I headed up to my little sister's room. First, I popped into see Jaihee. He was sound asleep. I crossed the hall to Sunhee's room.  My little monkey was sitting at her craft table working away on something.

I knocked on her door as I entered. "So...this is what little monkeys do when they're supposed to be in bed.

"Oppa!" she flew out of her chair and jumped into my arms." You're so bad...I've been waiting for you forever and ever"

I swung her around a couple of times then gave her a big hug. "Sorry about that, monkey. But you know, your Oppa's been very busy. I don't even have time to play anymore." I gave her a pouty face.

"That's not fair...I'm going to tell Appa! You need to play at least once a day." She started towards her door.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"To find Appa!" she opened the door.

 I grabbed her up in my arms. "But I wanted to read to you...but if you'd rather go find dad." I put her down and pretended to be very upset.

"Oppa, Don't cry! Of course, you can read to me." She grabbed my hand and pulled me over to her bookcase." You can even pick!"

She was tickled as I picked one of her new books and an old favourite. We climbed on to her fairy princess bed.  She jumped on and I carefully laid on top, finding a position I could live with.

"Oppa, did you hurt your ?" she was a very bright and observant child.

"You know, sometimes when you are naughty and Appa finds out." She nodded her head.  "Well... I was naughty."

"Really! I thought you were all grow-up... But you still can get in trouble, too?" She looked quite shocked.

"I'm not proud to say this, but yes... I got in trouble with Appa this afternoon and I paid the price." I kissed her forehead.

"Poor Oppa! I know exactly how it feels." She kissed me back on my forehead then hopped out of her bed. She went over her very special bear that nobody was allowed to touch and brought it back with her.

"You can borrow Sunflower tonight, she always makes me feel better." she handed me her prized bear.

"Why Sunhee? ...That exactly what I needed.  You're such a great little sister."

We snuggled close and I started reading.

                          ....

I knocked once again on the study door.

"Come"

I entered and closed the door behind me.

"Have a seat...I just have to finish read this and I'll be right with you." He was staring at his tablet as he walked around to join me on one of the couches.

I sat gently down, trying not to be obvious about my discomfort. He sat down across from me.

"I have to say I've been pretty impressed with your performance scores for the last few weeks...You actually have a pretty good chance of advancing on and becoming a real trainee with my company.   Honestly, I didn’t think you would make it through the first week...And now, you're winning performances." He shook his head. I was caught off-guard; this wasn't the conversation I thought we would be having.

"I wanted to talk to you and find out what your thoughts are about all of this. I don't know if you even like doing this kind of stuff.  Or even if you would want to be a trainee considering the reason why you became a probee?" He put down his tablet and looked at me, waiting for a response.

"I don't know... It is pretty easy...Dancing. I just do what they show me.  Singing is not my strong point, that's for sure... Dorm life is okay. My roommates are cool...But the academy is tough. It's worse than real school..." I paused thinking I might have said too much.

"Michael has mentioned you're holding your own...He still thinks you're not living up to your full potential." Trust Michael Chan to say that.

"There isn't enough hours in a day to do everything at 100%, Ah-bo-jee. I need to sleep at some point." I was on the defensive.

"Do you like any of it? Performing on stage? Dancing?" He asked. "You have a good stage presence, a natural ability that not many have or can even learn."

"I really haven't thought about it much. When I'm out there on stage, I just go with it. Most of the time it's fun. But practicing for it can be exhausting and downright painful... Especially when you get it and nobody else does." I nodded my head as I remembered our last group dance rehearsal.

"Does that happen to you often?" He asked. I just shrugged my shoulders. I didn't want to sound like a know-it-all, but I usually learn new moves way faster than my peers.

"I want you to give it some serious thought over the next week...Do you really want to be a trainee? To perform on stage or on TV? To have no real privacy for at least the next 4 years maybe longer? I know it's a lot to think about but it is necessary if you want to make an informed decision."

“I will definitely think about it now...Before this Friday, I never thought I had any real chance of making it further." I knew my dancing was good enough but my singing had a long way to go.

"Good...Now, let's talk about this afternoon..." He sat back on his sofa resting both arms across the top, just a little intimidating. "You do remember the reason why you have a security detail."

"Because someone threatened me." I answered without any expression or attitude.

