I woke to the sound of plane engines whirring, but it certainly wassn't the first time. I'd spent so much time on planes that the engines became like background music. When I was little, I would try to sing along. Now I ignore it.

The fog outside my window was too thick to see anything, but it was light as midday. Doing the well-worn timezone math in my head, I knew that the plane would be landing soon. And sure enough, the plane began its descent. 

Stepping out into the cold Seoul winter was as far from my last location, Uruguay, as possible, but I've become used to change. Wrapping my coat tighter around me, I walked to the bus. After walking through the cold, the heat of the bus was comforting. It's so warm, like a fuzzy blanket, I thought, drifting off to sleep.

When I awoke for the second time in the day, no softly humming turbines were there for my comfort. Only a loud bustling crowd speaking a very familiar language surrounded me. I got off the bus and found myself in a part of the city called Gangnam. It was unfamiliar and awkward.

Standing in the heart of the city, I found myself missing my dad. No, I thought, you can't miss him. What he did is no longer worth my pity. Forcing myself to believe another lie, I whipped out my notebook and started writing descriptions of the passersby in Korean, to warm myself back up to the language. A businessman in a gray suit, an ullzzang with long dyed blonde hair, a brunette boy who looks like me... wait...

"JACK!"

The boy turned around. He looked confused as to who would be calling his English name, and with that much desperation. Seeing my face, I could tell he didn't recognize me. It was no surprise, he was only a baby when he last saw me. I ran up to him Next to him stood a girl with reddish hair like our dad, and big eyes like our mother. I knew it was Kimmie right away, and she knew it was me.

The next thing I knew, my sister was passed out in the street with my brother panicking above her, clearly dying to know who I am.  He freaked out, yelling "What do we do? What do we do?", but I just waited. I remembered what to do when Kimmie faints. Jack wouldn't have listened to me if I told him. And, sure enough, in a few moments, she woke up. Jack burst into tears. All these strange events in just minutes were putting quite a strain on his emotions.

"ROSIE!" Kimmie shrieked, scaring the people walking by. She yanked me by my neck and hugged me so hard that I couldn't breathe. "I can't believe it! You're here!" She let go of me and put her hand to Jack's ear, whispering something I couldn't hear. His eyes grew wide. I could tell what she had said.

"Jinjja!? She's my noona? You better not be joking again, Kimi-noona!" He yelled in rapid Korean, calling Kimmie by her Korean name.

It was then that I remembered what he was like when he was little, a naive and innocent cherub. Their mother had taken him away just before his second birthday, so he has no recollection of Cardiff, of speaking any language but Korean, of me. That thought nearly brought me to tears. He had changed, and the way I saw it, not for the better. I swallowed my tears and began to speak in a language I had missed a lot. 

"Jack, my name is Rose. I'm your noona. I know you don't believe me, but listen to me. I know that you were born in Cardiff to our parents Go Miyeon and Rhys McCoy. You are thirteen years old now, born on March 4, and you haven't seen me or your father since you moved here when you were a baby. You wouldn't have recognized either of us, so your doubt isn't surprising. I just need you to know that I care about you, and Kimmie-unnie."

"Noona? Is this true?" He asked his trusted older sister, and she nodded.

"Rose is our sister, and she's here for us now," she said with a calming smile on her face. She held back tears as she asked, "Rosie, where is Appa?" 

My heart fell, black and cold from those few words.

"He's gone. What Miyeon-ssi did to him made him end his life a year ago." I whispered, my eyes b with tears. I could stop them no longer.

Her face was a mess of puffy eyes and a dripping nose at my words. Seeing his noona cry made Jack tear up as well. We cried in silence for a while. It was a heartbreaking scene.

When she could speak again, Kimmie asked me to play a song on my piccolo. I pulled out the tiny instrument and began to play. I had loved the piccolo since I was little, because it was the only instrument small enough to travel with. I could tell that Jack knew, just from my song, that I was his sister. 

We walked around aimlessly for a while, when Jack said, "Rose-noona? You can call me Jaehyun. That's my Korean name." From this simple gesture, and his calling me noona, I felt something I hadn't felt for a long time. I knew that this wass where I belong.

~~~~~~~ 

First chapter finally done! What do you think? Zelo will arrive in the next chapter for sure. :)