A four-year-old little girl was sitting on the porch of their house as she saw a couple of cars stop at the house across from hers. She watched the two adults get out of the vehicle, inspecting the house and the streets, looking around smiling while five men started unloading the trucks, bringing boxes and furniture inside the house. They had two little boys, one of them might have been a few years older than her, the other seemed the same age. The younger ran around the older in excitement, shouting and flailing his arms. The older just stood there and his eyes wandered over the house across from theirs, where the little girl was. He waved at her, beaming, as she stood up to have a better glance at them when her mother called her name, saying dinner was ready. She turned tail and rushed in her house, leaving the new neighbors there.

“That's my doll. Give it back!” The angry four-year-old stomped her feet on the playground. A brown haired, round-faced boy was grabbing on the said doll, then swung it in every direction, finally causing the little girl to cry. “You’re so mean!” She screamed and tried to catch her precious toy. The boy just laughed and held it above his head.

“This is the ugliest doll in the world, just throw it away.” he told her grimly.

The little girl whimpered under his arms, trying to jump and reach the doll again, when another boy walked towards them. He was a bit older than the other two, just a few years, his features were similar to the younger boy, indicating they were siblings. He shot a displeasing look towards the younger and cleared his throat when he reached them.

“Johnny, I told you not to be mean.”

“Simon!” the girl ran towards him and grabbed his shirt on the sides with both hands. “He stole my toy and pulled my hair again. He doesn't give it back.” She blubbered with teary eyes. 

Simon patted her little head and reassured her that Johnny would give her toy back and would never dare to pull her hair again. He stepped closer to Johnny who still had a firm grip on the doll with furious eyes and pouting lips. Simon gently asked him, in his sweetest voice, to give the doll back to the girl and apologize. The younger rolled his eyes but he was unable to put any resistance to his brother. He muttered a quick and quiet sorry to her, then threw the doll in front of her legs, storming away. Simon bent down and picked up the toy, giving it back to her. She took her toy and made sure to dust it off neatly. Simon watched her soft movements and smiled to himself, reaching out and wiping her tears. She gazed up on him, her eyes still glimmering from her tears. Upon seeing his sweet and warm smile, she mimicked his action and smiled back at him, thanking him for his help. 

“I'll talk to him, okay? Don't worry, he'll not bother you ever again, I promise. Okay?”

She nodded.

“Let's go home, shall we?” He reached out his hand and she held onto it, Simon leading the way to their houses. 

The five-year-old girl sat on her heels, eagerly watching the eight-year-old Simon writing words in the sand with a stick. The salty air filled their noses as the wind blew around them, while the ocean waves' crashing sound could be heard in the distance. 

“This is how you write your name.” he moved the stick in front of her. “Like this, Hye, mi.”

She was holding a stick in her hands while copying his movements. “And show me how you write your name again.”

“Okay, let's try it together, shall we?” he moved his stick in the stand, the characters in a perfect way.

She finished at the same time as him then examined her work. Her little sloppy looked awful next to Simon's neat writing. She plopped down on her and crossed her arms over her chest, after throwing the stick away.

“Mine is ugly.” 

“Don't say that.” He patted her head. “It's your first time, it's nice. You did a great job.” Just as he was encouraging her to try again, Johnny ran down the shore, trampling their writing as he was playing with a colorful kite.

“Johnny!” she whined, staring daggers at him.

Johnny stopped abruptly as he saw the disapproving look on his brother's face. Simon nodded and Johnny said sorry, just as their parents called them to eat their sandwiches.

“Hey. Heeeeey Earth to Hyemi.” Johnny wiggled his fingers in front of Hyemi’s face, trying to catch her attention.

“Sorry.” She averted her gaze to him, raising her eyebrow. “What do you want?”

He snorted and rolled his eyes. “Oh wow. You sure hurt my feelings every damn time you open your mouth.”

“Don't be dramatic Johnny.” She brushed his words off and looked out the window again while scratched the head of a fluffy, cream colored ragdoll cat on her lap. They were sitting in her room, talking about the new college semester when her attention travelled back in time, bringing her to those nostalgic memories. “Do you remember when we went to Wangsan beach with our families?” she asked.

“Yeah, we’ve been there a few times, of course I remember. Why?” he tilted his head as he studied her carefully.

She let out a small sigh and shrugged. “Nothing. Repeat what you’ve just said.”

He brushed off the odd question regarding the beach and cleared his throat. “So, as I was saying before.” He emphasized. “Haechan had told me to meet him at the entrance. He has something for us. Tell Nari to come too, she's still not speaking to me.”

“Well, next time you'll think before you tell her she's the messiest and clumsiest person on Earth.”

