Jia woke up to sound of Dongho laughing and Soohyun singing some kind of children’s song she didn’t know. She got out of bed and quickly went to get dressed. When she entered the kitchen, a huge smile formed on her lips. Soohyun was down on all four and making a noise Jia made out to be a cat. Jia bursted into laughter as Soohyun switched from a cat to a cow. Soohyun looked towards the doorway and flashed a sweet smile. “Good morning darling.” Jia walked over and kneeled down next to Soohyun and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Good morning Soohyun.” She then got up and went to Dongho. “Good morning to you too kiddo.” Jia lovingly ruffled Dongho’s hair and kissed him on the forehead. Dongho cutely smiled up at Jia and held out his arms. Jia immediately picked him up and gave him a motherly hug.

“Did you sleep well?” Soohyun asked Jia as she put Dongho back on his chair. Jia sighed. “Just barely.” Soohyun wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly. “I know you might not want to but...” Soohyun paused. “Maybe everything would feel a bit better if you got it all out.” Jia looked to the floor. “It would.. It’s just hard. I never really talked about it. Kevin hardly knows and Jaeseop only knows because he was a part of it.” Soohyun placed his right hand under Jia’s chin and made her face him. “I want you to talk to me.” They looked into each other’s eyes. “I want to tell you.. I’m just afraid you will dislike me too.” Soohyun frowned. “Jia… I told you this yesterday and I’m gonna tell you again… I love you, no matter what. I will stand by you no matter how cruel your past was. I fell in love with the you you are now, not who you used to be.” Soohyun pressed his lips on Jia’s in a passionate kiss. Soohyun slowly pulled away and rested his forehead against Jia’s. “I love you Jia.” Jia blushed and wrapped her arms around Soohyun’s neck. “I love you too Soohyun.”

As Jia was about to do the dishes her phone went off. “Yeoboseyo?” Jia heard rustling before a voice spoke. “Shizuka? Is this you?” Jia almost dropped her phone as she heard a familiar voice call out her Japanese birth name. “Shizuka?” Jia’s entire body froze. “I know you are there. Answer your farther when he is speaking to you.” The stern voice beaming through the phone was bringing lost memories to Jia’s mind. She took a deep breath. “Father? Really? From what I recall I was never to call you that. How did you even get this number+” Jia’s voice was bitter as she clenched her left fist. “What the hell do you want?” Jia heard a deep laugh. “What I want? Ha! I want you to take responsibility for the mess you caused. Do you have any idea how deep my debts have been since your mistakes?” Jia gritted her teeth as anger covered her. “So you want money? How much?” Jia coldly asked while running her hand through her ponytail. “How much do you need to stay away from my life?” Jia asked a bit louder since her father didn’t answer the first time. “Nothing you can afford Shizuka.” Jia leaned against the kitchen counter. “I think you would be surprised.” Jia’s father laughed. “Fine then.. 2 million won.” Jia’s jaw dropped but she quickly got her head together again. “When and where do you want them?” Jia couldn’t see her father but she knew he was smirking at her. “Leave them at your brother’s grave and I will pick them up at midnight.” He hung up. Jia closed her eyes and let her body fall down to the floor. “I hope this works.”

Soohyun was helping Dongho with a drawing when he heard Jia call out his name. He quickly went to the kitchen to see what was up. “Can I borrow your car?” Soohyun looked at Jia with a confused look. “My dad just called me.” Soohyun’s eyes widened. “He said he would leave me be if I paid his debts… I know it’s a stupid thing to do but I’m gonna try it. I have enough money for it anyway.” Soohyun grabbed Jia’s shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes. “Are you sure about this?” Jia nodded. “I can’t see what else I’m supposed to do. I can’t stay here and hide forever.” She flashed a sad smile. “He wants me to leave them at Nickhun’s grave… I don’t know if I will be able to go there.” Soohyun pulled Jia closer and held her tight in his arms. “Do you want me to go with you?” Jia shook her head. “You can’t, what about Dongho?” Soohyun frowned as he realised the problem. “I don’t want you to go there alone. You should ask… Jaeseop.” Soohyun felt terrible about giving Jia over to Jaeseop but he didn’t felt like he had a choice. Jia hugged Soohyun tightly as she sobbed into his chest. “You need to get all of this out Jia. Please talk to me.”

“He blames me for the misfortune our family has had. It apparently all started after my birth and the fact that I wasn’t supposed to have been born, doesn’t really help my odds.” Jia sadly said as her and Soohyun sat on a bench, while Dongho played in the sand. “When I was around 7 I accidently knocked over a candle and our house caught on fire. It got quite expensive and my cousin got seriously injured. Then I got blamed for my mother losing her job, because I got sick and she had to stay home. We had just moved to Korea at that time so we ended up in some big debts, since we couldn’t pay any of our bills properly.” Soohyun tilted his head. “Where did you move from?” Jia looked at Soohyun with a faint smile. “Japan. My mother is Japanese and my dad I Korean. I got the Japanese name and Nickhun got a Korean one.” Soohyun just nodded. “So what is your real name?” Jia frowned. “Jing Shizuka.” Soohyun raised an eyebrow. “Stop looking at me like that.. I didn’t choose that name myself.”

