How lucky can a person get to find someone new after losing the greatest love of their life? The only person they have ever loved? Seungwan was genuinely happy for her mother, to witness her pillar found light after all the heartbreak and grief they both had gone through for the past years is rewarding to say the least. 

 

Was it really luck though? Or was it destiny? Maybe her dad was destined to spend his life with Seungwan’s mom, while her mom is destined to spend the rest of hers with someone else.

 

Seungwan thinks, maybe, that’s just how destiny works, even if she doesn’t understand it.

 

Mr Bae is a good person, he has sincere feelings towards her mother. And so far, he has treated Seungwan like his real daughter, right even before this marriage. Seungwan, in return, has given him nothing but respect.

 

They’re going to be a family after all.

 

Howbeit, there’s someone who doesn’t seem to like the idea of a family.

 

Out of the corner of her eye, Seungwan can’t help but notice on how done Joohyun looks with what was happening, they are seated together at the wedding reception given that they’re the children of the groom and bride.

 

For the record, the older girl was done since she first discovered their parents’ relationship. She maybe even didn’t expect that they will end up getting married. Seungwan doesn’t know Joohyun’s story, she feels like she doesn’t have the right to invalidate how the girl is coping with this new set up.  

 

“How about we get a message from the lovely daughters of our newly wed?” The MC asks with so much enthusiasm, pointing towards their direction. “Oh look, they’re both, oh, so beautiful,” he comments as he walks to them.

 

Seungwan feels Joohyun stiffened. Both of them didn’t expect that they had to have a speech. As a good person she is, she will buy the older girl time to think of what to say, she grabs the mic that the MC was handing over to Joohyun and stands up.

 

“Hi,” she starts off with an awkward smile.

 

“Well, hello there, our very amazing singer,” the MC responds, clapping and urging the guests to mirror his action, to which they did, “aside from the, perhaps, most beautiful rendition of a thousand years I have ever heard, what else can you offer to our newly wed?”

 

“Oh thank you,” Seungwan bows shyly, scratching her head. She loves to sing, really, but when it’s time for compliment, it’s dreading and she always doesn’t have an idea how to respond, “I-uh, I just want to say congrats to my mom, and, uh, Mr Bae…”

 

The MC just looks at her playfully, wiggling his eyebrows when she didn’t say anything else.

 

Seungwan breathes out, “Well, I’m very happy for them,” she chuckles to herself quietly, feeling more embarrassed when she can’t think of anything else to say.

 

Was there really something else to say aside from “congrats” and “I’m happy”? Perhaps, threaten Mr Bae to treat her mother right or else… Seungwan immediately snaps it off, thinking that’s very inappropriate.

 

“And…” The MC is urging her for more.

 

“And, thank you, Seungwan,” Mr Bae butts in when she seems to stopped functioning, “I’m thankful to have another daughter that is equally beautiful as my Joohyun, not just that, but is also very smart and talented, very much like her mother,” he smiles at Seungwan and then at his wife. He is genuine, that, Seungwan can’t deny.

 

Joohyun then just stands up and walks out, Seungwan heard her almost inaudibly saying she’s going to the restroom.

 

“Well, I guess, we can have a little dance in the meantime while we wait for your daughter to get back with her message,” the MC announces and everyone cheers.

 

 

-

 

 

One thing is for sure, Seungwan hates party, hates family gatherings even more. She bails as soon as the adults started dancing, drinking, and just having the time of their lives. She isn’t close with her relatives on her mother’s side, only her grandmother from her biological father’s side was invited to the wedding (grandma stays close with her mother), and she knows no one from Mr Bae’s relatives and friends.  She initially wanted to walk around The Shore hotel and enjoy the night view of Jeju Island, but she figures, they have few more days to stay and to actually experience the island, plus she’s tired, so there’s enough reasons for her to go back to her hotel room.

 

Seungwan’s phone rings as soon as she flung herself on the twin sized bed. She let out a loud groan before picking up her phone.

 

“What’s up?” she answers the call without looking at the caller ID.

 

“How’s your summer vacation?” She knows exactly who the caller was the moment she heard the most annoying How’s your summer vacation? ever.

 

“Super.”

 

“Son Seungwan.”

                                                                    

“Park Sooyoung.”

 

“You sound ing dull.”

 

“I’m just tired.”

 

“What makes Son Seungwan tired when all she does is binge watch sci-fi movies in her free time? Nerd.”

 

Seungwan sits up at her best friend’s remark, feeling offended, “Hey, that’s not true.”

 

“It is as legit as Park Sooyoung being the prettiest girl from Reve High School.”

