NaNoWriMo Swallowed by Oceans Prep

The story takes place in The Second World, which is quite literal name considering its history. To put it simply, this is the Earth recovering from a huge natural disaster. In the year 3001, Mother Nature finally said enough and unleashed its full wrath on humanity. With continued ocean and atmospheric warming, sea levels started rising and continued to do so despite scientists’ best efforts. Small cities and occasionally whole countries completely disappeared from the map. The bigger and more developed nations began building taller structures in hopes that they would outrun the vengeful water. To put it bluntly, it was a war, except people didn’t join the army and instead, had to join the construction workers or engineers. Lawyers and Sales managers were no longer needed. It was not time to live but to survive.

Eventually, buildings were built on top of other buildings; boats were made in massive numbers, and railway trains and trams replaced cars that were now utterly useless. Soon enough, nearly all scientists gave up trying to put the Earth in its original state and started focusing on how to make the traffic work without any known fuels. Some of them were able to use electricity but the ones near the water could not... For obvious reasons. Anybody with Acrophobia was now faced with the ultimate challenge as very little of those trains operate on the ground. Railways are only wide enough to safely support the occasional long distance trains, which connect the closest cities and even those are in fact tall bridges or connected building rooftops close to the water surface, only somewhat invoking the safety of the ground. They were not created to make anybody’s life easier; they were built from sheer necessity. Not to mention the fact of how scarcely used they are. In order to make them last longer, the long distance railways only operate once a month at most since it is incredibly hard to repair them. In addition, the condition of the concrete is worse with each kilometre further away from the civilisation. All people know that and so less and less travellers occupy the trains. Only those visiting their relatives are brave enough to make the trip.

This is a regular life in the Second World. People move towards the future while being stuck in the past. Any progressive inventions like internet are now gone. It is a luxury no one can afford or even make happen given the circumstances. Many societies even dropped the money and went back to the old trading system. Some combine the two. The only exception to this backwards evolution is a company called United Oceans. It is a company established by a couple genius scientists, who were unwilling to give up their big dreams. The rest of the struggling world scorned at them at first, feeling abandoned but they all soon learned their efforts were not, by any means, wasted. After all those people were not called masterminds of their field for nothing. They took some time to think, as scientists often do, and quickly realised that humanity could live without them for a while but in a long run, their brains would be needed. People were dying and whole countries were being swallowed by oceans. This meant the population would decrease enormously while, on the other hand, the distances between inhabited places would greatly increase. If the nations wanted to be able to reach each other and survive, they would need to find a way to do that. Cruise boats and planes were no longer an option. They needed something more…radical. And so, the Portalports came into being. The only invention worthy of title future for Earth.

It took years to establish the portal infrastructure and it was a race against time but they made it. Of course, the whole thing is incredibly complicated, relying only on the solar energy that takes time to to recharge so it can only be used once every two years but it is a lifesaver. Quite literary. If there was no way to get across the ocean, there would be no international trade and people would slowly die out. Some cities decided to opt out of this arrangement and they were never heard of again. There were rumours of course, saying people started to get sick, didn’t have enough resources or had to resort to inbreeding but whether that was true or not, the rest of the Second World would never know...

The braver and wiser part of the humanity went ahead with the project, which would send young people abroad every two years. Each person had the opportunity to choose from two cities they would like to visit and they would be sent there with the help of specially trained officers. Unfortunately, spaces for each person are limited to make sure they would be covering the Earth evenly and everybody got their turn. The disadvantage of this is that you only have one chance to travel and if you miss your spot, you will never leave your hometown again. Still as they say, a little chance is better than none. Most of the travellers have to return home after the two-year period to prevent overpopulation in certain areas however, exceptions are made in cases in which they can be granted. For example the international marriages are highly encouraged. Alternatively, you could also make a deal with one of the locals and send them to your country in your stead to balance the numbers. Although the paper work is no joke for that one.