Jia looked to the sky. “Every little thing I did became a problem, like I was hated from the beginning with no clear reason.” Soohyun had a sad expression on his face as he looked at Jia. Jia sighed. “When Nickhun died it all just became so much harder. He was the only one who seemed to love and care for me.” Jia felt a couple of tears form in her eyes. “They kept telling me how horrible I was. How ugly I was. How much they wished for a new daughter. I took me almost a year to even look in the mirror again, after I moved away.” Soohyun laid a hand on Jia shoulder. “I had no idea.” Soohyun’s voice was caring but at the same time sad. “How would you have known? I didn’t open up until now.” Jia gave a weak smile. “It actually feels kind of nice to talk about it.” Soohyun wrapped his arm around Jia’s shoulders. “I’m glad you chose to talk to me.” Jia rested her head against Soohyun’s. “Thank you for listening.” Soohyun smiled to himself. “Even if I can’t say anything that can help, I’m still there for you.” Jia wrapped her arms around Soohyun’s waist. “I don’t deserve someone as good as you.” Soohyun chuckled. “Yeah I am pretty great aren’t I?” Jia couldn’t help but giggle. “Yeah you are.” Jia kissed Soohyun on the cheek as she smiled to herself. “My shelter.”

Jia looked at her watch as she waited for Jaeseop to arrive. “Are you going to be okay?” Soohyun worriedly asked as he back hugged her. “I don’t know.” Soohyun just nodded and turned her around. “I’m sure you have nothing to worry about. Jaeseop is pretty capable of protecting you.” Soohyun caressed Jia cheek as he lovingly looked into her worried eyes. “At least I hope he is.” Soohyun pulled Jia closer and captured her lips in a sweet and loving kiss. Dongho came running with a drawing in his hands. He handed it to Jia as he smiled brightly. “Fi-figh.. Fight-ing.” Dongho tried to speak the English word but ended up getting tongue-tied. Jia couldn’t help but smile as she kneeled in front of Dongho. “Someone is already learning English huh? Great job Dongho and thank you.” Jia kissed Dongho on the forehead and looked to the drawing. “You and me.” Dongho flashed a big grin and pointed to the two stick figures on the drawing. “Yes, you and me kiddo. I love it Dongho.” Dongho cheerfully clapped his hands and ran off. Jia chuckled at she stood up. “Have I ever told you that your son is wonderful?” Jia looked over at Soohyun who just smiled. “Only about ten times today.” Soohyun said with a cheeky tone and tilted his head. Jia just kindly smiled back.

A car pulled up to the vacation house and Jaeseop came out of it. He waved his hand as a gesture for Jia to come over to him. “I’ll be going now.” She said and looked at Soohyun with a slightly scared look in her eyes. Soohyun poked Jia on her forehead. “Ya.. What’s up with that look? After today it will all be over, hopefully.” Jia nodded and gave a small smile. Soohyun pulled Jia in for a hug. “Fighting.” Jia hugged him back tightly and then went to Jaeseop. “Are you sure you want to do this?” Jaeseop asked as he held the door for Jia. “Yes, I’m sure. I need to end this chapter myself.” Jaeseop just nodded and closed the door after her. Jaeseop bit his bottom lip as he went to his side of the car. “Why do I feel so uneasy?”

“Did you tell everything to Soohyun?” Jia nodded. “Even my birth name. I hate that name. That’s why Nickhun came up with Jia as my nickname.” Jia sighed and looked out of the car window. “Do you think he would show up before midnight?” Jaeseop nodded. “I think he will wait for you the entire day.” Jia ran her fingers through her hair and made an annoyed sound. “I hope that today changes everything.” Jia’s voice sounded desperate. “I want all of this completely out of my life.” Jaeseop placed his hand on Jia’s thigh for comfort. “We will figure this out.” Jia made a faint smile as she looked at Jaeseop. “Will we?”

Jia walked with slow steps as her and Jaeseop got closer to her brother’s grave. Jaeseop was scanning everything with his catlike eyes, making sure everything was safe. Jia stopped walking and looked to a grave with sad eyes. “It’s been so long.” Jia felt a tear run down her cheek as she stared at her brother’s grave for the first time in five years. “Sorry I haven’t been visiting for a while. Life has been kind of… Crazy.” Jia gave a weak smile as she got down on her knees and placed a bouquet of white lilies. “Your favourites.” Jia whispered as she whipped her tears away. “I really miss you. I will visit you more often, okay?” Jaeseop looked down at her with a melancholic look. He felt really sad watching Jia in this state. After all, he knew just how important her brother was.

A dark chuckle made Jia jump to her feet. “So you actually came, Shizuka.” Jia’s father appeared behind them. “And of course the lousy detective is with you.” Jaeseop shot him an angry look. Jia took Jaeseop’s hand in a tight hold, making him relax a bit. “Here is your money.” Jia handed him a black sports bag. “Now leave me be.” Jia’s father flashed an arrogant smile. “You are not even happy about seeing your father after this many years?” Jia just gave him a disgusted glare. “You don’t deserve being missed.” Jia let the bag fall to the ground and turned to walk away. “I’ve heard you are pretty successful now.” Jia sighed and turned to face her father again. “Why do you care? So you can get more money?” Jia’s father made a sarcastic laugh. “I just care about my lovely daughter, that’s all.” The tone in his voice made Jia want to throw up. “I’m not your daughter anymore.” Her father gritted his teeth. “How dare you talk to your father like that?” Jia was using all her strength not to fall to the ground. She was scared and her legs were like jelly. “Enough.” Jaeseop spoke up. “You got what you wanted now leave her alone.” Jia’s father tilted his head and chuckled. “I never break a deal… Fine. You are out of my world now and I’m out of yours. I just have this one thing to give you.” He held out a letter for Jia. Jia hesitantly walked closer to take the letter. As she did so her father grabbed her wrist. “You may have gotten a good life now but we both know that you are hopeless and a disgrace. You are worthless.” Jia’s heart was pounding out of her chest as her father let go and walked off. Jia immediately fell to her knees and breathed heavily, while looking at the letter in front of her. “Is it really over?”