Moon Byulyi may be young but she knows when she is not wanted.

She stares at the pile of boxes in front of her with no interest, propping her chin on her palm. Men clad in blue uniform move to and fro inside the room,  carrying and unboxing the boxes from the moving company's truck. The move did not take that long since the house already had built-in appliances and other furniture. 

Her eyes wander around the house, the walls were painted in cream and it looked cozy. She opens the sliding glass door and let the cold breeze in to air out the stale smell of the room. She hears footsteps and when she turns around, she met her mother's eyes.

Cold.

Her back shivers subtly and quickly averted her gaze away from her mother. To be honest, Byul is used with the cold piercing gaze of her mother but what she is not used to is the underlying anger and loathing in her eyes. 

She goes outside, leaning on the balcony. The wind softly sweeps her hair away from her face and a bitter smile lingers on her lips. It's not like she wanted to be the exact replica of her father. If she can even call him a father. Her body trembles with fear as bad memories relapsed within seconds. Cold sweat started to form on her forehead and her hands shook subtly. She closes her eyes and tried to catch up on her breath. She places her hand on her chest, soothing her erratic heartbeat.

Her father. The man who she had seen as someone as a role model but her image of him crashed and broke to pieces of fragments. She could not pinpoint exactly when her father started to change. Her father was kind, caring and loving but one day, he just changed. Maybe it started when he was stressed out when got laid off from his job or maybe it happened when he first slapped her mother when he was drunk. Since then, Byul would hide in fear when her father gets drunk. Byul was young but she wasn't spared. It started with a slap and when it wasn't enough, he would use his belt and most of the times, his fist. Since then, he has always beat the living life of hers. She was barely 5 years old at that time but she has already tasted such pain and suffering. Her heart would race uncontrollably as the smell of alcohol hits her every time she arrives home from school. She should have run but one call from her father would make her stop from her tracks.

She does not want to move but it was as if her legs had a mind of their own. Her legs would tremble from time to time. From her peripheral view, she saw her mother sitting in the corner, curled into a ball as if protecting herself. The once fading blue and violet on her body were once more visible. Byul could see the hopelessness in her eyes even if they were closed.

Her heart stilled when her father smiled cruelly. He grabbed her wrist and Byul just closed her eyes, worrying about how to cover another purple bruise from her friends and teachers' peering eyes.

Her eyes open as soon as a hand grabbed her wrist. She almost yelps in surprise but when her eyes rested on a puppy-like tiny human, she stopped.

Two years after when her father died from a car accident, her mother met Jung Minseok. They started their lives all over again and her mother got a job in a big company. He was the head of their department at that time and they met. He was someone who is the total opposite of her father. Kind, caring and a loving father. Jung Minseok raised his daughter on his own after his wife met an untimely death. Byul was not sure but she overheard it once.  They said it was a burglary that went wrong. The man panicked, overwhelmed by fear when he got caught by Mr. Jung's wife. The latter tried to stop the man but it was too late, he pulled the trigger and left the woman bleeding alone. Mr. Jung was not around at that time as he was on a business trip. Mrs. Jung and their barely a year-old daughter are the only ones present at that time.


Byul thinks that they've found refuge with each other. Her mother longs for a loving husband while Mr. Jung longs for a wife and a mother to his only daughter.

They moved to a newly-bought house of Mr. Jung. A new house where they could build new memories and leave their past behind.

Byul actually likes him but she could not help but feel wary with strangers. Even people who are close to you are capable of hurting you, what more if it is a stranger? Aside from that, she feels like an outsider. She feels like she's intruding them. She feels like she is not supposed to step inside their own bubble. She knows that she's unwanted. She thought that Mr. Jung may not show it to her that but she just knows. She doesn't even want herself so what makes other people want her? Her own mother doesn't even want her. Maybe if her mother were given the chance to throw her out, she would do it with a heartbeat. Byul wouldn't blame her mother though. It's just that she had already accepted her fate. She may be young but she already has a grasp of how the world works.

Her eyes are upon the little Jung who is still grabbing her hand as if she were so important. Byul could not help but be jealous of Wheein, Mr. Jung's 2-year old daughter. She's jealous because Wheein doesn't know anything. Wheein can laugh all she wants and everyone would be on their knees. Wheein can't feel how empty she is. Wheein can't feel how unwanted she is. Wheein can't feel all the sadness because she still doesn't know how the world works and she envied that. She envied how innocent Wheein was.

She yanked her hand away from Wheein and ran away. Her mother yelled at her for making Wheein cry. She took one last glance from her back, her mother picked Wheein up and cooed her before she closed the door as quietly as possible.

//

She woke up with a start, cold sweat all over her body. She gasped, trying to breathe properly as her chest constricted with pain. Sunlight peeks through from the gaps of her blinds which brightened up her room. Her room. She was actually surprised when Mr. Jung said that she has her own room. He actually gave her the freedom to decorate her room in which she chose a pastel pink wallpaper. She also wanted to stick glow-in-the-dark stars on her ceiling but she's too shy to ask so she said that the wallpaper was enough.

She went downstairs, her mother just finished cooking her breakfast. Wheein was sitting on her baby seat, playing with her food which is scattered all throughout her face. Byul tried to hide her look of disgust because of Wheein's sight.

Mr. Jung already left since his plate was already on the sink. Her mother hastily cleaned her hands and dried it off.

"Byulyi, I'm going out for a bit. Eat your breakfast and wash the dishes. Take care of Wheein."

"Wheein?" she trailed off.

Her mother gave her a stern look so she kept quiet.

