Seohwa stared in horror.

She swore that she wanted to die on the spot. She didn't know how long she could stand to witness hell break lose before her. Beads of sweat rolled down her face. She bit onto her bottom lip, balling her hands into tight fists as she stared at her mother's every move, anticipating the worst.

Her mother had aged well; she was beautiful. She was the definition of what every middle-aged mother aspired to be. No wrinkles, clear white skin and long shiny black hair, which she had tied back in a firm perfect bun. Apart from the age difference, Seohwa was certain that people could mistake Seohyun as her prettier older sister than as her mother.

On the other hand, Seohwa had the same hair length as her mother. However, it was wavy and slightly dry due to the amount of time she spent at the beach. And, because she was always at the beach, her skin was inevitably darker than the average Korean. She was slightly shorter than her mother too and, unfortunately, she did not inherit the natural elegance that her mother had.

Seohyun flicked through the pieces of paper with her delicate fingers.

Seohwa gulped as her mother read further down the page. With each word of the report Seohyun sifted through, she could see her mother's eyebrows rising higher and higher.

God, Seohwa honestly wanted to die. She wanted to crawl in a corner and disappear into oblivion.

The fact that her mother hadn't said anything yet unnerved Seohwa. Watching on like this was utter torment. Humiliation and...embarrassing.

“Below average for English.” Her mother finally commented. However, it was more like she had asked a question as if she was questioning how ignorant she was.

It was when Seohwa spotted Seohyun's eyes fall at the last mark on the bottom of the page.

“Seohwa,” Seohyun gasped her name. She was clutching onto the paper so tightly that it was shaking now as she leered at the result that Seohwa dreaded for her to see. “How could you fail mathematics?”

“Because I'm not a mathematics type of person?” Seohwa offered a sarcastic excuse, but also dipped her head low in shame.

“It's easy though!” Seohyun exclaimed, incredulously. “If you focus, it's simple to get your mind around it. It's not difficult at all. And you're not even in your last year of high school. Aigoo!”

Easy enough for her mother, Seohwa thought to herself. As well as not inheriting her mother's elegance, Seohwa hadn't inherited her brains either.

“It's because you're lazy!” Seohyun exclaimed. “Because you always do stupid things with your time. You're not using your full potential. You're not-”

Seohwa began to drone her mother out. She didn't want to hear any of it. She was tired of it. It wasn't like Seohwa had put no effort into studying. She had stayed back almost every day to get her best friend, Chaeyoung, to teach her. Seohwa had tried. She really had. It wasn't her fault that maths was so difficult and was the most horrible subject on Earth!

“Are you even listening to me, Seohwa?” Seohyun hissed at her. “This is a serious matter that you need to address. You should focus on your studies more. Wait until your father hears about this! Go back to your room and study!”

Yes, Seohwa had heard it all. Over the past year, Seohwa's grades had been dropping. It's just that she had difficulties focusing in class. Her mind would shift elsewhere, like the sun shining outside or the ticking of the clock. Ever since she was younger, she had aimed and tried her best in everything, yet whatever she did...she'd get the same result.

It didn't help when her best friend was a genius. Chaeyoung was skilled at almost everything academically. Seohwa often wondered whether Chaeyoung was really her mother's daughter. Of course, she was joking...but sometimes she still wondered.

Nevertheless, Seohwa obediently walked herself into her bedroom. With her shoulders slouched, she sat at the desk, determinedly trying to focus on her maths homework. The more she stared at the equation, the more irritated she felt. She kept coming up with different ways to solve the problem, but every approach she attempted didn't match with the actual answer.

She cried out in frustration. Perhaps she was getting her period soon, but she felt more emotional than usual. The stress of studying, the way she'd never live up to how her mother wanted her to be...she had had enough.

Tears blocked her vision. Whenever she was really annoyed and bothered about something, Seohwa often found herself crying. She hated it. Clearly distracted, she stood up and rubbed her eyes. What she needed was to get out of there...

Before her mind came to terms with what she was actually doing, her body began to move on its own. Seohwa tossed clothing, textbooks and other miscellaneous objects into her school bag before climbing out of her window.

The downside about being Yonghwa and Seohyun's daughter was that their house was heavily guarded. Yet, they had lived there ever since she was born. Seohwa had learned of ways to escape without being detected.

Seohwa carefully slid down the water pipe. When her feet touched the ground, she snuck into the backyard, creeping past the swimming pool and behind the gardner's shed. Using her cellphone as a torch, she held it against the wooden fence as she observed it in detail. When she was eight or ten, her other best friend, Ryumin, had been her accomplice when they had created the escape route. Ryumin had designed a part of the fence to be something like a cat flap.