 

“You know I’m sporty, right? I am part of our varsity golf team—” She tries to argue but Sooyoung interrupts her with her loud, loud laughter.

 

“Golf! Like it’s an athletic sport.”                   

 

“It is! It requires physical skill, precision and strate—” She tries to explain how golf is an athletic sport, yet again, Sooyoung interrupts her with her teasing laughter. 

 

How Seungwan wishes she’s with her best friend at this very moment so she can smack her face or have her in headlock or probably kill her.

 

Seungwan thinks of a better idea, lower Park Sooyoung’s excessive self-esteem. “You do know Bae Joohyun attends the same school, right? That only means, you aren’t the prettiest—”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“I said—”

 

“I just heard my name.”

 

Seungwan almost jumps out of the bed when she heard that voice. She looks up and immediately locks gazes with Bae Joohyun, standing at the balcony door. The older girl is looking at her with suspicion, she has narrow eyes and tighten lips, making Seungwan quivers in panic.

 

“H-how, how long have you been there?” Seungwan asks, her eyes remains wide in shock. “Who’s there?” she hears Sooyoung asks on the other line.

 

“Before you were even here,” Joohyun replies, walking towards the other twin sized bed. Her outfit confirms that she was in the room for quite some time now, she is out of her dress and is already in her pyjamas. “You forgot, dad booked one room for us?”

 

“Son Seungwan, who’s that?”

 

 “I-I just didn’t see you! I thought you’re still out.”

 

“Well, I’m not.”

 

“You’re in the balcony?”

 

“Smoked.”

 

“Y-you smoke?”

 

Joohyun rolls her eyes, “Who are you talking to? And why are you talking about me?”

 

Seungwan immediately avoids eye contact from the girl, she can feel the heat rises up her face. She keeps thinking if she said anything about Joohyun being pretty.

 

Did she say anything?

                                                                                                                                                            

“What the ? Is that Bae Joo—” ing annoying Sooyoung. Seungwan ends the call without saying goodbye to her friend, only for her to receive another call. She rejects the call, opens her messaging app, and sends her friend a text message: stop calling, we’ll talk later, promise.

 

Sooyoung replies in a heartbeat: you’re dead to me, promise.

 

She will deal with her furious friend later. Right now, she have Joohyun to be dealt with. “We’re not talking about you,” she denies. Well, they weren’t really talking about the older girl, Seungwan was just stupid enough to use the girl’s name against her best friend.

 

“I’m not the one to eavesdrop, but, when it comes to my name, my ears are sharp, you may want to take note of that.”

 

“Sure…” Seungwan trails away, unsure of what to say. After some time, she guesses that’s the end of conversation when she noticed that Joohyun is lying in her bed with her eyes closed. She lets out a sigh before standing up to go to the bathroom, she has to take off all the make-up and take a shower before sleeping.

 

“Son Seungwan.”

 

Seungwan turns around at the sound of somewhat hesitant calling only to see Joohyun still has her eyes closed. She frowns. Was she hearing things?

 

She is about to enter the bathroom only to hear Joohyun once again, “Can you not tell anyone at school about this?”                                                                                                       

 

“About what?” She asks as she turns to the older girl who now has her eyes open, her expression unreadable.

 

Joohyun shrugs, “Our parent’s marriage.”

 

“You mean, us, being step sisters?” Seungwan raises an eyebrow.

 

 “Yes.”

 

Seungwan rolls her eyes, “As if the school won’t know about it.”

 

“Don’t tell anyone unless they ask?”

 

“Oh no, don’t worry, it’s not something to brag about.”

 

“Good,” Joohyun says with a nod before lying back down on the bed to sleep.

 

Seungwan lets out an exasperated sigh, wondering how she will survive the next few days sharing a room with Joohyun. One second she feels like she wanted to push Joohyun out of the window, because the older girl’s attitude is almost unbearable, the next second, Seungwan feels like she wanted to just stare at the girl, because, she’s actually really… pretty as a picture.                                                                             

 

Seungwan shakes her head when she realized she was doing exactly that, staring openly at the girl who’s trying to get some sleep.

 

Now, that’s creepy, Seungwan.

 

And did Joohyun heard you saying she’s pretty?

Did you really say that?

 

 

-

 

 

A week has passed and they’re back in Seoul. Surprisingly for Seungwan, the last few days in Jeju Island were pleasant, she got to spend her time alone. She told her mother and Mr Bae that their remaining days in Jeju Island were for their honeymoon and that they should enjoy the Island together without their daughters disturbing them. It took time to convince the couple but in the end, they happily complied.