This is the general world for the story and couple cities might be mentioned however most of it will take place in a big city called New Seoul 뉴서울 (sorry for any mistakes I don’t speak Korean). That particular city is precisely what it is called. It is what remained of the Capital city of South Korea after the flood. As most other cities, The New Seoul is divided to two parts. Lower and Upper. Each part has their own advantages and disadvantages. The upper one has electricity and so the trams are higher but can run more often and faster than the ones bellow, which have to use water canals. The citizens residing there also have more devices to their use but in return, they are lacking natural resources. These can be brought from the lower parts. Water, crops or animal produce is all gathered there. The life is much slower at the lower levels and they have to rely on nature elements to help them with various tasks but they have their own boats to use and none of them ever goes hungry. The huge disadvantage there are heavy rains that can occasionally raise the water level, threatening everything people built there. Still, the relationships between the two parts are mostly friendly and in cases when such things happen, citizens from the lower areas can seek refuges in the upper level homes while during extreme storms or hurricanes the arrangement works the other way around.

Original Art by Imperial Boy[/i]
Influenced by its asian heritage, the city makes use of baesanimsu principle and Hanok houses but scarcity of resources leads to messy fusions to varying degrees of success. Korean culture still has deep roots here. The residents are mostly of Asian origin too although not all of them are necessarily Korean. When it comes to languages Korean, Japanese and Chinese are predominantly used but while it’s not very common, you can also hear a little bit of English here and there. The “ground” train connects New Seoul with New Busan, New Incheon, New Daegu and New Daejeon. The rest of the South Korea was unfortunately irretrievably lost. For most part, people here are content with their lives. They don’t go hungry; they help each other and manage to make everything work. They have small schools everywhere and most citizens obey the unwritten laws. There is no government to decide what’s best for the city; everybody simply does their part, knowing they would not survive otherwise. They have doctors, “street” markets, bakeries, coffee shops, restaurants, hairdressers…anything that doesn’t take too much space and can work in great highs. The location where you will see our main protagonist the most is her work place. A cute bakery shop called The Pie in the Sky.

Original Art by @tksn4tt and Serflygodshi[/i]

WC: 1393/1000 Complete

Face claim: Hermione Corfield
Anna Tichá was born in Prague Two. The only city that decided not to use New in their name. Apparently, Prague was too old to be referred to as new. Most nations were okay with it or didn’t care while some others thought they were just fishing for attention… and they would be right. The place was in fact old but there were many other places on earth with such long history. Czech people, now Pragians, as they were called, simply didn't want to be forgotten. The rest of the country was submerged deep underneath the water and so they felt rather insignificant. Not that they were in any way significant before the flood happened. At least that's what Anna learned from the books and older people's stories. "Ale pivo, dceruško. Pivo, to jsme měli nejlepší na světě a levnější než vodu." “But beer, my daughter! Our beer was best in the world and cheaper than water.” Her father used to gloat. However, Anna was now 27 years old and she was not stupid. It was clear that he never even got to taste said drink. Alcohol was banned soon after the world started doing its best to function again. Well, it was not banned per se since most of the cities didn't have any form of government but it didn’t take long to figure out that tall constructions and drunk people didn’t mix well. It was also very wasteful product, the resources needed to make any kind of alcohol could be used as an actual food and water instead of creating a liquid danger. Anna herself didn’t care too much though as she had a feeling she wouldn’t like it anyway.

Other than her father, who is hardly ever around, Anna only has her paternal grandmother to keep her company. Anna's mother died when she was still baby and so she has almost no memories of her. Apparently, one of the cable trams had an accident. It came loose and the vehicle fell down to the sea bellow. There were no survivors. Did Anna miss her? Yes. Her father was not the most affectionate man, which made her feel lonely at times. She also didn’t have many friends and definitely no close ones. Often, Anna seeks comfort in her art and she is pretty good at it to say the least. Unfortunately, there is no one to appreciate the craft. Her father is more of a technical type and has no eye for art and her grandmother, though kind, is far too busy with other things, as retired people often are. What do they even do?

