"UNNIE, wake up! Unnie!”
Cheska moaned and clutched the thermal blanket even more. She was awakened by Eun Young’s knocking on the door. "Later. I'm still sleepy."
She was just starting to enjoy her sleep. Before, she only sleeps and wakes up the next day to go to work. Today, she didn’t have to worry about anything. No responsibilities whatsoever. Today, she’s on vacation.
“Unnie, Kuya Oppa cooked breakfast for you and is waiting.”
Cheska suddenly opened her eyes when she heard the magic word. 
"Carter," she whispered. "Today is our tour.”
It was almost midnight when she fell asleep last night. She has forgotten to set up the alarm. She was used to waking up early no matter how exhausted she was from work. Might be her body knew she was on vacation. Her body must have pretty relaxed last night, thanks to Carter’s pamperings.
"Wait! Tell him not to leave me behind." She quickly rummaged through her toiletries and towel. Eun Young was already in her school uniform when she opened the door. White blouse over a blazer and A-line skirt up to the knee. She was also wearing black knee-high socks.
"Joeun achimimnida! Good morning, unnie!" Eun Young greeted her. "I'm excited about your date with my brother."
"Date?"
"The date is more romantic than the tour. That is too boring and boring." Eun Young rolled her eyes. 
"Are you trying to sell your brother to me?”
"Nope. You can have him for free,” she said with a grin. “And we need to make sure your first date will be memorable. We can even compare make-ups while we do it. ”
"What time is your class?" Cheska asked.
“Two hours before my class. Let’s have breakfast together.”
She had her own bathroom. It had a complete set of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and bathroom lotion that she could use. It was clean too. She was still having trouble with mixing the water temperature in the shower but was starting to manage. She also learned that a small towel was enough to use to dry her body. She was amazed.
She chose a turtleneck blouse and jeans for today. The clothes she bought at Myeongdom were all pretty, but she would choose to be comfortable than being pretty. She was practical.
"Anneong!" she greeted as she entered the kitchen. She saw that the breakfast was ready and was only waiting for her. And it was a Filipino breakfast composed of fried rice, large squid, and fried eggs. There was also ramyun with vegetables. "Wow. This is really delicious."
“That’s just a simple breakfast, actually. When it’s just our family here, we prefer to eat what we use to eat back in the Philippines. When there are guests, there’s bread and noodles for them.”
She laughed. “I like noodles for breakfast. That's the only thing that's easy to prepare before going to work.”
"That's all you have for breakfast?" Carter asked in a high voice.
“There are fast foods and restaurants below our office floor so I usually eat breakfast at the office. ”
"Don’t you have anyone taking care of you?” Aunt Selina asked sadly. “Noodles and instant food were not good for your health. Where is your family anyway?”
“They are in the province. I've been living on my own since college,” she said and sipped hot ramyun soup. “I'm fine. I'm used to taking care of myself.”
"We'll take care of you while you're here so you should eat more," Carter said and stood up. “Do you want coffee? With sugar and cream?”
“Just black. The strong one."
"Strong enough to fight for you?" he said and winked at her. 
She just smiled when she remembered how dramatic she was last night to him.
“Uhmmm… did I miss something?” Eun Young asked as she looked at Cheska and Carter.
"It’s Cheska’s fault. She even brought her dramatic self here in Korea,” Carter said
"Oh. I need to try that sometimes," the girl said.
“How about trying to study first? Your university entrance exam is coming up,” Tita Selina said.
Cheska happily watched Carter's family. They seemed to not have any problem nor showed any traces of a life-threatening event that happened the night before. They still tried to live normally and be happy. Or maybe they were doing it for her sake. They wanted her to enjoy her vacation there.
But just the same, it made her feel happy and sad at the same time. She had been alone for the longest time. Even when she was at the dormitory, she refused to be taken care of even when she was sick. She wanted to be independent.
She was used to waking up in the morning rushing to work and heating water for her noodles. She would eat alone at a fastfood restaurant because she prefer it that way. She was with her own musings. It was such a lonely, lonely life and she only realized that now that she was seeing Carter’s family relationship. She was longing for someone or people to spend some time with. She misses her own family.
"Get dressed," Carter told Cheska when they finished their breakfast.
“Huh? But I’m already dressed.”
"We prepared your clothes for your tour today," Tita Selina said. "You'll definitely like it."
Eun Young pulled her by the hand. "You will like it, unnie."
She took her to a room and there Cheska saw a traditional Korean dress. White silk long sleeve jacket with a flower print on the top side while the bottom is a red skirt with fabrics several layers thick.
"You’ll make me wear Jang Geum’s dress?” Cheska whispered and backed away. "I'm going to walk around wearing that?"
"Kuya Oppa said you’ll visit temples and traditional houses today."
“I can’t wear that. I might only ruin it,” she said and continued to back away. She felt like she don’t have any right to wear such a beautiful dress.
"Umma owns that," said Eun Young.