Later that night, I was listening to some music and replaying the day’s happenings in my head when someone knocked on the door.

“Ji Eun”, it was my father. He entered holding two mugs in his hands and somehow closed the door.

“Yes dad?” I asked. He handed me a mug with hot chocolate in it. “Thank you.” My father sat down at the edge of the bed and looked at me. I could see the worry in his eyes when he looked at me. “What is it?”

“Are you alright?” He asked me. I smiled. “You don’t seem to be that happy ever since Jong In came back.” I lost my smile and continued to drink. “Do your feelings for him pain you a lot?”

“Dad!” I felt uncomfortable discussing such matters with my father. “Please.”

“No Ji Eun”, he said. “I’ve been watching from the distance ever since we moved here and I’m not doing that anymore. The only thing you two do is fight and I don’t like seeing the look in your eyes whenever your heart breaks. You’re my daughter and I’m supposed to protect you from any kind of possible harm but I haven’t been doing my job as a father for a while.”

“Daddy”, I smiled. “I’m fine. Forget about Kai.”

“But you fought again”, he said. “He keeps pushing you away but you keep going back to him. I don’t understand how two teenagers can spend their time fighting so much and arguing an...”

“It wasn’t really a fight”, I explained. “If I hadn’t told him about Chen, he wouldn’t be behaving like that.”

“Chen? Is Kai giving you a hard time because you spend time with Chen?”

“No,” I shook my head. “I don’t know, maybe.” My guts where telling me Kai was definitely jealous, but I didn’t want to talk about it with my dad.

“But still that doesn’t explain or excuse his behaviour towards you”, my father continued.

“Dad, just let it go. He will eventually talk to me. He just asked for space.”

“Ji Eun”, my father put down the mugs we were holding and held my hands. “I’ve already decided, so nothing you say will change my mind. I’ve been looking around Seoul for a while and I finally found a suitable place. It’s not very far away from here so you can keep going to the same school.” My heart pounded hard. I had a bad feeling about what was going on.

“Dad”, I looked at him. “What are you trying to say?”

“We’re moving out this Saturday”, he said with a smile on his face.

“No!” The door opened revealing Mrs. Kim who had probably been eavesdropping like always. “You’re not moving out without my permission.”

“Tae Ri ah”, my dad said. “Your husband already approved.”

“What?” Mrs. Kim left the room. Once the door closed, I sulked. Ever since I had come here, not once had I thought about us moving out. Now that my father was announcing it, it took me by surprise.

“Ahbujji”, I said. “Moving out? I thought we were moving out once the house was done rebuilding.”

“Yes”, he said. “But while we wait, I want us to live on our own. I believe it will do you and Kai good if you stay away from each other for a while. I don’t want to bother the Kim family with our problems anymore; they’ve done so much already.” He patted my hair. “I hope you understand, honey. You should start packing soon.” He left with the mugs leaving me in the same position I was in since he told me we were moving out.

All he had said sounded unreal although I knew it was. Moving out? I was not ready for that just yet. Once we moved out, I knew things would go back to how they were before I had moved in and I didn’t want that to happen. I wasn’t ready to go back to a point where I didn’t even exist in Kai’s eyes at all even though that’s exactly what he wanted.

On Monday, I woke up by voices downstairs. I took a shower and dressed up which took me about 40 minutes but when I was done, the voices downstairs hadn’t stopped. Worried, I hurried to see what was going on. Mrs. Kim, my father and Mr. Kim were arguing and it looked very serious. They had been arguing like this since my dad announced we were moving out. The entire vibe in the house had suffered because everyone except for Min Ho and I where fighting with each other.

“Honey”, Mr. Kim said. “You can’t force Jae Hyun to stay here. If he wants to move out, it’s his choice.”

“I don’t understand why you have to move out now”, Mrs. Kim looked at my father. “She’s just making progress with Kai and you want her to go? No! I’m against you moving out.”

“Tae Ri ah”, my father tried. “Try to understand.”

