Family

They spent the rest of their holidays together, like a happy family. Their friends came to visit them and to wish them a Merry Christmas. They were all surprised at how Sae-byeok had started conversations with them by herself, not only with her parents; Gi-hun and In-ho’s friends too. She even had time to have a conversation with Jun-hee about how periods worked.

There was something bothering her, though.

Even though she didn’t want to admit it, she was nervous. She had gotten used to her new routine, and she loved it. She loved spending all day at home, doing absolutely nothing but stroking her cats. And it was all about to change, because as In-ho had told her, they had decided she would start school soon. After Christmas.

And she really, really didn’t want to.

Meeting new people who were probably assholes, not having her room to protect her (it had her become a safe space for her for whenever she felt anxious)… She wasn’t ready for all of it to change.

After enjoying a few more days of freedom, it was finally time for Sae-byeok to start school. A real school.

She wasn’t expecting much; she would be polite if someone spoke to her, she’d attend her classes, would take notes, and when all of that was done, wait for Gi-hun and In-ho to pick her up. She just wanted the day to end already.

Her parents drove her to her new school, and before saying goodbye, they both hugged her.

“Good luck, Sae-byeok.”

“You’ll do great.”

The two men went back to the car, with the hope Sae-byeok would finish her day happily. They had lots of expectations on how school would go for her.

They knew she had trouble socializing, but they thought she was so interesting everyone would want to speak to her.

The schoolmaster was waiting for Sae-byeok and accompanied her to the classroom where she was supposed to spend the rest of the year. When they arrived, the teacher greeted both of them and told the schoolmaster he could leave and that he’d handle everything.

“Class!” the teacher said, even though it didn’t really make a difference since they were all chatting loudly. “CLASS!” he finally yelled.

That scream slightly scared Sae-byeok. Why did he have to be so loud?

“Finally!” he said, sighing. “We have a new student today. Could you introduce yourself to us?”

Sae-byeok was staring at the ground, without any intention to look at her new classmates. A few seconds later, she told herself she should do as the teacher said if she didn’t want to embarrass herself.

“Hello,” she said. “I’m Sae-byeok. Where should I sit?”

The teacher waited for her to expand her introduction, but he soon realized she wouldn’t.

“You can sit over there,” the teacher said, pointing at a desk.

When Sae-byeok looked up to see where he was pointing, her whole world stopped. It couldn’t be.

Medium straight hair, beautiful cheeks and a fringe that made you believe fringes exist just for her. It was her. Oh, God, it was her.

What was Ji-yeong doing there?

She frozed.

Ji-yeong did too.

“Well?” the teacher asked. “Are you going to sit there, or should I wait for you until you decide it’s a good day to move?”

That’s when Sae-byeok’s mind came back to normal, or as normal as it can be when you see the girl that means the world to you, and who you thought you’d never see again. She moved to the desk where Ji-yeong was and sat there without saying a word.

As the class started, Sae-byeok noticed Ji-yeong was looking at her. Sae-byeok didn’t know how to react.

Her best friend was there. The one she had loved even more than she loved her cat, Roc. The one and only who understands her, or at least used to, and would always listen to her.

Ji-yeong.

She finally looked back at her, and their eyes locked. They stared at each other for a while, without moving. Until Sae-byeok broke into a sincere smile.

Ji-yeong was the only one who had ever seen her smile like that in the orphanage, and now, out of there.

Ji-yeong smiled back, and Sae-byeok could tell it was a real smile. Not the smile she used to give to social workers who were at the orphanage, no. This was the smile that Sae-byeok loved. The smile only she could witness.

Ji-yeong looked at her classmates, as if she was afraid someone was staring at them. When she assured herself they weren’t, she held Sae-byeok’s hand.

They held hands for the rest of the class.