Back home, Enzo Mancini had to deal with shenanigans that were only typical of a superstar such as Seulgi. Grabbing up the phone, checking to see who it is and hanging up again upon being asked obscene questions--and alternatively, yelling at the phone before anyone even gets the chance of speaking and nine times out of ten realizing it’s the old lady Jenkins next door asking to speak to Mrs. Kang. Going out and being bombarded by reporters and a mob of thirsty magazine article writers that did not know nor care about the existence of personal space--especially for a non-celebrity such as Enzo--was not part of Enzo’s agenda for the day.

For a moment, he understood how overwhelming it was. Not being able to go out without people typing up and making a storm around him to get information out of him on the sudden event. Now, the new sites have gone from shaming Seulgi for her actions to wondering where on earth was she and already thinking she was dead or missing. A lot of conspiracies brew up right away in the internet, many people saying that she was abducted or grounded like the child she was. Many say she pulled an Agatha Christie in order to get revenge on a secret boyfriend, but baffled at the magnitude of her stunt, especially with the technology going nowadays would be almost impossible to hide.

It just was a matter of time that someone would find her.

She had just disappeared for people, except for close friends who knew where she was, that she was fine and swore not to tell but for good measure no one was told where she was exactly or why she was gone, though ideas were brewing up on their own.

Enzo sat on Hyunwoo’s office and promptly explained how maddeningly crazy things were out there, and when Hyunwoo found himself saying that it was an exaggeration they both fell quiet and stared at each other with nothing to tell what they were thinking, but they themselves knew what the other had realized.

In that moment, they both had an epiphany. They understood that they had undermined what Seulgi was going through at such a young age. A few moments passed before they, at the same time, looked away from one another with a frown on their eyebrows. Perhaps they had been a little rough on the girl, and perhaps they were starting to really miss her, understanding her point of view now and wishing to further reason with her.

Most importantly: they too wanted to kick the Papparazzi’s now and show no remorse on the matter.

But too late to lament that now, as Seulgi was dressed in a more casual attire and spending quality time with her large family, being sandwiched between Joy and Luna. Everyone was at the table enjoying their generous and warm supper. Naturally, both Joonhyung and Eunji were at the ends of the table like the heads of the family and on the side were all the children of the parks and company. Joy, Luna, Dongho, Minseok and Jay, and accompanying them was the Sarah--right next to Jay--and next to her was none other than the cabbage girl Joohyun who was not a Park by blood but seemed to blend in just fine.

The other Park next to Seulgi was Park Sunyoung. Not to be mistaken by Sooyoung! She’s nicknamed Luna because eighteen years ago, during her birth, there was a full moon and Kang Rokhyun (may he rest in peace) pointed to the moon in awe and fascination, immediately nicknaming the young tan girl with the fond name which everyone seemed to agree on.

She was older than Joy by a full year and was vastly different. Rather than being a little rascal, she was always very positive, full of energy and had a drive to conquer the world in her own little way. A force to be reckoned with when it came to defending her family and an obedient child--however a pretty stubborn one when it came to defending what she thought was correct.

She was known around town for the pushing force of every event. Any event and celebration in town was possible because of Luna’s drive to make it happen as best as possible. She called the people, she made the posters and distributed them, she spread the word and helped the older people plan everything, making note of things that the others would sometimes forget like refreshments, events for the elder folks and what not. The epitome of a sunshine, that one. She works hard in the farm and is a constant helper, she’s the one that Grandma Kang recognizes the most, the one who has made it her life mission to take care of the oldest Kang until she passed away--wishing to give her the peace she deserves. Tonight, she was cheerfully chomping down on her food and was the first one to cheerfully engulf Kang Seulgi in a big bear hug when the girl came down the stairs looking as sleepy as she felt.

Now, we move on to one interesting and shy young man called Kim Minseok.

You may notice the different surname and that’s because Minseok is adopted. He was brought to the household at a very young age and warmly welcomed by all the Parks. His parents had died and his grandparents did too eventually, and thus he ended up in a foster home where he was subsequently adopted by Joonhyung and Eunji. Technically, he is Park Minseok, but he sometimes likes to remember the parents he had, what they did for him, just like his grandparents. In contrast to Luna, this one is a shy young man about to hit his twenty years of age in just a few weeks. The oldest of all the youngins in the house. He was in charge of making sure everyone was doing their proper thing and making sure all chores were completed, as he was the oldest.