“And I can’t believe you said it was okay”, Mrs. Kim yelled at her husband.

“I am against it too but we need to respect Jae Hyun’s decision”, Mr. Kim said.

“I’m not listening to you anymore”, Mrs. Kim began taking away the food she had put on the table and put it back in the kitchen. “The two of you are not getting any breakfast, so you can just leave the house now.”

“Honey”, Mr. Kim said.

“Tae Ri ah”, My father second him. She didn’t answer and instead she locked herself up in the kitchen. Mr. Kim and my father left the dining room but stopped when they saw me.

“Good morning”, I bowed.

“Ji Eun ah”, Mr. Kim said. “How are you?”

“I’m fine”, I smiled. “How are you?”

“It’s great”, Mr. Kim smiled back. “I’ll see you later tonight. Jae Hyun ah.”

“Hi honey”, my dad greeted. I greeted him back and they left. Worried, I knocked on the kitchen door.

“Did they leave?” Mrs. Kim asked. 

“Yes”, I said and she opened the door. Mrs. Kim looked angry and tired, something she normally didn’t look like because she always had a smile on her face. She left the kitchen with the food  she’d taken to the kitchen and put it back in the dining room again. “Mrs. Kim?”

“Yes?”

“You shouldn’t be mad at Mr. Kim and dad”, I calmly said. “Daddy just feels like we’re burdening you with our stay here.”

“But you’re not”, she said. “I’ve been trying to tell him that since I woke up but he won’t listen.”

“Why don’t you just try to make a deal with him?” I asked. “Maybe then he’ll agree.”

“A deal?” She asked. “I haven’t even thought of that. You’re a genius!” She kissed my forehead. “Why don’t you sit and eat Ji Eun ah, I want you to tell me about yesterday.” I awkwardly smiled because I didn’t want to share what happened between Kai and me to anyone. Speaking of him, he came down the stairs.

“Good morning”, he said without looking at the dining room.

"Good morning", I greeted back but he ignored me as always.

“Kai”, Mrs. Kim stood up. “Aren’t you going to eat?” The front door was slammed shut a few seconds later, without him replying to his mother. “He’s been like this since yesterday.” Seeing Kai like that made me lose my appetite. I knew he was angry but I didn't understand his reason for being so. The guy was such a hard .

“Good morning”, Min Ho came down with a frown on the face.

“What’s wrong Min Ho?” I asked.

“Hyung watched tv all night long and I asked him to turn it down but he yelled at me and I couldn’t sleep”, he explained. “I’m going to school.” Min Ho left the house.

“The men of this house will give me a heartache”, Mrs. Kim exclaimed.

“I’ll leave for school too”, I said. “Thank you for breakfast.”

“You too?” She asked. “What’s wrong with everyone in this house?”

On Saturday, I was in my room packing up my last belongings with the help of Chen, Tao and Lu Han. I hadn’t seen the new place yet, but my father was already there arranging things. I was supposed to get on a taxi and meet him there, but before that I had to say goodbye.

“What’s that?” Lu Han took the photograph next to my old bed. I yanked it out of his hands and put it in my backpack. It was one of the photos Mrs. Kim had taken of Kai and I during the last day of junior year. I had put it up there during summer just to have something to look at when I missed Kai.

“It’s a photo of her and Kai”, Chen answered.

“Why don’t you have our picture next to your bed?” Tao asked.

“Because they all burned in the fire”, I pulled one of my suitcase out of the room. Embarrassed to even be talking about the picture, I rushed out. “Let’s go.” 

Chen took the other suitcase and with help from Tao and Lu Han we safely entered the living room where Kai and Min Ho were sitting. Lu Han and Tao disappeared with the suitcases. Mr. Kim was working a late night shift and said his goodbye earlier this morning while Mrs. Kim was in the kitchen.

“I’m going now”, I said. Min Ho ran to me and gave me a big hug.

“Noona, come visit from time to time”, he said.

