Authors Note: Not an update. . . I just took some stuff out of this chapter and changed a few details (5/5/17). A new chapter will be going up soon, though.

     I have always loved Jinhae district in the fall. Everyone else visits for the cherry blossom festival in the spring, but the fall is far superior. The fall is when golden leaves waltz with the wind and crunch under the weight of my boots. The fall is when the sky is enveloped in a calming cacophony of sandstone and slate blue. Today is the twenty-second of September, the Autumn Equinox— my favorite day. Unfortunately, today was also a Thursday meaning I had to go to school. I willed myself out of my bed and got dressed. A bit pressed for time, I neglected breakfast and made my way out of our single bedroom apartment headed for school. We haven’t always lived in this apartment. No. First, was the apartment that my mom, sister, grandmother and I lived in. That was my favorite one by far. My grandmother would sing show tunes as she walked my sister and I home from school every day. At night, we would all sleep together on a flat mattress in the living room and tell each other about our days. After my grandmother passed away though, my mom met my step-father. Back then, he had this giant apartment that was perfect for playing hide-and-seek. Whenever I hid outside on the balcony I would sit behind this big marble vase in the corner and jump out to scare her. I remember the first time we met my stepfather. He had broad shoulders and deep-set eyes. No wonder my mom fell for him. We kids just assumed that since he was handsome he would be kind as well. We were wrong.

     At first, he wasn’t so bad. He yelled at us a lot. . . but sometimes he gave us hugs and came to our school plays. Sometimes he hit our mom too, but she always told us it was her fault and that it wasn’t a big deal. We believed her. Eventually