"εvεяү ғℓσωεя ιs α sσυℓ вℓσssσмιηg ιη ηαтυяε." – gεяαя∂ ∂ε ηεяvαℓ

Yoona's sobs were the only sound in the house. Her family sat around their circular table in complete silence, exchanging worried glances. Yoona's mother, Chungha, was the first to break the silence. Chungha scooted her chair back abruptly with a heavy sigh. 

"Gun, I think it's time," Chungha said sadly. Without even asking for his wife to explain, Gun knew what she meant. It was time for Yoona to visit Choi fields. Gun stood from his seat and stretched his limbs, the sounds of his joints popping resonating through the room. Yoona's sobs had begun to die down, a sign of her falling asleep slowly but surely. 

"You're right, it is time," Gun said. 

~~~~~~

"Yoona's a freak!" Kid number one screamed, pointing a chubby finger in Yoona's face. 

"Yeah, a total freak!" Kid number two said with a hefty laugh, his feet propped up one the school desk in front of him. Yoona sat in her seat silently, tears blurring her vision, but she refused to speak against the bullies. She was used to the treatment she was receiving, it was something she had always dealt with, purely because she was part of the Crazy Choi family, as they were so called. In her mind, she begged them to stop, begged them to spare her. She was nothing like her family; she didn't talk to plants, she didn't believe in a spiritual flower realm, she had no idea what any of that meant, so why was she being bullied just because her family did some questionable things? Yoona begged to every god she had ever heard of to make it stop, to at least let her just be invisible to her peers, but it never stopped. If anything, it only got worse as time went on.

"Why are you even here?" Kid number one sneered in Yoona's direction, and for the first time, Yoona asked herself the same question. Why was she here? 

Yoona woke from her sleep in a cold sweat, tears built up in her sleep swollen eyes. 

"I'm so sick of this feeling," she said. It had already been months since she had graduated from school, but she still had nightmares of the time she spent there. It was a very traumatizing period of her life, and she wasn't sure if she would ever recover from it. Yoona still felt uncomfortable leaving the house, for fear of running into one of her old classmates and being ridiculed once again. She sighed and dragged herself out of bed, and to the kitchen. 

~~~

Gun and Chungha's heads snapped up at the soft sound of Yoona's footsteps entering the room. She looked a mess, her long, brunette hair tangled and piled on top of her head in a messy bun. Yoona wore her oldest pair of pajamas, a pair with little teddy bears printed all over the pink, cotton design. 

"Yoona! You're awake," Chungha greeted with a smile. Yoona nodded her head to her mother and took a seat at the table. The atmosphere seemed to be thicker in the room, and Yoona's mother hadn't even prepared breakfast, which was highly unusual. 

"Is everything okay?" Yoona asked. Gun and Chungha glanced at eachother nervously before Gun took the initiative. 

"Yoona, you're an adult now, and since you've graduated you've been out of the house a total of maybe two or three times. We were.... Worried about you. So, we arranged housing for you down in Choi Fields," Gun began. Yoona sat qiuetly and waited for her father to finish what he sad to say, but instead, Chungha finished for him. 

"It's just outside of Daegu,  so you will be living there on your own, but we do have relatives who maintain the fields staying there as well. You'll be going to university in Gwaechon!" She said excitedly.  Yoona felt a big bubble of nerves and excitement forming in her stomach. 

"Me? Go to Daegu alone?" She asked. Her parents nodded with small, soft smiles on their faces. Yoona could've jumped with joy at that moment, but then it hit her.....

"How are you two going to pay for this?" She asked. Her family wasn't poor, but they weren't exactly wealthy either. The only time people would approach Yoona's family of their own accord is when buying the Choi family's secret recipe rice cakes. They were the most delicious rice cakes in all of Samcheok, a title that was very reluctantly given. It was a recipe that was passed down for many, many years, through every generation of the Choi family but the secret ingredient was so secret that even Yoona didn't know what it was.
"And this is the catch. Your relatives in Daegu and at the fields agreed to all pitch in to completely cover your living expenses....as long as you agree to help with work in the fields," Gun raised his right eyebrow at his daughter. Yoona's own eyebrows knitted together in thought. Would it be worth it? She pondered over it only for a moment before giving her answer.

"I'll do it."