Dressed in a black hanbok, with my mother, we walked behind my father who was carrying a portrait of my grandfather.  Behind us were my uncles, cousins, and family friends who carried the casket to the car.  Quietly, and slowly, we walked out of the funeral home and into cars.  Of course, the weather had to be bad and snowy.

My grandfather was being cremated and taken to the Memorial Park in Seongnam.  There weren't many of us who were seeing him away, just the close family and friends.  Walking up the hill on that snowy day, we clashed with the snow as we were all dressed in black.

Before finally putting him to rest, deep in the ground, we held a funeral ceremony, with his portrait and the urn that contained his ashes.  One last time, each and everyone of us bowed.  And finally, he was being buried.

It's been about a week since the burial of my grandfather.  My father has already gone back home for work. I think working makes him forget the pain of loosing someone.  My mother is leaving in a couple hours, while me.. I've been told I need to stay here until the next semester starts, which is in a month.

As my uncle told me, my duties are to watch over my grandmother, making sure she has food and enough sleep.  To talk to her and remind her that everything is okay and people are there for her.  To comfort her when she needs it and to make her feel safe.

I was hoping that one of my cousins would stay too, but their parents wouldn't let them since I am somewhat a 'bad influence' already.

--

After dropping off my mother and getting a ride back with a family friend, I walked into the big house that my grandparents live in.  It was one of those houses with a gigantic courtyard with a stone fence around it, and the house in the middle.  In the summers, it would be filled with flowers and bugs, but since it was winter, everything was covered with a sheet of white snow.

"Halmoni, I'm back!" I shouted as I struggled to take off my boots.  Finally getting them undone, I walked into the living room with a bag of goodies that I knew she loved.  She was sitting in her chair, watching one of her dramas. "Did you eat yet?" I sat down beside her.

"Not yet, I was waiting for you so we could have lunch together" She said with a faint smile.  She suddenly got up and walked into the kitchen.  I quickly followed behind her to see the table already set with food.

"You didn't have to cook, I could of done that for you" I said and sat down beside her as she sat at the head of the table.

"Kieun-ah, I'm capable of doing the things I've always done"  She started to pick at the side dishes that were laid out in front of us.

My face flushed in embarrassment. "Sorry" I mumbled.

"Besides, I don't think I can trust your cooking" She laughed at her quirky joke.

"Halmoni~" I whined, "I can cook really good okay!"  She patted my head and motioned me to eat.  I nodded with a smile on my face and started to stuff my face.

After our lunch, she decided it was the perfect time to take a nap.  She also asked me to go out to buy some groceries for her to make us dinner.  I obediently agreed and left the house.  Thankfully, the grocery store was just down the street from the house and I could walk there.  But before going into the grocery store, I stopped by the convenient store to grab a snack.  I know I just had lunch, and basically ate everything, but I had a sudden craving for ramyun.  After getting it ready, I sat at the tables in the store.  I would be eating ramyun, as I watched people walk by in just a few minutes.

♪ ♫ ♬ - ♪ ♫ ♬

I quickly grabbed my phone out of my jacket pocket; a Skype call.

"Hello?" I said.

"Kieun! You still in Korea?" A voice shot back.

"Yeup" I said back and peeked into my ramyun cup to see if it was ready.

"This is a video call by the way, so get it off your ear!"  I slowly pulled it off and starred into my phone screen.

"Heeelllllooooo" I said and waved with my free hand.  She waved back with a huge smile on her face.

"So, uhm, any cute boys?" She instantly asked.

"Hailey, first of all, don't talk too loud because I don't have earphones, and second, I think I'm too busy to be looking out for cute boys for you" I shot back.  My ramyun was finally ready and I was about to eat when I heard a loud voice come from beside me.

"Hyung! Over here!" He shouted in Korean.

"Who's that?" Hailey asked.  I positioned my phone into the direction of the guy and quickly turned it back.

"Some guy and his hyung?" I said and began eating my ramyun. 

"Show me more! Are they cute?" She exclaimed.

"Yah, Kim Hyeri, i'm here for a purpose, not to find you a new boy toy" I scoffed. 

The guy sat down, and his hyung came running over, bumping into the guy, who slightly bumped into me.

"Sorry" He said in Korean and bowed his head.

"It's okay" I said back.

"Kieun, you're such a boring person, I miss you when you were crazy"

"I'm still exactly the same, it's just that i'm tired out of my mind, I honestly haven't slept properly for the 2 weeks I've been here"

"Awe, baby girl" She said and laughed.

Suddenly a voice on Hyeri's side came booming into the speaker. "You're up babe?"  His face came into picture, and he had no shirt on.

"Dang girl, way too much info," I said "He better be wearing pants"

He kissed her and she kissed back. "He is" She said and smiled as he dug his face into the nape of her neck.

"Gross, please stop.. PDA!" I shouted.  I quickly covered up my mouth because I just noticed I was yelling.  The guys beside me looked at me, then laughed.

"I'll call you later, and you can tell me about that cute boy you're sitting beside" She said and laughed.

"This cute boy probably doesn't want to see your nasty face" I jokingly said. "Text me first though"

She hung up.  I looked to my side where the guys were sitting, "Sorry" I said.

"It's okay, as long as you think I'm cute" The guy said in perfect English.

My jaw dropped, my face was flush red. "Oh my gosh, you understood my entire conversation?"  I placed my hands over my cheeks which were burning.

He just laughed.

"I'm so embarrassed right now" I grabbed my phone and bag and quickly left the store.