When they arrived home, Seohwa showed Daejin to the first living room.

There were two living rooms in her house. The closest living room to the entrance, which they were currently in, was the larger one. It had an expensive leather sofa, a maroon Persian matt that was laid in the centre, accenting the room. On top of the matt was Seohwa's mother's favourite glass table that had red roses, arranged to perfection, inside a crystal vase.

Besides the wide windows, there was a white pianoforte that her father would often play for her when she was a child. If the cleaner's hadn't done a thorough job tidying up Seohwa's house, there would be layers of dust on the instrument. It had been a long time since the instrument had been used.

While the piano was the main attraction, the enormous television screen that hung on the wall was its competition. Once in a blue moon Yonghwa would gather his friends to watch either a football or basketball game.

Most of the time, the first living room was for guests. Whereas the second living room was closer to the kitchen and had a more warmer atmosphere as it was smaller in size.

“Take a seat,” Seohwa instructed Daejin.

She wasn't used to being cordial towards him, but because it was only the two of them in the house it wasn't like she could leave him standing in the front porch outside.

“I've forgotten how massive your place is,” Daejin commented.

He kicked his school bag under the table and sat down, gaping at the chandeliers that draped over their heads. Seohwa mused that her house wouldn't phase Daejin, yet he was marvelling over the interior. She didn't understand why Daejin was surprised as his family were moderately wealth too since Aunt Sora was well acclaimed in the business world, while Uncle Jonghyun was just as successful as her father.

She would have expected his reaction more from somebody else.

Chaeyoung and Ryumin often told Seohwa off whenever she'd refer to her place as a house. They stated her place was more a 'mansion'. When Seohwa thought about it, her house was, in fact, a mansion. However, it wasn't like she'd go every stranger she'd meet and say, “Hello, I live in a mansion.” Who did that?

Her house was her house.

No matter that her house was abnormally larger than the typical home, she didn't like sounding superior in contrast to other people's living situation. Just because her family was rich didn't make her less human.

“Make yourself at home,” Seohwa said flatly, but her tone was anything but welcoming.

He raised his eyes at her just in time as the threw the remote control at him, which ironically landed precisely onto his lap.

“I'm sure you'll find something interesting. We have Pay TV, international channels...whatever. Choose anything. You can wait here until you get picked up.”

Without another word, Seohwa turned around on her heel and left her god-brother to fend for himself.

She charged up the staircase and into her room, flopping onto her queen-size bed. There wasn't anything particular she had planned that afternoon. Sometimes she'd grab a bite with her friends, but they had been occupied with their own extra-curricular activities. Seohwa's after-school swimming practices were to commence next week, therefore she had headed straight home.

On afternoons as such, she'd see what her Uncle Jungshin would be up to, or she'd sometimes visit Uncle Minhyuk's restaurant to see if Taerin was around. Other times she'd lounge at home, bursting her speakers with blaring music or watching movies.

She could do her homework.......nah.

Rolling off her bed, she glanced at the stack of DVDs she had borrowed from Taerin the other night. She had borrowed Taerin's collection of X-Men DVDs in preparation for the latest addition that had hit the cinemas.

Lucky dipping, she grabbed a random DVD from the pile and slipped it into the disc drive. After fiddling with the settings, she went back onto her bed and watched the first five minutes from her computer's monitor.

As much as she willed herself to not think about it – it wasn't the same.

Seohwa was accustomed to watching films in the lounge room which Daejin had to be in.

“Damn it!” She cursed to herself.

She had thought that watching the film would get her to stop thinking about the other person in her home, but it instead reminded her. As much as she disliked him, she couldn't help but feel cruel to abandon him on the other side of her house.

Bypassing the kitchen, she grabbed a bag of salt and vinegar chips accompanied with a block of hazelnut chocolate, before striding back into the living room.

Expecting Daejin to be lounging out on the sofa and watching TV, Seohwa was undoubtedly startled when she saw him wandering around the room instead.

Seohwa had forgotten how fiddly Daejin was. He liked to touch everything because he had a curious nature. When they were younger, he'd lead them both into trouble because of his never-ending curiousness.hat had led to them getting into so much trouble. One time, when they were six, they had almost lit Uncle Minhyuk's restaurant on fire because Daejin had been experimenting with the stove. If Uncle Jungshin hadn't smelt the gas, the whole restaurant would have combusted into ashes.