He was shorter than Jay, less muscular--lanky, absolutely--but he still held his strong presence with firmness. Sure, he was a bit shy at times and that proved to be absolutely adorable, but whenever the time arose he was as stubborn as Luna to make sure things were right. It was a trait of the Parks, an attitude he learned from Joonhyung himself. Also, he was quite polite, making him one of the favorite Parks for the elder ladies who loved to pinch his cheeks. He was the quiet dynamite, as Luna liked to put it. In contrats to Luna, he had shyly given Seulgi a quick hug before scurrying off to help Mama Eunji put the food on the table.

Now, we jump on to another interesting one. Kang Dongho, the white tiger.

This one is a legitimate Kang, born from Kang Rokhyun’s one-night stand but taken care of along with Alyssa McDonald, whom Rokhyun married when Dongho was a young boy. However, the young fifteen year old boy was left alone in the world when--like Minseok--both of his parents died. Albeit in a different fashion than the Kims, Rokhyun and Alyssa died when a fire broke out in an apartment building. They were the only people that died, but managed to get everyone out of there, including Dongho. Now, Dongho was under the custody of Rokhyun’s younger sister Eunji and is living in the farm alongside them.

He was a powerfully built young man, pretty stocky for his age, his body already growing to become really masculine and the hint of a goatee showing in his chin much like Jay’s. His hair--out of all the Parks--was the most extravagant. A pink mohawk with the sides of his head shaved--showing just a buzz of black hair, giving the whole look a contrast that only yanked people’s attention. His hair was just a confirmation of how he was. He was energetic and bright, but also a little strange. He asked peculiar questions at times, is a strange combination of observant but not too observant, and is a bit groggy at times, but nothing that won’t mellow out with time. Normally, he runs the errands around town for the family as well as helping around the farm. Quite talkative, outgoing and curious, Dongho was the young man in charge of showing Seulgi around tomorrow morning. He, too, greeted his cousin warmly, and now in the dinner table, he was the first one to crack a conversation with Seulgi, as curious as always.

“How do you like it here so far, Seulgi?” He asked with nothing but the best of intentions showing through his smile.

With a lovely bunch of folks, Seulgi couldn’t make her disdain show. She wanted to be home, to be with her family, to be surrounded by the luxuries she worked hard to get despite being overwhelmed with stress.

She wanted to sleep.

“I like it so far,” Seulgi said rather carefully, shrugging a shoulder. “I just miss my home.”

Not too far from the truth, but not the harsh version of it that Seulgi was cooking in her oven of rage.

“It’s a matter of getting used to it,” Minseok said softly, not averting his eyes away from his meal. “Dongho was like that.”

“Oh yeah!” Dongho suddenly piped up with a soft chuckle. “You know, it took me some time to know my way around town, so tomorrow I’ll show you.”

Seulgi gave him a soft smile, unable to hide it. “I’d like that.”

“You can do that after you do some farm work, we could use an agile hand like yours around,” Joonhyung said with his mouthful, earning a glare from Eunji. With that, he swallowed his food down. “Sorry,” he said softly. I guess he felt way too comfortable even in the presence of Sarah, who was quietly giggling and brushing her brown hair away.

“Does that mean that she’ll do my chores?” Joy asked with a slight hint of hopefulness.

“No,” Eunji and Joonhyung said in unison.

So much for that.

Before Seulgi could move the conversation anywhere, Irene suddenly piped up and firmly stated Seulgi’s doom for the rest of the summer. “I would love it if Seulgi could help me pick up the eggs every morning,” she smiled.

Seulgi almost choked and looked over at Joohyun. “Mornings?”

Joonhyung hadn’t thought about it, but he was starting to consider it. “That wouldn’t be a bad idea, Eunji then would--.”

“No, wait, does this mean I have to wake up early?”

Irene shrugged. “It would be good, it’ll get you used to waking up and rising early to help,” she then turned to Joonhyung who was nodding in approval. “Don’t you think so? That helped Dongho.”

“It’s a pain in the , but hey--.”

“Dongho!” Joohyun exclaimed right away. “Mind your words.”

“Sorry!” He raised his hands in defense, as if he were about to be hit in the head by Joy, but she was on the other side of the table and couldn’t do it.

“Hold up,” Seulgi placed her utensils down and was about to defend herself and go on a protest before Joonhyung spoke and stated firmly what must be done.