At school, Anna studied history and English language. She is smart and hard working so she had no trouble graduating. Still, as her father never failed to remind her, it was not the most useful education and in this case, he was absolutely right. Anna had no choice but to start working as a waitress. The restaurant she works at is old and not at all welcoming, bringing in the worst kind of customers. She doesn’t hate the job but she definitely doesn’t enjoy it either. It kills her creative spirit but at least she gets to feed the stray cats from time to time. Sometimes, Anna will go visit her grandma in the lower levels and listen to her stories about the old world. The woman was born 28 years after the flood started and so she didn’t experience it firsthand but her parents and grandparents told her all they could about how things were before. Anna’s visits were getting less frequent as of late though. Once she started working, she didn’t have much free time, which she definitely needed considering the incredible amount of stairs separating her home from the elderly family member. It took almost two hours to climb down and even more to climb back up. Honestly, it was ridiculous. People were asking for some kind of elevator to that area but so far, nobody bothered to do anything.

Another important thing about Anna is that she is heteroromantic asexual. Unfortunately, her father still thinks she will “grow out of it” and makes fun of her while her grandma doesn’t even believe such thing exists. She keeps insisting that it’s about time Anna got married and had children, which by the way, Anna doesn’t like at all. What she does like, are animals. Almost all of them in fact. The only ones she has problem with are insects, especially the ones with more than four legs. Some of the marine wildlife is also scary to her but at least they are somewhat fascinating. She could watch the killer whales swimming and jumping around whole day if she had the time. It was incredible that once upon a time people here had to pay and travel several hours in order to witness the sea.

Overall Anna is a very pretty girl with good personality. When it comes to appearance, she is quite thin and about 168 centimetres tall. She has her mother’s blue eyes and wavy blond hair, reaching the lower end of her shoulder blades. Due to being artist and a waitress, she mostly wears them tucked in a messy bun. Her favorite clothes consist of black well-fitting but comfortable trousers and blouses. Those are usually decorated with some sort of delicate pattern. She is also addicted to coffee but there is a shortage of it in Prague so she doesn’t get to drink it often. Her favorite flower would definitely be lavender. It is a beautiful flower but Anna especially adores its smell. According to her, the fragrance is simply divine.

Personality wise, she is kind and well educated. She has manners and is incredibly creative as well as hardworking. What is not so great about her however is that she is an introvert and so she has trouble finding friends. She doesn’t like crowds and she needs her alone time to recharge. She is also unhappy with her current life, feeling like she goes through it without really living. “Ze všeho nejdřív musíš najít sama sebe, jinak nebudeš nikdy šťastná a stane se z tebe zatrpklá stará bába.” “First of all, you must find yourself otherwise you will never be happy and you will grow up a bitter old woman.” Her grandma keeps telling her. But what does that even mean and where does she start? Her dreams are definitely not simple. She wants to find someone who would truly understand her, she would like to put her art out there and be proud of it. Not necessarily become famous, as fame had no use during these difficult times, but to make someone’s day with it. She would also love to visit any of the former Korean cities. Anna had learned about Korea at school and she absolutely adores their culture. Things like these seemed like unattainable goals to her though. She doesn’t have enough courage and all too much logical thinking to keep dreaming. She has a great imagination when it comes to art yet when it comes to reality; she tends to give up easily. Perhaps she could at least get that cat...

Beginning and finally some change

Reducio

★ Start with a little bit of description world/day etc.[/list]
★ Anna had a horrible day at work. Describing all the events
★ After work she has a moment to feed the stray cats
★ Returning home and finally finding her invitation for the exchange program. Father is unhappy
★ Trip to lower neighborhood to visit grandma. Some encouragement and advice not to return
★ Back home she fills out the application and puts New Seoul as her second choice to double her chances despite not knowing the language.
★ Period of waiting for approval or rejection
★ Application approved for second choice. Happiness versus worries due to her risky choice. Some packing and saying goodbyes. Writing grandma a letter.

