Closing the door to the apartment home quietly and beginning to sneak into her room, Sunhwa hoped fervently that no one would see or hear her.

Luck must have not been on her side that day, because one floorboard squeaked particularly loudly underneath her foot. Sunhwa felt like she was strangling herself in the process.

“Yah! Park Sunhwa! What took you so long?” her mother demanded, striding out.

Sunhwa bit back a cringe. The day her mother had found the audition flyer in her room, they had a huge argument that ended with them not talking to each other for a week. She knew that her mother wanted the best for her and loved her dearly, but it was Sunhwa’s dream. She was passionate about dancing and knew that was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. And wasn’t it her mom’s job to…you know…support her?

Now, she and Sunhwa had barely gotten back on speaking terms, but Sunhwa knew this conversation they were about to have was going to send it all crashing down.

“I was…um…” Sunhwa stalled, fidgeting with the strap on her bag.

“You were at the audition, weren’t you?” she guessed immediately, eyes narrowed.

She crossed her arms and waited for Sunhwa to deny the statement. Nothing came.

Sunhwa watched as her mother’s face hardened. “You told me you were going to look for a job, Sunhwa! You have responsibilities now that you’ve graduated, how many times to I have to tell you? What use is all that hard work if you choose not to go to college?”

Sunhwa internally cringed. This was the most effective weapon against her – the guilt factor. She hated the fact that she was still living with her mom, using up her money and resources, but what could she do? This audition could be her big break, and that was why she had to go.

“Umma…” Sunhwa started.

Her mother cut her off by holding up a hand. “I raised you better than this. You’re smart enough to go to college and become a doctor, and don’t have to go through the hardship I went through…that we’re going through. You can live better than this!” She gestured to the small kitchen and living room in the apartment. “But you throw it all away.”

Sunhwa felt a familiar blaze of determination in her heart – one she had been feeling for the last few years.

“It’s my life, umma. I can do what I want with it.” With that, Sunhwa turned and stalked up the stairs.

-

Sighing, Sunhwa flung herself on her bed, not bothering to change out of her t-shirt and sweats. She heard the creak of hinges and turned to see a side door to her room opening.

“Noona?” Park Jung Hee’s adorable face peeked through the crack.

Sunhwa rolled over, the ache in her heart subsiding a little when she saw him. “Come in, Jung Hee.”

He sat next to her on the bed. “How was the audition?”

She shrugged, the same answer she had given Hyun Jin. “Okay.”

Jung Hee smiled. “That means it went great,” he bumped her shoulder with his.

Sunhwa bumped back and ruffled his hair affectionately, changing the subject. “How was school today, dongsaeng?”

Jun Hee lifted his shoulders and let them drop, much like Sunhwa had just done. “Boring as always. Math .”

“Math will always ,” Sunhwa said.

Jun Hee nodded. Then, casting a glance at the door, he said softly, “Was Umma mad?”

Sunhwa knew what he meant. She said just as quietly, “Yeah. But it wasn’t as bad as before.”

“When you make in into SM, you’ll show her.”

Sunhwa smiled dimly. She still had the faint hope that she would be accepted, but her philosophy was not to expect much at all, so she would be surprised when something different happened.

“We’ll see,” Sunhwa jerked her chin toward the clunky PC that sat on her desk. “They said they would e-mail us soon.” She sighed. “In the meantime, I’ll go ahead and start looking for a job.”

“Okay.” Jun Hee hopped off the bed. “I have some homework to do. Tell me if anything comes up, alright?”

Sunhwa nodded. “Bye, dongsaeng.”

“Bye, noona!” he cheerfully replied before shutting the door.

Sunhwa slowly walked over to her desk and sat in the chair. She powered up the PC, and after the screen flickered to life, opened up Google. She thought for a moment before typing in, “Jobs now hiring”.

Haha, angst! Hope you guys liked this chapter. Sorry if my honorifics and stuff are not correct; I'm trying my best, but I'm not properly Korean, so the only sources I have are the internet and my friends (warning for the rest of the story...) Anyway, if you have anything to say, don't hestitate to comment! Hope you all have a lovely day :)

- tigress