Ju-Hee hurried once the owner had locked the pub, feeling the rain hitting lightly on her head. She was drenched in water from head to toe. It didn't feel like it was going to rain that day. Instead of putting the silk scarf across her lower part of the face, she put it over her head as a veil. She ran but not too fast.

 The road was slippery and she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of the people around. She couldn't see where she was going, just following the road.

 She bumped into someone and lost her balance but held onto the person's arms to help herself. The scarf slipped down her head, holding onto on her hair. She looked up and found the familiar honey, brown eyes staring at her. 

Theodore Nott. The boy himself had no idea why he was unknowingly bumping into Ju-Hee everywhere he went. 

His lips parted in disbelief when he finally took in her appearance. Rain drops slithered down her cheeks while some fell from the tips of her hair. Her bangs were slicked back and the hidden beauty was finally visible to the curious, brown eyes. 

Theodore couldn't believe the fact that she indeed had flowers growing on her face. They were daisies, scattered all over her face like freckles. It happened in just a few seconds and he didn't get to see her face properly as Ju-Hee had pulled the scarf up. 

She lowered her eyes and bowed,"sorry."

Without another word, she walked past him and ran once she was far away from him. She didn't bother to stop until her house came in her view. She knocked on the door while trying to catch up her rugged breathing. 

Her father appeared in front of her eyes, looking worse than ever. He had dark circles and his hair was all over the place. There was no speck of sobriety in his eyes which didn't surprise her. He showed no interest in her state and eyed her to get inside. 

Ju-Hee hurried inside and hung the scarf on the coat holder and removed her shoes before running towards the stairs. 

"Appa." She stopped in her tracks and looked over at her father who was now sat on the couch,"did you eat lunch?"

"Aish." he grumbled, feeling difficult to keep his eyes open,"you call that lunch? nobody would eat that shit."

Ju-Hee lowered her eyes and started making her way towards the upstairs. "yah!" Kim min-hyuk screeched making Ju-Hee stop in her tracks and turn to face him. He got up from the couch and walked up to Ju-Hee who nervously fiddled with the hem of her drenched shirt.

 He glared at her and grabbed her jaw, leaning closer as if examining her face. He traced his fingers over the flowers on her face. Ju-Hee winced but didn't dare to make any sound.

"Where is that damn scarf!" He thundered all of a sudden, his chest heaving up and down as he continued glaring at her,"i told you to cover this shit up, didn't i? you lunatic.  .  . aish!" He harshly let go of her jaw and pushed her in the wall. 

Tears threatened to fall down her eyes as she desperately bit on her lips. "Sorry." She faintly muttered. "I'm sick of you." He murmured, still fuming with anger and slapped her across her face.

 A faint sob escaped her lips as her cheek throbbed with pain. "You're just nothing but a burden!" he screamed making ju-hee flinch under the tone.

 "I'm sorry, appa." She sobbed, holding onto the almirah for some support. 

"Aish!" He lunged towards her and grabbed her hair in a fist. "Appa!" Ju-Hee exclaimed, tears rolling down her cheeks as she tried to push him away.

"You think you're doing me a favor by apologizing for every fucking single thing! so pathetic." He gritted,"you dare to apologize after making my life hell."

"Yah!"

Ju-Hee recognized the voice immediately and tried to look towards the door. Du-Sik rushed inside, his eyes widened in shock as his gaze meddled between his stepfather and stepsister ; the latter sobbing hysterically.

"Leave her this instant!" He demanded, looking straight into the older man's eyes.

"Just stay away!" Min-hyuk snarled. Du-Sik grabbed Min-hyuk's hand and with other free hand pulled Ju-Hee towards himself.

Ju-Hee stood by his side, her hands clasped together with Du-Sik's as she tried to control her sobs. "You!" Min-hyuk thundered, lunging towards him but Du-Sik moved away, pulling Ju-Hee with himself.

"Enough for today." He mumbled and made his way towards the stairs, Ju-Hee following closely behind him. "You bastards!" His father shouted behind them,"Ju-Hee come here this instant!"

"Don't listen to him." Du-Sik mumbled as the two of them entered her bedroom. He locked it from inside in case Min-hyuk tried something again. He made her sit on the bed and sat down next to her.

 "Thank you." Ju-Hee mumbled with a sore throat.

"Does he.  .  . hits you everyday?" Du-Sik asked, mentally scolding himself at how weird it sounded. 

"He does whenever he feels like." She answered honestly.

 Du-Sik shuffled on his place a bit, finding right words to say. 

Du-Sik was very complicated when it came to family. His mother, who was killed during the second world war, worked at the ministry. Du-Sik's biological father left the two of them without any notice. It was very difficult for him to cope up with the fact that he had no one he could call appa anymore. His mother married min-hyuk and the pair gave birth to Ju-Hee. Du-Sik was always envious of ju-hee. It was difficult for him to see her being showered with love while he was almost forgotten. He started hating her for no reason and felt at peace when things started going downhill with Ju-Hee. She had these weird flowers growing on her face when she was just few months old. Min-hyuk found it very strange but he never brought it up. He only scolded her for being so odd after her mother's death.

Du-Sik always ignored the two and mostly spent his whole day with one of his friends or looking for a job so he could stop living off his friend and step sister. He wasn't a wizard you see so it was difficult for him to see Ju-Hee being praised for being a witch. He was a squib to be exact and his mother often overlooked him for that.

"Did you have dinner?" Ju-Hee's voice brought him out of his thoughts as he looked to the side. She was by the door, ready to leave to get something for the two. 

"Come here." Du-Sik sighed,"Sit down. I'm not hungry." He felt sorry for her. He felt like mentally beating himself up for being so ignorant towards her. She was his sister and he was the one who should look after her.

 "Aren't you cold?" he suddenly asked, noticing her slicked back wet hair.

"Ah oh." Ju-Hee jumped on her feet,"I forgot."

 Du-Sik chuckled lightly and spoke,"Go on. get changed. I'll cook something for you." ju-hee nodded timidly and watched as du-sik made his way out to cook dinner for the two.

After a while, Ju-Hee ran down the stairs and straight into the kitchen to avoid bumping into her father again. She knew he lost control whenever he misses her mother or when he doesn't have money to buy drinks for himself.

"Do you need any help?" Ju-Hee asked, standing next to her brother who was cooking ramen.

"No." Du-Sik looked at her,"Go, sit down."

She nodded and took a seat at the dining table, waiting for her brother to finish cooking as she was starving.

He served her ramen and left behind some for his father in case he felt hungry and looked for something to eat.

"I'm sorry." He felt like apologizing for how ignoring and rude he was towards her.

"You don't need to say that." Ju-Hee felt a bit awkward, not knowing what to say. She did feel awful all this time that he practically ignored her presence.

"I was always jealous of you." Du-Sik confessed, passing her the chopsticks,"You're a witch. And I'm not. I felt useless and I started feeling envious of you."

Ju-Hee didn't know how to reply so she kept quiet.

"Am i making you feel uncomfortable?"

"No!" Ju-Hee exclaimed immediately,"It just feels weird to talk after so long. But I'm glad we're talking. It feels nice."

Du-Sik nodded and smiled at her,"If you need anything, just let me know."

A smile spread across Ju-Hee's lips and after a long time she really felt she was at home.