Kim Sunggyu knocked gently on the surface of the wooden door, gracing his face was a small smile, reserved only for those who mattered enough for him. The somber old man across the room returned it with a half-hearted one. Sunggyu didn’t mind it one bit. The aged man was merely tired, trying to stabilize a dying company, while worrying about your children, sort of did that to you. Not that Sunggyu knew anything about that, not that he knew anything about parents worrying about him, but Sunggyu liked to think he could understand his uncle’s pain.

He stepped into the darkened room, the curtains blocking out the harsh sunlight from the outside. His smile didn’t waver as the old man motioned him to come closer with a fatherly smile. Lee Hwang Hee had always been Sunggyu’s father, regardless that they didn’t even have a single drop of the other’s blood in their veins.

“How are you, sir?” Sunggyu asked out of both formalities and concern. He sat at the chair opposite Hwang Hee’s desk and observed the older man’s actions. Hwang Hee merely returned the gesture, smiling softly and nodding slowly.

“I’ve been better, but the company has never seen anything worse.” The old man chuckled airily, his fingers lacing as he propped both his elbows on top of the wooden desk. The air around him was far from the usual light and cheery atmosphere that Sunggyu had been used to. “…I’m at a loss of what to do, Sunggyu. I apologize if this old man might seem so useless, today.”

“It’s not your fault, sir.”

“Oh, but it is.” Hwang Hee flashed a small smile, one that though showed how tired the old man was, with wrinkles adorning his worn face, still emitted a warm aura. “I am the CEO of Lee enterprises. I was supposed to see this coming; I was supposed to prevent anything like this from happening. And yet, right under my nose, my own workers cheat me out of the company’s money. How ironic that a finance group’s main problem would revolve around bankruptcy, do you not think so, son?”

“It’s not your fault, uncle.” Sunggyu repeated, trying to be softer this time. It seemed to him that his uncle might collapse sometime soon. “Sun Kyeol was not trained for this, even though she was the first daughter. And Sungyeol is still studying –”

“And that’s the problem, isn’t it?” Hwang Hee pursed his lips. “I was too competent with my abilities. I made my daughter into a princess, fearing that a lady would never suit the complicated life of business; I doubted her ability. And Sungyeol is simply too young, he’s still a child – he isn’t to be exposed to these kinds of cheating so early in his life. But in the end though, I’m still to blame. It was still my decision to not involve my children in work, and perhaps the company is paying the price.”

“What would my problems be, if only I had you as my son, Sunggyu.” He commented wistfully. Hwang Hee shook the thoughts out of his head, and instead, smiled encouragingly at the younger man. “I’m sorry, perhaps that was a bit too much. Would you like something to drink, Sunggyu?”

Sunggyu shook his head, out of politeness, and the two were surrounded by a veil of silence. The younger of the two hung his head low, his eyes closed as he tried to calm himself.

Sunggyu caught the glint of a silver ring from his finger. His hand clenched into a fist and he let out a breath to steady himself. With his head still bowed down, he made his decision.

“I might have a solution for you, sir.” Sunggyu bit his lip and closed his eyes for a few moments, trying to recollect himself. This was for everything the old man had done for him; he tried reasoning with his conscience. Hwang Hee was the father Sunggyu had never had. His family was his own. “That is, if you’ll take it.”

Hwang Hee nodded solemnly.

“By all means, boy; I’m open for anything.”

He calmed his nerves and looked up to meet Hwang Hee’s eyes.

Two and a half hours later, he stood by the door to her apartment and steeled himself. Sunggyu played with the silver ring in his palm as he waited for his girlfriend to answer the door.

.oOo.

“Mother, you called?” Lee Sun Kyeol smiled warmly as she entered the room. The curtains were drawn, the soft, afternoon glow filling the room. Sun Kyeol had always loved the orange sky’s light, but somehow, for some strange reason, it seemed to glow brighter today, as if indicating something good was to happen that day.

Some said she was the splitting image of her mother; Sun Kyeol wasn’t sure where they had gotten that bit of information though. Her mother, she thought, was more beautiful than anything she could hope for. She was already in her “golden age” as they had said, and yet it did not seem as if she aged a day over forty. Lee Ryeowon was still as gorgeous as her peak days, if not more.

Ryeowon bit her lip lightly, before she pat the open seat beside her, motioning for the young woman to sit beside him. With a questioning look on her porcelain face, Sun Kyeol did as she was told. She shuffled over towards her mother with a bright smile. As soon as she sat down, Ryeowon took her hands in hers, bringing them up to chest level while her eyes were trained on Sun Kyeol only.

“Honey, you know that appa’s business isn’t going as… well, as we had hoped, right?” Ryeowon asked in a gentle manner, as if she was talking to a child.