She studied Daejin in sudden alertness. If anything, Seohwa didn't want her house to be blown into smithereens. She eyed him like a hawk as she watched his figure studying the line of framed photographs that sat perfectly on the shelf.

“Your short hair looked good,” Daejin smirked. He had picked up one of the photographs that Seohwa dreaded the most.

Dropping the snacks onto the glass table, Seohwa dove at him. She snatched the photograph from him, hiding it behind her back. Although Daejin had a good look at the photo, it didn't mean that Seohwa would give him permission to permanently remember her disastrous bob cut.

At one point in her life, Seohwa had wanted a change from her typical long tresses. The hairdresser had decided to have a mind of her own, chopping Seohwa's hair that it was a centimetre above her ears. If there was a time that Seohwa wanted to die the most, it would have been that tormenting day.

Daejin went on to study the next photo. It was a photograph of her at the swimming carnival when she received first prize for freestyle. She had one arm around Chaeyoung, the other around Ryumin, giving a toothy grin.

“And you're still good at swimming, I'm guessing,” Daejin wrinkled his nose in distaste.

Seohwa asked, “Why? Are you still scared of the water?”

“Don't you blame me?” Daejin said, shuddering at the thought of swimming.

It surprised her. Seohwa would have thought Daejin would have grown out of his phobia but apparently that wasn't the case. Despite Daejin growing up, there were aspects of him that remained the same.

Daejin then moved on to the piano. His finger trailed the surface of it before he lifted up the lid to reveal the sparkling ebony and ivory keys. He gently touched the keys.

“Can you play?” Seohwa queried.

“A bit.”

Daejin sat on the chair, running his fingers up and down the keys. The sound echoed against the walls, producing a string of colourful musical notes. She couldn't distinguish which one, but Seohwa was certain that Daejin had played one of the major scales.

“You can play.” He had confirmed Seohwa's thoughts.

Before Daejin said anything back, footsteps approached them.

“I thought you preferred judo more than music, son,” Uncle Jonghyun said, laughter in his eyes.

Daejin stood up from the stool he had been sitting on. “No way. Judo's much more fun.”

“What's wrong with music?”

Uncle Jonghyun explained to her. “I killed Daejin's love for music when I made him take private piano lessons.”

“That's because the teacher was irritatingly strict. She'd drill me and make me do every piece from the beginning whenever I made a mistake. It was horrible,” Daejin recalled, grimacing at the the memory. “She even tried to convince me to play in front of the congregation at church.”

Seohwa laughed. The image of Daejin playing hymns at the church was priceless.

“Let's go, Daejin,” Jonghyun muttered, glancing at his watch.

As Daejin slung on his backpack, Seohwa asked her godfather. “Dad didn't go home with you?”

“No. I finished earlier because your aunt wants me to help unpack our belongings. We haven't finished it yet,” Jonghyun rolled his eyes at the thought. “Yonghwa said he'll be back late and to eat dinner without him.”

“Oh,” Seohwa said. There was something in her tone that made her Uncle stare at her.

“Are you alright, Seohwa?”

“Fine,” Seohwa cracked a smile.

She saw them off. Jonghyun patted her head as he walked out of the front door while Daejin gave her wink, saying that he'd see her tomorrow.

As she watched their car disappear around the corner, Seohwa closed the door.

She turned back and sighed at the emptiness. Seohwa was by herself again.

•••••••••••••••

Her homeroom teacher ambushed her while she was putting her books inside her locker.

“Can I have a word with you, Seohwa?” Mr. Yoosuk asked her, although his tone was making it clear that she had no other option.

“Sure,” Seohwa replied, uncertainly.

From behind Mr. Yoosuk, she caught Chaeyoung's gaze who looked just as curious. Why was her homeroom teacher singling her out? Why did he specifically want her?

She followed her teacher into the nearest spare room. Mr. Yoosuk gestured for her to sit at one of the desks. When Seohwa sat down, Mr. Yoosuk took a seat on her right-hand side.

He edged the seat towards her and began to speak directly at her. “You're probably wondering why I called you.”

