Chapter 1 Going Home

Shin Hye’s P.O.V

It was that time of the term when everyone in the boarding school I was attending packed their bags in anticipation for the warmth of their family. That’s right! It was the beginning of our third term break! I could hear my best friend/dorm mate So Eun  panting rapidly in excitement while packing at top speed　“Oh, I just can’t wait to go home! Can’t wait for the time when I got to see my parents every day, sleep in my soft and cozy bed til the next noon and wake up with the aroma of mom’s food!”

In contrast to So Eun’s excitement, I packed my bag reluctantly. I feebly picked up my clothes and chucked them into my luggage. “Hmm, have I packed my toothbrush? Better go and check.” I walked listlessly into the bathroom.

“Shin Hye, are you alright?” I turned back and saw my friend’s eyebrows knitted in concern, her eyes were telling me “something is not right, talk to me” “Yep, I’m alright, don’t you worry about me!” I reassured her.

“No, you’re not!” Dang! She saw right through me! “I know your Jong Hyun oppa can be annoying, but please don’t let him get in your way and ruin your holiday.”

So Eun was always that good at reading me. We knew each other since year 7, when we were assigned the same dorm. Despite our gigantic difference, we always had a lot to talk about and we knew what each other was going to say before we even uttered a word. As long as I could remember, So Eun was always there for me, and she stuck with me through thick and thin.

Compare to my best friend, my stepbrother Jong Hyun was a walking disaster. Let’s not talk about him for now!

Jong Hyun’s P.O.V

I waited at the school gate with my luggage and guitar. Mr. Park called me not long ago, apologizing that he would be 15 minutes late. (I refused to call him dad even though he was married to my mom now) I had waited for 10 minute and Shin Hye the geekhead still hadn’t turned up. She’d better be coming soon as I really did not want to wait for her in the car! Just then I heard a weary wheel rolling sound, when I turned back I saw Shin Hye dragging her luggage with one hand, while holding her huge pillow with her other arm. She looked just like a weary cow dragging a heavy yoke.

“Keep your pace geekhead! Your dad will be 15 minutes late! He should be here when you get to the gate!”

“Oh, great! That means I don’t have to stand next to you for 15 minutes, bird brain!”

As she slowly approached the gate, I slapped the back of her head as she approached where I stood.

“Ouch! That hurts!”

“That’s for calling me whatever you had called me! You should be grateful, geekhead! I would have beaten you up, but since you are a girl, I lessen your penalty!”

We spent the rest of the waiting time lambasting each other, which earned us a l lot of curious and/or disapproving stare, which were turned away by my thunderous “What are you looking at?!” Suddenly, a loud honk broke our verbal combat. We followed the direction of the honk and saw Mr. Park gesturing us to get into his car.

Me and Shin Hye remained silence on our way home, while Mr. Park lectured us on things like, we were brother and sister now, and we should not fight each other over little things; that Shin Hye should show her oppa (unfortunately that’s me!) some respect. If Shin Hye wasn’t in the front seat and I wasn’t at the back, she would have seen my triumphant smirk.