Ki attempts to clamber up onto the roof of house, grabbing hold of the edge of the overhang and pulling himself up. He lets out a loud grunt as he collapses on his back onto the tiles and listens out for any noises from the house out the open bathroom window. He hasn't climbed up here since January, when one of his mom's friends saw the family at church and called Ki 'a gutsy daredevil' for climbing up to take photos with a camera, after which Ki's mother installed a more secure lock to the bedroom window and removed the camera's memory card. Not anymore. Now he's locking the bathroom door and getting to the roof from there, with the quiet warning in the back of his head making him more wary of the pedestrians on the pathway and dog-walkers at the park opposite the house as he takes his shots from his phone camera and organises them in his 'Hidden' folder.

What kind of person is against taking a risk? He theorises that his mother must believe that it would stir up ideas of him joining the Armed Forces, which he personally thought would be a job he'd never consider taking up. Ki frowns at the night sky, wondering how on earth his mother would think he'd serve abroad in the future when the riskiest thing he's ever done on this roof is leave a serving of Oreo ice cream on its own on a hot day in June and forgetting about it. It's been smelling like vanilla up here ever since.

Ki pulls out his phone and flicks through the PDF of a William Shakespeare script for a Drama Club he's being forced to attend. As much as he hated the activity and couldn't see himself seriously taking it up as a hobby, he was the only who didn't groan and complain when the new script was revealed to them. Well, he had indeed pulled a face in an attempt to blend in with the crowd, but in reality he was quite happy to be acting out a more historical peice. He'd long gotten sick of the crappy, fanfiction-esque scripts the club leader had snatched off the internet and was tempted to ask for a main role instead of being an understudy. When his mom asked what clubs he'd been taking at school for extra credit, a deep crease had appeared in her forehead when he replied. She'd refused to believe it, telling him he was 'undervaluing the importance' of more serious subjects, not the useless creative arts he was dedicating himself to, such as Drama and Photography.

In reality, Ki just wants to take pictures of things he finds beautiful. Architectural beauties hidden in-between the many skyscrapers of Central London, unconditional and open displays of love, his sister's smile. It took him almost fourteen years of life to realise there were more career choices and life possibilities than the 'doctor or lawyer' path his mother continuosly forced him to oblige to. Ki hates the question adults just love to ask their youthful counterparts: 'What do you want to be when you grow up?'. He already knows that his simple reply would cause more than one furrowed brow in the room, his relatives looking at him standing before them in his plaid jumper and scruffy trainers. He already knows that all his relatives think he's a shameful replacement to Jun, who was talked about in a way that made him sound like Korean Jesus. He already knows that his mother with scorn him for not lying and telling them he wishes to travel to America and study at an Ivy League. He already knows that everything he's planned for himself in life is completely dwarfed by the expectations of his mother that he will eventually have to bow down to. One day, he will. But not today.

Ki taps onto his camera app and takes shots of the park, the faded rainbow-colored playground, the trees swaying in the calming and gentle evening winds, the spray-paint art on the sides of the skate park. He watches two shadowy figures enter the children's playground from opposite ends, their silhouettes highlighted by the blinking streetlights lining the road that runs in-between the house and the park. One of the shadows has their head held high, whilst the other has their head hung low and hands pocketed. They sit next to each other on the swings and play around in silence.

"Y'know, if you're going to creepily stare at people doing their nightly business in the park, the roof probably ain't the best place to do it."

Ki parts his feet and watches as his younger sister pulls herself up onto the roof with her hands.

"Huh, I guess we're going back to our old tradition again." Ki sits up and Misumi carefully steps her way towards him, "Meetings on the rooftop whenever one or both of us are stressed."

"Old habits die hard." Misumi shrugs, flopping down next to Ki. In almost perfect synchronisation, the two siblings lie down on their backs and look up at the sky.

"Therapist Ki is in session.What's been on your mind recently?"

"China. I miss China." Misumi pulls on her hairband and lets her dark hair unravel from it's braid. "This kind of peace and quiet reminds me of home."

Ki sighs and looks back upon the park. The two silhouettes are right next to each and he suspects a make-out session. Ki glances away and looks back at Misumi.

"I've never been to China."

Misumi immediately turns to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Really?" She says with a hint of disbelief in her voice. "You had a two year headstart at life in front of me and yet you've never been to the red dragon?"

Ki shakes his head.

"Huh. Maybe one day I'll take you there and try and find my family."

"Sure. I'd love to meet them."

Ki watches a pizza delivery man zoom up to their next door neighbour's house on his motorbike.

"Damn, now I want pepperoni." Misumi laughs beside him.

"Ew, no. Hawaiian is superior."

"Oh my god Ki!" Misumi gasps and pulls an over exaggerated 'gasp' face, "How can you betray me and put pineapple on pizza?"

"What do you have against pineapple? It's a fruit! It's healthy. I thought you digged that stuff?"

Misumi takes a deep breath in, "오빠, pineapple is an abomination against the all-holy Pizza Gods and if you support such a devilish idea I am ashamed to be your younger sister."

"You're ashamed to be my younger sister for everything, 여동생." Ki says teasingly, pulling out all the stops.

"I've never been ashamed of being your younger sister, Ki. Never. Remember the time when 엄마 found that someone was semi-regularly stealing money from her wallet? I took the brunt of the blame so you could go on stress-eating your body weight in Red Velvet oreos."

"Those oreos were quality cookies. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

The two siblings sit next to each other in silence for a few minutes, watching the stars and hearing the occasional mutter from the park and the two silhouettes standing there. The sky is clear and Ki watches Misumi's eyelash-framed eyes trace the chains of stars above them.

"Well, we'd better head back inside, or we'll catch a chill." Misumi shakes her hair out of a braid and starts sliding down the roof slowly.

"A'ight. I'll follow after you." Ki nods at Misumi as she dissapears back into the other open window leading to their bedroom.

Ki steals one last look at the two people in the park. Yep, definitely making out. One person's hood has slid off their head in the process and Ki squints at their spiky brown hair.

"Ki? You coming?"

Ki blinks away from the scene and re-enters their bedroom, sliding the window to a definite close.

If only he'd stayed just a little longer.

If only he'd noticed that there were two boys kissing in the park.

If only'd he noticed their tightly curled hair, their fingers curled into a tight fist.

If only he'd seen their left dimple.