“But she is. She brakes a plate or mug every other day and when she’s brushing her hair in the living room she would always leave a small hairball on the coffee table. First time I thought your cat coughed up a furball or something but no, it was Park Nari’s red hair, crumpled into a ball.” he complained.

Hyemi packed a few books into her backpack and glanced at Johnny. “She's also ironing your shirts.”

“I thank her that all the time.” He defensively held his hands in front of him.

“Johnny, you can be a jerk to me because you've been a jerk to me all my life, but you can't treat your other friends like this. You told her she’s not a real woman and that she’s disgusting.”

“I treat her just good. I just told her to tidy up her room.” he groaned loudly. 

“Still.”

“What if it's Haechan? Can I be a jerk to him?” He asked and she thought about it for a second, nodding. Haechan was the weirdest but also the cutest person in the world in Hyemi’s opinion.

“If it's Haechan he probably deserves it.” She agreed and a triumphant smile plastered on Johnny's face. 

Regardless, his eyebrows rose and he poked her side. “I'm not a jerk since middle school.”

Hyemi shook her head with closed eyes and sighed. “Yeah whatever you say Johnny Suh.”

“How are you?” He suddenly asked, causing her eyes flatter open. It was so Johnny. He would always say or ask the most random things at the most random times. She was used to it by now, since their relationship has gone a long way. Apart from their bickering when they had been children, they became really close when they started middle school. They had fought and bickered continuously of course, but they had been there for each other and protected the other. Just like real siblings.

She was busy the cat’s spine, avoiding Johnny’s eyes. “I'm fine.” She managed to say and looked up to see Johnny giving her his usual expression of doubt. “I really am. I've slept through the night. Without a nightmare.”

“That's good then. Shall we have frozen yogurt on our way?”

“Sure.” She agreed and stood up. “I'll change in a minute and we can go.”

Johnny hummed and laid back on her bed, spreading his arms and legs. The cat jumped beside him and meowed so he would notice the need of attention. While scratching the cat’s ear he peeked to his side, seeing Hyemi browsing through the clothes in her closet. She grabbed a beige knitted dress with buttons lining down one of her shoulders to the end of the fabric. 

“Nice one for a first day.” He teased and she scowled at him. She is more like the tomboy kind of girl, but she made a promise to Nari to try dressing more like a woman.

She disappeared into the bathroom and got dressed quickly while Johnny was snoring in her bed. After coming back, she opened a light pink jewelry box and grabbed her favorite beaded hoop earrings. She put them on and her rosegold watch on her wrist, then as a final touch she put on light makeup. Her pinkish hair, that now reached her shoulders, was in beach waves, she didn't even bother to brush it, still looked stylish. Johnny sat up and when she nodded at him, he stood up and grabbed the white backpack, giving it to her. She thanked him and put it on her back, before adjusting the sheets on the bed that Johnny crumpled, then gave a goodbye kiss to the animal.

Before putting on his shoes, Johnny ran into his room to grab his bag, then ran back to the kitchen. He grabbed a sticky note and a pen and wrote a sweet apologizing message to Nari, sticking it on her door. He then rushed back to the living room area to grab his wallet at last.

Hyemi, Nari and Johnny have been living together in a three-bedroom and two-bathroom apartment in the heart of Seoul since their sophomore year. Nari has been a close friend of Hyemi since elementary school, getting close to Johnny since he’d been kind of attached to Hyemi all day. Haechan had joined their clique in second grade and the four of them remained friends throughout their school years so it was not even a question that they would attend the same college, Johnny, Nari and Hyemi later deciding to live together. At first, Nari's parents had been skeptical of the idea, knowing very well that Johnny was a sweet talker playboy, but after they saw the apartment and realized Johnny would have his own bathroom and after a heart to heart talk with Johnny’s and Hyemi’s parents they were convinced it wasn't a bad idea to let the kids live together. Johnny was reliable, protecting the two girls from everything on a range of creepy old men to handsome young guys. He was strong, helping out with the shopping, always struggling the heaviest stuff up to their apartment, and he was funny, always lightning up the mood when the girls felt down. All in all, it was beneficial for all. 

“Did you message Nari?” Johnny asked on the way to Hanyang University. She nodded as they hopped on the bus. 

“She'll be there.”

“Good.” Johnny nodded. They found two seats and sat down, Hyemi staring out the window, her mind traveling back in time once again.

“Simon Oppa!” the girl in her new school uniform spun around. “What do you think? Pretty?” She asked, waiting for his answer.

Simon nodded and smiled, then patted the top of her head as he always did. “Mhm.” He nodded again. “Pretty.”

“Now that I go to school, can you teach me how to write properly?”