to me how the correct way to use an object is instead of yelling at me as my former owners did.

My head screamed in despair to me not to get attached to the boy with a childish smile because I would end up hurt in the end, but my heart had already welcomed him before I could do anything against and now I don't want to keep myself away from him because I feel that he’ll protect me from any danger so much that I am literally glued to him when his father is at home.

One habit that I haven't lost until now is to look down when someone talks to me. I just can’t keep my eyes on for a long time because my body reacts immediately to this act. The fear of being punished is greater than the comfort I feel near Jongin.

"Come on, Jin! I don't want to be late on the first day of school." Jongin said excitedly and I stood up just to please him.

I like the nickname he gave me.

Jin.

He explained to me that one person invents a nickname for the other when he is very fond of it and upon learning of it, I showed him a huge smile that he made sure to photograph. Although I don’t speak, I also had a nickname for him: Kai.

A Japanese person told me that this name meant recovering and with Jongin I would regain the time I lost in that damn prison.

After taking a quick shower as Doyeon said I should do every morning and put on my underwear, I lifted my head and watched my reflection in the long mirror.

I didn’t know the girl in the mirror.

In front of me was a girl of one meter and sixty-seven, so the doctor measured, and 46 kilograms. Her skin was slightly tan and I could see the ribs because of the lack of meat and weight. Her body had several scars, some more visible than others and despite lack of muscles she had some curves. Her lightly big s were held by a banal white bra that matched the underpants of the same color. I turned my eyes away from the body to analyze her face. Her hair, which had gone beyond her because of the lack of cut, reached her chest now and her hair was a light brown that resembled the honey of the bees. By following Doyeon's advice, the girl in the mirror had a fringe that lightly covered the newly made eyebrows and the strands of my hair were light and silky thanks to the cream that Doyeon passed every night in my hair. The knots, once characteristic of her hair, had disappeared and the waves, which I thought I had lost forever, had returned. Unlike the rest of the body, the face was still without a single mark of abuse and the skin glowed from the cream I put in after the shower. Her lips were rosy and slightly full. The only extraordinary thing about me was my bicolor eyes. The left eye was as dark as the oak tree in the backyard and the right eye looked like a caramel.

I've always been told that my two-tone brown eyes were my charm and for a long time I hated that difference. My hatred fades when Jongin says it makes me special. I don't know what he meant by that, but I decided to believe him.

In the mirror I saw the clothes Doyeon left yesterday in my room and decided to wear it before anyone came in and saw my ugly body. When I’ve finished, I looked again in the mirror to see that I looked reasonable in this outfit that was composed of a completely white blouse with a design on the left side and a black skirt that was a bit above my knees. I put the long black knee-high socks, that had three scratches on top, on and slipped on the white shoes that Jongin calls slippers. Before leaving my room, I picked up the bag, which Doyeon gave me to put my school supplies in, and the piece of cloth I didn't know what it was for.

I went down the stairs slowly so not to risk falling as I did the first time I went down to the kitchen where I found Jongin eating cereals.

Jongin was wearing pale gray pants and a white shirt like mine. He also wore a coat as gray as his pants and I couldn't see his shoes because the table wouldn't let me.

"For a girl, you didn't take long." He said as he noticed my presence and I stared at him confused by his comment. "Normally girls take longer than boys to get dressed because they want to look good for the boy they like." He explained at the sight of my confusion.

I like Kai. Does that mean I have to be late to get dressed too?

"Do you understand what I meant?" He asked and I shook my head.

He set down the spoon he used to eat his cereal and pointed to the chair next to him. I sat down beside him and stared at him waiting for an answer.

"There are two different types of liking a person. For example, you like me because you feel comfortable with me." I nodded "That's a way of like a person and there's the other way of liking that is when you just think of a person and you want to stay with that person all the time.-" I nodded again to make it clear that I understood, I guess.

"Hi, children." Doyeon appeared in the kitchen.

She approached Jongin to kiss the top of his head and I was surprised when she did the same to me. "Ready to go to school?" She asked as she made a marmalade sandwich.

"I'm anxious to see Taemin," Jongin replied with a smile.

"I bet he does too. And you, HyeJin?" Doyeon asked and I didn't show any reaction.

I didn't even know that by answering those questions in the paper she gave me, I would be auditioning to know if I knew enough to enter a school. All I know academically is thanks to Minseok who has taught me everything I knew since I was six years old. The other prisoners said that he was a genius because he knew so much and the chiefs weren't opposed when he taught me things from the outside world.

It even seemed that they wanted him to teach me all that!

