New York, June 2011.
A 16-year-old boy looks down on his friends with disdain, thinking it's pathetic that they are forcefully trying to please older classmates who take advantage of their full age and push stimulants on them, having a good laugh about it.
Jin is the only one in this group who has an opinion. No one can force him to do something he would rather not do.
— Don't be a wuss. Join your colleagues. What, are you afraid Daddy will yell at you? — The 20-year-old boy bursts into laughter, thinking he's cool at this point. He wants to ridicule the younger boy, but he's not about to give up.
— Let's think if I'm a wuss.... I'm sixteen years old, and I don't think alcohol is the first need. I'm thinking ahead, I have no intention of stooping to the bottom and becoming a bum with no education at the age of twenty. As far as I know, you started sipping beer when you were my age. I have a perfect example in front of me not to make the same mistake. — He proudly observes the changes taking place on his face. — The shadow is you, not me.
He is not at all frightened by the attitude of his older colleagues, who look as if they want to wash him to a sour apple.
— Are you mocking us, rich shit? Do you feel superior because you have more money?
— For the moment, I'm as poor as a church mouse. It's my father who has the money, I'm the freeloader.
One of Jin's peers, he can't hold back his laughter, but quickly gets serious when he realizes he's next on target.
— So, what are you doing here if you don't like the company?
— I don't know what you guys are doing here. The company of my buddies suits me, not yours.
— Jin, don't provoke them. — His colleague is horrified.
The 20-year-old walks up to him and faces him.
— Everyone thinks you're a nice boy, but it's a mask because you're an insolent trash.
He merely shrugs his shoulders and watches the older colleagues walk away, piercing him with his eyes one last time.
— What's wrong with you, model student? I thought they were going to kill you.
— It's just that no one will dictate to me what to do.
He sits down on the wall and folds his arms over his chest, looking at a single point in front of him. His thoughts revolve around a girl he officially met some time ago at a dinner party organized by his father.
Tomorrow, she and her mother are to move into his family home. How much will this change in his life?
*
Jin sits on the window sill, watching his father greet his woman and help her bring her suitcases inside. Accompanying them is a 14-year-old girl who leans against the hood of the car and watches her nails.
This year, the vacations are off to an interesting start for him. Who would have thought that he would be moved in by a girl he first saw in front of the railroad tracks a month earlier and just then became enamored with her looks?
It's wonderful what surprises fate can cook up.
He tilts his head with interest as she lifts her face and looks at the building. Her gaze immediately finds it.
At a dinner party hosted by his parents, Jin noticed that she was not the shy type of girl, even though she was charming in appearance.
He has been fascinated by her ever since.
— Father asks you to come downstairs. — The boy shifts his gaze to the woman, who is standing in the threshold of the door.
He looks at her with disdain for a long moment.
— And I ask you to finally learn to knock. I want some privacy in my room. — His voice sounds harsh as he directs these words to her. — Do you want me to write it on your forehead so that you will finally absorb this information?
The woman lowers her head and apologizes to the boy for her inappropriate behavior.
— This will never happen again.
— Stop repeating it every time. You're doing things your own way anyway. — He jumps down from the windowsill and stands next to her. — You're right, it will never happen again. I've had enough of you. Pack your mannequins and get out of here.
She has long since learned that the employer's son has two faces. He pretends to be a well-mannered, nice kid, while hiding a devil behind his ears.
He is a type of teenage Omen. Occasionally, he shows his true face.
— I beg you to give me one last chance. I have nowhere to go — she says in a weepy voice, falling to her knees before him. — I will do anything to pay for this mistake.
Jin smiles half-heartedly.
— Since you will do everything, within an hour, I would rather not see you in this house.
He lifts his face and looks in front of him, in the open door he sees the bewildered face of the fourteen-year-old girl he literally saw by the car a few minutes ago.
— Naughty boy — she says, twirling her finger.