When Seohwa found the lever, that looked like a nail, she squatted down and tugged on it. Immediately, the square of wood became loose and her escape exit was determined. Seohwa chucked her bag out of the door first before in a deep breath to worm herself out of the wooden flap. She barely made it out considering the flap had been created when she had a smaller body.

Seohwa stood up, dusting herself off and placing her sunglasses over her eyes. Half of the reason for the sunglasses was for a disguise, the other half was because of the glaring setting sun.

She found herself walking in the direction of Chaeyoung's house, but stopped. She didn't want to bother Chaeyoung. If she went to Chaeyoung's place, Chaeyoung would get into trouble. Since Chaeyoung was out of the question, she decided to visit Ryumin at his part time job.

The cafe was famous in Busan – even her parents loved going there. Seohwa even remembered hearing from Uncle Jonghyun, Aunt Sora and Aunt Leeseol that they'd often go there when they were teenagers.

When Seohwa entered the cafe, the first thing she noticed was that Ryumin wasn't working. She frowned. But, since she was there, she thought of ordering a beverage anyway.

“A chai latte please,” Seohwa said. As the lady prepared her drink, she asked, “Ryumin's not working today?”

“He's on a date, Seohwa.” The lady smiled back.

Seohwa nodded her head, knowingly. That meant that Ryumin was out with Chaeyoung. It had only been recently that her two best friends had confessed their feelings towards each other. Their friendship hadn't changed much, to Seohwa's surprise. Seohwa thought that they'd consider her as a third wheel, but instead they included her almost with anything and everything. After all, the three of them had been good friends since they were in their diapers.

Seohwa was genuinely happy for them. She had known about the feelings that both Ryumin and Chaeyoung had shared for each other for a long time. For them to finally be together was like a miracle. She had been sick of their games and how long it took for them to admit to liking each other.

Since her best friends were on a date, she couldn't destroy their time together. She couldn't ring up and in venting about how she had runaway from home to escape her mother's wrath. She didn't want to be a mood breaker.

“Here you go.”

“Thanks!” Seohwa forced a smile.

The worker handed her chai in a styrofoam cup and just as she was about to leave, somebody called after her.

“Ya!”

If there was one thing Seohwa hated, it was when people addressed people as 'ya'. She considered it rude and bad mannered. Perhaps it was because Seohyun had raised her to treat people with respect, so hearing somebody call after her in that tone made her feel bitter.

Seohwa turned around on her heels and saw that the customer, that had been behind her, looking at her. “Are you dumb? You forgot your change.”

The customer had his palm open with the coins that she had left on the counter. First he had addressed her as 'ya' and then she called her dumb! What was with this guy? Her mother had the right to call her stupid, but for a complete stranger to call her 'dumb'? What nerve he had!

She snatched the coins from the palm of his hand, staring at him angrily in the eye.

The guy flatly looked back at her before shrugging and placing his order. He was acting so casually to her like he had done nothing wrong. There was something about the guy that looked oddly familiar. She was certain he was about her age. He was tall, had a lean figure and his jet-black hair was in a disarrayed mess. Seohwa might have had acknowledged him as handsome if he hadn't acted like a jerk to her.

Seohwa went to the self-service section to add a few teaspoons of sugar into her beverage. Although her chai latte was already sweet, Seohwa liked things sweeter. She had a big sweet tooth that it didn't surprise her if she one day she was diagnosed with diabetes.

His phone went off and she heard him answer the call. “Noona! I'm getting your favourite mocha. You'll love me for it.”

Seohwa grimaced at the guy's tone. While he had addressed her in a cold tone, the guy had used a fake cutesy voice that was a decibel higher. His voice was so cringe-worthy that it made Seohwa want to barf.

Talking about a mocha...

Her unnie loved mochas. Although she wasn't related to Taerin by blood, they treated each other like siblings. If Chaeyoung and Ryumin couldn't keep her company, then maybe Taerin would.

Seohwa walked out of the cafe and dialled Taerin's number, pressing her cell phone to the side of her cheek.

[Yo. You have reached Tae-tae. Obviously I'm not here because I'm smoking something. No, I'm joking...or am I? Anyway, leave a message, alright? I'll get back to you when I want to.]

If Seohwa wasn't having a dreadful day, she would have laughed. Even at this time of need, she couldn't even get in touch with Taerin. Sighing, she ran her fingers through her hair.

When everything else failed, she always had one more option: Uncle Jungshin's house.

•••••••••••••••

She shivered, wrapping her arms around her knees as she waited for him.

It was nearly ten in the evening. She had scoffed down an unhealthy take-away meal before boarding on a bus to get to where she was. Jungshin's place was half an hour from the CBD, yet closest to her high school. She had left Jungshin as the last option because, out of everybody, she always bugged Jungshin the most.

Seohwa glanced at her phone. It had one bar left of battery. Her mother had been trying to call her countless of times, but she had refused to answer the calls.

A voice called out in the dark. “Seohwa?”