 

Meanwhile, Joohyun was mostly absent. When Seungwan woke up every morning, the older girl was already nowhere to be found. And every time she came back to their hotel room after enjoying the Island alone, she would find Joohyun in her bed, knocked out.

 

It was honestly good. It was everything she wished for.

 

Right now, they’re moving in. They’re moving in together to start a new life as a family.  Seungwan is helping her mother unload the boxes from their car, while Mr Bae along with his hired movers are the ones bringing all their packages and furniture inside their new house.  

 

They could have let the movers do all the work but knowing her very hands-on mother, she is helping. Apparently, it’s the same for Mr Bae, he likes to be included. It’s actually really nice to see because Seungwan was used to see her father being the exact opposite of her step dad. Don’t get her wrong, she loved her father, maybe, more than anyone else, it’s just that he was more of a commander type of man. He was a bigwig, he had men, he had people to do the work for him.

 

Right now, they’re all hands-on but she haven’t seen Joohyun.  “Mom,” she calls.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Is Joohyun even here? Helping?” She asks in doubt, looking around.

 

Her mom looks at her with a pout, “Don’t judge, she’s inside.”

 

“I’m not judging,” Seungwan opposes.

 

“Your tone says otherwise,” her mom points out, laughing.

 

Suddenly, Seungwan feels deaf when a dolphin-like screaming is heard from inside the house.  She and her mother immediately runs inside to find out what’s happening only to see Joohyun standing still as she keeps on screaming and bubbles, Seungwan’s big black labrador retriever, sniffing the stiffed as a pole girl. Her dog’s tail is wagging, she seems to like Joohyun but too bad, the feeling seems to be not mutual.

 

It’s like a comedy scene, Seungwan refrains herself from laughing.

 

“Ahh! Dad!” Joohyuns keeps on screaming, “What the hell is this!?”

 

“It’s a dog, Joohyun,” Mr Bae answers, looking at Seungwan and her mother’s direction. “It’s Seungwan’s.”

                                

“You know I’m scared of dogs!”

 

“Go and talk to her,” her mother whispers, giving her a pat on the back, “I’ll continue with our stuff.”

 

“Hey buddy! Come,” Seungwan calls for her dog as she walks towards the scene. Bubbles, as a good girl she is, immediately runs to her owner.

 

“You don’t have to be scared of…” Mr Bae pats Joohyun’s head, trying to calm her daughter down, “What’s its name, Seungwan?”

 

“Bubbles,” Seungwan answers with a smile, petting her dog, “Her name is Bubbles.”

 

“Bubbles!” Mr Bae acknowledges, “Don’t be scared, she seems lovely.”

 

“Bubbles!?” Joohyun looks at Seungwan in disgusts, “How can you name this big scary looking dog, Bubbles???”                                          

 

Seungwan ceases her brows and tries to explain the reference of her dog’s name, “Because I like bubble tea, and the bubble in the tea, you know, the pearl is black and she is black and I like them—”

 

“I’m saying that it doesn’t fit her!” Joohyun interrupts.

 

“Joohyun, don’t be rude.”

 

“But dad—”

 

“No, we’re not getting rid of the dog. You have to learn how to live with it.”                          

 

Seungwan is dumbfounded, she can’t believe the exchange of words between Joohyun and Mr Bae, the girl is that scared of dogs, it’s almost ridiculous. Shame on her, Seungwan is never going to get rid of her Bubbles.

 

No bubbles, no Seungwan in this household. Period.

 

“I can’t believe this,” Joohyun cries and walks out.           

 

Mr Bae shakes his head in dismay, “I’m sorry about Joohyun. Please understand, she’s really scared of dogs.”

 

“It’s fine, Mr Bae, I’ll make sure Bubbles won’t bother her,” Seungwan assures her step dad.

 

“She barely gets out of her room anyway,” Mr Bae chuckles bitterly. “And, Bubbles seems to be a really good girl, look at her, I’m sure she won’t harm Joohyun,” he proceeds to pet the labrador.

 

“The goodest of all,” Seungwan chuckles, but the “she barely gets out of her room” part doesn’t go unnoticed to her. Joohyun is that homebody? Just exactly like her?

 

“Also, please, you can call me Dad now,” her step dad asks, smiling. He is always so genuine.

 

Seungwan clears , “Okay…”

 

Mr Bae raises an eyebrow playfully.

 

“Dad,” she finally says, but awkwardly and chuckles.

 

“Sounds very nice to me.”

 

Seungwan can only nod.

 

“Lastly, please call Joohyun as unnie, she’s your unnie now.”

 

Unnie.

 

Perhaps, please let Seungwan take her time to call Joohyun that.

 

Though that might not even happen.