A Love Song

Chapter One

"Mother, Yuri, I'll be back in an hour!" Simon Kwon called, climbing into the red Fiat. 

The car pulled out of the Kwon's driveway in Sacramento, California. Yuri did not need to guess where her brother was going. He was going on a date with his beautiful girlfriend, Jennie. She stared wistfully at the fading car and wished she had Simon. People often said Yuri did not resemble her family, and they were not wrong. After all, she was an adopted child. Yuri had beautiful black hair and a slim body fit for a fifteen-year-old, while Simon's handsome features and slick blonde hair resembled his father, who died years ago. Mrs. Susan Kwon, the kind widow, as most people called her, was not beautiful for a woman of forty-eight. But her kind face had no wrinkles, and her blonde hair showed no specks of grey.

Yuri had a crush on Simon for three years. She loved him far more than a brother. His blue eyes could catch any girl's heart, but Yuri knew in her heart that she loved Simon more than anyone else, even Mrs. Kwon.

Late into the night, the sound of keys in the door was heard, and the door creaked open. A boy, Simon, age eighteen, stepped in quietly as a mouse and went up to his sister, who had fallen asleep waiting for him on the couch, her book across her lap. Silently, he went up and put her head on his shoulder. The sleeping girl stirred but fell back into her slumber. Simon stroked Yuri's head gently for a while, then kissed her cheek. The moments of silence were broken by the loud chiming of the grandfather clock, indicating midnight.

"Yuri, I know of your feelings toward me," Simon whispered into the night and to his sleeping sister. His voice was so soothing, like a lullaby. "I am sorry I am not able to love you back as much as you love me, but I will always love you almost as I love Jennie. You are a beautiful and gentle girl, like the night breeze that lures me to sleep each night. I have to go for a while now. Sleep well." Simon slowly lifted Yuri's face to his, then gently placed his lips over hers. It was a short kiss, but a true one. Seconds later, the boy left again. Yuri opened her eyes and gazed at the empty driveway, trying to recall the kiss she only half-remembered, then fell back asleep.