“Of course”, I patted his head and gave him a big fat kiss. “You should visit the new house often too.” Mrs. Kim entered the living room with a tray full of cookies and milk.

“Here”, she said. Min Ho took some cookies. “Ji Eun ah, I packed a basket with cakes and gave it to Lu Han. Eat it when you’re at the new house and don’t give your father any.” I laughed. Mrs. Kim was still angry my father didn’t want me to stay.

“I will”, I smiled. “I think I’ll leave now since the taxi is waiting.”

“You sho…” Mrs. Kim saw Kai take a cookie and hit his hand. Kai dropped the cookie and looked at his mother in awe. “Don’t touch my cookies with your naughty hands.” She took the tray from the table. “You’re the reason Ji Eun is leaving so don’t you even think for a second that I’ll be nice to you.” Kai rolled his eyes and left the living room gently brushing pass my shoulder. “Tsk, tsk.” Mrs. Kim shook her head. “What am I going to do about him?”

“I’ll see you soon”, I awkwardly bowed. “Thank you so much for letting me and my father stay here for so long. You have no idea how grateful I am.”

“I know Ji Eun ah”, she said. “But this is not for long. I promise you will be back here in less than a month.” I wanted to tell Mrs. Kim that I doubted that would happen but I didn’t. Instead I smiled and gave her a hug.

“Goodbye”, I let go. “Bye Min Ho ah.” I waved and left the house with Chen.

“Mrs. Kim really didn’t want you to go”, Chen commented. I nodded feeling sad. Before getting into the taxi, I took a final look at the house and everything that happened since I came replayed in my head. As I got in the car, I felt like I was leaving a part of me behind. When I moved to the Kim’s, I didn’t know that I would find more than just a place to stay. I didn’t know I would found family, form friendships and just overall receive so much love from strangers. Even with all the issues between Kai and I, I never once felt like I wasn’t welcomed in the house. Not from Kai, not from anyone. That’s why although I was terribly sad of leaving, I also felt extremely happy to have known such a wonderful family.

The new apartment was not far away from the Kim’s residence, but it was situated in a less nice part of Seoul. The houses around were very old and kind of shabby looking. My father had rented a studio apartment which was very expensive for the place it was located in.

“This place is…” Tao said when we stepped out of the taxi.

“I know”, Lu Han agreed.

“I’d rather you stay with Kai than you living here”, Tao looked at me. I forced a smile and we headed to building 64. When we entered the weird building, we saw a gang of 4-5 suspicious looking men. They stared at us until we were out of their sights.

“Creepy”, Chen said. We made it to the front of the door and knocked.

“Dad”, I called. “We’re here.” My father opened the door for us.

“Hi guys”, he helped us with the suitcases.

Although the outside of the building might have looked awful, the inside was the opposite. The apartment my dad had rented was quite beautiful and modern. Unfortunately it was small and only consisted of one big open room with everything in it. The kitchen, the living room and the single bedroom were all visible at once with no door to hide either one. The bathroom was the only place that was secluded.

“Ahbujji”, Tao said. “No offense but I don’t like this place at all. It looks dangerous.”

“I know”, he smiled. “But the landlord promised that there were no crimes or disturbances.”

“And you believe him?” Lu Han asked. “I wouldn’t.”

“We’re not staying here long”, my father disappeared into the bathroom. “It’s just for a few months until the house is done.”

“I’d rather you and Ji Eun stay at my house”, Tao sat down on the single couch in the room.

“Chen”, my father came out from the bathroom. “What do you think?”

“I… uh”, Chen blushed. I laughed because Chen was trying to be honest but he couldn’t. He was too nice and polite to tell my father the place was horrible. “It’s… uh… small.” My father clapped his back.

“I cooked”, he said. “Sit in a circle and I’ll bring the food.” I sat down with Tao, but Lu Han and Chen went to help my father. They brought the food my father had cooked and we ate while discussing the new house and the creepy men we’d seen in front.