Disclaimer: I am merely borrowing these celebrity names of Korean Artists. This story nowhere pertains to any of their real lives.

Korean words:

Noona: It means Older Sister from a younger male. You don't have to be related to call someone that. It's pronounced "Noo - nah."

Hyung: Hyung is a word used by korean males to address another male older than them who they are close to.

Hyung literally means "older brother"

Chapter 3


A heavy sigh escaped my lips as I pressed 'send' on my phone and stuffed it back in my pocket. Looking down at my terribly made baloney sandwich, I made a mental note to thank my uncle for his effort at making a 'western style lunch'.

I reached for my cell phone to check and I frowned.

No new messages.

I felt some one elbow my side and I lifted my head to look at Kang Dae Sung. My eyes narrowed.

He kissed his teeth. "What crawled up your as.s?" I rolled my eyes at the coarse way he chose to ask me what was wrong. I fixed my gaze on my fail sandwich and decided to attempt to 'rebuild it'. I heard him sigh.

"Seung Hyun, what's with you, man?"

I waved off his question, not even bothering to look at him. "Nothing, Dae Sung. I'm just tired."

He let out a beast like scoff- whatever that is. "Tired, my ass. You've been out of it these past few days and you keep checking your phone like you're expecting a call. Oh and your eye bags are darker than usual. Eat some broccoli, dude." I felt my eye lids droop as I ignored his observations and continued to attempt to fix my fail sandwich. Dae Sung waved some broccoli in my face and stuffed into my mouth. Not expecting his sudden action, although I should have, I began coughing. Thankfully, I retained the green vegetable in my mouth. Angrily I chewed it and swallowed it with a glare.

"What the hell, man! Are you stupid?"

"No. You just look really deprived."

"So you shove broccoli in my mouth?"

Dae Sung sent me a strange look, as if it were the most logical thing he had ever done. "Yeah. Look at you, you're overreacting. I shoved broccoli in your mouth a few weeks ago and you didn't complain. Hell, I do that on the regular when you have those eye bags of yours. And only now you complain? Why are you hating on you're Hyung?" Hyung? More like self proclaimed, Hyung. I don't consider Dae Sung my Hyung, but as a younger brother. "See, something's up, man. What's wrong with you?"

With a sigh, I bit into my rebuilt sandwich. He shook his head as he left it at that and continued to eat his lunch. He's bound to ask again later.

I felt my cell phone vibrate and was quick to pull it out of my pocket. I flipped it open to find that I had received a text message from none other than, Ji. Damn. I stuffed my phone back into my pocket. Taking a deep breath, I exhaled through my nose as an attempt to release some of the frustration and anxiety that had just sky rocketed. Frustration, because It wasn't from my Noona and, anxiety, because I still know next to nothing about her current state

.

It's pitiful how much text messages I've sent Noona during these past six days. I haven't gotten a reply from her yet. I keep thinking about her, but that isn't new. Although, it's at night when questions rack my brain and the images of her tear stained face, the sound of her sobbing, and the fear in her eyes that push out all other thoughts. I haven't gotten enough
sleep lately.

I didn't just sit around all week wondering how she's been. Hell no. What kind of friend would I be if I did just that? Unfortunately, Hyung and my Uncle have been nothing but unhelpful. I asked Hyung how she's been, but all he said was that she was feeling better. That was all I could garner from him, he did not elaborate. The silence that had ensued right after and the fact that he continued to restock items after he spoke, told me he wasn't going to say anything else on the matter.

I got pissed off, but not at him. It was because even after knowing him for four years he still had a way with his words and his body language that intimidated me. Physically he could probably take me down. He's practically six feet tall and looks like he can pack a punch. But it's not just the physical aspect of him. I respect the man, I really do… You could say I look up to him a bit too. He's a man of few words, at least from what I have seen, but his choices of words are always thought through. He's not one to say what exactly is on his mind at the exact time he's thinking it. Nevertheless, he is some one who thoroughly thinks before speaking. Noona told me. At first, I didn't give it much thought. Although eventually, I noticed it too. So I knew that asking him more about my Noona wouldn't really be worth it because I'd still have more questions.

Hyung knows. He knows I have more than just admiration for her. Dae Sung, with his big mouth, happened to say it loud enough one evening at the convenience store. I had expected Hyung to have said something on the matter. Although, it was quite the opposite. Hyung only turned to look at me briefly before going back to work. There was no doubt that he heard, he was a few meters away from us. The flash of acknowledgement in his eyes only made me believe that he knew all along. Kind of like he… accepted it.

I believe that he didn't elaborate with how she was doing because he knew I'd prefer to hear that from her. At least I hope so.

As for my uncle. All he said was, 'I can't tell you'. That's his answer every time I ask about anything remotely personal about his employee's. Then the next thing that would follow up from his last words would always be. 'Sorry Ri, I don't give out my employee's personal information. That's one of the rules, kid."

Whatever, they both have their reasons.

I took the last bite of my sandwich and flipped open my phone to read Ji's text message. To my irritation, before I could even open up the message, I felt Dae Sung jab me in my side. Again. I frowned and turned to him to tell him that I was fine, so he'd stop bothering me. That was until I heard a feminine voice politely call my name.

"Excuse me, Seung Hyun."

I turned my head to look behind me to see So Eun Kyung standing behind me with a shy smile and her books held to her chest. "Hey." I tried giving her a smile, but it came out as a lop-sided grin.

"Hi…" She returned my greeting but I felt Dae Sung pinch my arm. Knowing him, he probably wants me to introduce him to her. Turning to look at him I purposely asked him what he wanted aloud.

