10 years had passed. Sungjong turned eighteen, was in his third year of high school, and was maturing into a young man. It was the first day of school, and as usual, Sungjong inspected his uniform's neatness, checking his white shirt was tucked in his black pants, which came with a red tie as well as a beige vest and a black blazer with the school logo and his name badge on the pocket.

Like an other typical day for a Korean high school student, he sat at the table together with his family members, well, for him, his stepfamily, having his stepfather, stepmother, older twenty three year old stepbrother Suil, older twenty year old stepsister Youngmi, younger fifteen year old stepsister Sunhee, as well as his younger ten year old stepbrother Jeongmin, leaving him as the middle kid.

As usual, he sat very very quietly, and took delicate amounts of kimchi and neatly placed them on his rice, alongside a sheet of kim to wrap the rice, whilst sipping a glass of water, without making a big mess.

"How is the breakfast?" asked the stepmother.

"Good." most of them answered.

The stepmother on the other hand did not take a second look at Sungjong, but only gave him a blank look whilst he expected a question for a very very long time. It has always been happening since he was adopted; he was the one left out, or the "last one". It seemed as if no one in his stepfamily took a second glance at him, he might as well not even exist.

Quickly finishing the rice bowl, he dropped the chopsticks and left the table as he picked up his school bag.

"Jal moggossumnida. Hakkyo tanyeo ogessumnida."

"Okay, jal tanyeowa." the stepfather replied dryly.

Sungjong left the flat without a trace of emotion crossing his face.

He walked the usual path to school, passing the pojang macha, the bank, and the children's park.

He walked and walked until he made it to school, passing through the school gates, and went to his classroom, dreading the worst and most intense year: the third and final year at high school.

He checked the seating plan outside his classroom and eventually made his way to his desk, where the class president's desk, L's, was right beside his. L has always been a shoulder to lean onto for Sungjong, and has been friends with him since primary school.

"Hi L." Sungjong said without emotion behind his voice.

"Hey man," said L, "What's up? How was your winter vacation?"

"Good." Sungjong replied plainly.

Sungjong flopped onto his seat, took out his math textbook and began cluelessly doodling cartoon characters on the pages.

"Is everything ok?" asked L, "You seemed very very quiet."

"I'm fine." he replied quickly.

The morning flew by with intense classes unti it was lunchtime; curry rice with usual kimchi, as well as anchovies, egg and turnip soup.

He sat next to L on the same lunch table, but sitting on the same table were two other boys that Sungjong did not remember seeing.

"Hey Sungjong." said one of them, "I'm Lee Howon from class 5, but you can just call me Hoya."

"How do you know my name?"

"We're friends with L, he told me about you. I thought it would be nice to make friends." Hoya said smiling.

"I'm Dongwoo." said the other, "I'm in Hoya's class too."

"I see."

Sungjong ate his meal quietly, whilst the three continued to talk and laugh.

"Sungjong is a bit of a quiet fellow, isn't he?" giggled Dongwoo. "Does he not talk much?"

"Well...." L paused for a moment, "He's pretty quiet, but nonetheless a nice guy."

"I see."

Before they knew it, the bell rang and it was time to go back to class, the worst restarting again.

After study sessions ended, Sungjong exited the building in relief with L, who walked with him out the building on the way home.

Once L dropped him off at his apartment, L waved goodbye and continued his way home.

Sungjong went back home and entered his flat.

"I'm home."

"How was school?" his stepmother asked plainly.

"Good."

All was still silent, from the moment Sungjong headed for his room and took out his homework, until it was dinner time and his father came back home.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Jal mogosseumnida (잘 먹었습니다) is what Korean people say at the table once they finish the meal, and still remains a custom in Korea to say it as a homogeneous conservative society. It literally means "I ate well", kind of a substitute for "Thanks for the dinner" when you say it in English.

Sungjong said Hakkyo tanyeo ogessumnida (학교 다녀오겠습니다). It is a custom in Korea for students to tell their parents before they leave for school, meaning "I shall return from school". You do not have to add in the "hakkyo" bit, as it just means school, so you can just say "tannyeo ogessumnida". On the other hand the reply was jal tanyeo wa (잘 다녀와) which means "Return well" or the equivalent to the English expression "Come home safely".