Holding her bag, she heads deeper into the hallway, guided by a house employee who is presumably there to point out the room prepared for her.
Jin dodges the kneeling maid and stands at the threshold of the door, watching as the brunette enters one of the rooms.
She looks over her shoulder, and a smile appears on her face.
The teenager still doesn't know at the time what's behind that beautiful smile.
*
Jin mirrors his future stepmother with his eyes, not having much confidence in her. Even at their first meeting, he noticed that evil is written in her eyes. She is the type of woman who manipulates men, wrapping them around her little finger.
And now his father has fallen victim.
There is an awkward silence at the table, everyone is eating their meal, only Danielle is leaning with her elbow against the tabletop, playing "Mario" on her cell phone.
— I heard that you applied to Horace Mann. It's a high school with a very high level. You have to have an impressive academic record to get in. — The woman starts the topic, addressing Jin directly.
— Learning comes easily to me — he replies. — I'm sure they will accept me there with open arms.
The boy's father smiles at these words.
— It's true. My son is very intelligent, and moreover, he is good-natured, since he helps peers who are failing in their studies.
The woman looks disdainfully at her daughter, who expresses no interest in the conversation, playing with her phone.
— Do you see, Danielle? If you ask Jin for help, maybe your grades will finally improve. Start doing something with yourself, think about the future.
The girl lifts her gaze and pierces her mother with her eyes.
— He is a genius, I am a dunce. Don't expect too much, mommy.
Jin feels like parrying with laughter, but strenuously restrains himself, wanting to show his culture in the company of his father and his woman.
— More respect, child. And finally put down that phone.
The boy watches them and sees that they don't get along very well. Danielle has a rebellious nature, which causes complications in their relationship.
— Every child goes through puberty. It's a difficult age. I can say the same about Jin. Today he threw the maid out of the house without even mentioning it to me.
— I'm sorry, Dad, but I was fed up with her coming into my room as if it were her own. Whenever I brought it to her attention, she ignored it. — He puts down the cutlery and looks at Danielle, noticing that the girl wants to get away from the table at all costs, but is afraid of her mother's reaction. — Now, if you allow me, I would like to go for a walk and take Danielle with me. It's a good opportunity for us to get to know each other, since we're going to live under the same roof.
Father indicates with his hand that they can leave.
— It's a good opportunity for you to become friends. We want nothing more than for our children to live in harmony.
The man doesn't know how wrong the words he speaks are because in the future this friendship will spawn something stronger.
*
The pleasant June sun warms their bodies as they silently head through the park nearby. They watch people walking, children rollerblading, dogs running on the lawn barking happily.
— Didn't we go out for a walk to learn something about each other? — The silence is broken by Danielle, who stops mid-step.
Jin lowers her face and watches for a long moment as the summer wind sways her dark, long hair.
— How did you know who I was when we first met at the railroad tracks?
A charming smile adorns her face.
— Let's just say that occasionally I like to look through my mother's private things. She hides many secrets she doesn't tell me about, so I often have to discover the truth myself. That's how I found a picture of a new guy in her locker, and you were on it, too.
The boy crosses his arms over his chest.
— It's not nice to rummage through private things.
She looks amused by his words.
— It's not pleasant to throw a woman out on the street for not knocking on the door. - Danielle smirks with displeasure. — As for my mother.... I feel trapped by her. She controls me too much, which is why I do the same with her life.
He is increasingly intrigued by her.
— Already during the familiarization dinner, I noticed that your mother controls you a lot.
— Controlling is an understatement. — The girl snorts under her breath. — She tries to control me like a doll.
Jin begins to feel sorry for her.
— The worst thing is the imposition from parents on what we should do. It's our life, so why can't we decide for ourselves?
— You know... maybe I would somehow get used to it if she was my biological mother, but she adopted me just to make me a copy of her. She's trying to raise me to be the person she wants me to be. It's best if I don't have an opinion of my own. — Her smile becomes sad. — Nevertheless, she is my mother. I respect her because she guaranteed me a safe life. If it weren't for her.... I would probably be living in an orphanage.