Minseok said that I was a very smart kid because I understood everything at first and that if one day I could get out of that hell, I would have a great future.

At the time, I didn't show much importance to this great future conversation because it was extremely rare or almost impossible for a person to escape from that hell once it was put there, but now I had the opportunity to be someone. Maybe …

"Are you listening to me, HyeJin?" I shook my head and shrank back.

"What I was saying is you have to pay very attention to school. Although you know enough, there are important things you must learn again and don't hesitate to ask your teachers for help." Doyeon repeated calmly and I nodded.

"Mom, could you tie a knot in my tie?" Jongin asked and Doyeon grinned openly, picking up the piece of cloth that was identical to what I had in my hand and began to make several moves with it. In the end, a perfect knot came out and I looked fascinated at that.

"Do you want me to do yours, too?" She asked and I nodded, giving her the cloth.

She did the same thing she did in Jongin’s and I smiled in thankfulness. "I bet you have not eaten yet. Take it!" She handed me the sandwich she'd just made and I looked at her waiting for her to give me permission to eat.

"You can eat, HyeJin," Jongin said as soon as he understood the message in my eyes and I began to eat slowly because I didn't know when it would be the next meal so I had to taste the sandwich slowly.

When Jongin and I finished eating, we went to the entrance to put on our shoes. I looked without knowing what to do with those strands in my shoes and Jongin noticed because he crouched in front of me. I couldn't see what he was doing because of his head, but he managed to make of those ties a perfect knot.

"Because you're sensitive to the cold, I want you not to take this jacket during classes off." Jongin showed me a coat identical to his, only smaller. "And this jacket you only wear when you're out on the street, okay?" I nodded and pulled on the lighter coat before the thicker one.

"As it's your first day of classes, I'll drive you." Doyeon appeared fully dressed and we followed her to her white car.

On the way, I would hear how Jongin spoke of a certain Taemin with enthusiasm and that he would have to tell everything he did during the holidays. I have no idea what holidays are and I preferred not to interrupt him with my silent questions.

Either he was a good observer or I was very transparent, but Jongin always realized when I didn't understand something and with a lot of patience and simply he answered my questions.

Doyeon stopped the car in front of a building I suspected was the school because several boys and girls went there with the same school uniform as me and Jongin.

"Have a nice day and make lots of friends." I could see Doyeon's encouraging smile in the small mirror.

Before we got out of the car, I took Jongin's hand and he picked it up with a smile and together we got out of Doyeon's car.

I began to observe everything around me because I had never seen so many people laughing and playing with each other without someone punishing them afterward.

It is the first time I had seen someone expressing happiness and joy without fear of punishment!

"I know it may seem scary to see so many people together, but you will see that there are nice people among them," Jongin assured me and I smiled slightly.

Hand in hand, we passed the large doors leading to an open space with gardens on both sides.

"Didn't you know Jongin had arranged a girlfriend!"

"She looks older than us."

I looked at the group of girls who were talking about Jongin and the three girls pretended they were seeing something on the phone.

What's a girlfriend?

Apparently, Jongin didn't notice that they were talking about him because he continued to walk.

"Hello. You must be Kim Jong In." A melodious voice said behind us and I followed Kai's movement as he turned to hear his name.

Unlike Kai who had to tilt his head a little lower to see the owner of the beautiful voice in the eyes, I had to look up slightly. In front of us was a boy who was a few inches taller than me and his dark eyes were huge in my opinion. His skin was lighter than mine and it seemed too soft to belong to a man. He was wearing the same uniform as Kai and his thin body looked as delicate as mine. His shaved hair at the sides and his rebellious strands of bright red hair caught my attention because I couldn't believe anyone could have its hair naturally of that color. His lips formed a smile that reminded me of the heart that Kai once painted and I hid a little behind Kai when his big eyes met mine because I had the feeling that his gaze would penetrate my soul.

"Yes, it's me. And you are?" Kai squeezed my hand to give me security.

Something I will never be able to feel complete!

"My name is Do Kyung Soo and I'm responsible for your sister for the whole year." He explained calmly and I frowned.

What did he mean by 'responsible'?

"Nice to meet you, Kyungsoo hyung." He held out his other hand to greet him.

Kai explained to me that he has to say hyung to all students who are older than him and Kyungsoo belongs to the older ones.

"Nice to meet you, HyeJin." He reached out his hand to me and me being scared, I hid further behind Kai's body leaving only my head in his field of vision.

