During the time of Myungsoo's arrival at his school, T.O.P. High School's wallflower was just waking up to start her day, only about an hour's distance from Myungsoo's current location. Yawning, Soojung sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She sluggishly got on her feet and squinted at her reflection in the full-length mirror on her closet door. With a discontented frown, she brushed her bangs a little over her eyes and put her glasses on to hide her face more. Soojung grabbed her school uniform and went to the bathroom down the hall to get ready for school. 

       Downstairs, her father, dressed in a suit with a pink tie for work, was preparing breakfast with a foreboding look in his usually light-hearted eyes. He set one plate of breakfast on the table. On the plate were two waffles, decorated with heart-shaped strawberry slices and garnished with a tuft of whipped cream on top. Knowing that it was his daughter's favorite breakfast food, he slightly smiled while thinking of what reaction she would have. Mr.Lee sat at the chair at the head of the table, sipping on his cup of tea.

        A couple minutes later, he heard Soojung's light footsteps coming down the stairs. Soojung stopped midway and sniffed the air before squealing in delight. She happily skipped to the kitchen table and beamed at her father.

         "Goodmorning, Daddy!" She greeted her father in English and sat where her food was placed. Of course, that was one of the very few English phrases she knew. She never understood how her father learned different languages so well. 

         "Goodmorning," he answered.

          Soojung felt that something was unusual about her father. He seemed a bit gloomy, and it was odd how he wasn't stuffing his face like he usually did. Instead of sitting right beside her, her father was all the way on the other end of the table that could seat 8 people. Soojung pouted when she saw him drinking his tea with a distant expression. She silently grabbed her plate and fork and got up to move to the chair next to him.

           "Appa, you okay?" Soojung poked her father's shoulder. He snapped out of his daze and looked into his dear daughter's eyes before quickly turning his attention to the cup in his hands.

           "Of course, Soojung-ah. Why wouldn't I be?"

           Soojung sensed false enthusiasm in his reply, but smiled at her father anyway. She grabbed the bottle of syrup on the table and kept pouring a large amount on her waffles, drowning them in the sticky substance. Her father noticed it, and took the bottle away from her before she could turn her breakfast into syrup soup. 

           "Yah, Lee Soojung. Your extreme liking for sweet things is really weird." Mr.Lee shook his head at her and placed the syrup bottle as far away from her as he could. Soojung grinned at him. A loving smile appeared on his face. 

             "Are you excited for the first day of your sophomore year?" he asked, hoping that she would be. It made him sad knowing that his beautiful daughter didn't have any friends at school.

              Soojung groaned and pushed her glasses up before complaining, " No one wants to be my friend. It's like I'm invisible! All the other girls are prettier than me. I'd rather go to work with you!" 

               Most fathers would be happy to know that their daughters loved them so much, but he was worried about how Soojung never socialized with anyone other than family members and how she never had confidence in herself.

          *Soojung-ah, appa can't be with you forever.* He thought with a depressed sigh.

           He glanced at the large glasses she was wearing. Soojung wore them because she wanted to cover up her face, not only because of her vision problems. Back then, he was pleased that she wore them, because he didn't want boys trying to court his pretty daughter. But Soojung thought that she wasn't pretty at all. 

         "My little girl is too pretty for them. Those girls are just jealous of you!' he reassured her, but she rolled her eyes.

         "Appa, you're just saying that because I'm your daughter!"

         "One day, someone will appreciate you for who you are behind those glasses. And that person will be someone worth trusting," her father advised solemnly. Soojung raised an eyebrow at her father and chewed on a mouthful of food. 

         *Hmm. Appa never acts so serious.*

          The silent atmosphere made Soojung uncomfortable and she didn't feel hungry anymore. She got up to throw her food away and get her school bag. Her father was waiting at the front door with the car keys to drive her to school. On the way to T.O.P. High, Soojung noticed that her dad was driving really slow. And by slow, she means 20 miles under the speed limit.

           "Appa, why are you driving like a turtle?" she giggled.

           He cleared his throat and said in a raspy voice, "I just want to spend more time with you before you go to school."

           Soojung nodded. *Appa is being really weird today.*

           When the car stopped in front of the school, she gave her father a hug and was about to open the door when he put a hand on her shoulder. Soojung turned to look at her father.

