Blop Blop Blop Blop Blop I heard through my sheets.

I tossed and turned to the sound from above. It sounded pleasant except I wanted to sleep without the sound of the rain.

Finally, unable to sleep, I pulled the sheets down and looked up through the sky light I had in my room. It was the start of May and the weather forecast said there was going to be rain for the whole week.

I turned to my left and looked at the clock. 8:15 AM. It was really early for me on a weekend. I felt my body adjust to the time change but my body remained a little sore. Unable to lay in bed any longer, I got up and walked toward my closet.

I barely had anything in there and besides, my dad and I decided to go on a shopping spree since we didn't want to fly all of our clothes here. We wanted to be fresh and wear clothes that were fashionable in Korea.

I looked at my closet and fulled out my hoodie. I had wore sweats and a t-shirt to sleep, but it was chilly so I pulled on my hoodie and opened my balcony door.

I unlocked the door and sat down on the rug. Thank goodness there was a roof over to hide me from the rain. I rocked myself back and forth and looked at the beautiful scenery in front of my eyes.

Since we lived on an elevated area, we had a beautiful view of Seoul from above. I watched cars pass through and people with briefcases walk across the street. I made out a flower shop that was in the distance. There were a couple of people holding a dozen of roses. I smiled to myself thinking that was really sweet.

I closed my eyes and pulled my knees up to my chin. I rested my head on the sliding door. I listened to the rhythm of the rain, but no matter how hard the rain fell, I was always able to listened to the beat of my heart.

My heart was aching a lot actually. I said those words so that I could force myself to forget about him. It would not be easy, but it was necessary.

I opened my eyes the moment the rain stopped. The moment my eyes opened I noticed a rainbow in a distance. It was really beautiful because of the way it bounced off the side of the buildings. I smiled.

Today was my birthday and I had every reason to be happy. I turned to my guitar and brought it close to me. I strummed the guitar and started to play. I didn't know what I was playing but it was music to my ears. I played slowly and rocked side to side. I played with feeling and I was so absorbed into my music that I wasn't aware of my surroundings.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.

I didn't notice how many times someone knocked on my bedroom door until I heard my dad say my name in a raised voiced.

I set my guitar down and ran back into my room. I opened the door to my dad who was smiling widely.

"Hee Young-ah, get ready, I want you to meet some people and afterwards, we can get ready to shop till we drop!" he grinned.

"Alright! I'll be done in fifteen," I said.

I closed my door and laughed to myself. Seriously dad? "Shop till we drop" HAHAH. he sounds like my best friends.

I went into my bathroom, overall, I did have a private bathroom to myself.

I brushed my teeth with one hand while my other was propped on my waist. I smiled to myself and gave myself a pep talk in my head. I rinsed and tied my hair back. After I washed my face and everything, I straightened my hair a little bit, fixing the ends and my bangs.

I closed my bathroom door and walked to my limited choices of clothing.

"Hmmmm, what should I wear?" I said to myself.

I went through a couple of things. I was going to wear my favorite pair of dark blue skinny-jeans, white v-neck t-shirt, and a black cardigan. With that, I wore a light pink scarf and I was going to pair my outfit with my ankle boots.

With a couple of minutes left, I walked back to the bathroom and curled my hair and put on silver earrings. I curled my eyelashes and put on a tiny bit of eyeliner. I fixed my shirt in front of my full mirror and went downstairs.

I walked down the last step and heard talking from the dining room. I turned the corner and saw two men and a lady drinking coffee with my dad.

I walked at a slow pace towards the dining room, careful not to disturb them. One of the men looked at me and then my dad noticed I was there and motioned me toward them. The men stood up and bowed while the lady stood up and smiled warmly at me.

I had no choice but to bow back and greet them.

"Mr. Kim, this is my daughter Hee Young, she is currently sixteen," my dad introduced.

SIXTEENN?!?!!!?!! SINCE WHEN? I thought in my head. I had no time to correct my dad as he then introduced me to Mr. Kim, our driver and Mr. Cho, our private chef.

Lastly, as Mr. Cho left our house and Mr. Kim went out to warm up our car, my dad introduced me to a lady who looked like she was in her late thirties or early 40's. She was introduced to me as Mrs. Yang.

She looked  really pretty despite my guess for her age. I wondered.

My dad said that she was going to be my personal tutor and teacher from now on until the new school year starts. He said that there was no point in going to school for half a month where I wasn't going to learn anything. He said I was going to learn Korean throughout the whole summer and then go to school if I was ready. If so, then she would only be my afterschool tutor.

I nodded in response. Mrs. Yang told me about herself as a teacher and that she taught at a well-known college for a couple of years. Her husband passed away and she had to take care of her son on her own so she decided to homeschool a couple of students and work at the college.

I felt really bad for her but at the same time, I really admired her endurance because being a professor was no joke, especially if you were teaching science-related subjects,

After talking for an hour or so, she had a study session for her college students to rush to. She shook my hand and greeted me one more time. We said goodbye and I bowed and waved as she walked to her car.

I looked at my dad and he looked at me.

"Happy Birthday kiddo. Now if you don't mind, I think we've got some shopping to do" he said enthusiacally.

I laughed and nodded.

"Let's go!!" I shouted.

My dad opened the door for me after I finished putting on my boots. Mr. Kim was already there waiting by the car. He had  white gloves on. I suppose it was a thing drivers had to wear.

Mr. Kim opened the door for me and my dad and I thanked him.

"Kamsahamnida," I smiled.

He nodded once and had one hand on the car door and his other behind his back.

No matter how many times my old driver did this, it never failed to make me feel like a princess.

My dad sat next to me and Mr. Kim closed the door and ran around to the other side and entered the through driver's door. He started the engine and soon enough, we were off to Seoul's most famous clothing departments to shop til we dropped.