I watched him walk down the sidewalk coolly, and noticed how casually he was dressed. A black T-Shirt, jeans, and that black cap on his head. I watched him untie the dog from the hydrant, bend down, and pet him, mouthing words I couldn’t hear.

Before closing the door, I realized how wrong this would seem to him. My stepmom, whom I had addressed, “Mom”, had walked in with another man, not even knowing I was home for the summer. I bit my lip, running outside. “Ya Yang Yoseob!” I yelled.

He stood up, holding the leash in his hand as the dog peed on the hydrant.

 “Hye Mi!”

I shut my eyes in annoyance, not daring to turn around. When I did, Nichkhun was standing there. He walked over to me. “What’s up?” he said, touching my arm.

I pulled away. “Nothing.”

“Want to do something?” he asked. “I noticed you flipping channels. You know, that’s not very healthy, watching TV. Now I know you run about 2.1 miles every morning, and you do sit ups at night but that’s not enough if you want to get fit.”

Nichkhun, never failed to know every single detail about my life.

“I’m a little busy…” I looked over at Yoseob, who looked confused. “I’ll talk to you later.”

Nichkhun sighed. “Sure.” He said, ruffling my hair. I cringed and he turned around, going back inside.

“Phew.” I said. Good thing I got him to go away. Spending time with him was the worst. Not only did he know what I did every moment of my day, but if I was with him doing it all, he would comment on every small thing that I did. Every move, every facial expression, every food I ate he would count calories, every time I tripped he would want to look over my entire body…I shivered. He was downright creepy.

I walked down the sidewalk, putting my hands on my hips and my lips nervously. Yoseob smiled. “Yes?”

 “Um…” I said. “Don’t…mention this to anyone please…my mom and stuff.”

He smiled. “There’s nothing to tell. It’s none of my business. See ya.” He winked, turning and walking down the street. I stood, watching him go, wondering if I would ever see him again.

“Ya, Hye Mi. Your dad and my mom are friends, so we have to be friends too, okay?”

“They aren’t friends. They’re coworkers. I don’t want to be your friend.”

She pursed her lips. “Well at least MY mom works to support her family. Not like yours, who just cooks and cleans all day.” She crossed her arms, closing her eyes and smiling proudly.

“Don’t talk about my mom that way.” I said, moving closer to her.

“Hey, get away!” she said, nervously widening her eyes.

“Ya, Youngah! You need to stop treating my family like we’re dirt!” I yelled, tears forming in my small eyes.

She screamed, “Ya!”, slapping me.

I brought a hand to my cheek, feeling it burn, and a tear dropped from my eye.

I heard the door to my father’s office open, and footsteps signaled someone approaching. Youngah noticed too, and faked a cry. She was balling by the time my father and her mother entered.

“What happened?” My father said, directing the question at me.

“Nothing, I-”

“Hye Mi!” Youngah’s mother said. “What did you do to my baby? Youngah, what’s wrong?”

“Hye Mi-” Youngah sniffed. “She slapped me. All I wanted to do was be her friend and she slapped me.”

I opened my mouth to protest.

“Ya Hye Mi, you go away now. Go to your room.” Youngah’s mother said, pointing out the door. My father shook his head.

“That’s right, go.” He said. “We’re trying to work. These kinds of distractions aren’t fair to us.”

I lowered my head, walking slowly away. “And apologize to her first!” Youngah’s mother screamed.

I turned around. “I’m sorry, Youngah. I’m sorry, Mrs. Go.” Before leaving, I caught a look at Youngah, who was smirking proudly.

The same annoying beep of the alarm clock forced me awake and I rolled out of bed unwillingly, changing into some sweats and a T-Shirt. The flashbacks were getting more vivid now. I took an aspirin for my headache, and gulped down a glass of water. Today was colder, the drastic weather change not helping my complexion as I noticed in the mirror.

I reached for my ipod on the counter, realizing it wasn’t there. Now that I thought about it, I didn’t remember even bringing it inside. I checked around the living room and my bedroom and bathroom, but found it nowhere. I sighed, annoyed. This was all Yoseob and his dog’s fault. I shook my head. “Aish, this is driving me crazy!”

Nonetheless, my morning run was imperative, and I applied some cream to my bad knee before walking outside, only to be faced with Yoseob, standing down the driveway, wide awake and happily smiling to greet me.

“Hi!” He said, waving from down the sidewalk. He started running in place and jumping enthusiastically, waving his hands.

What was he doing here?

He ran up the sidewalk, standing in front of me. “You ready to run? Look! Look! So am I!” He was wearing black basketball shorts and sneakers, and he smiled proudly. “I’m going to run with you.” He said, after noticing my confused, annoyed look.

