That night, Yoonmei was left staring at the ceiling of her room while lying on layers of mats on the floor with a single pillow under her head.  She couldn’t fathom how much her life changed in just one night. The plush canopy bed on her back no longer existed, no more TV screen, no chandelier, not even a bedside table.

All she can see were the four corners of her tiny room, all in paper and wood. The window on her side where she can hear crickets and frogs croaking was nothing but disturbance. Being in a confined room and difficult situation, flooded her with negative thoughts.

Yoonmei suddenly got dizzy. Her heart rate shoots up, she started to hyperventilate, and her muscles grew tense. She has that extreme fear and anxiety of what’s to happen on the coming days, and her hands trembled uncontrollably. She never experienced panic attacks so the feeling was a lot worse.

She instinctively grabbed her phone from the side of her pillow to call anyone back home, but she forced herself not to. ‘No! I’ll show them that I can do this! Relax Mei!’ she gripped her phone, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. ‘You got this! Breathe! Relaaaaaxxx…’ she took another breath.

When her nerves slowly loosened up, it was replaced by her usual rage. “URGGHHH!!” she pulled the blanket over her head and screamed her thoughts. ‘I HATE MY LIFE! I HATE MY MOM! I HATE MY DAD! I HATE MY BROTHER! I HATE…’

“MeiMei?” her grandpa Luoyong, pushed the wooden sliding door and came in, and she pretended to sleep. After sitting crossed leg beside her, he touched her arm through the blanket. “Miahnae, MeiMei. I am in no way punishing you. I just wanted you to know that there’s something more to life than being in trouble and keep wasting it…”

‘Great!’ she rolled her eyes. ‘Here goes another speech… Better sleep, for real!’ she closed her eyes again.

When all he got was silence and rejection, Luoyong patted his granddaughter’s head. “Aigooo~ I’ll leave you to sleep then. You’ll need it for school tomorrow. Good night Mei…”

“Excuse me?” she quickly lowered her covering. “What do you mean school?”

“So you’re awake after all?! Aish!” he poked for forehead, she kept scowling at him. “School! Like homework, projects, PE… Y’know?!”

“I know that! You said, you’re not punishing me? Hell, it's a death sentence!” she yelled and continued blabbing. “Tell me why I’m going to school? I am being homeschooled for God sake!” she then raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you can’t afford it?!”

Luoyong just watched her and laughed. “Idiot! I can have 10 of the best teachers in this country to teach you if I want to!” he smirked. “But no! I want you to learn in a normal school setting. It’s much educational that way! Besides, don’t you wanna meet new friends and classmates?”

“How ‘bout, NO!? I have friends who went through an intense audition and interview process…” the old man was taken aback and sighed. ‘I never thought she could be this worse…’ and still continued listening to her.

“…I am in no way interested at mingling with losers and mentally challenged freaks from this side of the world!” she pulled the blanket over head once again. “I.AM.NOT.GOING.ANYWHERE! PERIOD!” she snarled and curled to her side.

“We’ll see…” Luoyong chuckled and patted her back. “Good night, my sweet MeiMei.”

----------

The dreaded morning came. Yoonmei refused to wake up, not even planning on getting out of the room anytime soon.

Luoyong walked in and started poking her with his foot. “Yah! Wake up! Don’t make me drag your into the shower!” he raised his voice.

When she pretended to keep sleeping, the old man kicked her harder. “KIM YOONMEI! I may be old but I can definitely be violent more than your father. NOW MOVE YOUR DAMN IT!!!”

“Aish!” she instantly rose, hair standing in different direction, poofy eyes glaring at him.

“Go take a shower and change into these!” he tossed a set of clothes on a hanger.

“Oh hell no!” she raised it in front of her.

It was her school uniform. A black blazer with Shinhwa High’s emblem on the right chest, black tie, a collared white inner shirt, and above the knee pleated skirt in plaid. “Gosh! What a fashion disaster! Blech”

“NOW GO! You’ll be late already!” then he left.

Yoonmei hurled the clothes on the floor and forced herself to take a shower.

After what seemed like forever, she came out of her room and went to join Luoyong on the table. “Aigooo~ Yeppeoda!”

“I look stupid and ugly!” she scrunched her face and took a seat on the floor, then they ate. She instantly made faces at the food. “What happened to toasts? Eggs and sausages? Pancakes?”

The old man handed him a cup of rice instead. “See why you’re not supposed to eat greasy food? It shrinks your brain and turns your manners into fat. Now eat!”

She forced a smile and took her chopsticks to eat.

Her eyes widened at the flavors that attack her taste buds. It was enticing, mouth watering and very indulging. There's grilled short ribs, spicy seafood salad, spicy stewed fish, and kimchi.

‘Rotten cabbage actually tastes good…’ she kept eating.

Little did she know, her grandfather has been side eyeing her. He noticed how much her face brightened with every bite she took. ‘Tch! My granddaughter isn’t all that feisty after all. Food may just be on my side!’

“What?” she looked at him.

“Nothing! Are you done?” she nodded after taking her last bite. “Go get your stuff! I’ll walk you out!”

Yoonmei left and hesitantly came back to her grandfather’s side outside of their house while clutching the straps of her bag. ‘Who would’ve thought I’m using a backpack! This is so peasant like!’

“Lemme see you?” Luoyong held her shoulders and check her out. Hair tied into a ponytail, neatly pressed uniform, then her multicolored Pierre Hardy high tops.

He sighed. “Fine! You can wear that!”

All of a sudden a tall guy approached them. He had a pair of aviators on, a jacket over his shoulder, white shirt, and black skinny jeans. “Annyeong haseyo~” he bowed 90 degress.

“Oh!” Luoyong turned and placed an arm around his shoulder after stopping beside him. “Good morning son!”

‘Son? I didn't know I have an uncle as young as him?’ Yoonmei scrutinized the modelesque figure beside her grandfather.

“MeiMei!” her grandfather called. “This is Wu Fan! But you can call him Kris!” he pointed. “Kris, this is Kim Yoonmei, the loveliest and sweetest granddaughter in the whole world."

Kris bowed to her while Yoonmei rolled her eyes giving him a huge surprise. ‘Sweetest my ! This girl smells trouble from miles away!’ he smirked.

Luoyong continued talking. “He will take you to school starting today…”

“WHAT??? No way!” she interrupted in English.

Kris glowered at her with the way he talked to the old man.

“Mei!!!” he pointed a finger to her face. “You’re only allowed to speak in Korean, araseo? If you have any trouble with it, Kris will help you. He is Chinese and speaks Mandarin and Korean really well!”

“Look! I can speak five languages…” she raised her hand. “English, Korean, Chinese, profanity and sarcasm…” she enumerated. “…and I am VERY good at each of them! I don’t need a translator…” he looked at Kris from head to toe. “…much less a nanny!”

“Harabeoji?” Kris spoke. “Are you sure you’re both related?”

“Unfortunately, yes!” he replied.

Yoonmei suddenly turned to leave. “I’m outta here!”

“Do you even know where you’re going, my dear?” Luoyong yelled.

“I can manage and I’d be more than happy to get lost!” she stomped her foot on the road.

“Go! Make sure she gets to school safely…” the old man pushed Kris. “…and be patient with her!”

“Neh! I’ll go ahead sir!” Kris bowed and left.