Journey and New Home

Reducio

★ Journey to the Portal port and description
★ Meeting assigned officer and filling out paper work. Admitting the language barrier.
★ Offer to go anyway to help Officer’s friend. Talking about assigned work and the home she will be staying at
★ Decision to go. Scared but excited to learn new things and language.
★ At a New Seoul port, Anna is left with instructions about her pick up and officer leaves
★ Meeting Park Ji-Ho, who came to restock things for the bakery and pick her up.
★ Describing the city and her new home. The Pie in the Sky bakery.
★ Meeting the rest of the family, describing their mannerisms’
★ Making herself at home

Starting the new life

Reducio

★ First day at work is a mess but bakery is mostly empty
★ Meeting the regular customer, somewhat grumpy Song Il-Suk and his cat (who immediately likes Anna)
★ Ji-Na explains what happened to the bakery, teaches Anna about pastry and cakes then offers language exchange.
★ We learn more about Ji-Na and her husband. Girls have similar circumstances. Anna learns more about the boys’ involvement in the bakery.
Exploring
★ Ji-Yoo takes Anna to see the city, getting to know each other
★ Food tasting and explaining how the city works.
★ Meeting locals and their reactions, Caucasians not common is Seoul
★ At home, Ji-ho dealing with crack in the wall, Anna offers to paint over it
★ Song Il-Suk notices, revealing he is a painter as well (we’ll be learning his life story in the side plot)
★ Anna learns to bake with Ji-Yoo and practices Korean language with Ji-na

Looking good

Reducio

★ Bakery painted, Anna is incredibly happy for the first time in her life
★ Begrudgingly Song Il-Suk joins the fun, decides to help Anna reach her true potential
★ More people come to the bakery and spread the word
★ Ji-Ho shows Anna what he does, taking her to lower levels and suppliers. They get to know each other
★ Ji-Yoo and Ji-Ho hang out with Anna (becoming friends)
★ Rumors that there has been more portal officers and engineers in the area than usual

Trouble in paradise (this takes place after a year of Anna staying)

Reducio

★ Trouble with restocking. Ji-ho goes to talk to suppliers
★ It’s starting to pour, Ji-Yoo offers Anna an umbrella, he is worried for his brother, they talk
★ Anna offers to go check on Ji-ho and bring him warm tea, half way tram stop working due to slippery tracks, Anna decides walk downstairs against driver’s warning (climbing the stairs is dangerous during the rain)
★ Anna arrives, lower levels in trouble due to rising water
★ She finds Ji-ho and starts to help
★ Locals start to have better opinion on Anna
★ While helping others, Anna is swept by water and carried away, losing consciousness

Unwanted adventure

Reducio

★ Anna wakes up near the tracks, no civilization in sight, hurt her head
★ No chance but to start walking somewhere
★ It’s getting late, Anna is scared thankfully the long distance train is passing by and stops
★ Anna learns she is walking in the wrong direction, it is too far and too late to walk back, the conductor offers to take her to the nearest city New Daejeon (140 km)
★ Train is slow so it takes 7 hours (20km per hour) to arrive (already night). Describing the lonely journey
★ Conductor says it takes another 16 hours to arrive to the final station Busan then from Busan the train goes back. (He has good English due to travelling)
★ Anna taken to some woman’s house, her wound is taken care off and is sent to sleep

Reunion

Reducio

★ Everybody in Seoul desperate, boys looking for Anna Everywhere
★ Bakery closed for customers, Ji-Na and Il-Suk stay in case Anna comes back
★ At New DaeJeon Anna finally wakes up, The woman (Mi-sook) doesn’t speak English well but they manage ( Mi-sook had more travelers staying at home due to her house location and nice personality)
★ Anna helps around the house, they talk more, apparently she knows Song Il-Suk (they were married) train arrives to Busan at 17:00.
★ The next day, Mi-sook takes Anna to train station, going back to New Seoul
★ After 7 hours Anna arrives to Seoul safe and sound. Public transport is still not fully operational in the lower level
★ People at lower levels notice her injury and send for the family to pick her up, happy and teary reunion follows

Safe and sound?