"She gets scared easily with strangers because of what she had gone through, hyung." Kai moved a little from me to put his arm around my shoulders and hugged me to the side making circular movements on my back to calm me since my heart was beating in an uncontrollable way.

"I understand. The director explained to me a little about her situation and I'll try not to scare her too much." He smiled in my direction and I hid my face in Kai's chest as if I were a frightened child.

"She's just like that at first, then she'll get used to your presence."

"HyeJin." Kyungsoo called me calmly and I looked at him. "Since your brother is a year below us both, I'll be the one to take care of you during class. If you need anything, whether it is a material or an explanation, you can ask me without hesitation." He explained slowly so that I understood his words.

"There are some things you need to know about her." Kyungsoo stared at Kai waiting for him to continue. "HyeJin can't talk because she has a vocal cord problem and she doesn't remember several things so you have to explain a lot of things to her. From what I've noticed, she's an extremely naive girl and takes all the words literally so try not to use too many expressions with her. She is also extremely obedient and thinks that she has to do everything that people say. You have to pay attention so that people don't abuse her naivety for their sake and try to keep her away from the troublemakers because she likes to imitate what others do thinking that she is doing the right thing. There are two ways to know if she doesn't understand a thing: Either she bites her lower lip or she looks intensely at the target object of her curiosity."

"When she bites her lips and her eyes are bright, it means she doesn't understand something and she tends to cry a lot because she thinks she is of no use. To calm her down, I stuffed a bundle of candy into her backpack because candy always soothes her. You can say she's a big kid." He ruffled my hair and they both smiled at my pout. "She doesn't stand much noise and if the class is too loud, put her headphones on so she can focus on the music. During each pause, she has to eat her carrots that are also in her backpack and no one, absolutely anyone, can touch her camera. If she looks intensely at something with a slightly tilted head, it means that she is curious and it is best to end her curiosity soon because she can try to touch the target object of her curiosity as if she were a curious child. You can be sure there will be times when she will look at you intensely and that means she's just waiting for you to give her permission to do something." Both Kyungsoo and I looked at him with wide eyes.

How does he know so much about me knowing me only a few days?

"That's what I call a dedicated brother." Kai and Kyungsoo laughed at a joke I don't understand. They stopped laughing when a raucous noise echoed in the hallway and I covered my ears with my hands as I closed my eyes tightly.

"Calm down, HyeJin. It's just the bell indicating that classes will start soon. It will be played several times every day." Kai explained to me as he hugged me to calm me down and I nodded. "I have to go to my class now. Go with Kyungsoo to your class and see you at lunchtime." I shook my head as I tightened my grip on his waist to show that I didn't want to part with him.

I don't want to be without you!

"I know you're scared, but Kyungsoo hyung will take care of you as I care." He whispered and I knew I had no choice but to let him go. "Remember that I love you and if anything happens, hyung will warn me." He kissed my forehead affectionately and walked away slowly.

I bit my lower lip to hold back the tears that wanted to flow freely. I felt Kyungsoo's presence beside me and I shuddered.

"I know you don't know me and I'm not your brother, but you can trust me." I lifted my head and he smiled tenderly at me. "If you want, you can hold my hand to feel safer." He showed me his hand and hesitantly I held her.

He didn't look like a bad person and if Kai left me with him, it's because he trusts him so I should too. Hand in hand, we walked through the empty hallways of the school and I shook hands when we stopped in front of a door knowing that this was our class.

"I know you're scared, but most of the students in our class are friendly and I'll protect you from all idiots." He smiled again before knocking on the door.

A middle-aged woman appeared in front of us with a not very friendly face and I hid behind Kyungsoo by reflex.

"May I know the reason for the delay, Mr. Do?"

"I was in charge of receiving the new student, Oh HyeJin." Upon hearing my name, her face softened and she looked at me with a small smile.

"I understand. You can come in." She walked away from the door so we could enter. "Class, this year we have a new classmate, Oh HyeJin from Thailand." I bowed down as I'm introduced because Kai warned me that's what I should do to make a good impression.

Out of pure curiosity, I raised my head to see my new colleagues and I stared wide-eyed as my gaze met with a well-known look. He mimicked my reaction by ignoring the colleague who was talking to him and we were staring until the teacher asked me and Kyungsoo to sit down. Luckily I would sit next to Kyungsoo who let me sit by the window and to my misfortune I would sit behind the guy of the parking.

The teacher started talking about something I didn't know what it was and I couldn't concentrate because I felt the intense look of the boy behind me. Slowly I turned and my cheeks burned as I noticed the huge smile he was sending toward me.

This can’t be happening!