"Correct." He was staring at me with his mind turning. "I've discussed it with your mother and we’ve decided you should know the whole story. It might make you understand the reason I'm very concerned about your lack of compliance on these matters."

His fingers were tapping on the top of the sofa.... He was thinking.

"At first, it seemed harmless. I would receive a few photos of the whole family at events...like at the Orphan Charity Auction or at the Children's Best Christmas Fund raiser. Then about 9 months ago something changed...Remember the Children's Miracle Marathon we all participated in?"

I nodded. We didn't do a lot of high profile things with our parents because they wanted to keep us away from the limelight and the public eye.

"That was the last big event we did as a family" I said.

"Right...I received photos from that event too...There were about twenty in total. Some had just your mom and I in them. Some had your mom and your dongseungs or me and your dongseungs.  Others had the whole family in them...You may wonder 'What's so alarming about that?' ...Except you were scratched out of every photo...I thought it was a stupid prank. But all the same, I notified the police and they opened a filed... A few days later, I started receiving photos of just you at your school, at the park, in the mall and on the bus. A few different ones arrived every few days. I took them to the police. They suggested I hire more security because there was no actual threat being made at that time. They didn't have the manpower to spend on someone’s childish prank." He shook his head, not believing it all.

He had my full attention...It was creepy and very alarming to say the least.

"That's when we started to have full-time security at the estate and all our drivers were retrained or replaced with security trained drivers" Now that I think about it, I remember my parents throwing a retirement party for my mother's long-time driver, Mr. Han.

"I consulted with Kim Jong Kook on the best course of action to keep us all safe, which we did implement immediately...You were driven to and from school and you were to call if something was to change." And here, I thought it was because I was getting to school late at least once a week because the bus was unreliable.

 "Remember the day you and the boys skipped gym and had an early lunch?"

Of course I did...that was the end of my carefree life. "Yes."

"I received time-stamped photos of you. One followed every 1/2 hour. First at school on a run...then at a dumpling restaurant and then one at the computer cafe. In each of these pictures your eye had x's in them... and last thing I received that day was a blood-strained uniform shirt with your nametag on it.  We had been calling the three of you on your cells since the second group of photos. I had even dispatched security to hunt you down. When Lee Joon finally answered his phone and past it to you, I was so glad to hear you voice. It was a huge relief to me and to all my security." His face looked older somehow.

"I had no idea that all that was going on." The shock must have shown on my face. "You should’ve told me...I wouldn't have been such a jerk about it all, thinking you were just being an overly paranoid father."

"After that, the police took the threat a lot more seriously, even the NIS was informed... The time you pushed the panic button...that false alarm was the straw that broke the camel's back. We had to do something drastic so you would stop doing foolish things that would endanger you and possibly those around you... That's why we relocated you out at your grandparents. It had no ties to me or your stepmother ...it was remote. We could keep you out of harm’s way."

It made sense, now. "You really should've told me...I would've been more aware and wouldn't have been such a headache to you all."

"Well, it's easy to say that, in hindsight. But at the time, I wanted you to live as normal a life as you could without that hanging over your head...”

Like yanking your teen-aged son out of school, a way from everyone and everything he knows and exiling him to boot camp was his idea of a normal way of life. Strangely, I disagree...I kept that to myself, of course.

"Why the change of heart, now?" I asked.

"I've seen a new, more mature side of you in the last couple of months. After this afternoon's events...I decided you should know. Hopefully, what happened today won't happen again." His eyes were locked on mine.

Was that an admission of guilt or...?  Too bad, we didn't have this conversation this morning. It could have saved me some wear and tear. However, I was grateful that he told me at any rate. He was treating me more like an adult and not like early today when I was his errant child.

"I’m glad you told me, I'll be more careful in the future." I assured him.

"That's good to hear." He was looking straight at me and I nodded understandingly.

'I've given you a lot to think about...let's plan a work-out session after church tomorrow morning...That will give you some time to think and I'll be able to answer any questions you may come up with." He stood up and waited for me to stand.

"Okay..." I got up and headed toward the door. "Can I tell Taewan about all this? I'm sure his dad knows, right?"

"If you think he can handle it, I don't think it matters who you tell, unless you think they will treat you differently." He opened the door." Good night, see you in the morning."

"Good Night, Ahbojee."

A/N:  Finally!...that's helps to understand his papa...  would your parents react  any differently?