A Step from Heaven Chapter 12 Summary

Being Older

  • Joon has a yellow balloon, while Young Ju has a stuffed elephant.
  • Sounds like Young Ju has the better deal, but Young Ju doesn't actually want the hard, crunchy elephant that she won by mistake at the school carnival. She'd rather have Joon's balloon.
  • That's because a balloon can fly up to the sky, like to heaven (yeah, she's still on that heaven obsession).
  • But Uhmma tells Young Ju to be reasonable since she's the older sister now.
  • Not exactly what Young Ju wants to hear.
  • When they're in the car, Young Ju wants to know why Joon doesn't hold the balloon by the string.
  • She even offers to hold the balloon for him, but Joon isn't falling for that one—he holds on to the balloon and refuses to let Young Ju near it.
  • So Young Ju tries a different tactic: she offers to trade her elephant for his balloon.
  • Still, Joon's not having it.
  • So Young Ju does the only thing left: she gets physical and gives him a pinch on the arm.
  • That makes Joon cry out and Uhmma scold her.
  • Young Ju stops bugging Joon, and when they get home, she leaps out of the car with her elephant.
  • Joon, on the other hand, is bawling because his balloon has just popped.
  • Uhmma thumps him on his head, but that only makes Joon cry harder.
  • Uhmma can't figure out what else to do, so Young Ju takes over.
  • Young Ju walks up to Joon and tries to talk to him like her English teacher talks to the class.
  • It kind of works, but then he's about to cry again, so Young Ju just shoves her elephant into his hands.
  • That works—Joon's calling the elephant "my elephant" now—but Young Ju corrects him and tells him the elephant is still hers.
  • Doesn't matter—Joon ignores her.
  • Uhmma finally unfreezes and watches Young Ju as Young Ju watches Uhmma. They both head back to the house.