"What, Dae Sung?" He gave me a dry look, as if I should have known what he wanted. Sadly I did. He shot her a big smile.

"Eun Kyung, this is my friend Dae Sung."

"Wassup." He gave her a nod and smirked. He's hella greasy.

Inwardly, I shook my head and looked to the innocent Eun Kyung awkwardly smile. It was as if she didn't really know how to respond to him. Dae Sung better not be like his usual manwhore self and get in her pants. I don't want to have to spend a whole day trying to console her broken heart because Dae Sung needed a playmate for the night. In addition, I really don't want to have a half hearted partner working on our science project. Okay… maybe that's my stress talking… Alright, that was harsh, but I've had my share of his left overs crying their hearts out over him to me. Nine girls, to be exact. As a fellow male, his actions lead me to think that he isn't worth all that crying over. However, as his best friend, I know he doesn't necessarily mean to drop them like that. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how else to.

"Seung Hyun, could we meet up at the library after school so we could start working on our project."

"How long do you wanna plan on working on it tonight?"

"Maybe an hour or so…" I nodded. That would be a great distraction ftom my stressed out mind.

"Alright. I'll see you then." The shy smile came back and she replied with a simple 'ok' and was off.

Sitting back, I took a sip of my water bottle.

Dae Sung glared at me.

"What?" He shook his head as if I was a lost cause. "What is it?"

"You totally dismissed her."

"No, I didn't." I'm lying, I kind of did. I just didn't want him to start trying to hook up with her.

"Sure, Ri. I believe you." Tch, I should be the one giving him sarcasm. After all, he dismisses girls all the time- not in the same manner, but he still does. "She's the new girl, yeah? She's real cute."

So what.

The rain came down heavy. We had worked on the project for an hour and fifteen minutes and to my gratitude, the workload had proven to be the perfect distraction.

The sound of paper rumpling made me turn to look down to my left. Kneeling on the floor of our school was Eun Kyung rummaging through her back pack. I heard her sigh. For a moment, I watched as her thin lips turned into a pout. A second later, she looked up at me and she smiled that shy smile.

Her smile reminds me of someone.

Zipping her bag shut, she stood up and said. "Uh… Seung Hyun.?"

"Yes?"

"Do you happen to have an extra umbrella?"

"No." I really don't. I only have one, the one Noona gave me. I have another one at home but after receiving an umbrella from her, I have practically forgotten the other one. I watched as Eun Kyung held a hand out in the rain, as if contemplating on running in it to get home. Pulling my umbrella out of my back pack, I guiltily looked at it, then back to her.

"Are you taking the bus home?" She looked at me surprised.

"I don't take the bus. I usually walk home."

"I'll walk you home then." Her cheeks suddenly turned pink as she looked away. I guess she really is shy. She's too innocent for Dae Sung, so I have nothing to worry about.

"I-it's okay, I-"

Smiling, I pulled my umbrella open and cut her off. "Let's go." I gently guided her under the umbrella.

Making it to the school gates, I asked her which direction her house was.

"Seung Hyun, thank you."

"It's nothing. You let me borrow your notes in class and you covered for me when I skipped last week. So we're even." Yeah, I skipped. I've skipped seven times this year. It's not like I'm doing anything bad, I'm just keeping Noona company… at the store. Not that she needs it. Still, I'm human and I'm greedy; so no one can blame for wanting to spend time with her. All I do is help her around the store and chat with her for the rest of the afternoon. Just the two of us. Is that such a crime?

Her eyebrows rose. "How'd you know it was me?"

"You were the only one who saw me leave."

"Oh." I smiled.

"So, which way?"

__

So Eun Kyung is cute, that's for sure.

I watched as she waved goodbye, disappearing into her apartment building. Turning around, I started to make my way to the convenience store. The rain had finally stopped.

Feeling my phone vibrate, I immediately took it out of my pocket to see that Dae Sung had texted a pointless message. I am not being mean, because it really is pointless and a waste of money. There were no words in the text message but three dots, a question mark, and a smiley face with an eyebrow raised in question. I don't get it. Dae sung does this all the time. Even if we're sitting across from each other, Dae Sung always finds the time to send me a smiley face or something reflecting his mood. It's like he didn't grow out of the phase when you get your first cell phone and play around with it. It's random.

Dae sung is a weird manwhore.

Deciding not to reply to his dots, question mark, and smiley face, I flipped my phone shut. Unfortunately, I accidentally bumped into some one and I almost dropped my phone. Fortunately, I had caught it and turned to the person I had bumped into to apologize briefly.

However, before I could do so, something caught my eye.

Moreover, some one.

A man with a similar motorcycle as Hyung's had pulled up to the side. He even had the same helmet as him. The man was clad in an expensive crisp black suit. They were clothes that practically screamed 'buisness'. Nothing about his body language suggested that this was his first time using the motorcycle. However, he looked sort of out of place. It's probably the clothes.

"How rude!" Pulling my eyes away, I looked to the old woman that I had bumped into. She was looking at me expectantly, so I apologized with a bow. With a 'hmph,' she walked away muttering something about 'the youth of these day'. Turning to look back at the odd sight, my eyes widened.

The man on the motorcycle dressed in a suit had finally taken off his helmet. With his eyebrows knitted together, I was shocked to see that it was indeed Hyung. I watched in confusion as he looked to his watch in irritation and made his way into a tall sleek building.

I looked to the bold hangul in gold that was placed above the entrance.

It read. Jung Hwa. Co.