"Clean her up after she finishes her food, alright?" when she didn't answer, her mother asked her again in which she weakly muttered a yes.

"Don't make her cry and don't pick on her." her mother's last words before she closed the door, hurrying to avail for a sale in the supermarket.

Now, it's all her and Wheein.

"What?" she asks when Wheein stared at her.

After eating her breakfast, she immediately finished her chore then dried the plates before placing it on the rack. Now, what is she going to do? It's Saturday and there were no pending assignments. She doesn't know if she should be thankful or not.

Wheein started to get noisy with all her baby talk. Byul frowned and went next to her to clean the dirty baby.

"You're so noisy."

"ABUUABABABA." she sighs when Wheein kept on blabbering nonsense.

"You know, when I was your age, I could speak longer sentences. You're already old but you still can't speak." she reprimanded the child while wiping her baby cheeks with wet wipes but then at that moment, she remembered what she overheard about what the two adults talked over one night. Mr. Jung said that Wheein might have witnessed the death of her mother. She was found by the police inside a closet, barely moving. She was still so young at that time so she might have forgotten about it  now but the trauma has greatly affected her speech ability. Due to that, it delayed her language development thus the reason of her just baby talking or just babbling.

She carries Wheein out from her seat and put her on the floor. Wheein stood up but then her legs were wobbly and could not support her body so she crashed on the floor. Luckily, her fell first and the diaper acted as a cushion.

Byul shook her head, clearly not amused at the child.

"You can't even stand on your own," she said as she picked her up and held her wrist, guiding the toddler into the living room where her toys were located.

Byul sat on the floor, looking uninterested. Wheein kept on blabbering nonsense to her, occasionally giving her toys to play with which Byul would put aside.

"YA!" Wheein must have noticed that Byul was not paying her attention and yelled.

Did she hear it right?

"YA? Did you just yelled 'YA!' at me?" she asked, disbelief evident on her voice.

"Let me tell you, I'm older than you! I'm 9 and you're just 2 and you had the guts to address me informally?" she ranted. As young as she was, Byul was conscious about manners and this toddler right in front of her doesn't have an ounce of respect in her bones. She stood up and pointed at herself repeatedly, emphasizing herself.

"I'm your unnie! UNNIE!" she huffed and Wheein just giggled at her. She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Why do I even bother? It's not like you can understand me."  Just right on time, her mother arrived with groceries in tow. After helping her, she went inside her room and locked herself.

//

Byul watches from far away as students and parents alike were going out of the school gates. She smiled bitterly as she clutched the medal on her hand. It was their annual sports fest in their school. She participated in a 40-meter and 100-meter sprint. She lost and won, respectively. With a gash on her knee, she walked home. At her first event, because of nervousness, she fell flat on the ground and ended up with a bleeding knee. On the second one, she still participated despite her teacher's advice. Imagine how happy she was when she ended up proving them wrong and won the race even with an aching knee. She just gritted through it and won.

She entered the house with a wailing Wheein on her mother's arms with Mr.Jung beside her, cooing. She softly closed the door and sneaked inside. Before she closed the door, she heard Wheein laugh and was followed by the two adults.

//

Byul woke up with a start, her eyes wet from tears, her forehead with cold sweat. She wiped it away with her blanket and laid back again on her bed. She glanced at the clock and it was barely midnight.

Nightmares kept on haunting her. She wanted to scream but she could not. Not when she would disturb the whole neighborhood in the middle of the night. She accidentally let out a sob but closed with her hand. She forced her eyes to close and let all of this pass but when she heard the door creaking, she stilled. She held her breath and stopped making any noise. Her heart jumped out of her chest when she felt her bed dipping.

"ADDDEIYANNWE." she almost pushed Wheein away and let her fall, luckily she stopped herself when she recognized the small hands tapping her face.

She sat up and faced her.

"What are you doing here? How did you even get here?" she asked knowing that Wheein wouldn't even answer.

Either she escaped from her mother and Mr.Jung's bed or she escaped from her crib. A few months passed already and Wheein can finally walk. Maybe her walk training with her when her mom and Mr. Jung are out finally paid off.

"Go back," she whispered and gestured for her to get out of her bed but Wheein just giggled and smiled, her dimples making a show.

"Whatever. I don't care if you fall. You chose this, okay? Don't blame me if I kicked you accidentally." she said and turned her back from Wheein.

She covered herself with her blanket, leaving Wheein with a little portion to cover herself and tried to sleep, however, it never came. She sighed and turned around, facing Wheein who was about to fall asleep, her eyes drooping. Suddenly, the toddler patted her cheeks and slept. Not long after, Byul followed.

Byul stirred from her sleep when she heard someone yelling. She felt Wheein stirring a bit but with gentle pats on her and coos, she immediately fell asleep. Byul almost fell from her bed and realized how close she was on the edge. Wheein occupied almost 85% of her bed and got 90% of her blanket. That must be the reason why she feels so cold. She shuffled on the floor and gently went out of her room, closing the door gently.

She bumped into her mother, followed with Mr. Jung, their faces filled with worry. Her mother grabbed her from her shoulders and asked, "Have you seen Wheein? She was sleeping in our room but when we woke up, she was gone!" her voice wavered a bit. "W-we looked everywhere b-but,"

"She's in my room. She sneaked inside in the middle of the nig-" before she could even finish her sentence, the adults ran towards her room and checked on Wheein.

Byul went downstairs and filled her bowl with cereals and milk. She made her way in the living room and turned the television on, turning it on max volume and drowned any noises from upstairs.

//

It became a routine. Wheein learned how to open the doorknob with ease instead of rattling on it on many attempts. S