By the time Friday rolled along, I was ready to get to Bucheon, handle the officetel, and get on with my life, preferably back in my cozy home in Turkey. It felt like I should be more attached to Korea, or even Canada, because that's where my life pretty much happened, but I enjoyed Turkey more. It represented a new beginning, a fresh page. No drama. That seemed to be Korea's favorite thing for me.

However, Friday, I was supposed to meet with the girls. Don't get me wrong, I love them to pieces and I miss them a lot, but...

I got dressed in a light blue long sleeve that stopped right at my belly button and hung loosely. Underneath, I had on dark blue skinny jeans. I pulled my hair up into a bouncy ponytail.

We were going to go shopping and then eat out someplace that Jae had picked. I grabbed my purse, and found my dad in the living room.

"I'm off, dad!" I said.

"Alright, have fun!" he called out. I was already leaving.

As I stepped out the door, I said, "Love you!"

"I love you too." The voice did not come from inside the house.

Instead, it came from a tall, handsome man standing in front of me, shielding his face with flowers, but I knew damn well who it was.

"Oppa?" I asked, just for confirmation.

He peeked out from behind the pretty daisies, his dark brown eyes twinkling. "Good afternoon, Lee Kim-ssi." he said.

"Ah, Junghwa-oppa! You scared me!" I said, laughing as I looked down.

"Were you going somewhere?" he asked.

"Neh, I was going to meet up with my friends." I said.

"Ah, if you want, I could drop you off." he offered.

"Neh, that would be great!" I said.

The flowers were still awkwardly in his hands and he held them out to me. "They're for you." he said.

The memories held in the scent of these dainty little things was breathtaking.

Little Kim danced around my memory. By little, I meant of course, middle-school Kim. She was getting the new shoes Geoff had gotten her all dirty as she ran around the streets playing tag with her younger brother. The other neighborhood kids were playing with them. She was chasing Kung Min and just as soon as she was about to touch his shoulder, he swiveled to the right and poor Kim made a dive for the pavement. Elbows, her left cheek, most of her legs, all scraped and bloody. She started to sniffle to hide the pain.

"Kung Min-ssi! I told you not to let your sister play!" one of the boys yelled. "Look at her! They're going to think we hurt her!"

There was a quiet boy just w