Sun Kyeol nodded solemnly; though generally considered as a “sheltered” child, Sun Kyeol was by no means naïve towards family matters. She had overheard her father’s phone call to Sungyeol, who was currently studying business abroad by the wish of their father, about the company’s current state of distress. Sun Kyeol was not too knowledgeable when it came to their family business, she wasn’t even entirely sure what the company did, but she knew enough about her father to know that he disturbing Sungyeol’s studies meant something serious.

“Well, there is some news that might be able to brighten up the situation.” Ryeowon’s grip on her daughter’s hands tightened, and Sun Kyeol had to wince at the unfamiliar force exerted. With a firm smile placed on her lips, the mother continued, her tone still gentle as if she was lecturing a small child.

“Well, isn’t that good, mom?” Sun Kyeol offered, her grin brightening. The business situation brightening up meant a lot of things; one would be that no one in her father’s company would have to resign; she had grown very fond of them due to her constant visits. The other was that Sungyeol’s studies would not be affected; his studies being affected meant that he would need to take several classes to make-up for it, thus, even lesser time to talk to her on the phone.

However, the problem in the business lightening up also meant that Sunggyu would stop coming over to discuss ideas.

Sun Kyeol thought that had been the only perk in the situation, despite the tolls it brought upon her father. She knew it was selfish of her, but then again, Sunggyu was far too busy with their own family’s hotel chains to spend any more time with her, his childhood friend. The past few weeks were the most he had seemed to show his concern for her, as he had frequently asked how she was during his visits, and chatted with her about trivial things when he needed a break. It almost seemed as if they were children again, with no other worry than to keep their clothes clean.

“I am so sorry. You are my child, my daughter at that. To have deprived you of this; I seemed to have failed as a mother. I’m so sorry, Sun Kyeol.” By now, Ryeowon was tearing up, her doe-eyes getting glossier by the second. “You deserve to make your own decisions, to choose your own path. I am so sorry, to have to decline you of that privilege. My daughter…”

This started to confuse her though; her smile was lost and instead, replaced with a frown.

“Mother, what are you talking about?” Sun Kyeol questioned. She squeezed her mother’s hands, trying to calm the older woman down. Ryeowon took a deep breath and finally explained the situation to her daughter, who sat frozen as she listened to every word.

.oOo.

“It’s all over the news, you know. Oh, my poor, little girl. Your boyfriend is getting married, and it’s not even to you.”

Bae Shin Ah kept quiet as she continued folding the clothes, all washed and dried earlier, into neat piles beside her. It was a weird habit of hers, to do housework when she was upset, especially if one considered the fact that she hated doing any sort of home-related activity. Shin Ah would rather go out for as long as she could, than stay in the hell hole she called home.

Then again, it wasn’t always like this. She, too, once had a perfect little family. She, too, once had something she held so dearly as “home”.

But that time was long gone. Shin Ah continued folding clothes instead, separating whites from coloured as she piled them into neat rows.

“What’s this? Hey brat, are you ignoring your own mother now?” Bae Jinyoung scoffed, but did not move from her spot under the doorway. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she stared at Shin Ah’s back. “I get it. You’re upset that your dear old mother had been right, in the end. You know that he’s on a completely different level from you, of course that it would turn out this way. Only the rich marry the rich, the poor are destined to be alone, wallowing in self-pity."

Shin Ah stopped and dropped her hands on her lap. She turned slowly and met her mother’s – could she even call her that? – eyes with her cold ones.

“Could you shut up about this hierarchy you have kept on bringing up once you found out just how ‘well-off’ Sunggyu was. You never had a problem with him before this – hell you never even bothered with anything concerning me until you found out how rich my boyfriend was.” Shin Ah retorted with a blank look on her face. Shin Ah stared into her mother’s eyes, daring her to counter.

Jinyoung laughed mockingly at her. “Because I’m your mother, you little brat, of course I would bother with you. I told you before that he was only playing with you – poor people like us are just toys for them, just something to pass their time while they wait for their happily ever after. If it wasn’t now, that Sunggyu whoever, would have done so anyway later."

“And how many times do I have to tell you, Sunggyu is nothing like that!” she screeched. Shin Ah was not sure when she had stood up, but the next thing she knew, she was already a mere few inches away from her mother.

“You brat…” Jinyoung shook her head. She closed her eyes and gave a soft sigh.

Shin Ah’s mother had been beautiful once, she remembered. But years of depression and abandonment issues had aged her a lot – though it wouldn’t show on her physical features at one glance, Jinyoung had kept her physique perfectly fit, her eyes told the story anyway. Jinyoung now, was just a mess. A mess, yes, but a mess who experienced firsthand what love would pain you with.

