Sohee met Jiyong when she was seven years old. 

Sitting on the steps of her new appartment building, the lonely little girl watched a group of children play among the swings. She didn't have the courage to approach them: she was new and shy and who knew how they mght react? And so she sat there and stared longingly at the laughing boys and girls.

Then a shadow fell over her and she looked up, surprised to see a boy standing over her with a wide smile on his face. "You're new," he said brightly, then hunkered down in front of her. He looked to be several years older than Sohee and she was surprised that he would even speak to her. Was he going to make fun of her?

She had begun to shy away, ready to run back to her new home for fear of the teasing he was sure to give, but then he held out a hand. "Come on, you can play with us. I need another for my team anyway."

As she slipped her small hand into his and allowed him to pull her to her feet, he introduced himself. "I'm Jiyong, by the way."

She learned that he lived nearby, though not in the apartment building where she had just moved into, and he was the unofficial leader of the little group of children. Jiyong was eleven and most of the others were nearer to his age than to Sohee's seven, but they all welcomed her anyway - though she was pretty sure it was because of Jiyong's hand holding her own as he introduced her.

They played all the rest of that day, and though Sohee saw her mo