“Then it’s settled! Seulgi will wake up early to help Irene get the eggs for breakfast. Be sure to wake her up.”

Seulgi’s mouth was agape and her eyes, full with the flames of hatred and fire, went directly to Irene who had a small smirk to her face. She was so enjoying it, she was definitely lavishing on this victory. Who was she to make Kang Seulgi wake up early to get the eggs before breakfast? She certainly did not know how groggy and annoying Seulgi could be before breakfast! She’ll find out eventually and when she does it’ll be too late.

Sensing the tension between the girls, Dongho broke a new topic of conversation with an enthusiasm unmatched by anyone Seulgi has ever seen, not counting Luna of course. He probably got it off of her, or Joonhyung.

The conversation went to many places, and while Seulgi was still inwardly going on a rant about how much she was starting to hate the porcelain doll of the household, she did take into the bits of information she was given. For one, there was a festival of the sorts happening this summer. It was a holiday being celebrated in the center of the town with traditional cuisine, costumes, expositions, and a vast dance floor for anyone wishing to shake their boots with the most modern and more classic hits. Everyone was going to be there, so it intrigued Seulgi. Secondly there was a swim competition happening in just a week from then where Irene was going to participate. This told Seulgi one of two things: there was a lake AND Irene could swim which meant no drowning her.

Yeah, Seulgi thought about a lot of stuff, but never once would think of putting it through, that silly girl.

Thirdly, the fact that Grandma Kang was walking again…

Again.

Seulgi was frozen in her spot as the family talked with relief at the change of Grandma Kang’s behavior. She was walking again, she was talking a little louder, she was joking around a lot more. Slowly, Seulgi started to feel the illness in her stomach, that kind of illness that didn’t feel natural, it was a discomfort in her gut. Intuition.

How could Grandma Kang be ‘fine’ and consider her walking again a good thing? As Seulgi remembered the old woman, she walked quite a lot, quite fast for her age as well. She was loud, always cheerful, sometimes scolding the youngins for this or that. Yes… that’s the woman Seulgi remembers.

Then, as if on cue, a honk could be heard from the front of the house. Almost everyone got up right away and went to greet the car that had come about to visit them, obviously bringing the old lady Kang from her bingo game.

Seulgi was all alone at the dinner table, or so she felt, her fork stabbed into her meal as she realized slowly what this all meant. She was blank with realization, agape and her frown intensifying.

The other person in the table was Irene herself, who was looking at Seulgi with a weirded look. She didn’t understand what that expression meant, what she was thinking. It wasn’t unreadable, it just didn’t connect. Was it something they said about granny?

When Joonhyung called out for Seulgi the young woman jumped and dropped her fork in surprise, then she looked around to find everyone gone, except for Irene who was looking at her. In the brief moment they exchanged looks, Irene’s face went from confused to sorrowful upon seeing Seulgi’s teary eyes. She understood now, maybe not all of it, but some of it. Then, Seulgi jumped off her seat and walked over to the front porch, being greeted by all the Kangs smiling widely upon the return of the old lady, Dongho standing by her side and helping her walk through the path towards the porch, her pace slow but certain.

She looked so different, so thin… so old, her short hair no longer black and luscious but the color of silver. Her cheerful demeanor and her strong aura was long gone, her spine curving forth and hunching her frail looking body forward, as if weighed down by burdens and her age. The wrinkles told the stories of her past, her adventures, her joys and sorrows. The marriage of Eunji, the birth of her grandchildren, the death of Rokhyun, the death of her husband. Seulgi was standing in the porch and swallowing the truth but keeping her composure as the old lady, her caretaker, her family, smiled at her and spread her fragile looking arms wide to greet her after many years of not seeing her again. Seulgi had surely grown to be a wonderful and successful woman, albeit disappointed by her behavior recently, she was happy to see her again. She was just happy to see her grow, grow healthy, look happy, live happy.

She was her granchild, her little sunshine--her little troubled piece of sunshine.

Right away, Seulgi went over and gave her the tightest hug she could give her, afraid that she will let go, afraid that she’ll be gone, afraid that she will never be able to do it again, afraid of the destiny in store for her. She didn’t want to see it.

Then, they both started to weep. While the elder weeped out of joy, Seulgi did so out of pain and sadness as she said the most painful words she’s ever said to herself in her head...

Grandmother Kang is dying.