Professor Yang stared at Myungsoo’s bandages, peeking out of his long-sleeved shirt, when he decided to eavesdrop in the tiny music room once again.

   “You don’t smell like cigarettes nowadays,” Myungsoo bluntly remarked, as he tuned his guitar.

   “Did you get hurt?” the teacher asked, his eyes fixed on his arms. He entered and decided to sit on the stool in front of Myungsoo.

   The student shook his head, and strummed the strings altogether.

   “Did you hurt yourself?” Professor Yang asked again.

   Myungsoo paused, and stared at the floor.

   “Don’t treat me like a stranger who doesn’t know your past,” he pointed out. “I used to be your homeroom teacher before landing here.”

   “For six months,” the younger one added. “You were there for six months, smoking on the rooftop half the time.”

   Professor Yang chuckled, and scratched the back of his neck. “I wanted you to forget that.”

   Myungsoo didn’t reply.

   “To be honest, I had the courage to stop smoking because of you,” Professor Yang began. “You had a vice before, right? It’s far from smoking and drinking, but it’s a vice nonetheless. I know. I saw it firsthand.”

   The student swallowed, and looked up at the ceiling to prevent his warm tears from falling down.

   “How old were you back then? Fourteen? Thirteen? I always asked you to see the counselor, right?”

   Myungsoo nodded at the memory.

   “I was actually afraid back then. What if one day you really did cut your veins? It made me nervous, so I smoked all the more. But then, seeing you with clean arms, and hearing you sing those nursery rhymes last year, I figured that everyone can change for the better.

   So, I tried. I threw away every damn cigarette I had. I asked my older sister to keep my money so I wouldn’t be tempted. It was a struggle at first. I kept on trembling and there were times when I pretended my pen was a cigarette. I had setbacks. I had days where I actually smoked again. It paid off in the end, though. I was able to save more money, too.

   I’m a bad homeroom teacher, but I want to tell you this. I’m several years too late, but I hope you remember it all the same: things will get better.”

   Myungsoo took it all in, and all he could say afterwards was, “I didn’t know.”

   “That things will get better?”

   “That you stopped smoking because you saw how I stopped cutting,” he pointed out.

   Professor Yang smirked. “It’s sort of surprising, isn’t it? Knowing that some actually notice what you’re doing, and once they see you improve, they find the strength to carry on, as well. Whenever I see that happening, I am reminded that it’s so good to be alive.”

   Myungsoo placed his right hand over his arm. As if the teacher had read his mind, he added, “Don’t let the shame you feel hinder your progress.”

   Professor Yang stood up, and left the room. Myungsoo then stared at the room freshener placed on one of the tiny shelves. He figured that he wouldn’t have to use it as much.

<:>

      Jieun looked at Sunggyu, who was still on the same page of the file he was reading. He was staring off into space, as if something was bothering him.

   “Sunggyu?” she waved her hand in front of her face, causing him to blink. “Are you okay?”

   “Huh?” he shook his head to focus, and muttered, “Hm.”

   He breathed in deeply, and tried to locate the last word he just read.

   “You’ve been like that for several days now,” she pointed out. “Are you all right?”

   Sunggyu smiled at her. “I’ll be all right.”

   “You’ll be all right,” she repeated.

   “I’ll be all right,” he confirmed. “Woohyun will be here later on. Do you want to come down with us for bubble tea?”

   “When will you be all right, Sunggyu?” she quietly asked.

   There was a short pause, and then he answered, “One day.”

   Jieun looked at the frames on his desk. There were new pictures. One showed Sunggyu and his family in the airport, together with a young man several years younger than him and a boy in elementary. The other was a family portrait in a living room, where a Christmas tree was in the background.

   “Who are they?” she impulsively asked, as she pointed at the unfamiliar faces.

   Sunggyu looked at the people she was pointing at. Myungsoo and Daehyun.

   “Family,” he simply replied.

<:>

   Myungsoo went home a little later, because he got caught up with the composition he had to finish. With his guitar case strapped behind him, he decided to take the longer route home. He walked through the public park when a student called his attention. He stopped, and watched as she approached him. Her long, dark hair curled at its ends, and her smile was crooked.

   “You’re Daehyun’s older brother, right?”

   He looked at her carefully. “Who are you?”

   She grinned, and bowed politely. “I’m the older sister of his friend. I went to the funeral, but I suppose you forgot. I never had the chance to tell you this, but I’m thankful.”

   “Thankful for what?”

   “I had an eating disorder, but Daehyun told me…” she trailed off. Tears were welling up from her eyes. “He told me that I’m already beautiful. That I didn’t have to make myself sick just to be pretty.”

   She reached for her bag, and took out a scrapbook. She urged Myungsoo to open it, and he did. His eyes widened upon seeing his younger brother’s penmanship.