The teenager is surprised. He would never have guessed that Danielle is adopted.
— Possibly her behavior is because she wants to provide you with the best possible future?
The girl nods.
— Perhaps I am the one who misunderstands her....
A small child runs past them, laughing happily, hearing her mother's exhortation. The woman grabs the girl and repeats to her that if she does it again, she will be kidnapped by the evil lord.
— It seems like yesterday when I was her age. Childhood has passed so quickly....
— You are still a child. — Jin makes her realize that fourteen is the age when she can still live a carefree life. — Although some people try to pretend to be adults by force, which is ridiculous.
They both look at the boy, who is taking a drag on a cigarette. At first glance, he is no more than fifteen years old.
— My mother would tear my hair out if she smelled cigarettes from me.
— I, for one, wouldn't even want to touch that pig.
Danielle starts laughing as he wrinkles his nose.
— What?
— Nothing. It's just that the very first time we met, I realized that we would get along right away. I don't like to make friends with people. You will be an exception.
For a long moment they look at each other, Jin is the first to turn his face away, pretending that his attention was caught by the ice cream stand.
— So a good start of friendship, we should eat ice cream and share our interests?
Danielle nods in response.
*
The teenager laughs uproariously as Jin tells her a funny situation from the past, when he was playing hide-and-seek with his cousin. He got tired of looking for him all over the house, so he sat down in the living room and started watching cartoons. The boy, who hid in the kitchen, sat in the cabinet for so long that he fell asleep in it. None of the adults could find him, so in time they began to panic that he had run away from home.
— The funniest moment was when he came into the living room, rubbing his sleepy eyes, and looked at everyone with confused eyes. The poor guy didn't know what was going on.
— What an idiot he was. He could have guessed that you pounced on the game.
— I'm friends with him and I shouldn't speak ill of him, but it's true, sometimes he acts like an idiot.
When they pass by the playground, Danielle runs over to the swing and sits on it, smiling happily.
— I said you are still a child. — Jin looks amused.
— There are places in the world where girls younger than me get married.
— Nevertheless, they are children, and they don't do it of their own free will.
Danielle shrugs her shoulders.
— I will never be married, even of my own free will.
— You will change your mind in ten years.
— In ten years? Maybe I'll be dead by then? — Her face shows that she is joking.
— What a pessimistic approach to life....
The 14-year-old once again bursts into laughter as she looks at his face for a long moment.
— It's interesting that we've only just begun to get to know each other, and I feel as comfortable in your company as if we've known each other for at least a few years.
— Possibly the fact that we will become siblings in the future has a big influence on this.
Her lips take on a mysterious grimace.
— Do you think there will be a wedding?
— If they will live well with each other, why not?
— Well, I don't know... things just work out differently in life.
— There is not even a shred of optimism in you. — Jin shakes his head. — Let's go home before your mother starts worrying about where I led you.
Jin hides his hands in his pants pockets and walks slowly ahead. Danielle jumps off the swing and runs up to keep pace with him.
— I don't want to go home. Take me somewhere else, handsome. — Her stance is bold as she unexpectedly grabs him under the arm. The sixteen-year-old lowers his face and looks at her with surprised eyes. — Well what? This isn't the first time I've called you that. Why the look on your face?
— We can't be that close to each other. — He pushes the girl away, but she doesn't give up. She jumps in front of him, not noticing the oncoming bike. Jin grabs her hand and pulls her close, causing her to fall into his arms.
The 14-year-old lifts her face and looks at him with enchanted eyes.
— This is not a bicycle road! Be careful how you ride! — he shouts at the younger boy, then lowers his face to look at Danielle. — Are you all right? Your mother would kill me if you came home injured.
But she doesn't listen to him. She stares at him, enthralled, and a million thoughts pop into her head.
Is this the beginning of that youthful love that will bring pain and suffering in the future?