Saturday was hell to Choi Sera for no apparent reason at all. She was made to tidy the house from the dusty storeroom and the pig's sties of her sisters' rooms, to the living room strewn with magazines and bills. Her mother had been unexpectedly nice about it.

“Clean the entire house, I don't want a speck of dust. If you do a good job, you can go out before dinner. I'll give you allowance for a nice dinner in town.”

It's been a long time Sera had dinner outside. She had a feeling her mother was trying to chase her out of the house, but it was probably for a very important business meeting. Either that or her mother was bringing one of her many boyfriends back. Maybe she was serious about the guy this time. Sera sighed as she picked the magazines on the floor up and stacked them on the coffee table. Who could she possibly have dinner with? Her godmother?

Looks like I'd have to eat alone today, she thought to herself, as she remembered the schedules that her godmother had on Saturdays. She wondered if eating with her sisters would be better than eating alone. Wouldn't hurt to try, she thought.

“Uhh.. Yoonhye?”, Sera shyly half-whispered as she entered the extravagantly decorated room. Her sister was at her desk mulling over revision questions. A second look revealed that she was actually fast asleep. Sera chuckled to herself. Biology. The questions looked very familiar to Sera.

“Yoonhye, wake up!!”, Sera shook her, and Yoonhye woke with a startled jump. She wiped the drool from the side of her lips and looked up at Sera with wide eyes.

“Sera? What are you doing here?”

“Umma is chasing me out of the house because she didn't want me to be there during dinnertime. Do you want to eat dinner with me? I can help you revise your Biology. You have an exam on Monday, right?”

Yoonhye sulked. “I got chased out by Umma too. And the revision questions are making my head hurt. I feel so sleepy when I start reading the textbook...”

“Let's go to a cafe to study then! The smell of coffee will motivate you! Umma gave me more than enough money!”, Sera quipped excitedly. Yoonhye looked at her excited sister and an subconscious smile emerged on her face as she gladly agreed, sweeping the stray papers into her file and packing her biology notes into her schoolbag.

Three hours later, at a cozy little coffee shop a block west to their house, Yoonhye had completed almost all of her revision questions, and could answer all the questions Sera had asked. Yoonhye finished the last sip of her cappuccino, and laid back in her chair, pleased with her progress. The sun had started to set, and the colors of the sunset had painted the coffee shop with a peaceful ambiance.

“You know, Sera-unnie. You're not as bad as Unnie tells me.”, Yoonhye spoke as she stretched in her seat. Her eyes looked kindly at Sera.

“What does your Unnie tell you?”

“She tells me that I should treat you like a maid because you're worth less than us because you're adopted. She tells me that if I don't treat you like a maid, you'll think that you're worthy of being our sister and getting our inheritance.”

Sera laughed loudly. “I don't want your inheritance...”

“I know. I was just being stupid believing my sister. You know.. I'm sorry for treating you so badly before. Shall we be good sisters now?”, Yoonhye's face was plagued with remorse, and Sera nodded incessantly. She smiled a bright smile to dissipate the serious mood, and tried to change the subject.

“We should go get dinner. I can't go home before Umma finishes her dinner.”, Sera sighed, her eyes closed in the tranquility that was uncommon in a life like hers. She wondered what her foster mother could be doing, and whether Yoona was banned from returning home as well.

“Yeah, neither can I... Unnie and N-oppa are meeting Umma now and she didn't want me to meddle in her 'wedding affairs'.” replied Yoonhye innocently. Sera jumped out from her seat.

“What??”

Yoonhye cursed as she watched Sera rush out of the coffee shop in a matter of seconds. She packed her notes as fast as she could and ran after her.

*          *          *

Cha Hakyeon had arrived at the Choi family's house an hour before the arranged time. He was surveying the surroundings of the house, looking to see if there were different entrances for him to use. He rang the doorbell, but nobody received. From the gate he could see a path leading up to an average-looking traditional house, adorned with all sorts of trinkets and decorations. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a little room to the side of the house. He took a mental note of that. He whipped his cellphone out and keyed a message in.

Hakyeon hung around the house. It was a little isolated from the main road. He could continue straight down the sidewalk and turn left to find a bookstore, a coffee shop, and a convenience store. He could entertain himself at the bookstore while waiting for dinner, he thought. It sounded like a great plan to him. When he arrived, he picked up a yellowing version of “Kongji and Patzzi” and made himself comfortable at the corner of the tiny shop.

Lee Hongbin arrived half an hour after he received the text from the leader. He was dressed smartly in a button-down white shirt and pale blue chinos. He looked around at the house. Was the leader inside already? He called and was received by a half-awake Hakyeon murmuring sleepily into the receiver.

“Give me a second, I'll be right there...”

Hakyeon was in sight five minutes after he hung up, and he saw Hongbin waiting with his camera out, snapping at something that might have caught his eye. Hongbin noticed N approaching, and waved nonchalantly at him, beckoning him with his wave.

“The house. It's so pretty. I would live in something like this next time.”, Hongbin marveled. N rang the doorbell again, and the duo were let in almost immediately.