Seohwa frowned. There weren't any plausible reasons why a teacher would seek her out. All she could think of were the negatives. Before she knew it, Seohwa was voicing her opinion.

“Isn't it obvious? Something I've done wrong, something that I'm doing wrong or something I will do wrong in the future-”

Mr. Yoonsuk sighed. “Seohwa, could you not give me attitude? I'm trying to help you here.”

“Help me with what?” Seohwa said, bitterly. “If it's about my grades, we've already talked about this-”

“Everybody's been talking about you,” Mr. Yoonsuk cut her before she could continue her spiel. “You're not paying attention in class. All the teachers have noticed this. We've given you many chances and instead of your grades improving, they're been dropping and have been getting worse. This is a serious matter. If this continues you may even have to repeat-”

“Repeat?” Seohwa blinked.

She had never thought that her grades had turned that bad. If that were the case, Seohwa could clearly picture her mother disowning her completely for being an academic disgrace. From merely thinking about the situation, Seohwa suddenly felt lightheaded.

Mr. Yoonsuk continued, “We'd like to have a family meeting with you and your parents.”

“They're busy,” Seohwa said, not missing a beat.

It wasn't like she was lying. Her parents were busy people and it was hard to organise for them both to be available for a family meeting. It was near impossible during business hours. For once she was glad her parents both were workaholics.

“Then I'll arrange to see them during after hours,” Mr. Yoonsuk said. He saw Seohwa's shoulders droop lower. “Seohwa, I'm not doing this because I despise you. I think it's beneficial for you and your parents need to know where you are academically. This is important.”

“I know that,” Seohwa groaned. “But this is...it's not fair.”

“It wouldn't be right for you to go into the final year of high school with your mind set like this. If you stay back-”

“I'm not staying back,” Seohwa hissed.

The thought of it sickened her. There was no way she'd not graduate with her year level. She couldn't bear to watch Chaeyoung and Ryumin graduate without her. They were the three musketeers. They had been together almost all her life through thick and thin. For her to be torn away from them was unthinkable.

“One more chance?” She pleaded.

Mr. Yoosuk studied her behind his spectacles. He let out a sigh. “Fine. One more chance. I want to see improvement, Seohwa. I want you do your assigned homework and in class you are not to daydream or stare longingly out the window. I want you to focus.”

“I will,” Seohwa promised.

She left the classroom with a scowl on her face. Ryumin and Chaeyoung tried to lighten the mood, but Seohwa's whole day was ruined. There was no chance the day could be resurrected to a good one. No chance in hell.

“What's wrong with you?” Daejin questioned her when he slid into the car behind her.

It had become routine. It was Daejin's third afternoon, after school, that he would accompany her home. If Seohwa pretended he didn't exist, she tolerated his presence. His snarky comments did not get to her as much any more, however she was in a bad mood.

“Nothing,” she huffed, shortly.

“Now that's bull,” Daejin said. If he was smart, he would have left her alone. However, who was Seohwa kidding? This was Daejin after all. “Don't you agree that Seohwa's moody, Mister Driver?”

“It's Jaesoo, kid.” Seohwa's chauffeur corrected him. “I may be your driver, but show some respect. And anybody can tell that Seohwa isn't in the best mood. It's as clear as day.”

Seohwa wasn't sure of Jaesoo was on Daejin's side or hers. Nevertheless, she crossed her arms, glaring out the window. She should have been pleased that it was a Friday, but she couldn't help but feel grumpy.

The thought of a family meeting nerved her. She couldn't help but worry and she hated bothering her father when he had too much on his plate already.

Their car was now a block away from school. The lights turned red, causing them to stop momentarily at the intersection.

Eyes still glued to the window, Seohwa noted a familiar car. In fact, she was certain she knew its owner. It wasn't often that one came across a red convertible.

To confirm her thoughts, Daejin spoke up. “Is that Uncle Jungshin?”

Anybody could tell it was him. Even from the distance, his lanky figure stood out amongst the crowd. His hand was gesturing towards the front seat of his car, beckoning for the person who he was with to enter the vehicle.

Seohwa squinted her eyes, observing the person before she let out a gasp of surprise.

She glanced at Daejin who was equally astounded.

He choked out. “That's our PE teacher, isn't it?”