Prologue

"You are undoubtedly insane, Mother."

"Don't call me that, it makes me feel old," Emily's mother scolded, tapping the young girl's nose twice with a hair comb. Emily scrunched her nose, shaking her head as her mother continued to work on making her dark curls neat and orderly, though they both knew that they would be wild again within an hour of them settling. 

"Mom," Emily rephrased, looking up at her mother suspiciously. "You're insane."

"I am not insane, Emilia," her mother insisted. Emily scoffed, crossing her arms. She fidgeted in the dark wood kitchen table. She picked lightly at her tanned, dark skin. Her brown eyes flashed about, and she pursed her lips just enough to flash a set of unique dimples. "I heard from Clyde -"

"Please don't call my Science teacher by his first name."

"- that we were getting a foreign student from South Korea, but he didn't have a family to stay with, so I offered. You are going to be kind to him, Emily," her mother said, pulling out the last knot in Emily's curls. She lifted a clear jar, and scooped a generous amount of hair smoother into her hands. She rubbed it through her tanned hands, and began kneading her hands through Emily's thick hair.

"I don't like this idea . . . You do know what boys like him expect in a woman, right?" Emily asked, the stereotypical Korean male filling her mind. She rolled her eyes, shuddering in exaggeration. 

"And that would be?"

"Pale," Emily explained firmly, glancing up at her mother. Her mother raised an eyebrow, shrugging it off. She ignored Emily persistently, despite the girl's constant begging. Emily's mother, Clarie, was determined to keep the boy over. She had seen photos of him, and thought Emily would instantly find the young boy utterly adorable. Or so she hoped.

Claire knew her daughter could be quite judgmental from time to time, basing people off of rumors and typical beliefs rather than core values, and she tried her best to guide Emily in the right direction. She hoped this boy would carry some of that sense with him, and maybe pass it onto Emily. 

"Emily, don't talk about someone you haven't met like that," Clarie scolded, shaking her head. "You don't even know the poor boy's name."

"Well, you didn't tell me, yet," Emily reminded, sass dripping off of her adolescent voice. Clarie sent her daughter a warning look, and Emily smiled apologetically.

"Kim Jaekuk."

"His name is Kim?"

"Emily, didn't you pay attention to last week's lesson in Ancient History lesson?"