           "Yes, appa?"

            "Soojung-ah, remember that appa can't always be by your side. You have to stay strong and never forget that I love you with all my heart." Mr.Lee swallowed hard, holding back his tears. Soojung blinked, not understanding why he was being so emotional about her going to school, but nodded. She got out of the car and waved 'bye' to her father before running to the school's doors. Once his daughter was out of sight, Mr.Lee finally let the tears he'd been holding all morning fall.

            *My one and only daughter, appa has to go now.* With one last glance at the school, he started the car and drove away.

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             School finally ended for Woolim High and T.O.P. High. Myungsoo was walking towards his chaeffeur's car with hasty steps. Being held up by a crowd of fangirls was the last thing he wanted to happen. He opened the door to the car and sat in the backseat.

            "Where to, young master?" the middle-aged driver asked. Myungsoo suddenly had a craving for coffee.

            "To the best cafe you know, please!" He requested politely.

            Once they arrived at the shop, Myungsoo told the driver he didn't have to wait for him. The driver reluctantly complied. Myungsoo looked up at the cafe's sign before entering. Lucky 7 Cafe. 

            Inside, the walls were painted lime green. The chairs, tables, and everything else was a slighly darker shade. The female workers wore shimmery, gold sequined shirts with equally shiny skirts. Myungsoo chuckled. Well, the theme was quite interesting. Myungsoo's breath got caught in his throat when he saw the girl working at the register. She had long, flowy brown hair and bright eyes. He couldn't stop himself from staring at her.

             *She's beautiful.*

              "Hello, are you ready to order?" she asked in a cheery tone and flashed Myungsoo a cute smile. He felt his heart stop. 

             "Huh?" he struggled to find words. 

              "What would you like to order?" the cashier repeated slowly, amused.

              "Oh. Umm. Errr. One frappuccino, please!" Myungsoo sputtered, mentally slapping himself for sounding so dumb. She giggled and punched in his order.

              "That'll be $3.25!" 

              He handed her four dollar bills. She reached out her hand to give him his change. A spark went up his arm when her fingertips touched his palm.

               "Your order will be ready in a couple of minutes," she informed him. Myungsoo nodded and sat at a table in a dazed state. While waiting, he kept stealing glances at the girl. His heart froze each time she smiled, and the fact that she seemed to smile every single second didn't help him much. 

              "Excuse me, sir. Your order's ready!" she called out to him. He walked over and took his ice-cold coffee from her. 

              Before turning to leave, Myungsoo blurted, "What's your name?" His face flushed pink and he shyly looked down at his shoes. Instead of being surprised by his outburst, the cashier simply laughed. 

             *There goes my heart again!* Myungsoo thought and gulped.

             "My name's Hanbyul. Park Hanbyul."

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              "Aish. Where'd appa go?" Soojung whined and grumpily stomped towards the front of her house. Oddly, her father didn't pick her up from school and she had to walk all the way home, which was a 20 minute walk. She tried to open the front door, but it was locked. Her father was usually home at that time and he never locked the door when he was. Sighing, she dug through her school bag for the house keys. Soojung unlocked the door and walked into the house, ready to tell her dad all about her long, boring day. For some reason, the house was completely silent. There wasn't the sound of her father making dinner or the TV on. She sighed and went up to her room.

              *Appa's not home yet.*

               A couple hours later, Soojung came downstairs looking for something to eat. She hadn't been left at home alone for a long time and was used to always having her father cook for her. Cooking instant ramen, she decided to call her dad to see what he was doing, but he didn't answer. That's when Soojung started to feel alarmed. Her father always picked up her calls. She frantically punched in the number of her father's workplace on her cellphone. 

              "Hello, this is Infinite Promises wedding planning. How may I help you?" the familiar voice of the front-desk lady answered.

               "Yes, this is Lee Soojung. Is my appa there?" Soojung asked worriedly.

               "Soojung-ssi, your father didn't come in for work today."

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               Author's Note: The past will be stretched on just a teeny bit longer. For some reason, I feel like this chapter is really crappy. Tell me what you think! ;) I hope you enjoyed it. Comment & subscrible, please! Btw, did anyone notice the cameo I put in? *winkwink*