She saw a tall lanky figure stagger towards her. Seohwa scolded. “Can you let me in already? It's freezing out here.”

Jungshin grinned at her. When he bobbed down to exchange a hug with her, she smelt liquor. Because Jungshin acted half his age had always made it easier for Seohwa to talk to him, even if he was immature.

“What would have happened if I had taken a lady home?” Jungshin smirked, as he fumbled his pockets for the house key.

“Not likely. You're too much of a drunk.”

Seohwa rolled her eyes, picking up the set of keys he had accidentally dropped on the floor. She unlocked the door and pushed Jungshin into his own apartment. She followed after him, making herself at home. Jungshin's house was almost like a second home to her. She helped herself to the kitchen and made two cups of tea. She then strolled back to the living room and smirked when she saw her uncle laying on the sofa with a hand resting on his forehead.

“It's all spinning.”

“Here,” Seohwa offered him the other cup of tea, putting it down on a coaster. It was like she was the host, and Jungshin was the guest.

They kept quiet, sipping on their tea for almost half an hour in silence. That was what she liked about her uncle. They didn't have to talk. It was comfortable being with him because his presence calmed her. He didn't judge. He understood and was open to everything and she was grateful for that.

“I was going to get drunk tonight.”

“It's a Monday night and you are drunk,” Seohwa remarked.

Jungshin shook his head in denial. “I am tipsy, not drunk.”

“Then why were you so eager to get drunk? What stopped you?”

“Your father,” Jungshin revealed, giving a sheepish smile. “He was worried about you. Told me over the phone that you disappeared and I had a feeling you'd be here...”

“I messed your night up then, huh?” Seohwa muttered. “Sorry.”

“Maybe you actually saved me. I was going to get all depressed and think about how it would have been like if I actually lived in Japan and married Kaori.”

Seohwa looked up at Jungshin, startled. She hadn't heard Jungshin mention his ex-girlfriend's name since she was seven. They had broken up a long time ago. Then again, Jungshin had always been more open and honest than he usually was whenever he had alcohol in his system.

“Why?”

“It's her birthday today.” Jungshin said dryly, chuckling as if he had said nothing to be concerned about. He sat up. “Anyway, you need to go home. Your parents are worried.”

“Can't I stay here for tonight?” Seohwa frowned. “I even have my uniform for tomorrow.”

It was true. While she had been raging, she had somehow managed to pack the necessities needed for the following school day. She even had packed away a toothbrush and her minty toothpaste.

“Really, Uncle Jungshin. I need a break from my parents. They're putting pressure on me at the moment.”

Jungshin studied her and, just like that, he was easily persuaded. Seohwa knew that she was Jungshin's favourite niece and it was wrong that she was using him, but she really needed her own space at the moment. If she went home, she may say bad things to her parents that she would regret.

“I've texted them that you're here. They should be fine with it,” Jungshin said a minute later, tucking his phone away. “So tell me what's wrong, Seohwa?”

It wasn't that anything was wrong, Seohwa tried to explain to Jungshin. It was a truckload of worries that made her shoulders feel heavy. From how her grades were horrible, what her parents expected of her, to how she had no direction and no idea what she wanted to do with her life.

“That's normal,” Jungshin told her. “I had no idea either. I was just lucky to pick up the bass as a hobby and, somehow, it did me good because I ended in a band alongside with your father.”

“Did you get bad marks too? It's pissing me off because I tried so hard and yet my result is always baffling. I feel like an idiot when mother tells me it's so easy to do and-”

“Seohwa, your mother is a genius. That's why she doesn't understand,” Jungshin explained. “I'm bad at maths too. And Yonghwa...he's terrible. When he tried budgeting for the group when we had little to no money, we almost went bankrupt. We were going to starve to death, which was why Minhyuk took charge of the finance.”

“Dad was terrible at maths?” Seohwa repeated. She somehow felt better finding out that her dad a flaw.

“Yes.” Jungshin said, “Even worse than your Uncle Jonghyun.”

Jonghyun...

“I heard they're moving back here again?” Seohwa remembered.

She had overheard her parents talking about her uncle last week over breakfast. Jonghyun's wife was a professional translator specialising in business between the Korean and Japan market. They had lived in Osaka for the past five years and rumour had it that they were returning to Busan this week.

“Why? Are you scared of their son?” Jungshin gave a teasing smile. “You got along with him really well.”

Seohwa's stomach lurched. She had almost forgotten. She had mortifying memories of Jonghyun's son, Daejin. He was a disgrace to humanity; he disgusted her.

From the time she recalled Daejin dropping a spider down her back, to how he had offered her chocolate ice-cream...to find out it had been watery mud. Despite the memories happening in her childhood, she could not help but hold grudges against her god-brother. 

“He's an idiot.”

Jungshin laughed at her.