Broken

Chapter One

"Hey Jaehwa, Mr. Kim needs you in his office." Jae looked up to see her partner, Jisoo, looking at her with a worried look. Jae let out a sigh and put the can in place on the shelf. "Thanks, Jisoo, I already have a feeling about what this might be about." Jae said as she stood up and brushed off her apron.

"You'll be okay, right?" Jisoo asked as she set a hand on Jae's shoulder. Jae nodded and gave her a small smile, which she hoped was comforting. "I'll see you sometime later, hopefully. If I don't, then that means I've moved in with my mother." Jae said as she walked away and went towards her boss's office.

"Jaehwa, you've been late almost everyday for about half a month and you've been slacking with your job." Mr. Kim gazed at her sternly. Jae swallowed nervously and looked down at her hands intertwined in her lap. "Jae," He said softly causing her to look up. He gazed at her softly which made her want to just scream. "I understand that things have been difficult since your father passed away a month ago, but those things happen and it's okay." Tears filled her eyes and she held them back, not wanting to cry. It wasn't fair that her dad died. He was a good man, he deserved to live, it shouldn't have been him who died that night in the accident and she'd never forgive the man who caused the accident.

"Which is why," he continued gently, "I need to let you go. So you have time to grieve. It's going to be an emotional time for you that you need to get through without any distractions. So, go home to your mother in Busan where you can grieve as a family. Get out of Sydney where all those memories are, you can begin in a new place." He comforted. Jae stood up and bowed to Mr. Kim. "Thank you Mr. Kim, for allowing me to work here and thank you for your words of comfort." He nodded and smiled at her. "I know you can get through this Jae. Summer's almost over and you only have one more year of high school left. Call me and let me know when you've landed in Busan and tell your mother I said hi." Jae nodded and left the room.

"So, you're coming home now?" Jae's mother asked through the phone as she sat on the bus ride home. "Yeah, I just need to pack my stuff and thank Mrs. Kang for allowing me to stay with her since dad's passing. If you can send the ticket confirmation and the tickets to me through my phone I'll be on the plane by tomorrow and be home by the day after that." Jae answered. "Okay sweetheart, I'll send those right over and enroll you in the high school before it's too late." Her mother assured. "Thanks mom." "You're welcome, I love you and I'll see you soon. Let me know when you're nearing the airport in Busan so I can come pick you up." Her mother instructed. "Okay mom, I will. Bye." Jae hung up and let out a sigh. She wanted to stay here so she could remember her dad but she was also afraid that if she left Sydney she would forget all about her dad.

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"Flight 3993 we are twenty minutes out from the landing zone please buckle your seat belts and remain seating. Thank you for flying with Air Delta and have a good trip." Jae looked up from her phone and buckled her seat then sent her mom a text saying she was close. She hated flying because she was always so drowsy and sore afterwards, but since she couldn't find an excuse to stay in Sydney, she had to fly to Busan.

"Jae-Hwa!!" She looked up to the shout of her name and looked around trying to find her mom in the crowd. "Jae-Hwa, honey turn around." A small laugh sounded behind her. Jae turned around to see her mother who looked older than the last time she saw her, with silver hair tinting her crown. "Wow, you look so grown up, and I love your blonde hair!" Her mother gushed as she ran her fingers through her hair. Jae gave her a small smile and thanked her. "Ah, let's go get your bags." Her mother said with a laugh. "I almost forgot." Her mother joked lovingly.

"The baggage claim is over there." Jae pointed to the sign showing you the way to the baggage claim.

"So, I enrolled you in this great school," Jae's mother began as they grabbed her bags and headed to the car. "It has great ratings and some good electives that look good on college applications."

Jae nodded along pretending to be interested as they walked out of the airport to the parking lot. "Hey, Jae-Hwa, are you still wanting to learn sign language?" Her mother asked nervously as they put her bags into the back of the truck. "Yeah." Jae answered, wondering why she sounded so nervous. Her mother looked her over and gave her a small smile. "I hoped so. I bought some books for you to learn from. Maybe it will help distract you from things." She suggested.

Jae wanted to respond with a sarcastic comment but didn't get a chance to because her mother spoke quickly. "Honey, I remarried. You have a step-dad and two step-brothers." Jae's eyes widened and she stopped cold. "How could you?" Jae whispered harshly.

"Honey, I know what it seems like but-" Her mother frantically tried to explain, but Jae stopped her. "No, that's the thing mother." She spat out the word like it tasted vile. "You don't know. You don't know how this affects me. How much it hurts me to know you never sent invitations and you never told us. You don't know what it was like being the only family member at dad's funeral. You know why? Because you're never there." Jae said angrily. Her mother sat there in silence. Jae shoved the last of her things in the truck and walked away to sit in the front. Her mother soon followed suit and Jae looked out her window and began putting her headphones in her ears.

"I'll be nice to my new step-dad and step-brothers. I won't be calling him dad or you mom anymore either. So thanks for picking me up, Sooyoung." Jae put her headphones in to block out everything else and tried to ignore the tears rolling down her mom's cheeks.

"Okay, Park Jaehwa, here is your new schedule, we'll find someone to show you around the school to help you find your classes and other rooms." The office lady said with a smile to Jae, Jae gave a smile back and waited.

Jae had spent the rest of the summer in her new room learning sign language and getting to know her two new step-brothers. One was seventeen just like her except he had just turned seventeen and she would be eighteen soon. His name was Lee Minho, he is a junior at the high school she is attending as well.

The other was fifteen almost sixteen, and he was a sophomore at the same high school. His name was Lee Sokka.