Reducio

★ Things get back to normal, Anna works hard
★ Bakery looks nice, lot of people coming in for the art and now people from lower levels come for Anna as well
★ Anna’s level of Korean improved greatly, getting even closer with the family
★ love and friendship
★ Troubling news from Portalports, Letter arrives announcing grandma died 5 months ago.
★ Trip to DaeJeon with Ji-Ho to get a birthday cake for Song Il-Suk, romance blossoming
★ Happy celebration

Dark clouds coming

Reducio

★ Anna tries to send a letter home, denied by portal officers
★ Announcement: Portals under maintenance reopening might take a few years (main scientist in charge died)
★ Anna panics, what does she do now?
★ Difficult time period, shortages of supplies

True home

Reducio

★ Accepted to family and society, Song Il-Suk helps Anna open a small gallery, People exchange things for her art
★ Another three years before portals reopen, Anna is to return home immediately
★ Marriage proposal/Happy ending
★ Closer for Anna’s dad and summing up Anna’s new life

Subplot 1 - The grumpy old man

Reducio

★Song Il-suk – grumpy regular customer, comes to the bakery nearly every day
★He is very sceptical about Anna when she arrives but his cat loves her immediately
★They don’t talk much in the beginning, Song Il-Suk doesn’t speak English instead he bickers with Ji-Na
★He first takes interest in Anna when he sees her sketch during her breaks
★First words when Anna paints over the crack in the wall, most of it is an art critique but he likes it
★Song Il-suk sneakily coaches Anna, becoming sort of a mentor to her, he still doesn’t talk about himself
★Ji-Na reveals he and his wife separated ten years ago and he lost touch with both her and his only son.
★When Anna gets swept away by the ocean, she unknowingly meets Song Il-suk's son, who is a train conductor and lets her stay with his mom until the returning train arrives
★The mom (Mi-sook) and Song Il-suk’s estranged wife takes care of Anna
★Mi-sook opens up about her husband and son, talks about writing him letters that came back every time
★She also says she still bakes his favourite birthday cake every year in case he comes back
★When Anna comes back to New Seoul, Song Il suk act much warmer towards Anna (thinking he lost another person)
★He helps her set up a small gallery and opens up about his family, his story sounds awfully familiar
★He shows Anna some letters he never got to send to his wife since he doesn’t know where she lives now, upon hearing her name Anna finally connects the dots
★It’s Song Il-Suk birthday and Anna insists they go for the trip. The old man doesn’t want to.
★Anna decides to spoil the surprise and tells him about his wife and son. She and the Park family finally force the man to pack up the letters and go for that cake
★Ji-ho, Anna and Il-suk set out for the journey, Il suk goes talk to his son while Anna sticks to Ji-ho
★When they arrive Il-suk’s wife is indeed waiting for the man with the cake, emotional reunion
★Turns out Il-Suk was spending most of his days in the bakery because their cakes were the closest to what his wife used to make
★The former couple exchanges their undelivered letters and talk about past, they decide to stay friends and visit each other once in a while.
★On the way back, Il-suk talks to his son. They decide to travel the whole train ride together once in a while since he can’t visit (drives the train, duh )
★From then on, Il-suk is much happier eventually becoming something akin to a grandfather for Anna and helps her manage the little gallery

