Soojung was still teary eyed when she heard a knock on the door. She had expected it to be Jiyong, but it wasn't.

"Seunghyun," he was still wearing his suit from the funeral, but his hair was messier, as if he'd ran his hand through it several times, "Jiyong isn't at home."

He smiled, "I haven't come to see Jiyong," to which Soojung could only reply with an,"Oh."

"Would you like to come in?" Soojung opened the door wider so Seunghyun could come through.

"Have you been crying?" Seunghyun asked before internally slapping himself on the face, of course she'd been crying you idiot, her dad just died.

Soojung gave a dry chuckle, "Yeah, before he left, me and Jiyong got into an argument."

"About what?"

"You."

There was an awkward silence between the two. Truthfully, Seunghyun and Soojung did not spend a lot of time together, if they did speak to each other, Jiyong was always there. But with the two of them alone, it was hard to know what to say.

"Truthfully, I came to see how you were doing, and just to tell you if you need anything, anything at all, don't be afraid to ask me," Seunghyun said.

"Thank you, but I can't think of anything."

"Oh," responded Seunghyun, "I should get going."

Soojung held onto Seunghyun's arm, but let go of it like it was hot coal, her cheeks blushing furiously, "You don't have to go now, you should at least have some tea before you do."

"Yeah, tea would be nice," Seunghyun replied, taking a seat.

Soojung went to put water in a pan to boil, tucking her hair behind her ear as she did, giving Seunghyun a clear view of her tattoo beneath her ear as she did.

Years ago, Seunghyun's father, as Minister of Defense had ordered that all citizens in S.Korea would have to have a tattoo underneath their ear so everyone could easily be identified by their class. The lower-classes had two diamond shapes next to each other whilst the upper class had the letter 'T' tilted at an angle.

Seunghyun remembered the day he got his tattoo, he had been given anaesthesia so he couldn't feel the pain as the tattoo needle pierced his 11 year old flesh.

Soojung meanwhile had been given no such drug. As a lower class citizen she was not entitiled to the luxury of not feeling any pain. Even when she'd fallen ill afterwards due to an allergic reaction from the tattoo ink, the area beneath her ear swelling painfully to the size of a grapefruit, her father at the time had been unable to afford the medication to lessen his daughter's pain. They instead resorted to using ice.

From beneath her ear, his eyes travelled to her collorbone, her angular shoulders, to her S-line, prominent even through her baggy jumper, the way it curved towards her waist and hips, the way her dark hair fell in waves down the length of her back. Seunghyun imagined his hands running through it whilst his lips moulded against Soojung's as though they could only survive on each others breath.

Soojung was no longer a child; hanging out with Jiyong meant Seunghyun was never truly able to see how quickly Soojung had grown up. She had blossomed into a beautiful young woman; being alone with her was bringing to the surface feelings for Soojung that Seunghyun didn't realise he had.

*****

Jiyong was drinking his second pint when a man sat down on the seat next to him. Jiyong looked beneath the man's ear to see the tilted 'T' prevelant on his skin. Jiyong frowned slightly, what was an upper-class doing in a lower-class pub?

"Are you Kwon Jiyong?" the man asked him.

Jiyong grunted in acknowledgement.

"I heard about your father's death, I'd like to offer my condolences."

"If you have nothing to say to me, then off."

"I can offer you money, enough so that you and your sister never have to go hungry again."

Jiyong put down his pint; the man had his attention.

"All you need to do," continued the man, "is deliver this jacket to Busan."

"That's it," scoffed Jiyong, "what's the catch?"

"If you get caught, you're on your own."

*****

"I'm sorry about Jiyong," said Soojung as she placed a cup of hot tea in front of Seunghyun, "he shouldn't have acted the way he did to you at the funeral."

"He was upset over your dad's death, I understand," replied Seunghyun, "I'm just a bit concerned about you."

"You're worried about me?"

"Of course, are you okay?"

Soojung stayed quite for a moment as tears reappeared in her eyes, "I don't know what we're going to do anymore. Dad was the only one who worked, it's almost impossible for Jiyong and me to find a job. I'm worried that we won't be able to afford living here anymore."

Seunghyun sat next to Soojung and held her shoulders, his eyes looking deeply into hers, "No, I'm not going to let that happen. You and Jiyong will not be homeless as long as I'm around."

"After all the things Jiyong said to you today, you're still willing to help us."

"Yes."

Soojung was reminded of why she'd had such an intense crush on Seunghyun these past ten years; although he looked cold and distant, he was actually warm and caring. His beauty ran skin deep, kindness seeped out of him blood.

Without thinking, Soojung pressed her lips to Seunghyun's, her breath shaky and shallow. She could taste the expensive wine he had drunk before he came.

At first, Seunghyun's lips stayed frozen, shocked that his best friends younger sister was actually kissing him, but when it became clear to him that she was about to pull away, he pulled her onto his lap, where his tongue begged for entrance into her cavern, his hands automatically grasping onto her loose hair. 

It was silkier than he had ever imagined; his hands ran through her hair like water.

When their lips seperated for air, Seunghyun placed his forehead against Soojung's, his breath still panting. He could feel the heat radiating from Soojung's cheeks as he forced her to look at him.

"What was that for," he murmured lowly, his voice deep and husky.

There were still teardrops in her eyelashes; with her so close to him, Seunghyun could have counted every one of them, "Jiyong says we can't see you anymore," Soojung placed a hand tenderly onto Seunghyun's cheek, her thumb tracing the curve of his lips, "and if he's serious then I don't know when I'll be able to see you again to confess how I've felt for you for so many years."