“You kid; won’t even listen to your own mother. Trust me on this, won’t you? Don’t make the same mistakes I did.”

.oOo.

Lee Sungyeol was awoken by the voice on the intercom, telling all the passengers of the plane to fasten their seatbelts as they would be arriving shortly. Taking off the eye mask given to him by his sister, he yawned and did as he was told, albeit slightly against his will. Sungyeol had always put his precious time for sleep amongst his top priority, to suddenly be deprived of that when he had been slaving over school for the past few months, made him a tad bit irritated. Not to mention he had always been a light sleeper, thus, making public sleep the least comfortable thing he could have. The hours [had it been hours? It felt only like minutes to him] when he had his eyes closed could hardly be called sleeping; power naps would be a more appropriate term.

He shook the thoughts out of his head though. Who cared about deprived sleeping time, when in a few more minutes, he would be able to return to South Korea? The thought brought a smile on his face. He was going back home. He would be able to see her face to face, again.

Sungyeol hadn’t realized the plane was already slowing down to a stop, the other passengers standing up to get in line for the exit. He decided to stay a little while longer, waiting for the other people to file out. It was already half-past one am, no one would be waiting for him back home, anyway. It was a pain as well, having to squeeze in with such a number of people.

He saw an elderly woman, struggling to get the bag inside the overhead bin. Sungyeol reached for the baggage inside with ease, giving it to the elder woman gently with a bright smile. “Here you go, ma’am.” He said. The older woman returned his gesture with a soft smile as he stepped aside to let her pass and exit the cabin first.

“What a nice young man. There should be more boys like you in today’s generation. Thank you very much.” She said in one breath, nodding at him and moving towards the exit. Sungyeol’s smile dropped, and with it, the shine in his eyes had also gone.

It was exactly people like him that shouldn’t be in this world, he thought. Seeing as there were no other passengers, he grabbed his duffel bag from the overhead bin and walked away.

Sungyeol kept thinking about what the older woman in the cabin had said, continuously, he kept contradicting her. Standing in front of the baggage conveyor belt, he glanced at the people rushing past him, and those who were holding signs over their heads, waiting for their loved ones to come home to South Korea. He snorted and waited patiently for his suitcase, no one would be waiting for him at this hour, anyway, he reasoned.

Sungyeol was normally someone who liked to rush; he liked getting things done faster. But that was not the case for right now. Sungyeol didn’t have a reason to rush, no reason to quicken his pace. He spotted his bag a few minutes later, and hauled it just before it passed him by.

With a sigh, Sungyeol adjusted the strap of his duffel bag and dragged his suitcase behind him.

He was glancing around, brightening at the sight of Hangeul instead of Kanji. Japan was amazing, and he was adjusting well, but there was no place like South Korea for him. He was born here, raised here; and yet for the prime of his life, he had been sent off to Japan. It wasn’t like he had a choice, though. He was grateful for Hwang Hee, his foster father, and if taking over his business was the only way to repay the man then screw his dreams of owning his own café. Lee Enterprises came first.

A figure bumped into him from behind, crashing against his shoulder. The person kept mumbling apologies, bowing repeatedly as if that would right his wrong. Sungyeol nodded in acknowledgment and the young man ran off again, towards where he thought was the exit of the airport. Sungyeol watched the young man jump into the open arms of a young woman, before grinning brightly at the young boy struggling to stay awake. The sight made him smile softly, wondering if he, too, would be able to do something as heart-warming as that someday.

Sungyeol shook his head though. It wouldn’t be good to dwell in dreams, dreams that would never come true.

He saw a sign though, one he never expected. It was already a quarter past two am, he was late in exiting the airport and his flight was delayed for an hour and a half – his expected time of arrival was earlier than when he had landed. There shouldn’t be anyone that would be willing to fetch him, especially since he was in Incheon airport, and their home had been in the heart of Seoul.

And yet there was. Standing, shining brightly amongst others was his sister, Lee Sun Kyeol. She was holding up a banner over her head, one that read “Choding Sungyeol”.

He found himself smiling, his eyes lighting up for the first time again in a few months. Sungyeol dragged his luggage, sprinting as his eyes were trained only on her. Sun Kyeol grinned brightly, dropping the banner and waving at him. Sungyeol dropped the duffel bag and let go of his suitcase, enclosing his older sister in a tight hug instead. She buried her face in his chest, too short to reach the crook of his neck. Her arms encircled his shoulder and he squeezed her even tighter.

“Welcome back, Sungyeol.” She mumbled.

Nothing mattered. He was home.

A/N: Re-upload due to some technical problems. :c sorry if I'm borbading you guys. Anywho - just like earlier; still just introductions for the four mains. Will get to the second chapter soon enough. c:

P.S.: Banner? *_* Or no banner?