Subplot 2 - The Romance

Reducio

★Park Ji-ho– second son of the Park family
★He speaks decent English and is very responsible when it comes to everything (including their new guest)
★He is the muscle of the family, dealing with supplies and repairs
★He is very polite with Anna at first but it is clear he has a cheeky side as well (especially watching the two brothers interact)
★Anna finds out Ji-Ho really takes after his father and took his death very hard
★Ji-Ho was trained by his father and is now doing what the man used to do while Anna observes his actions (thinking he is quite handsome)
★Ji-Na suggests he shows her what he does and that’s when they talk and get to know each other more.
★to Anna it’s soon clear that Ji-Ho struggles to fit in the trio since his mother is incredibly close with his brother and he feels somewhat left out (Even though from outsider’s point of view you can’t really tell)
★The mom shares with Anna that she does his best but sometimes he seems distant
★Anna decides to make Ji-Ho open up to her more, she is very curious about him and they soon become friends
★Insert couple romantic moments and hesitations as both start to feel something more but are not quite sure what to do about it
★In the meantime Anna does everything to keep the family even closer together, making plans for them all or asking them to help with something (painting etc.)
★When Anna comes to help to the lower part, she almost ends up having a fight with Ji-Ho as he is worried about her and doesn’t want her to help
★When Anna gets swept away, he is livid, constantly looking for her and unable to sleep
★This crisis actually helps the family however, showing Ji-ho’s vulnerable side and Ji-Na being there for him
★Ji-Ho extremely happy when Anna comes back (he is the one to pick her up in the docks) He always seems to be the first person to show up. They have a moment but no kiss (too many people around) He does hold her hand though
★Later Ji-Ho takes Anna to his secret spot to watch a pod of Orcas at night since Anna told him that’s what she likes to do. She tells him he is lucky to have his family and that hers is more than broken up (First kiss, Ji-Ho not awkward cause he is too cool for that)
★When it’s time to celebrate Il-suk’s birthday, Ji-Ho helps Anna to persuade the old man but he insists on joining them
★On the train Il-Suk leaves the “love birds” to fend for themselves while reluctantly going to talk with his long lost son
★The couple has time to talk during the journey, they talk future as Anna reveals she feels more at home there than in Prague. Ji Ho asks her to stay then.
★The trip is cute and fluffy Mi-sook is a delight and her garden and animals an excellent company
★From then on, Anna and Ji-Ho not hiding their relationship and everybody is happy, Ji-ho helps Anna when she figures out her grandma died (angry at her father and glad he had his)
★When portals close, Ji-Ho is somewhat happy but sees Anna panic and is there for her. He helps her build a small gallery in the bakery
★When the portals reopen, it is Ji-Ho’s turn to panic as Anna should be going back. Neither of them want to separate
★Eventually Ji-Ho proposes saying the home is where her heart is and he hopes hers is here with him and the rest of the family
★Anna is torn but mostly happy. She tells Ji-Ho that she is Asexual and doesn’t want children. Ji-Ho is completely fine with it and offers to find her a cat instead (he is surprisingly not keen on having kids either)
★ Both Ji-Na and Ji-yoo extremely happy about the result and Il-suk walks Anna to the altar

Face claim: Seo Kang-joon
Ji-Yoo is a 28-year-old young man and the first-born son of Park family. He has kind heart and a very soft spot for his mother. He used to just help her in the kitchen but after their father died, Ji-Na had to move to customer service and Ji-Yoo took over the kitchen. He is extremely talented baker. He is both loved and hated by other people. Since he is very caring and not afraid to show it, many people adore him, yet it also causes him great trouble. His handsome face and constant smile draws the ladies in but their feelings often go unnoticed. This means he had made some enemies along the way and some people even call him fake, which is not the case at all. Still, the boy doesn’t try too hard to explain himself. He often says people that like to assume things before really knowing someone are not worth the effort.

Ji-Yoo is very protective of his family but he is definitely the gentle brother. Any conflict he might have is usually dealt with by talking things out. He loves animals and lets all the neighbouring cats into the bakery despite his mother's complaints. Ji-Yoo also enjoys his work immensely. As time went by it has become his hobby as well as work. He takes pride in his cakes especially and always tries to come up with something new. He was not as close with his father as Ji-Ho but he still misses the man. It also bothers him that Ji-Ho tries to take on his duties. Curious whether he might have some other dream besides the hard work he is currently doing. Originally, Ji-yoo, same as his brother, studied to become a doctor but he is now very content in his kitchen. Contrary to popular belief, Ji-Yoo actually doesn’t have many friends as he mostly keeps to himself. He does find it rather easy to become close with Anna however, making a lifetime friend to be there for him for better or worse.

