“Karin~” he has been calling her name every now and then. “Just a minute,” she said not looking at him. “But you said that a few minutes ago,” he whined, pulling her away from the oven. “Aish, Donghae, my son. She told you to wait.” His mother walked inside the kitchen hearing her son’s voice. “But I am… waiting,” he mumbled to himself.

“Done,” Karin then pulled out a pan of brownies from the oven. Donghae rushed to her side and helped her. “Can we go now?” he pleaded. She shook her head and started slicing. He helplessly pulled a chair and watched her. Putting down the knife, Donghae stood up and grabbed her hand, “let’s go!” “But- but,” Karin kept looking back at the tray and the brownies left on the table. “Don’t worry, I’ll take over from here,” Donghae’s mom said. “Just go now with my son so that this house could have some peace.” Donghae looked back at his mom, frowning, “I know you miss me.” His mom laughed and motioned them to leave.

It was the first time that Karin would not be spending New Year with Jin and her parents. There was an emergency back home that they have to fly back from Sydney, while Jin is celebrating it with his parents. Not wanting to leave her alone at her apartment, Donghae insisted that she come with him to Mokpo. He has been telling his mom and brother about her, that when Karin was introduced, it was like they have known her already.

“Hey, why are you in such a hurry?” she asked, Donghae still not letting go of her hand. “We can’t miss the fireworks,” he said as they went inside his audi.  “But we still have an hour. And how about your mom and brother?”

“Don’t worry about them. We’ll return soon after,” he said. “Umm, okay.”

After a 15-minu