“Hello, you must be Yoona's N-oppa?” a slender, sharp looking woman addressed Hongbin. She stretched out her hand formally.

“Ahh, no, you're mistaken. I'm Hongbin. I'm N-hyung's groupmate. Nice to meet you.”, Hongbin received her hand stiffly. He noticed the slight frown on N's face and tried to give him an apologetic look, but N was busy with the formalities to notice.

“Yoona-ah! Your boyfriend is here!”, the woman called. Hakyeon took a piece of crumpled paper out of his right pocket and handed it to Hongbin, who in return gave a questioning look. Hakyeon groaned in annoyance as high-pitched squeals were heard, complaints about not being ready for her fiance. Hongbin rolled his eyes.

*          *          *

“...I assume you're serious about my daughter to be wanting to come to meet me?”, Sera heard a familiar voice from the dimly lit path to the main house. The sun had already set, and Sera was trying to be as quiet as possible, hoping that her mother would not discover her presence.

She had been brought up to believe that eavesdropping was rude and also wrong, but she couldn't help it. What was the point of leaving the orphanage to serve that vile woman if Hakyeon was going to marry Yoona and plunge her into the very despair that had consumed her in the orphanage in the first place? She had to stop it.

Sera was so engrossed in the conversation as she sat on the bench obscured by the flora, that she had not heard the footsteps that approached her.

“Ella?”, she heard a whisper, and turned around to see the outline of an angular and beautiful face in the dim light. It looked familiar.

“Is that you, Ella? I knew I'd find you here!”

The man sat himself down on the bench and she could see his entire face upon further inspection as her eyes got used to the dim light. She jumped in surprise.

“H-Hongbin? What.. what are you doing here?” Hongbin had excused himself from the dinner to complete his assignment – to look for N's orphanage girl, as N told him, probably in the room at the side of the main house.

“I'm here to find you.” Hongbin took her hand and kissed it once more. He saw clearly the broken bracelet and the dark heart-shaped pigmentation of her birthmark. He felt the texture of her callused fingers, and swept his thumb across the back of her hand on the spot where his lips had met her skin.

“Let's leave this place. N-hyung wants you back.”

*          *          *

N's phone vibrated on the table. He had already finished his dinner and was entertaining the mother and daughter. Yoona was still eating, and trying her very best to look as graceful as possible. He glanced at the phone.

[07:25:43 PM] Hongbin: Found her, birthmark and all. Apparently was adopted by this family and abused and treated like some maid. Bringing her back to the dorms to see what our manager can do. You should come.

“Choi Yoona?” Behind his smile, his voice sounded vaguely threatening.

“Yes~ N-oppa?”, she smiled sweetly. N looked at her mother. He wondered what her reaction would be when she found out what was going on. He wondered if her mother already knew and was taking part in the scheme. What would they benefit from this? He was just an idol trying his best to pay off the debt he owed to his company. He was poor and had to live in a dorm with six other guys, one of which was a manager who ruled over his time and the way he was to spend it. If not for the sponsors, he might not even have clothes to wear.

“Ms. Choi, I think you're mistaken. I'm not serious about your daughter, at least not this one.” He heard Yoona choke on her rice, her bewildered eyes glaring daggers into N. Her mother reacted the same way, an incredulous expression plastered on her face. “Yoona's pretending to be a girl I'm looking for. Her name's Ella, and I believe she's in your household.”

“What?? We don't have an Ella! You must have forgotten my name, honey~”, Yoona desperately held onto N's arm, trying to prevent him from leaving. When he rejected her insistence, she started to tear up and made a commotion, and N's groans of annoyance did nothing to stop her. In the end, their bickering was ended by a sharp, but calm voice.

“Daughter, we do have an Ella. It's just that you call her by a different name. Cha... Hakyeon right? What are you going to do about my adopted daughter? I have the right to disallow your marriage, she's not of age yet. She's merely 19.”, her mother replied spitefully.

“We'll see about that, Ms. Choi.”

Cha Hakyeon stood up and looked down at the mother and daughter with an arrogant, mean look. He thanked them for the dinner, and Yoona could feel the coldness of his voice seep into the atmosphere, the depressed mood a calm before the storm.

*          *          *

Yoonhye was panting by the time she arrived at the gate. Sera and a man whom she presumed to be N were leaving the house. She ran up to them.

“Sera-unnie! Are you okay? What did my mother say?”, she asked, frantic with worry.

“We're taking her away. N is inside talking to your mother. Ella will be abused by her if she returns home. We mustn’t return. Can you take care of things from here onwards?” Hongbin's deep voice questioned as he held her by the shoulders to calm her down.

Yoonhye stood in front of the pair utterly confused. Ella? Why is Hongbin here? Take care of what things? Questions ran through her mind, and she stood astounded as N, the person she had once proclaimed to love ran past her, grabbing Sera's hand and waving to a taxi. Hongbin smiled and bid farewell to the still shocked Yoonhye.

The three left, leaving her with the sound of loud squabbles from the house and a tingling sensation on her shoulders where Hongbin had placed his hands.