   “Daehyun wrote me letters,” she explained. “And whenever I wanted to return to my old habits, I would read them.”

   Myungsoo stopped at a page. He didn’t want to read everything thoroughly, because he was afraid that he might cry. Still, he couldn’t help it.

   Eunhee Noona,

      Hello! This is Daehyun. I’m telling you my name again just in case you forgot. And I’m writing to you again to say that you’re beautiful, because maybe you forgot again. I hope you’re not as sick as before. Eat well so your parents and Minki won’t worry about you. I will eat well, too, so Myungsoo hyung won’t have to think about me as much. Have I told you, noona? I’m living with my older brother now, and he’s so cool! He plays the guitar and he cooks me food. I told him that I think you’re really pretty, and he said I should tell it to you. That’s why I wrote you a letter before.

      Noona, Jesus loves you!

   “It was a difficult battle, but I’ve been waiting for the right time to tell you that the two of you have been a blessing to me,” her smile showed genuine gratitude. “I was supposed to say this before, but it seems like you should hear it right now, at this very moment.”

   Myungsoo handed the scrapbook back to her, and she softly pushed it back. “I think you need this more. You miss him, right?”

   “These letters are for you, though,” he replied, before completely making her hold the item. “Keep it.”

   She looked at him, straight in the eye. “The both of you have encouraged me to break free from my insecurities. I know God used you for me to see Him.”

   She bowed again, and walked the opposite direction. She was holding the scrapbook close to her chest. When she was out of sight, Myungsoo lifted his head and gazed at the orange sky. “Out of all days, I meet her now,” he whispered. “You sure do know how to surprise a person.”

   He carried on walking, and chuckled. “Thank You.”

<:>

   “Did something good happen today?” Mr. Bae asked with a smile, as he looked at Myungsoo. The two of them were in the living room, while Sang Moon and Suzy spent the rest of the evening upstairs. Mrs. Bae went to their room to sleep.

   “Something like that,” he answered. “I received good words today.”

   “From whom?”

   “People I never expected to hear those things from.”

   “Ah,” Mr. Bae leaned forward. “It’s always a pleasant surprise.”

   “There was one of my teachers, and the older sister of Daehyun’s friend.”

   Mr. Bae placed the paperback he was reading on the coffee table. “God reminds His children when they forget.”

   Myungsoo stared at him. Mr. Bae didn’t finish his sentence, but he understood what he was trying to tell him.

   When they forget that they are loved, God reminds His children.

   When they forget whose they are, God reminds His children.

   When they forget who to run to, God reminds His children.

   “He has a lot of reminding to do,” Myungsoo remarked, he shifted his gaze and focused on the carpet, instead. “Does He ever forget?”

   “God chose to not remember our sins,” Mr. Bae pointed out, his voice gentle and warm. “Even though He’s omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent, He chose to not bring it up again, of all things.”

   Something stirred in Myungsoo. It squeezed his heart, making his throat sting. Finally, he choked out, “Why?”

   “Because He’s God,” he answered. “As vague as it may sound, we humans can never understand His thoughts and ways.”

   Myungsoo looked at his cuts, which were already fading away. He ran his hand across them. They left ugly marks, and it would take more time for them to heal again. He regretted how he acted, and the fact that he was living with people who weren’t related to him by blood made him feel worse.

   “Condemning yourself won’t make things better,” Mr. Bae began. “The past has been left behind. It’s time you let go of it, too.”

<:>

   “Back in middle school,” Suzy began, as she kicked the dust off the ground. They were sitting on one of the benches located in the school grounds. “Do you remember that weird question I asked you?”

   “About Sunggyu hyung?”

   Suzy gave him a shove.

   “Was it that question?” Sungjong pushed. “Hey, Sungjong, is it okay to marry your sibling?”

   “You said it was .”

   “Because it is.”

   Suzy sighed. “I know. It’s gross, the more I think about it.”

   “Why think about the past?”

   She smiled. “Good point.”

   “You aren’t blood related, though.”

   “I grew up with him,” Suzy muttered. “He’s as good as a real older brother to me.”

   “Have you ever wished that your parents didn’t adopt Sunggyu?”

   She smiled. “Once. I even told it to him. It was several years ago. When Sunye unnie was still alive.”

   “Do you still wish for that now?”

   Suzy stared at her dusty shoes, and smiled a little. “No. I’m just glad he got out of the hell he was in.”

<:>

   “Hyung, what are you thinking about?”

   Sunggyu was staring at the ceiling, with the back of his right palm resting on his forehead. “I was proofreading something earlier.”

   Woohyuun raised his head to look at him. “What about it?”

   “It mentioned something about distant relatives being able to get married in other countries.”

   The younger one kept quiet. He waited for Sunggyu to carry on, but all he received was a scoff.

   “Turn the lights off when you’re done reading, Woohyun.”

"For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
- Hebrews 8:12