Face claim: Jung Hae-in
Ji-Ho is a 27-year-old young man and the second son of Park family. Same as his brother, he has a good heart but he is not so keen on showing it. He is polite and very nice to people that are kind to him but if someone makes him angry, he is not afraid to fight back. In contrast though, when he actually smiles it is an actual blessing. It’s not that he doesn’t smile often or acts cold towards others but he somehow simply seems too busy to smile. Still, he does have a cheeky side and likes to joke around and tease his brother as well as his friends and he has plenty of those. His charisma shines through so he has no trouble making friends, although most of them are his co-workers. Ji-Ho is also extremely reliable and everybody knows they can count on him to help. Originally, he studied to become a doctor but after his father died, he took on his responsibilities. The man was very dear to his heart and his death was a huge blow but Ji-Ho is honoured to carry out his duties. Both his mother and brother worry that he is wasting his time but the boy actually enjoys his job. He meets interesting people every day and he had made quite a few friends along the way. Unfortunately, the misplaced worries sometimes make him feel like his family don’t understand him and their closeness doesn’t help either. Nevertheless, he loves them both and he would die for them.

Ji-Ho is quite handy and likes to make models of trains or even cities that exist or used to. He shares this passion with his best friend Chang-Min. He often gets leftover materials from his suppliers for free and several of them own one or two of Ji-Ho’s creations. His second passion would be food. Unlike his brother, Ji-Ho is not very keen on sweet stuff but he adores his mother’s cooking, always making sure he is back home for lunch and dinner.

Face claim: Kim Sung-ryung
Park Ji-Na is now 54 years old though she Park Ji-Na is now 54 years old though she definitely doesn’t look like it. She is quite smart and affectionate woman. Her dream was to have a happy family as she did not have one growing up and for a moment, it looked like her dream came true. She found a love of her life when she was just 22 years old and she gave birth to two handsome boys. For 31 years, everything was great. The family opened up a small bakery everyone loved and all of them had a job there. A year ago however, Ji-Na’s husband drowned while helping people in the lower parts and she and the boys had to start fending for themselves. She had to give up the kitchen and do the administrative part as well as serve their customers. Unfortunately, things don’t go too well and now their bakery no longer thrives as it used to. Still, Ji-Na does everything in her power to fix it. She is extremely proud of her two sons though Ji-Ho seems a bit distant since his father died. Ji-yoo on the other hand, treasures her way too much. At least that's what she thinks. She honestly just wishes both of them all the happiness in the world. Although sometimes she has to wonder whether they aren't too handsome for their own good. As strange as it sounds, it does cause them trouble from time to time.

Ji-Na is also an excelent cook. Ji-Ho especially loves her cooking. Sometimes she thinks, she should have opened a restaurant instead of the bakery but then she remembers how much Ji-yoo loves baking and all of her doubts are gone. Now she just need to make sure people come back and enjoy their goods like they used to. Seeing the family struggle makes her feel horrible. Thankfully, the help came in a form of a very nice foreigner girl called Anna. Everything is about to change.

Face claim: Lee Soon-jae
Song Il-Suk is a 70-year-old man born and raised in New Seoul. His parents died when he was still young and he was raised by his grandfather who used to be famous for his incredible paintings. Il-Suk inherited his artistic talent and later became quite famous himself. People would trade many things to get hands on his paintings. That is how he met and lost his wife as well. Now, he is a regular customer of Pie in the Sky bakery. He always brings his cat along and spends most of his day in the shop. The cakes remind him of the dessert his wife used to make him for his birthday so he only ever goes there even after other customers stopped coming. He doesn’t say much and if he does, it’s certainly not a compliment. He is constantly bickering with the owner of the bakery Ji-Na since he can be very gruff and unfriendly. In all honesty though, he is just lonely and bored. He got separated from his wife ten years ago, losing both her and his only son in the process. He was so passionate about art, he completely neglected his family. Now, he denies himself of that single passion because he blames it for his misfortune. This means however, that he doesn’t quite know what to do with himself. He has a great passion for art but no one to share it with. His Ya-ong is his only companion. His wife Mi-sook moved to New Daejeon without informing him and Il-suk moved to a smaller home to keep the sad memories away. This means even though they both write letters to the other, none of them can really send them. When Anna shows up, he is skeptical and generally uncomfortable around the foreigner but once he finds out she can draw, he takes interest in her. They struggle to communicate but pull through thanks to their common interest.

WC:1355