I shook my head, groaning. “Please, go away.” I said.

I pushed past him and he grabbed my shirt. “Ya, I’m just trying to be your friend.” He said innocently.

“What are we, in 5^thgrade?” I asked, pulling away.

A car drove by and parked across the street. I recognized the driver as the man my stepmom had brought home yesterday. I turned my gaze to him, ignoring Yoseob, and was startled when he said, “Isn’t that the man…”

I shook my head. “What man.” I said coldly.

My front door open, and my stepmom ran out of it, skipping down the sidewalk and crossing the street, without a word to me. I frowned, watching as she got into the car with the man and he drove off.

I scowled. “Crazy stepmom.” I said.

Yoseob watched, putting a hand in front of his head to avoid the sunlight. “That’s your stepmom?” He asked.

I glared at him. “Yeah.” I turned to leave, when my phone rang.

Yoseob watched me as I answered it. “Hello?”

“Hye Mi! How are you?”

“Appa!” I said, happy to receive a call from him. “When are you coming home?”

“It looks like I might need to stay a little longer. I might not be home for another month. Has Mrs. Go called you yet?”

I still wasn’t sure why my father continued to call her Mrs. Go. Now that she had become part of the family, it didn’t seem natural, especially since she insisted I call her “Mom”.

“Umm…” I started.

“Well anyway, she’s in Japan right now, something came up with her aunt and she was forced to get there, she’ll be back around the same time I am, so just hang in there at the house until we’re home okay?”

“Dad-“

“I gotta go now, bye sweetie!” The call ended. I lowered the phone, sighing. I couldn’t tell my dad about my stepmom being home already, meeting some strange man. It would kill him. Losing one wife was enough…

“What are you still doing here?” I asked.

Yoseob shrugged. “I want to run. Let’s see who’s faster, eh?” He ran in place confidently, then smiled.

“I’m not really in the mood to run anymore.” I said, turning back to the house. And I wasn’t. I couldn’t tell my dad. I should, but I couldn’t. I sighed, shoving my phone into my pocket.

“Hey.” Yoseob said, grabbing my shoulder and turning me around. “You okay? You’ll feel better after the run.”

“Hye Mi!” Nichkhun’s happy voice caused me to cringe and bite my lip, turning away. “You aren’t running today? Then, are you free?” Nichkhun yelled.

I turned to him, faking a smile. “I was just leaving on my run actually.” I said, grabbing Yoseob by the arm and jogging off, him trailing behind.

Once we turned the corner of my street, I stopped. “Sorry, just had to get away from him.” I said.

Yoseob shook his head. “He was just being friendly.” He paused as I sat down on the curb. “ Do you not like friendly people?”

I inhaled deeply.

“Oh!” He exclaimed, reaching into his pocket.

I watched him pull out an ipod. “Here.” He said, holding it out to me.

“What’s this?” I asked, taking it. I turned it over. The same imprint of my name was on the top of the backside. I looked up at Yoseob, standing. “Did you fix this?” I asked.

He smiled. “It wasn’t that hard. I’m good with this sort of thing.”

“But…how did you do it so quickly?” I asked, impressed.

He shrugged. “So what’s up with that Nichkhun guy?”

I moaned. “He won’t leave me alone. I swear, every day he calls me asking me out. You’d think after one rejection, he’d get the hint, but he doesn’t. I think he figures I’m just playing hard to get.” I rolled my eyes.

Yoseob nodded. “You can come off that way.”

I glared at him. “What am I telling you this anyway…” I whispered.

Yoseob raised his eyes. “Why don’t you just tell him you have a boyfriend?”

I shook my head. “He’ll stalk me. He’ll find out it’s not true.”

Yoseob stuck his hands in his pockets. “Then go find some random guy and pretend to date him.”

I widened my eyes. “What are you suggesting….” I asked.

“Nothing, I’m just saying. Don’t you have any guy friends who would do that for you?”

I shook my head. Truth was, I didn’t have many friends, shocking as it was.

This seemed to please Yoseob. “Alright. Let me do it then.” He said.

My mind raced as I took in what he said. “What? That’s ridiculous. I don’t even know you.”

He nodded. “True, but who else is going to?”

This was absurd. “Are you being serious right now?” I asked, trying to judge it by his face.

“Of course.” He gave me an innocent smile.

I turned around, looking at the fixed ipod in my hand. Yoseob couldn’t be that bad a person if he had personally fixed it himself. Plus, it would be bad to get on his bad side, considering how much he probably figured out about my family. I sighed, turning back around.

Narrowing my eyes, I asked, “Are you really going to help me?”

“Sure, why not?” he replied.

“Why, though? Why would you want to help me?”

He shrugged. “You seem like someone worth helping.”